EU 1-4We now come to the Book of Deuteronomy, a book full of interest in its moral warnings as to testimony, but presenting fewer subjects for interpretation and exegesis than those the summary of which we have sought to give. This book takes up Israel just on the borders of Canaan, and insists upon the maintenance of their relations with God, and on obedience to his commandments, as the only ground on which Israel can enter and continue therein; adding warnings as to the consequence of failure in obedience. The book may be divided into three parts. The first eleven chapters insist upon obedience, presenting various motives to lead the people to it. Then come, as far as the end of the twenty-ninth, divers commandments; to which are added, by way of sanction, the consequences of obedience, and the curse upon disobedience. From the thirtieth to the end we have things to come, the blessing of the people, and the death of Moses. Of the first eleven chapters, the first four form rather a distinct part. That which strikes one in the first chapters is, the pains that the Lord takes to present all possible motives to that poor people to lead them to obedience, in order that they may be blessed. These things, which ought at least to have touched the heart, served, alas! only to prove its hardness, and to show that, if man is to be blessed, God must give him a new heart, as it is written in the chapter which closes the second part of his exhortations to obedience. " Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day" (29:4).
Deuteronomy is, then, of all the books of Moses, that which is the most essentially conditional; that is to say, the first two divisions which I have pointed out. Chapter 29, which is the last of the second division, ends consequently by saying, " The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
The chapters which follow throw this into greater prominence, by unfolding the secret things- which were to happen after the people had completely failed in the fulfillment of the law, as chapter 30, and, still more strikingly, chapter 32, by speaking of righteousness by faith. For the discussion of righteousness by the law ended with chapter 29; and chapter 30 supposes the people in a position in which the securing of righteousness by the law was impossible, and where it was only a question as to the spirit and the end of the law, in the counsels of God. Now, Christ was the end of it, and it is thus the Apostle applies the passage (Rom. 10). It is interesting also to see that the Lord always quotes Deuteronomy in answering Satan. He puts Himself on the true ground where Israel stood, in order to possess and keep the land; being not only the faithful man, but the Jew, the true Son called out of Egypt, put to the test, as to His faithfulness, in the conditions under which the people were placed by Deuteronomy.
Let us examine a little more closely these chapters, which show the pains the Spirit took to set before the eyes of the people all the motives which could induce them to walk faithfully in the career which now lay before them.
EU 5He begins with the narrative of what had occurred since the sojourn of the children of Israel at Sinai; and Moses reminds them of the commandment to leave that place and to go to the mount of the Amorites, to go up and possess the land. They get there, and, discouraged by the spies, they will not go up; then, trying to do so without God, they are smitten before their enemies. Passing by the borders of Esau, and Moab, God gives them the laid of Sihon and of Og. In a word, Moses relates to them, in general, what had taken place with regard to their entrance into the land of which they are to take possession-the patience and the goodness of God. In reminding them of Horeb, he insists on the privilege they had enjoyed in nearness to God, who Himself had spoken to them out of the midst of the fire, when they saw no similitude—on the authority of the word-its majesty-excluding thus all thought of idolatry. He spews them that all that were of full age had perished, as a consequence of their unbelief-that he himself could not enter into that good land-that God is a jealous God, a consuming fire-and that, if they made any graven image, they would utterly perish from off the land they were about to enter, and would be scattered amongst the nations and left to serve the gods they had loved. That, nevertheless, they should find God if they sought Him with all their heart, for He is a merciful God, who would not forsake them; that if Sinai had been the brightness of His majesty, it was also true that such a God of majesty had never vouchsafed to come so near to a people, elect and chosen for their fathers' sakes. Such is the basis of the government of this people. Moses sets apart three cities of refuge, as a token of possession, on the part of God, of what was on this side Jordan. In chapter 5 Moses reminds them of the ten commandments given in Horeb; and it is to be remarked, that the deliverance out of Egypt (not the rest of God after the work of creation) is the reason he gives for the sabbath.
EU 6He reminds them of their fear in the presence of the Lord; engages them, in chapter 6, to love God with all their heart; and exhorts them to remember His words in every way, and to keep them, when they should enjoy the land, having nothing to do with other gods. When they should cast out their enemies, as the Lord had spoken, and when their children should ask the meaning of the ordinances, they were to tell them of the deliverances and of the signs wrought in Egypt.
EU 8-11They were to destroy every vestige of false gods, being a people holy to the Lord, and that, not on account of their own importance, but because of the election and love of God. He assures them that their faithfulness would also be the channel of blessing, for God would recompense them according to their ways. Neither ought they to fear, after all the signs they had seen. In chapter 8 he also brings to mind the dealings of God with them by the way, as a motive and how God had humbled and exercised them, lest through enjoyment of the blessings of the land they should be puffed up (for it was God who gave them the needed strength); that, otherwise, God would destroy them, as he had destroyed the nations (chap. 9). He reminds them of their continual perverseness, to show them, that it was not on account of their righteousness, but because of the wickedness of the nations, that God drove them out before them. This he applies to them (chap. 10), reminding them that God had renewed the law. Then, in chapter 11, he brings to their remembrance the judgments upon the Egyptians, and those upon Dathan and Abiram, and declares to them the beauty and excellency of the land into which they were about to enter, a lance upon which the eyes of the Lord ever rested; and, lastly, he puts,' before them the blessing and the curse which there awaited them, according to their conduct, when brought in; charging them to keep carefully the commandments of the Lord, and to teach them to their children. And it is added, that, by keeping the commandments of God, they would be able to take possession according to the full extent of the promise.
