mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Deu.iv" n="iv" next="Deu.v" prev="Deu.iii" progress="82.83%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Deu.iv-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.iv-p1">Moses, in this chapter, relates, I. The conquest
of Og, king of Bashan, and the seizing of his country, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.1-Deut.3.11" parsed="|Deut|3|1|3|11" passage="De 3:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. The distribution of
these new conquests to the two tribes and a half, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.12-Deut.3.17" parsed="|Deut|3|12|3|17" passage="De 3:12-17">ver. 12-17</scripRef>. Under certain provisos
and limitations, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.18-Deut.3.20" parsed="|Deut|3|18|3|20" passage="De 3:18-20">ver.
18-20</scripRef>. III. The encouragement given to Joshua to carry
on the war which was so gloriously begun, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.21-Deut.3.22" parsed="|Deut|3|21|3|22" passage="De 3:21,22">ver. 21, 22</scripRef>. IV. Moses's request to go over
into Canaan (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.23-Deut.3.25" parsed="|Deut|3|23|3|25" passage="De 3:23-25">ver. 23-25</scripRef>),
with the denial of that request, but the grant of an equivalent,
<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.26-Deut.3.29" parsed="|Deut|3|26|3|29" passage="De 3:26-29">ver. 26</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3" parsed="|Deut|3|0|0|0" passage="De 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.iv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.1-Deut.3.11" parsed="|Deut|3|1|3|11" passage="De 3:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.3.1-Deut.3.11">
<h4 id="Deu.iv-p1.9">Sihon and Og Subdued. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.iv-p2">1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan:
and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his
people, to battle at Edrei.   2 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p2.1">Lord</span> said unto me, Fear him not: for I will
deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and
thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.   3 So the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p2.2">Lord</span> our God delivered into our hands Og also,
the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none
was left to him remaining.   4 And we took all his cities at
that time, there was not a city which we took not from them,
threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in
Bashan.   5 All these cities <i>were</i> fenced with high
walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.  
6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of
Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every
city.   7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we
took for a prey to ourselves.   8 And we took at that time out
of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that
<i>was</i> on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount
Hermon;   9 (<i>Which</i> Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion;
and the Amorites call it Shenir;)   10 All the cities of the
plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei,
cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.   11 For only Og king
of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead
<i>was</i> a bedstead of iron; <i>is</i> it not in Rabbath of the
children of Ammon? nine cubits <i>was</i> the length thereof, and
four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p3">We have here another brave country
delivered into the hand of Israel, that of Bashan; the conquest of
Sihon is often mentioned together with that of Og, to the praise of
God, the rather because in these Israel's triumphs began, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.11 Bible:Ps.136.19-Ps.136.20" parsed="|Ps|135|11|0|0;|Ps|136|19|136|20" passage="Ps 135:11,136:19,20">Ps. cxxxv. 11; cxxxvi. 19,
20</scripRef>. See,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p4">I. How they got the mastery of Og, a very
formidable prince, 1. Very strong, for he was of the remnant of the
giants (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.11" parsed="|Deut|3|11|0|0" passage="De 3:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>); his
personal strength was extraordinary, a monument of which was
preserved by the Ammonites in his bedstead, which was shown as a
rarity in their chief city. You might guess at his weight by the
materials of his bedstead; it was iron, as if a bedstead of wood
were too weak for him to trust to: and you might guess at his
stature by the dimensions of it; it was nine cubits long and four
cubits broad, which, supposing a cubit to be but half a yard (and
some learned men have made it appear to be somewhat more), was four
yards and a half long, and two yards broad; and if we allow his
bedstead to be two cubits longer than himself, and that is as much
as we need allow, he was three yards and a half high, double the
stature of an ordinary man, and every way proportionable, yet they
smote him, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.3" parsed="|Deut|3|3|0|0" passage="De 3:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Note,
when God pleads his people's cause he can deal with giants as with
grasshoppers. No man's might can secure him against the Almighty.
