The History of the Old Testament Methodized
Having given them these Laws concerning the poor and the Israelitish Servants, he now reinforceth a Law which concerned the relief of the Priests that served the Lord and his people. He enjoins them to sanctify unto the Lord (that is, to set apart for his use) the firstling-Males that came of their Herd and Flocks, [see Deut. 12.6.] The ground of this Law was, because God smote all the first-born of Egypt from man to beast, but spared the Israelites. Thou shalt therefore (says he) do no work with the firstling of thy Bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy Sheep; because these Beasts were the Lord's, they were not to use them as their own, for their own profit or service. These being the Priests, they were to eat them, they and their Housholds year by year in the place that God shall choose to put his Name and place his Sanctuary there. But if any of these firstlings be lame or blind, or otherwise blemished, they were not to sacrifice them to the Lord, [see Levite. 22.19.] but in such a case the Priests may eat them in any of their ordinary Habitations, as freely as any ordinary meat, the unclean and the clean may eat of them together. Only the blood they must not eat, but must pour it out as water upon the ground.
[Chap. XVI] He comes now to give them several Ordinances concerning the three solemn Feasts, and the several Offerings to be then offered. And first he charges them to observe the month Abib, answering to part of our March and part of our April, and the Feast of the Passover then to be celebrated; for in that month God brought them out of Egypt by night; and after they had eaten the Paschal-Lamb they were to keep a Feast for seven days with other Sacrifices of the Flock and Herd, such as are appointed, Numb. 28.18, &c. and this they were to do in the place, which the Lord should choose to place his Name there, and nowhere else. And for these seven days they were to eat only unleavened-bread, (the bread of affliction) viz. which should be a Memorial to them of their great affliction in Egypt, (this being usually the bread of those that lived in affliction and poverty, not being toothsome or pleasant to the Palat or taste,) and of their hasty coming out from thence before their bread had time to be leavened, Exod. 12.15. During this Feast they were not to have any leaven in their houses. They were to kill the Passover (that is, the Paschal-Lamb, ) at the even of the fourteenth day of this month, at the going down of the Sun, at the time they were preparing to come out of Egypt, and that only at the place which the Lord should choose (as he did Jerusalem afterwards) and they were not to reserve any part of the flesh of it till the morning. And the morrow after this Feast (which was to continue seven days) was ended, they might depart to their several dwellings. Yet they were to observe that the last day of the seven was to be an holy Convocation to the Lord, wherein they were not to do any servile or unnecessary work. Ch. 16. from verse. 1. to 9.
2ly, He comes now to speak of the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, [see Levite. 23.10, 15.] which was to be reckoned from the second day of the Feast of unleavened-bread, (see note [a] ) and from thence they were to reckon seven complete Sabbaths or Weeks, which made 49 days, then on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath or Week, which was the fiftieth day (reckoning the day on which they began their account inclusively ) they were to keep the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. This Feast they were to keep unto the Lord with the Tribute of a free-will-Offering of their Fruits (according as the Lord had blessed them) over and above the Sacrifices appointed for the day, [Levite. 23.17, 20.] and with those they were to rejoice together before the Lord in cheerful feasting, they and their Families, and the Levite, Stranger, Widow and Fatherless, in the place which the Lord should choose, remembering how their Fathers were Bondmen in Egypt, and how wonderfully God had delivered them from thence, from verse. 9. to 13.
Next he comes to the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths made with the boughs of Trees, Levite. 23.34, 40. which they were to observe seven days after they had gathered in their Corn and the fruit of their Vines; and this Feast they were to Celebrate not only with inward joy, but with the outward expressions thereof, viz. by Sacrifices of Thanksgiving unto the Lord, with sober and religious feasting of the Poor and the Levites, the Stranger and the Widow rejoicing before the Lord, in contemplation that he had so eminently blessed their increase. Three times a year, viz. at these three solemn Feasts He tells them, All the Males shall appear before the Lord in the place which he shall choose, and they must not appear before Him empty, but everyone must come with such a Gift and Oblation as he was able and willing to give, from verse. 13. to 18.
