follow that we must rest in it, and make no advances; or must still be building upon their foundation, running to and fro that knowledge may be increased."

Living anterior to the age of Biblical illustrations, Henry looks at Eastern customs through modern glasses. Of Abraham's servant he approvingly observes, that "When he came to seek a wife for his master, he did not go to the playhouse or the park, and pray that he may meet one there, but to the well of water, expecting to find one there well employed." Eliezer would have been puzzled to find either a park or a playhouse among the pasture lands of Haran.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, " Regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." Says the commentator-" What they had in Canaan he (Pharaoh) reckoned but stuff in comparison with what he had for them in Egypt. Thus those for whom Christ intends shares in His heavenly glory ought not to regard the stuff of this world; the best of its enjoyments are but stuff-but lumber."

When Ephron in the true spirit of an Eastern bargain-maker, first offers to give Abraham the land, and then charges double its value, Matthew Henry discovers in the polite proposal a great contempt for wealth, as well as a great respect for Abraham! But these blemishes are but spots on the sun. In opening up and laying out a subject, he is unrivalled. His helpfulness to sermon makers has often been remarked, but his writings are equally adapted to help lesson makers, if they will but use them with judgment. If you wish to see the doctrinal and practical bearings of your lesson subject, consult Henry; and take, not lavishly, but with discrimination, the benefit of his wise discoursings. You will then see how much there is even in a single verse, and how much wiser it is to attempt to teach a small portion of God's Word than to imagine it possible to compass an entire chapter.

A few examples will serve to show what we are seeking to enforce :—

EXCELLENCY OF THE BIBLE.

Pea. xix. 7. "The testimony of the Lord is sure."

1. A sure discovery of divine truth.

2.

3.

A sure direction in the way of duty.
A sure fountain of living comforts.

4. A sure foundation of lasting hopes.

Suggesting (1) Oracle never giving wrong answers; contrast with heathen

oracles.

(2) Guide-post that does not lead astray.

(3) Fountain of fresh pure water.

(4) Solid rock on which to build up hopes of future.

NIGHTLY MERCIES.

Psa. iii. 5. "I laid me down and slept."

1. Many have not where to lay their heads, or, if they have, they dare not lie But we have laid us down in peace.

down.

2. Many lie down and cannot sleep, full of anguish or of fear. But we lie down and sleep in safety.

3. Many lie down, and sleep, and never wake again. But we lie down and sleep, and wake gain to the light and comfort of another day.

GOD A SAVIOUR.

Psa. iii. 8. "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord."

It is His to have power to save.

It is His prerogative to save.

It is His pleasure.

It is His property.

It is His promise,

to those who are His, whose salvation is not of themselves, but of the Lord. For He that is their God is the God of salvation.

GOD'S GUIDANCE.

Exod. xiii. 21. "The Lord went before them."

Those who make the glory of God their end, the Word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be confident the Lord goes before them. They needed not to fear missing their way who were thus led.

Or being lost who were thus directed.

Or being benighted, who were thus illuminated.

Or being robbed, who are thus protected.

Exod. xvi. THE MANNA AS A TYPE.

The manna typified Christ, the true manna the Word of God-the comforts of the Spirit.

These come from Heaven, and support the soul in the wilderness.

1. It is food for Israelites, who follow the pillar of cloud and fire.

2. It is to be gathered, for ourselves, by ourselves, in the morning of our days and opportunities.

3. It is not to be hoarded up, but eaten. We must by faith receive Christ, and not hold His grace in vain.

4. There was manna enough for each and all, and none had too much. there is a complete sufficiency and no superfluity.

So in Christ

5. They who ate manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased. Whereas, they that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased.

The Lord evermore give us this bread!

We present these few examples of what we may fairly term "lesson material," gathered almost at random from Henry's "Exposition " (having merely been marked by us in the course of our reading), in the hope that they will serve to send our readers to the book itself, not to save, but to supplement, personal thought and labour. For, indeed, it is only by effort and meditation that we can make the thoughts of others our own, so as to use them with efficiency. They must be worn by us so as to become part of our mental habiliments, or we shall have to put them aside, saying with the son of Jesse, as he doffed the splendid panoply of Saul the king, "I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them."

"WHAT WAS BEFORE CHAOS?"

IN a Massachusetts Sabbath-school, while the pastor was reviewing the Bible esson on the " Creation," the question was asked, "What was before matter?" "Chaos." Some one in the school asked, "What was before chaos?" The pastor expected the answer, "Nothing," but after quite a pause a little girl in the rear of the room rose and answered in a loud, clear voice, "GOD. "Thus the faith of a little child grasped in an instant the idea of God's eternity. "A little child shall lead them."