EU 12The second division begins with chapter 12, and contains the statutes and ordinances they were bound to observe. It is not a repetition of the old ordinances, but what specially referred to their conduct in the land, that they might keep it and be blessed in it. It is a covenant or the conditions of their relations with God, and of the enjoyment of His promises, added to what had been said before (see chap. 29:1). The ordinances tended in general to this, that they were a people belonging to the Lord, and that they were to give up every other relationship to be His, and keep themselves from all that could seduce them to form such relationships, or defile them in those which they had with the Lord. At the same time, directions are given as to the details of the maintenance of those relations. But it was more a question of the direct relations of the people with God: the priests are, in general, mentioned, more as being the objects of the care of the people when in the land, according to ordinances already given. The people were to behave in such and such a way towards them; but the relations are immediate between the people and God.
The first principle laid down to confirm these relations, is the choice of a place as the center of their exercise. They were to go thither with all their offerings; they might eat flesh elsewhere-without the blood; but the consecrated things could only be eaten in the place chosen of God. They were not even to inquire about the ways of those who had been driven out of the land. If the signs of a prophet, who would entice them to serve other gods, came to pass, or if a relative or the beloved of their souls enticed them, such were to be put to death; if any of a city, the whole city was to be reduced to a heap of stones. No relation with any but with the true God was to be allowed-no forbearance toward that which ensnared.
EU 14Chapter 14 forbids that the people, as being the children of the living God, should imitate the profane customs which indicated the devotednesss of idolaters to the impure beings they worshipped. God had chosen Israel for Himself. Neither were they to defile themselves by eating abominable things. They were a holy people. The tithes and all the first-fruits were to be offered to God. Thus consecrated, each one might eat them in the place where God had put His name. The same command had been given (chap. 12.) with regard to the place where it was to be eaten, with the addition, that the children, men-servants, and maid-servants, might partake of them, applying it also to the vows, the freewill-offerings, and the heave-offering. These ordinances are very remarkable. Another, found at the end of chapter 14, may be added here. The tithe of the third year was to be laid up within their gates, and the Levite, the fatherless, and the stranger, were to come and eat of it; and he who did thus would be blessed of the Lord in all the work of his hands.
Here everything was sanctified, as having been presented to the Lord. There was thus the recognition that the people were His, and that all was of Him; but, in giving Him back what He had given, they enjoyed, in fellowship with Him and their families, the things common to God and the people, given by Him, offered to Him, and enjoyed in His presence, in communion one with another, God Himself partaking of them, for the whole was offered to Him. It was not here the priests opening out a way for the people to draw near to God; God was honored by the offering, God enjoyed the piety of the people, and the people themselves offered with joy; seated before God Himself, in the joy of communion with Him, as at the same table; it was the people who enjoyed the privilege. In the case of the tithe of the third year, it is not the family joy of the people with God, but rather the grace that brings enjoyment to those who were strangers or in want, and to the servant of God who had no inheritance. It was within their gates that this took place; they had the privilege of acting in grace from the Lord, in communicating to His poor what He had given them. They did not go to the house of the Lord, but they invited the widow, the orphan, and the Levite, to their house to rejoice, and the Lord blessed them. The immediate relations of the people with God in family fellowship and in grace here are very remarkable. The priests are out of the scene; the Levites being the objects of the liberality of the people, as having no inheritance (comp. 15:19).
EU 15Chapter 15 teaches each one among the people to consider with liberality and grace their poor brethren; this consideration being besides made sure to them by the year of release, which applied to debts and to the Hebrew slaves. The dependance of him who thus respected the Lord in His poor was to be placed in God, who would bless him in thus acting according to His commandment; for the poor were His poor.
EU 16Chapter 16 connects the people with the throne of the Lord in Jerusalem, by solemnities in which He surrounds Himself by His people, blessed and happy in the deliverance which He has granted them under His reign. It gives us three solemn feasts-the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The spirit of each of these feasts suggests a few remarks. The Passover recalled deliverance—deliverance from bondage in Egypt, under either sin or Satan. The unleavened bread was here the bread of affliction; the knowledge of Christ, or the application of Christ to the heart, though coupled with deliverance and salvation when it takes the form of repentance (and this is the case when the question is of remembering one's deliverance), has always something bitter in it. Joy is not the point here. One has gone out in haste by the, mighty arm of God, and if one is happy it is only as having escaped, feeling that it is through the power of God alone, and conscious of the state which required it all. They ate during the night, and every one returned in the morning to his tent. They went home with the sense of the goodness of God, with the sense that it was a deliverance from the evil under which they were by their own fault and for their own ruin. Holiness is presented in repentance and deliverance from evil, under the form of conscience and judgment of sin: it is binding; one dares not remain any longer in evil; they were out off if leaven was found in the house; whereas this holiness is in itself the joy of the redeemed. They were bound to keep the feast wherever God should put His name. God gathered the people around His dwelling-place, and linked them with His name and with Himself. Their nationality and all their recollections were connected with the worship of the Lord. It was another safeguard against idolatry (verses 5, 6, 7).
