ere is, that the vocation and destination of the
covenant-people, which is already expressed in the Law, but which
hitherto was realised only very imperfectly, is, at some future period,
to be perfectly realised. In Exod. xix. 6, God says of Israel: "Ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, [Hebrew: mmlkt khniM]."[2]
Hence, first a kingdom. The nature of a kingdom is, not to have any
power over it other than the Divine power, and to have everything else
under its authority. By this declaration, the dominion of the world was
secured to the people of God. This high prerogative always remained
with the covenant-people so long as they had not, by their guilt,
spontaneously got under a moral servitude to the world. The outward
servitude was always a reflection of the inward only. It never was
inflicted upon the covenant-people as such, but always upon that
covenant-people which had become like the world. And even when this
_unnatural_ condition took place, this high dignity was not forfeited
by the single individuals who, knowing that they were purchased at a
high price, had kept themselves inwardly free from the bondage of the
world. Although in fetters and bonds, they yet remained inwardly free.
World, [Pg 471] sin, death, and hell, could do them no harm. Yea,
notwithstanding all outward appearance of victory, those enemies were,
in reality, ruled by them; and even their outward servitude was, when
more deeply considered, a sign of their dominion. For the Law of the
Lord of Hosts was in their inward parts; it was the living principle of
their existence. It was according to this Law that the whole world was
governed; and it was according to it that the servitude of their people
also took place. They were thus co-regents with God, and, as such,
ruled over their rulers.--All the single members of this kingdom, which
consists entirely of kings, were, at the same time, to be priests. In
these words it was already implied and declared, that the Levitical
priesthood, which was instituted at a later period, could not have that
importance which the priesthood had with other nations of antiquity,
where priests and people stood in an absolute antithesis, which
admitted of no mediation, and where it was the priests only who stood
in an immediate relation to God. It was thereby implied and declared,
that the priests, in one aspect, (in other respects, they were types
and foreshadowings of Christ) possessed rights that were only
transfe