Gleanings for Teachers.

"THE PRINCE OF LIFE."

"JESUS is called the Prince (i.e., Lord or Harbinger) of life, not only as the Risen One, but as the Servant of God whom the Jews had killed. This is an important retrospect of the benevolent, life-working miracles of Jesus, in which He showed Himself in every sense to be the possessor and dispenser of the power of life. Here, the present miracle just performed, and Christ's previous ones, and His resurrection, with its aim of giving others life in Himself, are comprehended in one complete conception. The giving of health and recovery was the action of the servant, and indeed the aim of His servantship; it is now the intention and desire of the Lord Himself, who wishes to serve His enemies. Israel, however, with wicked denial had preferred a murderer to a life-giver."—STIER.

"THE TIMES OF THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS." RECENT critics have devoted much labour to an attempt to prove that the era of the gospel is here intended, when the promises of the prophets are fulfilled in a measure, though not entirely so until Messiah's kingdom is universally set up. The whole gospel age, they say, is the "time of the restitution of all things." Much depends on the signification in which the adverb achri is taken. Here it is clearly an adverb of time, and though our translators render it "until," it has also the meaning of "during" in some places. Those, again, who believe that in the millennial days Christ will personally reign upon earth, look upon that as the "times" here spoken of. But there is really no good reason adducible for the displacement of the more general belief, supported by many ancient and modern authors, that the close of the present dispensation and the final judgment are intended by Peter. For, says one, stating the matter concisely at that time, "firstly, shall be restored to life all the dead, and the image of God renewed in the blessed; secondly, to God shall be restored the glory of His most wise government, not thoroughly discoverable in this world; and thirdly, the truth of the Divine predictions, promises, and threatenings, shall be then, as it were, restored to them by their completion, however much wicked men may have called them in question."

"THE REST."

THERE appears a difficulty in the statement that of "the rest none were willing to unite with the disciples, while we are told also that many were "added to the Lord." What is meant here by the rest? Doddridge explains it thus: "the people held them in distant admira

tion, and presumed not in any false pretence to join them, if not truly converted to their religion. Yet many were, as we see thereafter, though not the bulk." Beza thought that the rest (loipoi) referred to the powerful and malignant enemies who had already threatened the apostles. Lightfoot asserted that the word applies to the remainder of the hundred and twenty; they did not presume to put themselves upon an equal footing with the apostles,-an ingenious, but scarcely credible explanation. Doddridge shows that there is a close connection between the fact that believers were added to the church, and the healing of the sick; these were brought "into the streets," or "in every street."

THE TABERNACLE AND ITS COURT.

THE Tabernacle was first erected in the Desert of Sinai, 1490 B.C. Its cost was defrayed chiefly by the voluntary contributions of the people, and probably amounted, including the dress of the priests, to not less than £250,000 (Kitto's "Pictorial Bible"); and yet the liberality of the people was such, that their gifts were much more than sufficient for the purpose, and Moses caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp: "Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary," and so "the people were restrained from bringing" (Ex. xxxvi. 5, 6). The value of the precious metals alone which were used in the construction of this Tabernacle must have been immense. The Sacred Record gives the weight of gold, silver, and brass used (Ex. xxxviii. 24—29), which Dr. Kitto says was worth £213,320 3s. 6d. of our money. The wood used in its construction was of a very enduring character-a proof of which lies in the fact that this Tabernacle was the house around which the Israelites worshipped till David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim to a tent on Mount Zion, Jerusalem (1 Chron. xiii. 5—14; xv. 1—28), and at which they assembled occasionally till Solomon erected the Temple (2 Chron. i. 3), a period of 487 years. Our version calls it "shittim wood." is supposed to have been obtained from the Acacian family of plants. Dr. Kalisch invariably translates the Hebrew word, "Acacia wood." The measurements are given in cubits. Commentators do not all agree as to the precise English measure of the Hebrew cubit, but the most reliable authorities make it twenty-one inches.

It

The structure consisted of two chambers (Ex. xxvi. 33; Heb. ix. I-3), and a court open to the heavens (Ex. xxvii. 9). The first chamber was called the "Holy Place" (Heb. ix, 2; Ex. xxvi. 34) the second, the "Most Holy" (Ex. xxvi. 33), the "Holiest of all (Heb. ix. 3). This last received its title from the fact that the cloud in which Jehovah manifested His presence, rested therein on a throne (Lev. xvi. 2), evidently ascending through the roof.-Dilworth's Pictorial Description of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

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