405 lines
30 KiB
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405 lines
30 KiB
XML
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<div2 id="Deu.ix" n="ix" next="Deu.x" prev="Deu.viii" progress="85.34%" title="Chapter VIII">
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<h2 id="Deu.ix-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
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<h3 id="Deu.ix-p0.2">CHAP. VIII.</h3>
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<p class="intro" id="Deu.ix-p1">Moses had charged parents in teaching their
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children to whet the word of God upon them (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.7" parsed="|Deut|6|7|0|0" passage="De 6:7"><i>ch.</i> vi. 7</scripRef>) by frequent repetition of the
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same things over and over again; and here he himself takes the same
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method of instructing the Israelites as his children, frequently
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inculcating the same precepts and cautions, with the same motives
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or arguments to enforce them, that what they heard so often might
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abide with them. In this chapter Moses gives them, I. General
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exhortations to obedience, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.1 Bible:Deut.8.6" parsed="|Deut|8|1|0|0;|Deut|8|6|0|0" passage="De 8:1,6">ver. 1,
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6</scripRef>. II. A review of the great things God had done for
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them in the wilderness, as a good argument for obedience, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.2-Deut.8.5 Bible:Deut.8.15 Bible:Deut.8.16" parsed="|Deut|8|2|8|5;|Deut|8|15|0|0;|Deut|8|16|0|0" passage="De 8:2-5,15,16">ver. 2-5, 15, 16</scripRef>. III. A
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prospect of the good land into which God would now bring them,
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<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.7-Deut.8.9" parsed="|Deut|8|7|8|9" passage="De 8:7-9">ver. 7-9</scripRef>. IV. A necessary
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caution against the temptations of a prosperous condition,
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<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.10-Deut.8.14 Bible:Deut.8.17 Bible:Deut.8.18" parsed="|Deut|8|10|8|14;|Deut|8|17|0|0;|Deut|8|18|0|0" passage="De 8:10-14,17,18">ver. 10-14, and 17,
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18</scripRef>. V. A fair warning of the fatal consequences of
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apostasy from God, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.19-Deut.8.20" parsed="|Deut|8|19|8|20" passage="De 8:19,20">ver. 19,
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20</scripRef>.</p>
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<scripCom id="Deu.ix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8" parsed="|Deut|8|0|0|0" passage="De 8" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="Deu.ix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.1-Deut.8.9" parsed="|Deut|8|1|8|9" passage="De 8:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.8.1-Deut.8.9">
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<h4 id="Deu.ix-p1.9">A Charge to Israel; Israel's
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Retrospect. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Deu.ix-p2">1 All the commandments which I command thee this
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day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go
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in and possess the land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.1">Lord</span> sware unto your fathers. 2 And thou
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shalt remember all the way which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God led thee these forty years in the
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wilderness, to humble thee, <i>and</i> to prove thee, to know what
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<i>was</i> in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his
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commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered
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thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
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neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man
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doth not live by bread only, but by every <i>word</i> that
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proceedeth out of the mouth of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.3">Lord</span> doth man live. 4 Thy raiment waxed
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not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
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5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man
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chasteneth his son, <i>so</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.4">Lord</span> thy God chasteneth thee. 6 Therefore
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thou shalt keep the commandments of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.5">Lord</span> thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear
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him. 7 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p2.6">Lord</span> thy God
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bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
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fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8
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A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and
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pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land
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wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not
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lack any <i>thing</i> in it; a land whose stones <i>are</i> iron,
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and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p3">The charge here given them is the same as
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before, to keep and do all God's commandments. Their obedience must
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be, 1. Careful: <i>Observe to do.</i> 2. Universal: To <i>do all
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the commandments,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.1" parsed="|Deut|8|1|0|0" passage="De 8:1"><i>v.</i>
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1</scripRef>. And, 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God
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as the Lord, and their God, and particularly with a holy fear of
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him (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.6" parsed="|Deut|8|6|0|0" passage="De 8:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), from a
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reverence of his majesty, a submission to his authority, and a
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dread of his wrath. To engage them to this obedience, besides the
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great advantages of it, which he sets before them (that they should
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<i>live and multiply,</i> and all should be well with them,
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<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.1" parsed="|Deut|8|1|0|0" passage="De 8:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), he directs
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them,</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p4">I. To look back upon the wilderness through
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which God had now brought them: <i>Thou shalt remember all the way
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which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
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wilderness,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.2" parsed="|Deut|8|2|0|0" passage="De 8:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>.
