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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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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>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</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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The first part of Moses's farewell sermon to Israel begins with this
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chapter, and is continued to the latter end of the fourth chapter. In
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the first five verses of this chapter we have the date of the sermon,
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the place where it was preached
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:1,2,5">ver. 1, 2, 5</A>),
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and the time when,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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The narrative in this chapter reminds them,
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I. Of the promise God made them of the land of Canaan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:6-8">ver. 6-8</A>.
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II. Of the provision made of judges for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:9-18">ver. 9-18</A>.
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III. Of their unbelief and murmuring upon the report of the spies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:19-33">ver. 19-33</A>.
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IV. Of the sentence passed upon them for it, and the ratification of
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that sentence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:34-46">ver. 34</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_8"> </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>Israel's History Repeated.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 These <I>be</I> the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on
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this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the
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Red <I>sea,</I> between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth,
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and Dizahab.
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2 (<I>There are</I> eleven days' <I>journey</I> from Horeb by the way of
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mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.)
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3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh
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month, on the first <I>day</I> of the month, <I>that</I> Moses spake unto
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the children of Israel, according unto all that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had
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given him in commandment unto them;
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4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which
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dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at
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Astaroth in Edrei:
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5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to
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declare this law, saying,
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6 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have
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dwelt long enough in this mount:
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7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the
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Amorites, and unto all <I>the places</I> nigh thereunto, in the plain,
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in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea
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side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the
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great river, the river Euphrates.
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8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the
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land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and
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Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here,
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I. The date of this sermon which Moses preached to the people of
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Israel. A great auditory, no question, he had, as many as could crowd
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within hearing, and particularly all the elders and officers, the
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representatives of the people; and, probably, it was on the sabbath day
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that he delivered this to them.
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1. The place were they were now encamped was <I>in the plain, in the
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land of Moab</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:1,5"><I>v.</I> 1, 5</A>),
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where they were just ready to enter Canaan, and engage in a war with
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the Canaanites. Yet he discourses not to them concerning military
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affairs, the arts and stratagems of war, but concerning their duty to
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God; for, if they kept themselves in his fear and favour, he would
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secure to them the conquest of the land: their religion would be their
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best policy.
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2. The time was near the end of the fortieth year since they came out
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of Egypt. So long God had <I>borne their manners,</I> and they had
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<I>borne their own iniquity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:34">Num. xiv. 34</A>),
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and now that a new and more pleasant scene was to be introduced, as a
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token for good, Moses repeats the law to them. Thus, after God's
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controversy with them on account of the golden calf, the first and
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surest sign of God's being reconciled to them was the <I>renewing of
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the tables.</I> There is no better evidence and earnest of God's favour
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than his putting his law in our hearts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147"19,20">Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The discourse itself. In general, Moses spoke unto them <I>all that
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the Lord had given him in commandment</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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which intimates, not only that what he now delivered was for substance
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the same with what had formerly been commanded, but that it was what
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God now commanded him to repeat. He gave them this rehearsal and
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exhortation purely by divine direction; God appointed him to leave this
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legacy to the church. He begins his narrative with their removal from
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Mount Sinai
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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and relates here,
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1. The orders which God gave them to decamp, and proceed in their march
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>):
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<I>You have dwelt long enough in this mount.</I> This was the mount
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<I>that burned with fire</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:18">Heb. xii. 18</A>),
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and <I>gendered to bondage,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:24">Gal. iv. 24</A>.
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Thither God brought them to humble them, and by the terrors of the law
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to prepare them for the land of promise. There he kept them about a
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year, and then told them they had <I>dwelt long enough</I> there, they
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must go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and
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affliction, into spiritual trouble and affliction of mind, he knows
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when they have dwelt long enough in it, and will certainly find a time,
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the fittest time, to advance them from the terrors of the spirit of
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adoption. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:15">Rom. viii. 15</A>.
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2. The prospect which he gave them of a happy and early settlement in
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Canaan: <I>Go to the land of the Canaanites</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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enter and take possession, it is all your own. <I>Behold I have set the
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land before you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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When God commands us to go forward in our Christian course he sets the
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heavenly Canaan before us for our encouragement.</P>
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<A NAME="De1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="De1_18"> </A>
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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>The Charge to Magistrates.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</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>9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to
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bear you myself alone:
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10 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye <I>are</I>
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this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
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11 (The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of your fathers make you a thousand times so
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many more as ye <I>are,</I> and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
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12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden,
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and your strife?