The army of Og was very powerful, for he had the command of sixty
fortified cities, besides the unwalled towns, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.5" parsed="|Deut|3|5|0|0" passage="De 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Yet all this was nothing before
God's Israel, when they came with commission to destroy him. 2. He
was very bold and daring: He <i>came out against Israel to
battle,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.1" parsed="|Deut|3|1|0|0" passage="De 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It
was wonderful that he did not take warning by the ruin of Sihon,
and send to desire conditions of peace; but he trusted to his own
strength, and so was hardened to his destruction. Note, Those that
are not awakened by the judgments of God upon others, but persist
in their defiance of heaven, are ripening apace for the like
judgments upon themselves, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.8" parsed="|Jer|3|8|0|0" passage="Jer 3:8">Jer. iii.
8</scripRef>. God bade Moses not fear him, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.2" parsed="|Deut|3|2|0|0" passage="De 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. If Moses himself was so strong in
faith as not to need the caution, yet it is probable that the
people needed it, and for them these fresh assurances are designed;
"<i>I will deliver him into thy hand;</i> not only deliver thee out
of his hand, that he shall not be thy ruin, but deliver him <i>into
thy hand,</i> that thou shalt be his ruin, and make him pay dearly
for his attempt." He adds, <i>Thou shalt do to him as thou didst to
Sihon,</i> intimating that they ought to be encouraged by their
former victory to trust in God for another victory, for he is God,
and changeth not.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p5">II. How they got possession of Bashan, a
very desirable country. They took all the cities (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.4" parsed="|Deut|3|4|0|0" passage="De 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), and all the spoil of
them, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.7" parsed="|Deut|3|7|0|0" passage="De 3:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. They made
them all their own, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.10" parsed="|Deut|3|10|0|0" passage="De 3:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. So that now they had in their hands all that
fruitful country which lay east of Jordan, from <i>the river Arnon
unto Hermon,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.8" parsed="|Deut|3|8|0|0" passage="De 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>.
Their conquering and possessing these countries was intended, not
only for the encouragement of Israel in the wars of Canaan, but for
the satisfaction of Moses before his death. Since he must not live
to see the completing of their victory and settlement, God thus
gives him a specimen of it. Thus the Spirit is given to those that
believe as the <i>earnest of their inheritance,</i> until the
redemption of the purchased possession.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.iv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3" parsed="|Deut|3|0|0|0" passage="De 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.iv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.12-Deut.3.20" parsed="|Deut|3|12|3|20" passage="De 3:12-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.3.12-Deut.3.20">
<h4 id="Deu.iv-p5.7">Allotment of the Conquered
Lands. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p5.8">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.iv-p6">12 And this land, <i>which</i> we possessed at
that time, from Aroer, which <i>is</i> by the river Arnon, and half
mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites
and to the Gadites.   13 And the rest of Gilead, and all
Bashan, <i>being</i> the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe
of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was
called the land of giants.   14 Jair the son of Manasseh took
all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi;
and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this
day.   15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir.   16 And unto
the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto
the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river
Jabbok, <i>which is</i> the border of the children of Ammon;  
17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast <i>thereof,</i> from
Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, <i>even</i> the salt
sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah eastward.   18 And I commanded you
at that time, saying, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p6.1">Lord</span> your
God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over
armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all <i>that
are</i> meet for the war.   19 But your wives, and your little
ones, and your cattle, (<i>for</i> I know that ye have much
cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;  
20 Until the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p6.2">Lord</span> have given rest
unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and <i>until</i> they also
possess the land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p6.3">Lord</span> your
God hath given them beyond Jordan: and <i>then</i> shall ye return
every man unto his possession, which I have given you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p7">Having shown how this country which they
were now in was conquered, in these verses he shows how it was
settled upon the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of
Manasseh, which we had the story of before, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.32.1-Num.32.42" parsed="|Num|32|1|32|42" passage="Nu 32:1-42">Num. xxxii.</scripRef> Here is the rehearsal. 1. Moses
specifies the particular parts of the country that were allotted to
each tribe, especially the distribution of the lot to the half
tribe of Manasseh, the subdividing of which tribe is observable.
