mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 26.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xxvii" n="xxvii" next="Deu.xxviii" prev="Deu.xxvi" progress="93.24%" title="Chapter XXVI">
<h2 id="Deu.xxvii-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xxvii-p0.2">CHAP. XXVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xxvii-p1">With this chapter Moses concludes the particular
statutes which he thought fit to give Israel in charge at his
parting with them; what follows is by way of sanction and
ratification. In this chapter, I. Moses gives them a form of
confession to be made by him that offered the basket of his
first-fruits, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.1-Deut.26.11" parsed="|Deut|26|1|26|11" passage="De 26:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>.
II. The protestation and prayer to be made after the disposal of
the third year's tithe, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.12-Deut.26.15" parsed="|Deut|26|12|26|15" passage="De 26:12-15">ver.
12-15</scripRef>. III. He binds on all the precepts he had given
them, 1. By the divine authority: "Not I, but the Lord thy God has
commanded thee to do these statutes," <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.16" parsed="|Deut|26|16|0|0" passage="De 26:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. 2. By the mutual covenant between
God and them, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.17-Deut.26.19" parsed="|Deut|26|17|26|19" passage="De 26:17-19">ver. 17</scripRef>,
&amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26" parsed="|Deut|26|0|0|0" passage="De 26" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.1-Deut.26.11" parsed="|Deut|26|1|26|11" passage="De 26:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.26.1-Deut.26.11">
<h4 id="Deu.xxvii-p1.7">The Offering of
First-Fruits. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvii-p2">1 And it shall be, when thou <i>art</i> come in
unto the land which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.1">Lord</span> thy God
giveth thee <i>for</i> an inheritance, and possessest it, and
dwellest therein;   2 That thou shalt take of the first of all
the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God giveth thee, and shalt
put <i>it</i> in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.3">Lord</span> thy God shall choose to place
his name there.   3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that
shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.4">Lord</span> thy God, that I am come
unto the country which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.5">Lord</span>
sware unto our fathers for to give us.   4 And the priest
shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the
altar of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.6">Lord</span> thy God.   5
And thou shalt speak and say before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.7">Lord</span> thy God, A Syrian ready to perish
<i>was</i> my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned
there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and
populous:   6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and
afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:   7 And when we
cried unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.8">Lord</span> God of our
fathers, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.9">Lord</span> heard our voice,
and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
  8 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.10">Lord</span> brought us
forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
  9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us
this land, <i>even</i> a land that floweth with milk and honey.
  10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the
land, which thou, <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.11">O Lord</span>, hast given
me. And thou shalt set it before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.12">Lord</span> thy God, and worship before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.13">Lord</span> thy God:   11 And thou shalt
rejoice in every good <i>thing</i> which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p2.14">Lord</span> thy God hath given unto thee, and unto
thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that <i>is</i>
among you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p3">Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done,
and that is the presenting of a basket of their first-fruits to God
every year, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.1-Deut.26.2" parsed="|Deut|26|1|26|2" passage="De 26:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>. Besides the <i>sheaf of first-fruits,</i> which was
offered for the whole land, on the morrow after the passover
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.23.10" parsed="|Lev|23|10|0|0" passage="Le 23:10">Lev. xxiii. 10</scripRef>), every man
was to bring for himself a basket of first-fruits at the feast of
pentecost, when the harvest was ended, which is therefore called
the <i>feast of first-fruits</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.34.22" parsed="|Exod|34|22|0|0" passage="Ex 34:22">Exod. xxxiv. 22</scripRef>), and is said to be kept with
a <i>tribute of free-will-offering,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.16.10" parsed="|Deut|16|10|0|0" passage="De 16:10">Deut. xvi. 10</scripRef>. But the Jews say, "The
first-fruits, if not brought then, might be brought any time after,
between that and winter." When a man went into the field or
vineyard at the time when the fruits were ripening, he was to mark
that which he observed most forward, and to lay it by for
first-fruits, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives,
and dates, some of each sort must be put in the same basket, with
leaves between them, and presented to God in the place which he
should choose. Now from this law we may learn, 1. To acknowledge
God as the giver of all those good things which are the support and
comfort of our natural life, and therefore to serve and honour him
with them. 2. To deny ourselves. What is first ripe we are most
fond of; those that are nice and curious expect to be served with
each fruit at its first coming in. <i>My soul desired the first
ripe fruits,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1" parsed="|Mic|7|1|0|0" passage="Mic 7:1">Micah vii.
