Numbers · Chapter 14

Verse 1. Cried; and-wept that night.] In almost every case this people gave deplorable evidence of the degraded state of their minds. With scarcely any mental firmness, and with almost no religion, they could bear no reverses, and were ever at their wit’s end. They were headstrong, presumptuous, pusillanimous, indecisive, and fickle. And because they were such, therefore the power and wisdom of God appeared the more conspicuously in the whole of their history.

COWARDICE OF THE ISRAELITES, 1-5.

1. We come now to an eclipse of faith almost total, for the only exceptions to all the congregation are Caleb and Joshua, Eleazar, (Joshua 14:1,) and possibly some of the Levites and the whole order of priests, who were not reckoned in the general census. Numbers 1:49, and 26:62. Lifted up their voice — These words, together with cried and wept, indicate the intensity and publicity of this panic of despair. These loud wailings, resounding by night from tent to tent, from tribe to tribe, spread the contagious despondency through the whole camp.

V. 2. Against Moses and Aaron-As the instruments and occasions of their present calamity. That we had died in this wilderness-It was not long before they had their desire, and did die in the wilderness.

Verses 2, 3. Against Moses and Aaron — As the instruments and causes of their present calamity. That we had died in the wilderness — It was not long till they had their desire, and did die in the wilderness. Wherefore hath the Lord brought us, &c. — From instruments they rise higher, and not only vent their passion against his servants, but strike at God himself, as the cause and author of their journey most impiously accusing him as if he had dealt deceitfully with them. By this we see the rapid and prodigious growth and progress of sin when it is not resisted. A prey — To the Canaanites, whose land we were made to believe we should possess.

2. Murmured against Moses and… Aaron — They begin with God’s ministers, not having become so hardened as to murmur against God himself. He seems to have been absent from their thoughts both as the object of trust and as their providential guide in the wilderness. They have fallen from a supernatural to a merely natural view of their condition. Hence they childishly vent their indignation against their human leaders. The whole congregation — This must be understood, as it is in all languages, in a conventional sense, as we are said to utter our opinions in the face of the whole world, or begin our deeds of lands with the words, “Know all men by these presents.” See Exodus 9:6, note. Would God — The word God is not in the Hebrew. This is the strongest English formula for an unattainable wish, and expresses the strength of the peoples’ desire. Died in… Egypt — They who prefer death in bondage to life in freedom are not the brave people whom Jehovah can lead to the conquest of Canaan. This wish to return to the groanings, burdens, tasks, and insults of the brick-yards of Egypt, from which a pitying Jehovah had led them forth, was indicative of a base ingratitude, and a servility of spirit exceedingly offensive. Yet all this grief was in view of no present suffering, but in apprehension of imaginary future ills.

V. 3. The Lord-From instruments they rise higher, and strike at God the cause and author of their journey: by which we see the prodigious growth and progress of sin when it is not resisted. A prey-To the Canaanites whose land we were made to believe we should possess.

Verses 2, 3. Against Moses and Aaron — As the instruments and causes of their present calamity. That we had died in the wilderness — It was not long till they had their desire, and did die in the wilderness. Wherefore hath the Lord brought us, &c. — From instruments they rise higher, and not only vent their passion against his servants, but strike at God himself, as the cause and author of their journey most impiously accusing him as if he had dealt deceitfully with them. By this we see the rapid and prodigious growth and progress of sin when it is not resisted. A prey — To the Canaanites, whose land we were made to believe we should possess.

3. Wherefore hath… Lord — They began with opposing God’s faithful ministers; they end by arraigning himself. So men now greatly distress themselves over evils they are never called to endure. Wherefore is not in the vocabulary of faith. Unto this land — Spoken, apparently, of Canaan, to which they had not yet been brought. Thus “they despised the pleasant land; they believed not his word.” Psalm 106:24. To fall by the sword — The unbelief of these rebels puts an evil intention for a beneficent purpose on the part of God, and thus maligns his character. Up to this time they seem to have cherished the illusion of a blood. less conquest of Canaan. A prey — Captives and slaves of the victors. Better… to return into Egypt — In their dread of the perils before them they overlook the greater evils behind: the sterile wilderness, with no manna from heaven nor water from the smitten rock; no pillar of cloud to go before; no protecting Jehovah to shield them from their foes; no mediating Moses to placate the divine wrath; no home of freedom, but only the lash of the taskmaster for the inheritance of their children forever.

V. 4. A captain-Instead of Moses, one who will be more faithful to our interest than he. Into Egypt-Stupendous madness! Whence should they have protection against the hazards, and provision against all the wants of the wilderness? Could they expect either God’s cloud to cover and guide them, or Manna from heaven to feed them? Who could conduct them over the Red-sea? Or, if they went another way, who should defend them against those nations whose borders they were to pass? What entertainment could they expect from the Egyptians, whom they had deserted and brought to so much ruin?

Verse 4. Let us make a captain] Here was a formal renunciation of the authority of Moses, and flat rebellion against God. And it seems from Nehemiah 9:17 that they had actually appointed another leader, under whose direction they were about to return to Egypt. How astonishing is this! Their lives were made bitter, because of the rigour with which they were made to serve in the land of Egypt; and yet they are willing, yea eager, to get back into the same circumstances again! Great evils, when once some time past, affect the mind less than present ills, though much inferior. They had partly forgot their Egyptian bondage, and now smart under a little discouragement, having totally lost sight of their high calling, and of the power and goodness of God.

Verse 4. A captain — Instead of Moses, one who will be more faithful to our interest than he. Nehemiah tells us they actually appointed them a captain. Into Egypt — Stupendous madness, insolence, and ingratitude! Had not God both delivered them from Egypt by a train of unparalleled wonders, and followed them ever since with continued miracles of mercy? But whence should they have protection against the hazards, and provisions against all the wants of the wilderness? Could they expect either God’s cloud to cover and guide them, or manna from heaven to feed them? Who could conduct them over the Red sea? Or, if they went another way, who should defend them against those nations whose borders they were to pass? What entertainment could they expect from the Egyptians, whom they had deserted and brought to so much ruin?

4. Make a captain — This is the repudiation of both Moses and Jehovah. According to Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:17) they actually “appointed a captain to return to their bondage.” On the low level of mere naturalism they feel no more need of God.

V. 5. Fell on their faces-As humble and earnest suppliants to God, the only refuge to which Moses resorted in all such straits, and who alone was able to govern this stiff-necked people. Before all the assembly-That they might awake to apprehend their sin and danger, when they saw Moses at his prayers, whom God never failed to defend, even with the destruction of his enemies.

Verse 5. Fell on their faces — As humble and earnest supplicants to God, the only refuge to which Moses resorted in all such straits, and who alone was able to govern this stiff-necked people. Before all the assembly — That they might awake to apprehend their sin and danger, when they saw Moses at his prayers, whom God never failed to defend, even with the destruction of his enemies.

5. Fell on their faces — This attitude was expressive of the deepest sorrow, and at the same time it was a mute but eloquent appeal to the mutinous multitude to desist from their insane purpose. He who was accustomed to speak face to face with God might have fortified his dishonoured authority by invoking against these rebellious murmurers the bolts of God’s wrath. But he loved the Abrahamic race more than his own dignity and power.

V. 6. Rent their clothes-To testify their hearty grief for the peoples blasphemy against God and sedition against Moses, and that dreadful judgment which they easily foresaw this must bring upon the congregation.

Verse 6. And Joshua, &c.] See on the preceding chapter, See Clarke “Numbers 13:33”.

