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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. IX.</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 design of Moses in this chapter is to convince the people of Israel
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of their utter unworthiness to receive from God those great favours
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that were now to be conferred upon them, writing this, as it were, in
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capital letters at the head of their charter, "Not for your sake, be it
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known unto you,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+36:32">Ezek. xxxvi. 32</A>.
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I. He assures them of victory over their enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. He cautions them not to attribute their successes to their own
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merit, but to God's justice, which was engaged against their enemies,
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and his faithfulness, which was engaged to their fathers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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III. To make it evident that they had no reason to boast of their own
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righteousness, he mentions their faults, shows Israel their
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transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. In general, they
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had been all along a provoking people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:7-24">ver. 7-24</A>.
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In particular,
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1. In the matter of the golden calf, the story of which he largely
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relates,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:8-21">ver. 8-21</A>.
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2. He mentions some other instances of their rebellion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:22,23">ver. 22, 23</A>.
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And,
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3. Returns, at
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:25">ver. 25</A>,
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to speak of the intercession he had made for them at Horeb, to prevent
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their being ruined for the golden calf.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De9_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_6"> </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>Victory Promised.</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 Hear, O Israel: Thou <I>art</I> to pass over Jordan this day, to
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go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself,
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cities great and fenced up to heaven,
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2 A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom
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thou knowest, and <I>of whom</I> thou hast heard <I>say,</I> Who can stand
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before the children of Anak!
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3 Understand therefore this day, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God <I>is</I> he
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which goeth over before thee; <I>as</I> a consuming fire he shall
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destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so
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shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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hath said unto thee.
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4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
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hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the
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wickedness of these nations the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> doth drive them out from
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before thee.
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5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine
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heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness
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of these nations the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God doth drive them out from before
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thee, and that he may perform the word which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sware unto
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thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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6 Understand therefore, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee not
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this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou
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<I>art</I> a stiffnecked people.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The call to attention
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>Hear, O Israel,</I> intimates that this was a new discourse,
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delivered at some distance of time after the former, probably the next
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sabbath day.</P>
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<P>
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I. Moses represents to the people the formidable strength of the
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enemies which they were now to encounter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The nations they were to dispossess were mightier than themselves, not
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a rude and undisciplined rout, like the natives of America, that were
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easily made a prey of. But, should they besiege them, they would find
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their cities well fortified, according as the art of fortification then
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was; should they engage them in the field, they would find the people
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great and tall, of whom common fame had reported that there was no
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standing before them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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This representation is much the same with that which the evil spies had
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made
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+13:28,33">Num. xiii. 28, 33</A>),
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but made with a very different intention: that was designed to drive
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them from God and to discourage their hope in him; this to drive them
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to God and to engage their hope in him, since no power less than that
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which is almighty could secure and prosper them.</P>
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<P>
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II. He assures them of victory, by the presence of God with them,
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notwithstanding the strength of the enemy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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"Understand therefore what thou must trust to for success, and which
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way thou must look; it is the Lord thy God that goes before thee, not
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only as thy captain, or commander-in-chief, to give direction, but as a
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consuming fire, to do execution among them. Observe, He shall destroy
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them, and then thou shalt drive them out. Thou canst not drive them
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out, unless he destroy them and bring them down. But he will not
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destroy them and bring them down, unless thou set thyself in good
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earnest to drive them out." We must do our endeavour in dependence upon
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God's grace, and we shall have that grace if we do our endeavour.</P>
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<P>
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III. He cautions them not to entertain the least thought of their own
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righteousness, as if that had procured them this favour at God's hand:
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"Say not. <I>For my righteousness</I> (either with regard to my good
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character or in recompence for any good service) <I>the Lord hath
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brought me in to possess this land</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
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never think it is for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy
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heart, that it is in consideration either of thy good conversation or
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of they good disposition,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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And again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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it is insisted on, because it is hard to bring people from a conceit of
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their own merit, and yet very necessary that it be done:
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"<I>Understand</I> (know it, and believe it, and consider it) that
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<I>the Lord thy God giveth thee not this land for thy
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righteousness.</I> Hadst thou been to come to it upon that condition,
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thou wouldst have been for ever shut out of it, <I>for thou art a
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stiff-necked people.</I>" Note, Our gaining possession of the heavenly
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Canaan, as it must be attributed to God's power and not to our own
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might, so it must be ascribed to God's grace and not to our own merit:
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in Christ we have both righteousness and strength; in him therefore we
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must glory, and not in ourselves, or any sufficiency of our own.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He intimates to them the true reasons why God would take this good
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land out of the hands of the Canaanites, and settle it upon Israel, and
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they are borrowed from his own honour, not from Israel's deserts.
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1. He will be honoured in the destruction of idolaters; they are justly
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looked upon as haters of him, and therefore he will visit their
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iniquity upon them. It is <I>for the wickedness of these nations</I>
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that God <I>drives them out,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>,
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and again,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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All those whom God rejects are rejected for their own wickedness: but
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none of those whom he accepts are accepted for their own righteousness.
