The singular opinion has been expressed that the death of the high priest was expiatory. This is said to be "unmistakably evident" from the addition of the clause, "who has been anointed with the holy oil" (ver. 25). The argument is that as the high priest's life and work "acquired a representative signification through this anointing with the Holy Ghost, his death might also be regarded as a death for the sins of the people by virtue of the Holy Ghost imparted to him, through which the unintentional man-slayer received the benefits of the propitiation for his sins before God, so that he could return cleansed to his native town without further exposure to the vengeance of the avenger of blood." And thus, it is said, "The death of the earthly high priest became a type of that of the heavenly One, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, that we might be redeemed from our transgressions." But although many of the Rabbins and fathers held this view as to the expiatory nature of the high priest's death, there is absolutely nothing in Scripture or reason to support it. All the expiation, moreover, which the Mosaic law provided for was ceremonial. If the death of the high priest was efficacious only so far as his functions were, then there could be no atonement or appearance of atonement for moral guilt, even that of culpable homicide for instance. The death of the high priest was therefore in no sense a type of the death of Christ, the whole meaning of which lies in relation to moral, not ceremonial, offences.
While it cannot be said that "light is thrown by the provisions regarding cities of refuge on the atonement of Christ"—for that would be the morning star shedding light on the sun—still there are some points of illustration; and one of these may be noted. As the protection of the sanctuary city extended only to the boundaries or precincts belonging to it, so the defence the sinner has in Christ can be enjoyed only so far as life is brought within the range of the influence and commands of Christ. He who would be safe must be a Christian. It is not mere profession of faith—"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?"—but hearty obedience to the laws of duty coming from Christ that gives safety. "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?"—and the elect are those who yield the fruit of the Spirit, who are lovers of God and their fellow-men, who show their faith by their works. It is a misrepresentation of the whole teaching of Scripture to declare that salvation can be had, apart from life and practice, in some mythical relation with Christ which is hardly even to be stated in words.
3. Tribal Inheritance. Already we have heard the appeal of the daughters of Zelophehad to be allowed an inheritance as representing their father. Now a question which has arisen regarding them must be solved. The five women have not cared to undertake the work of the upland farm allotted to them, somewhere about the head waters of the Yarmuk. They have, in fact, as heiresses been somewhat in request among the young men of different tribes; and they are almost on the point of giving their hands to husbands of their choice. But the chiefs of the family of Manasseh to which they belong find a danger here. The young women may perhaps choose men of Gad, or men of Judah. Then their land, which is part of the land of Manasseh, will go over to the tribes of the husbands. There will be a few acres of Judah or of Gad in the north of Manasseh's land. And if other young women throughout the tribes, who happen to be heiresses, marry according to their own liking, by-and-by the tribe territories will be all confused. Is this to be allowed? If not, how is the evil to be prevented?
The national centre and general unity of Israel could not in the early period be expected to suffice. Without tribal coherence and a sense of corporate life in each family the Israelites would be lost among the people of the land. Especially would this tend to take place on the eastern side of Jordan and in the far north. Now the clan unity went with the land. It was as those dwelling in a certain district the descendants of one progenitor realised their brotherhood. Hence there was good reason for the appeal of the Manassites and the legislation that followed. Women who succeeded to land were to marry within the families of their fathers. Men were apparently not forbidden to marry women of another tribe if they were not heiresses. But the possession of land by women carried with it a responsibility and deprived them of a certain part of freedom. Every daughter who had an inheritance was to be wife to one of her near kin; so should no inheritance remove from one family to another; the tribes should cleave every one to his own inheritance.