Verse 6. Rent their clothes — To testify their hearty grief for the people’s blasphemy against God and sedition against Moses, and that dreadful judgment which they easily foresaw this must bring upon the congregation.

JOSHUA AND CALEB’S MINORITY REPORT, 6-10.

The two believing spies, having been rudely interrupted in their report by the cowardly ten, (Numbers 13:30, 31,) now come forward, evincing the deepest emotion, and attempt to continue their narration of their view of the situation. They succeed in uttering a few cheering words, when their voices are drowned in the hoarse clamour of the mob, now excited to a frenzy which imperils the lives of the speakers, “faithful among the faithless found.”

6. Rent their clothes — The flowing robes of the Orientals admit of various symbolical actions. Rending expresses grief, indignation, despair, or fear. The outer garment only was torn. See Genesis 39:12, (Hebrew.)

7. They spake unto all the company of the children of Israel — Literalists like Colenso find an insuperable difficulty here. “No human voice, unless strengthened by miracle, of which the Scriptures tell us nothing, could have reached the ears of a crowded mass of people as large as the whole population of London.” But the President of the United States performs a greater feat, standing on the east porch of the capitol and delivering his inaugural address to the whole country, with incidental remarks to all mankind. King Solomon at the dedication “blessed all the congregation of Israel.” 1 Kings 8:14. Even the children in the Sunday-school soon learn to understand that “all” has its reasonable limitations when they read that “Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, were baptized of John;” as they do when they read that all New York is taking an airing in Central Park. See Exodus 9:6, note. Exceeding good land — Hebrew, good exceedingly exceedingly. The minority report is more emphatic in its praise than the majority report is in its dispraise of Canaan. The eye of unbelief had seen the dark cloud, the eye of faith had seen both it and its silver lining. A craven fear had tinged all the observations of the one with a sombre hue, while an unfaltering faith had, to the eye of the other, tipped every hilltop with light and filled every valley with splendour. These opposite reports from an observation of the same facts resulted from the difference in the spirit and trust of the men who reported.

V. 8. Delight in us-If by our rebellion and ingratitude we do not provoke God to leave and forsake us.

Verses 8, 9. If the Lord delight in us — If by our rebellion and ingratitude we do not provoke God to leave and forsake us. They are bread for us — We shall destroy them as easily as we eat our bread. Their defence — Their conduct and courage, and especially God, who was pleased to afford them his protection, till their iniquities were full, is utterly departed from them, and hath given them up as a prey to us. The Lord is with us — By his special grace and almighty power, to save us from them and all our enemies. Only rebel not against the Lord — Nothing can ruin sinners but their own rebellion. If God leave them, it is because they drive him from them, and they die, because they will die.

8. If the Lord delight in us — Here Joshua and Caleb revealed the ground of their confidence — the ability of Jehovah to make good his promise, which they viewed not as absolute, but as conditioned upon the demeanour of the nation. The weakness of the report of the ten lies in its Godlessness. In estimating the possibility of the conquest Jehovah is counted out. Milk and honey — This is a poetical description of a country rich in pasturage and flowers. For the abundance of honey in ancient Canaan see Judges 14:8; 1 Samuel 14:25, 26; of both wheat and honey, see Psalm 81:16. Sceptics, in view of the comparative sterility of modern Palestine, allege that this must be a false view of Canaan, and they question the inspiration of the Scriptures containing this oft-repeated statement. But there are causes which make modern Palestine barren: 1.) The destruction of the timber in the long series of sieges and invasions which that unhappy land has suffered has greatly reduced the moisture of the atmosphere by cutting off evaporation through the leaves. Hence rains are less frequent, and the sources of artificial irrigation are diminished. 2.) The decay of the terraces necessary to retain the soil on the steep slopes of the round hills. This is owing to the misrule and lack of security to the fruits of industry which have for generations been the lot of the cultivators.

V. 9. Bread-We shall destroy them as easily as we eat our bread. Their defence-Their conduct and courage, and especially God, who was pleased to afford them his protection ‘till their iniquities were full, is utterly departed from them, and hath given them up as a prey to us. With us-By his special grace and almighty power, to save us from them and all our enemies. Only rebel not against the Lord-Nothing can ruin sinners but their own rebellion. If God leaves them, ‘tis because they drive him from them, and they die, because they will die.

Verse 9. Their defence] µlx tsillam, their shadow, a metaphor highly expressive of protection and support in the sultry eastern countries. The protection of God is so called; see Psalm 91:1; 121:5; see also Isaiah 51:16; 49:2; 30:2.

The Arabs and Persians have the same word to express the same thing. [Persian] nemayeed zulli doulet mamdood bad. “May the shadow of thy prosperity be extended!” [Persian] nemayced zulli doulet ber mufareki khayr khwahen mamdood bad. “May the shadow of thy prosperity be spread over the heads of thy well-wishers!” They have also the following elegant distich:—

[Persian]

[Persian]

Sayahat kem mubad az seri ma

Bast Allah zullikem abeda.

“May thy protection never be removed from my head!

May God extend thy shadow eternally!”

Here the Arabic [Arabic] zull answers exactly to the Hebrew lx tsel, both signifying that which overspreads or overshadows. See Clarke’s note on “Numbers 14:14”.

Verses 8, 9. If the Lord delight in us — If by our rebellion and ingratitude we do not provoke God to leave and forsake us. They are bread for us — We shall destroy them as easily as we eat our bread. Their defence — Their conduct and courage, and especially God, who was pleased to afford them his protection, till their iniquities were full, is utterly departed from them, and hath given them up as a prey to us. The Lord is with us — By his special grace and almighty power, to save us from them and all our enemies. Only rebel not against the Lord — Nothing can ruin sinners but their own rebellion. If God leave them, it is because they drive him from them, and they die, because they will die.

Verse 9. They are bread for us; a Hebraicism. In Hosea 4:8, we read that the priests ate up the sins of the people. As the fire licked up the water in the trenches, 1 Kings 18:38; as the priest bare the iniquity of the people, or consumed them by the fire of the altar; so the Hebrews should consume the Canaanites.

9. Rebel not… neither fear… the people — Disobedience to God is the soil out of which the fear of man always grows. If the presence of Napoleon on the battle-field was equal, in the courage which he inspired, to a re-enforcement of ten thousand men, how much more inspiring to the Hebrews would be a realizing faith in the presence of the omnipotent Jehovah. They are bread for us — We shall destroy them as easily as we eat bread. Psalm 14:4. The simile is natural to a Hebrew, in whose language the verbs to eat, to fight, to destroy in war, are the same. We have a similar proverb in “Food for our powder.” As the faint-hearted spies had declared that the Canaanites were giants before whom the Hebrews were dwarfed to grasshoppers, so the brave spies, with equal strength of expression, style them “bread for us.” Their defence — Hebrew, shadow, covering. Is departed — They are wholly destitute of courage. The Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of Persia are called “the shadow of God,” “the refuge of the whole world.” (Critici Sacri.)

V. 10. Appeared-Now in the extremity of danger to rescue his faithful servants, and to stop the rage of the people. In the tabernacle-Upon or above the tabernacle, where the cloud usually resided, in which the glory of God appeared now in a more illustrious manner. When they reflected upon God, his glory appeared not, to silence their blasphemies: but when they threatened Caleb and Joshua, they touched the apple of his eye, and his glory appeared immediately. They who faithfully expose themselves for God, are sure of his special provision.

