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Numbers Chapter
Fourteen
Numbers 14
Chapter Contents
The people murmur at the account of the spies. (1-4)
Joshua and Caleb labour to still the people. (5-10) The Divine threatenings,
The intercession of Moses. (11-19) The murmurers forbidden to enter the
promised land. (20-35) Death of the evil spies. (36-39) Defeat of the people,
who now would invade the land. (40-45)
Commentary on Numbers 14:1-4
Those who do not trust God, continually vex themselves.
The sorrow of the world worketh death. The Israelites murmured against Moses
and Aaron, and in them reproached the Lord. They look back with causeless
discontent. See the madness of unbridled passions, which makes men prodigal of
what nature accounts most dear, life itself. They wish rather to die criminals
under God's justice, than to live conquerors in his favour. At last they
resolve, that, instead of going forward to Canaan, they would go back to Egypt.
Those who walk not in God's counsels, seek their own ruin. Could they expect
that God's cloud would lead them, or his manna attend them? Suppose the
difficulties of conquering Canaan were as they imagined, those of returning to
Egypt were much greater. We complain of our place and lot, and we would change;
but is there any place or condition in this world, that has not something in it
to make us uneasy, if we are disposed to be so? The way to better our
condition, is to get our spirits in a better frame. See the folly of turning
from the ways of God. But men run on the certain fatal consequences of a sinful
course.
Commentary on Numbers 14:5-10
Moses and Aaron were astonished to see a people throw
away their own mercies. Caleb and Joshua assured the people of the goodness of
the land. They made nothing of the difficulties in the way of their gaining it.
If men were convinced of the desirableness of the gains of religion, they would
not stick at the services of it. Though the Canaanites dwell in walled cities,
their defence was departed from them. The other spies took notice of their
strength, but these of their wickedness. No people can be safe, when they have
provoked God to leave them. Though Israel dwell in tents, they are fortified.
While we have the presence of God with us, we need not fear the most powerful
force against us. Sinners are ruined by their own rebellion. But those who,
like Caleb and Joshua, faithfully expose themselves for God, are sure to be
taken under his special protection, and shall be hid from the rage of men,
either under heaven or in heaven.
Commentary on Numbers 14:11-19
Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was
a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon
of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that
Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character,
in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.
Commentary on Numbers 14:20-35
The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at
once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the
benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The
promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the
wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their
carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of
their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of
promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never
leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will
produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye,
in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let
them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and
cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take
away his loving kindness.
Commentary on Numbers 14:36-39
Here is the sudden death of the ten evil spies. They
sinned in bringing a slander upon the land of promise. Those greatly provoke
God, who misrepresent religion, raise dislike in men's minds toward it, or give
opportunity to those to do so, who seek occasion. Justly are murmurers made
mourners. If they had mourned for the sin, when they were faithfully reproved,
the sentence had been prevented; but as they mourned for the judgment only, it
did them no service. There is in hell such mourning as this; but tears will not
quench the flames, nor cool the tongue.
Commentary on Numbers 14:40-45
Some of the Israelites were now earnest to go forward
toward Canaan. But it came too late. If men would but be as earnest for heaven
while their day of grace lasts, as they will be when it is over, how well would
it be for them! That which has been duty in its season, when mistimed, may be
turned into sin. Those who are out of the way of their duty, are not under
God's protection, and go at their peril. God bade them go, and they would not;
he forbade them, and they would go. Thus is the carnal mind enmity against God.
They had distrusted God's strength; they now presume upon their own without
his. And the expedition fails accordingly; now the sentence began to be
executed, that their carcases should fall in the wilderness. That affair can
never end well, which begins with sin. The way to obtain peace with our
friends, and success against our enemies, is, to have God, as our Friend, and
to keep in his love. Let us take warning from the fate of Israel, lest we
perish after the same example of unbelief. Let us go forth, depending on God's
mercy, power, promise, and truth; he will be with us, and bring our souls to
everlasting rest.
¢w¢w Matthew Henry¡mConcise Commentary on
Numbers¡n
Numbers 14
Verse 2
[2] And
all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the
whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of
Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
Against Moses and Aaron ¡X As the instruments and occasions of their present calamity.
That we had died in this wilderness ¡X It was not long before they had their desire, and did die in the
wilderness.
Verse 3
[3] And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the
sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for
us to return into Egypt?
The Lord ¡X
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 ¡X To
the Canaanites whose land we were made to believe we should possess.
Verse 4
[4] And
they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
A captain ¡X
Instead of Moses, one who will be more faithful to our interest than he.
Into Egypt ¡X
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 5
[5] Then
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation
of the children of Israel.
Fell on their faces ¡X 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 ¡X 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 6
[6] And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of
them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Rent their clothes ¡X 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 8
[8] If
the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a
land which floweth with milk and honey.
Delight in us ¡X If
by our rebellion and ingratitude we do not provoke God to leave and forsake us.
Verse 9
[9] Only
rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they
are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us:
fear them not.
Bread ¡X We
shall destroy them as easily as we eat our bread.
Their defence ¡X
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 ¡X By
his special grace and almighty power, to save us from them and all our enemies.
Only rebel not against the Lord ¡X 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 10
[10] But
all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD
appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of
Israel.
Appeared ¡X
Now in the extremity of danger to rescue his faithful servants, and to stop the
rage of the people.
In the tabernacle ¡X
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 12
[12] I
will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee
a greater nation and mightier than they.
I will smite them ¡X
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 16
[16]
Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware
unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
Not able ¡X
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.
Verse 17
[17] And
now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast
spoken, saying,
Be great ¡X
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.
Verse 18
[18] The
LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Visiting the iniquity ¡X 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 20
[20] And
the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
I have pardoned ¡X So
far as not utterly to destroy them.
Verse 21
[21] But
as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
With the glory of the Lord ¡X With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing
this rebellious people.
Verse 22
[22]
Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in
Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have
not hearkened to my voice;
My glory ¡X
That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle.
Ten times ¡X
That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.
Verse 24
[24] But
my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me
fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall
possess it.
Caleb ¡X
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 ¡X 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 ¡X
Universally and constantly, through difficulties and dangers, which made his
partners halt.
Whereinto he went ¡X In
general, Canaan, and particularly Hebron, and the adjacent parts, Joshua 14:9.
Verse 25
[25] (Now
the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and
get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
In the valley ¡X
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 ¡X That leadeth to the Red-sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire
to return.
Verse 28
[28] Say
unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears,
so will I do to you:
As ye have spoken ¡X
When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness.
Verse 30
[30]
Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you
dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
You ¡X
Your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.
Verse 32
[32] But
as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
Your carcases ¡X
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 33
[33] And
your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your
whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
Forty years ¡X 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 ¡X
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 34
[34]
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days,
each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye
shall know my breach of promise.
Each day for a year ¡X 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 ¡X 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 37
[37] Even
those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague
before the LORD.
By the plague ¡X
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 38
[38] But
Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men
that went to search the land, lived still.
But Joshua and Caleb lived still ¡X 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.
Verse 39
[39] And
Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned
greatly.
And the people mourned greatly ¡X 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.
Verse 40
[40] And
they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the
mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD
hath promised: for we have sinned.
Gat them up ¡X
Designed or prepared themselves to go up.
Verse 45
[45] Then
the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and
smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
The Canaanites ¡X
Largely so called, but strictly the Amorites.
Hormah ¡X A
place so called afterwards, Numbers 21:3, from the slaughter or destruction
of the lsraelites at this time.
¢w¢w John Wesley¡mExplanatory Notes on Numbers¡n
14 Chapter 14
Verses 1-3
The people wept.
Truths in tears
I. That to entrust
the important affairs of society to the conduct of men of an inferior type is a
great evil. Feeble-minded, and mean-hearted men, at the head of society, have
always impeded its onward march, and endangered its interests.
II. That whilst it
is common, it is not always well to follow the majority.
1. Because truth does not depend upon numbers. The crowds that skirt
the base of a mountain cannot see as much as the man who climbs the heights and
takes his view from the lofty summit. The solitary eagle sees more than can
¡§the cattle upon a thousand hills.¡¨
2. Because numbers in the present state of the world are likely to be
wrong.
III. That it is not
a wise thing to follow the opinions of men rather than the word of God.
1. Because God¡¦s word is infallible; men¡¦s opinions are not so.
2. Because God¡¦s word ensures strength to the obedient; men¡¦s
opinions do not.
IV. That it is a
sad evil to forget, under present trial, the past merciful interpositions of
God. Had the Israelites remembered God¡¦s wonderful interpositions in their
behalf, the recollection would have given their spirits a moral force, which
would have enabled them to bear with magnanimity the greatest trials, and to
brave with undaunted hearts the greatest perils, and the greatest opposition (Psalms 77:10-11; Psalms 27:9; 1 Samuel 17:37).
V. That a life of
servility eats out the independency of human nature. These Israelites, after
their long servitude in Egypt, had scarcely anything of the heart of a
man left within them. The only thing that could resuscitate their expiring
life, and wake up their manhood, was a system of trial to throw them upon their
own resources. (Homilist.)
A warning against murmuring and discontent
There are three good reasons why we should learn to mind this
warning.
1. For our own comfort. Suppose you have a long walk to take every
day, but you have a thorn in your foot or a stone in your shoe. Could you have
any comfort? No; the first thing to do would be to rid yourself of thorn or
stone. Till this was done you could not have the least comfort. But a feeling
of discontent in our minds is just like that thorn or stone. It will take away
all the comfort we might have, as we go on in the walk of our daily duties. A
bishop was once asked the secret of the quiet contented spirit which he always
had. He said, ¡§My secret consists in the right use of my eyes. When I meet with
any trial, I first of all look up to heaven; I remember that my chief business
in life is to get there. Then I look down upon the earth, I think how small a space
I shall need in it when I die; and then I look round and think how many people
there are in the world who have more cause to be unhappy than I have. And so I
learn the Bible lesson, ¡¥Be content with such things as ye have.¡¦¡¨
2. For the comfort of others. A contented spirit is to a home what
sunshine is to the trees and the flowers. John Wesley used to say, ¡§I dare no
more fret than curse or swear. To have persons around me, murmuring and
fretting at everything that happens, is like tearing the flesh from my bones.¡¨
3. The third reason why we should mind this warning against
discontent, is to please God. No trials can ever come upon us in this world
without God¡¦s knowledge and consent. He is so wise that He never makes a
mistake about our trials, and so we try to be patient and contented, because we
know that this will be pleasing to God. (British Weekly Pulpit.)
Causeless sorrow
Giving credit to the report of the spies, rather than to the word
of God, and imagining their condition desperate, they laid the reins on the
neck of their passions, and could keep no manner of temper; like foolish,
froward children, they fall a-crying, yet know not what they cried for. It had
been time enough to cry out if the enemies had beaten up their quarters and
they had seen the sons of Anak at the gate of their camp; but they that cried
when nothing hurt them deserved to have something given them to cry for. And as
if all had been already gone they sat them down and wept out that night. Note,
unbelief and distrust of God is a sin that is its own punishment. Those that do
not trust God are continually vexing themselves. The world¡¦s mourners are more
than God¡¦s, and the sorrow of the world worketh death. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Verse 4
Let us return into Egypt.
The rewards of the future not to be slighted because of a present
inconvenience
The proposition of the people illustrates anew the principle that
all sin is a species of insanity. They proposed to go back to Egypt. How did
they suppose they were going to get back? Could they expect to live in the
wilderness without the manna which God gave them? Could they overcome Amalek
without Moses to intercede in their behalf? Would God be more likely to deliver
them in a cowardly retreat than in a loyal advance? Could they hope again for
water to flow from the rock to quench their thirst? or for favouring winds to
open a new path through the Red Sea? When some departed from the Saviour, He
said to His disciples, ¡§Will ye also go away?¡¨ and they returned the pathetic
answer, ¡§Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.¡¨ But,
alas! the children of Israel were ready to go back from the promised land to
the dangers of the wilderness and to the hopeless bondage of Egypt. In the
words of Matthew Henry, ¡§They wish rather to die criminals under God¡¦s justice
than live conquerors in His favour. How base were the spirits in those
degenerate Israelites, who, rather than die (if it came to the worst) like
soldiers in the field of honour, with their swords in their hands, desire to
die like rotten sheep in the wilderness!¡¨ Similar paradoxes in the conduct of
sinners abound in the world. A slight present danger or inconvenience is
suffered to blind the eyes to great rewards in the future. A small hazard
before us is likely to seem far greater than much more serious dangers behind
us. Under the smart of present ills, we are ever ready to shut our eyes to the
innumerable ills we know not of. The miners of England cursed the inventor of
the safety-lamp because, in reducing the hazard to their lives, it diminished
also their wages. Multitudes of young people attempt to evade the trials and
self-denials of the ministerial calling or of missionary work, by choosing some
profession or business that is more lucrative or gratifying to their ambitions.
In this they fail to remember that there is a poverty in other callings than
the ministry; that the high-road of selfishness is through a wilderness strewn
with the carcasses of those who have fallen hopeless by the way. What is Wall
Street but a maelstrom around which are circling innumerable vessels fated to
augment the debris of countless wrecks already in the vortex? What is
the path to worldly glory and fame but a crowded throroughfare of hungry and
thirsty men, the majority of whom are moving on to inevitable disappointment?
On the other hand, the path of the righteous, whatever its present shadows,
shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. (G. Frederick Wright.)
The folly of impatience
1. It was the greatest folly in the world to wish themselves in
Egypt, or to think if they were there it would be better with them than it was.
If they durst not go forward to Canaan, yet better be as they were than go back
to Egypt. What did they want? What had they to complain of? They had plenty,
and peace, and rest; were under a good government, had good company, had the
tokens of God¡¦s presence with them, and enough to make them easy even in the
wilderness, if they had but hearts to be content. But whither were they thus
fond to go to mend themselves? To Egypt! Had they so soon forgot the sore
bondage they were in there? Like brute beasts, they mind only that which is
present, and their memories, with the other powers of reason, are sacrificed to
their passions.(Psalms 106:7). We find it threatened (Deuteronomy 28:68) as the completing of
their misery, that they should be brought into Egypt again, and yet that is it
they here wish for. Sinners are enemies to themselves, and those that walk not
in God¡¦s counsels consult their own mischief and ruin.
2. It was a most senseless, ridiculous thing to talk of returning
thither through the wilderness. Could they expect that God¡¦s cloud would lead
them or His manna attend them?
To retreat is to perish
To retreat is to perish. You have most of you read the story of
the boy in an American village who climbed the wall of the famous Natural
Bridge, and cut his name in the rock above the initials of his fellows, and
then became suddenly aware of the impossibility of descending. Voices shouted,
¡§Do not look down, try arid reach the top.¡¨ His only hope was to go right up,
up, up, till he landed on the top. Upward was terrible, but downward was
destruction. Now, we are all of us in a like condition. By the help of God we
have cut our way to positions of usefulness, and to descend is death. To us
forward means upward; and therefore forward and upward let us go. While we
prayed this morning we committed ourselves beyond all recall. We did that most
heartily when we first preached the gospel, and publicly declared, ¡§I am my
Lord¡¦s, and He is mine.¡¨ We put our hand to the plough: thank God, we have not looked back
yet. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verses 6-9
The Lord is with us: fear them not.
A noble effort to arrest a nation¡¦s rebellion
I. Joshua and
Caleb were deeply grieved by reason of the rebellion of the nation.
II. Joshua and
Caleb nobly endeavoured to arrest the rebellion of the nation.
1. They reassert the excellence of the land.
2. They declare the attainableness of the land.
3. They exhort the people not to violate the conditions of its
attainment.
