The
design of Moses in this chapter is to convince the people of Israel of their
utter unworthiness to receive from God those great favours that were now to
be conferred upon them, writing this, as it were, in capital letters at the
head of their charter, "Not for your sake, be it known unto you,"
Ezek. xxxvi. 32. I. He assures them of victory over their enemies, ver. 1-3.
II. He cautions them not to attribute their successes to their own merit,
but to God's justice, which was engaged against their enemies, and his
faithfulness, which was engaged to their fathers, ver. 4-6. III. To make it
evident that they had no reason to boast of their own righteousness, he
mentions their faults, shows Israel their transgressions, and the house of
Jacob their sins. In general, they had been all along a provoking people,
ver. 7-24. In particular, 1. In the matter of the golden calf, the story of
which he largely relates, ver. 8-21. 2. He mentions some other instances of
their rebellion, ver. 22, 23. And, 3. Returns, at ver. 25, to speak of the
intercession he had made for them at Horeb, to prevent their being ruined
for the golden calf.
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Victory
Promised.
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B.
C. 1451.
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1 Hear, O Israel: Thou art
to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and
mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, 2 A
people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of
whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of
Anak! 3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD
thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming
fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so
shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD
hath said unto thee. 4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that
the LORD
thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness
the LORD
hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these
nations the LORD
doth drive them out from before thee. 5 Not for thy
righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to
possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD
thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the
word which the LORD
sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand
therefore, that the LORD
thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness;
for thou art a stiffnecked people.
The call to attention (v. 1), Hear, O Israel, intimates that
this was a new discourse, delivered at some distance of time after the
former, probably the next sabbath day.
I. Moses represents to the people the formidable strength of the enemies
which they were now to encounter, v. 1. The nations they were to
dispossess were mightier than themselves, not a rude and undisciplined rout,
like the natives of America, that were easily made a prey of. But, should
they besiege them, they would find their cities well fortified, according as
the art of fortification then was; should they engage them in the field,
they would find the people great and tall, of whom common fame had reported
that there was no standing before them, v. 2. This representation is
much the same with that which the evil spies had made (Num. xiii. 28, 33),
but made with a very different intention: that was designed to drive them
from God and to discourage their hope in him; this to drive them to God and
to engage their hope in him, since no power less than that which is almighty
could secure and prosper them.
II. He assures them of victory, by the presence of God with them,
notwithstanding the strength of the enemy, v. 3. "Understand
therefore what thou must trust to for success, and which way thou must look;
it is the Lord thy God that goes before thee, not only as thy captain, or
commander-in-chief, to give direction, but as a consuming fire, to do
execution among them. Observe, He shall destroy them, and then thou shalt
drive them out. Thou canst not drive them out, unless he destroy them and
bring them down. But he will not destroy them and bring them down, unless
thou set thyself in good earnest to drive them out." We must do our
endeavour in dependence upon God's grace, and we shall have that grace if we
do our endeavour.
III. He cautions them not to entertain the least thought of their own
righteousness, as if that had procured them this favour at God's hand:
"Say not. For my righteousness (either with regard to my good
character or in recompence for any good service) the Lord hath brought me
in to possess this land (v. 4); never think it is for thy
righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart, that it is in consideration
either of thy good conversation or of they good disposition," v.
5. And again (v. 6) it is insisted on, because it is hard to bring
people from a conceit of their own merit, and yet very necessary that it be
done: "Understand (know it, and believe it, and consider it)
that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this land for thy righteousness.
Hadst thou been to come to it upon that condition, thou wouldst have been
for ever shut out of it, for thou art a stiff-necked people."
Note, Our gaining possession of the heavenly Canaan, as it must be
attributed to God's power and not to our own might, so it must be ascribed
to God's grace and not to our own merit: in Christ we have both
righteousness and strength; in him therefore we must glory, and not in
ourselves, or any sufficiency of our own.
IV. He intimates to them the true reasons why God would take this good land
out of the hands of the Canaanites, and settle it upon Israel, and they are
borrowed from his own honour, not from Israel's deserts. 1. He will be
honoured in the destruction of idolaters; they are justly looked upon as
haters of him, and therefore he will visit their iniquity upon them. It is for
the wickedness of these nations that God drives them out, v.