Seven weeks having elapsed, the people were again to gather around the Lord. They numbered seven weeks from the time they began to put the sickle to the corn, from the day they began to reap the fruit of the land of promise. They waited for the perfect time of the work of God. That which first of all characterized this feast was, that every one offered a free-will offering, according to the blessing wherewith the Lord his God had blessed him. It is the Holy Spirit, and the blessing flowing from Him, which this type presents to us. It is not only redemption, but the power of the things which are the result of it; not in full, however; they were only first-fruits offered to God. The presentation of these first-fruits to God is the effect of the power of the Holy Ghost: that is, Israel historically in the beginning (on the principle of redemption and of the new covenant); but, in fact, the church itself becomes the first-fruits of the creation of God. But the effect produced by the Holy Spirit, the effect of His presence in general, is that which characterizes this feast. There was no mention of free-will offerings at the Passover; they ate in haste and returned home. But the Holy Spirit has made the renewed heart willing; and according to the enjoyment of the fruits of the promise-according to the measure of the blessing of the Spirit of God, it can and will render to God the first-fruits of the heart, of all that He has given us. Therefore, and it is what always accompanies this free-will-fruit of the Holy Spirit-they were to rejoice, to rejoice in the presence of the Lord their God. The fruits of grace and of the Spirit manifest themselves in joy and in grace. Blessing manifests itself in the spirit of blessing, in the joy and the good-will of grace. Blessed and precious results! Joy, and the desire for the joy of others, always flow from grace, known according to the power of the Spirit of God. Thus the worshipper, his son and his daughter, his man-servant and his maid-servant, the Levite within his gates, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, were to rejoice together in the place where the Lord had set His name. He surrounded Himself with joy, the fruit of race and of His blessing. The remembrance of having been themselves bondmen was to touch the heart and influence the conduct of Israel; and, by comprehending the grace which had delivered them when they were in that condition, they were to be led to act in grace towards those who were bondmen to them. They are admonished, at the same time, to observe the statutes of the Lord; for the presence of the Holy Spirit, whilst ministering joy, leads to watchfulness and obedience. We enjoy the earnest and the first-fruits before God, but yet it is down here where this watchfulness and restraint are needful.
EU 17When the ingathering of the harvest and vintage were ended (that is, God having gathered in His own, hidden them in His garner, and trodden His enemies in the wine-press), then came the Feast of Tabernacles; a feast, the antitype of which we have not, it is certain, yet seen. Although all the effects of the Passover and Pentecost are not yet accomplished, yet they have been fulfilled as to the event marked by them; but there has been no fulfillment, as yet, of the Feast of Tabernacles. This will take place when Israel, restored to their land after the end of this dispensation, will fully enjoy the effect of the promise of God. Consequently, joy is put in the foreground, whilst in that which prefigured the presence of the Holy Ghost upon earth the free-will-offering came first. This feast was to be kept during seven consecutive days. It is joy, full and complete joy; not according to the measure of the blessing, but because God had blessed them in all the works of their hands: therefore they certainly ought to rejoice. The Spirit of that day belongs to us, although the fulfillment of it has not yet taken place. There is a joy that manifests itself in us, in connection with the measure of the present effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit -a joy which requires watchfulness and to walk in the narrow way, and in which the remembrance of our former condition strengthens in us the spirit of grace towards others, and the presence of the Lord is specially marked. There is a joy known to the heart, although the things which cause it have not yet had their accomplishment-a joy connected with the time of rest, when labor will be ended, and when there will no longer be any need of vigilance, nor of the remembrance of our misery, to urge us to share our blessings with others. The feast itself will suffice for the joy of all-" Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast." The Lord recalls the great principle of the three feasts, namely, to appear before the Lord three times in a year, bringing offerings to the Lord. Verse 18, begins a new subject: the pains taken and the instruments used to preserve the blessing and execute the judgments necessary to that effect. The thought is still to maintain the people in relationship with God alone. They were to appoint judges and officers in their gates. Whatever led to idolatry was forbidden; he who enticed them to it was to be stoned (chap. 17). If the matter were too hard, they were to come to the priests and the judges, and the people were to abide by their judgment.
The case of the people desiring a king is anticipated, and they are told that he must be of the people, and not act so as to open the way for intercourse with Egypt, nor so as to lead the people to idolatry; but he is to write a copy of the book of the law with his own hand, and read therein all the days of his life, being subject to it, so as not to despise his brethren.
EU 18Chapter 18 The priests and the whole tribe of Levi have their portion assigned to them. The people are forbidden to do after those abominations on account of which, the nations which inhabited the land, were driven out before Israel, by inquiring of those who used divination. The Lord would raise up a prophet, like unto Moses, unto whom the people should hearken. These ordinances foresee in the people the lack of the faith needful in order to walk simply with the Lord. Christ is the true and only answer. They. were not to fear a prophet who gave a sign which did not come to pass, for the Lord had not spoken by him.
One word here as to the portion of the priests. First, the normal condition of the people was that of being guided by the priests, and, in case of need, by judges raised up in an extraordinary way, and to abide under the keeping of God, in the land, enjoying His blessing. It was, properly speaking, theocracy. The laws of God directed the people, they enjoyed the blessing of God, and the priests settled any questions which arose, a judge being raised up in exceptional cases.
The priests are introduced here in connection with that which was necessary to the enjoyment of the land, not as a means of drawing near to God. Consequently, they were there to fulfill their ministry before God, and a certain portion belonged to them.
The king was only thought of, in the case when the people would ask one, in order to be like the nations, and in that case, he was to remain, as much as possible, simple, in the midst of Israel, that the law of God might have its full authority. The people are always accounted to be themselves responsible before God, and enjoying the land under this responsibility, though for that reason, subject to the decisions of the priests. They had the land from God. The question here is not about drawing near. to Him, but about acknowledging His deliverance and His goodness, as in the feasts which we have considered. Thus he who went up to the place which the Lord had chosen, ate with his family and sometimes with the Levite, the stranger, etc., the tithes of each year (in the third year there were some for the Levite and the poor), the firstling of the herd and of the flock, the vows, the free-will offerings and the heave offerings, all before the Lord. But at the same time that they offered them to the Lord, the offerer partook of the enjoyment of them (see chap. 14:23, 28, 29; 12:7, 11, 12, 17). Whilst in chap. 18, the priest had a certain portion of the sacrifice, the first-fruit of the corn, of the wine and the oil, and the first of the fleece of the sheep.
