mh_parser/vol_split/2 - Exodus/Chapter 23.xml

<div2 id="Ex.xxiv" n="xxiv" next="Ex.xxv" prev="Ex.xxiii" progress="42.65%" title="Chapter XXIII">
<h2 id="Ex.xxiv-p0.1">E X O D U S</h2>
<h3 id="Ex.xxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ex.xxiv-p1">This chapter continues and concludes the acts that
passed in the first session (if I may so call it) upon Mount Sinai.
Here are, I. Some laws of universal obligation, relating especially
to the ninth commandment, against bearing false witness (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.1" parsed="|Exod|23|1|0|0" passage="Ex 23:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), and giving false judgment,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.2-Exod.23.3 Bible:Exod.23.6-Exod.23.8" parsed="|Exod|23|2|23|3;|Exod|23|6|23|8" passage="Ex 23:2,3,6-8">ver. 2, 3, 6-8</scripRef>. Also a
law of doing good to our enemies (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.4-Exod.23.5" parsed="|Exod|23|4|23|5" passage="Ex 23:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>), and not oppressing strangers,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.9" parsed="|Exod|23|9|0|0" passage="Ex 23:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. II. Some laws
peculiar to the Jews. The sabbatical year (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.10-Exod.23.11" parsed="|Exod|23|10|23|11" passage="Ex 23:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>), the three annual feasts
(<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.14-Exod.23.17" parsed="|Exod|23|14|23|17" passage="Ex 23:14-17">ver. 14-17</scripRef>), with some
laws pertaining thereto. III. Gracious promises of the completing
of the mercy God had begun for them, upon condition of their
obedience. That God would conduct them through the wilderness
(<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20-Exod.23.24" parsed="|Exod|23|20|23|24" passage="Ex 23:20-24">ver. 20-24</scripRef>), that he
would prosper all they had (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.25-Exod.23.26" parsed="|Exod|23|25|23|26" passage="Ex 23:25,26">ver.
25, 26</scripRef>), that he would put them in possession of Canaan,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.27-Exod.23.31" parsed="|Exod|23|27|23|31" passage="Ex 23:27-31">ver. 27-31</scripRef>. But they
must not mingle themselves with the nations, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.32-Exod.23.33" parsed="|Exod|23|32|23|33" passage="Ex 23:32,33">ver. 32, 33</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23" parsed="|Exod|23|0|0|0" passage="Ex 23" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiv-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.1-Exod.23.9" parsed="|Exod|23|1|23|9" passage="Ex 23:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.23.1-Exod.23.9">
<h4 id="Ex.xxiv-p1.13">Judicial Laws. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p1.14">b. c.</span> 1491.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiv-p2">1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not
thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.   2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to <i>do</i> evil; neither shalt
thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest
<i>judgment:</i>   3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man
in his cause.   4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass
going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.  
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his
burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help
with him.   6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in
his cause.   7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the
innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the
wicked.   8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth
the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.   9 Also
thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a
stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p3">Here are, I. Cautions concerning judicial
proceedings; it was not enough that they had good laws, better than
ever any nation had, but care must be taken for the due
administration of justice according to those laws.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p4">1. The witnesses are here cautioned that
they neither occasion an innocent man to be indicted, by raising a
false report of him and setting common fame against him, nor assist
in the prosecution of an innocent man, or one whom they do not know
to be guilty, by <i>putting their hand</i> in swearing as witnesses
against him, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.1" parsed="|Exod|23|1|0|0" passage="Ex 23:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
Bearing false witness against a man, in a matter that touches his
life, has in it all the guilty of lying, perjury, malice, theft,
murder, with the additional stains of colouring all with a pretence
of justice and involving many others in the same guilt. There is
scarcely any one act of wickedness that a man can possibly be
guilty of which has in it a greater complication of villanies than
this has. Yet the former part of this caution is to be extended,
not only to judicial proceedings, but to common conversation; so
that slandering and backbiting are a species of
falsewitness-bearing. A man's reputation lies as much at the mercy
of every company as his estate or life does at the mercy of a judge
or jury; so that he who raises, or knowingly spreads, a false
report against his neighbour, especially if the report be made to
wise and good men whose esteem one would desire to enjoy, sins as
much against the laws of truth, justice, and charity, as a false
witness does—with this further mischief, that he leaves it not in
the power of the person injured to obtain redress. That which we
translate, Thou shalt not <i>raise,</i> the margin reads, Thou
shalt not <i>receive</i> a false report; for sometimes the
receiver, in this case, is as bad as the thief; and a backbiting
tongue would not do so much mischief as it does if it were not
countenanced. Sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, but
we must not receive it, that is, we must not hear it with pleasure
and delight as those that rejoice in iniquity, nor give credit to
it as long as there remains any cause to question the truth of it.