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13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your
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tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
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14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast
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spoken <I>is</I> good <I>for us</I> to do.
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15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and
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made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains
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over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens,
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and officers among your tribes.
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16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear <I>the
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causes</I> between your brethren, and judge righteously between
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<I>every</I> man and his brother, and the stranger <I>that is</I> with him.
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17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; <I>but</I> ye shall
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hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of
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the face of man; for the judgment <I>is</I> God's: and the cause that
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is too hard for you, bring <I>it</I> unto me, and I will hear it.
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18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye
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should do.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Moses here reminds them of the happy constitution of their government,
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which was such as might make them all safe and easy if it was not their
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own fault. When good laws were given them good men were entrusted with
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the execution of them, which, as it was an instance of God's goodness
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to them, so it was of the care of Moses concerning them; and, it should
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seem, he mentions it here to recommend himself to them as a man that
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sincerely sought their welfare, and so to make way for what he was
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about to say to them, wherein he aimed at nothing but their good. In
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this part of his narrative he insinuates to them,</P>
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<P>
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I. That he greatly rejoiced in the increase of their numbers. He owns
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the accomplishment of God's promise to Abraham
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>You are as the stars of heaven for multitude;</I> and prays for the
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further accomplishment of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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<I>God make you a thousand times more.</I> This prayer comes in in a
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parenthesis, and a good prayer prudently put in cannot be impertinent
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in any discourse of divine things, nor will a pious ejaculation break
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the coherence, but rather strengthen and adorn it. But how greatly are
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his desires enlarged when he prays that they might be made a thousand
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times more than they were! We are not straitened in the power and
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goodness of God, why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope,
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which ought to be as large as the promise? larger they need not be. It
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is from the promise that Moses here takes the measures of his prayer:
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<I>The Lord bless you as he hath promised you.</I> And why might he not
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hope that they might become a thousand times more than they were now
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when they were now ten thousand times more than they were when they
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went down into Egypt, about 250 years ago? Observe, When they were
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under the government of Pharaoh the increase of their numbers was
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envied, and complained of as a grievance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+1:9">Exod. i. 9</A>);
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but now, under the government of Moses, it was rejoiced in, and prayed
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for as a blessing. The consideration of this might give them occasion
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to reflect with shame upon their own folly when they had talked of
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making a captain and returning to Egypt.</P>
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<P>
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II. That he was not ambitious of monopolizing the honour of the
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government, and ruling them himself alone, as an absolute monarch,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Though he was a man as well worthy of that honour, and as well
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qualified for the business, as ever any man was, yet he was desirous
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that others might be taken in as assistants to him in the business and
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consequently sharers with him in the honour: <I>I cannot myself alone
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bear the burden,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Magistracy is a burden. Moses himself, though eminently gifted for it,
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found it lay heavily on his shoulders; nay, the best magistrates
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complain most of the burden, and are most desirous of help, and most
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afraid of undertaking more than they can perform.</P>
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<P>
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III. That he was not desirous to prefer his own creatures, or such as
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should underhand have a dependence upon him; for he leaves it to the
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people to choose their own judges, to whom he would grant commissions,
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not <I>durant bene placito--to be turned out when he pleased;</I> but
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<I>quam diu se bene gesserint--to continue so long as they approved
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themselves faithful. Take you wise men, that are known to be so among
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your tribes, and I will make them rulers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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Thus the apostles directed the multitude to choose overseers of the
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poor, and then they ordained them,.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:3,6">Acts vi. 3, 6</A>.
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He directs them to <I>take wise men and understanding,</I> whose
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personal merit would recommend them. The rise and origin of this nation
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were so late that none of them could pretend to antiquity of race, and
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nobility of birth, above their brethren; and, having all lately come
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out of slavery in Egypt, it is probable that one family was not much
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richer than another; so that their choice must be directed purely by
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the qualifications of wisdom, experience, and integrity. "Choose
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those," says Moses, "whose praise is in your tribes, and with all my
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heart <I>I will make them rulers.</I>" We must not grudge that God's
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work be done by other hands than ours, provided it be done by good
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hands.</P>
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<P>
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IV. That he was in this matter very willing to please the people; and,
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though he did not in any thing aim at their applause, yet in a thing of
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this nature he would not act without their approbation. And they agreed
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to the proposal: <I>The thing which thou hast spoken is good,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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This he mentions to aggravate the sin of their mutinies and discontents
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after this, that the government they quarrelled with was what they
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themselves had consented to; Moses would have pleased them if they
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would have been pleased.</P>
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<P>
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V. That he aimed to edify them as well as to gratify them; for,</P>
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<P>
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1. He appointed men of good characters
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
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<I>wise men and men known,</I> men that would be faithful to their
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trust and to the public interest.</P>
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<P>
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2. He gave them a good charge,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
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Those that are advanced to honour must know that they are charged with
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business, and must give account another day of their charge.