III. Joshua and
Caleb were in danger by reason of their effort to arrest the rebellion of the
nation. ¡§All the congregation bade stone them with stones.¡¨ See here--
1. The tactics of an excited mob when defeated in argument.
2. The folly of an excited mob. This proposal to stone Joshua and
Caleb was insane.
3. The perils of faithfulness.
IV. Joshua and
Caleb rescued from danger by the interposition of God. (W. Jones.)
An encouraging declaration
I. A supposition.
¡§If the Lord delight in us¡¨ (Proverbs 8:30). God delights in His Son,
&c. He delights in His holy angels, &c. But have we reason to suppose
that He delights in His saints?
1. We might conclude, indeed, that He could not delight in them, when
we reflect--
2. But there are the most satisfactory evidences that He does delight
in His people.
II. An inference.
¡§Then He will bring us into this land,¡¨ &c. Observe here--
1. The land specified. It is ¡§the land afar off.¡¨ The good land. The
heavenly Canaan. Tile region of immortality.
2. This land is God¡¦s gift. Not the result of merit. It is given in
promise--given in Christ.
3. To this land God must bring His saints. Difficulties, enemies, and
dangers intervene. He will guide to it. Keep--safely conduct, and at length put
people into it, as He did Israel. ¡§Fear not, little flock,¡¨ &c. ¡§Let not
your hearts be troubled,¡¨ &c. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:12). (J. Burns, D. D.)
The boldness and fidelity of Joshua and Caleb
I. How sound was
their reasoning!
1. They drew a strong argument from the assurance that the Lord was
with them, bat that the defence of the Canaanites had departed from them. They
spoke of the country itself as worthy of the contest.
2. They reminded the people of the danger of disobedience, as
appeared from their past history; and from the character of God. Sin was the only
giant that they had reason to fear. Happy would it have been for the people,
had they listened to these arguments.
II. How resolute
was their spirit! Personally, no doubt, it would have been much more pleasant
to remain in the tent; but viewing this as an opportunity of doing good, and
glorifying God, they encountered the shame of uttering sentiments which were
reprobated; and the danger of advising measures which were disliked. Thus
numbers in the present day say, ¡§Religion is all very well in its place¡¨; but
they have no idea of glorifying God, and endeavouring to save souls, by acting
with the decision that Caleb and Joshua did. We, too, may mourn over sin, but
we must do something more; we must use all our influence to put it down, and to
lead forward the Israel of God.
III. How undivided
was their aim! Their one desire was to get the land; and therefore if popular
opinion coincided with them, well; but if not, they would not be guided by it.
They could do without riches, or honour, or life itself; but they could not do
without Canaan. (George Breay, B. A.)
Verse 11
How long will this people provoke Me?
Mistrust of God deplored and denounced
I. The sin of
israel is here defined: ¡§How long will it be ere they believe Me?¡¨ Observe that
God¡¦s account of all the murmuring and fear which these people felt was simply
that they did not believe Him. They doubtless¡¦ said that they were naturally
afraid of their enemies: the Anakim, the sons of the giants, these would
overcome them. ¡§No,¡¨ says God ¡§that is an idle excuse. No fear of giants would
enter their minds if they believed Me.¡¨ If these sons of Anak had been ten
times as high as they were, yet the almighty Lord could vanquish them, and if
their cities had been literally as well as figuratively walled up to the skies,
yet Jehovah could smite them out of heaven, and cast their ramparts into the
dust. Gigantic men and battlemented cities are nothing to Him who divided the Red
Sea. When the Omnipotent is present opposition vanishes. ¡§Ah,¡¨ but these people
might have replied, ¡§we fear because of our weakness. We are not a drilled
host, like the armies of Egypt. We know not how to fight against chariots of
iron: we are only feeble men, with all these women and children to encumber our
march. We cannot hope to drive out the hordes of Amalekites and Canaanites. A
sense of weakness is the cause of our terror and complaint.¡¨ But the Lord puts
the matter very differently. What had their weakness to do with His promise?
How could their weakness affect His power to give them the land? He could
conquer Amalek if they could not. Our trembling is not humility, but unbelief.
We may mask it how we please, but that is the state of the case as God sees it,
and He sees it in truth. Mistrust towards God is not a mere weakness, it is a
wickedness of the gravest order.
II. Describe this
sin of not believing.
1. At the first blush it would seem incredible that there should be
such a thing in the universe as unbelief of God. Jehovah¡¦s word is but Himself
in action, His will making itself manifest; and is it to be supposed that this
can be a lie under any conceivable circumstances whatsoever? Oh, the incredible
infamy which lies even in the bare thought of calling in question the veracity
of God. It is so vile, so unjust, so profane a thing that it ought to be
regarded with horror, as a monstrous wrong.
2. Consider, next, that, though unbelief certainly exists, it is a
most unreasonable thing. If God hath made a promise, on what grounds do we
doubt its fulfilment? Which of all the attributes of God is that which comes
under suspicion? Truth enters into the very conception of God: a false god is
no God. Any other doubt in the world may plead some warrant, but a doubt of
God¡¦s truthfulness is utterly unreasonable, and if sin had not filled man with
madness, unbelief would never find harbour in a single bosom.
3. Again, because this sin is so unreasonable, it is also most
inexcusable. As it is to the glory of every man to be upright, so it is to the
honour of God to be faithful to His solemn declarations. Even on the lowest
conceivable ground, the Lord¡¦s own interests are bound up with His truth. There
is no supposable reason why the Lord should not be true: how dare we then,
without the slightest cause, cast suspicion upon the truthfulness of the Most
High?
4. I venture to say that unbelief of God¡¦s word ought, therefore, to
be impossible. It ought to be impossible to every reverent-hearted man. Doth he
know God and tremble in His presence, and shall he think of distrusting Him? No
one that hath ever seen Him in contemplation, and bowed before Him in sincere
adoration, but must be amazed at the impertinence that would dare to think that
God can lie.
III. The sin
bitterly deplored. We have all been guilty of it. But what I want to call to
your remembrance is this, that in any one case of doubting the truthfulness of
God there is the full venom of the entire sin of unbelief. That is to say, if
you distrust the Lord in one, you doubt Him altogether. The Scripture calls
Him, ¡§God who cannot lie.¡¨ Do you think He can lie once, then He can lie
and the Scripture is broken? ¡§Ah, but I mean He may not keep His promise to me;
I am such an unworthy person.¡¨ Yes, but when a man forfeits his word it is no
defence for him to say, ¡§I told an untruth, but it was only to an unworthy
person.¡¨ No, the truth must be spoken irrespective of persons. I have no right
to deceive even a criminal. ¡§Do you dare say that to one person the Lord can be
untrue? If it can be so, He is not a true God any more. You may as well doubt
Him about everything if you distrust Him upon any one matter. Do you reply that
you doubted Him upon a very trivial matter, and it was only a little mistrust?
Alas! there is a world of iniquity in the faintest discredit of the thrice-holy
Lord. Reflect, then, with sorrow that we have been guilty of this sin, not
once, but a great many times. Timorousness and suspicion spring up in some
bosoms like weeds in the furrows. They sing the Lord¡¦s praises for a great
deliverance just experienced, but the next cloud which darkens the sky fills
them with fear, and they again mistrust Divine love.
IV. Lastly, as we
have now deplored this sin, we shall conclude by heartily denouncing it.
1. This sin of unbelief, if there were no other reason for denouncing
it, let it be reprobated because it insults God.
2. This is sufficient reason for denouncing it, and yet since weaker
reasons may perhaps help the stronger, let me mention that we are bound to hate
unbelief because it is the ruin of the great mass of our race. Why are men
lost? All their sins which they have done cannot destroy them if they believe
in Jesus, but the damning point is that they will not believe in Him Thus saith
the Scriptures, ¡§He that believeth not is condemned already.¡¨ Why? ¡§Because he
hath not believed on the Son of God.¡¨
3. We may hate it, again, because it brings so much misery and
weakness upon the children of God. If we believed God¡¦s promises we should no
longer be bowed down with sorrow, for our sorrow would be turned into joy. We
should glory in our infirmities--sea, we should glory in tribulation also,
seeing the good result which the Lord bringeth forth from them. The man who
steadily believes his God is calm, quiet, and strong.
4. One very shocking point about this unbelief is that it has
hampered the work of Christ in the world. The Christ that can save is a Christ
believed in, but of a Christ who is not believed in it is written, ¡§He did not
many mighty works there because of their unbelief.¡¨ (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sin of unbelief
1. The heinousness of unbelief; shun it.
2. The large number and convincing character of the evidences of
Christianity; remember that our faith should bear a proportion to them. ¡§For
unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required,¡¨ &c.
3. God takes our conduct as evidence of our belief or unbelief; let
us show our faith by our works. ¡§Faith without works is dead.¡¨ ¡§Faith worketh
by love,¡¨ &c.
4. Take heed lest we be disinherited because of unbelief (Romans 11:20-21; Hebrews 3:12-19; Hebrews 4:1-11). (W. Jones.)
God¡¦s complaint
Two things God justly complains of to Moses.
1. Their sin: They provoke me; or, as the word signifies, they
reject, reproach, despise Me; for they will not believe Me. That was the bitter
root which bore the gall and wormwood. It was their unbelief that made this a
day of provocation in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:8). Note, distrust of God, and
His power and promise, is itself a very great provocation, and at the bottom of
many other provocations. Unbelief is a great sin (1 John 5:10); and a root sin (Hebrews 3:12).
2. Their continuance in it: How long will they do so? Note, the God
of heaven keeps an account how long sinners persist in their provocations, and
the longer it is, the more He is displeased.
The aggravations of their sin were--
1. Their relation to God. This people; a peculiar people; a
professing people. The nearer any are to God in name and profession, the more
is He provoked by their sins, especially their unbelief.
2. The experience they had had of God¡¦s power and goodness, in all
the signs which He had showed among them, by which one would think He had
effectually obliged them to trust Him and follow Him. The more God has done for
us, the greater is the provocation if we distrust Him. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Faith induced by inward discipline as well as by external evidence
It seems almost incredible; and yet when we think of it, it is
only too natural. It is important to remember that faith is a plant of slow
growth. It cannot be suddenly summoned into existence on a special emergency;
and in order to its development there must be not only ¡§evidences¡¨ presented
from without, but a discipline going on within. We are apt to think that
because so many deliverances have been wrought for Israel, therefore their
faith must have become very strong. We forget that though God had done His part
all the way through, they never had done theirs. Their faith was really utterly
unexercised. It is not faith, to trust in God after He has wrought deliverance.
That was all they did. If they had ever learned to trust Him before the
deliverance came, it would have been a different thing. They had had abundant
opportunities for the exercise of faith; but they had let them all pass by.
They had contracted a habit of distrust. And instead of becoming stronger in
faith, they were actually getting weaker; and accordingly when the crisis came,
it was only what was to be expected that their courage should utterly fail,
simply because it had no faith to rest upon. How shall we stand the test when
our day of crisis comes? The answer will depend on the antecedent question, how
we have improved those opportunities which have been previously given for the
development of our faith. ¡§He that is faithful in that which is least, is
faithful also in much.¡¨ ¡§Weighed in the balances and found wanting.¡¨ After all
their advantages they missed the prize. The appeal of Joshua and Caleb was the
last opportunity; they never had another. ¡§The glory of the Lord appeared¡¨
(verse 10), no longer to open up a way for them, but to frustrate their
rebellious attack on His two faithful servants, and to pass sentence of
condemnation on the entire congregation. Through the mediation of Moses, the
lives of the people are spared; but they are degraded from their position as
the hosts of the Lord. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
All the signs which I have
shewed.--
Miracles no remedy for unbelief
Nothing is more surprising to us at first reading than the
history of God¡¦s chosen people; it seems strange that they should have acted as
they did age after age, in spite of the miracles which were vouchsafed them.
I. Hard as it is
to believe, miracles certainly do not make men better; the history of Israel
proves it. The only mode of escaping this conclusion is to fancy that the Israelites
were much worse than other nations, which accordingly has been maintained. But
as we see that in every other point they were exactly like other nations, we
are obliged to conclude, not that the Israelites were more hard-hearted than
other people, but that a miraculous religion is not much more influential than
other religions.
II. Why should the
sight of a miracle make us better than we are?
1. It may be said that a miracle would startle us, but would not the
startling pass away? Could we be startled for ever?
2. It may be urged that perhaps that startling might issue in
amendment of life; it might be the beginning of a new life though it passed
away itself. This is very true; sudden emotions--fear, hope, gratitude, and the
like--all do produce such results sometimes; blot why is a miracle necessary to produce
such effects? Other things startle us besides miracles; we have a number of
accidents sent by God to startle
us. If the events of life which happen to us now produce no
lasting effect upon us then it is only too certain that a miracle would produce
no lasting effect upon us either.
III. What is the
real reason why we do not seek God with all our hearts if the absence of
miracles be not the reason, as assuredly it is not? There is one reason common
both to us and the Jews: heartlessness in religious matters, an evil heart of
unbelief; both they and we disobey and disbelieve, because we do not love.
IV. In another
respect we are really far more favoured than the Israelites. They had outward
miracles; we have miracles that are not outward, but inward. Our miracles
consist in the sacraments, and they do just the very thing which the Jewish
miracles did not: they really touch the heart, though we, so often resist their
influence.
V. Let us then put
aside vain excuses, and instead of looking for outward events to change our
course of life, be sure of this, that if our course of life is to be changed,
it must be from within. Let us rouse ourselves and act as reasonable men before
it is too late; let us understand, as a first truth in religion, that love of
heaven is the only way to heaven. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
Verse 12
I will smite them . . . and will make of thee a greater nation.
Proffer of Jehovah, and answer of Moses
This is the second time that Jehovah, in His holy anger, had
proposed to deal thus with Moses and make him the head of a righteous seed to
receive the inheritance which Israel has so justly forfeited. How would any one
else have acted in his place? As the offer comes from Jehovah, can the Judge of all the
earth do wrong? And if the forbearance of Jehovah is exhausted, may not the patience of Moses
well be? Here is an offer that will release him from the thankless burden of a
cowardly, degraded people, which has again and again almost crushed him. Shall
he not accept it, and not only free himself from trouble, but rise to the
greatness in history of being the outflowing stock of the visible kingdom of
God? No, Moses has in himself an intrinsic greatness of soul beyond all that,
though it may make his name less celebrated. He will not dissociate himself
from his people. He will rather be the type of the great Intercessor who is to
come. The singleness of heart with which, as a saint, he loves God shall not
impair the passionate love that bound him to his people. Yea, and above the
love of his people rises his passionate earnestness for the honour of Jehovah.
Lying there prostrate on the ground before the brightness at the tabernacle,
hear--as you may almost hear in the Hebrew--his sobs in broken sentences, as he
argues the case with Jehovah and pleads for his people. ¡§And Egypt will hear
that Thou hast brought Thy people in Thy might out of the midst of her; and
they will say to the inhabitants of this land, they have heard how Thou,
Jehovah, went in the midst of Thy people, seen of them face to face, and Thy
cloud standing over them; even Thou, Jehovah, going in front of them in a
pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. And Thou wilt make Thy
people die as one man. And they will say, the nations that have heard tell of
Thee: Through being not able to lead His people into the land that He had sworn
to them, He hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech Thee, the
might of Jehovah shall be magnified, even as Thou hast spoken, saying, Jehovah,
long-suffering and of great mercy, bearing iniquity and transgression, and not
cleansing, but visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children to the third and
fourth generation: forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people according
to Thy great mercy, and as Thou hast been gracious to them from Egypt up to
this present time.¡¨ Do not these passionate pleadings raise Moses nearer than
any born of woman to the type of the great Intercessor? And yet, now, with the
great Intercessor on his side, the least in the kingdom of heaven, who is truly
in Christ--one with Christ, is greater in power than Moses at the throne. (S.
