Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers
Alexander Maclaren was one of the Victorian era's most celebrated preachers, and these expositions reveal why his sermons still resonate over a century later. This commentary on Genesis through Numbers combines scholarly rigor with a pastor's heart, drawing out theological depth while never losing sight of spiritual application. Maclaren writes with literary sophistication, his prose rising to moments of genuine beauty as he meditates on creation, the fall, the exodus, and the wilderness wanderings of Israel. He engages with the text as both scholar and believer, illuminating difficult passages while maintaining a reverent, sometimes awestruck tone toward the sacred narrative. For readers interested in how an accomplished Victorian mind tackled the Pentateuch, this offers both historical insight and enduring devotional substance.
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“God looks on the upright, as has been said; and the upright shall gaze on Him.... That mutual gaze is blessedness. They who looking up behold Jehovah are brave to front all foes and to keep calm hearts in the midst of alarms. Hope burns like a pillar of fire in them when it is gone out in others; and to all the suggestions of their own timidity or of others they have the answer, "In the Lord have I put my trust; how say ye to my soul, Flee? Here I stand; I can do no otherwise. God help me. Amen.””
— Alexander Maclaren
“Lord, I cannot walk in the narrow path. Do Thou Thyself come to me and fill my heart and keep my feet.””
— Alexander Maclaren
“You have nothing to do but to receive the things that are freely given to you of God”
— Alexander Maclaren
“In the religious life it is possible to commit an analogous error, and to prize so unwisely peaceful hours of communion, as to waive imperative duty for the sake of them; like Peter with his "Let us make here three tabernacles," while there were devil-ridden sufferers waiting to be healed down on the plain. Moments of devotion, which do not prepare for hours of practical righteousness, are very untrustworthy. But, on the other hand, the paths of righteousness will not be trodden by those who have known nothing of the green pastures and waters where the wearied can rest.””
— Alexander Maclaren
“Self-preservation is not a man’s first duty: flight is his last. Better and wiser and infinitely nobler to stand a mark for the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and to stop at our post though we fall there, better infinitely to toil on, even when toil seems vain, than cowardly to keep a whole skin at the cost of a wounded conscience or despairingly to fling up work, because the ground is hard and the growth of the seed imperceptible. Prudent advices, when the prudence is only inspired by sense, are generally foolish.””
— Alexander Maclaren
“True love is an intense desire for the presence of its object. God is only ours in reality when we are conscious of His nearness, and that is strange love of Him which is content to pass days without ever setting Him before itself.””
— Alexander Maclaren