The exigencies of the early settlement appear to have required this law; and it was maintained as far as possible, so that he who lived in a certain region might know himself not only a Reubenite or a Benjamite as the case might be, but a son of Hanoch of the Reubenites, or a son of Ard among the Benjamites. But we may doubt whether the unity of the nation was not delayed by the means used to keep the land for each tribe and each tribe on its own land. The arrangement was perhaps inevitable; yet it certainly belonged to a primitive social order. The homogeneity of the people would have been helped and the tribes held more closely together by interchange of land. In every law made at an early stage of a people's development there is involved something unsuitable to after periods. And perhaps one error made by the Israelites was to cling too long and too closely to tribal descent and make too much of genealogy. The enactment regarding the marriage of heiresses within their own families was an old one, bearing the authority of Moses. There came a time when it should have been revoked and everything done that was possible to weld the tribes together. But the old customs held; and what was the result? The tribes east of Jordan, as well as Dan and Asher, were well-nigh lost to the Confederacy at an early date. Subsequently a division began between the northern and southern peoples. We cannot doubt that partly for want of family alliances between Judah and Ephraim, and subordination of tribal to national sentiment, there came the separation into two kingdoms.
For the tribe idea and the other of making inheritance of land a governing matter, the Israelites would seem to have paid dearly. And there is danger still in the attempt to make a nation cohere on any mere territorial basis. It is the spirit, the fidelity to a common purpose, and the pervasive enthusiasm that give real unity. If these are wanting, or if the general aim is low and material, the security of families in the soil may be exceedingly mischievous. At the same time the old feeling is proved to have a deep root in fact. Territorial solidarity is indispensable to a nation; and the exclusion of a people from large portions of its land is an evil intolerable. Christianity has not done its work where the Church, the teacher of righteousness, is unconcerned for this great matter. How can religion flourish where brotherhood fails? And how can brotherhood survive in a nation when the right of occupying the soil is practically denied? First among the economic questions which claim Christian settlement is that of land tenure, land right. Christianity carries forward the principles of the Mosaic law into higher ranges, where justice is not less, but more—where brotherhood has a nobler purpose, a finer motive.
INDEX
Aaron, [16];
character of, [29];
and his sons, [32];
complains of Moses' marriage, [137];
rod of, [198], [207];
intercession of, [207];
close of his life, [235].
Aaronites, support of, [215].
Abstinence, pledge of, [60].
Agag, [307].
Alliances with Christianity, [114].
Amalekites, [312].
Amorites, [157], [253];
defeat of, by Israel, [255].
Anak, sons of, [157].
Angel of the Lord, [281].
Arabah, Wady, [244].
Arad, King of, [178], [243].
Ark, the, [44];
borne before the host, [116].
Arnold, Matthew, [304].
Art, claimed for God, [95].
Assemblies, calling of, [96].
Atonement, for omissions, [184];
great day of, [356].
Azazel, [355].
Baal-peor, festival of, [314].
Baals, the, [295].
Balaam, reputation of, [261];
name of, [262];
his knowledge of Jehovah, [267];
refuses to go to Moab, [268];
his error, [273];
the critical, [283];
first parable of, [292];
prayer of, [296];
second parable of, [300];
third parable of, [305];
fourth parable of, [309];
end of, [320];
like Absalom, [322].
Balak, in anxiety, [261];
and Balaam, [288];
his sacrifices, [290];
bewildered, [305].
Bashan reduced, [255].
Bible, the Word of God, [163];
statements of, [281].
Blessing, the, of Aaron, [67];
of Moses, [116].
Blood revenge, [400].
Boehme, Jacob, quoted, [69].
Boundaries of land, [390].
Brazen serpent, the, [248];
symbolism connected with, [249].
Browning, R., quoted, [275], [294].
Caleb, one of the spies, [151];
honoured, [173].
Camp, arrangement of the, [27].
Canaan, to be explored, [152];
reported on, [157].
Canaanites admitted to fellowship, [183];
to be driven out, [389].
Candelabrum, [78];
symbolism of, [79].
Censers, the two hundred and fifty, [198], [205].
Census, the first, [18];
of all men, [20];
results of, [22];
the second, [323].
Ceremonial duties, use of, [47].
Chaldean soothsaying, [263].
