N
U M B E R S
CHAP. XX.
At
this chapter begins the history of the fortieth year (which was the last year)
of the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness. And since the beginning of
their second year, when they were sentenced to perform their quarantine in the
desert, there to wear away the tedious revolution of forty years, there is
little recorded concerning them till this last year, which brought them to the
borders of Canaan, and the history of this year is almost as large as the
history of the first year. This chapter gives an account of, I. The death of
Miriam, ver. 1. II. The fetching of water out of the rock, in which observe,
1. The distress Israel was in, for want of water, ver. 2. 2. Their discontent
and murmuring in that distress, ver. 3-5. 3. God's pity and power engaged for
their supply with water out of the rock, ver. 6-9. 4. The infirmity of Moses
and Aaron upon this occasion, ver. 10, 11. 5. God's displeasure against them,
ver. 12, 13. III. The negotiation with the Edomites. Israel's request (ver.
14-17), and the repulse the Edomites gave them, ver. 18-21. IV. The death of
Aaron the high priest upon Mount Hor, the instalment of Eleazar in his room,
and the people's mourning for him, ver. 22, &c.
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The
Death of Miriam; The Water of Meribah; Moses and Aaron Reproved.
B. C.
1453.
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1 Then came the children
of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the
first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was
buried there. 2 And there was no water for the congregation: and
they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had
died when our brethren died before the LORD!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD
into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5
And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto
this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of
pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. 6 And
Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory
of the LORD
appeared unto them. 7 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the
assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock
before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring
forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and
their beasts drink. 9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD,
as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the
congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye
rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses
lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water
came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the LORD
spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation
into the land which I have given them. 13 This is the water
of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD,
and he was sanctified in them.
After thirty-eight years' tedious marches, or rather tedious rests, in the
wilderness, backward towards the Red Sea, the armies of Israel now at length
set their faces towards Canaan again, and had come not far off from the place
where they were when, by the righteous sentence of divine Justice, they were
made to begin their wanderings. Hitherto they had been led about as in a maze
or labyrinth, while execution was doing upon the rebels that were sentenced;
but they were now brought into the right way again: they abode in Kadesh (v.
1), not Kadesh-barnea, which was near the borders of Canaan, but another
Kadesh on the confines of Edom, further off from the land of promise, yet in
the way to it from the Red Sea, to which they had been hurried back. Now,
I. Here dies Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, and as it should seem
older than either of them. She must have been so if she was that sister that
was set to watch Moses when he was put into the ark of bulrushes, Exod. ii. 4.
Miriam died there, v. 1. She was a prophetess, and had been an
instrument of much good to Israel, Mic. vi. 4. When Moses and Aaron with their
rod went before them, to work wonders for them, Miriam with her timbrel went
before them in praising God for these wondrous works (Exod. xv. 20), and
therein did them real service; yet she had once been a murmurer (ch.
xii. 1), and must not enter Canaan.
II. Here there is another Meribah. one place we met with before of that name,
in the beginning of their march through the wilderness, which was so called because
of the chiding of the children of Israel, Exod. xvii. 7. And now we have
another place, at the latter end of their march, which bears the same name for
the same reason: This is the water of Meribah, v. 13. What was
there done was here re-acted.
1. There was no water for the congregation, v. 2. The water out
of the rock of Rephidim had followed them while there was need of it; but it
is probable that for some time they had been in a country where they were
supplied in an ordinary way, and when common providence supplied them it was
fit that the miracle should cease. But in this place it fell out that there
was no water, or not sufficient for the congregation. Note, We live in a
wanting world, and, wherever we are, must expect to meet with some
inconvenience or other. It is a great mercy to have plenty of water, a mercy
which if we found the want of we should own the worth of.