Verse 10. The glory of the Lord appeared] This timely appearance of the Divine glory prevented these faithful servants of God from being stoned to death by this base and treacherous multitude. “Every man is immortal till his work is done,” while in simplicity of heart he is following his God.

Verse 10. The glory of the Lord appeared — Now, in the extremity of danger, to rescue his faithful servants, and to stop the rage of the people. In the tabernacle — Upon or above the tabernacle, where the cloud usually resided, in which the glory of God appeared now in a more illustrious manner. When they reflected upon God, his glory appeared not, to silence their blasphemies: but when they threatened Caleb and Joshua, they touched the apple of his eye, and his glory appeared immediately. They who faithfully expose themselves for God are sure of his special protection.

10. Stone them with stones — This was the ordinary mode of executing a sentence of capital punishment. It requires an extraordinary effort to fathom the wickedness of men who clamoured for the blood of their brethren simply because of their fidelity to God. Yet it is the testimony of history that no hatred is so intense and merciless as that of rebels toward those who still are loyal to the government. Myriads have been put to death in civil wars for the crime of allegiance to the old flag. The picture before us is not overdrawn. This outbreak was not only a religious apostasy, but a civil revolution. The glory of the Lord appeared — The shekinah, the visible symbol of the majesty of Jehovah, flashed forth suddenly to strike the people with terror in their rebellion, and to deter them from their wicked design. For a similar purpose the glory flashed out upon the Egyptians, (Exodus 14:24,) “and troubled” or confounded their host. Philo says, “The fiery appearance of the Deity shone forth from the cloud.” How wonderfully the moral government of the world adapts itself to the different conditions of the same nation! Jesus Christ, in his preaching, endeavoured to deter the Jews from sin by motives addressed to their intellects and consciences. He pointed to the judgment to come and to the rewards and punishments there dispensed. He appealed to their hopes and fears. But Jehovah marshalled the terrific elements of nature before the eyes of the Hebrews to make an impression upon their hearts through their senses. In the first case the doctrine of immortality and future accountability had taken full possession of the popular mind. In the case of the Israelites in the wilderness these notions were for the most part yet to be created by the gradual unfolding of religious truth. In the tabernacle — The Septuagint paraphrase is better: “In the cloud over the tabernacle.” If the supernatural resplendence had been within the tent, it would not have been seen by all the people. Since Jehovah had made his abode in the tabernacle and in the pillar towering above it, the outbeaming glory could not be mistaken for any natural phenomenon.

THE EXCISION OF ISRAEL THREATENED AND AVERTED, 11-25.

11. Provoke me — Vulgate, detrahet, slander; R.V., “despise.” The same Hebrew verb is in 2 Samuel 12:14, and Psalm 74:10, translated blaspheme, but the most common rendering is despise. Jehovah is jealous of his good name among men. The cowardice, distrust, and disobedience of Israel were a reflection upon his glory in the eyes of the Gentiles. He had set his name in Israel, and called him his “firstborn son,” (Exodus 4:22,) and thus identified his own reputation with that of this favoured nation. Believe me — Unbelief is the germ of all other sins. Hence its culpability. Mark 16:16; John 3:18; 16:9, notes. To discredit God’s word is to detract from his reputation. For all the signs — God never requires faith without sufficient grounds. These were the supernatural plagues sent upon the Egyptians, the miraculous deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, the manifestations of divine power and goodness in the manna, the smitten rock, the pillar of fire, and the grouping of all the sublimities of the physical world about the summit of Sinai at the giving of the law. The firmer the basis for faith the more culpable is unbelief.

V. 12. I will smite them-This was not an absolute determination, but a commination, like that of Nineveh’s destruction, with a condition implied, except there be speedy repentance, or powerful intercession.

Verse 12. I will smite them — This was not an absolute determination, but a commination, like that of Nineveh’s destruction, with a condition implied, except there be speedy repentance, or powerful intercession.

12. The pestilence — Greek, death, violent and sudden. See verse 15. Thus in Leviticus 26:25; Deuteronomy 28:21. Comp. Revelation 2:23; 6:8. Disinherit them — Annul their adoption into sonship. Exodus 4:22. This shows that the covenant made with the patriarchs relating to the future of their posterity was not absolute, but conditioned on the fidelity of each generation. This is corroborated by the fact that Moses, in his plea for the life of the nation, fails to urge the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Make of thee a greater nation — One man, fully trusting in God, is mightier than a million of infidels, since God and one are virtually a majority. All things are possible to him that believeth. The Almighty can accomplish more through one unwavering, heroic believer, than he can through a whole nation of unbelievers. This is amply verified in the life of John Wesley and the opposition of that apathetic national Church which he sought to vitalize. In the light of this suggestion, that Moses was to become the founder of a new nation, the unselfish prayer for Israel, which immediately follows, stands forth in marked contrast with that ambition which has often waded through slaughter to a throne.

13. The Egyptians shall hear — They who had felt the judgments of Jehovah in terrible national judgments on account of Israel will gladly hear of his downfall, and spread the news abroad among all the nations, especially among the Canaanites, who “faint” because of their terror of the Hebrews. Joshua 2:9. The arguments of Moses in this intercession are exactly such as man would use with man. This implies that Moses conceived of God as personal, and possessing reason and sensibilities corresponding to those faculties in the human race, who are created in his image. The philosophic conception of God of which deism boasts affords no motive to believing and importunate prayer.

Verse 14. That thy cloud standeth over them] This cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory, and proof of the Divine presence, appears to have assumed three different forms for three important purposes.

1. It appeared by day in the form of a pillar of a sufficient height to be seen by all the camp, and thus went before them to point out their way in the desert. Exodus 40:38.

2. It appeared by night as a pillar of fire to give them light while travelling by night, which they probably sometimes did; (see Numbers 9:21;) or to illuminate their tents in their encampment; Exodus 13:21, 22.

3. It stood at certain times above the whole congregation, overshadowing them from the scorching rays of the sun; and probably at other times condensed the vapours, and precipitated rain or dew for the refreshment of the people. He spread a cloud for their covering; and fire to give light in the night; Psalm 105:39. It was probably from this circumstance that the shadow of the Lord was used to signify the Divine protection, not only by the Jews, but also by other Asiatic nations. See Clarke’s note on “Numbers 14:9”, and see particularly Clarke’s note on “Exodus 13:21”.

14. They have heard — The inspired prediction of Moses in his song (Exodus 15:14-16) was already fulfilled. See verse 9, note, and Joshua 2:9-11. Seen face to face — This is equivalent to the phrase, “speak mouth to mouth.” Numbers 12:8, note. Strictly speaking, Moses never saw the face of Jehovah. “Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live.” Exodus 33:20.

15. Kill all this people — This explains the pestilence in verse 12. See note. The fame of thee — Moses is actuated by the true spirit of prayer — a supreme desire for the glory of God. He is jealous of Jehovah’s honour in the earth. Would that all who pray were filled with the same pious concern!

V. 16. Not able-His power was quite spent in bringing them out of Egypt, and could not finish the work he had begun and had sworn to do.

Verses 16, 17. Not able — His power was quite spent in bringing them out of Egypt, and could not finish the work he had begun and had sworn to do. Let the power of my Lord be great — That is, appear to be great; discover its greatness; namely, the power of his grace and mercy, or the greatness of his mercy, in pardoning this and their other sins: for to this the following words manifestly restrain it, where the pardon of their sins is the only instance of this power, both described in God’s titles, verse 18; and prayed for by Moses, verse 19; and granted by God in answer to him, verse 20. Nor is it strange that the pardon of sin, especially such great sins, is spoken of as an act of power in God, because undoubtedly it is an act of omnipotent and infinite goodness.