This is charity to our neighbour's good name, and doing as we would
be done by.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p5">2. The judges are here cautioned not to
pervert judgment. (1.) They must not be overruled, either by might
or multitude, to go against their consciences in giving judgment,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.2" parsed="|Exod|23|2|0|0" passage="Ex 23:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. With the Jews
causes were tried by a bench of justices, and judgment given
according to the majority of votes, in which cause every particular
justice must go according to truth, as it appeared to him upon the
strictest and most impartial enquiry, though the multitude of the
people, and their outcries, or, the sentence of the <i>rabbim</i>
(we translate it <i>many</i>), the more ancient and honourable of
the justices, went the other way. Therefore (as with us), among the
Jews, the junior upon the bench voted first, that he might not be
swayed nor overruled by the authority of the senior. Judges must
not respect the persons either of the parties or of their
fellow-judges. The former part of this verse also gives a general
rule for all, as well as judges, not <i>to follow a multitude to do
evil.</i> General usage will never excuse us in a bad practice; nor
is the broad way ever the better or safer for its being tracked and
crowded. We must enquire what we ought to do, not what the majority
do; because we must be judged by our Master, not by our
fellow-servants, and it is too great a compliment to be willing to
go to hell for company. (2.) They must not pervert judgment, no,
not in favour of a poor man, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.3" parsed="|Exod|23|3|0|0" passage="Ex 23:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. Right must in all cases take place and wrong must be
punished, and justice never biassed nor injury connived at under
pretence of charity and compassion. If a poor man be a bad man, and
do a bad thing, it is foolish pity to let him fare the better for
his poverty, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.1.16-Deut.1.17" parsed="|Deut|1|16|1|17" passage="De 1:16,17">Deut. i. 16,
17</scripRef>. (3.) Neither must they pervert judgment in prejudice
to a poor man, nor suffer him to be wronged because he had not
wherewithal to right himself; in such cases the judges themselves
must become advocates for the poor, as far as their cause was good
and honest (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.6" parsed="|Exod|23|6|0|0" passage="Ex 23:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>):
"<i>Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor;</i> remember
they are thy poor, bone of thy bone, thy poor neighbours, thy poor
brethren; let them not therefore fare the worse for being poor."
(4.) They must dread the thoughts of assisting or abetting a bad
cause (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.7" parsed="|Exod|23|7|0|0" passage="Ex 23:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>):
"<i>Keep thyself far from a false matter;</i> do not only keep
thyself free from it, nor think it enough to say thou art
unconcerned in it, but keep far from it, dread it as a dangerous
snare. The innocent and righteous thou wouldest not, for all the
world, slay with thy own hands; keep far therefore from a false
matter, for thou knowest not but it may end in that, and the
righteous God will not leave such wickedness unpunished: <i>I will
not justify the wicked,</i>" that is, "I will condemn him that
unjustly condemns others." Judges themselves are accountable to the
great judge. (5.) They must not take bribes, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.8" parsed="|Exod|23|8|0|0" passage="Ex 23:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. They must not only not be swayed
by a gift to give an unjust judgment, to condemn the innocent, or
acquit the guilty, or adjudge a man's right from him, but they must
not so much as take a gift, lest it should have a bad influence
upon them, and overrule them, contrary to their intentions; for it
has a strange tendency to blind those that otherwise would do well.
(6.) They must not oppress a stranger, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.9" parsed="|Exod|23|9|0|0" passage="Ex 23:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Though aliens might not inherit
lands among them, yet they must have justice done them, must
peaceably enjoy their own, and be redressed if they were wronged,
though they were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel. It is an
instance of the equity and goodness of our law, that, if an alien
be tried for any crime except treason, the one half of his jury, if
he desire it, shall be foreigners; they call it a trial <i>per
mediatatem linguae,</i> a kind provision that strangers may not be
oppressed. The reason here given is the same with that in <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.21" parsed="|Exod|22|21|0|0" passage="Ex 22:21"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 21</scripRef>, <i>You were
strangers,</i> which is here elegantly enforced, <i>You know the
heart of a stranger;</i> you know something of the griefs and fears
of a stranger by sad experience, and therefore, being delivered,
can the more easily put your souls into their souls' stead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p6">II. Commands concerning neighbourly
kindnesses. We must be ready to do all good offices, as there is
occasion, for any body, yea even for those that have done us ill
offices, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.4-Exod.23.5" parsed="|Exod|23|4|23|5" passage="Ex 23:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>.