1</scripRef>. When therefore God appointed them to lay those by for
him he taught them to prefer the glorifying of his name before the
gratifying of their own appetites and desires. 3. To give to God
the first and best we have, as those that believe him to be the
first and best of beings. Those that consecrate the days of their
youth, and the prime of their time, to the service and honour of
God, bring him their first-fruits, and with such offerings he is
well pleased. <i>I remember the kindness of thy youth.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p4">II. Good words put into their mouths to be
said in the doing of this good work, as an explication of the
meaning of this ceremony, that it might be a reasonable service.
The offerer must begin his acknowledgment before he delivered his
basket to the priest, and then must go on with it, when the priest
had set down the basket before the altar, as a present to God their
great landlord, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.3-Deut.26.4" parsed="|Deut|26|3|26|4" passage="De 26:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3,
4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p5">1. He must begin with a receipt in full for
the good land which God had given them (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.3" parsed="|Deut|26|3|0|0" passage="De 26:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>I profess that I have
come</i> now at last, after forty years' wandering, <i>unto the
country which the Lord swore to give us.</i> This was most proper
to be said when they came first into Canaan; probably when they had
been long settled there they varied from this form. Note, When God
has made good his promises to us he expects that we should own it,
to the honour of his faithfulness; this is like giving up the bond,
as Solomon does, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.56" parsed="|1Kgs|8|56|0|0" passage="1Ki 8:56">1 Kings viii.
56</scripRef>, <i>There has not failed one word of all his good
promise.</i> And our creature-comforts are doubly sweet to us when
we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p6">2. He must remember and own the mean origin
of that nation of which he was a member. How great soever they were
now, and he himself with them, their beginning was very small,
which ought thus to be kept in mind throughout all the ages of
their church by this public confession, that they might not be
proud of their privileges and advantages, but might for ever be
thankful to that God whose grace chose them when they were so low
and raised them so high. Two things they must own for this
purpose:—(1.) The meanness of their common ancestor: <i>A Syrian
ready to perish was my father,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.5" parsed="|Deut|26|5|0|0" passage="De 26:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Jacob is here called an
<i>Aramite,</i> or <i>Syrian,</i> because he lived twenty years in
Padan-Aram; his wives were of that country, and his children were
all born there, except Benjamin; and perhaps the confessor means
not Jacob himself, but that son of Jacob who was the father of his
tribe. However it be, both father and sons were more than once
ready to perish, by Laban's severity, Esau's cruelty, and the
famine in the land, which last was the occasion of their going down
into Egypt. <i>Laban the Syrian sought to destroy my father</i> (so
the Chaldee), <i>had almost destroyed him,</i> so the Arabic. (2.)