16. Because the Lord was not able — The unbelieving world can appreciate only omnipotent power. When this is withdrawn, God fails. They have no conception of the divine holiness, justice, wisdom, and truth, as influencing the government of God. That is a very shallow theology which teaches that men will be saved from hell by sheer omnipotence, without respect to character. But Moses appeals to all the moral attributes of God, and he prevails.

V. 17. Be great-That is appear to be great, discover its greatness: namely, the power of his grace and mercy, or the greatness of his mercy, in pardoning this and their other sins: for to this the following words manifestly restrain it, where the pardon of their sins is the only instance of this power both described in God’s titles, Numbers 14:18, and prayed for by Moses Numbers 14:19, and granted by God in answer to him, 14:20. Nor is it strange that the pardon of sin, especially such great sins, is spoken of as an act of power in God, because undoubtedly it is an act of omnipotent and infinite goodness.

Verses 16, 17. Not able — His power was quite spent in bringing them out of Egypt, and could not finish the work he had begun and had sworn to do. Let the power of my Lord be great — That is, appear to be great; discover its greatness; namely, the power of his grace and mercy, or the greatness of his mercy, in pardoning this and their other sins: for to this the following words manifestly restrain it, where the pardon of their sins is the only instance of this power, both described in God’s titles, verse 18; and prayed for by Moses, verse 19; and granted by God in answer to him, verse 20. Nor is it strange that the pardon of sin, especially such great sins, is spoken of as an act of power in God, because undoubtedly it is an act of omnipotent and infinite goodness.

THE EXCISION OF ISRAEL THREATENED AND AVERTED, 11-25.

11. Provoke me — Vulgate, detrahet, slander; R.V., “despise.” The same Hebrew verb is in 2 Samuel 12:14, and Psalm 74:10, translated blaspheme, but the most common rendering is despise. Jehovah is jealous of his good name among men. The cowardice, distrust, and disobedience of Israel were a reflection upon his glory in the eyes of the Gentiles. He had set his name in Israel, and called him his “firstborn son,” (Exodus 4:22,) and thus identified his own reputation with that of this favoured nation. Believe me — Unbelief is the germ of all other sins. Hence its culpability. Mark 16:16; John 3:18; 16:9, notes. To discredit God’s word is to detract from his reputation. For all the signs — God never requires faith without sufficient grounds. These were the supernatural plagues sent upon the Egyptians, the miraculous deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, the manifestations of divine power and goodness in the manna, the smitten rock, the pillar of fire, and the grouping of all the sublimities of the physical world about the summit of Sinai at the giving of the law. The firmer the basis for faith the more culpable is unbelief.

V. 18. Visiting the iniquity-These words may seem to be improperly mentioned, as being a powerful argument to move God to destroy this wicked people, and not to pardon them. It may be answered, that Moses useth these words together with the rest, because he would not sever what God had put together. But the truer answer seems to be, that these words are to be translated otherwise, And in destroying he will not utterly destroy, though he visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation.

Verse 18. The Lord is longsuffering] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 34:6”.

Verse 18. By no means clearing the guilty — These words may seem to be improperly mentioned, as being a powerful argument to move God to destroy this wicked people, and not to pardon them. But Moses uses these and the preceding words together, because he would not sever what God had put together; and to show that at the same time that he desired pardon for the penitent, he did not expect God to reverse his own laws, and clear them who, notwithstanding all they had heard and known, would not come unto God for mercy, put their trust in him, and obey his commands. It is true the word guilty is not in the original, but, as is observed in the note on Exodus 34:7, it is necessarily supplied to make the sense complete. And the interpretation of the words there given is perfectly consistent with the context, and with Moses’s intention here, which was not to beg that the people might be so pardoned as not to be chastised; for Moses certainly judged it proper that they should be chastised, and that severely; but that they might not be quite destroyed, or extirpated, as the Lord had threatened, verse 12, and as Moses feared would be accomplished.

18. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers — For the distinction between the natural consequences of sin and punishment, see Exodus 20:5, note.

Verse 19. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people] From Numbers 14:13-19 inclusive we have the words of Moses’s intercession; they need no explanation, they are full of simplicity and energy; his arguments with God (for be did reason and argue with his Maker) are pointed, cogent, and respectful; and while they show a heart full of humanity, they evidence the deepest concern for the glory of God. The argumentum ad hominem is here used in the most unexceptionable manner, and with the fullest effect.

19. Pardon… the iniquity — Moses makes no attempt to appease God by bloody sacrifices. He knows that Jehovah cannot be bought off by gifts and slain victims. Here Mosaism is in striking contrast with Gentilism, which, in the hour of peril, always runs to its altar with its sacrifice to placate some offended deity. Moses casts himself upon the divine clemency, pleading the glory of Jehovah’s great name. The greatness of thy mercy — Mercy, and mercy only, is the plea of Moses. Not one moral excellence, not one meritorious act of Israel, is adduced as the ground of pardon. Under both the old covenant and the new, salvation is grounded solely on reasons existing in the divine mind, while the condition of that salvation is man’s asking for it by faith. The faith of Moses prevails for Israel. From Egypt… until now — Every instance of God’s mercy in the past may be urged as a reason for its repetition; but the past clemency of human governors toward offenders justifies a more severe penalty.

V. 20. I have pardoned-So far as not utterly to destroy them.

Verse 20. I have pardoned] That is, They shall not be cut off as they deserve, because thou hast interceded for their lives.

Verses 20-22. I have pardoned — So far as not utterly to destroy them. With the glory of the Lord — With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people. My glory — That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle. Ten times — That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

20. I have pardoned — The Hebrew language has only two tenses, the past and the future. The present tense maybe expressed by either of them, “the choice in every instance depending on whether the writer’s attention is more particularly directed to the commencement of the action in the past or to its continuance in the future.” — Nordheimer. The use of the past tense here implies that the divine forgiveness never covers future sins. Only the Church of Rome grants perpetual indulgences, which cancel future sins and require no renewal. According to thy word — A wonder of wonders! the divine purpose is changed on account of a human word, when that word is uttered in faith! Thus all things are possible to two persons — to God and “to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23, note. The nation was preserved, but the merited temporal punishment of its individual unbelievers was not remitted. Such a plea as that of Moses could not remain unheeded; it was typical of the great plea for mankind, and the great Pleader. But, as when long afterward Israel called down upon themselves and their children the penalty for shedding the blood of Jesus, long and sore judgments were to befall the stiffnecked and rebellious, even although ultimately all Israel should be saved, (Romans 11:26,) so was it at Kadesh. This answer to prayer is a sufficient response to the supposed sceptic’s query in Job 21:15.

V. 21. With the glory of the Lord-With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people.

Verse 21. All the earth shall be filled, &c.] xrah lk kol haarets, all THIS land, i.e., the land of Canaan which was only fulfilled to the letter when the preaching of Christ and his apostles was heard through all the cities and villages of Judea. It does not appear that the whole of the terraqueous globe is meant by this expression in any of the places where it occurs connected with this promise of the diffusion of the Divine light. See Psalm 72:19; Isaiah 40:5; Habakkuk 2:14.

Verses 20-22. I have pardoned — So far as not utterly to destroy them. With the glory of the Lord — With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people. My glory — That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle. Ten times — That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

Ver. 21. Truly as I live. The certainty of the promises and the threatenings is generally confirmed by an oath, and the Lord is not as man, that he should repent.