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2. He will be honoured in the performance of his promise to those that
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are in covenant with him: God swore to the patriarchs, who loved him
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and left all to follow him, that he would give this land to their seed;
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and therefore he would <I>keep that promised mercy for thousands of
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those that loved him and kept his commandments;</I> he would not suffer
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his promise to fail. It was for their fathers' sakes that they were
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beloved,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:28">Rom. xi. 28</A>.
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Thus boasting is for ever excluded. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+1:9,11">Eph. i. 9, 11</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="De9_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="De9_29"> </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>Cautions Against Self-Righteousness; Israel Reminded of Their Rebellions.</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>7 Remember, <I>and</I> forget not, how thou provokedst the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
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God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst
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depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place,
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ye have been rebellious against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to wrath, so that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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was angry with you to have destroyed you.
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9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of
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stone, <I>even</I> the tables of the covenant which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> made with
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you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I
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neither did eat bread nor drink water:
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10 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> delivered unto me two tables of stone written
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with the finger of God; and on them <I>was written</I> according to
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all the words, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake with you in the mount out of
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the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
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11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty
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nights, <I>that</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> gave me the two tables of stone, <I>even</I>
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the tables of the covenant.
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12 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from
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hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt
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have corrupted <I>themselves;</I> they are quickly turned aside out of
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the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten
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image.
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13 Furthermore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto me, saying, I have seen this
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people, and, behold, it <I>is</I> a stiffnecked people:
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14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their
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name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier
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and greater than they.
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15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount
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burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant <I>were</I> in my
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two hands.
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16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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your God, <I>and</I> had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside
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quickly out of the way which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had commanded you.
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17 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two
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hands, and brake them before your eyes.
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18 And I fell down before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, as at the first, forty days
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and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water,
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because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in
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the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to provoke him to anger.
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19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was wroth against you to destroy you. But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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hearkened unto me at that time also.
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20 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed
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him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
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21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt
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it with fire, and stamped it, <I>and</I> ground <I>it</I> very small,
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<I>even</I> until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof
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into the brook that descended out of the mount.
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22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye
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provoked the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to wrath.
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23 Likewise when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying,
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Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye
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rebelled against the commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, and ye
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believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.
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24 Ye have been rebellious against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> from the day that I
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knew you.
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25 Thus I fell down before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> forty days and forty
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nights, as I fell down <I>at the first;</I> because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had said
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he would destroy you.
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26 I prayed therefore unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and said, O Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>,
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destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast
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redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out
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of Egypt with a mighty hand.
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27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not
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unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness,
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nor to their sin:
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28 Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was not able to bring them into the land which he promised
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them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay
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them in the wilderness.
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29 Yet they <I>are</I> thy people and thine inheritance, which thou
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broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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That they might have no pretence to think that God brought them to
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Canaan <I>for their righteousness,</I> Moses here shows them what a
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miracle of mercy it was that they had not long ere this been destroyed
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in the wilderness: "<I>Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst
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the Lord thy God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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so far from purchasing his favour, thou hast many a time laid thyself
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open to his displeasure." Their fathers' provocations are here charged
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upon them; for, if God had dealt with their fathers according to their
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deserts, this generation would never have been, much less would they
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have entered Canaan. We are apt to forget our provocations, especially
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when the smart of the rod is over, and have need to be often put in
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mind of them, that we may never entertain any conceit of our own
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righteousness. Paul argues from the guilt which all mankind is under to
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prove that we cannot be <I>justified before God</I> by our own works,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:19,20">Rom. iii. 19, 20</A>.
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If our works condemn us, they will not justify us. Observe,
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1. They had been a provoking people ever since they came out of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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<I>Forty years long,</I> from first to last, were God and Moses grieved
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with them. It is a very sad character Moses now at parting leaves of
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them: <I>You have been rebellious since the day I knew you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
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No sooner were they formed into a people than there was a faction
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formed among them, which upon all occasions made head against God and
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|
his government. Though the Mosaic history records little more than the
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occurrences of the first and last year of the forty, yet it seems by
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this general account that the rest of the years were not much better,
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but one continued provocation.
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2. Even in Horeb they made a calf and worshipped it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
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&c. That was a sin so heinous, and by several aggravations made so
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exceedingly sinful, that they deserved upon all occasions to be
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|
upbraided with it. It was done in the very place where the law was
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given by which they were expressly forbidden to worship God by images,
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and while the mountain was yet burning before their eyes, and Moses had
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gone up to fetch them the law in writing. They <I>turned aside
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quickly,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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3. God was very angry with them for their sin. Let them not think that
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God overlooked what they did amiss, and gave them Canaan for what was
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|
good among them. No, God had determined to destroy them
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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could easily have done it, and would have been no loser by it; he even
|
|
desired Moses to let him alone that he might do it,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
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By this it appeared how heinous their sin was, for God is never angry
|
|
with any above what there is cause for, as men often are. Moses
|
|
himself, though a friend and favourite, trembled at the revelation of
|
|
God's wrath from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
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<I>I was afraid of the anger of the Lord,</I> afraid perhaps not for
|
|
them only, but for himself,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:120">Ps. cxix. 120</A>.
