Thus much as to the man and his vows and bonds. In the case of the woman, whether as the daughter or the wife, we have the nation of Israel, and that in two ways, namely, under government and under grace. Looked at from a governmental point of view, Jehovah, who is at once the Father and the Husband, has held His peace at her, so that her vows and bonds are allowed to stand; and she is, to this day, suffering the consequences, and made to feel the force of those words, “Better that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” But on the other hand, as viewed from the blessed stand-point of grace, the Father and the Husband has taken all upon Himself, so that she shall be forgiven and brought into the fullness of blessing by and by, not on the ground of accomplished vows and ratified bonds, but on the ground of sovereign grace and mercy, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. How precious to find Christ every where! He is the centre and foundation, the beginning and the end, of all the ways of God. May our hearts be ever filled with Him; may our lips and lives speak His praise; may we, constrained by His love, live to His glory all our days upon earth, and then go home to be with Himself forever, to go no more out. We have here given what we believe to be the primary thought of this chapter. That it may be applied, in a secondary way, to individuals, we do not by any means question; and further, that, like all Scripture, it has been written for our learning, we most thankfully own. It must ever be the delight of the devout Christian to study all the ways of God, whether in grace or government—His ways with Israel, His ways with the Church, His ways with all, His ways with each. Oh to pursue this study with an enlarged heart and an enlightened understanding! CHAPTER XXXI. We have here the closing scene of Moses’ _official_ life, as in Deuteronomy xxxiv. we have the closing scene of his _personal_ history. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.’ And Moses spake unto the people, saying, ‘Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.’ So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and _Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest_, to the war, _with the holy instruments_, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; _and they slew all the males_.” (Ver. 3-7.)