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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Exodus, Chapter XXIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC02022.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC02024.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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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E X O D U S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIII.</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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This chapter continues and concludes the acts that passed in the first
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session (if I may so call it) upon mount Sinai. Here are,
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I. Some laws of universal obligation, relating especially to the ninth
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commandment, against bearing false witness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:1">ver. 1</A>),
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and giving false judgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:2,3,6-8">ver. 2, 3, 6-8</A>.
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Also a law of doing good to our enemies
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>),
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and not oppressing strangers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:9">ver. 9</A>.
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II. Some laws peculiar to the Jews. The sabbatical year
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:10,11">ver. 10, 11</A>),
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the three annual feasts
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:14-17">ver. 14-17</A>),
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with some laws pertaining thereto.
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III. Gracious promises of the completing of the mercy God had begun for
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them, upon condition of their obedience. That God would conduct them
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through the wilderness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:20-24">ver. 20-24</A>),
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that he would prosper all they had
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:25,26">ver. 25, 26</A>),
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that he would put them in possession of Canaan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:27-31">ver. 27-31</A>.
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But they must not mingle themselves with the nations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:32,33">ver. 32, 33</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ex23_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_9"> </A>
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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>Judicial Laws.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</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 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with
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the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
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2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to <I>do</I> evil; neither shalt
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thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest <I>judgment:</I>
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3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
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4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou
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shalt surely bring it back to him again.
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5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his
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burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help
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with him.
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6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
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7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and
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righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
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8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise,
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and perverteth the words of the righteous.
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9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart
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of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here are,
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I. Cautions concerning judicial proceedings; it was not enough that
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they had good laws, better than ever any nation had, but care must be
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taken for the due administration of justice according to those
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laws.</P>
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<P>
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1. The witnesses are here cautioned that they neither occasion an
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innocent man to be indicted, by raising a false report of him and
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setting common fame against him, nor assist in the prosecution of an
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innocent man, or one whom they do not know to be guilty, by <I>putting
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their hand</I> in swearing as witnesses against him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Bearing false witness against a man, in a matter that touches his life,
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has in it all the guilty of lying, perjury, malice, theft, murder, with
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the additional stains of colouring all with a pretence of justice and
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involving many others in the same guilt. There is scarcely any one act
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of wickedness that a man can possibly be guilty of which has in it a
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greater complication of villanies than this has. Yet the former part of
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this caution is to be extended, not only to judicial proceedings, but
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to common conversation; so that slandering and backbiting are a species
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of falsewitness-bearing. A man's reputation lies as much at the mercy
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of every company as his estate or life does at the mercy of a judge or
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jury; so that he who raises, or knowingly spreads, a false report
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against his neighbour, especially if the report be made to wise and
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good men whose esteem one would desire to enjoy, sins as much against
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the laws of truth, justice, and charity, as a false witness does--with
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this further mischief, that he leaves it not in the power of the person
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injured to obtain redress. That which we translate, Thou shalt not
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<I>raise,</I> the margin reads, Thou shalt not <I>receive</I> a false
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report; for sometimes the receiver, in this case, is as bad as the
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thief; and a backbiting tongue would not do so much mischief as it does
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if it were not countenanced. Sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false
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report, but we must not receive it, that is, we must not hear it with
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pleasure and delight as those that rejoice in iniquity, nor give credit
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to it as long as there remains any cause to question the truth of it.
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This is charity to our neighbour's good name, and doing as we would be
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done by.</P>
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<P>
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2. The judges are here cautioned not to pervert judgment.
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(1.) They must not be overruled, either by might or multitude, to go
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against their consciences in giving judgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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With the Jews causes were tried by a bench of justices, and judgment
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given according to the majority of votes, in which cause every
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particular justice must go according to truth, as it appeared to him
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upon the strictest and most impartial enquiry, though the multitude of
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the people, and their outcries, or, the sentence of the <I>rabbim</I>
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(we translate it <I>many</I>), the more ancient and honourable of the
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justices, went the other way. Therefore (as with us), among the Jews,
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the junior upon the bench voted first, that he might not be swayed nor
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overruled by the authority of the senior. Judges must not respect the
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persons either of the parties or of their fellow-judges. The former
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part of this verse also gives a general rule for all, as well as
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judges, not <I>to follow a multitude to do evil.</I> General usage will
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never excuse us in a bad practice; nor is the broad way ever the better
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or safer for its being tracked and crowded. We must enquire what we
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ought to do, not what the majority do; because we must be judged by our
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Master, not by our fellow-servants, and it is too great a compliment to
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be willing to go to hell for company.