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(1.) He charges them to be diligent and patient: <I>Hear the
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causes.</I> Hear both sides, hear them fully, hear them carefully; for
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nature has provided us with two ears, and <I>he that answereth a matter
|
|
before he heareth it, it is folly and shame to him.</I> The ear of the
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|
learner is necessary to the tongue of the learned,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:4">Isa. l. 4</A>.
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(2.) To be just and impartial: <I>Judge righteously.</I> Judgment must
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|
be given according to the merits of the cause, without regard to the
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|
quality of the parties. The natives must not be suffered to abuse the
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strangers any more that the strangers to insult the natives or to
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encroach upon them; the great must not be suffered to oppress the
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small, nor to crush them, any more than the small, to rob the great, or
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|
to affront them. No faces must be known in judgment, but unbribed
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unbiased equity must always pass sentence.
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(3.) To be resolute and courageous: "<I>You shall not be afraid of the
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face of man;</I> be not overawed to do an ill thing, either by the
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clamours of the crowd or by the menaces of those that have power in
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their hands." And he gave them a good reason to enforce this charge:
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"<I>For the judgment is God's.</I> You are God's vicegerents, you act
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for him, and therefore must act like him; you are his representatives,
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but if you judge unrighteously, you misrepresent him. The judgment is
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his, and therefore he will protect you in doing right, and will
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certainly call you to account if you do wrong."</P>
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<P>
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3. He allowed them to bring all difficult cases to him, and he would
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always be ready to hear and determine, and to make both the judges and
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the people easy. <I>Happy art thou. O Israel!</I> in such praise as
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Moses was.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel's Sin at Kadesh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</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>19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that
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great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the
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mountain of the Amorites, as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God commanded us; and
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we came to Kadesh-barnea.
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20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the
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Amorites, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God doth give unto us.
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21 Behold, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God hath set the land before thee: go
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up <I>and</I> possess <I>it,</I> as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of thy fathers hath said
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unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
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22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will
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send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and
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bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what
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cities we shall come.
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23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of
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you, one of a tribe:
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24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto
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the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
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25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and
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brought <I>it</I> down unto us, and brought us word again, and said,
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<I>It is</I> a good land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God doth give us.
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26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the
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commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God:
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27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to
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deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
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28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our
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heart, saying, The people <I>is</I> greater and taller than we; the
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cities <I>are</I> great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have
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seen the sons of the Anakims there.
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29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
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30 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for
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you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your
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eyes;
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31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the
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way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
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32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God,
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33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to
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pitch your tents <I>in,</I> in fire by night, to show you by what way
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ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
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34 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> heard the voice of your words, and was wroth,
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and sware, saying,
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35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil
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generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your
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fathers,
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36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him
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will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his
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children, because he hath wholly followed the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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37 Also the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou
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also shalt not go in thither.
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38 <I>But</I> Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he
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shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to
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inherit it.
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39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey,
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and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between
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good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I
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give it, and they shall possess it.
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40 But <I>as for</I> you, turn you, and take your journey into the
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wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
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41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, we will go up and fight, according to all that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his
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|
weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
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42 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither
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fight; for I <I>am</I> not among you; lest ye be smitten before your
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enemies.
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43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled
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against the commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and went presumptuously up
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into the hill.
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44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out
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against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in
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Seir, <I>even</I> unto Hormah.
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45 And ye returned and wept before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; but the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> would
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not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
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46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days
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that ye abode <I>there.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Moses here makes a large rehearsal of the fatal turn which was given to
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their affairs by their own sins, and God's wrath, when, from the very
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borders of Canaan, the honour of conquering it, and the pleasure of
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possessing it, the whole generation was hurried back into the
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wilderness, and their carcases fell there. It was a memorable story; we
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read it
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+13:1-14:45">Num. 13 and 14</A>,
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but divers circumstances are found here which are not related
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there.</P>
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<P>
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I. He reminds them of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
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through <I>that great and terrible wilderness.</I> This he takes notice
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of,
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|
1. To make them sensible of the great goodness of God to them, in
|
|
guiding them through so great a wilderness, and protecting them from
|
|
the mischiefs they were surrounded with in such a terrible wilderness.
