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503 lines
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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Numbers, Chapter XXXIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC04032.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC04034.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. A particular account of the removals and encampments of the children
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of Israel, from their escape out of Egypt to their entrance into
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Canaan, forty-two in all, with some remarkable events that happened at
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some of those places,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:1-49">ver. 1-49</A>.
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II. A strict command given them to drive out all the inhabitants of the
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land of Canaan, which they were not going to conquer and take
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possession of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:50-56">ver. 50-56</A>.
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So that the former part of the chapter looks back upon their march
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through the wilderness, the latter looks forward to their settlement in
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Canaan.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encampments of the Israelites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1452.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 These <I>are</I> the journeys of the children of Israel, which
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went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the
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hand of Moses and Aaron.
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2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys
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by the commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and these <I>are</I> their journeys
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according to their goings out.
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3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the
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fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the
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passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the
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sight of all the Egyptians.
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4 For the Egyptians buried all <I>their</I> firstborn, which the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had smitten among them: upon their gods also the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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executed judgments.
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5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched
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in Succoth.
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6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which
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<I>is</I> in the edge of the wilderness.
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7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto
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Pi-hahiroth, which <I>is</I> before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before
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Migdol.
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8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through
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the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days'
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journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.
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9 And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim
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<I>were</I> twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm
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trees; and they pitched there.
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10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.
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11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the
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wilderness of Sin.
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12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin,
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and encamped in Dophkah.
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13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.
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14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where
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was no water for the people to drink.
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15 And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the
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wilderness of Sinai.
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16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at
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Kibroth-hattaavah.
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17 And they departed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped at
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Hazeroth.
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18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.
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19 And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez.
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20 And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libnah.
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21 And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.
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22 And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.
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23 And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.
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24 And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in
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Haradah.
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25 And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.
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26 And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.
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27 And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.
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28 And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.
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29 And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.
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30 And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.
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31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan.
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32 And they removed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at
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Hor-hagidgad.
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33 And they went from Hor-hagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.
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34 And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.
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35 And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber.
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36 And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the
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wilderness of Zin, which <I>is</I> Kadesh.
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37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in
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the edge of the land of Edom.
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38 And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the
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commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and died there, in the fortieth year
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after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt,
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in the first <I>day</I> of the fifth month.
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39 And Aaron <I>was</I> an hundred and twenty and three years old
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when he died in mount Hor.
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40 And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the
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land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.
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41 And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.
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42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.
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43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.
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44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ije-abarim, in
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the border of Moab.
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45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.
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46 And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in
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Almon-diblathaim.
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47 And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the
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mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
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48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched
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in the plains of Moab by Jordan <I>near</I> Jericho.
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49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jesimoth <I>even</I> unto
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Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This is a review and brief rehearsal of the travels of the children of
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Israel through the wilderness. It was a memorable history and well
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worthy to be thus abridged, and the abridgment thus preserved, to the
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honour of God that led them and for the encouragement of the
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generations that followed. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. How the account was kept: <I>Moses wrote their goings out,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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When they began this tedious march, God ordered him to keep a journal
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or diary, and to insert in it all the remarkable occurrences of their
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way, that it might be a satisfaction to himself in the review and an
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instruction to others when it should be published. It may be of good
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use to private Christians, but especially to those in public stations,
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to preserve in writing an account of the providences of God concerning
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them, the constant series of mercies they have experienced, especially
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those turns and changes which have made some days of their lives more
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remarkable. Our memories are deceitful and need this help, that we may
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<I>remember all the way which the Lord our God has led us in this
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wilderness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:2">Deut. viii. 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. What the account itself was. It began with their departure out of
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Egypt, continued with their march through the wilderness, and ended in
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the plains of Moab, where they now lay encamped.</P>
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<P>
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1. Some things are observed here concerning their departure out of
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Egypt, which they are reminded of upon all occasions, as a work of
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wonder never to be forgotten.
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(1.) That they <I>went forth with their armies</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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rank and file, as an army with banners.
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(2.) Under the hand of Moses and Aaron, their guides, overseers, and
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rulers, under God.
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(3.) <I>With a high hand,</I> because God's hand was high that wrought
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for them, <I>and in the sight of all the Egyptians,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They did not steal away clandestinely
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:12">Isa. lii. 12</A>),
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but in defiance of their enemies, to whom God had made them such a
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burdensome stone that they neither could, nor would, nor durst, oppose
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them.
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(4.) They went forth while the Egyptians were burying, or at least
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preparing to bury, their first-born,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They had a mind good enough, or rather bad enough, still to have
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detained the Israelites their prisoners, but God found them other work
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to do. They would have God's first-born buried alive, but God set them
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a burying their own first-born.
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(5.) To all the plagues of Egypt it is added here that <I>on their gods
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also the Lord executed judgments.</I> Their idols which they
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worshipped, it is probable, were broken down, as Dagon afterwards
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before the ark, so that they could not consult them about this great
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affair. To this perhaps there is reference,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+19:1">Isa. xix. 1</A>,
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<I>The idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. Concerning their travels towards Canaan. Observe,
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(1.) They were continually upon the remove. When they had pitched a
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little while in one place they departed from that to another. Such is
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our state in this world; we have here no continuing city.
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(2.) Most of their way lay through a wilderness, uninhabited,
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untracked, unfurnished even with the necessaries of human life, which
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magnifies the wisdom and power of God, by whose wonderful conduct and
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bounty the thousands of Israel not only subsisted for forty years in
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that desolate place, but came out at least as numerous and vigorous as
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they went in. At first they pitched <I>in the edge of the
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wilderness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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but afterwards in the heart of it; by less difficulties God prepares
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his people for greater. We find them in the wilderness of Etham
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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of Sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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of Sinai,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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Our removals in this world are but from one wilderness to another.