The command of loving our enemies, and doing good to those that
hate us, is not only a <i>new,</i> but an <i>old</i> commandment,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.25.21-Prov.25.22" parsed="|Prov|25|21|25|22" passage="Pr 25:21,22">Prov. xxv. 21, 22</scripRef>. Infer
hence, 1. If we must do this kindness for an enemy, much more for a
friend, though an enemy only is mentioned, because it is supposed
that a man would not be unneighbourly to any unless such as he had
a particular spleen against. 2. If it be wrong not to prevent our
enemy's loss and damage, how much worse is it to occasion harm and
loss to him, or any thing he has. 3. If we must bring back our
neighbours' cattle when they go astray, much more must we
endeavour, by prudent admonitions and instructions, to bring back
our neighbours themselves, when they go astray in any sinful path,
see <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.19-Jas.5.20" parsed="|Jas|5|19|5|20" passage="Jam 5:19,20">Jam. v. 19, 20</scripRef>. And,
if we must endeavour to help up a fallen ass, much more should we
endeavour, by comforts and encouragements, to help up a sinking
spirit, <i>saying to those that are of a fearful heart, Be
strong.</i> We must seek the relief and welfare of others <i>as our
own,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.4" parsed="|Phil|2|4|0|0" passage="Php 2:4">Phil. ii. 4</scripRef>. <i>If
thou sayest, Behold, we know it not, doth not he that pondereth the
heart consider it?</i> See <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.11-Prov.24.12" parsed="|Prov|24|11|24|12" passage="Pr 24:11,12">Prov.
xxiv. 11, 12</scripRef>.</p>
<h4 id="Ex.xxiv-p6.6">Sacred Feasts. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p6.7">b. c.</span> 1491.)</h4>
</div><scripCom id="Ex.xxiv-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23" parsed="|Exod|23|0|0|0" passage="Ex 23" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ex.xxiv-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.10-Exod.23.19" parsed="|Exod|23|10|23|19" passage="Ex 23:10-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.23.10-Exod.23.19">
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiv-p7">10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and
shalt gather in the fruits thereof:   11 But the seventh
<i>year</i> thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of
thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field
shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard,
<i>and</i> with thy oliveyard.   12 Six days thou shalt do thy
work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and
thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger,
may be refreshed.   13 And in all <i>things</i> that I have
said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of
other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.   14
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.   15
Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat
unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time
appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt:
and none shall appear before me empty:)   16 And the feast of
harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in
the field: and the feast of ingathering, <i>which is</i> in the end
of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the
field.   17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear
before the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p7.1">God</span>.   18 Thou
shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread;
neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
  19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring
into the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p7.2">Lord</span> thy God.
Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p8">Here is, I. The institution of the
sabbatical year, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.10-Exod.23.11" parsed="|Exod|23|10|23|11" passage="Ex 23:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10,
11</scripRef>. Every seventh year the land was to rest; they must
not plough nor sow it at the beginning of the year, and then they
could not expect any great harvest at the end of the year: but what
the earth did produce of itself should be eaten from hand to mouth,
and not laid up. Now this was designed, 1. To show what a plentiful
land that was into which God was bringing them—that so numerous a
people could have rich maintenance out of the produce of so small a
country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of
every seventh year. 2. To remind them of their dependence upon God
their great landlord, and their obligation to use the fruit of
their land as he should direct. Thus he would try their obedience
in a matter that nearly touched their interest. Afterwards we find
that their disobedience to this command was a forfeiture of the
promises, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.36.21" parsed="|2Chr|36|21|0|0" passage="2Ch 36:21">2 Chron. xxxvi.