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Now that they had come of age, and were entering upon their
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inheritance, they must be reminded of the discipline they had been
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under during their minority and the method God had taken to train
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them up for himself. The wilderness was the school in which they
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had been for forty years boarded and taught, under tutors and
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governors; and this was a time to bring it all to remembrance. The
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occurrences of these last forty years were very memorable and well
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worthy to be remembered, very useful and profitable to be
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remembered, as yielding a complication of arguments for obedience;
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and they were recorded on purpose that they might be remembered. As
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the feast of the passover was a memorial of their deliverance out
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of Egypt, so was the feast of tabernacles of their passage through
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the wilderness. Note, It is very good for us to remember all the
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ways both of God's providence and grace, by which he has led us
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hitherto through this wilderness, that we may be prevailed with
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cheerfully to serve him and trust in him. Here let us set up our
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Ebenezer.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p5">1. They must remember the straits they were
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sometimes brought into, (1.) For the mortifying of their pride; it
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was to <i>humble</i> them, that they might not be exalted above
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measure with the abundance of miracles that were wrought in their
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favor, and that they might not be secure, and confident of being in
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Canaan immediately. (2.) For the manifesting of their perverseness:
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to <i>prove</i> them, that they and others might know (for God
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himself perfectly knew it before) all that was in their heart, and
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might see that God chose them not for any thing in them that might
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recommend them to his favour, for their whole carriage was untoward
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and provoking. Many commandments God gave them which there would
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have been no occasion for if they had not been led through the
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wilderness, as those relating to the manna (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.16.28" parsed="|Exod|16|28|0|0" passage="Ex 16:28">Exod. xvi. 28</scripRef>); and God thereby tried them,
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as our first parents were tried by the trees of the garden, whether
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they would keep God's commandments or not. Or God thereby proved
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them whether they would trust his promises, the word which he
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commanded to a thousand generations, and, in dependence on his
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promises, obey his precepts.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p6">2. They must remember the supplies which
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were always granted them.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p7">(1.) God himself took particular care of
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their food, raiment, and health; and what would they have more?
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[1.] They had manna for food (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.3" parsed="|Deut|8|3|0|0" passage="De 8:3"><i>v.</i>
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3</scripRef>): <i>God suffered them to hunger,</i> and the <i>fed
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them with manna,</i> that the extremity of their want might make
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the supply the more acceptable, and God's goodness to them therein
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the more remarkable. God often brings his people low, that he may
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have the honour of helping them. And thus the manna of heavenly
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comforts is given to those that <i>hunger and thirst after
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righteousness,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.6" parsed="|Matt|5|6|0|0" passage="Mt 5:6">Matt. v.