4, and again, v. 5. All those whom God rejects are rejected for their
own wickedness: but none of those whom he accepts are accepted for their own
righteousness. 2. He will be honoured in the performance of his promise to
those that are in covenant with him: God swore to the patriarchs, who loved
him and left all to follow him, that he would give this land to their seed;
and therefore he would keep that promised mercy for thousands of those
that loved him and kept his commandments; he would not suffer his
promise to fail. It was for their fathers' sakes that they were beloved,
Rom. xi. 28. Thus boasting is for ever excluded. See Eph. i. 9, 11.
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Cautions
Against Self-Righteousness; Israel Reminded of Their Rebellions.
B. C.
1451
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1.
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7 Remember, and
forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD
thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out
of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious
against the LORD.
8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD
to wrath, so that the LORD
was angry with you to have destroyed you. 9 When I was gone up
into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the
covenant which the LORD
made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I
neither did eat bread nor drink water: 10 And the LORD
delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on
them was written according to all the words, which the LORD
spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the
assembly. 11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and
forty nights, that the LORD
gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the
covenant. 12 And the LORD
said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which
thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they
are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have
made them a molten image. 13 Furthermore the LORD
spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a
stiffnecked people: 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them,
and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation
mightier and greater than they. 15 So I turned and came down
from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the
covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and,
behold, ye had sinned against the LORD
your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly
out of the way which the LORD
had commanded you. 17 And I took the two tables, and cast them
out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. 18 And I
fell down before the LORD,
as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor
drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in
the sight of the LORD,
to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and
hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD
was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD
hearkened unto me at that time also. 20 And the LORD
was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also
the same time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had
made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it
very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust
thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount. 22 And
at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the LORD
to wrath. 23 Likewise when the LORD
sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have
given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD
your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.
24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD
from the day that I knew you. 25 Thus I fell down before the LORD
forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the
LORD
had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed therefore unto the LORD,
and said, O Lord GOD,
destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed
through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a
mighty hand. 27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their
wickedness, nor to their sin: 28 Lest the land whence thou
broughtest us out say, Because the LORD
was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because
he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the
wilderness. 29 Yet they are thy people and thine
inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy
stretched out arm.
That they might have no pretence to think that God brought them to Canaan for
their righteousness, Moses here shows them what a miracle of mercy it
was that they had not long ere this been destroyed in the wilderness: "Remember,
and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God (v. 7); so
far from purchasing his favour, thou hast many a time laid thyself open to
his displeasure." Their fathers' provocations are here charged upon
them; for, if God had dealt with their fathers according to their deserts,
this generation would never have been, much less would they have entered
Canaan. We are apt to forget our provocations, especially when the smart of
the rod is over, and have need to be often put in mind of them, that we may
never entertain any conceit of our own righteousness. Paul argues from the
guilt which all mankind is under to prove that we cannot be justified
before God by our own works, Rom. iii. 19, 20. If our works condemn us,
they will not justify us. Observe, 1. They had been a provoking people ever
since they came out of Egypt, v. 7. Forty years long, from
first to last, were God and Moses grieved with them. It is a very sad
character Moses now at parting leaves of them: You have been rebellious
since the day I knew you, v. 24. No sooner were they formed into
a people than there was a faction formed among them, which upon all
occasions made head against God and his government. Though the Mosaic
history records little more than the occurrences of the first and last year
of the forty, yet it seems by this general account that the rest of the
years were not much better, but one continued provocation. 2. Even in Horeb
they made a calf and worshipped it, v. 8, &c. That was a sin so
heinous, and by several aggravations made so exceedingly sinful, that they
deserved upon all occasions to be upbraided with it. It was done in the very
place where the law was given by which they were expressly forbidden to
worship God by images, and while the mountain was yet burning before their
eyes, and Moses had gone up to fetch them the law in writing. They turned
aside quickly, v. 16. 3. God was very angry with them for their
sin. Let them not think that God overlooked what they did amiss, and gave
them Canaan for what was good among them. No, God had determined to destroy
them (v. 8), could easily have done it, and would have been no loser
by it; he even desired Moses to let him alone that he might do it, v.