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(3.) They were led to and fro, forward and backward, as in a maze or
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labyrinth, and yet were all the while under the direction of the pillar
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of cloud and fire. He led them about
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:10">Deut. xxxii. 10</A>),
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and yet led them the right way,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:7">Ps. cvii. 7</A>.
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The way which God takes in bringing his people to himself is always the
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best way, though it does not always seem to us the nearest way.
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(4.) Some events are mentioned in this journal, as their want of water
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at Rephidim
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
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the death of Aaron
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:38,39"><I>v.</I> 38, 39</A>),
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the insult of Arad
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>);
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and the very name of <I>Kibroth-hattaavah--the graves of lusts</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
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has a story depending upon it. Thus we ought to keep in mind the
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providences of God concerning us and our families, us and our land, and
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the many instances of that divine care which has led us, and fed us,
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and kept us, all our days hitherto. Shittim, the place where the
|
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|
people sinned in the matter of Peor
|
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|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+25:1"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 1</A>),
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|
is here called <I>Abel-shittim. Abel</I> signifies <I>mourning</I> (as
|
||
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+50:11">Gen. l. 11</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and probably this place was so called from the mourning of the good
|
||
|
people of Israel on account of that sin and of God's wrath against them
|
||
|
for it. It was so great a mourning that it gave a name to the
|
||
|
place.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_50"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_51"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_52"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_53"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_54"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_55"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Nu33_56"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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||
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Canaanites Doomed.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1452.</TD></TR>
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||
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>50 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by
|
||
|
Jordan <I>near</I> Jericho, saying,
|
||
|
51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When
|
||
|
ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
|
||
|
52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from
|
||
|
before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their
|
||
|
molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
|
||
|
53 And ye shall dispossess <I>the inhabitants</I> of the land, and
|
||
|
dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
|
||
|
54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among
|
||
|
your families: <I>and</I> to the more ye shall give the more
|
||
|
inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance:
|
||
|
every man's <I>inheritance</I> shall be in the place where his lot
|
||
|
falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall
|
||
|
inherit.
|
||
|
55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land
|
||
|
from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye
|
||
|
let remain of them <I>shall be</I> pricks in your eyes, and thorns in
|
||
|
your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
|
||
|
56 Moreover it shall come to pass, <I>that</I> I shall do unto you,
|
||
|
as I thought to do unto them.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness their total
|
||
|
separation from all other people kept them out of the way of temptation
|
||
|
to idolatry, and perhaps this was one thing intended by their long
|
||
|
confinement in the wilderness, that thereby the idols of Egypt might be
|
||
|
forgotten, and the people aired (as it were) and purified from that
|
||
|
infection, and the generation that entered Canaan might be such as
|
||
|
never knew those depths of Satan. But now that they were to pass over
|
||
|
Jordan they were entering again into that temptation, and therefore,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. They are here strictly charged utterly to destroy all remnants of
|
||
|
idolatry. They must not only <I>drive out the inhabitants of the
|
||
|
land,</I> that they may possess their country, but they must deface all
|
||
|
their idolatrous pictures and images, and <I>pull down all their high
|
||
|
places,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:52"><I>v.</I> 52</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
They must not preserve any of them, no, not as monuments of antiquity
|
||
|
to gratify the curious, nor as ornaments of their houses, nor toys for
|
||
|
their children to play with, but they must destroy all, both in token
|
||
|
of their abhorrence and detestation of idolatry and to prevent their
|
||
|
being tempted to worship those images, and the false gods represented
|
||
|
by them, or to worship the God of Israel by such images or
|
||
|
representations.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. They were assured that, if they did so, God would by degrees put
|
||
|
them in full possession of the land of promise,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:53,54"><I>v.</I> 53, 54</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If they would keep themselves pure from the idols of Canaan, God would
|
||
|
enrich them with the wealth of Canaan. Learn not their way, and then
|
||
|
fear not their power.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. They were threatened that, if they spared either the idols or the
|
||
|
idolaters, they should be beaten with their own rod and their sin would
|
||
|
certainly be their punishment.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) They would foster snakes in their own bosoms,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:55"><I>v.</I> 55</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The remnant of the Canaanites, if they made any league with them,
|
||
|
though it were but a cessation of arms, would be <I>pricks in their
|
||
|
eyes and thorns in their sides,</I> that is, they would be upon all
|
||
|
occasions vexatious to them, insulting them, robbing them, and, to the
|
||
|
utmost of their power, making mischief among them. We must expect
|
||
|
trouble and affliction from that, whatever it is, which we sinfully
|
||
|
indulge; that which we are willing should tempt us we shall find will
|
||
|
vex us.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) The righteous God would turn that wheel upon the Israelites which
|
||
|
was to have crushed the Canaanites: <I>I shall do to you as I thought
|
||
|
to do unto them,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+33:56"><I>v.</I> 56</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It was intended that the Canaanites should be dispossessed; but if the
|
||
|
Israelites fell in with them, and learned their way, they should be
|
||
|
dispossessed, for God's displeasure would justly be greater against
|
||
|
them than against the Canaanites themselves. Let us hear this, and
|
||
|
fear. If we do not drive sin out, sin will drive us out; if we be not
|
||
|
the death of our lusts, our lusts will be the death of our souls.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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