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6</scripRef>. <i>To the hungry soul every bitter thing is
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sweet.</i> It is said of the manna that it was a sort of food which
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neither <i>they nor their fathers knew.</i> And again, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.16" parsed="|Deut|8|16|0|0" passage="De 8:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. If they knew there was
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such a thing that fell sometimes with the dew in those countries,
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as some think they did, yet it was never known to fall in such vast
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quantities, so constantly, and at all seasons of the year, so long,
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and only about a certain place. These things were altogether
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miraculous, and without precedent; <i>the Lord created a new
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thing</i> for their supply. And hereby he taught them the <i>man
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liveth not by bread alone.</i> Though God has appointed bread for
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the strengthening of man's heart, and that is ordinarily made the
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staff of life, yet God can, when he pleases, command support and
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nourishment without it, and make something else, very unlikely, to
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answer the intention as well. We might live upon air if it were
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sanctified for that use by <i>the word of God;</i> for the means
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God ordinarily uses he is not tied to, but can perform his kind
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purposes to his people without them. Our Saviour quotes this
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scripture in answer to that temptation of Satan, <i>Command that
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these stones be made bread.</i> "What need of that?" says Christ;
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"my heavenly Father can keep me alive without bread," <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.4.3-Matt.4.4" parsed="|Matt|4|3|4|4" passage="Mt 4:3,4">Matt. iv. 3, 4</scripRef>. Let none of God's
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children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful indirect course
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for the supply of their own necessities; some way or other, God
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will provide for them in the way of duty and honest diligence,
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<i>and verily they shall be fed.</i> It may be applied spiritually;
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the <i>word of God,</i> as it is the revelation of God's will and
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grace duly received and entertained by faith, is the food of the
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soul, the life which is supported by that is the life of the man,
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and not only that life which is supported by bread. The manna
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typified Christ, <i>the bread of life.</i> He is <i>the Word of
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God;</i> by him we live. The Lord evermore give us that bread which
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endures to eternal life, and let us not be put off with the <i>meat
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that perisheth!</i> [2.] The same clothes served them from Egypt to
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Canaan, at least the generality of them. Though they had no change
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of raiment, yet it was always new, and waxed not old upon them,
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<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.4" parsed="|Deut|8|4|0|0" passage="De 8:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. This was a
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standing miracle, and the greater if, as the Jews say, they grew
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with them, so as to be always fit for them. But it is plain that
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they brought out of Egypt bundles of clothes on their shoulders
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(<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.12.34" parsed="|Exod|12|34|0|0" passage="Ex 12:34">Exod. xii. 34</scripRef>), which they
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might barter with each other as there was occasion; and these, with
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what they wore, sufficed till they came into a country where they
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could furnish themselves with new clothes.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p8">(2.) By the method God took of providing
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food and raiment for them [1.] He humbled them. It was a
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mortification to them to be tied for forty years together to the
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same meat, without any varieties, and to the same clothes, in the
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same fashion. Thus he taught them that the good things he designed
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for them were figures of better things, and that the happiness of
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man consists not in being clothed in <i>purple or fine linen,</i>
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and in <i>faring sumptuously every day,</i> but in being taken into
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covenant and communion with God, and in <i>learning his righteous
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judgements.</i> God's law, which was given to Israel in the
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wilderness, must be to them instead of food and raiment. [2.] He
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proved them, whether they could trust him to provide for them when
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means and second causes failed. Thus he taught them to live in a
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dependence upon Providence, and not to perplex themselves with care
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<i>what they should eat and drink,</i> and <i>wherewithal they
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should be clothed.</i> Christ would have his disciples learn the
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same lesson (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.25" parsed="|Matt|6|25|0|0" passage="Mt 6:25">Matt. vi. 25</scripRef>),
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and took a like method to teach it to them, when he <i>sent them
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out without purse or scrip,</i> and yet took care that they
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<i>lacked nothing,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.35" parsed="|Luke|22|35|0|0" passage="Lu 22:35">Luke xxii.
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35</scripRef>. [3.] God took care of their health and ease. Though
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they travelled on foot in a dry country, the way rough and
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untrodden, yet their <i>feet swelled not.</i> God preserved them
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from taking hurt by the inconveniences of their journey; and
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mercies of this kind we ought to acknowledge. Note, Those that
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follow God's conduct are not only safe but easy. Our feet swell not
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while we keep in the way of duty; it is the <i>way of
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transgression</i> that <i>is hard,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.13.15" parsed="|Prov|13|15|0|0" passage="Pr 13:15">Prov. xiii. 15</scripRef>. God had promised to <i>keep
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the feet of his saints,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.9" parsed="|1Sam|2|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:9">1 Sam. ii.