The miserable condition of their nation in its infancy. They
sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there as slaves
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.6" parsed="|Deut|26|6|0|0" passage="De 26:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), and that a
great while: as their father was called a <i>Syrian,</i> they might
be called <i>Egyptians;</i> so that their possession of Canaan
being so long discontinued they could not pretend any tenant-right
to it. A poor, despised, oppressed people they were in Egypt, and
therefore, though now rich and great, had no reason to be proud, or
secure, or forgetful of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p7">3. He must thankfully acknowledge God's
great goodness, not only to himself in particular, but to Israel in
general. (1.) In bringing them out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.7-Deut.26.8" parsed="|Deut|26|7|26|8" passage="De 26:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. It is spoken of here as an
act of pity—<i>he looked on our affliction;</i> and an act of
power—he <i>brought us forth with a mighty hand.</i> This was a
great salvation, fit to be remembered upon all occasions, and
particularly upon this; they need not grudge to bring a basket of
first-fruits to God, for to him they owed it that they were not now
bringing in the tale of bricks to their cruel task-masters. (2.) In
settling them in Canaan: <i>He hath given us this land,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.9" parsed="|Deut|26|9|0|0" passage="De 26:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Observe, He
must not only give thanks for his own lot, but for the land in
general which was given to Israel; not only for this year's
profits, but for the ground itself which produced them, which God
had graciously granted to his ancestors and entailed upon his
posterity. Note, The comfort we have in particular enjoyments
should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and
plenty; and with present mercies we should bless God for the former
mercies we remember and the further mercies we expect and hope
for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p8">4. He must offer to God his basket of
first-fruits (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.10" parsed="|Deut|26|10|0|0" passage="De 26:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>): "I have <i>brought the first-fruits of the land</i>
(like a pepper-corn) as a quit-rent for <i>the land which thou hast
given me.</i>" Note, Whatever we give to God, it is but <i>of his
own</i> that we <i>give him,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.29.14" parsed="|1Chr|29|14|0|0" passage="1Ch 29:14">1
Chron. xxix. 14</scripRef>. And it becomes us, who receive so much
from him, to study what we shall render to him. The basket he set
before God; and the priests, as God's receivers, had the
first-fruits, as perquisites of their place and fees for attending,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.18.12" parsed="|Num|18|12|0|0" passage="Nu 18:12">Num. xviii. 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p9">III. The offerer is here appointed, when he
has finished the service, 1. To give glory to God: <i>Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God.</i> His first-fruits were not accepted
without further acts of adoration. A humble, reverent, thankful
heart is that which God looks at and requires, and, without this,
all we can put in a basket will not avail. <i>If a man would give
all the substance of his house</i> to be excused from this, or in
lieu of it, <i>it would utterly be contemned.</i> 2. To take the
comfort of it to himself and family: <i>Thou shalt rejoice in every
good thing,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.11" parsed="|Deut|26|11|0|0" passage="De 26:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. It is the will of God that we should be cheerful,
not only in our attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our
enjoyments of the gifts of his providence. Whatever good thing God
gives us, it is his will that we should make the most comfortable
use we can of it, yet still tracing the streams to the fountain of
all comfort and consolation.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26" parsed="|Deut|26|0|0|0" passage="De 26" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.12-Deut.26.15" parsed="|Deut|26|12|26|15" passage="De 26:12-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.26.12-Deut.26.15">
<h4 id="Deu.xxvii-p9.4">Appropriation of Tithes. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p9.5">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvii-p10">12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the
tithes of thine increase the third year, <i>which is</i> the year
of tithing, and hast given <i>it</i> unto the Levite, the stranger,
the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates,
and be filled;   13 Then thou shalt say before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p10.1">Lord</span> thy God, I have brought away the
hallowed things out of <i>mine</i> house, and also have given them
unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to
the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast
commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither
have I forgotten <i>them:</i>   14 I have not eaten thereof in
my mourning, neither have I taken away <i>ought</i> thereof for
<i>any</i> unclean <i>use,</i> nor given <i>ought</i> thereof for