Robinson, D. D.)
The gentleness of Moses
Of Moses it was to be said in miniature what of his
Antitype can be said in full--that his gentleness made him great. Not when he
parted the waters of the Red Sea, not when he sang his hymn of triumph on the
shores of liberty, is he half so great as when he bore the sorrows and endured
the murmurings of that rude, undisciplined multitude. If ever a man has
inherited the earth by meekness, that man was Moses. His was a grand, unselfish
life, made to wait upon the lives of others. (G. Matheson, D. D.)
Verses 13-19
Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people.
Moses¡¦ expostulation
What book but the Bible has the courage to represent a man
standing in this attitude before his God and addressing his Sovereign in such
persuasive terms? This incident brings before us the vast subject of the
collateral considerations which are always operating in human life. Things are
not straight and simple, lying in rows of direct lines to be numbered off,
checked off and done with. Lines bisect and intersect and thicken into great
knots and tangle, and who can unravel or disentangle the great heap? Things
bear relations which can only be detected by the imagination, which cannot be
compassed by arithmetical numbers, but which force upon men a new science of
calculation, and create a species of moral algebra, by which, through the
medium and help of symbols, that is done which was impossible to common
arithmetic. Moses was a great leader; he thought of Egypt: what will the enemy
say? The enemy will put a false construction upon this. As if he had said, This
will be turned against Heaven; the Egyptians do not care what becomes of the
people, if they can laugh at the Providence which they superstitiously trusted;
the verdict passed by the heathen will be:--God was not able to do what He
promised, so He had recourse to the vulgar artifice of murder. The Lord in this
way developed Moses. In reality, Moses was not anticipating the Divine purpose,
but God was training the man by saying what He, the Lord, would do, and by the
very exaggeration of His strength called up Moses to his noblest consciousness.
We do this amongst ourselves. By using a species of language adapted to touch the
innermost nerve and feeling of our hearers, we call those hearers to their best
selves. If the Lord had spoken a hesitant language, or had fallen into what we
may call a tone of despair, Moses himself might have been seduced into a
kindred dejection; but the Lord said, I will smite, I will disinherit, I will
make an end; and Moses became priest, intercessor, mighty pleader--the very
purpose which God had in view--to keep the head right, the leading man in tune
with His purposes. So Moses said, ¡§Pardon¡¨; the Lord said, ¡§Smite¡¨; and Moses
said, ¡§Pardon¡¨--that is the true smiting. The Lord meant it; the Lord taught
Moses that prayer which Moses seemed to invent himself. The Lord trains us,
sometimes, by shocking our sensibilities; and by the very denunciation of His
judgments He drives us to tenderer prayer. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The intercession of Moses for the doomed nation
I. The petition
which he presented.
II. The pleas by
which he urged his petition.
1. The honour of the Divine name amongst the heathen.
2. The Divine character as revealed to Moses.
3. The truth of the Divine word.
4. The forgiveness which God had already bestowed.
Conclusion: From this intercession of Moses let us learn--
1. How to plead with God for ourselves.
2. How to plead with God for others, and especially for His people. (W.
Jones.)
God¡¦s pardoning grace in the past an encouragement to seek for the
same in the present
I. God is as able
and as willing to forgive now as ever he has been.
II. Man is now, as
much as ever he has been, the object of God¡¦s compassion.
III. God¡¦s purpose
with regard to the human race is now what it ever has been. (David
Lloyd.)
The power of intercession
The intercession of Christians, who are already
formed, is the leaven which is to leaven the whole earth with Christianity. It
is one of the destined instruments, in the hand of God, for hastening the glory
of the latter days. Take the world at large, and the doctrine of intercession,
as an engine of mighty power, is derided as one of the reveries of fanaticism.
This is a subject on which the men of the world are in a deep slumber; but
there are watchmen who never hold their peace day nor night, and to them God
addresses these remarkable words: ¡§Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not
silence, and give Him no rest till He establish and till He make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth.¡¨ (T. Chalmers.)
The mercy of God
(Numbers 14:18):--
I. What we are to
understand by the mercy of god. It is His goodness to them that are in misery,
or liable to it. Thus the mercy of God is usually, in Scripture, set forth to
us by the affection of pity and compassion; which is an affection that causeth
a sensible commotion in us, upon the apprehension of some great evil that lies
upon another, or hangs over him. Hence it is that God is said, in Scripture, to
be grieved and afflicted for the miseries of men. But though God is pleased in
this manner to set forth His mercy and tenderness towards us, yet we must take
heed how we clothe the Divine nature with the infirmities of human passions.
When God is said to pity us, we must take away the imperfection of His passion,
the commotion and disturbance of it, and not imagine any such thing in God; but
we are to conceive that the mercy and compassion of God, without producing the
disquiet, do produce the effects of the most sensible pity.
II. That this
perfection belongs to God. I will only produce some of those many texts of
Scripture which attribute this perfection to God. ¡§The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious¡¨ (Exodus 34:6). ¡§The Lord thy God is a
merciful God¡¨ (Deuteronomy 4:31). ¡§The Lord your God is
gracious and merciful¡¨ (2 Chronicles 34:9). ¡§Ready to
pardon, gracious and merciful¡¨ (Nehemiah 9:17). ¡§All the paths of the
Lord are mercy¡¨ (Psalms 25:10). ¡§Unto Thee, O Lord,
belongeth mercy¡¨ (Psalms 62:12). ¡§Merciful and gracious¡¨ (Psalms 103:8). ¡§With the Lord there is
mercy¡¨ (Psalms 130:7). And so (Jeremiah 3:12; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Luke 6:36), ¡§Be ye therefore merciful, as
your Father also is merciful.¡¨ The Scripture speaks of this as most natural to
Him. In 2 Corinthians 1:3, He is called ¡§the
Father of mercies.¡¨
III. The degree of
it. A God of great mercy. Scripture speaks of it as if God was wholly taken up
with it, as if it was His constant employment, so that, in comparison of it, He
doth hardly display any other excellency; ¡§All the paths of the Lord are mercy¡¨
(Psalms 25:10); as if, in this world, God
had a design to advance His mercy above His other attributes. The mercy of God
is now in the throne; this is the day of mercy; and God doth display it, many
times, with a seeming dishonour to His other attributes, His justice, and
holiness, and truth.
1. Preventing mercy. Does not that man owe more to his physician who
prevents his sickness, than he who, after the languishing, the pains of several
months, is at length cured by him?
2. Forbearing mercy. And this is the patience of God, which consists
in the deferring or moderating of our deserved punishment. Hence it is that
¡§slow to anger,¡¨ and ¡§of great mercy,¡¨ do so often go together.
3. Comforting mercy (2 Corinthians 1:3).
4. His relieving mercy, in supplying those that are in want, and delivering
those that are in trouble.
5. Pardoning mercy. And here the greatness and fulness of God¡¦s mercy
appears, because our sins are great (Psalms 78:38). And the multitude of God¡¦s
mercies because our sins are many (Psalms 51:1).
Uses--
1. We ought with thankfulness to acknowledge and admire the great
mercy of God to us.
2. The great mercy of God to us should stir up in us shame and sorrow
for sin. The judgments of God may break us; but the consideration of God¡¦s
mercy should rather melt us into tears (Luke 7:47).
3. Let us imitate the merciful nature of God.
4. If the mercy of God be so great, this may comfort us against
despair.
5. By way of caution against the presumptuous sinner. If there be any
that encourage themselves in sin, upon the hopes of His mercy; let such know
that God is just, as well as merciful. (Abp. Tillotson.)
Long-suffering of God
We may safely assert that Jeremy Taylor is none the less vigorous
for illustrating the long-suffering of God by the Rabbinical story that the
archangel Michael, being God¡¦s messenger of vengeance, had but one wing, that
he might labour in his flight, while Gabriel had two wings, that he might ¡§fly
swiftly¡¨ when bringing the message of peace. (J. Pilkington.)
Great mercy
God¡¦s mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great
sinners after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great
privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the
great God. As John Bunyan well says, ¡§It must be great mercy or no mercy, for
little mercy will never serve my turn.¡¨ (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verses 20-23
I have pardoned according to thy word.
God¡¦s answer to Moses¡¦ prayer
I. The extremity
of the sentence is receded from (Numbers 14:20). ¡§I have pardoned,¡¨ so as
not to cut them all off at once and disinherit them. See the power of prayer,
and the delight God takes in putting an honour upon it. He designed a pardon, but
Moses shall have the praise of obtaining it by prayer; it shall be done
¡§according to thy word.¡¨ Thus, as a prince, he hath power with God and
prevails. See what encouragement God gives to our intercessions for others,
that we may be public-spirited in prayer. See how ready God is to forgive sin,
and how easy to be intreated. ¡§Pardon,¡¨ saith Moses (Numbers 14:19); ¡§I have pardoned,¡¨ saith
God (Numbers 14:20). David found Him thus
swift to show mercy (Psalms 32:5). He deals not with us after
our sins.
II. The glorifying
of God¡¦s name is in general resolved upon¡¨ (Numbers 14:21). It is said, it is sworn,
¡§All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.¡¨ Moses in his prayer
had showed a great concern for the glory of God. ¡§Let Me alone,¡¨ saith God, ¡§to
secure that effectually, and to advance it by this dispensation. All the world
shall see how God hates sin even in His own people, and will reckon for it; and
yet how gracious and merciful He is, and how slow to anger.¡¨ Thus when our
Saviour prayed, ¡§Father, glorify Thy name,¡¨ He was immediately answered, ¡§I
have both glorified it, and will glorify it again¡¨ (John 12:28). Note, those that sincerely
seek God¡¦s glory may be sure of what they seek.
III. The sin of this
people which provoked god to proceed against them is here aggravated (Numbers 14:22; Numbers 14:27); it is not made worse than
really it was, but is shown to be exceedingly sinful. It was an evil
congregation, each bad, but altogether in congregation very bad.
1. They tempted God--tempted His power, whether He could help them in
their straits; His goodness, whether He would; and His faithfulness, whether
His promise would be performed. They tempted His justice, whether He would
resent their provocations and punish them or no. They dared Him, and in effect
challenged Him, as God doth the idols (Isaiah 41:23) to do good or do evil.
2. They murmured against Him. This is much insisted on (Numbers 14:27). As they questioned what
He would do, so they quarrelled with Him for everything He did or had done,
continually fretting and finding fault. It doth not appear that they murmured
at any of the laws or ordinances that God gave them, through they proved a
heavy yoke; but they murmured at the conduct they were under and the provision
made for them. Note, it is much easier to bring ourselves to the external
services of religion and observe all the formalities of devotion than to live a
life of dependence upon and submission to the Divine Providence in the course
of our conversation.
3. They did this after they had seen God¡¦s miracles in Egypt and in
the wilderness (Numbers 14:2). They would not believe
their own eyes, which were witnesses for God that He was in the midst of them
of a truth.
4. They had repeated the provocations ten times, i.e., very
often. God keeps an account how oft we repeat our provocations, and will sooner
or later set them in order before us.
5. They had not hearkened to His voice, though He had again and again
admonished them of their sin.
IV. The sentence
passed upon them for this sin.
1. That they should not see the promised land (Numbers 14:2), nor come into it (Numbers 14:30; Psalms 95:11). Note, unbelief of the
promise is a forfeiture of the benefit of it. The promise of God should be
fulfilled to their posterity, but not to them.
2. That they should immediately turn back into the wilderness (Numbers 14:25). Their next remove should
be a retreat; they must face about, and instead of going forward to Canaan, on
the very borders of which they now were, they must withdraw towards the Red Sea
again. ¡§To-morrow turn ye¡¨; that is, ¡§Very shortly you shall be brought back to
that vast howling wilderness which you are so weary of; and it is time to shift
for your own safety, for the Amalakites lie in wait in the valley ready to
attack you if you march forward.¡¨ Of them they had been distrustfully afraid (Numbers 13:29), and now with them God
justly frightened them.
3. That all those who were now grown up to men¡¦s estate should die in
the wilderness; not all at once, but by degrees. They wished they might die in
the wilderness, and God said ¡§Amen¡¨ to their passionate wish, and made their
sin their ruin.
4. That in pursuance of this sentence they should wander to and fro
in the wilderness, like travellers that have lost themselves, for forty years, i.e.,
so long as to make it full forty years from their coming out of Egypt to
their entrance into Canaan (Numbers 14:33-34). Thus long they were
kept wandering--
V. The mercy that
was mixed with this severe sentence.
1. Mercy to Caleb and Joshua; that though they should wander with the
rest in the wilderness, yet they, and they only of all that were now above
twenty years old, should survive the years of banishment and live to enter
Canaan.
2. Mercy to the children even of these rebels. (Matthew Henry, D.
D.)
All the earth shall be
filled with the glory of the Lord.
The earth filled with the glory of the Lord
I. The import of
the promise before us. Glory is the manifestation of excellence. The glory of
God is that display of His most blessed character and will which opens the way
for His intelligent creatures to know, to love, and to obey Him. This glory is exhibited
in various ways. It shines in all the works of creation. All the works of God,
we are told, praise Him. Again, the glory of God is manifested by the works of
His providence. But above all is the glory of God displayed in the work of
redemption. Now, when the gospel, which proclaims this plan of mercy, shall be
preached and received throughout the world, when every kindred and people and
nation and tongue shall not only be instructed in its sublime doctrines, but
also brought under its benign and sanctifying power, then, with emphatic
propriety, may it be said that ¡§the earth is filled,¡¨ &c.
II. What reason
have we for believing that these scenes of glory will one day be realised?
1. Our hope is founded on Jehovah¡¦s faithful and unerring promise. ¡§Hath
He said, and shall He not do it?¡¨
2. Our confidence that the religion of Christ will one day fill the
whole earth with its glory is confirmed by the consideration that this religion
is, in its nature, adapted above all others to be a universal religion. Its
doctrines, its worship, and its system of moral duty are all equally adapted to
universality.
3. The present aspect of the world furnishes much reason to hope that
the accomplishment of this promise is drawing nigh.
III. What is our
present duty in relation to the promise before us.
1. Undoubtedly our first duty is to believe the promise. Unbelief
poisons the very fountain of Christian confidence, cuts the nerves of all
spiritual exertion, and tends to despondency.
2. Another duty incumbent upon us in relation to this promise is to
labour and pray without ceasing for its accomplishment.
3. A third duty in relation to the promise in the text is that in
labouring for the spread of the gospel no adverse occurrence, however painful,
ought to discourage us or at all to weaken either our confidence or our
efforts.
4. A further duty in reference to the promise before us is that we
pray without ceasing for the power of the Holy Spirit, to render all the means
which are employed for its accomplishment effectual. (S. Miller.)
God¡¦s glory
When you understand that the glory of God is not self-laudation,
nor enriching His own power, nor multiplying His own treasures, but that it is
supremely to make others happy; when you understand that the glory of God means
loving other people and not Himself, mercy and not selfishness, the
distribution of His bounty and not the hoarding it up; when you understand that
God sits with all the infinite stores of redemptive love only to shed them
abroad upon men for ever and for ever, then you form a conception of what it is
for God to reign for His own glory. If love is His glory; if generosity is His
glory; if giving is His glory; if thinking of the poor is His glory; if
strengthening the weak is His glory; if standing as the defender of the wronged
is His glory; if loving and watching over every being that He has created for
ever and for ever is His glory, then blessed be that teaching which represents
that God does reign for His own glory. That is a glory which is worthy of the
Divine regality. It will bring out blossoms of joy and gladness in heaven and
on earth. (H. W. Beecher.)