21-23. All the earth shall be filled — In the version of King James these verses are incorrectly translated and punctuated. Better thus: “Nevertheless, as truly as I live, and the glory of Jehovah will fill the whole earth, all the men who have seen my glory and my miracles… shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,” etc. See the R.V. The verb “will fill” is the Hebrew for the present tense continuing in the future, (see ver. 20, note,) and its clause is grammatically an apposition to “as I live.” Jehovah proves his being by his works; his living, by his glory now and forever filling the whole earth. Have tempted me — By doubting his help and by clamouring for additional proofs that his word is true, men are said to tempt or try God. Again, it is evident that unbelief is the damning sin. Verse 11, note. Ten times — Genesis 31:7, note. Ten symbolizes completeness and full measure. The rabbins thus reckon up the actual ten:

(1.) The murmuring at the Red Sea, Exodus 14:11, 12. (2.) At Marah, Exodus 15:24. (3.) In the wilderness of Sin, Exodus 16:2. (4.) At Rephidim, Exodus 17:2. (5.) The idolatry at Horeb, Exodus 32. (6.) Complaining at Taberah, Numbers 11:1. (7.) At the graves of lust, Numbers 11:4. (8.) Here at Kadesh. (9 and 10.) The disobedience of certain individuals in respect to the manna, Exodus 16:20, 27.

V. 22. My glory-That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle. Ten times-That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

Verses 20-22. I have pardoned — So far as not utterly to destroy them. With the glory of the Lord — With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people. My glory — That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle. Ten times — That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

21-23. All the earth shall be filled — In the version of King James these verses are incorrectly translated and punctuated. Better thus: “Nevertheless, as truly as I live, and the glory of Jehovah will fill the whole earth, all the men who have seen my glory and my miracles… shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,” etc. See the R.V. The verb “will fill” is the Hebrew for the present tense continuing in the future, (see ver. 20, note,) and its clause is grammatically an apposition to “as I live.” Jehovah proves his being by his works; his living, by his glory now and forever filling the whole earth. Have tempted me — By doubting his help and by clamouring for additional proofs that his word is true, men are said to tempt or try God. Again, it is evident that unbelief is the damning sin. Verse 11, note. Ten times — Genesis 31:7, note. Ten symbolizes completeness and full measure. The rabbins thus reckon up the actual ten:

(1.) The murmuring at the Red Sea, Exodus 14:11, 12. (2.) At Marah, Exodus 15:24. (3.) In the wilderness of Sin, Exodus 16:2. (4.) At Rephidim, Exodus 17:2. (5.) The idolatry at Horeb, Exodus 32. (6.) Complaining at Taberah, Numbers 11:1. (7.) At the graves of lust, Numbers 11:4. (8.) Here at Kadesh. (9 and 10.) The disobedience of certain individuals in respect to the manna, Exodus 16:20, 27.

21-23. All the earth shall be filled — In the version of King James these verses are incorrectly translated and punctuated. Better thus: “Nevertheless, as truly as I live, and the glory of Jehovah will fill the whole earth, all the men who have seen my glory and my miracles… shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,” etc. See the R.V. The verb “will fill” is the Hebrew for the present tense continuing in the future, (see ver. 20, note,) and its clause is grammatically an apposition to “as I live.” Jehovah proves his being by his works; his living, by his glory now and forever filling the whole earth. Have tempted me — By doubting his help and by clamouring for additional proofs that his word is true, men are said to tempt or try God. Again, it is evident that unbelief is the damning sin. Verse 11, note. Ten times — Genesis 31:7, note. Ten symbolizes completeness and full measure. The rabbins thus reckon up the actual ten:

(1.) The murmuring at the Red Sea, Exodus 14:11, 12. (2.) At Marah, Exodus 15:24. (3.) In the wilderness of Sin, Exodus 16:2. (4.) At Rephidim, Exodus 17:2. (5.) The idolatry at Horeb, Exodus 32. (6.) Complaining at Taberah, Numbers 11:1. (7.) At the graves of lust, Numbers 11:4. (8.) Here at Kadesh. (9 and 10.) The disobedience of certain individuals in respect to the manna, Exodus 16:20, 27.

V. 24. Caleb-Joshua is not named, because he was not now among the people, but a constant attendant upon Moses, nor was he to be reckoned as one of them, any more than Moses and Aaron were, because he was to be their chief commander. He had another spirit-Was a man of another temper, faithful and courageous, not acted by that evil spirit of cowardice, unbelief, disobedience, which ruled in his brethren but by the spirit of God. Fully-Universally and constantly, through difficulties and dangers, which made his partners halt. Whereinto he went-In general, Canaan, and particularly Hebron, and the adjacent parts, Joshua 14:9.

Verse 24. But my servant Caleb, &c.] Caleb had another spirit-not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic spirit; but the Spirit and influence of the God of heaven thus raised him above human inquietudes and earthly fears, therefore be followed God fully; yrja almyw vaimalle acharai, literally, he filled after me: God showed him the way he was to take, and the line of conduct he was to pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of his Maker. He therefore shall see the promised land, and his seed shall possess it. A dastardly spirit in the things of God is a heavy curse. How many are retarded in their course, and fall short of the blessings of the Gospel, through magnifying the number and strength of their adversaries, their own weakness and the difficulties of the way, with which we may connect their distrust of the power, faithfulness, and goodness of God! And how many are prevented from receiving the higher degrees of salvation by foolishly attributing insurmountable power, either to their inward corruptions or outward enemies! Only such men as Joshua and Caleb, who take God at his word, and who know that against his wisdom no cunning can stand, and against his might no strength can prevail, are likely to follow God fully, and receive the heights, lengths, breadths, and depths of the salvation of God.

Verse 24. Caleb — Joshua is not named, because he was not now among the people, but a constant attendant upon Moses; nor was he to be reckoned as of them, any more than Moses and Aaron were, because he was to be their chief commander. He had another spirit — Was a man of another temper, faithful and courageous, not actuated by that evil spirit of cowardice, unbelief, disobedience, which ruled in his brethren; but by the Spirit of God. Hath followed me fully — Universally and constantly, through difficulties and dangers which made his partners halt. Whereinto he went — In general, Canaan, and particularly Hebron, and the adjacent parts, Joshua 14:9.

24. Another spirit — Trust in Jehovah and its fruits, courage, humility, obedience, and probably the indwelling of the divine Spirit by a special mission of the Comforter. Perfect faith always raises the soul above disquietudes and fears, and affords perfect rest and serenity amid hardships and adversities. Followed me fully — Literally, and he filled after me; that is, followed with unquestioning obedience and unwavering trust, all the injunctions Moses had thus far given to them from God. Into the land — Canaan. No mention is made of Hebron, though in Joshua 14:6-15, Caleb asserts that Moses did specify Hebron as his inheritance. But this is omitted here, as is the name of Joshua.

V. 25. In the valley-Beyond the mountain, at the foot whereof they now were, Numbers 14:40. And this clause is added, either

1. As an aggravation of Israel’s misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness or

2. As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and, if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives and their children, would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God would not assist nor defend them.

By the way of the Red-sea-That leadeth to the Red-sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return.

Verse 25. In the valley — Beyond the mountain, at the foot whereof they now were, verse 40. And this clause is added, either, 1st, As an aggravation of Israel’s misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness: or, 2d, As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives, and their children, would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God would not assist nor defend them. By the way of the Red sea — That leadeth to the Red sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return.