21</scripRef>. 3. To teach them a confidence in the divine
Providence, while they did their duty—that, as the sixth day's
manna served for two day's meat, so the sixth year's increase
should serve for two years' subsistence. Thus they must learn not
to <i>take thought for their life,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.25" parsed="|Matt|6|25|0|0" passage="Mt 6:25">Matt. vi. 25</scripRef>. If we are prudent and diligent
in our affairs, we may trust Providence to furnish us with the
bread of the day in its day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p9">II. The repetition of the law of the fourth
commandment concerning the weekly sabbath, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.12" parsed="|Exod|23|12|0|0" passage="Ex 23:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Even in the year of rest they
must not think that the sabbath day was laid in common with the
other days, but, even that year, it must be religiously observed;
yet thus some have endeavoured to take away the observance of the
sabbath, by pretending that every day must be a sabbath day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p10">III. All manner of respect to the gods of
the heathen is here strictly forbidden, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.13" parsed="|Exod|23|13|0|0" passage="Ex 23:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. A general caution is prefixed
to this, which has reference to all these precepts: <i>In all
things that I have said unto you, be circumspect.</i> We are in
danger of missing our way on the right hand and on the left, and it
is at our peril if we do; therefore we have need to look about us.
A man may ruin himself through mere carelessness, but he cannot
save himself without great care and circumspection: particularly,
since idolatry was a sin which they were much addicted to, and
would be greatly tempted to, they must endeavour to blot out the
remembrance of the gods of the heathen, and must disuse and forget
all their superstitious forms of speech, and never mention them but
with detestation. In Christian schools and academies (for it is in
vain to think of reforming the play-houses), it were to be wished
that the names and stories of the heathen deities, or demons
rather, were not so commonly and familiarly used as they are, even
with intimations of respect, and sometimes with forms of
invocation. Surely we have <i>not so learned Christ.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p11">IV. Their solemn religious attendance on
God in the place which he should choose is here strictly required,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.14-Exod.23.17" parsed="|Exod|23|14|23|17" passage="Ex 23:14-17"><i>v.</i> 14-17</scripRef>. 1.
Thrice a year all their males must come together in a holy
convocation, that they might the better know and love one another,
and keep up their communion as a dignified and peculiar people. 2.
They must come together <i>before the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.17" parsed="|Exod|23|17|0|0" passage="Ex 23:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>) to present themselves before
him, looking towards the place where his honour dwelt, and to pay
their homage to him as their great Lord, from and under whom they
held all their enjoyments. 3. They must feast together before the
Lord, eating and drinking together, in token of their joy in God
and their grateful sense of his goodness to them; for <i>a feast is
made for laughter,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.19" parsed="|Eccl|10|19|0|0" passage="Ec 10:19">Eccl. x.
19</scripRef>. O what a good Master do we serve, who has made it
our duty to <i>rejoice before him,</i> who feasts his servants when
they are in waiting! Never let religion be called a melancholy
thing, when its solemn services are solemn feasts. 4. They must not
<i>appear before God empty,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.15" parsed="|Exod|23|15|0|0" passage="Ex 23:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Some free-will offering or
other they must bring, in token of their respect and gratitude to
their great benefactor; and, as they were not allowed to come
empty-handed, so we must not come to worship God empty-hearted; our
souls must be filled with grace, with pious and devout affections,
holy desires towards him, and dedications of ourselves to him, for
<i>with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.</i> 5. The passover,
pentecost, and feast of tabernacles, in spring, summer, and autumn,
were the three times appointed for their attendance: not in winter,
because travelling was then uncomfortable; not in the midst of
their harvest, because then they were otherwise employed; so that
they had no reason to say that he <i>made them to serve with an
offering,</i> or <i>wearied them with incense.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p12">V. Some particular directions are here
given about the three feasts, though not so fully as afterwards. 1.