The majestic consummation
Progress must be gradual toward that majestic consummation which
shed its lustre from afar on the eyes of those in what we call the
semi-civilised tribes of Judaea long ago. Progress must be gradual. Men of the
world sometimes say derisively that it is very slow. ¡§You say you have thirty
thousand converts. What are they among so many?¡¨ Well, my friend, will you tell
me what great effect has ever been realised in a short space of time? What city
was ever builded to its ultimate completeness in one year or in ten years? Your
growth here in Chicago has been phenomenally rapid and fast, and yet you go
back over half a century and more to see the beginning of your city life. Will
you tell me what national literature was ever developed to its completeness in
one generation or in five? Will you tell me what government was ever
established in equity and wisdom, even with the heroic efforts of men who gave
their lives to
its service, in one century or in two? Will you tell me what physical continent
was ever transformed from barbarism to the beauty of civilisation in one century or in two?
Great works imply always gradual progress; and nothing is more preposterous
than to suppose that this immense, surpassing work, which man says is too great
ever to be accomplished, is to be accomplished within a few generations. Why,
there is an interval of ages between the cave or the skin tent, or the hemlock
hut and any one of our modernly equipped houses. There is an interval of ages
between the first attempt at a song or a narrative and the completed literature
which dates from that attempt. There is an interval of ages between the hollow
log floating on the water and the majestic steamship that unites the
hemispheres. Gradual progress towards the mighty effect is the law everywhere;
and we are simply foolish, we simply entertain the most preposterous notion
that can ever come into the human mind, if we are offended because the
expectation is not realised that in one year or ten years, in one generation or
five generations, the work of redeeming the world unto Christ and purifying it
unto His beauty is not accomplished. But let us also never forget that supreme fact that God
is behind this progress, and that it never will cease until God is dead--never
while Omnipotence has power, never while the Divine wisdom foresees the end
from the beginning, never until the heart of God is turned to indifference or
hostility towards His children on the earth. There is one banner that never
goes down in any battle, and that is the banner of God¡¦s truth. There is one
army that always marches to success, and that is the army of the Cross. (R. S.
Storrs, D. D.)
They shall not see the
land.--
A bitter disappointment
It was a weary journey from Kibroth-hataavah to Hazeroth, and
thence to Kadesh, probably the weariest of the entire route. Moses spoke of it
afterwards as ¡§that great and terrible wilderness.¡¨ And so at last the hosts
came to Kadesh-barnea, on the very borders of the Land of Promise, within sight
of the low hills, the flying buttresses, so to speak, of the verdant table-land
which first arrests the eye of
the traveller coming up from the vast limestone plain of the desert. How
welcome that spectacle, after the four hundred miles of journey which had
occupied the people for the past fifteen months! Welcome as the land-haze to
Columbus, or as his native village nestling in the embrace of the hills to the
returning traveller. It must have been specially grateful to the eye of Moses.
I. His hopes. As
yet God had graciously veiled from him the weary journeys of the forty years
that were to succeed. From the words he addressed to the people he evidently
counted on a comparatively brief struggle, sharp but short, through which they
would pass to their possession (Deuteronomy 1:19-21). As he said these
words must there not have been, deep in his heart, a sigh of relief now his
task was almost done and he might lay down his weighty responsibilities? Who
can doubt that some such hopes and thoughts as these filled his soul, and
whispered the one deep sweet word, ¡§Rest! rest!¡¨ No more the daily gathering of
manna, because it was a land of wheat and barley, in which they should eat
bread without scarceness. Is it not thus that we all picture to ourselves some
blessed landscape, lying warm and sunny under the smile of Heaven? Life is
pretty hard just now--a march over a great and terrible wilderness, a stern
fight. But never mind, it cannot last; there must be respite; the long lane
must have a turning, the wilderness-march must have a Canaan. But suppose it be
not so! What if He who loves us better than we love ourselves has marked out
stations in a desert-march that lead right up to the mount from which we are to
ascend to our Father¡¦s home! What if we are to fight with Moab, and meet
Balaam, and see every one of those with whom we commenced life droop around us!
II. The quarter
from which his disappointment came. It came entirely from the people.
1. Their first mistake was in desiring to spy out the land (chap.
13:1). But the proposal did not emanate from the Lord; it had another origin.
As in the case of Saul, the King of Israel, God gave them what they would have.
It was a profound mistake. Had not God promised to give them the land, and
could they not trust His choice? They had but, as Moses said, to go up and
possess that which He had given.
2. Their second mistake was in receiving the discouraging report of
the majority of the spies. The difference between the two lay in this, that the
ten looked at God through the difficulties, as when you look at the sun through
a reversed telescope and it seems indefinitely distant and shorn of its glory,
while the two looked at difficulties through God. And the people sided with the
ten. Here was a fatal mistake. Unbelief never gets beyond the difficulties, the cities, the walls, the
giants. Faith, on the other hand, never minimises them, but looks them steadily
in the face, turns from them, and looks up into the face of God and counts on
Him. Note, that they lost Canaan not because of the graves of lust, but because
of their unbelief. My brother, do not sit down beside that grave of lust and
suppose that that is going to settle your future. Never 1 Know thou this, that
the only thing which can exclude thee thence is that thou wilt not believe in a
forgiveness and grace which are like the blue arch of heaven above thee or like
the immensity of eternity itself.
3. Their next mistake was in their murmuring, which proposed to
substitute a captain for their tried friend and God-given leader. ¡§All the
congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,¡¨
&c. This was perhaps the bitterest hour in Moses¡¦ life. They had proposed
to elect a captain before, but it was when he was away; but this was proposed
before his face. What unutterable agony rent his breast, not only that he
should be thus set aside, but that the anger of God should be thus provoked by
the people He loved! And as he lay there did he not also, in those dark, sad
moments, see the crumbling of his fairy vision, the falling of a shadow over
the fair prospect of his hopes, as when a pelting shower of rain hides all a
landscape which a moment before had lain radiant in the summer light? So it has
befallen in our own experience not once nor twice. We had been on the point of realising
some long-cherished hope. We were within a day¡¦s march of it. And suddenly
there is some one or more to whom we are tied, and their education is not
complete. They cannot yet go over into the good land. Because they cannot we
may not. And as we stand there the voice says, ¡§To-morrow turn and get you back
into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.¡¨
III. His refusal to
escape the disappointment. The dream of Moses for a speedy entrance into the
land might even yet have been realised. If all the people were cut off, and he
spared to be a second Abraham, the founder of the nation, it might be possible
even yet for him to pass into the good land, and, like Abraham, settle there.
And so the trial was put into his life. Satan tempts us to reveal the evil in
us, God to reveal the good. So God, knowing the hidden nobleness of His
faithful servant, and eager that it should be revealed to all the world,
suggested to him a proposal that He should smite the people with pestilence and
disinherit them, and make of him a nation greater and mightier than they.
¡§Accept it,¡¨ said the spirit of the self-life; ¡§thou hast had trouble enough
with them.¡¨ ¡§No,¡¨ said his nobler, truer self; ¡§it may not be. What would
become of Jehovah¡¦s fame? and how can I endure to see my people cut off?¡¨ There
are few grander passages in the whole Bible than that in which Moses puts away
the testing suggestion as impossible. And so he turned away from the open gate
into paradise, and again chose rather to suffer with the people in their afflictions
than enjoy the pleasures of Canaan alone.
IV. A contrast to
his endurance of disappointment. When the people heard that they were to wander
in the wilderness for forty years, till their carcases fell in its wastes, they
rose up early in the morning and gut them up to the top of the mountain,
saying, ¡§Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath
promised. But Moses and the ark of the Lord departed not out of the camp.¡¨ By
force of will and energy they sought to reverse the sentence just passed on
them. Moses meekly bowed his head to it, and accepted the discipline of those
long years. Do not times come into our lives like this? We have come to the
brink of some great opportunity, and the prize has seemed within our reach; but
by some outburst we have shown ourselves unable or unfit to possess it. God
puts us back. He says in effect, ¡§You are not fit to enjoy the blessing yet.
You must go back to the common round, sit at the daily task, plod around the
dull millwheel.¡¨ But we will not submit to it. ¡§Nay, but we will go up.¡¨ We
will storm the position; we will not be thwarted. It is a hapless and useless
resolve. You cannot force the gate. Better a hundred times wait meekly outside,
learning the lesson of patience and faith. The obscure journeyings of the forty
years will then yield their harvest of blessing.
V. Moses¡¦ solace
in disappointment. Yet there were springs at which that weary spirit slaked its
thirst. The sense that he did the will of God; the blessedness which unselfishness
always brings to the elect spirit; the joy of seeing the result of the Divine
discipline in the growing earnestness and strength of His people; the reception
of daily grace for daily need--all these were his. But even better than these,
there was the growing realisation that the true rest of which he dreamed was
not to be found in any earthly Canaan, however enticing, but in that rest of
heart, that repose of the nature in God which is alone permanent and
satisfying, amid the change and transience of all human and earthly conditions.
(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The result of one false step
A single false step may bring with it irretrievable forfeiture of
good when the good is conspicuous and attainable. This is true in temporal
things. In all lives there are crises, more or less observable, on which the
complexion of all their future depends. Some great advantage is set before us
that if improved will be the making of us; but we doubt its value or reality or
the sincerity of the offer, or it is not quite to our taste, or we lack courage
to encounter the difficulties, to incur the dangers that lie in the way of its
attainment. There are walled cities to be stormed, sons of Anak to be fought,
and the difficulty and peril are magnified by a timorous imagination. We refuse,
and the golden opportunity is let slip and will not come again. There is
nothing for us but a life of poverty, obscurity, meanness, of hard, unfruitful
toil and meagre results. And in spiritual things such crises also occur, and
are as much more solemn as the interests they involve are more momentous. There
are instances when the soul is awakened to attend to its spiritual concerns,
and the proposal of heavenly good is made to us with such distinctness that we
are compelled to determine whether we will labour in the good ¡§that endureth
unto eternal life¡¨ or take up with what this world offers and can afford. The
choice is inevitable. We cannot cheat ourselves into the belief that we are
merely weighing the question and postponing the decision to a more ¡§convenient
season.¡¨ We may doubt whether the good that is proposed to us is so essential
to our welfare as it is represented to be, or whether our enjoyment of its
benefits is really so dependent upon the resolution we then come to. Or we may
timidly shrink from the requisite self-denial and labour, and cover up our
cowardice under a pretty show of modesty and self distrust, a doubting of our
competency to fulfil the obligations and meet the temptations of a consistent
course, and may even plead our fear of dishonouring God¡¦s cause by our
weaknesses and failings. But, nevertheless, the choice is made, and there is
too much reason to fear that it may be made finally and for ever. The Canaan
that seemed so near that we could see it with our eyes recedes, and the garish
world again asserts the full influence of its tawdry beauties. The blessed
vision may never come back to us again. Henceforward we can only look upon ¡§the
things that are seen and are temporal.¡¨ And what is left to us if we make this
mad and fatal choice? What is this world but a wilderness, where there is
nothing to meet the wants of the immortal soul, where in our aimless pilgrimage
we turn back upon our steps, and never reach a goal that can afford us solid
satisfaction. Poor, poor portion of those whose aims rise no higher than the
beggarly profits which a worldly life can give! And then when at last his ¡§feet
stumble on the dark mountains,¡¨ naked he must return to go as he came,¡¨ ¡§and
nought remains to him but the dark noisome grave and an awful accounting with
God. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.)
Verse 24
My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath
followed Me fully.
Caleb¡¦s character
I. The dignity of
Caleb¡¦s character ¡§My servant.¡¨
1. The Lord justly demands our services.
2. The Lord distinctly recognises His servants.
II. The
commendation of Caleb¡¦s piety. ¡§Another spirit.¡¨
1. The commendation of Caleb¡¦s excellent spirit.
2. The commendation of Caleb¡¦s faithful conduct. He was decidedly,
universally, and eminently pious and faithful.
III. The recompense
of Caleb¡¦s fidelity. ¡§Him will I bring into the land,¡¨ &c. This gracious
promise may be Considered as partially applicable to the people of God in all
ages, and suggests two important truths by way of direction and encouragement.
1. God highly approves of fidelity and decision. Nothing is so
important as the Divine approbation. His favour is life. The characters He
approves are greatly honoured and blessed.
2. He will fully reward His approved followers. There is a present
reward, both of temporal benefits and spiritual enjoyments (Psalms 34:9-10; Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 1:3; Psalms 84:11). There is also a future
reward of eternal bliss. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Caleb--the man for the times
It is a rough name that--¡§Caleb.¡¨ It signifies ¡§a dog.¡¨ But what
matters a man¡¦s name? Possibly the man himself was somewhat rough; many of the
heartiest of men are so. As the unpolished oyster yet beareth within itself the
priceless pearl, so ofttimes a rugged exterior covereth worth. A dog, moreover,
is not all badness.
It hath this virtue, that it followeth its master; and therein this Caleb was
well named, for never dog so followed his master as Caleb followed his God. The
name, however, has another signification, and we like it rather better: it means ¡§All heart.¡¨
Here was a fitting surname for the man whose whole heart followed his God.
I. Caleb¡¦s
faithful following of his God. He never went before his God. That is
presumption. The highest point to which the true believer ever comes is to walk
with God, but never to walk before Him.
1. He followed the Lord wholly; that is, universally, without
dividing. Whatever his Master told him to do he did. I wish we could say the
same of all professed Christians. You see Caleb was quite as ready to fight the
giants as he was to carry the clusters. We have a host who are ready for sweet
duties and spiritual engagements which bring joy and peace; but as for the
fighting of giants--how many say, ¡§I pray thee have me excused¡¨!
2. Caleb followed the Lord fully; that is, sincerely, without
dissembling. He was no hypocrite; he followed the Lord with his whole heart.
One of the safest tests of sincerity is found in a willingness to suffer for
the cause.
3. Caleb followed the Lord wholly; that is, cheerfully, without
disputing. Those who serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is
unpleasant to them, are not His servants at all. Our God requires no slaves to
grace His throne; He is the Lord of the empire of love.
4. He followed the Lord constantly--without declining. Having begun
when he first started upon the search to exercise a truthful judgment, he
persevered during the forty days of his spyship and brought back a true report.
Forty-five years he lived in the camp of Israel, but all that time he followed
the Lord, and never once consorted with murmuring rebels; and when his time
came to claim his heritage, at the age of eighty-five, the good old man is
following the Lord fully. Still his speech bewrayeth him; he shows a constant
heart. God set His seal upon that man¡¦s soul in his youthful days, and he
remained his God when grey hairs adorned his brow. How many professors fail in
this respect!
II. Caleb¡¦s
favoured portion.
1. In reward for his faithful following of his Master his life was
preserved in the hour of judgment. The ten fell, smitten with plague, but Caleb
lived. ¡§Blessed is the man who hath the God of Jacob for his confidence.¡¨ If
any man shall experience special deliverances, Caleb is he. It he follows God
fully, God will fully take care of him. When you look to nothing but your
Master¡¦s honour, your Master will look to your honour. When Queen Elizabeth sent
a certain merchant over to Holland he complained to her, ¡§If I do your Majesty¡¦s
business, my own business will be ruined.¡¨ ¡§You do my business,¡¨ said the
Queen, ¡§and I will see to your business.¡¨ It is so with our God. ¡§My servant,
serve thou Me, and I will serve thee.¡¨ Caleb is willing to give his life for
his Master, and therefore his Master gives him his life.
2. Caleb was also comforted with a long life of vigour. At
eighty-five he was as strong as at forty, and still able to face the giants. If
there be a Christian man who shall have in his old age a vigour of faith and
courage, it is the man who follows the Lord fully. We gain our old saints from
among those faithful young ones.