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9</scripRef>.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p9">3. They must also remember the rebukes they
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had been under, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.6" parsed="|Deut|8|6|0|0" passage="De 8:6"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
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During these years of their education they had been kept under a
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strict discipline, and not without need. <i>As a man chasteneth his
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son,</i> for his good, and because he loves him, <i>so the Lord thy
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God chasteneth thee.</i> God is a loving tender Father to all his
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children, yet when there is occasion they shall feel the smart of
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the rod. Israel did so: they were chastened that they might not be
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condemned, chastened with the rod of men. Not as a man wounds and
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slays his enemies whose destruction he aims at, but as a man
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chastens his son whose happiness and welfare he designs: so did
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their God chasten them; he chastened and taught them, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.12" parsed="|Ps|94|12|0|0" passage="Ps 94:12">Ps. xciv. 12</scripRef>. This they must
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<i>consider in their heart,</i> that is, they must own it from
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their own experience that God had corrected them with a fatherly
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love, for which they must return to him a filial reverence and
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compliance. Because God has chastened thee as a father,
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<i>therefore</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.6" parsed="|Deut|8|6|0|0" passage="De 8:6"><i>v.</i>
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6</scripRef>) <i>thou shalt keep his commandments.</i> This use we
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should make of all our afflictions; by them let us be engaged and
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quickened to our duty. Thus they are directed to look back upon the
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wilderness.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p10">II. He directs them to look forward to
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Canaan, into which God was now bringing them. Look which way we
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will, both our reviews and our prospects will furnish us with
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arguments for obedience. Observe,</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p11">1. The land which they were now going to
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take possession of is here described to be a very good land, having
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every thing in it that was desirable, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.7-Deut.8.9" parsed="|Deut|8|7|8|9" passage="De 8:7-9"><i>v.</i> 7-9</scripRef>. (1.) It was <i>well-watered,
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like Eden, the garden of the Lord.</i> It was <i>a land of brooks
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of water, of fountains and depths,</i> which contributed to the
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fruitfulness of the soil. Perhaps there was a greater plenty of
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water there now than in Abraham's time, the Canaanites having found
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and digged wells; so that Israel reaped the fruit of their industry
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as well as of God's bounty. (2.) The ground produced great plenty
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of all good things, not only for the necessary support, but for the
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convenience and comfort of human life. In their fathers' land they
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had bread enough; it was corn land, a land of wheat and barley,
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where, with the common care and labour of the husbandman, they
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might eat bread without scarceness. It was a fruitful land, that
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was never turned into barrenness but for the iniquity of those that
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dwelt therein. They had not only water enough to quench their
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thirst, but vines, the fruit whereof was ordained to make glad the
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heart. And, if they were desirous of dainties, they needed not to
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send to far countries for them, when their own was so well stocked
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with fig-trees, and pomegranates, olives of the best kind, and
|
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|
honey, or <i>date-trees,</i> as some think it should be read. (3.)
|
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|
Even the bowels of its earth were very rich, though it should seem
|
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|
that <i>silver and gold they had none;</i> of these the princes of
|
|||
|
Sheba should bring presents (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.10 Bible:Ps.72.15" parsed="|Ps|72|10|0|0;|Ps|72|15|0|0" passage="Ps 72:10,15">Ps.
|
|||
|
lxxii. 10, 15</scripRef>); yet they had plenty of those more
|
|||
|
serviceable metals, iron and brass. Iron-stone and mines of brass
|
|||
|
were found in their hills. See <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.2" parsed="|Job|28|2|0|0" passage="Job 28:2">Job
|
|||
|
xxviii. 2</scripRef>.</p>
|
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|
<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p12">2. These things are mentioned, (1.) To show
|
|||
|
the great difference between that wilderness through which God had
|
|||
|
led them and the good land into which he was bringing them. Note,
|
|||
|
Those that bear the inconveniences of an afflicted state with
|
|||
|
patience and submission, are humbled by them and prove well under
|
|||
|
them, are best prepared for better circumstances. (2.) To show what
|
|||
|
obligations they lay under to keep God's commandments, both in
|
|||
|
gratitude for his favours to them and from a regard to their own
|
|||
|
interest, that the favours might be continued. The only way to keep
|
|||
|
possession of this good land would be to keep in the way of their
|
|||
|
duty. (3.) To show what a figure it was of good things to come.