Joseph was divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; Manasseh was divided
into one half on the one side Jordan and the other half on the
other side: that on the east side Jordan was again divided into two
great families, which had their several allotments: Jair, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.14" parsed="|Deut|3|14|0|0" passage="De 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>, Machir, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.15" parsed="|Deut|3|15|0|0" passage="De 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. And perhaps Jacob's
prediction of the smallness of that tribe was now accomplished in
these divisions and subdivisions. Observe that Bashan is here
called <i>the land of the giants,</i> because it had been in their
possession, but Og was the last of them. These giants, it seems,
had lost their country, and were rooted out of it sooner than any
of their neighbours; for those who, presuming upon their strength
and stature, had their hand against every man, had every man's hand
against them, and went down slain to the pit, though they were the
terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 2. He repeats the
condition of the grant which they had already agreed to, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.18-Deut.3.20" parsed="|Deut|3|18|3|20" passage="De 3:18-20"><i>v.</i> 18-20</scripRef>. That they should
send a strong detachment over Jordan to lead the van in the
conquest of Canaan, who should not return to their families, at
least not to settle (though for a time they might retire thither
into winter quarters, at the end of a campaign), till they had seen
their brethren in as full possession of their respective allotments
as they themselves were now in of theirs. They must hereby be
taught not to <i>look at their own things only, but at the things
of others,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.4" parsed="|Phil|2|4|0|0" passage="Php 2:4">Phil. ii. 4</scripRef>.
It ill becomes an Israelite to be selfish, and to prefer any
private interest before the public welfare. When we are rest we
should desire to see our brethren at rest too, and should be ready
to do what we can towards it; for we are not born for ourselves,
but are members one of another. A good man cannot rejoice much in
the comforts of his family unless withal he sees <i>peace upon
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.128.6" parsed="|Ps|128|6|0|0" passage="Ps 128:6">Ps. cxxviii.
6</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.iv-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.21-Deut.3.29" parsed="|Deut|3|21|3|29" passage="De 3:21-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.3.21-Deut.3.29">
<h4 id="Deu.iv-p7.8">Joshua Named as Moses's
Successor. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p7.9">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.iv-p8">21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying,
Thine eyes have seen all that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.1">Lord</span> your God hath done unto these two kings: so
shall the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.2">Lord</span> do unto all the
kingdoms whither thou passest.   22 Ye shall not fear them:
for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.3">Lord</span> your God he shall fight
for you.   23 And I besought the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.4">Lord</span> at that time, saying,   24 O Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.5">God</span>, thou hast begun to show thy
servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God <i>is
there</i> in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy
works, and according to thy might?   25 I pray thee, let me go
over, and see the good land that <i>is</i> beyond Jordan, that
goodly mountain, and Lebanon.   26 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.6">Lord</span> was wroth with me for your sakes, and would
not hear me: and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.iv-p8.7">Lord</span> said unto
me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.
  27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine
eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and
behold <i>it</i> with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this
Jordan.   28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and
strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he
shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.  
29 So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p9">Here is I. The encouragement which Moses
gave to Joshua, who was to succeed him in the government, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.21-Deut.3.22" parsed="|Deut|3|21|3|22" passage="De 3:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. He commanded him
not to fear. Thus those that are aged and experienced in the
service of God should do all they can to strengthen the hands of
those that are young, and setting out in religion. Two things he
would have him consider for his encouragement:—1. What God has
done. Joshua had seen what a total defeat God had given by the
forces of Israel to these two kings, and thence he might easily
infer, <i>so shall the Lord do to all the rest of the kingdoms</i>
upon which we are to make war. He must not only infer thence that
thus the Lord can do with them all, for his arm is not shortened,
but thus he will do, for his purpose is not changed; he that has
begun will finish; <i>as for God, his work is perfect.</i> Joshua
had seen it with his own eyes. And the more we have seen of the
instances of divine wisdom, power, and goodness, the more
inexcusable we are if we <i>fear what flesh can do unto us.</i> 2.