3. Caleb received as his reward great honour among his brethren. He was
at least twenty years older than any other man in the camp except Joshua. ¡§All
died, and their carcases were buried in the wilderness, except that man and
Joshua the son of Nun.¡¨ At their council he would be regarded with as much
reverence as Nestor in the assemblies of the Greeks; in their camps he would
stand like another Achilles in the midst of the armies of Lacedaemon.
4. Caleb had the distinguished reward of being put upon the hardest
service. That is always the lot of the most faithful servant of God. There were
three huge warriors in Mount Hebron; no one will undertake to kill them except it be
our good old friend Caleb. These Anakims, with their six toes on each foot and
their six fingers on each hand, are to be upset and driven out. Who is to do
it? If nobody else will offer himself, here is Caleb. Nay, he does not merely
allow himself to be sent upon the service, but he craves permission to be
allowed to take the place, the reason being because it was the worst task of
the war, and he panted to have the honour of it. Grand old man! Would God thou
hadst left many of thy like behind thee! If there is some pleasant thing to do
for Christ, how we scramble after the service; but if there be a front place in
the battle, ¡§Oh, let Brother So-and-so do it.¡¨ Do not you notice the way the
most of men decline the honour of special danger? ¡§Our friend So-and-so is much
better qualified for that; let him take it.¡¨ If we were true heroes, we should
each of us contend which should undertake the most hopeless, the most
difficult, and the most dangerous task.
5. Caleb left a blessing to his children. If I might envy any man, it
would be the believer who from his youth up has walked through Divine grace
according to his Lord¡¦s commandments, and who is able, when his day comes, to
scatter benedictions upon his rising sons and daughters, and leave them with
godliness which hath the blessing of this life and that which is to come. The
blessing of the upper and the nether springs, then, was the reward of good old
Caleb.
III. Caleb¡¦s secret
character. The Lord saith of him, ¡§Because he had another spirit with him.¡¨ He
had another spirit--not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic
spirit, but the Spirit and influence of God which thus raised him above human
inquietudes and earthly fears. Therefore he followed God fully--literally he
filled after Him. God showed him the way to take, and the line of conduct he
must pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of
his Master. Everything acts according to the spirit that is in it. Yonder lamp
gives no light. Why? It has no oil. Here is another; it cheers the darkness of
the cell. Why? It is full of oil, and oil is the mother of light. There are two
huge bags of silk. One of them lies heavily upon the ground, the other mounts
up towards the stars. The one is filled with carbonic acid gas; it cannot
mount--it acts according to the spirit that is in it; it has a heavy gas, and
there it lies. There is another full of hydrogen, and it acts according to the
spirit that is in it, and up it goes; the light air seeks the lighter regions,
and up it mounts. Everything according to its own order. The real way to make a new life is to
receive a new spirit. There must be given us, if we would follow the Lord
fully, a new heart, and that new heart must be found at the foot of the Cross,
where the Holy Spirit works through the bleeding wounds of Jesus. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Caleb¡¦s spirit
1. There was in Caleb a very reverend conception of magistracy and
government which made him still use some word of honour when he spake of the
government. As Joshua 14:6-7, ¡§Thou knowest what the Lord said to
Moses the man of God concerning me in Kadesh-barnes. Forty years old was I when
Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy the land,¡¨
&c. Moses was now dead and gone, yet mark it how Caleb speaketh not of a
dead magistrate, but with addition of honour--¡§the man of God,¡¨ ¡§the servant of
the Lord¡¨--which words being true, as in Moses they were, they equal--nay, they
excel--all the swelling words of our age. Most mighty, high, renowned,
illustrious, &c. Words given to great personages, to express their honour
and our good affection to them. Now this was another spirit from the murmurers
and mutineers, and therefore this is rewarded by God, to whom such reverence of governors is most
pleasing. And let it ever teach us that as we see the Lord to observe the differing
spirits of men, and accordingly to love them and hate them, to reward them and
punish them as their quality is, so we ourselves should be ever careful to observe our
own spirits, that so we may see whither we tend, and what either in mercy or
justice is like to fall unto us.
2. Caleb, when he saw sedition and uproar against the magistrate,
rent his clothes for grief, detesting and abhorring in his soul such carriage
in men that should obey. This was again another spirit in Caleb most pleasing
to God and graceful to Him. Aulus Fulnius, a heathen Roman, meeting his son
going to join with Cateline, that traitor, laid hands upon him and slew him,
saying with indignation at his villainy, ¡§I begat thee not for Cateline, but for thy country.¡¨ And
surely except we find that even against our own flesh we could in such a case
do what lawfully we might with the like speech that for God, for religion, for
their king and country we had begotten them, and not for treason and villainy,
we have not that edge of spirit that we should have.
3. Caleb had a quiet disposition, not turbulent, not factious, not
seditious, but loving order and obedience to superiors--a thing most pleasing
again to God, as appeareth by the blessing of him. Adoniah, we know, could not
be quiet, but plotting and working till his brother was forced by justice to
take away his life, and so make him quiet. Korah and his company will be
envious against authority till the earth open and swallow them up. Absalom against his own
father cannot harbour a dutiful heart, but must ambitiously be hammering most
hateful designs, till the vengeance of God, pursuing such pride, cut him off
and hanged him betwixt heaven and earth by the hair of the head, for an example
to the world¡¦s end to all busy brains and disloyal hearts. Blessed Caleb was quiet of
nature--no stirrer of coals; and the remembrance of him is registered up in God¡¦s
book. He was obedient to authority himself, and an earnest persuader of others
to the same, whom had they hearkened unto they had escaped God¡¦s wrath and
their own ignominy for ever. Oh, sweet quality in a subject, obedience!
4. Caleb had a most thankful feeling of their deliverance out of Egypt in general and of
his own in particular, detesting to hear of any return thither again with these
mutineers; and this again was another spirit pleasing to God and good for
himself.
5. Caleb used to speak as was in his heart (Joshua 14:1-15.); and this again was
another spirit than others had, and greatly pleased the Lord. He counterfeited
nothing to please men. And what a happiness were it if all men would do so!
¡§Blessed are the pure in heart¡¨; that is, such men as are free from glossing and dissembling.
6. The Lord saith of Caleb that he followed Him still; and this was
another spirit than others had, pleasing to the Lord and honourable to Him even
to this day. So liveth virtue after death. A blessed spirit this was, and happy
had these mutineers been if they had had the like. ¡§Commit thy thoughts to
Him,¡¨ saith Solomon, ¡§and thou shalt be directed¡¨--so safe is it ever to follow
Him.
7. Lastly, to his following join his constancy. He followed God, and
he followed Him still, saith the text. Some have hearts to good things, but not
constant, wherefore the exhortations in Scripture are many, to move us all unto
this. (Bp. Babington.)
A man of real integrity
But to the young--to those who are beginning life--I would fain
speak. I would fain inspire them with a higher conception of the safety and of
the indispensableness of high moral qualities. Let not those that seem to be
succeeding in life tempt you from the simple moralities of your father¡¦s house,
which you learned at your mother¡¦s knee. I tell you there is no honour in this
world like the honour of honest men. There is no honour like that of men whom
you cannot tempt to swerve or bend. The dearest and the scarcest thing in the
market to-day is a man who is thoroughgoing and clear-headed, who has right
intentions, who chooses clean measures for clean ends, and who is unbribable.
Why, such a man as that does not want a statue in Central Park: he is his own
monument. We have enough men who are honest as the world goes; that is, who are
honest as long as they see it to be their interest to be so, and who will never
be dishonest except where dishonesty is profitable. We have men who will bend
like a Damascus blade, clear round, hoop-like, and spring back on communion
day, straight as a sword; but men who can go out into life and stand alone; men who
can say, ¡§The kingdom of my thoughts is greater than any other kingdom¡¨; men
who say, ¡§I cannot sleep, nor eat, nor live with a dishonest man, and if I were
that man I could not live¡¨; men who believe in the kingdom of God--men of that
kind are above all price in every vocation and everywhere; and I wish I could
inspire the young with the sense that I have of the value of moral elements and
with my faith therein; and higher than all others, and the very breastplate of
the preparation for life, is a keen and abiding sense of real integrity. (H.
W. Beecher.)
Caleb: the distinctions of a great man
1. That all men are not animated by the same moral spirit.
2. That God recognises the particular spirit that animates men, and
deals with men accordingly.
I. here is a
distinction of spirit. Caleb¡¦s spirit was marked by--
1. Independent inquiry. Let us, like Caleb, enter the promised land
of truth, and search it for ourselves.
2. Heroic faith.
3. Reliance on God.
II. Here is a
distinction of conduct. Caleb followed the Lord ¡§fully¡¨--with all the powers
and sympathies of his soul. This includes--
1. A knowledge of God¡¦s will.
2. A thorough concurrence of the moral heart with His directions.
3. An unbounded confidence in His character.
III. Here is a
distinction of destiny.
1. Here is a destiny which stands in contrast with the sad fate of
his companions.
2. Here is a destiny which he ultimately realised (see Joshua 14:6-15). (Homilist.)
Caleb
I. A servant of
God, such as Caleb was, possesses a good character. Character is not everything
that is required to make one a good servant to an earthly master. But it is the
first requisite. He has a good character, and a good character well attested.
It was ¡§the majesty in the heavens¡¨ who bore testimony concerning Caleb. This
leads us from the fact to the source of the good character which the true
servant of God possesses. This is revealed in these words of our text
concerning Caleb, ¡§He had another spirit with him.¡¨
1. The good servant of God has another spirit with his own spirit. He
has the Spirit of God with him.
2. The good servant of God has another spirit with his old spirit. He
who says, ¡§I will put My Spirit within you,¡¨ says, ¡§A new heart also will I
give you.¡¨
II. A servant of
God, such as Caleb was, renders good service. A good servant is one who can do
good work. The special form of service to which Israel was called, and in which
Caleb proved faithful, was that of war. This reminds us that the service of
every follower of God is largely a cow, filet. But when he is of the type of
Caleb, and acts in character, then--
1. Having full faith in his Leader, he is ready to follow him, and--
2. Having no fear of the enemy, he is ready to encounter him.
III. A servant of
God, such as Caleb was, receives a good reward. The return made to a servant
for his services may be of two kinds. He may receive a stipulated wage; but, in
addition, his services may be acknowledged by special gifts. To this class of
returns for service the rewards of God¡¦s servants belong. These may be
according to the measure, but they do not rest on the ground of the servant¡¦s
faith and obedience. They, are grounded on the gracious free-will of God.
1. The servant of God is blessed in himself. He receives blessings
now, but greater blessings are in store for him.
2. The servant of God is blessed in his children. Not only Caleb, but
his seed was to reap the fruits of faith and obedience. So in the spiritual
sphere. ¡§The promise is to you and to your children.¡¨ These shall inherit the
land which faithful parents possess. (A. Paterson, M. A.)
On following the Lord fully
I. As the
foundation of all, we must look to the inward mind and disposition of him who
aims at this character (1 Samuel 16:7). There is much
meaning in that common expression which we are every day using, of making up
our minds. When a man says, ¡§I have made up my mind to do this or that
thing,¡¨ we have no security that he will afterwards act rightly, but we have
every reason to expect that he will take a firm and consistent course. So also
in religion, the great point is to make up our minds; to come to a clear
understanding with ourselves on every point which may affect the consistency of
our future course. Wayward and divided affections invariably lead to capricious
and hesitating conduct. A firm persuasion of God¡¦s providence, an intimate
conviction of His truth, and an unwavering reliance on His goodness, are the
groundwork of a character which is equally ¡§acceptable to God and approved of
men,¡¨ the character of those who ¡§wholly follow the Lord their God.¡¨
II. A person who is
thus ¡§rooted and grounded in love,¡¨ will be prepared to fulfil the next
requirement, viz., that of uniform and unreserved obedience.
III. But, as
Christians, we must not forget that our religion is one of faith as well as of
duty. In fact, the doctrines and precepts of the gospel are so mixed up
together, and so dependent the one upon the other, that they must be accepted
as a whole, as a system, or not at all. To ¡§believe all the articles of the
Christian faith¡¨ is as incumbent upon those who would follow the Lord fully, as
to ¡§keep God¡¦s holy will and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days
of their life.¡¨ If the preacher is bound to ¡§keep back nothing¡¨ from his
hearers, so, on the other hand, the hearers must ¡§receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save their souls.¡¨ To ¡§follow the Lord fully¡¨
is to accept the covenant of grace in its simplicity; to know, and to desire to
know, no other terms of salvation than those of ¡§repentance toward God and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.¡¨
IV. To ¡§follow the
Lord fully¡¨ is to follow him to the end. When we speak of final
perseverance, we are not alluding to any supposed privilege of the saints,
commonly called by that name; as if those who have once been truly converted to
God, could never finally fall away from it. On the contrary, we believe that so
long as we are in the flesh we must ¡§work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling.¡¨ But we speak of persevering in religion as we do of persevering in
any other good work, which is begun with ardour, but which, in its progress,
meets with difficulties and discouragements such as mere warmth of temper will
never enable us to surmount. We speak of that perseverance of the saints which
is pointed at in such texts as Matthew 10:22; Hebrews 3:14; Galatians 6:9. To ¡§follow the Lord fully¡¨
we must pass through all the stages of the spiritual life; we must be subject
to all the trials of the Christian course. (F. Field, LL. D.)
The upright man:
1. The first thing to be carefully attended to is your spirit--the
motives, inclinations, and dispositions of your heart.
2. A submissive, cheerful obedience to the will of God is essential
to the character of an upright man.
3. Consider, as a motive and encouragement to Christian fidelity, the
certainty of a large reward. (Essex Remembrancer.)
On following the Lord fully
I. Let us begin
with inquiring what we are to understand by following the Lord fully. And here
I must observe that no man can follow the Lord at all till once he be
acquainted with Him. Before we can follow God we must not only know that He is
supreme, and hath a right to command; but we must likewise believe that He is
worthy to command, and infinitely possessed of all those perfections which
qualify Him to govern the creatures He hath made. Two things we must be
thoroughly persuaded of: first, that the laws of our Sovereign are righteous
and good; and next, that He is both able and willing to protect us in His
service.
II. The duty may be
considered as including the following particulars.
1. That we acknowledge no other Lord besides Him. It is to make His
will the sole and absolute rule of our conduct, in opposition to our own
humour, the temptations of Satan, and the corrupt maxims of a world that lieth
in wickedness.
2. It is to obey Him without any reserve or limitation; it is to
serve Him with an affectionate and liberal heart, and to do this at all times.
3. It is to follow Him openly, and in the face of the world. It is a
profession that is neither ostentatious nor shamefaced; it neither courts
observation nor avoids it. The true follower of the Lord, keeping the laws of
his Master continually in his eye, performs every duty in its place and season.
4. It is to cleave to Him steadfastly when others forsake Him; and to
persevere in His service, even when it exposeth us to the world¡¦s hatred, and
the persecution of wicked and unreasonable men. I am asking nothing that is
unreasonable, nothing that you yourselves can find any pretence to refuse.
All I ask is--
1. That you should be honest men. You call yourselves Christians; and
what is my request but that you be Christians indeed?
2. The duty I am recommending is equally necessary to secure the
inward tranquillity of your minds; it contributes to your interest, no less
than to your honour. How miserable is the man who hath discord within his own
breast!