|
|||
|
Whatever others saw, it is probable that Moses in it saw a type of
|
|||
|
the better country: The gospel church is the New-Testament Canaan,
|
|||
|
watered with the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with the
|
|||
|
trees of righteousness, bearing the fruits of righteousness. Heaven
|
|||
|
is the good land, in which there is nothing wanting, and where
|
|||
|
there is a fulness of joy.</p>
|
|||
|
</div><scripCom id="Deu.ix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8" parsed="|Deut|8|0|0|0" passage="De 8" type="Commentary"/>
|
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|
<scripCom id="Deu.ix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.10-Deut.8.20" parsed="|Deut|8|10|8|20" passage="De 8:10-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.8.10-Deut.8.20">
|
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|
<h4 id="Deu.ix-p12.3">Cautions Relating to Worldly
|
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|
Prosperity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p12.4">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
|
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|
<p class="passage" id="Deu.ix-p13">10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou
|
|||
|
shalt bless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.1">Lord</span> thy God for the
|
|||
|
good land which he hath given thee. 11 Beware that thou
|
|||
|
forget not the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.2">Lord</span> thy God, in not
|
|||
|
keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
|
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|
which I command thee this day: 12 Lest <i>when</i> thou hast
|
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|
eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt
|
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|
<i>therein;</i> 13 And <i>when</i> thy herds and thy flocks
|
|||
|
multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that
|
|||
|
thou hast is multiplied; 14 Then thine heart be lifted up,
|
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|
and thou forget the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.3">Lord</span> thy God,
|
|||
|
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house
|
|||
|
of bondage; 15 Who led thee through that great and terrible
|
|||
|
wilderness, <i>wherein were</i> fiery serpents, and scorpions, and
|
|||
|
drought, where <i>there was</i> no water; who brought thee forth
|
|||
|
water out of the rock of flint; 16 Who fed thee in the
|
|||
|
wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might
|
|||
|
humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy
|
|||
|
latter end; 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the
|
|||
|
might of <i>mine</i> hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But
|
|||
|
thou shalt remember the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.4">Lord</span> thy
|
|||
|
God: for <i>it is</i> he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that
|
|||
|
he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as
|
|||
|
<i>it is</i> this day. 19 And it shall be, if thou do at all
|
|||
|
forget the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.5">Lord</span> thy God, and walk
|
|||
|
after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify
|
|||
|
against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the
|
|||
|
nations which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.6">Lord</span> destroyeth
|
|||
|
before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be
|
|||
|
obedient unto the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.ix-p13.7">Lord</span>
|
|||
|
your God.</p>
|
|||
|
<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p14">Moses, having mentioned the great plenty
|
|||
|
they would find in the land of Canaan, finds it necessary to
|
|||
|
caution them against the abuse of that plenty, which was a sin they
|
|||
|
would be the more prone to now that they came into the vineyard of
|
|||
|
the Lord, immediately out of a barren desert.</p>
|
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|
<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p15">I. He directs them to the duty of a
|
|||
|
prosperous condition, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.10" parsed="|Deut|8|10|0|0" passage="De 8:10"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
10</scripRef>. They are allowed to eat even to fulness, not to
|
|||
|
surfeiting no excess; but let them always remember their
|
|||
|
benefactor, the founder of their feast, and never fail to give
|
|||
|
thanks after meat: <i>Then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God.</i>