13, 14. By this it appeared how heinous their sin was, for God is never
angry with any above what there is cause for, as men often are. Moses
himself, though a friend and favourite, trembled at the revelation of God's
wrath from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness (v.
19): I was afraid of the anger of the Lord, afraid perhaps not for
them only, but for himself, Ps. cxix. 120. 4. They had by their sin broken
covenant with God, and forfeited all the privileges of the covenant, which
Moses signified to them by breaking the tables, v. 17. A bill
of divorce was given them, and thenceforward they might justly have been
abandoned for ever, so that their mouth was certainly stopped from pleading
any righteousness of their own. God had, in effect, disowned them, when he
said to Moses (v. 12), "They are thy people, they are none of
mine, nor shall they be dealt with as mine." 5. Aaron himself fell
under God's displeasure for it, though he was the saint of the Lord, and was
only brought by surprise or terror to be confederate with them in the sin: The
Lord was very angry with Aaron, v. 20. No man's place or
character can shelter him from the wrath of God if he have fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness. Aaron, that should have made
atonement for them if the iniquity could have been purged away by sacrifice
and offering, did himself fall under the wrath of God: so little did they
consider what they did when they drew him in. 6. It was with great
difficulty and very long attendance that Moses himself prevailed to turn
away the wrath of God, and prevent their utter ruin. He fasted and prayed
full forty days and forty nights before he could obtain their pardon, v.
18. And some think twice forty days (v. 25), because it is said, as
I fell down before, whereas his errand in the first forty was not of
that nature. Others think it was but one forty, though twice mentioned (as
also in ch. x. 10); but this was enough to make them sensible how
great God's displeasure was against them, and what a narrow escape they had
for their lives. And in this appears the greatness of God's anger against
all mankind that no less a person than his Son, and no less a price than his
own blood, would serve to turn it away. Moses here tells them the substance
of his intercession for them. He was obliged to own their stubbornness, and
their wickedness, and their sin, v. 27. Their character was bad
indeed when he that appeared an advocate for them could not give them a good
word, and had nothing else to say in their behalf but that God had done
great things for them, which really did but aggravate their crime (v.
26),--that they were the posterity of good ancestors (v. 27), which
might also have been turned upon him, as making the matter worse and not
better,--and that the Egyptians would reproach God, if he should destroy
them, as unable to perfect what he had wrought for them (v. 28), a
plea which might easily enough have been answered: no matter what the
Egyptians say, while the heavens declare God's righteousness; so that the
saving of them from ruin at that time was owing purely to the mercy of God,
and the importunity of Moses, and not to any merit of theirs, that could be
offered so much as in mitigation of their offence. 7. To affect them the
more with the destruction they were then at the brink of, he describes very
particularly the destruction of the calf they had made, v. 21. He
calls it their sin: perhaps not only because it had been the matter
of their sin, but because the destroying of it was intended for a testimony
against their sin, and an indication to them what the sinners themselves did
deserve. Those that made it were like unto it, and would have had no wrong
done them if they had been thus stamped to dust, and consumed, and
scattered, and no remains of them left. It was infinite mercy that accepted
the destruction of the idol instead of the destruction of the idolaters. 8.
Even after this fair escape that they had, in many other instances they
provoked the Lord again and again. He needed only to name the places, for
they carried the memorials either of the sin or of the punishment in their
names (v. 22): at Taberah, burning, where God set fire to them
for their murmuring,--at Massah, the temptation, where they
challenged almighty power to help them,--and at Kibroth-hattaavah, the
graves of lusters, where the dainties they coveted were their poison;
and, after these, their unbelief and distrust at Kadesh-barnea, of which he
had already told them (ch. i.), and which he here mentions again (v.
23), would certainly have completed their ruin if they had been dealt with
according to their own merits.
Now let them lay all this together, and it will appear that whatever favour
God should hereafter show them, in subduing their enemies and putting them
in possession of the land of Canaan, it was not for their righteousness. It
is good for us often to remember against ourselves, with sorrow and shame,
our former sins, and to review the records conscience keeps of them, that we
may see how much we are indebted to free grace, and may humbly own that we
never merited at God's hand any thing but wrath and the curse.