The first part of these ordinances is so much the more remarkable, that, in the Book of Num. 18, the first-born, the heave-offerings, all sorts of offerings for sin, and the meat-offerings, are given to the priests, and the tithes to the Levites.
We may remark here the difference between that which was in this case for the priests, and that which in Deuteronomy, is given to the people, and in the other books to the priests. We have already pointed out the difference of position.
In the three preceding books, the question is about drawing near to God, and the priests alone are looked upon as able to do this; and thus, in the relationship of priests, they ate, in the holy place, all that was offered. They alone were near sod, and that which was brought to God (according to the force of the Word, that which was brought near to God), was theirs, as being near. Thus all the arrangements of the Tabernacle were made for a people who found themselves in the wilderness,-strangers there; and it is to be observed that Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, never speaks of anything but the Tabernacle, never of the temple. The relations he speaks of, are those of pilgrims with God.
It is no longer thus in Deuteronomy: there the dwelling of the people in the land of promise, is considered; and consequently the people are accounted, not as needing to learn how to draw near to God, but as enjoying, from God, the effect of His promise in His presence and before Him, so that the people are directly concerned in the sacrifices. They are in the enjoyment of the promises, in the presence of God, and they realize in the communion of the Lord all the means through which it is enjoyed, and they partake, in communion, of all that is devoted to Him, as a sign of the redemption through which this enjoyment was procured for them. It is otherwise with regard to the first-fruits of the land (that which it yields). Enjoying those fruits of the goodness of God, the people gave Him back the first-fruits, as a testimony that all came from Him, and that all was His, and that His grace had communicated it to them (see chap. 26). Therefore the first-fruits were not for the people to eat: they offered them to God, and eat of all the rest. It was the recognition of God, whilst sharing His blessings. The first-fruits then were offered to God, and thus fell into the hands of the priests as their portion.
EU 19Chapter 19, opens with ordinances which contemplate the people in possession and enjoyment of the land; they were to observe them, that the land might not be defiled and that the people might walk in the strength of the Lord.
EU 20-21Three cities of refuge are appointed, and he who kills his neighbor, without hating him, is distinguished from the murderer,-an important principle, as to the fate of the Jewish nation, to distinguish between those who have taken a voluntary part in the death of the Lord, or who afterward heartily approve the deed; and those who have done it ignorantly. The regulations of righteousness also against false witnesses are given here. In chap. 20, we have the ordinances relative to war. In chap. 21, we have three interesting cases, because of the principles which apply to the ways of God with Israel. The case of the man found slain; that of the child of the hated wife, and that of the rebellious son. The land of the Lord must be kept pure. Israel will have to make this confession in the latter days, and to clear themselves of the blood of Messiah. If the case of the two wives applies to Israel upon earth, it applies still more closely to Christ (Head of the Gentiles) and the Church, with whom He will inherit all things, although, upon earth, Israel be the wife beloved. However, Israel, as a rebellious son under the old covenant, is condemned and cut off; as regards the redeemed, the curse of the law has fallen upon another. Those who read the Bible are too well acquainted with the application of the end of this chapter to make it needful for me to dwell upon it. The point here under consideration is the defiling of the land, which the Lord had given for an inheritance to the people. I will now briefly sum up the subjects we have looked at, from verse 18 of chap. 16. We have the means, in point of authority, employed of God to maintain the people in His ways and in the knowledge of His will, that they might enjoy the land in peace. Judges and officers were to be appointed, and to judge with uprightness. The priest, and the judge, raised up in an extraordinary manner, were to communicate, in case of need, the judgment, and will of God, and the people were to obey them. In case the people wished for a king, directions are given respecting his conduct.
Directions are given for those Levites who should devote themselves to the service of the Lord, in the place chosen by Him as His dwelling place, the people seeking to know the will of God, were not to consult diviners: the Lord would raise up a prophet. Afterward there is provision made to keep the land from being polluted with blood; the elders of the cities were to take knowledge of the deed, whether the slayer had killed without set purpose. The cities of refuge present a beautiful type of the state of Israel, as to their sin, in having killed the Lord Jesus, whether ignorantly (as the grace of God looks upon it with regard to those who repent), or knowingly (as perseverance in rejecting Him, would be, the proof of); this is the principle upon which God will judge them. So, in this last point of view, the people were placed under the searching severity of the law.
In chapter 20, provision is made to reconcile any war that might arise with the enjoyment of the land and the blessing of God, either individually or in case of conquest, and directions are given to secure the presence of the power of God, and to show how the enemies were to be treated according to the mind of God, all mercy toward the nations of Canaan, being prohibited, in order that Israel might not learn the abominations they were guilty of.
Chapter 21, gives another provision for preventing the land from defilement by blood, while declaring (as elsewhere), that life belongs to God, that when His rights are infringed He will not wink at it. We cannot fail to see that the blood of Christ is, above all, that of which Israel is here (chap. 21) guilty (see Psa. 51)- and the blood of Jesus is the only atonement for the sin which shed it; the elders excuse themselves by pleading their ignorance of what had been done. The same thing will take place with regard to Israel; however, there is nothing but the blood of the heifer which never bore the yoke that can wipe away sin. Thus will the guilt of innocent, blood be taken from off the people. The following directions are, indeed, practical directions for Israel; but they seem to me to contain, at the same time, some of God's principles towards His people. Thus Israel upon earth, and the church in heaven, have both been the true first-born whom God will not disinherit. And the rebellious son presents also Israel in final disobedience to God.