|
|||
|
1. They must take heed of eating or drinking so much as to
|
|||
|
indispose themselves for this duty of blessing God, rather aiming
|
|||
|
to serve God therein with so much the more cheerfulness and
|
|||
|
enlargement. 2. They must not have any fellowship with those that,
|
|||
|
when they had eaten and were full, blessed false gods, as the
|
|||
|
Israelites themselves had done in their worship of the golden calf,
|
|||
|
<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.6" parsed="|Exod|32|6|0|0" passage="Ex 32:6">Exod. xxxii. 6</scripRef>. 3. Whatever
|
|||
|
they had the comfort of God must have the glory of. As our Saviour
|
|||
|
has taught us to bless before we eat (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.14.19-Matt.14.20" parsed="|Matt|14|19|14|20" passage="Mt 14:19,20">Matt. xiv. 19, 20</scripRef>), so we are here taught
|
|||
|
to bless after meat. That is our <i>Hosannah—God bless;</i> this
|
|||
|
is our <i>Hallelujah—Blessed be God. In every thing we must give
|
|||
|
thanks.</i> From this law the religious Jews took up a laudable
|
|||
|
usage of blessing God, not only at their solemn meals, but upon
|
|||
|
other occasions; if they drank a cup of wine they lifted up their
|
|||
|
hands and said, <i>Blessed be he that created the fruit of the vine
|
|||
|
to make glad the heart.</i> If they did but smell at a flower, they
|
|||
|
said, <i>Blessed be he that made this flower sweet.</i> 4. When
|
|||
|
they gave thanks for the fruits of the land they must give thanks
|
|||
|
for the fruits of the land itself, which was given them by promise
|
|||
|
From all our comfortable enjoyments we must take occasion to thank
|
|||
|
God for our comfortable settlements; and I know not but we of this
|
|||
|
nation have as much reason as they had to give thanks for a good
|
|||
|
land.</p>
|
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|
<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p16">II. He arms them against the temptations of
|
|||
|
a prosperous condition, and charges them to stand upon their guard
|
|||
|
against them: "When thou art settled in goodly houses of thy own
|
|||
|
building," <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.12" parsed="|Deut|8|12|0|0" passage="De 8:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef> (for
|
|||
|
though God gave them houses which they builded not, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.10" parsed="|Deut|6|10|0|0" passage="De 6:10"><i>ch.</i> vi. 10</scripRef>, these would not
|
|||
|
serve them, they must have larger and finer),—"and when thou hast
|
|||
|
grown <i>rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.13" parsed="|Deut|8|13|0|0" passage="De 8:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), as Abraham (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.13.2" parsed="|Gen|13|2|0|0" passage="Ge 13:2">Gen. xiii. 2</scripRef>),—when <i>all thou hast
|
|||
|
is multiplied,</i>" 1. "Then take heed of pride. Beware <i>lest
|
|||
|
then thy heart be lifted up,</i>" <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.14" parsed="|Deut|8|14|0|0" passage="De 8:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. When the estate rises, the mind
|
|||
|
is apt to rise with it, in self-conceit, self-complacency, and
|
|||
|
self-confidence. Let us therefore strive to keep the spirit low in
|
|||
|
a high condition; humility is both the ease and the ornament of
|
|||
|
prosperity. Take heed of saying, so much as in thy heart, that
|
|||
|
proud word, <i>My power, even the might of my hand, hath gotten me
|
|||
|
this wealth,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.17" parsed="|Deut|8|17|0|0" passage="De 8:17"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
17</scripRef>. Note, We must never take the praise of our
|
|||
|
prosperity to ourselves, nor attribute it to our ingenuity or
|
|||
|
industry; for bread is not always <i>to the wise,</i> nor <i>riches
|
|||
|
to men of understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.11" parsed="|Eccl|9|11|0|0" passage="Ec 9:11">Eccl. ix.
|
|||
|
11</scripRef>. It is spiritual idolatry thus to <i>sacrifice to our
|
|||
|
own net,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.16" parsed="|Hab|1|16|0|0" passage="Hab 1:16">Hab. i. 16</scripRef>. 2.
|
|||
|
"Then take heed of forgetting God." This follows upon the
|
|||
|
<i>lifting up on the heart;</i> for it is <i>through the pride of
|
|||
|
the countenance</i> that the <i>wicked seek not after God,</i>
|
|||
|
<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.10.4" parsed="|Ps|10|4|0|0" passage="Ps 10:4">Ps. x. 4</scripRef>. Those that admire
|
|||
|
themselves despise God. (1.) "Forget not thy duty to God."