3. Our Lord hath in some measure entrusted us with His glory, and
called the world to take notice of us, as the persons by whom He expects to be
honoured. Oh, how should this fire us with a generous ambition to excel in
holiness, that we may exhibit a just representation of the Master we serve, and
show that He is in truth what the Scriptures report Him to be--¡§altogether
lovely,¡¨ and ¡§fairer than the children of men.¡¨
4. I am now going to plead with you from love to your neighbours.
This is a principle you profess to honour; nay, if I mistake not, the desire of
obliging others, and of rendering yourselves agreeable to them, is your common
apology for conforming to their manners, and avoiding the offensive singularity
of following the Lord fully. This is a false expression of love. Surely it is
no office of love to deceive another to his hurt, or to suffer him to continue
in a pleasing mistake, which unavoidably must end in his ruin; such ¡§tender
mercies¡¨ would indeed be ¡§cruelty.¡¨
5. The reward that awaits those who follow the Lord fully. They shall
possess that good land of promise, whereof the earthly Canaan was only an
emblem or type. (R. Walker.)
Caleb
1. From what I see of him here, I take Caleb to have been, first of
all, a thoughtful person, a considering man, capable of being taught, which
cannot be said of many. He had seen no more of God than had all the others, but
what he saw, he saw, and after he had come through the Red Sea, and looked at
the hand of the Invisible One in the wilderness, he felt that that was enough
for a wise man; and so he did not go about afterward, as the others did, to
frame doubts or to call every new case different, and say, ¡§True, He saved us
there, but can He save us here? He gave us water, but can He give us bread
also?¡¨ He had no brutal capacity for forgetting, either. When the illustrious
moments of God were past, their shining kept with him. He was not so swallowed
up in to-day as to forget yesterday, and to say, ¡§Where?¡¨ He forgot not how God
¡§had wrought His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan.¡¨ On the
paths behind us, all along them, are scattered the tokens of a God as wonderful
as the God of the Red Sea or the God of the desert; but, like these Hebrews, we
must hear the sharp crack of His thunder again to-day, or we will not so much
as know that there is a God.
2. See next the independence of Caleb. The act altogether nearest the
godlike is that of a man who, in the face of opinion and of public shame, and
against a fiery current of everybody¡¦s feelings, even of those who are near to
being a part of himself, stands fixed in his judgment of what is right,
uncorrupted, and unshaken--a liegeman of duty! So stood Caleb; and his attitude
is to me the noblest I can imagine. I know it is false and blasphemous, the
maxim that ¡§the voice of the people is the voice of God,¡¨ yet the mere power of
universal opinion, universal feeling, is such that no one can exaggerate it,
and few withstand it. He who resists it must be something above or below man.
And no fine soul can resist it, unless he is under a higher sympathy--a
sympathy with a better public opinion and with the nobler society of God and
the just. A sympathy with God and with duty, with the welfare of the
people--that, and that only, lifted Caleb up clean out of sympathy with the
whole degraded nation.
3. See again, not only his independence toward his own people, but
his courage. Never was there greater occasion for apprehension. ¡§We are
nothing¡¨; all the people, all the leaders, say, ¡§We be not able,¡¨ &c. ¡§We
are of a gigantic brood, higher and mightier than they all,¡¨ say Caleb and
Joshua. All courage, if it is not merely animal, rests on something
higher--rests often on duty and devotion to others. I think an example of this
is seen in Arthur, Duke of Wellington. He was unawed, at the great crisis of
Waterloo especially, because of duty. When all Europe, and military men
particularly, were under a fascination as of magic from the genius and success
of Napoleon, who towered over them like a phantom, the Duke had little or no
imaginative fear on the subject. He looked coolly and soberly at the object as
it was, and calmly confided in his forces and plans, resting on duty and right.
And so this was the man whom God appointed to win: hence Waterloo. He first
kept his soul unsubjugated, and the unprecedented and irresistible genius
against him did not master or overawe his imagination. But the courage of Caleb
was far higher than this; it was against far greater odds, and it was founded
not merely on devotion to duty, but on perfect assurance in God. We call this courage,
and is was; but it rested on something deeper and far more rare--on trust. The
heroic virtues of those old Hebrews were net the heroic virtues of Plutarch;
they were all that, but much more. Though the obstacles were bristling before
him as high as heaven, the Lord on high was mightier. To go forward was to move
in the invincible line of right. See, then, in Caleb just the virtues demanded
of us to-day. To us--to each man of us--who have always a crowd of
discouragements holding us back, creeping on with but half a heart, to us this
exhilarating voice comes like a trumpet sounding from that distant time: ¡§Let
us go up, for we are able.¡¨ We need the joy, the hope, of courage; and that we
may have courage, we need an unbounded trust in God. In this story of the old
time--this historical picture, seen far back and illumined with miraculous
lights--there is nothing old or strange to me; ourselves are there, in bare
fact, as we are every day. We see that the land is good--but ah, the giants! We
are appointed to reach a wide and rich and peaceable land through enemies. For
this, I have said, we need a will which grasps success, and fastens upon it,
and will never let it go; and there is no such courage without a fulness of
trust in the heart. But this is not all our need. Listen: ¡§But My servant
Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him
will I bring into the land.¡¨ That is God¡¦s description of the man who wins.
¡§Another spirit¡¨--a spirit the precise opposite of that of the Hebrew mob--and
¡§because he hath followed Me fully.¡¨ Wholeness--the heart whole. God does not
praise Caleb¡¦s courage and faith, though He might well have done so. One thing
fixed the Divine attention and applause: ¡§He hath followed Me fully.¡¨ ¡§And him
will I bring into the land.¡¨ The land--the better land on high--it is for him,
and for all such. I sometimes ask myself: Must all this weak race perish except
the handful who have a Divine energy in their souls? Ah! Lord God, some of us
would follow Thee fully--but our weakness! Breathe Thou light and strength
within us, touch us with a better trust, let us see and live in Thy presence,
and feel Thy power, and remember Thy gracious promise. And oh, when we have
finished our course here ¡§as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,¡¨ may we rest in
hope, and our record be: ¡§This My servant, because he hath followed Me fully,
him will I bring into the land.¡¨ (A. G. Mercer, D. D.)
The excellency of a gracious spirit
I. What that other
spirit is which a godly man hath differing from the world.
1. A spirit that hath other principles, a better principled spirit
than the spirit of the world. Where the spirit is well principled, it is
carried on strongly in God¡¦s ways; though the natural parts be weak, though
objections against them many, pretences for evil ways fair, it cannot but hold
the conclusion, Surely God¡¦s ways are good.
2. It works by another rule. When God erected the frame of the world,
which was to last but for a few years, He made all by measure. The frame of
man¡¦s actions here must be for eternity, and therefore a godly man dares
venture upon no other rule but that which is Divine; he looks at the Word as a
light to his feet, a lantern to his steps; knowing that every step he goes is
either to hell or to heaven. God (1 Samuel 2:9) keeps the feet of His
saints. His way is like the way of the mariner, guided by the heavens.
3. Another spirit--that is employed about other things; it is not for
mean services, but set on work about high and honourable employments.
4. This spirit is carried to other ends; the spirit of the world
looks at ease, pleasure, honour, gain, and self in all; it is a low spirit. The
most excellent of the heathen, who had the most brave spirits the world had in
their time, aimed no higher than to work according to reason, and a natural
conscience; knew not what it was to aim at God in all they did: but the spirit
of the godly is a raised spirit, looks at God and eternity in all it doth,
carries things up to the highest good, and in this comes as near the working of
God Himself as may be. Now where the spirit is carried to God as the last end,
there the beauty, excellency, glory of whatever it hath or doth is judged
according to the reference it hath to God.
5. This spirit hath other qualifications; the spirits of the godly
are glorious within. As--
(a) A free, disengaged spirit, not entangled with earthly engagements
like the spirits of the world, but a spirit that is at liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).
(b) Free from the bondage of sin. Not brought under the power of lust
or Satan. Not in servile subjection to men.
(c) Free in regard of slavish fear. Able to look upon the face of God
with joy (Job 22:26).
(a) First, strong to resist strong temptations.
(b) Secondly, strong to overcome strong corruptions.
(c) Thirdly, strong to bear strong afflictions.
(a) They are not mercenary, they will not indent with God for what
they do; so much as they may get by their service, so much service, and no
more. No, they go on in their work, and leave themselves to God.
(b) A true generous spirit cannot endure basely to subject itself to
any; it knows how to lie under the feet of any to do them good, where God may
have honour; but to be serviceable to any man¡¦s lusts whatsoever it cannot
endure.
(c) A true generous spit it is not ready to take advantages against those
that are under it.
(d) A generous spirit is diligent to return good, as well as desirous
to receive good (as David, Psalms 116:12).
(e) A generous spirit loves to be abundant in service; it is not
satisfied in doing ordinary things; they prize their service as well as their
wages (as John 17:4).
(a) Net such a mixed spirit as the common spirit of the world: hath
not that mixture of filth and dross in it, but is pure.
(b) God hath set them apart for Himself (Psalms 4:3).
(c) All the abilities, common gifts of this spirit are sanctified, a
higher excellency is put upon them than they have in the spirits of other men;
weak, natural parts in these are more excellent than the strongest not
sanctified.
(d) It is able to make a sanctified use of what it hath to deal in; of
all the works and ways of God, it makes all to he holy to the Lord.
6. Another spirit, it feeds upon other comforts, differing from those
that common spirits feed upon. They are spiritual comforts, for they are
administered to the soul by a special work of the Holy Ghost.
II. Wherein the
excellency of this gracious spirit appears.
1. These spiritual excellencies have this propriety in them--they
make a man a better man, wheresoever they are, which bodily excellencies do
not, nor all the riches nor honours in the world.
2. These spiritual excellencies are the beginnings of eternal life,
the same life we shall have in heaven.
3. This is not only the life of angels, the life of heaven, but the
life of God Himself; for so it is called by God Himself (Ephesians 4:11).
4. This makes him, wheresoever it is, fit to glorify God in the
world, and so the soul thus endued is not only a glass to represent, but as a
glass to reflect upon the face of God Himself the glory of His own image, and
that by a principle within itself.
5. These are such as are fit to stand before the Lord, to have
converse and enjoy communion with Him.
6. This spirit is fit for any service, any employment God calls it
to; it is a vessel of mercy, fitted for the Master¡¦s use.
7. This spirit puts a lustre of majesty and beauty upon a man.
8. This spirit makes men fit for any condition that God shall put
them into; they know how to yield to God, to find out God¡¦s meaning, to carry
themselves in every condition, so as to work out that which God would have by
it; which men of ordinary spirits cannot do.
III. A discovery to
the men of the world, whereby they may see that their spirits are not like the
spirits of Godly men. When grace is gone from the soul the excellency is
departed from it; as it was said of Reuben, in respect of that sin of his. How
many a man or woman, who have comely bodies, good complexion, beautifully
dressed up, but within, spirits most ugly and horrid; spirits full of filth,
full of venom and loathsome distempers; men of corrupt minds, as the apostle
speaks. How unsavoury to any who have the least of God in them! It is a rule in
nature that the corruption of the best thing is always the worst, as a stain in
fine cambric worse than in a coarse cloth. So by how much the spirit of a man
is more excellent naturally than the body, which is the brutish part, by so
much the corruption of the spirit is a greater evil than any the body is
capable of. Spirit defilement is such a defilement as defiles everything you
meddle with (as Titus 1:15).
IV. The reason why
the men of the world and the Godly can never agree. Water and oil cannot
mingle; no agreement between light and darkness: they look at them as men whose
lives are after another fashion.
V. Learn to have.
A right esteem of such precious-spirited men. There is a spirit in man, and the
inspiration is from the Almighty; a spirit inspired by the Almighty, and
beautified with His heavenly graces; this ennobles a man indeed; it is the
ornament of the hidden man of the heart, the glorious clothing of that which
makes truly beautiful and glorious.
1. This difference of their spirits from other men is a certain sign
of the eternal love of God unto them.
2. The spirit receiving these spiritual excellencies from God¡¦s
choice everlasting love, receives likewise all other mercies from the same
fountain.
3. The Lord hath an especial eye upon and delight to dwell with these
who are of choice and excellent spirits.
4. The excellencies of this spirit are eternal excellencies.
5. But principally, these other spirits are most honourable creatures
indeed, because they are reserved for other mercies; God gives common mercies
to common spirits, but He reserves His choice mercies for choice spirits (2 Samuel 22:27). Other mercies (in
some respect higher) than the very blessed angels themselves have.
VI. A rebuke to
this vile world, who have vile conceits of this spirit, and abuse men of such excellent spirits.
Certainly the Lord will not always suffer choice-spirited men to betrampled
under feet; He looks upon them in their lowest estate as His jewels; but the
time will come when He will make up His jewels (as Malachi 3:17); and then there shall be
seen a difference between the righteous and the wicked (Numbers 14:18). God will own the
excellency of the spirits of His servants to be the image of Himself; and what
confusion will this be to the ungodly of the world!
VII. No dishonour
to be singular. Seven notes to discover that Godly men differing from other men
proceeds not from proud humorous singularity, but from the choiceness and
excellency of their spirits.
1. Where humour and conceited singularity prevails with men, there is
no evenness, no constancy in their ways, no proportion of one thing with
another in their course; they are singular and humorous in some odd foolish
things, but in other things where they have as much reason to be singular, they
do as others do. But in God¡¦s people you shall see an evenness, constancy, and
proportion in the course of their lives; that which makes them singular in one
thing, makes them so in all other of the same nature.
2. Those who do things out of singularity, they care less for such
things they do out of that principle, when they come to be common, than they
did before. But it is not so here in the ways of godliness; the more common
they grow the better they are; the more doth God¡¦s people rejoice and bless
themselves in them, they are the more lovely and amiable in their eyes.
3. Humorous, singular men differ exceedingly one from another, one
will be singular in one thing and another in another; but God¡¦s people go all
the same way, they have the same course with such as they never saw.
4. Proud, conceited singularity acts itself especially in things that
are taken notice of by others; if others look not after them, and will not
vouchsafe to take notice of them, they quickly grow weary of that they do, and
this is the best way to deal with such people, to neglect them. But now the special work of
godliness, wherein God¡¦s people differ from other men, in which their souls
most delight, is in secret things not subject to the view of the world. ¡§The
King¡¦s daughter is all glorious within.¡¨
5. If it were humorous singularity, it would not bring them so much
sweet peace and heavenly joy when they are upon their sick-beds and death-beds;
and when they have to deal with God in a special manner, to receive the
sentence of their eternal doom, how many then bless God that ever He put it
into their hearts to go another way, not according to the common course of the
world.
6. Surely it is not humorous conceited singularity, because most men
who have enlightened consciences, when they are most serious in their best
moods, are of this mind.
7. It is not singularity, for we have the prophets, apostles,
martyrs, saints of God before us, clouds of witnesses, and every one of them
worth ten thousands of others. It is safe to follow the way of good men,
according to that in Proverbs 2:20.
VIII. Bless God for
making this difference between your spirit and the vile spirits of the men of
the world. Spiritual blessings have this excellency in them, they cause a man
to feel no need of many outward things which others know not how to want; and
it is good to be in such an estate, to have no need of a thing, as to enjoy it
when we want it. And, further, it is the excellency of spiritual blessings to keep down the body,
and to carry the spirit above the body.
IX. Communion and
converse with men of such excellent spirits is a most blessed thing. Seneca saw
so much excellency that morality put upon man, that he says that ¡§the very lock of a
good man delights one.¡¨ The very sight of such servants of God, who walk close
with God, who are careful to keep their spirits clear and shining; truly, it is very
delightful, it hath much quickening in it; the uprightness, holiness, spiritual
enlightenings, that their souls have, will guide them to advise for God in safe and good ways.
X. That all those
whose spirits God hath thus differenced should improve this mercy by walking
not as other men.