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(2.) They must not pervert judgment, no, not in favour of a poor man,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Right must in all cases take place and wrong must be punished, and
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justice never biassed nor injury connived at under pretence of charity
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and compassion. If a poor man be a bad man, and do a bad thing, it is
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foolish pity to let him fare the better for his poverty,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:16,17">Deut. i. 16, 17</A>.
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(3.) Neither must they pervert judgment in prejudice to a poor man, nor
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suffer him to be wronged because he had not wherewithal to right
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himself; in such cases the judges themselves must become advocates for
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the poor, as far as their cause was good and honest
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor;</I> remember they
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are thy poor, bone of thy bone, thy poor neighbours, thy poor brethren;
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let them not therefore fare the worse for being poor."
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(4.) They must dread the thoughts of assisting or abetting a bad cause
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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"<I>Keep thyself far from a false matter;</I> do not only keep thyself
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free from it, nor think it enough to say thou art unconcerned in it,
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but keep far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. The innocent and
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righteous thou wouldest not, for all the world, slay with thy own
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hands; keep far therefore from a false matter, for thou knowest not but
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it may end in that, and the righteous God will not leave such
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wickedness unpunished: <I>I will not justify the wicked,</I>" that is,
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"I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others." Judges themselves
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are accountable to the great judge.
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(5.) They must not take bribes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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They must not only not be swayed by a gift to give an unjust judgment,
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to condemn the innocent, or acquit the guilty, or adjudge a man's right
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from him, but they must not so much as take a gift, lest it should have
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a bad influence upon them, and overrule them, contrary to their
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intentions; for it has a strange tendency to blind those that otherwise
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would do well.
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(6.) They must not oppress a stranger,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Though aliens might not inherit lands among them, yet they must have
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justice done them, must peaceably enjoy their own, and be redressed if
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they were wronged, though they were strangers to the commonwealth of
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Israel. It is an instance of the equity and goodness of our law, that,
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if an alien be tried for any crime except treason, the one half of his
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jury, if he desire it, shall be foreigners; they call it a trial <I>per
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mediatatem linguae,</I> a kind provision that strangers may not be
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oppressed. The reason here given is the same with that in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+22:21"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 21</A>,
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<I>You were strangers,</I> which is here elegantly enforced, <I>You
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know the heart of a stranger;</I> you know something of the griefs and
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fears of a stranger by sad experience, and therefore, being delivered,
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can the more easily put your souls into their souls' stead.</P>
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<P>
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II. Commands concerning neighbourly kindnesses. We must be ready to do
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all good offices, as there is occasion, for any body, yea even for
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those that have done us ill offices,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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The command of loving our enemies, and doing good to those that hate
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us, is not only a <I>new,</I> but an <I>old</I> commandment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:21,22">Prov. xxv. 21, 22</A>.
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Infer hence,
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1. If we must do this kindness for an enemy, much more for a friend,
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though an enemy only is mentioned, because it is supposed that a man
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would not be unneighbourly to any unless such as he had a particular
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spleen against.
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2. If it be wrong not to prevent our enemy's loss and damage, how much
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worse is it to occasion harm and loss to him, or any thing he has.
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3. If we must bring back our neighbours' cattle when they go astray,
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much more must we endeavour, by prudent admonitions and instructions,
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to bring back our neighbours themselves, when they go astray in any
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sinful path, see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+5:19,20">Jam. v. 19, 20</A>.
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And, if we must endeavour to help up a fallen ass, much more should we
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endeavour, by comforts and encouragements, to help up a sinking spirit,
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<I>saying to those that are of a fearful heart, Be strong.</I> We must
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seek the relief and welfare of others <I>as our own,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+2:4">Phil. ii. 4</A>.
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<I>If thou sayest, Behold, we know it not, doth not he that pondereth
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the heart consider it?</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:11,12">Prov. xxiv. 11, 12</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Sacred Feasts.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<A NAME="Ex23_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex23_19"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in
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the fruits thereof:
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11 But the seventh <I>year</I> thou shalt let it rest and lie still;
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that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the
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beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal
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with thy vineyard, <I>and</I> with thy oliveyard.
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12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou
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shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of
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thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
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13 And in all <I>things</I> that I have said unto you be
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circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods,
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neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
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14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
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15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt
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eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time
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appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from
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Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
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16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours,
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which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering,
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<I>which is</I> in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy
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labours out of the field.
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17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before
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the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened
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bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the
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morning.