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|
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|
4. They had by their sin broken covenant with God, and forfeited all
|
|
the privileges of the covenant, which Moses signified to them by
|
|
<I>breaking the tables,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
A bill of divorce was given them, and thenceforward they might justly
|
|
have been abandoned for ever, so that their mouth was certainly stopped
|
|
from pleading any righteousness of their own. God had, in effect,
|
|
disowned them, when he said to Moses
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
"They are thy people, they are none of mine, nor shall they be dealt
|
|
with as mine."
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|
|
|
5. Aaron himself fell under God's displeasure for it, though he was the
|
|
saint of the Lord, and was only brought by surprise or terror to be
|
|
confederate with them in the sin: <I>The Lord was very angry with
|
|
Aaron,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
No man's place or character can shelter him from the wrath of God if he
|
|
have <I>fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.</I> Aaron,
|
|
that should have made atonement for them if the iniquity could have
|
|
been purged away by sacrifice and offering, did himself fall under the
|
|
wrath of God: so little did they consider what they did when they drew
|
|
him in.
|
|
|
|
6. It was with great difficulty and very long attendance that Moses
|
|
himself prevailed to turn away the wrath of God, and prevent their
|
|
utter ruin. He fasted and prayed full forty days and forty nights
|
|
before he could obtain their pardon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And some think twice forty days
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
because it is said, <I>as I fell down before,</I> whereas his errand in
|
|
the first forty was not of that nature. Others think it was but one
|
|
forty, though twice mentioned (as also in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+10:10"><I>ch.</I> x. 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
but this was enough to make them sensible how great God's displeasure
|
|
was against them, and what a narrow escape they had for their lives.
|
|
And in this appears the greatness of God's anger against all mankind
|
|
that no less a person than his Son, and no less a price than his own
|
|
blood, would serve to turn it away. Moses here tells them the substance
|
|
of his intercession for them. He was obliged to own their
|
|
stubbornness, and their wickedness, and their sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their character was bad indeed when he that appeared an advocate for
|
|
them could not give them a good word, and had nothing else to say in
|
|
their behalf but that God had done great things for them, which really
|
|
did but aggravate their crime
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),--that
|
|
|
|
they were the posterity of good ancestors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
which might also have been turned upon him, as making the matter worse
|
|
and not better,--and that the Egyptians would reproach God, if he
|
|
should destroy them, as unable to perfect what he had wrought for them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
a plea which might easily enough have been answered: no matter what the
|
|
Egyptians say, while the heavens declare God's righteousness; so that
|
|
the saving of them from ruin at that time was owing purely to the mercy
|
|
of God, and the importunity of Moses, and not to any merit of theirs,
|
|
that could be offered so much as in mitigation of their offence.
|
|
|
|
7. To affect them the more with the destruction they were then at the
|
|
brink of, he describes very particularly the destruction of the calf
|
|
they had made,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
He calls it their <I>sin:</I> perhaps not only because it had been the
|
|
matter of their sin, but because the destroying of it was intended for
|
|
a testimony against their sin, and an indication to them what the
|
|
sinners themselves did deserve. Those that made it were like unto it,
|
|
and would have had no wrong done them if they had been thus stamped to
|
|
dust, and consumed, and scattered, and no remains of them left. It was
|
|
infinite mercy that accepted the destruction of the idol instead of the
|
|
destruction of the idolaters.
|
|
|
|
8. Even after this fair escape that they had, in many other instances
|
|
they provoked the Lord again and again. He needed only to name the
|
|
places, for they carried the memorials either of the sin or of the
|
|
punishment in their names
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
at <I>Taberah, burning,</I> where God set fire to them for their
|
|
murmuring,--at <I>Massah, the temptation,</I> where they challenged
|
|
almighty power to help them,--and at <I>Kibroth-hattaavah, the graves
|
|
of lusters,</I> where the dainties they coveted were their poison; and,
|
|
after these, their unbelief and distrust at Kadesh-barnea, of which he
|
|
had already told them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:1-46"><I>ch.</I> i.</A>),
|
|
|
|
and which he here mentions again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
would certainly have completed their ruin if they had been dealt with
|
|
according to their own merits.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now let them lay all this together, and it will appear that whatever
|
|
favour God should hereafter show them, in subduing their enemies and
|
|
putting them in possession of the land of Canaan, it was not for their
|
|
righteousness. It is good for us often to remember against ourselves,
|
|
with sorrow and shame, our former sins, and to review the records
|
|
conscience keeps of them, that we may see how much we are indebted to
|
|
free grace, and may humbly own that we never merited at God's hand any
|
|
thing but wrath and the curse.</P>
|
|
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