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|
The remembrance of our dangers should make us thankful for our
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|
deliverances.
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2. To aggravate the folly of those who, in their discontent, would have
|
|
gone back to Egypt through the wilderness, though they had forfeited,
|
|
and had no reason to expect, the divine guidance, in such a retrograde
|
|
motion.</P>
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<P>
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II. He shows them how fair they stood for Canaan at that time,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
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He told them with triumph, the land is <I>set before you, go up and
|
|
possess it.</I> He lets them see how near they were to a happy
|
|
settlement when they put a bar in their own door, that their sin might
|
|
appear the more exceedingly sinful. It will aggravate the eternal ruin
|
|
of hypocrites that they were <I>not far from the kingdom of God</I> and
|
|
yet came short,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+12:34">Mark xii. 34</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. He lays the blame of sending the spies upon them, which did not
|
|
appear in Numbers, there it is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+13:1,2"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 1, 2</A>)
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|
that the Lord directed the sending of them, but here we find that the
|
|
people first desired it, and God, in permitting it, gave them up to
|
|
their counsels: <I>You said, We will send men before us,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
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Moses had given them God's word
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>),
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|
|
but they could not find in their hearts to rely upon that: human policy
|
|
goes further with them than divine wisdom, and they will needs light a
|
|
candle to the sun. As if it were not enough that they were sure of a
|
|
God before them, they must send men before them.</P>
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|
<P>
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|
IV. He repeats the report which the spies brought of the goodness of
|
|
the land which they were sent to survey,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
|
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|
The blessings which God has promised are truly valuable and desirable,
|
|
even the unbelievers themselves being judges: never any looked into the
|
|
holy land, but they must own it a good land. Yet they represented the
|
|
difficulties of conquering it as insuperable
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
as if it were in vain to think of attacking them either by battle, "for
|
|
the people are taller than we," or by siege, "for the cities are walled
|
|
up to heaven," an hyperbole which they made use of to serve their ill
|
|
purpose, which was to dishearten the people, and perhaps they intended
|
|
to reflect on the God of heaven himself, as if they were able to defy
|
|
him, like the Babel-builders, the top of whose tower must reach to
|
|
heaven,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+11:4">Gen. xi. 4</A>.
|
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|
|
Those places only are walled up to heaven that are compassed with God's
|
|
favour as with a shield.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
V. He tells them what pains he took with them to encourage them, when
|
|
their brethren had said so much to discourage them
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then I said unto you, Dread not.</I> Moses suggested enough to have
|
|
stilled the tumult, and to have kept them with their faces towards
|
|
Canaan. He assured them that God was present with them, and president
|
|
among them, and would certainly <I>fight for them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
And for proof of his power over their enemies he refers them to what
|
|
they had seen done in Egypt, where their enemies had all possible
|
|
advantages against them and yet were humbled and forced to yield,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
And for proof of God's goodwill to them, and the real kindness which he
|
|
intended them, he refers them to what <I>they had seen in the
|
|
wilderness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:31,33"><I>v.</I> 31, 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
through which they had been guided by the eye of divine wisdom in a
|
|
pillar of cloud and fire (which guided both their motions and their
|
|
rests), and had been carried in the arms of divine grace with as much
|
|
care and tenderness as were ever shown to any child borne in the arms
|
|
of a nursing father. And was there any room left to distrust this God?
|
|
Or were they not the most ungrateful people in the world, who, after
|
|
such sensible proofs of the divine goodness, <I>hardened their hearts
|
|
in the day of temptation?</I> Moses had complained once that God had
|
|
charged him to carry this people <I>as a nursing father doth the
|
|
sucking child</I>
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|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:12">Num. xi. 12</A>);
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|
|
but here he owns that it was God that so carried them, and perhaps this
|
|
is alluded to
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:18">Acts xiii. 18</A>),
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|
|
where he is said to <I>bear them,</I> or to <I>suffer their
|
|
manners.</I></P>
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|
<P>
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|
|
VI. He charges them with the sin which they were guilty of upon this
|
|
occasion. Though those to whom he was now speaking were a new
|
|
generation, yet he lays it upon them: <I>You rebelled, and you
|
|
murmured;</I> for many of these were then in being, though under twenty
|
|
years old, and perhaps were engaged in the riot; and the rest inherited
|
|
their fathers' vices, and smarted for them. Observe what he lays to
|
|
their charge.