|
|||
|
<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.11" parsed="|Deut|8|11|0|0" passage="De 8:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. We forget God
|
|||
|
if we keep not his commandments; we forget his authority over us,
|
|||
|
and our obligations to him and expectations from him, if we are not
|
|||
|
obedient to his laws. When men grow rich they are tempted to think
|
|||
|
religion a needless thing. They are happy without it, think it a
|
|||
|
thing below them and too hard upon them. Their dignity forbids them
|
|||
|
to stoop, and their liberty forbids them to serve. But we are
|
|||
|
basely ungrateful if the better God is to us the worse we are to
|
|||
|
him. (2.) "Forget not God's former dealings with thee. Thy
|
|||
|
deliverance out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.11" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.14" parsed="|Deut|8|14|0|0" passage="De 8:14"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
14</scripRef>. The provision he made for thee in the wilderness,
|
|||
|
that great and terrible wilderness." They must never forget the
|
|||
|
impressions which the horror of that wilderness made upon them; see
|
|||
|
<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.6" parsed="|Jer|2|6|0|0" passage="Jer 2:6">Jer. ii. 6</scripRef>, where it is
|
|||
|
called the very <i>shadow of death.</i> There God preserved them
|
|||
|
from being destroyed by the fiery serpents and scorpions, though
|
|||
|
sometimes he made use of them for their correction: there he kept
|
|||
|
them from perishing for want of water, following them with water
|
|||
|
out of a rock of flint (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.13" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.15" parsed="|Deut|8|15|0|0" passage="De 8:15"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
15</scripRef>), out of which (says bishop Patrick) one would rather
|
|||
|
have expected fire than water. There he fed them with manna, of
|
|||
|
which before (<scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.14" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.3" parsed="|Deut|8|3|0|0" passage="De 8:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
|
|||
|
taking care to keep them alive, that he might <i>do them good at
|
|||
|
their latter end,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.15" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.16" parsed="|Deut|8|16|0|0" passage="De 8:16"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
16</scripRef>. Note, God reserves the best till the last for his
|
|||
|
Israel. However he may seem to deal hardly with them by the way, he
|
|||
|
will not fail to do them good at their latter end. (3.) "Forget not
|
|||
|
God's hand in thy present prosperity, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p16.16" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.18" parsed="|Deut|8|18|0|0" passage="De 8:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Remember it is he that giveth
|
|||
|
thee wealth; for he <i>giveth thee power to get wealth.</i>" See
|
|||
|
here how God's giving and our getting are reconciled, and apply it
|
|||
|
to spiritual wealth. It is our duty to get wisdom, and above all
|
|||
|
our gettings to get understanding; and yet it is God's grace that
|
|||
|
gives wisdom, and when we have got it we must not say, It was the
|
|||
|
might of our hand that got it, but must own it was God that gave us
|
|||
|
power to get it, and therefore to him we must give the praise and
|
|||
|
consecrate the use of it. The <i>blessing of the Lord</i> on the
|
|||
|
<i>hand of the diligent</i> makes rich both for this world and for
|
|||
|
the other. He <i>giveth thee power to get wealth,</i> not so much
|
|||
|
to gratify thee, and make thee easy, as that he may establish his
|
|||
|
covenant. All God's gifts are in pursuance of his promises.</p>
|
|||
|
<p class="indent" id="Deu.ix-p17">III. He repeats the fair warning he had
|
|||
|
often given them of the fatal consequences of their apostasy from
|
|||
|
God, <scripRef id="Deu.ix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.19-Deut.8.20" parsed="|Deut|8|19|8|20" passage="De 8:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19, 20</scripRef>.
|
|||
|
Observe, 1. How he describes the sin; it is forgetting God, and
|
|||
|
then worshipping other gods. What wickedness will not those fall
|
|||
|
into that keep thoughts of God out of their minds? And, when once
|
|||
|
the affections are displaced from God, they will soon be misplaced
|
|||
|
upon lying vanities. 2. How he denounces wrath and ruin against
|
|||
|
them for it: "If you do so, <i>you shall surely perish,</i> and the
|
|||
|
power and might of your hands, which you are so proud of, cannot
|
|||
|
help you. Nay, you shall perish as the nations that are driven out
|
|||
|
before you. God will make no more account of you, notwithstanding
|
|||
|
his covenant with you and your relation to him, than he does of
|
|||
|
them, if you will not be obedient and faithful to him." Those that
|
|||
|
follow others in sin will certainly follow them to destruction. If
|
|||
|
we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners fare.</p>
|
|||
|
</div></div2>
|