1. Your birth is from Him, and therefore it must not be with you as
it is with others. Men of high birth will not live as other men do. Hence we
read of a custom
amongst the heathen, they were wont to derive the pedigree of their valiant men
from their gods; to this end, though the thing were not true, yet they
believing themselves to be a Divine offspring, they might upon confidence thereof
undertake higher attempts than others with the more boldness. Much higher
things should those endeavour after who are indeed born of God.
2. God hath put forth another manner of power upon your spirits than
upon other men; other men have but a general common influence of God¡¦s power
let into their spirits; but He hath manifested the exceeding greatness of His
power in you; as Ephesians 1:19.
3. God doth put other abilities into you that others have not: that
grace with which He hath endued your spirits is a spark of His own Divine
nature.
4. Your spirits have been made acquainted with more truths; God hath
revealed to you the secrets
of His councils, of His kingdom; He hath shown you Himself, His glory, His
majesty, sovereignty, holiness; He hath shown you the reality, beauty,
excellency, equity of His blessed ways. He hath made known to you the
certainty, the infinite consequence of the things of eternity.
5. He hath separated you for Himself, He hath taken you into a near
communion unto Himself.
6. More depends upon you than upon others; the weight of many
services depends all upon you which are no ways expected to be performed by
others. What shall become of God¡¦s name, His glory, &c.?
7. Your sins go nearer to the heart of God than others. Other men may
provoke God to anger, but you grieve His Holy Spirit.
8. The eyes of many are upon you; the name of God, the cause of God
is engaged in you.
9. You are appointed by God to be the judges of other men (1 Corinthians 6:2). God will bring
your lives and ways before all the world to judge the world by, and therefore
they had need to be very exact, and to have something in them more than
ordinary.
XI. An exhortation
to labour to get this excellent spirit.
1. You had need of other spirits, more need than others for the improvement of
those great mercies that you have above others. As some fowl that have great
wings, yet can fly but little; so many men have great estates, but not having
spirits to improve them, they are of little use. Know that your estates are
either mercies or miseries, blessings or cursings to you, according as you have hearts to
improve them.
2. You had need of other spirits for the improving of the large
opportunities of service for God and His church that you have more than others;
these are as great blessing as your estates or any other dignities you have
above others.
3. You who are in high and eminent dignities, you have the earnest
prayers of God¡¦s servants in all places, that God would raise you up with truly
noble, excellent, and gracious spirits, that you may be instruments of His glory. How blessed you
if God fulfils the prayers of His servants upon you!
4. Again, you have need of other spirits, for your example is looked
at more than others, either in good or evil.
5. Their sin is worse than others, for it doth more hurt, and therefore
their punishment will be greater than others.
6. And yet, further, you have need of other spirits because you have
temptations greater and stronger than others; you are in greater danger than
others. The high estate of great outward dignity is a very dangerous estate if
God gives not an extraordinary spirit.
7. Above all, you who are honourable and great in the world, you had
need labour to be gracious, because sin is more unsuitable to your condition
than to others.
8. And would it not be a grievous thing to you to see poor, inferior
men and women to be lifted up to glory, and yourselves cast out an eternal
curse? Have not many of them most excellent precious spirits? Do they not do
God far more service than you? Do they not bring more honour to His name than
ever you did? Think then with yourselves, why should God put those who are of
such choice precious spirits into such a low condition, and raise me to such an
high? Is it not because He intends to give me my portion in this life, but
reserves better mercies for them afterwards?
9. The hopes we have of the continuance of our peace in the happy
enjoyment of those precious liberties of the gospel, that in so great mercy
have been continued unto us, depends much upon the work of God¡¦s grace upon
your souls. You, therefore, whom God hath honoured with excellent parts, that
you may not be confounded another day before the Lord and His blessed angels
and saints, be you restless in your spirits till you find God hath added a
further beauty to them, even the beauty of holiness, the sanctifying graces of
His Holy Spirit, that may make you lovely in His eyes, truly honourable before
Him, and for ever blessed of Him. Take heed you rest not either in gifts of
learning or in gifts of morality; the gifts of morality are yet a further
ornament to men¡¦s spirits, but yet they come short of those Divine excellences
of spirit that will make it blessed for ever.
A gracious spirit follows God fully
I. What is it for
a man to follow God fully.
1. A fulness of all graces; though not the degree of all graces, yet the truth of every
grace. There is no grace wanting where this evangelical fulness is.
2. There is no want, no not of any degree, wherein the soul rests;
there is such a perfection as the soul takes no liberty to itself to fail in
anything.
3. There are sincere aims, as in the sight of God, to attain to the
highest perfection, the full measure of holiness; and--
4. There is that uprightness of the soul, as it doth not only desire
and endeavour to attain, but doth indeed attain to the truth of that I shall
deliver.
5. The heart is fully set and resolved for God; there is fulness of
resolution; so the Septuagint translates that place in Joshua 15:8.
6. There is a fulness of all the faculties of the soul working after
God; full apprehensions, full affections; the soul is filled with the will of
God, ¡§That ye may stand perfect, and full in all the will of God¡¨ (Colossians 4:12), as the sails filled
with the wind. ¡§My soul and all that is within me praise the Lord,¡¨ saith
David. As it is in giving men full possession of a house, they give up the keys
of every room, so here the soul gives up every faculty to God; the whole soul
opens itself to receive the Word and His truth.
7. The soul follows God fully in regard of the true endeavours of it
to put forth what strength it hath in following the Lord.
8. The soul that fully follows the Lord, follows Him without delay in
the use of all means and in all the ways of His commandments.
9. Again, a soul that follows God fully follows Him in all the ways
of His commandments, as the Lord saith of David (Acts 13:22).
10. To follow God fully is to follow Him so as to be willing to
venture the loss of all for Him, willing to cast off whatsoever comes in the
way, though never so dear to us; to follow Him close whatsoever comes in
competition with Him when our following Him will cost us the loss of our
formerly most dear comforts and contentments.
11. To follow God fully is to follow Him only, so as to be willing to
dedicate whatsoever God lets us still enjoy to God alone.
12. The soul then follows God fully when it carries through the work
it undertakes against all discouragements and hindrances, as a ship coming with
full sail bears all down before it. It doth not only work, but works
thoroughly, works out that it doth.
13. One that follows God fully is willing to bind himself to God by
the most full and strong bonds and engagements; his spirit is at the greatest
liberty when he is most strongly bound to the Lord.
14. To follow God fully is to abide in all these constant to the end
of our days. That is, we must be constant in God¡¦s ways, not think it enough to
enter into them by fits and starts, but the ways of God must be our ordinary
track (Proverbs 16:17).
II. The excellency
of this frame of spirit.
1. This is truly to honour God as a God; except God be honoured as
infinite He is not honoured as God; where God is followed and not thus, He is
followed no otherwise than a creature may be followed. This is not therefore to
honour Him as a God, but rather it is a dishonour to that infinite excellency
and blessedness of His, whereby He is infinitely above all that creatures are,
or that they are any way capable of.
2. This full following of God doth much honour the work of grace and the profession of
godliness; it shows a reality, power, excellency, and beauty in it
3. This has such excellency in it, as that God Himself boasts of such
as these are; as they glory in the Lord
and bless themselves in the Lord, so the Lord seems to glory in them, and to account His name
blessed by them, as you may see how God rejoices in and makes His boast of Job
(Job 1:8).
4. This following of the Lord fully doth ever attain its end.
III. Rebuke to
divers sorts whose spirits are not full in following after the Lord.
1. As some are convinced, their judgments and consciences arc for God
but their lusts carry them violently another way.
2. Others rest in their good inclinations, their good desires; they
say they would fain do better, and they hope God will accept the will for the
deed; they like God¡¦s ways, and speak well of good men, and therefore they
think their hearts are for God.
3. Others have good resolutions now and then in some good moods; the
truths of God come darting in with some power, as they cannot but yield to
them, and then they are resolved that they will do better and their lives shall
be changed; but yet these vanish too, they follow not God fully.
4. Others have strong sudden affections, they feel sometimes some
meltings, in sorrow for sin, in hearing the blessed truths of God revealed to
them; they feel some sweetness in the working of truths upon their hearts, they
have a taste of the powers of the world to come. Yet these are a great way off
from following the Lord fully. For--
5. Others follow the Lord, but they follow Him in a dull, heavy
manner; there is no spirit, no heat, no life in their following of Him, and
therefore they do not follow Him fully. They rest themselves in a lukewarm
course; they like well of religion and profession, but what need men go so far,
what need they do so much? As Pharaoh said to the Israelites (Exodus 8:28).
6. Some go beyond this dull lukewarm temper; they are very forward in
some things, but in other things their hearts stick; they come not off fully in
them.
7. There are others who cannot be so easily convinced in what
particulars they forsake God in any of His ways; they seem to have a general
forwardness in that which is good, but the truth is, they follow themselves,
and not God in all; they rise no higher than self in all they do, which their
own consciences, upon search
made, will tell them: the commandment of God may be made the pretence, but self
is the great mover in all.
8. Others follow the Lord earnestly a while, but afterwards forsake
Him. Many are very hopeful at the first, yet they prove exceeding vile
afterwards; yea, the more forward in good at first, the more vile after-as
water that hath once been heated, and grows cold again, is colder than ever it
was. Let none, then, rest themselves in their good beginnings. The evil of
forsaking the Lord were great, if this were all--
IV. Comfort and
encouragement to those who follow the Lord fully. Blessed are you of the Lord,
you are honourable in the eyes of God and man, you make up in part that hurt
that is done to religion by others. If you be content to give up all to God, to
betrust God with all, know that there are many blessed promises full of mercy
and encouragement for you; they shall come to you fuller of goodness and
blessing than you can imagine. God certainly will remember the kindness of
those who are willing to follow Him through the wilderness of difficulties and
discouragement (Jeremiah 2:2). You who do thus shall die
without stain, which few do; your memories shall be sweet and blessed when you
are dead and gone. You shall have ¡§an entrance ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ¡¨ (2 Peter 1:11). This is promised, not
only to those that are godly, but abound in it, as verse 8. They shall be as a
ship coming gloriously into the haven with full sail.
V. An exhortation
to follow the Lord fully.
1. There is infinite reason that our hearts should be fully after the
Lord. For--
2. And thus I pass to the second thing propounded in this use,
namely, to show what are the causes that hinder men from following the Lord
fully. And they are five especially, which I shall but name.
VI. That it is the
choiceness of a man¡¦s spirit that causes him to follow God fully.
1. We shall show what there is in this spirit that doth carry on a
man fully.
2. Thus you see what there is in this choice spirit that carries it
on fully after the Lord. Now there must of necessity be this, or else this full
following of the Lord will never be; nothing else will do it. And that--
Use 1: Never wonder
then, or be offended, to
see so many to fall off from God; few men have choice spirits.
Use 2: Hence the world is mistaken,
who judge it stubbornness of spirit in God¡¦s servants that will go on in the
ways of godliness; they are a kind of inflexible people. No, it is no stubbornness, it is
the choiceness of their spirits; you judge it stubbornness because you do not
know the principles upon which they go.
Use 3: Let those who have this choice
spirit encourage themselves in this, that surely it will enable them to follow
God fully; let them know--
Use 4: If it be this
choiceness of spirit that is the only thing that will fully carry after the
Lord, then let us learn to look to our spirits: ¡§Keep thy heart with all
diligence, for out of it come the issues of life.¡¨ But wherein should we look
to our spirits?
Following fully
To follow God fully demands--
1. Sincerity.
2. Cheerfulness.
3. Heroism. Many temptations and obstacles to be overcome.
4. Entireness. No compromise.
5. Study. We cannot follow without imitating. Use cannot imitate
without knowing the character. (Homilist.)
Christian heroism
I. True christian
heroism aims at great things.
II. True spiritual
heroism endures great trials in the performance and achievement of its great
ends.
III. To all such
heroism faith is essential.
IV. True heroism is
under the inspiration and power of great motives. (T. Archer, D. D.)
Faithfulness towards God exemplified and rewarded
I. That the honest
servants of Jesus Christ must distinguish themselves from others by following
the Lord fully.
1. What it is to follow the Lord fully.
2. We now proceed to give the reasons of the point.
II. That they who
would follow the Lord fully must have another spirit, another than the spirit
of the world, another than their own spirit naturally is.
1. A noble elevated spirit, aiming at high things, and is not
satisfied with these with which the common herd of mankind are satisfied. Thus
Caleb aimed at Canaan (Numbers 13:30), while the rest were for
Egypt again (Numbers 14:4). Such another spirit have
the saints (Philippians 3:14).
2. A spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13).
3. A spirit of holy courage and resolution (Numbers 14:9).
III. That those who,
by following the Lord fully in the time of general declining, distinguish
themselves, God will distinguish them from others by special marks of favour in
the time of general calamity. We are then--
1. To show how those must distinguish themselves from others in the
time of general declining, who would have the Lord to distinguish them from
others in time of general calamity. Here we observe--
2. Point out the marks of favour by which, in times of general
calamity, God useth to distinguish such. There is--
Of following the Lord fully
I. What we are to
understand by ¡§following the Lord fully.¡¨
1. That we acknowledge no other Lord besides Him.
2. That we obey Him without reserve.
3. That we follow Him openly.
4. That we cleave to Him steadfastly when others forsake Him, and
when exposed by His service to the world¡¦s hatred.
II. Press the duty
by some motives and arguments.
1. If we would be honest men and Christians indeed, we must ¡§follow
the Lord fully.¡¨ So that it is for our own honour.
2. It is necessary to secure inward peace.
3. Our Lord has in some respects entrusted us with His glory.
4. The love of our neighbour is another motive.
5. Those who ¡§follow the Lord fully¡¨ shall possess the good land of
promise, of which Canaan was only a type. (T. Hannam.)
The thorough Christian
To follow Christ ¡§fully¡¨ means resolute, unflinching obedience to
all of Christ¡¦s commandments. It is the carrying out of religion to the utmost
detail of Christian duty. Such a Christian never asks to commute with his
Divine Master as to hard work; he never strikes for an eight hours¡¦ system of
labour or higher wages. He is not all the time coming up before that bleeding,
self-sacrificing Saviour and whimpering, ¡§Master, I pray thee, have me excused.¡¨
He never interprets the Bible in a latitudinarian sense, never reads it in a
lax, ultra-liberal light; and if there is a right side to be found to the
ethical questions of the hour, his first question is, ¡§What is right? What will
please Jesus?¡¨ He aims to be thorough in small things, and he loves the
wholesome severities of duty. Now, there is a religion nowadays that runs very
rapidly on the down grades, and goes fast on the descending grades, but it
never climbs. Commend me to the loyal, uncompromising, sturdy Christian that
bears a pain, a pinch, or a penalty; a scowl or a scoff; a religion that can
afford to get rich, and yet can be humble; that can afford to go into high
society, and yet carry Christ there; to a religion that ¡§follows the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth.¡¨ In our day the test is not to go to Smithfield. Our trial is to
follow Christ in the warm, relaxing atmosphere of quiet and external
prosperity, and not to be enervated thereby. It is very easy to be a Christian
sometimes; or rather, for a Christian to be very warm and glowing sometimes.