What God had promised. The <i>Lord your God he shall fight for
you;</i> and that cause cannot but be victorious which the Lord of
hosts fights for. <i>If God be for us, who can be against us</i> so
as to prevail? We reproach our leader if we follow him
trembling.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p10">II. The prayer which Moses made for
himself, and the answer which God gave to that prayer.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p11">1. His prayer was that, if it were God's
will, he might go before Israel over Jordan into Canaan. At that
time, when he had been encouraging Joshua to fight Israel's
battles, taking it for granted that he must be their leader, he was
touched with an earnest desire to go over himself, which expresses
itself not in any passionate and impatient complaints, or
reflections upon the sentence he was under, but in humble prayers
to God for a gracious reversing of it. <i>I besought the Lord.</i>
Note, We should never allow any desires in our hearts which we
cannot in faith offer up to God by prayer; and what desires are
innocent, let them be presented to God. We have not because we ask
not. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p12">(1.) What he pleads here. Two things:—
[1.] The great experience which he had had of God's goodness to him
in what he had done for Israel: "<i>Thou hast begun to show thy
servant thy greatness.</i> Lord, perfect what thou hast begun. Thou
hast given me to see thy glory in the conquest of these two kings,
and the sight has affected me with wonder and thankfulness. O let
me see more of the outgoings of my God, my King! This great work,
no doubt, will be carried on and completed; let me have the
satisfaction of seeing it." Note, the more we see of God's glory in
his works the more we shall desire to see. <i>The works of the Lord
are great,</i> and therefore are sought out more and more <i>of all
those that have pleasure therein.</i> [2.] The good impressions
that had been made upon his heart by what he had seen: For <i>what
God is there in heaven or earth that can do according to thy
works?</i> The more we are affected with what we have seen of God,
of his wisdom, power, and goodness, the better we are prepared for
further discoveries. Those shall see the works of God that admire
him in them. Moses had thus expressed himself concerning God and
his works long before (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.11" parsed="|Exod|15|11|0|0" passage="Ex 15:11">Exod. xv.
11</scripRef>), and he still continues of the same mind, that there
are no works worthy to be compared with God's works, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.86.8" parsed="|Ps|86|8|0|0" passage="Ps 86:8">Ps. lxxxvi. 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p13">(2.) What he begs: <i>I pray thee let me go
over,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.25" parsed="|Deut|3|25|0|0" passage="De 3:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. God
had said he should not go over; yet he prays that he might, not
knowing but that the threatening was conditional, for it was not
ratified with an oath, as that concerning the people was, that they
should not enter. Thus Hezekiah prayed for his own life, and David
for the life of his child, after both had been expressly threatened;
and the former prevailed, though the latter did not. Moses
remembered the time when he had by prayer prevailed with God to
recede from the declarations which he had made of his wrath against
Israel, <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.14" parsed="|Exod|32|14|0|0" passage="Ex 32:14">Exod. xxxii. 14</scripRef>.
And why might he not hope in like manner to prevail for himself?
<i>Let me go over and see the good land.</i> Not, "Let me go over
and be a prince and a ruler there;" he seeks not his own honour, is
content to resign the government to Joshua; but, "Let me go to be a
spectator of thy kindness to Israel, to see what I believe
concerning the goodness of the land of promise." How pathetically
does he speak of Canaan, that <i>good land,</i> that <i>goodly
mountain!</i> Note, Those may hope to obtain and enjoy God's
favours that know how to value them. What he means by <i>that
goodly mountain</i> we may learn from <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.54" parsed="|Ps|78|54|0|0" passage="Ps 78:54">Ps. lxxviii. 54</scripRef>, where it is said of God's
Israel that <i>he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even
to this mountain which his right hand had purchased,</i> where it
is plainly to be understood of the whole land of Canaan, yet with
an eye to the sanctuary, the glory of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p14">2. God's answer to this prayer had in it a
mixture of mercy and judgment, that he might sing unto God of
both.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p15">(1.) There was judgment in the denial of
his request, and that in something of anger too: <i>The Lord was
wroth with me for your sakes,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.26" parsed="|Deut|3|26|0|0" passage="De 3:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. God not only sees sin in his
people, but is much displeased with it; and even those that are
delivered from the wrath to come may yet lie under the tokens of
God's wrath in this world, and may be denied some particular favour
which their hearts are much set upon. God is a gracious, tender,
loving Father; but he is angry with his children when they do
amiss, and denies them many a thing that they desire and are ready
to cry for. But how was he wroth with Moses <i>for the sake of
Israel?</i> Either, [1.] For that sin which they provoked him to;
see <scripRef id="Deu.iv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.32-Ps.106.33" parsed="|Ps|106|32|106|33" passage="Ps 106:32,33">Ps. cvi. 32, 33</scripRef>.