EU 22-25Chapter 22, appears to contain ordinances to guard the people from want of. benevolence and mercy, and of that which would offend the sensibilities of nature, either with regard to tenderness or purity. So also all mixture was forbidden in plowing or in sowing. The same thing with regard to women; they were protected against the dishonor done to them by a brutish husband without consideration; whilst impurity was punished with death. Thus (chap. 23) the people are taught what sentiments became them, according to God, with reference to the nations, the ways and doings of those nations taken into consideration, in case of war. They are also instructed in what was proper, as to the purity of the camp in case of war, seeing God was there; so with regard to all sorts of things, such as the slave that was escaped from his master, things morally impure, even the neighbor's vineyard, and (chap. 24), a more serious thing, divorcement, and everything relative to it; delicacy towards the poor, the hire of laborers, the gleaning for the poor. The spirit of all these ordinances is very instructive, and the goodness and the tenderness of God, who deigns to take knowledge of all these things, and to teach His people delicacy, propriety, consideration for others, sensitiveness, and those feelings which, by removing brutality and softening the hardness of the heart of man, fashion his ways after that love with which the Spirit of God presents himself when He acts in the heart of man. Here, it is true, everything is imperfect. There are things taken for granted here, which form the basis of these ordinances, which the full operation of the Spirit of Christ would entirely take away; divorce, for instance, and other things, endured, owing their existence to the hardness of man's heart. But the limitations and conditions assigned by the law of God, keep in check the wickedness of that will, which hardens itself while it oppresses others. Chapter 25, adds ordinances which are a continuance of what we have already read; taking care that none of their brethren should be dishonored in their eyes, and that no family should perish from among the people; there being at the same time the maintenance of purity and uprightness. As to the inveterate enemies of God and His people, Israel was never to seek peace with them.
Human amiability is often enmity with God. This ordinance is so much the more remarkable, because it follows so many others which made provision for kindness, even to a bird. The Lord had taken care that an Egyptian should find the entrance into the assembly of God; but those affections were to be in exercise towards the Egyptians for the good of the souls of the Israelites themselves. They were not to harden their hearts against those in whose midst they had sojourned. But to spare the Amalekites, who came to meet Israel to shut up their way and destroy the feeble ones among them, was to forget what was due to God who brought them back and, as regarded the people, it would have proved indifference of heart to evil, and not the effusion of a natural affection; neither was it yielding to remembrances, with which charity might mingle for good, by a becoming forgetfulness of wrongs formerly received. Where there is nobleness of sentiment, men who know (though they have injured) each other, still will own one another when the evil is over. But there is a spirit which claims nothing but disgust; to tolerate it, is only sparing oneself, and admitting that very spirit into one's heart to partake of it. This is not a question about judging, but about the state of one's own heart. The distance of an Egyptian from God was recognized; but if he were in relationship with him during three generations, why should he be kept at a distance? Why should he remain a stranger? But Amalek did not fear God; did not recognize Him. What then could be recognized in such a nation? We must bring God into our affairs-our relations; and charity, firmness, justness in our judgments, will each find their place, and be reproduced in all our ways.
EU 26To close this succession of ordinances, we have (chap. 26) a most beautiful picture of the worship consequent on the enjoyment of the land, according to the promises of God, a picture full of instruction for us too.
First, we find the main subject of this book appear as everywhere else-Israel is in the land which God had given him for an inheritance.
But, as to worship, the question is not here about drawing near to God in the holy place, by means of sacrifices which, supposing sin, opened the way for the people into the presence of the Lord. They enjoy the promise, and present themselves as worshippers, giving thanks as enjoying it. Whilst presenting the first of all the fruits of the promise, they were to go up to the place where the Lord had placed His name. What then was the spirit of that worship? First, it was based on the open confession that they were in the full enjoyment of the effect of the promise of God. "I profess this day unto the Lord that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers to give us." That is the first feature of that worship-the full profession of being in the enjoyment of the effect of the promise. It was the acknowledgment of the faithfulness of God in the present communion of His goodness. Thereupon the offering was presented. Then, in the presence of the Lord, the worshipper made confession of the redemption and deliverance of the people. A Syrian, ready to perish, was his father; and afterward, when his children, oppressed by the Egyptians, cried unto the Lord, the Lord had heard and delivered them, with an outstretched arm, and had, by a display of His power, brought them up into the land they were enjoying. The second feature, then, is the confession of what their misery had been, of their impotency in time past, and that their redemption has been accomplished by the Lord alone, to whom they were indebted for all these blessings. Thereupon the worshipper directly addresses the Lord, presenting Him with the first-fruits of those blessings. It was the recognition of God in the blessings, the infallible effect of a work of God in the heart, and the only means of truly enjoying them-for God's blessings turn the heart away from Him, if their first effect is not to turn it to Him. That is the history of Israel, and a thousand times, alas! in the details of life, that of our own hearts. A pious heart acknowledges God Himself in the blessing, before enjoying it. See a beautiful example in the conduct of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, sent to fetch a wife for Isaac.
Then it is added, " And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee." They were to enjoy them with God; and, consequently, observe here, that in this the spirit of grace manifests itself at once, "Thou, the Levite and the stranger that is within thy gate." It is impossible truly to rejoice in the blessing of God before Him, without the spirit of grace being present-without returning blessing for cursing, knowing that we are called to inherit His blessing. The same truth is found again in the tithes of the third year, given to the poor, the Levite, etc., according to the spirit we have just spoken of. Another feature of the state of heart of the true worshipper was, holiness in consecrating to the Lord, with uprightness of heart, that which was due to Him according to grace.