25. Amalekites — See Numbers 13:29. Canaanites — In the wide meaning of the term, including all the inhabitants of Canaan exclusive of the Amorites dwelling in the southern mountains. Deuteronomy 1:44. See Numbers 13:29, note, for the narrow meaning. The valley is identified by Keil with the broad Wady Marreh, including a portion of the Negeb, in which the Amalekites roamed, while the Canaanites really dwelt upon the mountains (verse 45) close up to this wady. The statement relative to this valley supplies the reason for the following command. To advance into this valley would be to enter Canaan, from which they have been by solemn oath excluded. Turn you — The probation of adult Israel, so far as Canaan is concerned, is ended. From this hour their corpses must be sown in the wilderness to which they are now remanded. By the way of the Red sea — We find in the itinerary of Israel (Numbers 33:35) that Ezion-gaber was one of the stations, and in Deuteronomy 2:8, Elath is named with this place. They were situated near together at the head of the gulf of Akabah, the eastern arm of the Red sea. Here ends this communication to Moses. Verse 26 begins the formal sentence of exclusion from Canaan. See Introductory Remarks.

THE FORMAL SENTENCE OF EXCLUSION, 26-35.

27. Murmurings are especially offensive to God, because they impeach his wisdom and goodness. Trust in Christ is the cure for all heart troubles, enabling the sinner to rejoice in the forgiveness of the moral evils of his life, and the saint cheerfully to acquiesce in all providential trials as a part of that discipline wisely chosen for the development of the Christian graces. See John 14:1, note. Israel’s murmurings are the fruit of his unbelief.

V. 28. As ye have spoken-When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness.

Verses 28-30. As ye have spoken — When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness. To make you dwell — That is, your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

Verses 28-30. As ye have spoken — When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness. To make you dwell — That is, your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

29. Your carcasses — By the use of this word, which, especially in modern usage, conveys contempt or ridicule, the English translation does injustice to Jehovah’s solemn oath of exclusion from Canaan. The original signifies simply corpses or dead bodies. See Genesis 15:11. All that were numbered — 603,550. See Numbers 1:46. Caleb and Joshua only were excepted. Since the women were not numbered, they are not excluded. The tribe of Levi was not included in the general census. From this fact, and from the mention of Eleazar in Joshua 14:1 and 24:33, we conclude that this tribe was not excluded.

V. 30. You-Your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

Verses 28-30. As ye have spoken — When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness. To make you dwell — That is, your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

30. Doubtless — “Surely,” R.V. The Hebrew form of oath usually is a grammatical protasis, or condition with the apodosis or conclusion omitted; thus, If they enter into the land, (let me be untrue.) Hence it is customary to translate the if by not. Comp. Hebrews 3:11, and 4:3. I sware — Literally, lifted up my hand. Every promise of God to man is conditioned on man’s faithfulness and obedience.

31. Your little ones — By something akin to poetical justice, the unbelieving fathers shall perish in the wilderness, and the helpless children, the objects of their skeptical solicitude, shall flourish in the land of promise. See verse 3. They despised the land when they distrusted the word of its great Giver. Thus the impenitent despise heaven when they reject Christ, its central attraction.

V. 32. Your carcases-See with what contempt they are spoken of, now they had by their sin made themselves vile! The mighty men of valour were but carcases, now the Spirit of the Lord was departed from them! It was very probably upon this occasion, that Moses wrote the ninetieth psalm.

Verse 32. Your carcasses — See with what contempt they are spoken of, now they had by their sin made themselves vile! The mighty men of valour were but carcasses, now the Spirit of the Lord was departed from them! It was very probably upon this occasion that Moses wrote the ninetieth Psalm.

V. 33. Forty years-So long as to make up the time of your dwelling in the wilderness forty years; one whole year and part of another were past before this sin or judgment. Your whoredoms-The punishment of your whoredoms, of your apostacy from, and perfidiousness against your Lord, who was your husband, and had married you to himself.

Verse 33. Shall wander in the wilderness — Hebrew, µy[r wyhy, Jehju rognim, shall feed, shall seek their food from place to place, after the manner of the Arabian shepherds, that were forced to remove their tents from one place to another, that they might find pasture for their flocks. Forty years — Reckoning from the time of their first coming out of Egypt into the wilderness, where they had already wandered a year and a half. And bear your whoredoms — The punishment of your whoredoms, that is, of your idolatries, of your apostacy from, and perfidiousness against the Lord, who was your husband, having espoused you to himself by covenant. Idolatry and apostacy from God’s worship are continually represented under the idea of whoredom in the Scripture. And it appears from Amos 5:25, 26, that the Israelites were every now and then falling off to this sin during the whole period of these forty years in the wilderness.

33. Bear your whoredoms — Disobedience to God is in the Scriptures often expressed as infidelity to the marriage vow. The highest ideal of spiritual life is that of the bride’s heart-surrender in marriage. The Bible is full of this aspect of consecration, and of warning against the loathsomeness of divided affections. See Leviticus 17:7; Judges 2:17, notes. It is one thing for the innocent to bear the natural consequences of others’ guilt, and quite a different thing to bear their punishment. See Exodus 20:5; Numbers 14:18, notes.

V. 34. Each day for a year-So there should have been forty years to come, but God was pleased mercifully to accept of the time past as a part of that time. Ye shall know my breach of promise-That as you have first broken the covenant between you and me, by breaking the conditions of it, so I will make it void on my part, by denying you the blessings promised in that covenant. So you shall see, that the breach of promise wherewith you charged me, lies at your door, and was forced from me by your perfidiousness.

Verse 34. After the number of the days] The spies were forty days in searching the land, and the people who rebelled on their evil report are condemned to wander forty years in the wilderness! Now let them make them a captain and go back to Egypt if they can. God had so hedged them about with his power and providence that they could neither go back to Egypt nor get forward to the promised land! God has provided innumerable spiritual blessings for mankind, but in the pursuit of earthly good they lose them, and often lose the others also! If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the fruit of the land, but not otherwise; unless for your farther punishment God give you your portion in THIS life, and ye get none in the life to come. From so great a curse may God save thee, thou money-loving, honour-hunting, pleasure-taking, thoughtless, godless man! And ye shall know my breach of promise.] This is certainly a most harsh expression; and most learned men agree that the words ytawnt ta eth tenuathi should be translated my vengeance, which is the rendering of the Septuagint, Vulgate, Coptic, and Anglo-Saxon, and which is followed by almost all our ancient English translations. The meaning however appears to be this: As God had promised to bring them into the good land, provided they kept his statutes, ordinances, &c., and they had now broken their engagements, he was no longer held by his covenant; and therefore, by excluding them from the promised land, he showed them at once his annulling of the covenant which they had broken, and his vengeance because they had broken it.

Verse 34. Each day for a year — So there should have been forty years to come, but God was pleased mercifully to accept of the time past as a part of that time. Ye shall know my breach of promise — That as you have first broken the covenant between you and me, by breaking the conditions of it, so I will make it void on my part, by denying you the blessings promised in that covenant. Thus you shall see that the breach of promise wherewith you charged me, lies at your door, and was forced from me by your perfidiousness.