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19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring
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into the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid
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in his mother's milk.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The institution of the sabbatical year,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
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Every seventh year the land was to rest; they must not plough nor sow
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it at the beginning of the year, and then they could not expect any
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great harvest at the end of the year: but what the earth did produce of
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itself should be eaten from hand to mouth, and not laid up. Now this
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was designed,
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1. To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing
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them--that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the
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produce of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could
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spare the increase of every seventh year.
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2. To remind them of their dependence upon God their great landlord,
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and their obligation to use the fruit of their land as he should
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direct. Thus he would try their obedience in a matter that nearly
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touched their interest. Afterwards we find that their disobedience to
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this command was a forfeiture of the promises,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:21">2 Chron. xxxvi. 21</A>.
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3. To teach them a confidence in the divine Providence, while they did
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their duty--that, as the sixth day's manna served for two day's meat,
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so the sixth year's increase should serve for two years' subsistence.
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Thus they must learn not to <I>take thought for their life,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:25">Matt. vi. 25</A>.
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If we are prudent and diligent in our affairs, we may trust Providence
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to furnish us with the bread of the day in its day.</P>
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<P>
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II. The repetition of the law of the fourth commandment concerning the
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weekly sabbath,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Even in the year of rest they must not think that the sabbath day was
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laid in common with the other days, but, even that year, it must be
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religiously observed; yet thus some have endeavoured to take away the
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observance of the sabbath, by pretending that every day must be a
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sabbath day.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. All manner of respect to the gods of the heathen is here strictly
|
|
forbidden,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
A general caution is prefixed to this, which has reference to all these
|
|
precepts: <I>In all things that I have said unto you, be
|
|
circumspect.</I> We are in danger of missing our way on the right hand
|
|
and on the left, and it is at our peril if we do; therefore we have
|
|
need to look about us. A man may ruin himself through mere
|
|
carelessness, but he cannot save himself without great care and
|
|
circumspection: particularly, since idolatry was a sin which they were
|
|
much addicted to, and would be greatly tempted to, they must endeavour
|
|
to blot out the remembrance of the gods of the heathen, and must disuse
|
|
and forget all their superstitious forms of speech, and never mention
|
|
them but with detestation. In Christian schools and academies (for it
|
|
is in vain to think of reforming the play-houses), it were to be wished
|
|
that the names and stories of the heathen deities, or demons rather,
|
|
were not so commonly and familiarly used as they are, even with
|
|
intimations of respect, and sometimes with forms of invocation. Surely
|
|
we have <I>not so learned Christ.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Their solemn religious attendance on God in the place which he
|
|
should choose is here strictly required,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:14-17"><I>v.</I> 14-17</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. Thrice a year all their males must come together in a holy
|
|
convocation, that they might the better know and love one another, and
|
|
keep up their communion as a dignified and peculiar people.
|
|
|
|
2. They must come together <I>before the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
to present themselves before him, looking towards the place where his
|
|
honour dwelt, and to pay their homage to him as their great Lord, from
|
|
and under whom they held all their enjoyments.
|
|
|
|
3. They must feast together before the Lord, eating and drinking
|
|
together, in token of their joy in God and their grateful sense of his
|
|
goodness to them; for <I>a feast is made for laughter,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:19">Eccl. x. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
O what a good Master do we serve, who has made it our duty to
|
|
<I>rejoice before him,</I> who feasts his servants when they are in
|
|
waiting! Never let religion be called a melancholy thing, when its
|
|
solemn services are solemn feasts.
|
|
|
|
4. They must not <I>appear before God empty,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some free-will offering or other they must bring, in token of their
|
|
respect and gratitude to their great benefactor; and, as they were not
|
|
allowed to come empty-handed, so we must not come to worship God
|
|
empty-hearted; our souls must be filled with grace, with pious and
|
|
devout affections, holy desires towards him, and dedications of
|
|
ourselves to him, for <I>with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.</I>
|
|
|
|
5. The passover, pentecost, and feast of tabernacles, in spring,
|
|
summer, and autumn, were the three times appointed for their
|
|
attendance: not in winter, because travelling was then uncomfortable;
|
|
not in the midst of their harvest, because then they were otherwise
|
|
employed; so that they had no reason to say that he <I>made them to
|
|
serve with an offering,</I> or <I>wearied them with incense.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Some particular directions are here given about the three feasts,
|
|
though not so fully as afterwards.