the dead: <i>but</i> I have hearkened to the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p10.2">Lord</span> my God, <i>and</i> have done
according to all that thou hast commanded me.   15 Look down
from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel,
and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our
fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p11">Concerning the disposal of their tithe the
third year we had the law before, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.28-Deut.14.29" parsed="|Deut|14|28|14|29" passage="De 14:28,29"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 28, 29</scripRef>. The second tithe,
which in the other two years was to be spent in extraordinaries at
the feasts, was to be spent the third year at home, in entertaining
the poor. Now because this was done from under the eye of the
priests, and a great confidence was put in the people's honesty,
that they would dispose of it according to the law, to <i>the
Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.12" parsed="|Deut|26|12|0|0" passage="De 26:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), it is therefore required that
when at the next feast after they appeared <i>before the Lord</i>
they should there testify (as it were) upon oath, in a religious
manner, that they had fully administered, and been true to their
trust.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p12">I. They must make a solemn protestation to
this purport, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.13-Deut.26.14" parsed="|Deut|26|13|26|14" passage="De 26:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13,
14</scripRef>. 1. That no hallowed things were hoarded up: "<i>I
have brought them away out of my house,</i> nothing now remains
there but my own part." 2. That the poor, and particularly poor
ministers, poor strangers, and poor widows, had had their part
according to the commandment. It is fit that God, who by his
providence gives us all we have, should by his law direct the using
of it, and, though we are not now under such particular
appropriations of our revenue as they then were, yet, in general,
we are commanded to give alms of such things as we have; and then,
and not otherwise, all things are clean to us. <i>Then</i> we may
take the comfort of our enjoyments, when God has thus had his dues
out of them. This is a commandment which must not be transgressed,
no, not with an excuse of its being forgotten, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.13" parsed="|Deut|26|13|0|0" passage="De 26:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. 3. That none of this tithe had
been misapplied to any common use, much less to any ill use. This
seems to refer to the tithe of the other two years, which was to be
eaten by the owners themselves; they must profess, (1.) That they
had not eaten of it in their mourning, when, by their mourning for
the dead, they were commonly unclean; or they had not eaten of it
grudgingly, as those that all their days eat in darkness. (2.) That
they had not sacrilegiously alienated it to any common use, for it
was not their own. And, (3.) That they had not given it for the
dead, for the honour of their dead gods, or in hope of making it
beneficial to their dead friends. Now the obliging of them to make
this solemn protestation at the three years' end would be an
obligation upon them to deal faithfully, knowing that they must be
called upon thus to purge themselves. It is our wisdom to keep
conscience clear at all times, that when we come to give up our
account we may lift up our face without spot. The Jews say that
this protestation of their integrity was to be made with a low
voice, because it looked like a self-commendation, but that the
foregoing confession of God's goodness was to be made with a loud
voice to his glory. He that durst not make this protestation must
bring his <i>trespass-offering,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.5.15" parsed="|Lev|5|15|0|0" passage="Le 5:15">Lev. v. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p13">II. To this solemn protestation they must
add a <i>solemn prayer</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.15" parsed="|Deut|26|15|0|0" passage="De 26:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), not particularly for themselves, but for <i>God's
people Israel;</i> for in the common peace and prosperity every
particular person prospers and has peace. We must learn hence to be
public-spirited in prayer, and to wrestle with God for blessings
for the land and nation, our English Israel, and for the universal
church, which we are directed to have an eye to in our prayers, as
the <i>Israel of God,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.16" parsed="|Gal|6|16|0|0" passage="Ga 6:16">Gal. vi.
16</scripRef>. In this prayer we are taught, 1. To look up to God
as in a holy habitation, and thence to infer that holiness becomes
his house, and that he will be sanctified in those that are about
him. 2. To depend upon the favour of God, and his gracious
cognizance, as sufficient to make us and our people happy. 3. To
reckon it wonderful condescension in God to case an eye even upon
so great and honourable a body as Israel was. It is looking down.
4. To be earnest with God for a blessing upon his people Israel,
and upon the <i>land which he has given us.</i> For how should the
earth yield its increase, or, if it does, what comfort can we take
in it, unless therewith <i>God, even our own God, gives us his
blessing?</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.67.6" parsed="|Ps|67|6|0|0" passage="Ps 67:6">Ps. lxvii.