Chittim, [306], [312].
Christ, the Light, [83];
the historical, [88];
Revealer of God, [92];
the True Leader, [109];
sin-bearing of, [126];
sole headship of, [210];
the Healer, [249];
did Balaam prophesy of? [310].
Christian, law, rejection of, [187];
life, ignorant criticism of, [158];
limitations of, [393];
nation, duty of a, [160].
Church, position of the, [20];
a national, [21];
and the irresolute, [107];
helpers of the, [113];
perils of, [115];
mistaken claims of, [176];
unity of, [203].
Civilisation without morality, [372].
Cloud, the pillar of, [89];
in Isaiah, [90];
value of, as a symbol, [93].
Complaints of the Israelites, [119];
against Providence, [119].
Conscience paltered with, [278].
Consciousness, the Divine, [327].
Convocation, holy, [352].
Covetousness, [272].
Daily worship, [345].
Dathan and Abiram, [195], [205].
Dead, defilement by the, [53], [220].
Death, conception of, [3];
desired, [128];
triumphed over, [238];
tests faith, [337].
Delitzsch, Prof. F., quoted, [357].
Discipline, the finest, [238];
of humanity, [325].
Disorder, social, [165].
Divination, [263].
Divine guidance, [268].
Division of land, [330].
Drama of life, [330].
Edom, territory of, [230];
Israel debarred from, [231].
Egyptian worship, [43].
Eleazar, and Ithamar, [31];
installed as high priest, [241].
Eldad and Medad, [130].
Elders, seventy, chosen, [128];
became critics of Moses, [200].
Endeavour, law of, [324].
Enthusiasm of faith, [303].
Ethiopians, [136].
Ezekiel, Sabbath law of, [348].
Faithless is foolish, [161].
Family feast at new moon, [350].
Feast, of unleavened bread, [351];
of Pentecost, [354];
of tabernacles, [359].
"Fill the hand," [32].
First-born, number of, [36];
sanctity of, [37].
First-fruits, day of, [354].
Freedom, illusory, [110];
under Christianity, [209].
Future life, [5];
seems dim, [154];
right view of, [159].
Genealogies, [328].
Gentiles, [266].
Gershonites, [44].
Gifts to be proportionate, [181].
Girls saved alive, [366].
God, modern doubt of, [163];
compassion of, [213];
sole allegiance to, [274], [279];
the Link of the generations, [326].
Goël, the, [55], [400].
Gospel, light of the, [82].
Government, the Divine, [187].
Greek tragedy, [2], [3].
Guardians of religion, [26].
Heave offering, [184].
Heaven no fable, [155].
Hebrew, the recoil of, from death, [4].
Heifer, the red, [217].
Hierarchy, establishment of, [208].
Hierocracy, [6], [363], [403].
High priest, memory of, [403];
death of, [404].
Hobab the Kenite, [104];
refuses to join Israel, [109];
second appeal to, [111];
his influence, [201].
Holiness, ideas of, [46].
Holy place, symbolism of, [79].
Homeborn, the, [181].
Hor, Mount, [234].
Hypocrisy, danger of, [281].
Impotence confessed, [285].
Iniquity, of tabernacle, [212];
of priesthood, [214].
Insincerity, [270].
Inspiration, [13];
of prophets, [143];
of Moses, [144].
Intrusions on life, [232].
Irresolute, the, [107].
Isaiah, [213].
Israelites, the, separateness of, [7], [295];
religion of, [9];
a holy nation, [25];
not hopeful, [156];
disaffection of, at Kadesh, [160];
Moses intercedes for, [169];
punishment of, not inordinate, [171];
defiant advance of, on Canaan, [174];
refused way through Edom, [231];
no enchantment with, [302];
unable to convert, [319];
their advantages, [324];
purity of race, [328];
religious enthusiasm of, [353].
Itinerary, [382].
Iye-abarim, [250].
Jealousy, water of, [56].
