h
that spiritual Presence revealing Himself out of a wholly different
sphere; and in so far as they remembered Him, and the Voice which had
thrilled their nature to its core, in so far would they be free from the
desire for any carnal and materialised divinity to go before them.

Impressed with such views of God, their service of Him would be moulded
accordingly (24, 25). It is true that nothing could be too splendid for
His sanctuary, and Bezaleel was presently to be inspired, that the work
of the tabernacle might be worthy of its destination. Spirituality is
not meanness, nor is art without a consecration of its own. But it must
not intrude too closely upon the solemn act wherein the soul seeks the
pardon of the Creator. The altar should not be a proud structure, richly
sculptured and adorned, and offering in itself, if not an object of
adoration, yet a satisfying centre of attention for the worshipper. It
should be simply a heap of sods. And if they must needs go further, and
erect a more durable pile, it must still be of materials crude,
inartistic, such as the earth itself affords, of unhewn stone. A golden
casket is fit to convey the freedom of some historic city to a prince,
but the noblest offering of man to God is too humble to deserve an
ostentatious altar.

"If thou lift up a tool upon it thou hast polluted it:" it has lost its
virginal simplicity; it no longer suits a spontaneous offering of the
heart, it has become artificial, sophisticated, self-conscious,
polluted.

It is vehemently urged that these verses sanction a plurality of altars
(so that one might be of earth and another of stone), and recognise the
lawfulness of worship in other places than at a central appointed
shrine. And it is concluded that early Judaism knew nothing of the
exclusive sanctity of the tabernacle and the temple.

This argument forgets the circumstances. The Jews had been led to Horeb,
the mount of God. They were soon to wander away thence through the
wilderness. Altars had to be set up in many places, and might be of
different materials. It was an important announcement that in every
place where God would record His name He would come unto them and bless
them. But certainly the inference leans rather toward than against the
belief that it was for Him to select every place which should be sacred.

The last direction given with regard to worship is a homely one. It
commands that the altar must not be approached with steps, l