Moses
at this chapter comes to the particular statues which he had to give in
charge to
Israel, and he begins with
those which relate to the worship of God, and particularly those which
explain the second commandment, about which God is in a special manner
jealous. I. They must utterly destroy all relics and remains of idolatry,
ver. 1-3. II. They must keep close to the tabernacle, ver. 4, 5. The former
precept was intended to prevent all false worship, the latter to preserve
the worship God had instituted. By this latter law, 1. They are commanded to
bring all their offerings to the altar of God, and all their holy things to
the place which he should choose, ver. 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 26-28. 2. They
are forbidden, in general, to do as they now did in the wilderness (ver.
8-11), and as the Canaanites had done (ver. 29-32), and, in particular, to
eat the hallowed things at their own houses (ver. 13, 17, 18), or to forsake
the instituted ministry, ver. 19. 3. They are permitted to eat flesh as
common food at their own houses, provided they do not eat the blood, ver.
15, 16, and again, ver. 20-26.
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Relics
of Idolatry to Be Destroyed.
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B.
C. 1451.
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1 These are the
statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the
LORD
God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon
the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein
the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high
mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3 And
ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their
groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and
destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do
so unto the LORD
your God.
From those great original truths, That there is a God, and that there is but
one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to be
worshipped, and he only, and that therefore we are to have no other God
before him: this is the first commandment, and the second is a guard upon
it, or a hedge about it. To prevent a revolt to false gods, we are forbidden
to worship the true God in such a way and manner as the false gods were
worshipped in, and are commanded to observe the instituted ordinances of
worship that we may adhere to the proper object of worship. For this reason
Moses is very large in his exposition of the second commandment. What is
contained in this and the four following chapters mostly refers to that. These
are statutes and judgments which they must observe to do (v.
1), 1. In the days of their rest and prosperity, when they should be masters
of Canaan. We must not think that our religion is instituted only to be our
work in the years of our servitude, our entertainment in the places of our
solitude, and our consolation in affliction; no, when we come to possess a
good land, still we must keep up the worship of God in Canaan as well as in
a wilderness, when we have grown up as well as when we are children, when we
are full of business as well as when we have nothing else to do. 2. All
the days, as long as you live upon the earth. While we are here
in our state of trial, we must continue in our obedience, even to the end,
and never leave our duty, nor grow weary of well-doing. Now,
I. They are here charged to abolish and extirpate all those things that the
Canaanites had served their idol-gods with, v. 2, 3. Here is no
mention of idol-temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the
tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever
was made for religious uses, and that from it temples took their rise. But
the places that had been used, and were now to be levelled, were enclosures
for their worship on mountains and hills (as if the height of the
ground would give advantage to the ascent of their devotions), and under
green trees, either because pleasant or because awful: whatever makes the
mind easy and reverent, contracts and composes it, was thought to befriend
devotion. The solemn shade and silence of a grove are still admired by those
that are disposed to contemplation. But the advantage which these
retirements gave to the Gentiles in the worship of their idols was that they
concealed those works of darkness which could not bear the light; and
therefore they must all be destroyed, with the altars, pillars, and images,
that had been used by the natives in the worship of their gods, so as that
the very names of them might be buried in oblivion, and not only not be
remembered with respect, but not remembered at all. They must thus consult,
1. The reputation of their land; let it never be said of this holy land that
it had been thus polluted, but let all these dunghills be carried away, as
things they were ashamed of. 2. The safety of their religion; let none be
left remaining, lest profane unthinking people, especially in degenerate
ages, should make use of them in the service of the God of Israel. Let these
pest-houses be demolished, as things they were afraid of. He begins the
statutes that relate to divine worship with this, because there must first
be an abhorrence of that which is evil before there can be a steady
adherence to that which is good, Rom. xii. 9. The kingdom of God must be set
up, both in persons and places, upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom; for
they cannot stand together, nor can there be any communion between Christ
and Belial.
II. They are charged not to transfer the rites and usages of idolaters into
he worship of God; no, not under colour of beautifying and improving it (v.
