through the Red Sea on dry ground and into the Wilderness on the way to Canaan, by way of Sinai, wherein for forty years He fed them and clothed them and developed them into a strong nation. He gave them the best of laws and the most complete and beneficent government.

C. The People of Israel Were Disciplined and Formed into a Strong and God-Like Nation by the Sacrifices of the Tabernacle, Typical of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Lord God furnished them with the pattern for their tabernacle of worship, with a complete code of ordinances that provided for all kinds of sacrifice and offerings unto Himself, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, chief of which was the yearly passover lamb, commemorating the deliverance from Egypt and typifying the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the promised Messiah.

When all the parts of the tabernacle and its furniture were completed, the Lord commanded Moses to put up the tabernacle and furnish it, which he did, putting every piece of furniture to the use for which it was designed, especially the altar of burnt-offering:

10. "It shall be an altar most holy," (or holiness of holinesses, as in the marginal reading).

29. "And he put the altar of burnt-offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meat-offering; as the Lord commanded Moses" (Exodus 40: 10, 29).

The very great importance with which the Lord regarded the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle and the blood of atonement that was to be offered upon it is most definitely and emphatically expressed in the Hebrew revelation:

8. "And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man

there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt-offering or sacrifice,

9. And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

10. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

II. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Lev. 17:8-11).

When Moses finished the work, the Lord accepted it in a most impressive manner:

34. "Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

35. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

36. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys.

37. But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.

38. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and the fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel" (Exodus 40: 34-38).

At His own time and in His own way that could not be misunderstood by the nations round about, the Lord God led Israel into the land of Canaan which he promised Abraham as recorded in Joshua:

9. "And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.

10. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

II. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

12. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

13. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.

14. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

15. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

16. That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off and the people passed over right against Jericho.

17. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan" (Josh. 3:9-17).

At the first opportunity after entering the promised land the passover feast was kept by Israel:

10. "And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal,

and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

II. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day" (Josh. 5: 10-11).

After bringing the children of Israel into the promised land by many marvelous manifestations of His love and power, the Lord blessed them in it, in every way, so that about four hundred and forty years after entering the land it could be said of them as recorded in the book of Kings:

20. "Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

21. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22. And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl.

24. For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

25. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon" (1 Kings 4:20-25).

XVI

THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS ENABLED TO EXERCISE A WORLD-WIDE INFLUENCE UPON THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BY THE SACRIFICES OF THE GREAT TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM, TYPICAL OF THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

After Solomon had completed the magnificent temple at Jerusalem, which David, his father, had determined to build for the Lord, he instituted a feast of dedication for the opening of this temple so great that perhaps none before or since could equal it, particularly in the great sacrifices and offerings wherein atonement for sin by blood was made, typical of the one Great Atonement made by Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, whose blood was shed for the sin of the whole world. Several extracts from the record of this wonderful dedication feast will serve to show the mind of Solomon and of the Lord as to the purpose and use of this temple; the great benefit it Iwould be to the whole nation of Israel in their close and united relation and service to the Lord; and the superlative advantage it would be to the nation of Israel in their witnessing for the Lord and His salvation to all the nations of the earth.

A. The Bringing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord into the Temple:

I. "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and