The setting in which an incident is found in Scripture must always be taken into account. Fourteen times the words "At that time" occur in Deuteronomy.

Let us turn to two instances in chapter 10. It begins, "At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me in the mount."

In chapter 9 we have a proof that man at his best never answers to the claims of God. Israel had been sheltered from judgment, delivered from Pharaoh, fed with manna; they had drunk water from the smitten rock, been borne upon eagles' wings, separated as God's peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. No people had ever been brought thus near to God; and yet no sooner has Moses gone into the mount to receive His law which they pledged themselves to keep, than they break out into open rebellion against God, and dance before the golden calf.

Moses is hurried away to pronounce judgment on them; the two tables of stone, were broken before their eyes; all was over with them on the ground of responsibility, or obedience of law.

What was now to be done ? God ever had a resource, a '' Man of opportunity," that Man whose name was in the volume of the book-" Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God "-and it is just here we find Christ presented to us as the one and only Man who could magnify the law and make it honorable.

Moses is told, in answer to his intercessory prayer, to come into the mount again; but this time he was to make an "ark" to receive the tables of stone which he was to hew out and bring with him.

After forty days he descends again, but this time not to give the tables to the people, but to put them into the ark.

This ark is Christ, who in His prepared body came to do the will of God. He is here set before us in the ark; He is the only one whom God could entrust with His will-the only Man who could perfectly and completely answer to all the claims of God. Nay, more:He not only came to do God's will, but in the way He did it delighted the Father's heart. There was a heavenly charm surrounding Him, a sweet incense ever ascending; for was He not the true meal-offering, with its odor of a sweet smell, affording pleasure to God, drawing out the approbation and appreciation of the Father in His every act and word?

Once and again Heaven opened to declare there was One here who was fulfilling all its good pleasure-one perfect, blessed Man in whom it could be well pleased-the only one among men who could look up into the Father's face and say, "I do always those things that please Him"; " I have glorified Thee on the earth. "

It is this blessed One who is set before us in the ark. How good then to learn, in the utter breakdown of man, there is One who never has failed, and never can fail-Jesus, of whom David wrote, "Thou spakest in vision to Thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty "; "My covenant shall stand fast with Him; His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me." Yes, He remains the resource of God in every crisis and at all times.
In the next occurrence of the words "At that time," they tell us that it is God's will that others should share His delight in the Son of His love, enter into association, nearness and communion with Him in His thoughts of His "beloved One."

We therefore read that "at that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi." They were to take the place of the " first-born." Hitherto God had claimed the first-born in every family; but the whole nation had failed, and consequently we get a further unfolding of the divine mind. It was in the thoughts of God to have a people in priestly nearness to Himself, with whom He could make a "covenant of life and peace," who should be the "messengers of the Lord of hosts." They were set apart for three things:

To carry the ark;
To minister to the Lord;
To bless in His name.

We know well how they failed to carry out all this, and as a consequence were set aside, having refused, rejected, crucified Jesus the true ark.

Heb. 12 reminds us that we have taken their place:all believers to-day form part of "the firstborn ones." Just as the tribe of Levi took the place of the first-born in every family, so we Christians are God's "first-born ones."

Are we then among those who "bear the ark"? Are we shining as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of life ? The ark sets forth Christ in the only way He could be seen by the world. The ark, with its cloud, also indicated where they were to go; wherever it journeyed, they were to journey; where it stayed, they remained.

How this would settle a thousand questions as to where we shall go, what we shall do! Our sole business is to follow Christ, to walk in His footsteps, to exalt Him. Their occupation was to carry that which typified Christ through the world; their privilege and responsibility, to uphold Him. Every Christian is a "first-born " one, and thus responsible to carry Christ shoulder-high through this world. This answers to "confessing with our mouth the Lord Jesus." If we are found in association with anything that closes our mouth so that we cannot "confess" Him, we have failed in our mission to "bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord"-that new covenant in which our sins are remitted, remembered no more, and under which we "know the Lord."

Then they were to "stand before the Lord," and "MINISTER TO HIM." God delights to have His people near to Himself; He finds His joy in the adoring worship of their hearts, as they speak well of that beloved Man of His good pleasure, the very mention of whose name is as "ointment poured forth."

We are thus reminded there is a ministry Godward; we are to know what it is with full hands to stand before the Lord; in His very presence to enter into the Father's delights in the Son, and the Son's delights in the Father; for our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are consciously to enter into all that Christ is to God; to utter His praises, to celebrate His worth in the very holiest, to praise and bless His holy name forever. Then the priests, the Levites, were to