He was not to be robbed in anything for appropriation to oneself- nothing was to be profaned by applying it to self-to defiled or interested uses. In a word, the conscience was good as regarded consecration to the Lord, in the things by which the worshipper acknowledged Him as the true and sole Author of all the blessings. And if the Lord was the Author of them, communion with Him, in acknowledging Him, was in the spirit of holiness, of consecration to Him, and in the spirit of goodness and grace that was in Him, towards His poor and forsaken ones. The character of God is manifested again and again in that which is recognized in the communion of His people, otherwise the people were guilty and defiled, in that they had profaned the name of the Lord. This consecration in purity to God, and this expression of His goodness, is singularly beautiful. Then the blessing of God was implored, not only upon one's self, from God, who cared for all His people, but upon all Israel, upon the land which was the proof of the faithfulness of God, and of the riches of his goodness. This worship was, then, a link between the people and God, in the communion of what He was; that is, a link in worship, by acknowledging what He was, and by bearing witness to it. Thus, according to the commandments of the Lord, looked at as the conditions of this link, God had that day acknowledged the people, and the people had acknowledged the Lord for their God. Now comes the sanction; that is to say, that which gives vigor to His law; in the consequences (blessings and curses) which were to correspond with obedience or disobedience.
EU 27This is brought out in the 27, and two following chapters; the 27, is by itself, however, and is of rather wide scope in the understanding of the word of God. If individual piety expressed itself in the manner we have seen in the preceding chapter, the public relations of the people with God were based, on the threats of the law. When the people should have gone over Jordan to take possession of the land of promise (an idea which constantly presents itself), having set up great stones and plastered them with plaster, they were to write the law upon them. This law contained the conditions on which the land was to be enjoyed. The people were to divide themselves into two companies of tribes, part being placed upon Mount Gerizim to bless, the other upon Ebal to curse. Upon the latter was an altar to be erected to the Lord, not for sin-offerings, but for burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, a worship pre-supposing a righteous people, in communion with the Lord; but placed under the curse, if they should break the law. The announcement of the curses follow, ending with that curse which would rest on every one not continuing in all the things which were written in the book of the law to do them.
But the blessings of Gerizim are entirely omitted. It is needless to insist upon the importance of this blank. "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse," says the apostle; "for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law." There is no possibility of escape; no one, except the Lord Jesus, has accomplished it; and He, if one may so speak, did not raise an altar for burnt-offering, an altar of worship for a righteous man who had fulfilled the law, for Himself alone; but He offered Himself for us on that mountain of cursing as an offering for sin, and has thus silenced forever all those threats and curses; though Gerizim is not consequently sufficient either. Heaven, and, moreover, for Him, the Father's throne, are the only worthy answer and reward for what He has accomplished by suffering for OUR sins. The connection between the principles of chap. 26, and those of chap. 27, is deeply interesting: the fulfillment of the promise in the enjoyment of the land, the basis of thanksgivings, and of the worship which has its source in redemption; afterward the altar, the service to be rendered to God, a service linked to His law, the violation of which, in a single point, brought the curse. It is in that point of view, the only one which went to the root of the question, that the apostle looks at it. It is on the ground of this covenant of Deuteronomy that the people became the people of the Lord, on their entering the land (comp. verses 9, 10, and chap. 29:1).
EU 28In chap. 28, we have the principles of God's government in the midst of that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience; consequences so solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still beloved for the Father's sake. The consequences of the violation of the law, as a principle of relationship with God, in point of everlasting righteousness, must not be confounded with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is to these latter that chap. 28 has reference. We may notice for ourselves the deep instruction of the 47th and 48th verses.
EU 29Chapter 29, is the personal application to the conscience of the people, both collectively and individually, of all that precedes, that there may be no bitter root of sin (comp. Heb. 12:15), the application of this exhortation to the discipline and the loving care of the church. Verse 29 requires to be noticed; we find in it the contrast between the consequences thus revealed of obedience and disobedience, and the purposes of God, in behalf of the people notwithstanding their disobedience, purposes which evidently could not be a rule for their conduct: that rule was found in the ordinances of the law. The meaning of this verse has been so twisted, that it is worth while pointing out its force. The secret things are the purposes of God with regard to the people, though they should have been disobedient and driven out of the land; but although they are not the rule of conduct, they are revealed, and are of deep interest. In what follows, God begins already to present them to our attention, and surely it becomes us to consider them.
Thus, we have in these chapters the relations of the pious Jew with God, grounded upon the accomplishment of the promises made to the fathers, in the present enjoyment of the land; the relationship of the people with God, in view of the curse pronounced upon the -violation of the law; the relations of the people with God, according to the principles of His government, the consequences brought on, either by their obedience or disobedience; and, finally, after the disobedience, and when that has produced its fruit, the designs of God according to His purpose, which nothing could alter.
EU 30We must now dwell a little on this last point. Chapter 30 furnishes us with an important principle. Supposing that the people have already incurred the consequences of obedience or disobedience, they are seen as driven out of the land, and strangers among distant nations. The law could not be followed out in such a case; and, indeed, the violation of the law had even then produced its fruits. But then, quite a new principle is introduced: the return of the hearts of the people to the Lord, and obedience, one must add, in spirit. Thereupon the Lord brings them back into their land, and blesses them in it. The curse is put on their enemies, and they are to observe, in the land, the ordinances of the Lord, enjoying anew His full blessing; for the commandment was neither in heaven, nor beyond the seas, but in the mouth and in the heart. This was not the new covenant, but faith laying hold of the spirit of the law in principle, and turning the heart towards the Lord, when the law was externally impracticable. The establishment of the new covenant, based on this return of the heart, at a time appointed of God, will be something well defined. Here, we have the principle of their., return, when under the curse of the law they had broken. Thus, the apostle quotes this passage for the basis of the principle, as a testimony given to what righteousness by faith was, applying it to Christ Himself. At the end of the chapter, Moses declares that he has now set before them the good and the evil, and that they would have to bear the consequences of their choice.