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|
|
1. Disobedience and rebellion against God's law: <I>You would not go
|
|
up, but rebelled,</I>
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
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|
|
The rejecting of God's favours is really a rebelling against his
|
|
authority.
|
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|
2. Invidious reflections upon God's goodness. They basely suggested:
|
|
<I>Because the Lord hated us, he brought us out of Egypt,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
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|
|
What could have been more absurd, more disingenuous, and more
|
|
reproachful to God?
|
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|
|
3. An unbelieving heart at the bottom of all this: <I>You did not
|
|
believe the Lord your God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
All your disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and
|
|
goodness, flow from a disbelief of his word. A sad pass it has come to
|
|
with us when the God of eternal truth cannot be believed.</P>
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|
|
|
<P>
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|
|
|
VII. He repeats the sentence passed upon them for this sin, which now
|
|
they had seen the execution of.
|
|
|
|
1. They were all condemned to die in the wilderness, and none of them
|
|
must be suffered to enter Canaan except Caleb and Joshua,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:34-38"><I>v.</I> 34-38</A>.
|
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|
|
So long they must continue in their wanderings in the wilderness that
|
|
most of them would drop off of course, and the youngest of them should
|
|
be cut off. Thus <I>they could not enter in because of unbelief.</I> It
|
|
was not the breach of any of the commands of the law that shut them out
|
|
of Canaan, no, not the golden calf, but their disbelief of that promise
|
|
which was typical of gospel grace, to signify that no sin will ruin us
|
|
but unbelief, which is a sin against the remedy.
|
|
|
|
2. Moses himself afterwards fell under God's displeasure for a hasty
|
|
word which they provoked him to speak: <I>The Lord was angry with me
|
|
for your sakes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
Because all the old stock must go off, Moses himself must not stay
|
|
behind. Their unbelief let death into the camp, and, having entered,
|
|
even Moses falls within his commission.
|
|
|
|
3. Yet here is mercy mixed with wrath.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That, though Moses might not bring them into Canaan, Joshua should
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Encourage him;</I> for he would be discouraged from taking up a
|
|
government which he saw Moses himself fall under the weight of; but let
|
|
him be assured that he shall accomplish that for which he is raised up:
|
|
<I>He shall cause Israel to inherit it.</I> Thus <I>what the law could
|
|
not do, in that it was weak,</I> Jesus, our Joshua, does by bringing in
|
|
the better hope.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, though this generation should not enter into Canaan, the
|
|
next should,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
As they had been chosen for their fathers' sakes, so their children
|
|
might justly have been rejected for their sakes. But <I>mercy rejoiceth
|
|
against judgement.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. He reminds them of their foolish and fruitless attempt to get
|
|
this sentence reversed when it was too late.
|
|
|
|
1. They tried it by their reformation in this particular; whereas they
|
|
had refused to go up against the Canaanites, now they would go up, aye,
|
|
that they would, in all haste, and they girded on their weapons of war
|
|
for that purpose,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus, when the door is shut, and the day of grace is over, there will
|
|
be found those that stand without and knock. But this, which looked
|
|
like a reformation, proved but a further rebellion. God, by Moses,
|
|
prohibited the attempt
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>yet they went presumptuously up to the hill</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>),
|
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|
|
acting now in contempt of the threatening, as before in contempt of the
|
|
promise, as if they were governed by a spirit of contradiction; and it
|
|
sped accordingly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>):
|
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|
|
they were chased and destroyed; and, by this defeat which they suffered
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when they provoked God to leave them, they were taught what success
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they might have had if they had kept themselves in his love.
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2. They tried by their prayers and tears to get the sentence reversed:
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<I>They returned and wept before the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>.
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While they were fretting and quarrelling, it is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:1">Num. xiv. 1</A>):
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<I>They wept that night;</I> those were tears of rebellion
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<I>against</I> God, these were tears of repentance and humiliation
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<I>before</I> God. Note, Tears of discontent must be wept over again;
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the sorrow of the world worketh death, and is to be repented of; it is
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not so with godly sorrow, <I>that</I> will end in joy. But their
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weeping was all to no purpose. <I>The Lord would not harken to your
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voice,</I> because you would not harken to his; the decree had gone
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forth, and, like Esau, they found no place of repentance, though they
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sought it carefully with tears.</P>
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