2. Hereupon they murmured, mutinied (v. 2), gathered themselves
together, and took up arms against Moses and Aaron. They chid with
them (v. 3), spoke the same absurd and brutish language that their
fathers had done before them. (1.) They wished they had died as malefactors by
the hands of divine justice, rather than thus seem for a while neglected by
the divine mercy: Would God that we had died when our brethren died before
the Lord! Instead of giving God thanks, as they ought to have done, for
sparing them, they not only despise the mercy of their reprieve, but quarrel
with it, as if God had done them a great deal of wrong in giving them their
lives for a prey, and snatching them as brands out of the burning. But they
need not wish that they had died with their brethren, they are here taking the
ready way to die like their brethren in a little while. Woe unto those that
desire the day of the Lord, Amos v. 18. (2.) They were angry that they
were brought out of Egypt, and led through this wilderness, v. 4, 5.
They quarrelled with Moses for that which they knew was the Lord's doing; they
represented that as an injury which was the greatest favour that ever was done
to any people. They prefer slavery before liberty, the house of bondage before
the land of promise; and though, the present want was of water only, yet, now
that they are disposed to find fault, it shall be looked upon as an
insufferable hardship put upon them that they have not vines and figs. It was
an aggravation of their crime, [1.] that they had smarted so long for the
discontents and distrusts of their fathers. They had borne their whoredoms
now almost forty years in the wilderness (ch. xiv. 33); and yet
they ventured in the same steps, and, as is charged upon Belshazzar, humbled
not their hearts, though they knew all this, Dan. v. 22. [2.] That they
had had such long and constant experience of God's goodness to them, and of
the tenderness and faithfulness of Moses and Aaron. [3.] That Miriam was now
lately dead; and, having lost one of their leaders, they ought to have been
more respectful to those that were left; but, as if they were resolved to
provoke God to leave them as sheep without any shepherd, they grow outrageous
against them: instead of condoling with Moses and Aaron for the death of their
sister, they add affliction to their grief.
3. Moses and Aaron made them no reply, but retired to the door of the
tabernacle to know God's mind in this case, v. 6. There they fell on
their faces, as formerly on the like occasion, to deprecate the wrath of
God and to entreat direction from him. Here is no mention of any thing they
said; they knew that God heard the murmurings of the people, and before him
they humbly prostrate themselves, making intercessions with groanings that
cannot be uttered. There they lay waiting for orders Speak, Lord, for
thy servants hear.
4. God appeared, to determine the matter; not on his tribunal of justice, to
sentence the rebels according to their deserts; no, he will not return to
destroy Ephraim (Hosea xi. 9), will not always chide; see Gen.
viii. 21. But he appeared, (1.) On his throne of glory, to silence their
unjust murmuring (v. 6): The glory of the Lord appeared, to still
the tumult of the people, by striking an awe upon them. Note, A believing
sight of the glory of the Lord would be an effectual check to our lusts and
passions, and would keep our mouths as with a bridle. (2.) On his throne of
grace, to satisfy their just desires. It was requisite that they should have
water, and therefore, thought the manner of their petitioning for it was
irregular and disorderly, yet God did not take that advantage against them to
deny it to them, but gave immediate orders for their supply, v. 8.
Moses must a second time in God's name command water out of a rock for them,
to show that God is as able as ever to supply his people with good things,
even in their greatest straits an in the utmost failure of second causes.
Almighty power can bring water out of a rock, has done it, and can again, for
his arm is not shortened. Lest it should be thought that there was some thing
peculiar in the former rock itself, some secret spring which nature hid before
in it, God here bids him broach another, and does not, as then, direct him
which he must apply to, but lets him make use of which he pleased, or the
first he came to; all alike to Omnipotence. [1.] God bids him take the rod,
that famous rod with which he summoned the plagues of Egypt, and divided the
sea, that, having that in his hand, both he and the people might be reminded
of the great things God had formerly done for them, and might be encouraged to
trust in him now. This rod, it seems, was kept in the tabernacle (v.
9), for it was the rod of God, the rod of his strength, as the
gospel is called (Ps. cx. 2), perhaps in allusion to it. [2.] God bids him
gather the assembly, not the elders only, but the people, to be witnesses of
what was done, that by their own eyes they might be convinced and made ashamed
of their unbelief. There is no fallacy in God's works of wonder, and therefore
they shun not the light, nor the inspection and enquiry of many witnesses.