|
|
|
|
1. As to the passover, it was not to be offered with leavened bread,
|
|
for at that feast all leaven was to be cast out, nor was the fat of it
|
|
to remain until the morning, lest it should become offensive,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. At the feast of pentecost, when they were to begin their harvest,
|
|
they must bring <I>the first of their first-fruits</I> to God, by the
|
|
pious presenting of which the whole harvest was sanctified,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. At the feast of <I>ingathering,</I> as it is called
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
they must give God thanks for the harvest-mercies they had received,
|
|
and must depend upon him for the next harvest, and must not think to
|
|
receive benefit by that superstitious usage of some of the Gentiles,
|
|
who, it is said, at the end of their harvest, <I>seethed a kid in its
|
|
dam's milk,</I> and sprinkled that milk-pottage, in a magical way, upon
|
|
their gardens and fields, to make them more fruitful next year. But
|
|
Israel must abhor such foolish customs.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex23_33"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Precepts and Promises.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the
|
|
way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
|
|
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he
|
|
will not pardon your transgressions: for my name <I>is</I> in him.
|
|
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I
|
|
speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an
|
|
adversary unto thine adversaries.
|
|
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto
|
|
the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the
|
|
Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them
|
|
off.
|
|
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor
|
|
do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and
|
|
quite break down their images.
|
|
25 And ye shall serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, and he shall bless thy
|
|
bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the
|
|
midst of thee.
|
|
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy
|
|
land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
|
|
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the
|
|
people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies
|
|
turn their backs unto thee.
|
|
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out
|
|
the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
|
|
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest
|
|
the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply
|
|
against thee.
|
|
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee,
|
|
until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
|
|
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea
|
|
of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I
|
|
will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou
|
|
shalt drive them out before thee.
|
|
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
|
|
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin
|
|
against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a
|
|
snare unto thee.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Three gracious promises are here made to Israel, to engage them to
|
|
their duty and encourage them in it; and each of the promises has some
|
|
needful precepts and cautions joined to it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way
|
|
through the wilderness to the land of promise: <I>Behold, I send an
|
|
angel before thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>my angel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
a created angel, say some, a minister of God's providence, employed in
|
|
conducting and protecting the camp of Israel; that it might appear that
|
|
God took a particular care of them, he appointed one of his chief
|
|
servants to make it his business to attend them, and see that they
|
|
wanted for nothing. Others suppose it to be the Son of God, the angel
|
|
of the covenant; for the Israelites in the wilderness are said to
|
|
<I>tempt Christ;</I> and we may as well suppose him God's messenger,
|
|
and the church's Redeemer, before his incarnation, as <I>the Lamb slain
|
|
from the foundation of the world.</I> And we may the rather think he
|
|
was pleased to undertake the deliverance and guidance of Israel because
|
|
they were typical of his great undertaking. It is promised that this
|
|
blessed angel should <I>keep them in the way,</I> though it lay through
|
|
a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies' country; thus
|
|
God's spiritual Israel shall be kept through the wilderness of this
|
|
earth, and from the insults of the gates of hell. It is also promised
|
|
that he should bring them into the place which God had not only
|
|
designed but prepared for them: and thus Christ has prepared a place
|
|
for his followers, and will preserve them to it, for he is faithful to
|
|
him that appointed him. The precept joined with this promise is that
|
|
they be observant of, and obedient to, this angel whom God would send
|
|
before them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Beware of him, and obey his voice</I> in every thing; <I>provoke
|
|
him not</I> in any thing, for it is at your peril if you do, he will
|
|
<I>visit your iniquity.</I>" Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Christ is the author of salvation to those only that obey him. The
|
|
word of command is <I>Hear you him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+17:5">Matt. xvii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Observe what he hath commanded,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:20">Matt. xxviii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Our necessary dependence upon the divine power and goodness should
|
|
awe us into obedience. We do well to take heed of provoking our
|
|
protector and benefactor, because if our defence depart from us, and
|
|
the streams of his goodness be cut off, we are undone. Therefore,
|
|
"<I>Beware of him,</I> and carry it towards him with all possible
|
|
reverence and caution. Fear the <I>Lord, and his goodness.</I>"
|
|
|
|
3. Christ will be faithful to those who are faithful to him, and will
|
|
espouse their cause who adhere to his: <I>I will be an adversary to
|
|
thine adversaries,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The league shall be offensive and defensive, like that with Abraham,
|
|
<I>I will bless him that blesseth thee, and curse him that curseth
|
|
thee.</I> Thus is God pleased to twist his interests and friendships
|
|
with his people's.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. It is promised that they should have a comfortable settlement in
|
|
the land of Canaan, which they hoped now (though it proved otherwise)
|
|
within a few months to be in the possession of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:24-26"><I>v.</I> 24-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How reasonable the conditions of this promise are--only that they
|
|
should serve their own God, who was indeed the only true God, and not
|
|
the gods of the nations, which were no gods at all, and which they had
|
|
no reason at all to have any respect for. They must not only not
|
|
worship their gods, but they must utterly overthrow them, in token of
|
|
their great abhorrence of idolatry, their resolution never to worship
|
|
idols themselves, and their care to prevent any other from worshipping
|
|
them; as the converted conjurors <I>burnt their books,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:19">Acts xix. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. How rich the particulars of this promise are.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The comfort of their food. He shall <I>bless thy bread and thy
|
|
water;</I> and God's blessing will make bread and water more refreshing
|
|
and nourishing than a feast of fat things and wines on the lees without
|
|
that blessing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The continuance of their health: "<I>I will take sickness
|
|
away,</I> either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited
|
|
with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have
|
|
laid countries waste."