For instance, when a prayer-meeting is crowded with fervent hearts, and the
atmosphere is alive with enthusiasm, how easy is it then to catch fire, and to
glow, and to sing and pray. It was very easy for Caleb to exercise faith when
he was in the valley of Eshcol picking grapes; but to keep up his faith in face
of the contagious cowardice and treason of the camp, that was another thing. To
hold out with his faith during forty long and wearisome years of marching, that
demanded and developed the most resolute principle of his God-loving heart. To
serve God faithfully in an irreligious family, or in a counting-house or shop
where two-thirds of them are scoffers, and in polite fashionable life, to serve
Christ there proves the mettle of your religion. It is one thing to follow
Christ when everything helps you; it is quite another thing to follow Christ
when everything hinders you. And to follow Christ fully means to keep following
Him in every place, and under every circumstance, against the current. I
remember when treason first broke out in my own beloved country, it went
through our army and navy, and sifted it. We soon found out who would follow
the old flag of freedom to the death, and who would desert it. I could point to
a Christian merchant who gives so largely and liberally that the amounts seem
almost incredible, and I happen to know that that man begins his every day with
an hour with Jesus, on his knees, and reading his Bible; he breaks away from his
business at noon for the noon-day prayer-meeting. Such a man as that follows
Christ fully, and yet he might excuse himself by the very vastness of his
traffic and the pressing nature of his immense business. Now when I find such a
man here and there in our churches, I feel that each one of these is a Caleb to
stir and stimulate others to imitation. Sometime ago, when in a mine, looking
through its dark corridors, I every now and then saw the glimmer of a moving
lamp, and I could track it all through the mine. The reason was that the miner
carried it on his hat--it was a part of himself, and it showed where he went. I
said, would that in this dark world every miner of the Master carried his lamp
to show where he walks. Such people are Christians everywhere--before their own
children, at their own fireside, and in their own homes. In their commercial
transactions they buy and sell by the golden rule, and measure their goods with
a Christian yardstick. Wherever they can honour God, or set a pure example, and
save a sinner by living out Christ, they are ready to do it. In short, they
follow Christ fully, and heartily, and faithfully, looking to the inheritance
of the reward. And the reason of this is the same reason that Caleb had: for we
are told that Caleb had ¡§another spirit.¡¨ Theirs is another spirit from the
worldling, and another spirit from the gold hunter, the devotee of fashion, the
carnally-minded. Their spirit is from above, the fruit of conversion; it is the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Loving Christ, they love to follow Him; fearing
God rather than man, they so live as to please God, who trieth the heart. (T.
L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Christian thoroughness
What we want is not to look Christians, or to pretend Christians,
or to profess Christians, but to be Christians. You need not then so carefully
guard yourself; you need not be on the ceaseless watch what you do. Take an
anagram, read it from the right or from the left, or from the top or from the
bottom, it reads the same thing. Take a Christian, look at him at one angle, or
look at another angle; look at him in any light or in any direction, and he is
a Christian still. The great secret of getting rid of a vast amount of trouble
and inconvenience is being a Christian; and when you are a Christian your eye
will be single, your body will be full of light, and all influences sanctified
and blessed by the Holy Spirit of God, will be sanctifying and will bless all
that are connected with you.
Difficult ministry the reward of thorough service
When the Spartan king advanced against the enemy he had always
some one with him that had been crowned in the public games of Greece. And they
tell us that a Lacedaemonian, when large sums were offered him on condition
that he would not enter the Olympic lists, refused. Having with much difficulty
thrown his antagonist in wrestling, one put this question to him, ¡§Spartan,
what will you get by this victory?¡¨ He answered with a smile, ¡§I shall have the
honour to fight foremost in the ranks of my prince.¡¨ The honour which appertains
to office in the Church of God lies mainly in this--that the man who is set
apart for such service has the privilege of being first in holiness of example,
abundance of liberality, patience of long-suffering, zeal in effort and
self-sacrifice in service. Thou gracious King of kings, if Thou hast made me a
minister in Thy Church, enable me to be foremost in every good word and work,
shunning no sacrifice and shrinking from no suffering. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 25
The wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
The rule of the road
Every traveller has heard of the ¡§rule of the road,¡¨ which must be
obeyed in order to avoid accidents. There are certain rules of the road also to
be observed by the pilgrim band on our journey to the Eternal City.
1. First of all, there is only one road for Christ¡¦s people to walk
in. Walk in the old path, the King¡¦s highway, the way of God¡¦s commandments.
And this road of ours is by the way of the Red Sea--the Red Sea of Christ¡¦s
most precious blood! We must always keep in sight of that.
2. Here is another rule of the road; do the duty which is nearest to
you. There is an old English parsonage somewhere by the sea which has this
sentence carved over its porch, ¡§Do the next thing.¡¨ Let it be our motto. Some
of us do nothing, because we do not know where to begin; we are thinking of
next week, when to-day¡¦s duty stands before us. Each day brings its own work;
let us try to do it faithfully, prayerfully, cheerfully, trustingly, and then
we may be sure we are going forward in the right way.
3. Another rule of the road is: be brave, ¡§ only be strong and very
courageous.¡¨ Be brave enough to do what is right, no matter at what cost. The
world will laugh at you, sneer at you, misjudge you. ¡§Trust in God and do the
right.¡¨
4. Here is another rule of the road: be neighbourly. Never forget
that you belong to one family, one army on the march--the Holy Catholic Church.
Naturalists tell us that the pine tree is one of the most inhospitable, just as
the oak is the most kindly, of trees. Beneath the shadow of the pine tree all
is bare and desolate. No primrose opens its bright eyes there, no wild rose
clings, no woodbine blossoms. There are some people like the inhospitable pine
tree, they live only for themselves, and never offer help, or comfort, or
shelter to another. Let us try by God¡¦s grace to make our path of life bright
for others, not sad and desolate, like the pine wood.
5. Yet another rule of the road: keep in the sunshine. On the journey
through life there is always a sunny side for the Christian. A certain king
once asked a famous general if he had seen the eclipse of the sun, and the Duke
of Alva answered that he had too much to do on earth to have time to look up to
heaven. Ah! if any of us are melancholy, discontented, it is because we are
looking too much at the earth, and not lifting up our eyes to heaven. I say to
you, come out of the gloom of your own thoughts into the sunshine, and thank
God--¡§Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.¡¨
6. One last rule of the road now: remember the road leads home. In
all earthly journeys, however long and tiring, this thought always strengthens
the traveller--I shall soon be home. Home, even an earthly home, is the central
spot of every man¡¦s life. (H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, M. A.)
Verses 26-29
I have heard the murmurings.
Base murmuring
Murmuring is not
a simple sin, but involves--
1. Presumption.
2. Ingratitude.
3. Rebellion.
I. Murmuring
without any cause.
II. Murmuring
against the best being.
1. Think who and what He is--the Supremely Wise and Good, &c.
2. Think of what He had done for the Israelites, and what He has done
for us--redeemed, guarded, sustained, &c.
3. Think of what He had promised to them, and what He has promised to
us. How base to murmur against our great Benefactor!
III. Murmuring of
long continuance. There are many to-day who are habitual grumblers; murmuring
is not occasional. How great is their sin l how great, also, is the patience of
God with them!
IV. Murmurings
known to god. God hears every bitter complaint; He perceives every unthankful
and rebellious mood.
V. Murmuring
punished by god. These Israelite murmurers were excluded from the Promised
Land. The murmurer excludes himself from the Canaan of joy, and peace, and
contentment. Murmuring is a self-punishing sin. God has made it so. (W.
Jones.)
Your carcases shall fall
in this wilderness.--
The sentence of God upon the sinful people
I. The sentence.
Was conspicuously just. Its justice is manifest.
1. In the correspondence between the nature of the sin and the nature
of the punishment.
2. In the correspondence between the duration of the unbelieving
exploration and the duration of the punishment.
3. In the correspondence between the different degrees of guilt and
the different severities of punishment.
II. The sentence
was utterly irreversible.
III. The sentence
caused great sorrow.
1. Their sorrow had a real and sufficient cause.
2. Their sorrow was not that of repentance, but of selfishness. (W.
Jones.)
Verses 31. Your little
ones . . . will I bring in.
The duty of parents to their children
I. I propose to
extract from our text some permanent and root principles with respect to the
relations between parents and children, that God would have us pay special heed
to; and then from these root principles I shall endeavour to draw a few
practical instructions for our conduct with our children at home.
1. Our first thought is--how completely Almighty God recognises the
sense of preciousness which all parents with a spark of heart in them attach to
their children, their little children especially; and how God turns the
instinct of affection in parents to their children to the parents¡¦
condemnation, if they will not use their affection in the direction of securing
eternal life for those whom they love.
2. That children in the providence of God, and according to the rules
of God¡¦s government, do, in a certain degree, share their parents¡¦ privileges,
suffer their parents¡¦ penalties, nay, even sin with their parents¡¦ sin.
3. That although, in a certain degree, the children share the
privileges, the penalty, and the sin of their parents, yet there is mercy, ay,
and there is justice also.
4. That the great cause why the children of Israel refused to go up
to the land of Canaan was a want of faith. So the great reason why so-called
Christian parents do not take the trouble to prepare their children for eternity
is that their own personal belief about the things of eternity is not as strong
as it ought to be.
II. Now let me put
these principles into a practical shape for our instruction. What is the way in
which our great God and Father, who has put us into the responsible and blessed
position of parents towards children whom we love, would have us fulfil that
responsibility? First of all, He would have us fulfil it in careful, and exact,
and regular instruction concerning the things of God. Do not be content to
leave this duty to others, but ascertain for yourselves what your children are
actually learning about their Lord and Saviour, how far they feel it and know
it. And then about example. It is a very good thing to teach your children out
of the Word of God; but it is as good to teach them in your own daily life and
conversation. There is one thing more--prayer. (Bp. Thorold.)
Verse 33-34
Each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities.
God often punishes sin proportionably
God oftentimes punisheth in proportion, so that the judgment is
answerable to the sin. Of what kind the sin is, of the same kind is the
punishment (Genesis 42:21). God sent upon Sodom a
punishment like to the nature of their sin; they burned in unclean and
unnatural lust one toward another, and the Lord sent fire from heaven to burn
them up.
1. God hath many ways to punish sin, yet it pleaseth Him to send His
punishments according to our sins, thereby to strike us with inward remorse and
to work a deeper impression in the conscience. For when He punisheth after this
manner rather than after any other, the judgment itself doth more effectually
force the sufferer to acknowledge God¡¦s justice in plaguing of Him in that
sort.
2. This maketh men not only to justify God, whose, judgments are
always just, but maketh them also to judge themselves, and thereby they
oftentimes prevent the more heavy judgments of God.
3. God hath given a law, and by the law He requireth a proportionable
punishment for sin (Leviticus 24:19). This course will the
Lord take (who is the supreme Magistrate) so often as it pleaseth Him, albeit
He do not tie Himself to that law.
Uses:
1. This serveth to warrant us that we may lawfully expect judgment
from God in proportion upon men for their sins. For the which hath been, may
be; and that which the Lord hath done, He will certainly do it again, so that
we may promise and persuade ourselves that they shall in the end be paid home
to the full, with due proportion of punishment according to their sins.
2. Whensoever we remain under any judgment of God¡¦s hand, let us
labour for spiritual wisdom, that we may discern what the sin is which is the
cause thereof. For by the manner of the judgment we may oftentimes find out the
manner of our sin. This way we shall make the punishment profitable unto us, if
we take it and lay it unto the sin, as it were a salve upon the sore. It will
work in us a care to ¡§judge ourselves, that we be not judged of the Lord¡¨ (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).
3. As God dealeth with men in regard to their sins, so He dealeth oftentimes with
His children in good things and for good things. He will reward according to
our deeds, blessing with the same blessing, and mercy with the same mercy (2 Timothy 1:18). (W. Attersoll.)
Verses 40-45
But they presumed to go up.
A presumptuous enterprise and its disastrous termination
In these verses we have an illustration of--
1. The sad perversity
of sinful human nature.
2. The confession of sin, and persistence in sin.
3. The great difficulty of walking humbly and patiently in the path
which our sin has rendered necessary for us.
I. The
presumptuous enterprise.
1. In opposition to the command of the Lord.
2. Despite the remonstrance of Moses.
3. Without the symbol of the Divine Presence and the presence of the
Divinely-appointed leader.
II. The disastrous
termination of this presumptuous enterprise.
1. Disgraceful defeat.
2. Sore slaughter.
3. Bitter sorrow.
Conclusion--From the whole let us learn the sin and the folly of
entering upon any enterprises, and especially difficult ones, in our own
strength. ¡§Apart from Me,¡¨ said Christ, ¡§ye can do nothing.¡¨ This is applicable
to--
1. Spiritual life in its origin and progress. The attempt in our own
strength to lead a religious, godly life, is sure to end in sad disappointment
and utter failure.
2. Spiritual conflict. Unless we take to ourselves ¡§the whole armour
of God,¡¨ our spiritual foes will be too many and too mighty for us. We can
conquer only through Christ.
3. Spiritual service. Our efforts to benefit our fellow-men will
succeed only as they are made in reliance upon the blessing of God. We can
bless others only as He blesses us (comp. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7). (W. Jones.)
Unauthorised enterprises
The man who forsakes God¡¦s commandments forsakes his own
happiness.
1. The importance of improving present opportunities. You have a
throne of grace to go to; go there to-day, lest by delay your anxiety, though
earnest, should be as unavailing as was that of Israel to go to Canaan, and you
are compelled to say with the prophet (Jeremiah 8:20).
2. The necessity of God¡¦s blessing on all our undertakings. We do not say that man, without
God¡¦s blessing, never gets what he wants; he often does, but not what is good
for him; all things work together for good only to those who have this
blessing. And further, those undertakings which, with the Divine blessing, are
easy, without it are impossible.
3. The connection which subsists between transgression and sorrow. Sorrow is of two
kinds; first, godly sorrow, which worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be
repented of--such was that of Peter; and, secondly, the sorrow of unavailing
regret, when the day of recovery has passed away. It was this unavailing sorrow
that Israel felt when the Lord said, ¡§Thou shalt not enter into My rest.¡¨ In a
spirit of rebellion they resolve, ¡§We will go up¡¨; but they went without the
Lord, and they were driven back.
4. The danger that results from an unbelieving heart!
5. We see from this passage the holiness of that God with whom we
have to do. While every provision is made for the returning penitent, the
impenitent transgressor will certainly be destroyed. God never tolerates sin;
no, not even in His own people.
6. Finally, we should learn from this subject our need of special
sanctifying grace; for no outward advantages can secure personal holiness. (George
Breay, B. A.)
Religious explanation of failure
¡§Because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will
not be with you.¡¨ Even that is a word of comfort. The comfort is not far to
fetch, even from the desert of this stern fact. The comfort is found in the
fact that the Lord will be with those who have not turned away from Him. The
law operates in two opposite ways. Law is love, when rightly seized and
applied; and love is law, having all the pillars of its security and all the
dignity of its righteousness to support it in all the transitions of its
experience. The reason why we fail is that God has gone from us. Putting the
case so, we put it wrongly. God has not gone from us; we have gone from God.
The Church is nothing without its godliness; it is less than nothing: it is not
only the negation of strength, it is the utter and most helpless weakness.
Israel was the Church in the wilderness, and Israel was nothing without its
God. The number might be six hundred thousand fighting men, and they would go
down like a dry wooden fence before a raging fire, if the Lord was not in the
midst. They were not men without Him. The Church lives, moves, and has its
being in God--not in some high or deep metaphysical sense only, but in the
plain and obvious sense of the terms: that it has no being or existence outside
God. When it forgets to pray, it loses the art of war; when the Church forgets
to put on the beautiful garments of holiness, though it be made up of a
thousand Samsons, it cannot strike one fatal blow at the enemy. Count the
Church by the volume of its prayer; register the strength of the Church by the
purity and completeness of its consecration. If you number the Church in
millions, and tell not what it is at the altar and at the cross, you have
returned the census of a cemetery, not the statistics of a living, mighty,
invincible host. Genius is nothing, learning is nothing, organisation is a
sarcasm and an irony--apart from that which gives every one of them value and
force--the praying heart, the trustful spirit. The Church conquers by holiness.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
¢w¢w¡mThe Biblical Illustrator¡n