As to the passover, it was not to be offered with leavened bread,
for at that feast all leaven was to be cast out, nor was the fat of
it to remain until the morning, lest it should become offensive,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.18" parsed="|Exod|23|18|0|0" passage="Ex 23:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 2. At the
feast of pentecost, when they were to begin their harvest, they
must bring <i>the first of their first-fruits</i> to God, by the
pious presenting of which the whole harvest was sanctified,
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.19" parsed="|Exod|23|19|0|0" passage="Ex 23:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. 3. At the
feast of <i>ingathering,</i> as it is called (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.16" parsed="|Exod|23|16|0|0" passage="Ex 23:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), they must give God thanks for
the harvest-mercies they had received, and must depend upon him for
the next harvest, and must not think to receive benefit by that
superstitious usage of some of the Gentiles, who, it is said, at
the end of their harvest, <i>seethed a kid in its dam's milk,</i>
and sprinkled that milk-pottage, in a magical way, upon their
gardens and fields, to make them more fruitful next year. But
Israel must abhor such foolish customs.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ex.xxiv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20-Exod.23.33" parsed="|Exod|23|20|23|33" passage="Ex 23:20-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Exod.23.20-Exod.23.33">
<h4 id="Ex.xxiv-p12.5">Precepts and Promises. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p12.6">b. c.</span> 1491.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ex.xxiv-p13">20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep
thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have
prepared.   21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him
not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name
<i>is</i> in him.   22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his
voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine
enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.   23 For
mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the
Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.   24
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after
their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break
down their images.   25 And ye shall serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ex.xxiv-p13.1">Lord</span> your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and
thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
  26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in
thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.   27 I will
send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom
thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs
unto thee.   28 And I will send hornets before thee, which
shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from
before thee.   29 I will not drive them out from before thee
in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the
field multiply against thee.   30 By little and little I will
drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and
inherit the land.   31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red
sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto
the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your
hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.   32 Thou
shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.   33
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against
me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto
thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p14">Three gracious promises are here made to
Israel, to engage them to their duty and encourage them in it; and
each of the promises has some needful precepts and cautions joined
to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p15">I. It is here promised that they should be
guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of
promise: <i>Behold, I send an angel before thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20" parsed="|Exod|23|20|0|0" passage="Ex 23:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>my angel</i>
(<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.23" parsed="|Exod|23|23|0|0" passage="Ex 23:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), a created
angel, say some, a minister of God's providence, employed in
conducting and protecting the camp of Israel; that it might appear
that God took a particular care of them, he appointed one of his
chief servants to make it his business to attend them, and see that
they wanted for nothing. Others suppose it to be the Son of God,
the angel of the covenant; for the Israelites in the wilderness are
said to <i>tempt Christ;</i> and we may as well suppose him God's
messenger, and the church's Redeemer, before his incarnation, as
<i>the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.</i> And we may
the rather think he was pleased to undertake the deliverance and
guidance of Israel because they were typical of his great
undertaking. It is promised that this blessed angel should <i>keep
them in the way,</i> though it lay through a wilderness first, and
afterwards through their enemies' country; thus God's spiritual
Israel shall be kept through the wilderness of this earth, and from
the insults of the gates of hell. It is also promised that he
should bring them into the place which God had not only designed
but prepared for them: and thus Christ has prepared a place for his
followers, and will preserve them to it, for he is faithful to him
that appointed him. The precept joined with this promise is that
they be observant of, and obedient to, this angel whom God would
send before them (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.21" parsed="|Exod|23|21|0|0" passage="Ex 23:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>): "<i>Beware of him, and obey his voice</i> in every
thing; <i>provoke him not</i> in any thing, for it is at your peril
if you do, he will <i>visit your iniquity.</i>" Note, 1. Christ is
the author of salvation to those only that obey him. The word of
command is <i>Hear you him,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.17.5" parsed="|Matt|17|5|0|0" passage="Mt 17:5">Matt.
xvii. 5</scripRef>. <i>Observe what he hath commanded,</i>
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.28.20" parsed="|Matt|28|20|0|0" passage="Mt 28:20">Matt. xxviii. 20</scripRef>. 2. Our
necessary dependence upon the divine power and goodness should awe
us into obedience. We do well to take heed of provoking our
protector and benefactor, because if our defence depart from us,
and the streams of his goodness be cut off, we are undone.