[3.] He bids him speak to the rock, which would do as it was bidden, to shame
the people who had been so often spoken to, and would not hear nor obey. Their
hearts were harder than this rock, not so tender, not so yielding, not so
obedient. [4.] He promises that the rock should give forth water (v.
8), and it did so (v. 11): The water came out abundantly. This
is an instance, not only of the power of God, that he could thus fetch honey
out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, but of his mercy
and grace, that he would do it for such a provoking people. This was a new
generation (most of the old stock were by this time worn off), yet they were
as bad as those that went before them; murmuring ran in the blood, yet the
entail of the divine favour was not cut off, but in this instance of it the
divine patience shines as brightly as the divine power. He is God and not man,
in sparing and pardoning; nay, he not only here gave them the drink which they
drank of in common with their beasts (v. 8, 11), but in it he made them
to drink spiritual drink, which typified spiritual blessings, for that rock
was Christ.
5. Moses and Aaron acted improperly in the management of this matter, so much
so that God in displeasure told them immediately that they should not have the
honour of bringing Israel into Canaan, v. 10-12.
(1.) This is a strange passage of story, yet very instructive. [1.] It is
certain that God was greatly offended, and justly, for he is never angry
without cause. Though they were his servants, and had obtained mercy to be
faithful, though they were his favourites, and such as he had highly honoured,
yet for something they thought, or said, or did, upon this occasion, he put
them under the disgrace and mortification of dying, as other unbelieving
Israelites did, short of Canaan. And no doubt the crime deserved the
punishment. [2.] Yet it is uncertain what it was in this management that was
so provoking to God. The fault was complicated. First, They did not
punctually observe their orders, but in some things varied from their
commission; God bade them speak to the rock, and they spoke to the
people, and smote the rock, which at this time they were not
ordered to do, but they thought speaking would not do. When, in distrust of
the power of the word, we have recourse to the secular power in matters of
pure conscience, we do, as Moses here, smite the rock to which we should only
speak, Secondly, They assumed too much of the glory of this work of
wonder to themselves: Must we fetch water? as if it were done by some
power or worthiness of theirs. Therefore it is charged upon them (v.
12) that they did not sanctify God, that is, they did not give him that
glory of this miracle which was due unto his name. Thirdly, Unbelief
was the great transgression (v. 12): You believed me not; nay,
it is called rebelling against God's commandment, ch. xxvii. 14.
The command was to bring water out of the rock, but they rebelled against this
command, by distrusting it, and doubting whether it would take effect or no.
They speak doubtfully: Must we fetch water? And probably they did in
some other ways discover an uncertainty in their own minds whether water would
come or no for such a rebellious generation as this was. And perhaps they the
rather questioned it, though God had promised it, because the glory of the
Lord did not appear before them upon this rock, as it had done upon the rock
in Rephidim, Exod. xvii. 6. They would not take God's word without a sign. Dr.
Lightfoot's notion of their unbelief is that they doubted whether now at last,
when the forty years had expired, they should enter Canaan, and whether they
must not for the murmurings of the people be condemned to another period of
toil, because a new rock was now opened for their supply, which they took for
an indication of their longer stay. And, if so, justly were they kept out of
Canaan themselves, while the people entered at the time appointed. Fourthly,
They said and did all in heat and passion; this is the account given of the
sin (Ps. cvi. 33): They provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly
with his lips. It was in his passion that he called them rebels. It
is true they were so; God had called them so; and Moses afterwards, in the way
of a just reproof (Deut. ix. 24), calls them so without offence; but now it
came from a provoked spirit, and was spoken unadvisedly: it was too much like Raca,
and Thou fool. His smiting the rock twice (it should seem, not waiting
at all for the eruption of the water upon the first stroke) shows that he was
in a heat. The same thing said and done with meekness may be justifiable which
when said and done in anger may be highly culpable; see Jam. i. 20. Fifthly,
That which aggravated all the rest, and made it the more provoking, was that
it was public, before the eyes of the children of Israel, to whom they
should have been examples of faith, and hope, and meekness. We find Moses
guilty of sinful distrust, ch. xi. 22, 23. That was private between God
and him, and therefore was only checked. But his was public; it dishonoured
God before Israel, as if he grudged them his favours, and discouraged the
people's hope in God, and therefore this was severely punished, and the more
because of the dignity and eminency of those that offended.