Or, [2.] The removal of Moses at that time, when he could so ill be
spared, was a rebuke to all Israel, and a punishment of their sin.
Or, [3.] It was for their sakes, that it might be a warning to them
to take heed of offending God by passionate and unbelieving
speeches at any time, after the similitude of his transgression;
for, if <i>this were done to such a green tree, what should be done
to the dry?</i> He acknowledges that God would not hear him. God
had often heard him for Israel, yet he would not hear him for
himself. It was the prerogative of Christ, the great Intercessor,
to be heard always; yet of him his enemies said, <i>He saved
others, himself he could not save,</i> which the Jews would not
have upbraided him with had they considered that Moses, their great
prophet, prevailed for others, but for himself he could not
prevail. Though Moses, being one of the wrestling seed of Jacob,
did not seek in vain, yet he had not the thing itself which he
sought for. God may accept our prayers, and yet not grant us the
very thing we pray for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.iv-p16">(2.) Here is mercy mixed with this wrath in
several things:—[1.] God quieted the spirit of Moses under the
decree that had gone forth by that word (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.26" parsed="|Deut|3|26|0|0" passage="De 3:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), <i>Let it suffice thee.</i>
With this word, no doubt, a divine power went to reconcile Moses to
the will of God, and to bring him to acquiesce in it. If God does
not by his providence give us what we desire, yet, if by his grace
he makes us content without it, it comes much to one. "<i>Let it
suffice thee</i> to have God for thy father, and heaven for thy
portion, though thou hast not every thing thou wouldest have in
this world. Be satisfied with this, <i>God is all-sufficient.</i>"
[2.] He put an honour upon his prayer in directing him not to
insist upon this request: <i>Speak no more to me of this
matter.</i> It intimates that what God does not think fit to grant
we should not think fit to ask, and that God takes such a pleasure
in the prayer of the upright that it is no pleasure to him, no, not
in any particular instance, to give a denial to it. [3.] He
promised him a sight of Canaan <i>from the top of Pisgah,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.27" parsed="|Deut|3|27|0|0" passage="De 3:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. Though he
should not have the possession of it, he should have the prospect
of it; not to tantalize him, but such a sight of it as would yield
him true satisfaction, and would enable him to form a very clear
and pleasing idea of that promised land. Probably Moses had not
only his sight preserved for other purposes, but greatly enlarged
for this purpose; for, if he had not had such a sight of it as
others could not have from the same place, it would have been no
particular favour to Moses, nor the matter of a promise. Even great
believers, in this present state, see heaven but at a distance.
[4.] He provided him a successor, one who should support the honour
of Moses and carry on and complete that glorious work which the
heart of Moses was so much upon, the bringing of Israel to Canaan,
and settling them there (<scripRef id="Deu.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.28" parsed="|Deut|3|28|0|0" passage="De 3:28"><i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>): <i>Charge Joshua and encourage him</i> in this
work. Those to whom God gives a charge, he will be sure to give
encouragement to. And it is a comfort to the church's friends (when
they are dying and going off) to see God's work likely to be
carried on by other hands, when they are silent in the dust.</p>
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