6</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26" parsed="|Deut|26|0|0|0" passage="De 26" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxvii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.16-Deut.26.19" parsed="|Deut|26|16|26|19" passage="De 26:16-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.26.16-Deut.26.19">
<h4 id="Deu.xxvii-p13.6">Israel Reminded of the
Covenant. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p13.7">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxvii-p14">16 This day the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p14.1">Lord</span> thy God hath commanded thee to do these
statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul.   17 Thou hast
avouched the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p14.2">Lord</span> this day to be thy
God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his
commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:
  18 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p14.3">Lord</span> hath avouched
thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee,
and that <i>thou</i> shouldest keep all his commandments;   19
And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in
praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy
people unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxvii-p14.4">Lord</span> thy God, as he
hath spoken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxvii-p15">Two things Moses here urges to enforce all
these precepts:—1. That they were the commands of God, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.16" parsed="|Deut|26|16|0|0" passage="De 26:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. They were not the
dictates of his own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority
of his own, but infinite wisdom framed them, and the power of the
King of kings made them binding to them: "<i>The Lord thy God
commands thee,</i> therefore thou art bound in duty and gratitude
to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey. They are his
laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they given
thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from
them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart
and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul." 2. That their
covenant with God obliged them to keep these commands. He insists
not only upon God's sovereignty over them, but his propriety in
them, and the relation wherein they stood to him. The covenant is
mutual, and it binds to obedience both ways. (1.) That we may
perform our part of the covenant, and answer the intentions of that
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.17" parsed="|Deut|26|17|0|0" passage="De 26:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>Thou
hast avouched</i> and solemnly owned and confessed <i>the Lord
Jehovah to be thy God,</i> thy Prince and Ruler. As he is so by an
incontestable right, so he is by thy own consent." They did this
implicitly by their attendance on his word, had done it expressly
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.24.1-Exod.24.8" parsed="|Exod|24|1|24|8" passage="Ex 24:1-8">Exod. xxiv.</scripRef>), and were
now to do it again before they parted, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.1" parsed="|Deut|29|1|0|0" passage="De 29:1"><i>ch.</i> xxix. 1</scripRef>. Now this obliges us, in
fidelity to our word, as well as in duty to our Sovereign, to
<i>keep his statutes and his commandments.</i> We really forswear
ourselves, and perfidiously violate the most sacred engagements,
if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make
conscience of obeying his commands. (2.) That God's part of the
covenant also may be made good, and the intentions of that answered
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.18-Deut.26.19" parsed="|Deut|26|18|26|19" passage="De 26:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>): The
<i>Lord has avouched,</i> not only taken, but publicly owned thee
to be his <i>segullah,</i> his <i>peculiar people, as he has
promised thee,</i> that is, according to the true intent and
meaning of the promise. Now their obedience was not only the
condition of this favour, and of the continuance of it (if they
were not obedient, God would disown them, and cast them off), but
it was also the principal design of this favour. "He has avouched
thee on purpose <i>that thou shouldest keep his commandments,</i>
that thou mightest have both the best directions and the best
encouragements in religion." Thus we are <i>elected to
obedience</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.2" parsed="|1Pet|1|2|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:2">1 Pet. i. 2</scripRef>),
<i>chosen that we should be holy</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.1.4" parsed="|Eph|1|4|0|0" passage="Eph 1:4">Eph. i. 4</scripRef>), purified, a peculiar people, that
we might not only do good works, but be zealous in them, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Titus.2.14" parsed="|Titus|2|14|0|0" passage="Tit 2:14">Tit. ii. 14</scripRef>. Two things God is here
said to design in avouching them to be his peculiar people
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.19" parsed="|Deut|26|19|0|0" passage="De 26:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), to make
them high, and, in order to that, to make them holy; for holiness
is true honour, and the only way to everlasting honour. [1.] To
make them high above all nations. The greatest honour we are
capable of in this world is to be taken into covenant with God, and
to live in his service. They should be, <i>First,</i> High <i>in
praise;</i> for God would accept them, which is true praise,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.29" parsed="|Rom|2|29|0|0" passage="Ro 2:29">Rom. ii. 29</scripRef>. Their friends
would admire them, <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.11" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.19-Zeph.3.20" parsed="|Zeph|3|19|3|20" passage="Zep 3:19,20">Zeph. iii. 19,
20</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> High <i>in name,</i> which, some
think, denotes the continuance and perpetuity of that praise, <i>a
name that shall not be cut off. Thirdly,</i> High <i>in honour,</i>
that is, in all the advantages of wealth and power, which would
make them great above their neighbours. See <scripRef id="Deu.xxvii-p15.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.11" parsed="|Jer|13|11|0|0" passage="Jer 13:11">Jer. xiii. 11</scripRef>. [2.] That they might be a
holy people, separated for God, devoted to him, and employed
continually in his service. This God aimed at in taking them to be
his people; so that, if they did not keep his commandments, they
received all this grace in vain.</p>
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