(2.) From the whole we may learn, [1.] That the best of men have their
failings, even in those graces that they are most eminent for. The man Moses
was very meek, and yet here he sinned in passion; wherefore let him that
thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. [2.] That God judges not as man
judges concerning sins; we might think that there was not much amiss in what
Moses said and did, yet God saw cause to animadvert severely upon it. He knows
the frame of men's spirits, what temper they are of, and what temper they are
in upon particular occasions, and from what thoughts and intents words and
actions do proceed; and we are sure that therefore his judgment is
according to truth, when it agrees not with ours. [3.] that God not only
takes notice of, and is displeased with, the sins of his people, but that the
nearer any are to him the more offensive are their sins, Amos iii. 2. It
should seem, the Psalmist refers to this sin of Moses and Aaron (Ps. xcix. 8):
Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance on their
inventions. As many are spared in this life and punished in the other, so
many are punished in this life and saved in the other. [4.] That, when our
heart is hot within us, we are concerned to take heed that we offend not with
our tongue. Yet, [5.] It is an evidence of the sincerity of Moses, and his
impartiality in writing, that he himself left this upon record concerning
himself, and drew not a veil over his own infirmity, by which it appeared that
in what he wrote, as well as what he did, he sought God's glory more than his
own.
Lastly, The place is hereupon called Meribah, v. 13. It
is called Meribah-Kadesh (Deut. xxxii. 51), to distinguish it from the
other Meribah. It is the water of strife; to perpetuate the remembrance
of the people's sin, and Moses's, and yet of God's mercy, who supplied them
with water, and owned and honoured Moses notwithstanding. Thus he was
sanctified in the, as the Holy One of Israel, so he is called when his
mercy rejoices against judgment, Hos. xi. 9. Moses and Aaron did not sanctify
God as they ought in the eyes of Israel (v. 12), but God was sanctified
in them; for he will not be a loser in his honour by any man. If he be not
glorified by us, he will be glorified upon us.
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Ambassadors
Sent to Edom.
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B.
C. 1452.
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14 And Moses sent
messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel,
Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: 15 How our
fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the
Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: 16 And when we cried unto the
LORD,
he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt:
and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy
border: 17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will
not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of
the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not
turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy
borders. 18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me,
lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19 And the children
of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle
drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing
any thing else, go through on my feet. 20 And he said, Thou
shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with
a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through
his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
We have here the application made by Israel to the Edomites. The nearest way
to Canaan from the place where Israel now lay encamped was through the country
of Edom. Now,
I. Moses sends ambassadors to treat with the king of Edom for leave to pass
through his country, and gives them instructions what to say, v. 14-17.
1. They are to claim kindred with the Edomites: Thus saith thy brother
Israel. Both nations descended from Abraham and Isaac, their common
ancestors; Esau and Jacob, the two fathers of their respective nations, were
twin-brothers; and therefore, for relation-sake, they might reasonably expect
this kindness from them; nor needed the Edomites to fear that their brother
Israel had any ill design upon them, or would take any advantages against
them. 2. They are to give a short account of the history and present state of
Israel, which, they take it for granted, the Edomites were no strangers to.
And in this there was a double plea:-- (1.) Israel had been abused by the
Egyptians, and therefore ought to be pitied and succoured by their relations:
"The Egyptians vexed us and our fathers, but we may hope our
brethren the Edomites will not be so vexatious." (2.) Israel had been
wonderfully saved by the Lord, and therefore ought to be countenanced and
favoured (v. 16): "We cried unto the Lord, and he sent an
angel, the angel of his presence, the angel of the covenant, the eternal
Word, who had brought us forth out of Egypt, and led us hither."