4): You shall not do so to the Lord your god, that is, "you must
not think to do honour to him by offering sacrifices on mountains and hills,
erecting pillars, planting groves, and setting up images; no, you must not
indulge a luxurious fancy in your worship, nor think that whatever pleases
that will please God: he is above all gods, and will not be
worshipped as other gods are."
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Where
Sacrifices Must Be Offered; Ceremonial Observances; Cautions
Against
Idolatrous
Rites.
B. C.
1451.
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5 But unto the place
which the LORD
your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even
unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and
your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your
freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your
flocks: 7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD
your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and
your households, wherein the LORD
thy God hath blessed thee. 8 Ye shall not do after all the
things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in
his own eyes. 9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to
the inheritance, which the LORD
your God giveth you. 10 But when ye go over Jordan, and
dwell in the land which the LORD
your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all
your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; 11 Then
there shall be a place which the LORD
your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye
bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices,
your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows
which ye vow unto the LORD:
12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD
your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and
your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates;
forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13 Take
heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that
thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD
shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt
offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15
Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever
thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD
thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof,
as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. 16 Only ye shall not eat
the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17 Thou
mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of
thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows
which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine
hand: 18 But thou must eat them before the LORD
thy God in the place which the LORD
thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy
gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD
thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. 19 Take heed
to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the
earth. 20 When the LORD
thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt
say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest
eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21 If the place
which the LORD
thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou
shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD
hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates
whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 22 Even as the roebuck and
the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall
eat of them alike. 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the
blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life
with the flesh. 24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it
upon the earth as water. 25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may
go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that
which is right in the sight of the LORD.
26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and
go unto the place which the LORD
shall choose: 27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the
flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD
thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar
of the LORD
thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. 28 Observe and hear all
these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with
thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good
and right in the sight of the LORD
thy God. 29 When the LORD
thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to
possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after
that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after
their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I
do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD
thy God: for every abomination to the LORD,
which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and
their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32
What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add
thereto, nor diminish from it.
There is not any one particular precept (as I remember) in all the law of
Moses so largely pressed and inculcated as this, by which they are all tied
to bring their sacrifices to that one altar which was set up in the court of
the tabernacle, and there to perform all the rituals of their religion; for,
as to moral services, then, no doubt, as now, men might pray every where, as
they did in their synagogues. The command to do this, and the prohibition of
the contrary, are here repeated again and again, as we teach children: and
yet we are sure that there is in scripture no vain repetition; but all this
stress is laid upon it, 1. Because of the strange proneness there was in the
hearts of the people to idolatry and superstition, and the danger of their
being seduced by the many temptations which they would be surrounded with.
2. Because of the great use which the observance of this appointment would
be of to them, both to prevent the introducing of corrupt customs into their
worship and to preserve among them unity and brotherly love, that, meeting
all in one place, they might continue both of one way and of one heart. 3.
Because of the significancy of this appointment. They must keep to one
place, in token of their belief of those two great truths, which we find
together (1 Tim. ii. 5), That there is one God, and one Mediator
between God and man. It not only served to keep up the notion of the
unity of the Godhead, but was an intimation to them (though they could not
stedfastly discern it) of the one only way of approach to God and communion
with him, in and by the Messiah.
Let us now reduce this long charge to its proper heads.