Jehovah, King and Judge, [5];
authority of, [7];
Guardian, [68];
in pillar of cloud, [91];
Protector of Israel, [117];
His call to Israel, [123];
communicates with Moses, [144];
His "similitude," [146];
pardons but punishes, [170];
forbearance of, [225];
worship of, [295];
revealed to Moses, [335];
all time dedicated to, [347].
Jethro, [104].
Jonah, [226].
Joshua, jealous for Moses, [132];
one of the spies, [151];
in practical command, [244];
designation of, [339].
Journal theory, [11].
Judah in the van, [102].
Judgment of murmurers, [120].
Justice, impatient, [315];
right course of, [316];
and blood revenge, [401].
Kadesh, the tribes at, [103];
mustering at, [222];
position of, [384].
Kenites, the, [105], [266], [312].
Kibroth-hattaavah, [134].
Kiriath-huzoth, [290].
Kohathites, duties of, [42].
Korah, revolt of, [195];
his claim, [196];
doom of, [205].
Land law, [407].
Laymen, [202].
Leader, qualifications of a, [340].
Leaven banished from houses, [352].
Legislation in Numbers, [12].
Lepers, exclusion of, [48];
their condition, [48];
no pariahs, [51].
Leprosy, and moral disease, [49];
cases of, [50];
of Miriam, [147].
Levi, tribe of, separate, [7];
service of [25];
in Deuteronomy, [33].
Levites, admitted priests, [33];
given to Aaron, [34];
service of the, an atonement, [39];
consecration of, [40];
duties of, [42];
revolt of, with Korah, [201];
support of, [215];
cities of, [396].
Levitical law, [8].
Liberality Christian, [75].
Life, close of, [235].
Lord's Supper, the, [86].
Manna, complained of, [121];
glorified, [122].
March, order of, [97];
of humanity, [98];
in the wilderness, [101].
Marriage, laws, [58];
of expedience, [280].
Meal and drink offerings, [180].
Merarites, duties of, [44].
Message, the Divine, [219].
Midianites, [261];
plot of, against Israel, [313];
to be vexed, [318];
war with, [365];
number of, [368].
Militarism in Numbers, [17].
Ministry, a, duties of, [212];
provision for, [399].
Miriam, jealousy of, [136];
punishment of, [147];
death of, [223].
Mixed multitude, [121].
Moab, overrun by Amorites, [254];
plains of, [260].
Moral severity, [370].
Morley, J., quoted, [88].
Moses, not hero of Numbers, [2];
no priest, [6];
reverence for, [16];
his communion with God, [76];
acted for Jehovah, [92];
appeals to Hobab, [105];
strain on, as leader, [125];
prays for death, [128];
magnanimity of, [133];
position of, [142];
and Isaiah, [146];
represented God, [162];
great offer to, [167];
authority of, [203];
coalition against, [204];
and Korah, [204];
and Dathan, [205];
intercedes for Israel, [206];
at the rock, [225];
judgment of, [228];
with Aaron at the last, [240];
close of his life, [313];
faith of, [336];
his order as to Midianites, [367];
rebukes Reuben and Gad, [374].
Mustering, the, [18].
Nabi or prophet, [143].
Nadab and Abihu, [29].
Nahshon, [22].
Napoleon, [285].
Nature and God, [80].
Nature-cultus, [313].
Naziritism, parallels to, [59];
statutes regarding, [60];
ceremonies of discharge, [64].
"Nephesh," [53].
New moon, [343], [349];
of seventh month, [355].
Numbers, the Book of, and prophecies, [1];
like Greek drama, [2];
three main channels in, [7];
Puritanism of, [8];
sources of, [10];
time covered by, [11];
date of, [12];
as history, [13];
spirit of, [16].
Offerings, laws of, [179];
meal and drink, [344];
daily, [344].
Ordeal of jealousy, [57].
Organisation, idea of, [44].