It was therefore the interest of the Edomites to ingratiate themselves with a
people that had so great an interest in heaven and were so much its
favourites, and it was at their peril if they offered them any injury. It is
our wisdom and duty to be kind to those whom God is pleased to own, and to
take his people for our people. Come in, thou blessed of the Lord. 3.
They are humbly to beg a passport through their country. Though God himself,
in the pillar of cloud and fire, was Israel's guide, in following which they
might have justified their passing through any man's ground against all the
world, yet God would have this respect paid to the Edomites, to show that no
man's property ought to be invaded under colour of religion. Dominion is
founded in providence, not in grace. Thus when Christ was to pass through a
village of the Samaritans, to whom his coming was likely to be offensive, he sent
messengers before his face to ask leave, Luke ix. 52. Those that would
receive kindness must not disdain to request it. 4. They are to give security
for the good behaviour of the Israelites in this march, that they would keep
in the king's high road, that they would commit no trespass upon any man's
property, either in ground or water, that they would not so much as make use
of a well without paying for it, and that they would make all convenient
speed, as fast as they could well go on their feet, v. 17, 19. Nothing
could be offered more fair and neighbourly.
II. The ambassadors returned with a denial, v. 18. Edom, that is, the
king of Edom, as protector of his country, said, Thou shalt not pass by me;
and, when the ambassadors urged it further, he repeated the denial (v.
20) and threatened, if they offered to enter his country, it should be at
their peril; he raised his trained bands to oppose them. Thus Edom refused
to give Israel passage. This was owing, 1. To their jealousy of the
Israelites; they feared they should receive promises. And truly, had this
numerous army been under any other discipline and command than that of the
righteous God himself, who would no more suffer them to do wrong than to take
wrong, there might have been cause for this jealousy; but what could they fear
from a nation that had statutes and judgments so righteous? 2. It was
owing to the old enmity which Esau bore to Israel. If they had no reason to
fear damage by them, yet they were not willing to show so much kindness to
them. Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing, and now the hatred revived,
when the blessing was ready to be inherited. God would hereby discover the
ill-nature of the Edomites to their shame, and try the good-nature of the
Israelites to their honour: they turned away from him, and did not take
this occasion to quarrel with him. Note, We must not think it strange if the
most reasonable requests be denied by unreasonable men, and if those be
affronted by men whom God favours. I as a deaf man heard not. After
this indignity which the Edomites offered to Israel God gave them a particular
caution not to abhor an Edomite (Deut. xxiii. 7), though the Edomites
had shown such an abhorrence of them, to teach us in such cases not to
meditate revenge.
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The
Edomites Refuse a Passage to Israel; The Death of Aaron.
B. C.
1452.
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22 And the children of
Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came
unto mount Hor. 23 And the LORD
spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom,
saying, 24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall
not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel,
because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. 25
Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and
Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the LORD
commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the
congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put
them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and
Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. 29 And when all the
congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even
all the house of Israel.
The chapter began with the funeral of Miriam, and it ends with the funeral of
her brother Aaron. When death comes into a family, it often strikes double.
Israel had not improved the former affliction they were under, by the death of
the prophetess, and therefore, soon after, God took away their priest, to try
if they would lay that to heart. This happened at the very next stage, when
they removed to Mount Hor, fetching a compass round the Edomites' country,
leaving it on their left hand. Wherever we go, death attends us, and the
graves are ready for us.
I. God bids Aaron die, v. 24. God takes Moses and Aaron aside, and
tells them, Aaron shall be gathered to his people. These two dear
brothers are told that they must part. Aaron the elder must die first, but
Moses is not likely to be long after him; so that it is but for a while, a
little while, that they are parted. 1. There is something of displeasure in
these orders. Aaron must not enter Canaan, because he had failed in his duty
at the waters of strife. The mention of this, no doubt, went to the heart of
Moses, who knew himself, perhaps, at that time, to be the guiltier of the two.