I. It is here promised that when they were settled in Canaan, when they had rest
from their enemies, and dwelt in safety, God would choose a certain
place, which he would appoint to be the centre of their unity, to which they
should bring all their offerings, v. 10, 11. Observe, 1. If they just
be tied to one place, they should not be left in doubt concerning it, but
should certainly know what place it was. Had Christ intended, under the
gospel, to make any one place such a seat of power as Rome pretends to be,
we should not have been left so destitute of instruction as we are
concerning the appointed place. 2. God does not leave it to them to choose
the place, lest the tribes should have quarrelled about it, each striving,
for their secular advantage, to have it among them; but he reserves the
choice to himself, as he does the designation of the Redeemer and the
institution of holy ordinances. 3. He does not appoint the place now, as he
had appointed mounts Gerizim and Ebal, for the pronouncing of the blessings
and curses (ch. xi. 29), but reserves the doing of it till hereafter,
that hereby they might be made to expect further directions from heaven, and
a divine conduct, after Moses should be removed. The place which God would
choose is said to be the place where he would put his name, that is, which
he would have to be called his, where his honour should dwell, where he
would manifest himself to his people, and make himself known, as men do by
their names, and where he would receive addresses, by which his name is both
praised and called upon. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of
Israel, he would keep court, and be found by all those that reverently
sought him. The ark was the token of God's presence, and where that was put
there God put his name, and that was his habitation. It contained the tables
of the law; for none must expect to receive favours from God's hand but
those that are willing to receive the law from his mouth. The place
which God first chose for the ark to reside in was Shiloh; and, after that
place had sinned away its honours, we find the ark at Kirjath-jearim and
other places; but at length, in David's time, it was fixed at Jerusalem, and
God said concerning Solomon's temple, more expressly than ever he had said
concerning any other place, This I have chosen for a house of sacrifice,
2 Chron. vii. 12. Compare 2 Chron. vi. 5. Now, under the gospel, we have no
temple that sanctifies the gold, no altar that sanctifies the gift, but
Christ only; and, as to the places of worship, the prophets foretold that in
every place the spiritual incense should be offered, Mal. i. 11.
And our Saviour has declared that those are accepted as true worshippers who
worship God in sincerity and truth, without regard either to this mountain
or Jerusalem, John iv. 23.
II. They are commanded to bring all their burnt-offerings and sacrifices to
this place that God would choose (v. 6 and again v. 11): Thither
shall you bring all that I command you; and (v. 14), There
thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings; and (v. 27), The flesh
and the blood must be offered upon the altar of the Lord thy God. And of
their peace-offerings, here called their sacrifices, though they were
to eat the flesh, yet the blood was to be poured out upon
the altar. By this they were taught that sacrifices and offerings God
did not desire, nor accept, for their own sake, nor for any intrinsic worth
in them, as natural expressions of homage and adoration; but that they
received their virtue purely from that altar on which they were offered, as
it typified Christ; whereas prayers and praises, as much more necessary and
valuable, were to be offered every day by the people of God wherever they
were. A devout Israelite might honour God, and keep up communion with him,
and obtain mercy from him, though he had not an opportunity, perhaps, for
many months together, of bringing a sacrifice to his altar. But this
signified the obligation we Christians are under to offer up all our
spiritual sacrifices to God in the name of Jesus Christ, hoping for
acceptance only upon the score of his mediation, 1 Pet. ii. 5.
III. They are commanded to feast upon their hallowed things before the Lord,
with holy joy. They must not only bring to the altar the sacrifices which
were to be offered to God, but hey must bring to the place of the altar all
those things which they were appointed by the law to eat and drink, to the
honour of God, in token of their communion with him, v. 6. Their, tithes,
and heave-offerings of their hand, that is, their first-fruits, their
vows, and free-will-offerings, and firstlings, all those things which
were to be religiously made use of either by themselves or by the priests
and Levites, must be brought to the place which God would choose; as all the
revenues of the crown, from all parts of the kingdom, are brought into the
exchequer. And (v. 7): There you shall eat before the Lord, and
rejoice in all that you put your hands unto; and again (v. 12), You
shall rejoice before the Lord, you, and your sons, and your daughters.
Observe here, 1. That what we do in the service of God and to his glory
redounds to our benefit, if it be not our own fault. Those that sacrifice to
God are welcome to eat before him, and to feast upon their sacrifices: he sups
with us, and we with him, Rev. iii. 20. If we glorify God, we
edify ourselves, and cultivate our own minds, through the grace of God, by
the increase of our knowledge and faith, the enlivening of devout
affections, and the confirming of gracious habits and resolutions: thus is
the soul nourished. 2. That work for God should be done with holy joy and
cheerfulness. You shall eat and rejoice, v. 7, and again, v.