Ver. 34. Forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities. This is a frequent mode of Hebrew figurative language. The 70 weeks of Daniel, or 490 days, are reckoned as so many years. It is the same with regard to the sabbath days to the year of jubilee.—Ye shall know my breach of promise. ytawnt tenvooati, ye shall know my breach. Miles Coverdale reads, ye shall know what it is when I withdraw my hand. Montanus reads, frustrationem meam, my frustration. Pagninus reads, ultionem meam, my vengeance. Luther, or the Munster version, reads, irritationem meam, my provocation. The English, of all these readings, seems the most unsuccessful. The rebels who now drew the nation to a full revolt, had their hearts still in Egypt; and hoped, no doubt, after the destruction of Pharaoh at the Red sea, to conquer and possess the country. Thus they totally disbelieved the Lord, and the Lord made a total breach with them.

34. Forty days… forty years — Thus the sin of the spies and the unbelief of the nation would be vividly set before them as the cause of their exclusion from Canaan. At every question, “How long?” the mind would revert to the forty days’ search by the spies, to their majority report, and to the slough of despond into which the people fell at Kadesh. Shall ye bear your iniquities — In the next verse we find an explanation of bearing iniquities. “In this wilderness shall they be consumed, and there shall they die.” “The weight of guilt is so great that they stagger under it in crooked ways for many years, till they sink exhausted with the weary load. The transition is very easy from the idea of bearing sin to that of bearing punishment.” — Bibliotheca Sacra. As Prof. Park expresses it, “Sin presses the sinner down in punishment and into punishment.” My breach of promise — Here is but one Hebrew word, t’nooah, used elsewhere only in Job 33:10, and rendered occasions. It literally signifies removal or alienation, the withdrawal of one’s self from a person, and so metaphorically expresses enmity. Hence the strong rendering of the Septuagint, ton qumon thv orghv mou, the vehemence of my anger, and of the Vulgate, ultionem meam, my vengeance. Luther’s translation, though more correct, is not so concise and vigorous — What it shall be when I withdraw my hand. The breach of promise is induced by the wilful and persistent disobedience of Israel in refusing to carry out Jehovah’s purpose of love. His immutability requires him to treat unbelievers as rebels. The justice of their punishment is vindicated by their own contumacy.

35. I will surely do it — In the Hebrew this is the conditional part of an oath. See verse 30, note. The threatenings of God are never exaggerations of his real purposes designed merely to intimidate the transgressor, and not to be fully executed. Against me — Unbelief puts a person into the attitude of hostility to God; it is the root of all disobedience. See John 3:19; 16:9, notes. Consumed — Utterly destroyed.

THE FATE OF THE SPIES, 36-39.

After the general sentence of the nation a particular condemnation must be passed upon the cowardly ten spies, who are specially culpable, inasmuch as they afforded the occasion of the national sin. At the same time the faithful two are commended and rewarded.

36. Made all… to murmur — While the people, as free agents, were culpable for their free act, of which their own unbelief was the cause, yet the spies who made the unfavourable report were guilty, not so much because they furnished the occasion for the unbelief to manifest itself in action, but because they contributed to that unbelief. He who undermines his fellow’s faith in God, by his words, his writings, or his influence, assumes a tremendous responsibility. A slander — “Evil report,” R.V. This consisted chiefly in the declaration that the land was unconquerable. See Numbers 13:32, note.

V. 37. By the plague-Either by the pestilence, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, Numbers 14:10, who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord.

Verse 37. Those men that did bring up the evil report-died] Thus ten of the twelve that searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot! Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, alone escaped, because they had followed God fully. Let preachers of God’s word take heed how they straiten the way of salvation, or render, by unjust description, that way perplexed and difficult which God has made plain and easy.

Verses 37, 38. By the plague — Either by the pestilence, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, (verse 10,) who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord. But Joshua and Caleb lived still — Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight who were designed for life, though in the midst of those that are to die.

37. By the plague — Literally, by the stroke. Thus the Vulgate, percussi, SMITTEN in the presence of the Lord, they died. A sudden and fatal epidemic seized upon them in a supernatural manner, as is indicated by the words before the Lord, that is, immediately from Jehovah without the intervention of any second cause. Thus Israel received a practical proof of the awfulness of their sentence from the mouth of God. This solemn judgment, when publicly announced to the people by Moses, caused a vivid realization of the greatness of their guilt, and they mourned greatly.

V. 38. But Joshua and Caleb lived still-Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight who are designed for life, tho’ in the midst of those that are to die.

Verses 37, 38. By the plague — Either by the pestilence, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, (verse 10,) who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord. But Joshua and Caleb lived still — Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight who were designed for life, though in the midst of those that are to die.

THE FATE OF THE SPIES, 36-39.

After the general sentence of the nation a particular condemnation must be passed upon the cowardly ten spies, who are specially culpable, inasmuch as they afforded the occasion of the national sin. At the same time the faithful two are commended and rewarded.

36. Made all… to murmur — While the people, as free agents, were culpable for their free act, of which their own unbelief was the cause, yet the spies who made the unfavourable report were guilty, not so much because they furnished the occasion for the unbelief to manifest itself in action, but because they contributed to that unbelief. He who undermines his fellow’s faith in God, by his words, his writings, or his influence, assumes a tremendous responsibility. A slander — “Evil report,” R.V. This consisted chiefly in the declaration that the land was unconquerable. See Numbers 13:32, note.

V. 39. And the people mourned greatly-But it was now too late. There was now no place for repentance. Such mourning as this there is in hell; but the tears will not quench the flames.

Verses 39, 40. And the people mourned greatly — But it was now too late. There was now no place for repentance. Such mourning as this there is in hell; but the tears will not quench the flames. Gat them up — Designed or prepared themselves to go up.

THE FATE OF THE SPIES, 36-39.

After the general sentence of the nation a particular condemnation must be passed upon the cowardly ten spies, who are specially culpable, inasmuch as they afforded the occasion of the national sin. At the same time the faithful two are commended and rewarded.

36. Made all… to murmur — While the people, as free agents, were culpable for their free act, of which their own unbelief was the cause, yet the spies who made the unfavourable report were guilty, not so much because they furnished the occasion for the unbelief to manifest itself in action, but because they contributed to that unbelief. He who undermines his fellow’s faith in God, by his words, his writings, or his influence, assumes a tremendous responsibility. A slander — “Evil report,” R.V. This consisted chiefly in the declaration that the land was unconquerable. See Numbers 13:32, note.

V. 40. Gat them up-Designed or prepared themselves to go up.

Verse 40. We-will go up unto the place, &c.] They found themselves on the very borders of the land, and they heard God say they should not enter it, but should be consumed by a forty years’ wandering in the wilderness; notwithstanding, they are determined to render vain this purpose of God, probably supposing that the temporary sorrow they felt for their late rebellion would be accepted as a sufficient atonement for their crimes. They accordingly went up, and were cut down by their enemies; and why? God went not with them. How vain is the counsel of man against the wisdom of God! Nature, poor, fallen human nature, is ever running into extremes. This miserable people, a short time ago, thought that though they had Omnipotence with them they could not conquer and possess the land! Now they imagine that though God himself go not with them, yet they shall be sufficient to drive out the inhabitants, and take possession of their country! Man is ever supposing he can either do all things or do nothing; he is therefore sometimes presumptuous, and at other times in despair. Who but an apostle, or one under the influence of the same Spirit, can say, I can do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST who strengtheneth me? NUMBERS

Verses 39, 40. And the people mourned greatly — But it was now too late. There was now no place for repentance. Such mourning as this there is in hell; but the tears will not quench the flames. Gat them up — Designed or prepared themselves to go up.

THE PRESUMPTION OF THE PEOPLE PUNISHED, 40-45.