2. There is much of mercy in them. Aaron, though he dies for his
transgression, is not put to death as a malefactor, by a plague, or fire from
heaven, but dies with ease and in honour. He is not cut off from his
people, as the expression usually is concerning those that die by the hand
of divine justice, but he is gathered to his people, as one that died
in the arms of divine grace. 3. There is much of type and significancy in
them. Aaron must not enter Canaan, to show that the Levitical priesthood could
make nothing perfect: that must be done by the bringing in of a better hope.
Those priests could not continue by reason of sin and death, but the
priesthood of Christ, being undefiled, is unchangeable, and to this, which
abides for ever, Aaron must resign all his honour, Heb. vii. 23-25.
II. Aaron submits, and dies in the method and manner appointed, and, for aught
that appears, with as much cheerfulness as if he had been going to bed.
1. He puts on his holy garments to take his leave of them, and goes up with
his brother and son to the top of Mount Hor, and probably some of the elders
of Israel with him, v. 27. They went up in the sight of all the
congregation, who, it is likely, were told on what errand they went up; by
this solemn procession Aaron lets Israel know that he is neither afraid nor
ashamed to die, but, when the bridegroom comes, can trim his lamp and go forth
to meet him. His going up the hill to die signified that the death of saints
(and Aaron is called the saint of the Lord) is their ascension; they
rather go up than go down to death.
2. Moses, whose hands had first clothed Aaron with his priestly garments, now
strips him of them; for, in reverence to the priesthood, it was not fit that
he should die in them. Note, Death will strip us; naked we came into the
world, and naked we must go out. We shall see little reason to be proud of our
clothes, our ornaments, or marks of honour, if we consider how soon death will
strip us of our glory, divest us of all our offices and honours, and take the
crown off from our head.
3. Moses immediately puts the priestly garments upon Eleazar his son, clothes
him with his father's robe, and strengthens him with his girdle, Isa.
xxii. 21. Now, (1.) This was a great comfort to Moses, by whose hand the law
of the priesthood was given to see that it should be kept up in a succession,
and that a lamp was ordained for the anointed, which should not be
extinguished by death itself. This was a happy earnest and indication to the
church of the care God would take that as one generation of ministers and
Christians (spiritual priests) passes away another generation should come up
instead of it. (2.) It was a great satisfaction to Aaron to see his son, who
was dear to him, thus preferred, and his office, which was dearer, thus
preserved and secured, and especially to see in this a figure of Christ's
everlasting priesthood, in which alone his would be perpetuated. Now,
Lord, might Aaron say, let thy servant depart in peace, for my eyes have
seen thy salvation. (3.) It was a great kindness to the people. The
installing of Eleazar before Aaron was dead would prevent those who bore
ill-will to Aaron's family from attempting to set up another upon his death,
in competition with his son. What could they do when the matter was already
settled? It would likewise encourage those among them that feared God, and be
a token for good to them, that he would not leave them, nor suffer his
faithfulness to fail.
4. Aaron died there. Quickly after he was stripped of his priestly
garments, he laid himself down and died contentedly; for a good man would
desire, if it were the will of God, not to outlive his usefulness. Why should
we covet to continue any longer in this world than while we may do God and our
generation some service in it?
5. Moses and Eleazar, with those that attended them, buried Aaron where he
died, as appears by Deut. x. 6, and then came down from the mount. And
now, when they came down, and had left Aaron behind, it might be proper for
them to think that he had rather gone up to the better world and had left them
behind.
6. All the congregation mourned for Aaron thirty days, v. 29.
Though the loss was well made up in Eleazar, who, being in the prime of life,
was fitter from public service that Aaron would have been if he had lived, yet
it was a debt owing to their deceased high priest to mourn for him. While he
lived, they were murmuring at him upon all occasions, but now that he was dead
they mourned for him. Thus many are taught to lament the loss of those mercies
which they would not learn to be thankful for the enjoyment of. Many good men
have had more honour done to their memories than ever they had to their
persons, witness those that were persecuted while they lived, but when they
were dead had their sepulchres garnished.
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