12 and v. 18. (1.) Now while they were before the Lord they must
rejoice, v. 12. It is the will of God that we should serve him with
gladness; none displeased him more than those that covered his altar with
tears. Mal. ii. 13. See what a good Master we serve, who has made it our
duty to sing at our work. Even the children and servants must rejoice with
them before God, that the services of religion might be a pleasure to them,
and not a task or drudgery. (2.) They must carry away with them the
grateful relish of that delight which they found in communion with God; they
must rejoice in all that they put their hands unto, v. 7. Some
of the comfort which they must take with them into their common employments;
and, being thus strengthened in soul, whatever they did they must do it
heartily and cheerfully. And this holy pious joy in God and his goodness,
with which we are to rejoice evermore, would be the best preservative
against the sin and snare of vain and carnal mirth and a relief
against the sorrows of the world.
IV. They are commanded to be kind to the Levites. Did they feast with joy?
The Levites must feast with them, and rejoice with them, v. 12, and
again, v. 18; and a general caution (v. 19), Take heed that
thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest. There were Levites
that attended the altar as assistants to the priests, and these must not be
forsaken, that is, the service they performed must be constantly adhered to;
no other altar must be set up than that which God appointed; for that would
be to forsake the Levites. But this seems to be spoken of the Levites that
were dispersed in the country to instruct the people in the law of God, and
to assist them in their devotions; for it is the Levite within their
gates that they are here commanded to make much of. It is a great mercy
to have Levites near us, within our gates, that we may ask the law at their
mouth, and at our feasts to be a check upon us, to restrain excesses. And it
is the duty of people to be kind to their ministers that give them good
instructions and set them good examples. As long as we live we shall need
their assistance, till we come to that world where ordinances will be
superseded; and therefore as long as we live we must not forsake the
Levites. The reason given (v. 12) is because the Levite has no
part nor inheritance with you, so that he cannot grow rich by husbandry
or trade; let him therefore share with you in the comfort of your riches.
They must give the Levites their tithes and offerings, settled on them by
the law, because they had no other maintenance.
V. They are allowed to eat common flesh, but not the flesh of their
offerings, in their own houses, wherever they dwelt. What was any way
devoted to God they must not eat at home, v. 13, 17. But what was not
so devoted they might kill and eat of at their pleasure, v. 15. And
this permission is again repeated, v. 20-22. It should seem that
while they were in the wilderness they did not eat the flesh of any of those
kinds of beasts that were used in sacrifice, but what was killed at the door
of the tabernacle, and part of it presented to God as a peace-offering, Lev.
xvii. 3, 4. But when they came to Canaan, where they must live at a great
distance from the tabernacle, they might kill what they pleased for their
own use of their flocks and herds, without bringing part to the altar. This
allowance is very express, and repeated, lest Satan should take occasion
from that law which forbade the eating of their sacrifices at their own
houses to suggest to them, as he did to our first parents, hard thoughts of
God, as if he grudged them: Thou mayest eat whatsoever thy soul lusteth
after. There is a natural regular appetite, which it is lawful to
gratify with temperance and sobriety, not taking too great a pleasure in the
gratification, nor being uneasy if it be crossed. The unclean, who might not
eat of the holy things, yet might eat of the same sort of flesh when it was
only used as common food. The distinction between clean persons and unclean
was sacred, and designed for the preserving of the honour of their holy
feasts, and therefore must not be brought into their ordinary meals. This
permission has a double restriction:-- 1. They must eat according to the
blessing which God had given them, v. 15. Note, It is not only our
wisdom, but our duty, to live according to our estates, and not to spend
above what we have. As it is unjust on the one hand to hoard what should be
laid out, so it is much more unjust to lay out more than we have; for what
is not our own must needs be another's, who is thereby robbed and defrauded.
And this, I say, is much more unjust, because it is easier afterwards to
distribute what has been unduly spared, and so to make a sort of restitution
for the wrong, than it is to repay to wife, and children, and creditors,
what has been unduly spent. Between these two extremes let wisdom find the
mean, and then let watchfulness and resolution keep it. 2. They must not eat
blood (v. 16, and again, v. 23): Only be sure that thou eat
not the blood (v. 24), Thou shalt not eat it; and (v.
25), Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee. When they
could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out there before the
Lord, as belonging to him, they must pour it out upon the earth, as not
belonging to them, because it was the life, and therefore, as an
acknowledgment, belonged to him who gives life, and, as an atonement,
belonged to him to whom life is forfeited. Bishop Patrick thinks one reason
why they were forbidden thus strictly the eating of blood was to prevent the
superstitions of the old idolaters about the blood of their sacrifices,
which they thought their demons delighted in, and by eating of which they
imagined that they had communion with them.
VI. They are forbidden to keep up either their own corrupt usages in the
wilderness or the corrupt usages of their predecessors in the land of
Canaan.
1. They must not keep up those improper customs which they had got into in
the wilderness, and which were connived at in consideration of the present
unsettledness of their condition (v. 8, 9): You shall not do after
all the things that we do here this day. Never was there a better
governor than Moses, and one would think never a better opportunity of
keeping up good order and discipline than now among the people of Israel,
when they lay so closely encamped under the eye of their governor; and yet
it seems there was much amiss and many irregularities had crept in among
them. We must never expect to see any society perfectly pure and right, and
as it should be till we come to the heavenly Canaan. They had sacrifices and
religious worship, courts of justice and civil government, and, by the
stoning of the man that gathered sticks on the sabbath day, it
appears there was great strictness used in guarding the most weighty matters
of the law; but being frequently upon the remove, and always at uncertainty,
(1.) They could none of them observe the solemn feasts, and the rites of
cleansing, with the exactness that the law required. And, (2.) Those among
them that were disposed to do amiss had opportunity given them to do it
unobserved by the frequent interruptions which their removals gave to the
administration of justice. But (says Moses) when you come to Canaan, you shall
not do as we do here. Note, When the people of God are in an unsettled
condition, that may be tolerated and dispensed with which would by no means
be allowed at another time. Cases of necessity are to be considered while
the necessity continues; but that must not be done in Canaan which was done
in the wilderness. While a house is in the building a great deal of dirt and
rubbish are suffered to lie by it, which must all be taken away when the
house is built. Moses was now about to lay down his life and government, and
it was a comfort to him to foresee that Israel would be better in the next
reign than they had been in his.
2. They must not worship the Lord by any of those rites or ceremonies which
the notions of Canaan had made use of in the service of their gods, v.
29-32. They must not so much as enquire into the modes and forms of
idolatrous worship. What good would it do to them to know those depths of
Satan? Rev. ii. 24. It is best to be ignorant of that which there is
danger of being infected by. They must not introduce the customs of
idolaters, (1.) Because it would be absurd to make those their patterns whom
God had made their slaves and captives, cut off, and destroyed from before
them. The Canaanites had not flourished and prospered so much in the service
of their gods as that the Israelites should be invited to take up their
customs. Those are wretchedly besotted indeed who will walk in the way of
sinners, after they have seen their end. (2.) Because some of their customs
were most barbarous and inhuman, and such as trampled, not only upon the
light and law of nature, but upon natural affection itself, as burning
their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods (v. 31),
the very mention of which is sufficient to make it odious, and possess us
with a horror of it. (3.) Because their idolatrous customs were an
abomination to the Lord, and the translating of them into his worship would
make even that an abomination and an affront to him by which they should
give him honour, and by which they hoped to obtain his favour. The case is
bad indeed when the sacrifice itself has become an abomination, Prov. xv. 8.
He therefore concludes (v. 32) with the same caution concerning the
worship of God which he had before given concerning the word of God (ch.
iv. 2): "You shall not add thereto any inventions of your own,
under pretence of making the ordinance either more significant or more
magnificent, nor diminish from it, under pretence of making it more
easy and practicable, or of setting aside that which may be spared; but
observe to do all that, and that only, which God has commanded." We may
then hope in our religious worship to obtain the divine acceptance when we
observe the divine appointment. God will have his own work done in his own
way.