EU 31In chap. 31, he introduces Joshua, as the leader under whom the people were to take possession of the promised land. He orders that the law should be read before all every seventh year, in order that every one might take notice of it, in that solemn moment when, enjoying afresh, as it were, the blessing which it secured to them, they submitted to it as a testimony that the land, as well as everything, belonged to the Lord. Afterward, when Joshua is established in his charge, Moses is ordered to communicate to the people a song inspired of God, which, based upon the certainty of the iniquity of the people, announces the ways of the Lord towards them; commanding the Levites, at the same time, to put the written law by the side of the Ark, as a witness against the people.
EU 32Chapter 32—We have the prophetic song, which is based on the foreknown fall of the people. First he declares the perfectness of the Lord, whatever may take place; it is Israel who have corrupted themselves (comp. Psa. 22:3. Christ can say, "Why"). At the same time (verse 8) we have an all-important declaration, namely, that God, in His government of the world, had made Israel the center, and had arranged the nations of the earth, in their various localities, as having respect to the bounds of Israel, as being the first object of those ways; for His earthly people are the Lord's portion, His inheritance upon earth. But Jeshurun (Israel) waxed fat, and kicked, and forsook the Rock of His strength; consequently, God moves them to jealous, with those that are not a people. It is the call of the Gentiles, according to Rom. 10:19. The judgment, nevertheless, falls upon Israel, so that God would have destroyed them, had not the glory of His name hindered Him, for the Gentiles proved themselves perfectly wicked. Then the people, being distressed, without strength and without hope, He remembers them, and finally takes vengeance on their enemies, those idolatrous Gentiles. But, though avenging Himself, it is then that, having restored His people Israel, He will cause the Gentiles to rejoice in Him. This principle is true already, but the testimony of it will be fully accomplished when Israel is again restored to the enjoyment of the promises; when God will manifest His mercy towards His land, as well as towards. His people. Afterward, Moses puts obedience (the great end of this book) before them again, and reminds them that thereby they would prolong their days in the land which they were going up to possess. At last poor Moses has to go up Mount Nebo, to see the land into which he cannot enter, not having answered the requirement of the glory of God in the wilderness, nor sanctified His name by faith. It is the unavoidable consequence of the just government of God towards a servant, I mean under the law. He does not get into the enjoyment of the promise. A single fault deprives him of it. We have also the blessings of this man of God, pronounced over the people before his death. The blessings of Jacob were more historical regarding the future. Here they are rather the relation with God, according to His government; twelve is still the number of the tribes. Simeon being omitted, to make room for two tribes of the posterity of Joseph, the first-born as to the inheritance, instead of Reuben. Here it is, according to the blessing of God, and not according to the rights of nature. Upon this latter principle, Israel, represented by Reuben, will be diminished, but will not die.
The Lord (Jehovah) is there in majesty, with the terror of the law in His right hand; but He loves the people, that is to say, His saints, there surrounding Him, to receive His words. The people receive a law, through the mediation of Moses, which is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. This Moses is there as king. Those are, then, the relations on which these blessings are based.
The blessings are not here presented historically as those of the children of the fathers, and, consequently, in connection with Shiloh, the Rock of Israel; but the subject is, the relations of the Lord with the people, as in possession of the land, and placed under the government of God: the Lord blessing, but blessing according to the majesty of Sinai, and of His revelation of Himself in the bush; Moses, the king, being the channel of these blessings, which had thus reference to the nation, and were based upon those relations with God. Thus, Levi is blessed, having been faithful to the Lord; Joseph has the blessing and the good-will of Him that dwelt in the bush, having been separated from his brethren, fearing God, and being the vessel of his purposes. We must also remark here, that the chief blessings rest upon him who, for the sake of God, neither knew his father nor his mother, and upon Joseph, who, for the glory of God, was separated from his own. Both were His. Levi has the most excellent place; his separation, which should actually fake place, was a fruit of faithfulness. Joseph perhaps more sensible enjoyment; he was faithful to God in his involuntary separation. Both these are completely realized in Christ.
If the blessing of God preserves life to Reuben, with but few men, Judah is presented to the Lord, that he may be heard, and that the help of the Lord may be with him. The expression, "Bring him unto his people," deserves careful notice, in the relations which have existed between that people and God, seeing the position of Judah in their history, under the government of God, and even in that which is yet to take place. Levi occupies the third place, Simeon being left out. The request of the prophet-king for him (Levi) is the everlasting priesthood of the people of God (upon earth, of course). "His holy one" is used in the sense of piety towards God-grace in the heart. He requests that the perfections and the light in the intelligence of the relations which would in reality exist at all times between the people and God, and between God and the people in return, might be with the man of grace and piety, officially the priestly tribe. But the basis of this request is remarkable, as to the government of God. God proved the people at Massah, and strove with them at Meribah. Now, that is precisely what is attributed to Israel historically. They tried, or tempted God at Massah, and strove with Him at Meribah. But where the flesh manifested itself in Israel, there did God put His priest to the test; and at the waters of Meribah, where Moses did not sanctify Him, He was in controversy with Moses. Painful circumstances, the being deprived of the stream of manifest and sensible blessings, in the midst of the people of God, a state which makes room for the manifestation of rebellious flesh, and for murmurs against God in the wilderness, tempting God and saying, "Is He amongst us?"-are trials to which God subjects His priests. The church, in her priestly position, and especially those who have the good of the church at heart, are also put to the test, to see whether they know how to reckon upon the blessing of God, however things may be. But, although Levi. was put to the test in his priesthood, he had been put to the test in order to obtain it; and Levi had not hesitated one moment in choosing between man and God-even man in the nearest relationship according to the flesh. That is the sole basis of all priesthood. One can only stand before God on the behalf of another, in proportion as one has oneself stood truly for God before man. For with what God would one be a mediator? It would not be with the Holy God, who has a right to our whole being. There could only be the sympathy of the flesh, which connects itself with sins for sinners. One must be accepted in the presence of God, according to His holiness, in order to be able to intercede for man in his weakness. This is absolutely true of Jesus, and of us all in a practical sense. But to be so, there must be the testimony where the question is raised, and this must needs cost us something before men. One must be for God, not sparing one's self, hating father and mother. This instruction is important. There must also be the distinguishing between the trial of our priesthood and the trial of ourselves before entering upon it. Here it is the practical trial, for we are priests by grace.