40. The top of the mountain — Some plateau on the northern border of the valley mentioned in verse 25. Lo, we… will go up — That this apparent spasm of faith is not faith, but sheer presumption, is seen in its utter disregard of Jehovah’s command, “To-morrow turn you.” True faith always bears the fruit of obedience. Its highest exercise brings the human into perfect harmony with the divine will. Galatians 2:20; 5:24, 25. The pendulum of unbelief, oscillating from the paralysis of despair to the rashness of self-confidence, is in either motion alike displeasing to God. For we have sinned — The Hebrew yk, for, is susceptible of two renderings: (1.) Although. This sense would imply an Antinomian view of the divine promise as wholly unconditional. (2.) For, in the sense of, “we admit that we have sinned, and we regret it.” In this case their confession was not of the heart but of the lips only, involving the radical error of Universalism — that, after the final sentence of the sinner, any expression of regret is sufficient to unlock the gates of hell and open wide the portals of heaven. But there are in the divine government irreversible verdicts. Repentance may be too late.

41. It shall not prosper — R.V., “seeing it shall not prosper.” Before sin can ultimately prosper, the holy God must abdicate the throne of the universe. The wrong of rebellion and unbelief is not turned into right by attempting the exact opposite. It is still the same spirit. The obedience which is not of penitent faith is of self-confidence, and only another kind of unbelief and self-righteousness. “Israel’s determination to go up on the morrow, and so to retrieve the past, argued as great spiritual ignorance and unfitness as their former faintheartedness and rebellion at the report of the spies.” — Edersheim.

42. For the Lord is not among you — His protecting presence will not shield you. In this invisible presence, symbolized by the shekinah, Moses trusted with unwavering confidence. See Exodus 33:15. But Israel, alas! did not share his confidence. This warning is prompted by a tender and loving heart, as are all the divine threatenings. They are as a hedge of thorns to keep men from stumbling over the precipice of eternal ruin. “It is not the doing this or that, nor the circumstance of outwardly belonging to Israel, which secures victory over the enemy or possession of the land. It is that Jehovah is among us. The victory is ever of faith.” — Edersheim.

43. Amalekites — See Numbers 13:29, note. Are there before you — Either they had withdrawn from the valley (ver. 25) to a more defensible position in the mountains, or they had sent a strong force to seize the passes, and successfully contest the passage of Israel. This fact was communicated to Moses by his scouts or by direct revelation from Jehovah. Ye shall fall — This divinely inspired prediction rests on the fact that Israel had turned away from the Lord. He who is most conscious of the divine presence and support, as was Moses, most feels his dependence on His favour, and most forbodes disaster when that favour is withdrawn. But the worldling neither recognizes the presence nor misses the absence of God. Such was unbelieving Israel at Kadesh.

44. But they presumed — Presumption and despair are two opposite phases of unbelief. Within less than one day the Israelites despaired of conquering Canaan with the assured alliance of Jehovah, and then presumed to enter upon its conquest though he had announced the withdrawal of his aid. The natural man, when exhorted to religious effort, first avers that he can do nothing, even with God’s aid, and soon asserts that by his own good works he can save himself without God. The ark was both the symbol and seat of Jehovah in the camp of Israel. In subsequent history, in the estimation of the Jews, the life of the nation depended on the presence of the ark. Joshua vi; 1 Samuel 4:4-18, note. This confidence in part grew out of their present bitter experience of defeat when facing their foes with no pillar of cloud over their heads. And Moses, departed not — The moral sublimity of this scene is worthy the brush of the historical painter: Moses, not like Achilles sulking in his tent while the Greeks went out to battle, but calmly standing alone with God, while his people madly rush to danger and to death.

V. 45. The Canaanites-Largely so called, but strictly the Amorites. Hormah-A place so called afterwards, Numbers 21:3, from the slaughter or destruction of the lsraelites at this time.

Verse 45. The Canaanites — Largely so called, but strictly the Amorites. Hormah — A place so called afterward, (Numbers 21:3,) from the slaughter or destruction of the Israelites at this time.

45. Discomfited — Literally, pounded into pieces. “Chased you, as bees do,” Deuteronomy 1:44, that is, with great ferocity when exasperated. Hormah — This was the key point from which the roads across the desert, after having been all united, again diverge toward Gaza and Hebron; and its site is still marked by the ruins of a square tower of hewn stones, on the top of a hill which rises a thousand feet above the wady on the edge of which it stands. See Numbers 21:3, note.

CONCLUDING NOTES.

(1.) The report of the spies was a decisive moment in the history of the Israelites. Had they been animated by faith in God, his ideal of Israel as a conquering nation marching straight into Canaan would have been realized, the walled cities would have been taken without the loss of a Hebrew’s life, as was Jericho, and the formidable sons of Anak would have fallen before Hebrew striplings, as fell Goliath before David. But Israel was not equal to the crisis. It was clear that a multitude so easily paralyzed by fear, so craven and fickle, were not the men to be launched against warlike tribes, and nothing remained but to continue in the wilderness. Born in slavery, and destitute of the manhood belonging to freemen, they were not in a condition, if left to themselves, to successfully undertake so great a task. But the series of miracles wrought through Moses in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness had lifted them to the plane of the supernatural, on which they could have stood by simple, childlike faith in Jehovah, their great ally. Their culpability is found in the failure of their faith. Hence they must wander outside the land of promise till a new and more trustful race had risen in their place.

(2.) “Evidently Israel’s was not disbelief, but unbelief — a kind of spiritual agnosticism. They had not any proper knowledge nor understanding of the character and purposes of that God whom they nevertheless acknowledged as having brought them to the borders of the land. Our unbelief also is too often like theirs; we refuse to go forward, and we people the future with imaginary terrors, because we have no stable knowledge nor yet understanding of his purposes, whom we acknowledge as the God of our guidance and salvation.” — Dr. Edersheim.

The secret cause of all this unbelief, disobedience, rebellion, exclusion from the land of promise, and wretched dying in the wilderness was the lack of a true and total consecration to God and to their divine mission. How many generations of professed Christians from the same cause have laid their bones around some Kadesh-barnea!

(3.) “The fear of man is practically rebellion against God, if it keeps us from doing that which he bids, or from going whither he sendeth us. Only let us not be our own interpreters of what is the will of God concerning us.” — Dr. Edersheim.

(4.) “It has been often objected to the story of the exodus that such extremity of folly as is ascribed to the Israelites is inconceivable in such circumstances. How could men, with all these miracles in mind, and manna falling daily, and the pillar blazing every night, and the roll of Sinai’s thunders scarcely out of their ears, behave thus? But any body who has honestly studied his own heart, and known its capacity for neglecting the plainest indications of God’s presence, and forgetting the gifts of his love, will believe the story, and see brethren in these Jews.” — Dr. McLaren.

(5.) There is an irremissible sin in the Old Testament which is a foreshadowing of that in the new. The one is rejection from entering Canaan, with the possibility of the eternal salvation of every truly penitent believer; the other is the shutting out of all hope of eternal life. Says Dr. W. Henry Green: “On former occasions they had been forgiven upon the urgent and persistent intercession of Moses. But in this wilful and high-handed rejection of the supreme gift of God’s grace to them they had passed beyond the limits of forgiveness. It is the Old Testament ana-logue to what is darkly spoken of in the New Testament as the unpardonable sin. Matthew 12:32; Hebrews 6:4, etc. And all that Moses’s supplication could effect on their behalf was, that they should be spared from the instant destruction with which they were threatened. They were pardoned to the extent of being temporarily reprieved, but the doom pronounced upon them, of exclusion from the land of promise and of death in the wilderness, could not be reversed.”