|
|
|
|
(3.) The increase of their wealth. Their cattle should not be barren,
|
|
nor cast their young, which is mentioned as an instance of prosperity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:10">Job xxi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The prolonging of their lives to old age: "<I>The number of thy
|
|
days I will fulfil,</I> and they shall not be cut off in the midst by
|
|
untimely deaths." Thus hath godliness the <I>promise of the life that
|
|
now is.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. It is promised that they should conquer and subdue their enemies,
|
|
the present occupants of the land of Canaan, who must be driven out to
|
|
make room for them. This God would do,
|
|
|
|
1. Effectually by his power
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
not so much by the sword and bow of Israel as by the terrors which he
|
|
would strike into the Canaanites. Though they were so obstinate as not
|
|
to be willing to submit to Israel, resign their country, and retire
|
|
elsewhere, which they might have done, yet they were so dispirited that
|
|
they were not able to stand before them. This completed their ruin;
|
|
such power had the devil in them that they would resist, but such power
|
|
had God over them that they could not. <I>I will send my fear before
|
|
thee;</I> and those that fear will soon flee. Hosts of hornets made
|
|
way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God make use of
|
|
for the chastising of his people's enemies, as in the plagues of Egypt.
|
|
When God pleases, hornets can drive out Canaanites, as well as lions
|
|
could,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:12">Josh. xxiv. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He would do it gradually, in wisdom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:29,30"><I>v.</I> 29, 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
not all at once, but by little and little. As the Canaanites had kept
|
|
possession till Israel had grown into a people, so there should still
|
|
be some remains of them till Israel should grow so numerous as to
|
|
replenish the whole. Note, The wisdom of God is to be observed in the
|
|
gradual advances of the church's interests. It is in real kindness to
|
|
the church that its enemies are subdued by little and little; for thus
|
|
we are kept upon our guard, and in a continual dependence upon God.
|
|
Corruptions are thus driven out of the hearts of God's people; not all
|
|
at once, but by little and little; the old man is crucified, and
|
|
therefore dies slowly. God, in his providence, often delays mercies,
|
|
because we are not ready for them. Canaan has room enough to receive
|
|
Israel, but Israel is not numerous enough to occupy Canaan. We are not
|
|
straitened in God; if we are straitened, it is in ourselves. The land
|
|
of Canaan is promised them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>)
|
|
|
|
in its utmost extent, which yet they were not possessed of till the
|
|
days of David; and by their sins they soon lost possession. The precept
|
|
annexed to this promise is that they should not make any friendship,
|
|
nor have any familiarity, with idolaters,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:32,33"><I>v.</I> 32, 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
Idolaters must not so much as sojourn in their land, unless they
|
|
renounced their idolatry. Thus they must avoid the reproach of
|
|
intimacy with the worshippers of false gods and the danger of being
|
|
drawn to worship with them. By familiar converse with idolaters, their
|
|
dread and detestation of the sin would wear off; they would think it no
|
|
harm, in compliment to their friends, to pay some respect to their
|
|
gods, and so by degrees would be drawn into the fatal snare. Note,
|
|
Those that would be kept from bad courses must keep from bad company;
|
|
it is dangerous living in a bad neighbourhood; others' sins will be our
|
|
snares, if we look not well to ourselves. We must always look upon our
|
|
greatest danger to be from those that would cause us to sin against
|
|
God. Whatever friendship is pretended, that is really our worst enemy
|
|
that draws us from our duty.</P>
|
|
|
|
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