It would seem that the place of Benjamin, in relation with the Lord, was in his favor; being kept near him, as has been the case with that tribe. Joseph had his earthly blessing by the title of first-born; as to the inheritance, his land is blessed, the double portion is assigned to him. I have no remarks to make on the other blessings, except that those of Zabulon and Issachar seem to be yet future, and those of Gad to establish the relations which existed already.
But, moreover, if the ways of God towards His people were connected with their faithfulness and the manifestation of Him; if God suited His ways to their conduct, to manifest His government and Himself, He also exalted Himself above all, to bless and to keep. He would go back upon the title of His own glory in order to be to them an infallible source of blessing and security; He would make known his glory in the behalf of Israel; He rode upon the heavens to their help. Where His majesty was, there was the help of the people. He would uphold them also, would destroy their enemies, and then should Israel dwell in safety alone. The nation should dwell in a fruitful land, on which the heavens would drop down blessings as dew. Happy people! objects of the deliverance of God, who was unto them as a shield and a sword! Their enemies would be subdued under them. Thus, whatever might be the detail of the relations of the people with God in His government of them, He would bless them in the end, as a people, according to His sovereign glory and majesty.
We have now to consider a little the prohibition made to Moses, that he should not enter the land of promise. Moses, the man of God, might pronounce the blessings on Israel as in the land; but he himself, the servant of God, belonged to the wilderness. There are more things than one to be weighed here. As to the position of Moses, it was that of the government of a people, placed under the principles of Sinai; that is, while under the government of God, it was in the flesh that His people were subjected to that government (comp. Rom. 7:5, where the subject is fully discussed).
Now, man in the flesh, under the government of God, cannot come into the enjoyment of the promise; this is true, even of a Christian Dead and risen in Christ, he is seated in the heavenly places, he enjoys the promise in the presence of God; but, as a man upon earth, he is under the government of God, who acts towards him according to the manifestation of the spiritual life here below; and Christ is between him and God, exercising a priesthood which does not establish righteousness (that is done once for all), but which maintains the relations of weak men-whom, at the same time, it renews upon earth-with God in the light, to the fellowship of which they are called in Christ, who is in it.
Crossing Jordan, was death and resurrection, in a figure. Joshua always represents Christ, Head of His people according to the power of the Spirit. But the wilderness is this world. Moses directs and governs the people there according to God; consequently he does not enter into Canaan. The difference (we shall dwell on that more at length when we study the book of Joshua) between the Red Sea and Jordan is, that the Red Sea was the efficacy of redemption through death and resurrection in Christ Himself. Jordan was the application of it to the soul, in order to the enjoyment of the promises. The passage of the Red Sea was followed by songs of joy; that of Jordan, by conflict and the realization of the promises. Now, as to Moses himself, the fault which precluded his individual entrance into the land, is well known: provoked by the rebellion of Israel, and wearied with caring for the people, instead of exalting God in the eyes of Israel, he exalted himself. He made use of the gift of God for that purpose; he did not sanctify the Lord in the eyes of the people; he did not give Him His place. God is not wearied; and thus acting in discipline, for the good of His people, according to His majesty, He can always fall back upon those ways of direct blessing which flow from His unfailing grace. Man, wearied with the evil that vexes him, tries to exalt himself, to put himself above the evil, and to shelter himself from it, because he is not above it.
He no longer glorifies God, by exalting himself he is abased. If Moses, instead of acting according to the flesh, had remembered that the question was not about himself (and how often had He told them so!), but about God, he would have felt that the people could not touch the glory of God; and this unfailing glory would have sustained him, looking only at that glory which ever maintains itself; so that if we only seek to maintain it, we may rest upon it.
EU 33But he lacked faith, and was forbidden to enter into that which only the perfection of glory could open to men; and indeed, what could lead Israel safely through the desert and into the land of Canaan? Pure grace alone. Moses was not able to apprehend the height of that grace that conquers everything. It was according to that grace, as we have seen, that God acted at Meribah. Now, the law could not lead into life; and therefore the flesh, the world and the law, ever correlative in the ways of God, were found in the journey through the wilderness; and Moses remains there. He might, as a man of God, and a prophet, tell of grace, as making sure the blessing of Israel (chap. 33:26-29). Faithful in all his house, as a servant, he remains on this side Jordan, a proof, in these touching circumstances, that an absolutely new creation is needed, to enjoy the promises of God, according to that grace, which can alone, after all, bring one in safety even through the wilderness-the unfailing grace of our God.
Moses dies, and, buried by the Lord, no longer serves, as an. object of carnal veneration, to a people at all times ready to fall into this sin, when his name-gave them honor according to the flesh; just as they continually opposed him, when his presence according to God thwarted the flesh. He was a man honored of God, who scarcely had his equal (Him of course excepted who had none); but nevertheless he was man, and man is but vanity.
DEUTERONOMY, i.e. Second Law, as in LXX., Δευτερονομιον is called trial (words) in the Hebrew bible, see chap. 1:1, "These are the Words," etc.