Therefore, "<i>Beware of him,</i> and carry it towards him with all
possible reverence and caution. Fear the <i>Lord, and his
goodness.</i>" 3. Christ will be faithful to those who are faithful
to him, and will espouse their cause who adhere to his: <i>I will
be an adversary to thine adversaries,</i> <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.22" parsed="|Exod|23|22|0|0" passage="Ex 23:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. The league shall be offensive
and defensive, like that with Abraham, <i>I will bless him that
blesseth thee, and curse him that curseth thee.</i> Thus is God
pleased to twist his interests and friendships with his
people's.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p16">II. It is promised that they should have a
comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan, which they hoped now
(though it proved otherwise) within a few months to be in the
possession of, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.24-Exod.23.26" parsed="|Exod|23|24|23|26" passage="Ex 23:24-26"><i>v.</i>
24-26</scripRef>. Observe, 1. How reasonable the conditions of this
promise are—only that they should serve their own God, who was
indeed the only true God, and not the gods of the nations, which
were no gods at all, and which they had no reason at all to have
any respect for. They must not only not worship their gods, but
they must utterly overthrow them, in token of their great
abhorrence of idolatry, their resolution never to worship idols
themselves, and their care to prevent any other from worshipping
them; as the converted conjurors <i>burnt their books,</i>
<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.19.19" parsed="|Acts|19|19|0|0" passage="Ac 19:19">Acts xix. 19</scripRef>. 2. How rich
the particulars of this promise are. (1.) The comfort of their
food. He shall <i>bless thy bread and thy water;</i> and God's
blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing
than a feast of fat things and wines on the lees without that
blessing. (2.) The continuance of their health: "<i>I will take
sickness away,</i> either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall
not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful,
and sometimes have laid countries waste." (3.) The increase of
their wealth. Their cattle should not be barren, nor cast their
young, which is mentioned as an instance of prosperity, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.10" parsed="|Job|21|10|0|0" passage="Job 21:10">Job xxi. 10</scripRef>. (4.) The prolonging of
their lives to old age: "<i>The number of thy days I will
fulfil,</i> and they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely
deaths." Thus hath godliness the <i>promise of the life that now
is.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ex.xxiv-p17">III. It is promised that they should
conquer and subdue their enemies, the present occupants of the land
of Canaan, who must be driven out to make room for them. This God
would do, 1. Effectually by his power (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.17-Exod.23.18" parsed="|Exod|23|17|23|18" passage="Ex 23:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>); not so much by the
sword and bow of Israel as by the terrors which he would strike
into the Canaanites. Though they were so obstinate as not to be
willing to submit to Israel, resign their country, and retire
elsewhere, which they might have done, yet they were so dispirited
that they were not able to stand before them. This completed their
ruin; such power had the devil in them that they would resist, but
such power had God over them that they could not. <i>I will send my
fear before thee;</i> and those that fear will soon flee. Hosts of
hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can
God make use of for the chastising of his people's enemies, as in
the plagues of Egypt. When God pleases, hornets can drive out
Canaanites, as well as lions could, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.12" parsed="|Josh|24|12|0|0" passage="Jos 24:12">Josh. xxiv. 12</scripRef>. 2. He would do it gradually,
in wisdom (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.29-Exod.23.30" parsed="|Exod|23|29|23|30" passage="Ex 23:29,30"><i>v.</i> 29,
30</scripRef>), not all at once, but by little and little. As the
Canaanites had kept possession till Israel had grown into a people,
so there should still be some remains of them till Israel should
grow so numerous as to replenish the whole. Note, The wisdom of God
is to be observed in the gradual advances of the church's
interests. It is in real kindness to the church that its enemies
are subdued by little and little; for thus we are kept upon our
guard, and in a continual dependence upon God. Corruptions are thus
driven out of the hearts of God's people; not all at once, but by
little and little; the old man is crucified, and therefore dies
slowly. God, in his providence, often delays mercies, because we
are not ready for them. Canaan has room enough to receive Israel,
but Israel is not numerous enough to occupy Canaan. We are not
straitened in God; if we are straitened, it is in ourselves. The
land of Canaan is promised them (<scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.31" parsed="|Exod|23|31|0|0" passage="Ex 23:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>) in its utmost extent, which yet
they were not possessed of till the days of David; and by their
sins they soon lost possession. The precept annexed to this promise
is that they should not make any friendship, nor have any
familiarity, with idolaters, <scripRef id="Ex.xxiv-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.32-Exod.23.33" parsed="|Exod|23|32|23|33" passage="Ex 23:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>. Idolaters must not so
much as sojourn in their land, unless they renounced their
idolatry. Thus they must avoid the reproach of intimacy with the
worshippers of false gods and the danger of being drawn to worship
with them. By familiar converse with idolaters, their dread and
detestation of the sin would wear off; they would think it no harm,
in compliment to their friends, to pay some respect to their gods,
and so by degrees would be drawn into the fatal snare. Note, Those
that would be kept from bad courses must keep from bad company; it
is dangerous living in a bad neighbourhood; others' sins will be
our snares, if we look not well to ourselves. We must always look
upon our greatest danger to be from those that would cause us to
sin against God. Whatever friendship is pretended, that is really
our worst enemy that draws us from our duty.</p>
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