Overcrowding, [331].
Parables of Balaam, [292], [300], [305].
Pardon and restoration, [171].
Passover, the Little, [84], [86];
the, [351].
Peace, Divine, [70].
Pentecost, [354].
Peor, [305].
Pethor, [261].
Philanthropy, [373].
Phinehas, zeal of, [315];
accompanies the army, [365].
Pisgah, [299].
Plato, [5].
Possessions, [325].
Price, has each man his? [288].
Priest, place of, [340], [363].
Priesthood, the, [29];
consecration of, [32];
of Christ, [203];
human, [208];
Aaronic, duties of, [212];
support of, [215].
Priests' Code, [6], [12], [314], [317], [363], [368].
Primogeniture, [35].
Princes, offerings of the, [73].
Prophesying of the seventy, [130];
false, [133];
oracle regarding, [142].
Prophets, calling of, [45];
of Old Testament, [143];
vision of, [306].
Purification, water of, [216].
Quails, [129].
Red Sea, [383].
Redemption, of first-born, [38];
signified by the Passover, [86].
Refuge, cities of, [400].
Religion, power of, [303].
Repentance, [287].
Responsibility of a leader, [126].
Reuben and Gad, [374];
their decay, [380].
Reubenites, the, claim of, [200], [202].
Rich, dangers of the, [377].
Righteous, death of the, [296].
Robertson, F. W., quoted, [320].
Ruskin, John, quoted, [75].
Sabbath, the, breach of, [180];
social aspect of, [189];
means of unity, [191];
in Chaldea, [346];
oblations for, [348].
Sacerdotalism, [209].
Sacred, year, [343];
places, [391].
Sacrifice, significance of, [360].
Sanctuary, the, carefully guarded, [43];
iniquity of, [212].
Sanctuary, right of, [402].
Sayce, A. H., quoted, [183], [262], [346].
Self-consecration, call to, [23].
Serpents, fiery, [246].
Service, age of, [23].
Shechinah, [89].
Sihon, the Amorite, [253].
Simeon, tribe of, [330].
Sin offering, for Nazirite, [64];
not for moral guilt, [65];
the, [349];
a he-goat, [354].
Sinai, [383].
Smith, W. Robertson, quoted, [37].
Spies, the, despatched, [151];
evil report of, [158];
doom of the ten, [173].
Spirit, endowment of the, [130].
Spiritual maladies, [149].
Spirituality, [296].
Standards, [27].
Strange fire, [31].
Strangers, [182].
Symbolism, of Sabbath, [191];
Christian, [193].
Sympathy with Christianity, [112].
Taberah, [120].
Tabernacles, feast of, [359].
Tassels, memorial, [192].
Temple, the, [75].
Temptations, [371].
Theocracy, not hierocracy, [6];
sustained, [319].
Tithes, [215].
Transgressors, high-handed, [185].
Trespass, atonement for, [55].
Tribes, the, in camp, [27].
Trumpets, the silver, [95];
signalled the advance, [97];
in war time, [99];
at festivals [100], [355].
Unbelieving, doom of the, [167].
Uncleanness, ideas of, [46];
by leprosy, [48];
by the dead, [52], [220].
Unity of Christians, [97].
Unleavened bread, feast of, [351].
Urim, [341].
Vaheb in Suphah, [251].
Virtue, safety of, [279].
Vocation of the Christian, [123].
Vows, [344], [361];
of women, [362].
'Wars of Jehovah, Book of,' [251].
Water fails, [224].
Way of the soul, [386].
Well, song of the, [252].
Wellhausen, J., on theocracy, [6];
on Korah, [199];
quoted, [317], [368].
Wilderness, our life in, [124], [258];
near Maan, [245];
discipline of, [256].
Women, claim of, [139], [332].
Young, the, hopefulness of, [172].
Zared, valley of, [251].
Zelophehad, daughters of, [331], [406].
Zippor, [262].
Zophim, [299].