He comes now to show them, That they must appoint Judges to sit in the Gates (the usual places of Judicature ) in all their Towns and Cities, who must judge the people with just Judgment, and not wrest or pervert Judgment, nor partially respect Persons in Judgment, nor take Bribes. For a Gift blindeth the eyes of the wise, that is, of those that seemed so to be, making them judge otherwise than they ought to do, being biased by the love of lucre, and maketh those that should be righteous in Judgment to pass a perverse Sentence. But it must not be so with their Judges, but they must follow that which is altogether just, that they may live and inherit the Land which the Lord shall give them.
Further he tells them, They must not plant Groves near to the Altar or Temple, which might seem in sanctity to vie with them, and be an occasion of Idolatry, and would be an imitation of the Heathens, who used to have their Idols in Groves.
And further, that they should not set up any Image or Statue to Worship, as the Heathen did, which thing the Lord hateth, from verse. 18. to the end.
He now comes to show them that the things sacrificed to the Lord must be without [Chap. XVII] blemish. Thou shalt not (says he) sacrifice to the Lord thy God any Bullock or Sheep wherein is any blemish, or any ill-favouredness, for that is an abomination to the Lord, see Levite. 22.20, 21. & Deut. 15.21. He shows that if any among them were found guilty of Idolatry, in that they had worshipped the Sun or Moon, or any of the Host of Heaven, (and consequently any other Creature ) they must be ston'd to death, whether it were Man or Woman, because they had wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord, and transgressed his Covenant, whereby they had bound themselves in Obedience unto God, and did openly as it were renounce God and the true Religion, and choose unto themselves other gods. If he be convicted by the testimony of two or more credible Witnesses (one not being sufficient) the Witnesses shall throw the first stones at him (which was to make them more afraid to bear false witness, and to bring the guilt of innocent blood on their own heads,) and then the rest of the people assembled were to have a hand in the execution of him, hereby to inure them to be fervent and zealous in God's Cause against all those that should despise and disregard his Laws, and so they should put away evil from among them.
He further shows them, That when in their Towns or Cities any difficult matter did arise, as in the case of bloodshed, (it being doubtful whether it were to be reckoned Murder or only Chance-medley ) or concerning any plea about their Estates, or any stroke given, or anything of the like nature, in that case they were to go to the place which God should choose, (which in the after-times was Jerusalem ) and there resort to the Priests as Expounders of the Law, and to the Judge or Judges, as the civil Magistrates, who were to show them the Sentence of Judgment; that is, what is just and right in this matter, that so the thing in question might be decided, see 2 Chron. 19.8, 9, 10. and they were to do according to the Sentence which the Priests and Judges should give, because in cases of greater difficulty the Priests were to inquire of the Lord, that they might not give wrong Judgment. And death was to be inflicted on him that would not hearken to the Priest so expounding the Law, or the Judge passing Sentence according to it, especially if he stubbornly and presumptuosly opposed their Judgment, though they proved it never so clearly out of the Law, and the Priest had inquired of the Lord about it. And all the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
Further, when they were come into Canaan, and should desire to have a King over them like other Nations, he prescribes certain Laws and Rules to them concerning their electing of him, and His duty. And first he enjoins that they set only such an one to be King over them who is one of their Brethren and Nation, an Israelite, not a Stranger, lest he change their Religion into Idolatry, and so bring them into Sin and Slavery, and only such an one whom the Lord should choose. 2ly, The King thus chosen was not to multiply horses to himself, viz. in a greater proportion than the state of a King requires, lest he should put confidence in worldly strength (whereof horses for War were a principal part) and not in God. And that he might not hereby be puffed up and exalted in mind to the despising, and perhaps oppressing of his Subjects, and might not by the excessive Charge thereof be burdensome to his people. He shall not cause his Subjects to go down into Egypt to buy horses, (where there was great plenty of them, and they counted the strength of their Country,) lest they be corrupted with the Idolatry and other sins of the Egyptians; For God would have them to have such a sense of their former Deliverance out of that Bondage, as to abhor the very thought of going thither again. For besides all former intimations from the Lord to the same purpose, the Lord had now commanded him to say unto them, That they should henceforth return no more that way, viz. which leadeth down to Egypt. Further he enjoins, That their King shall not multiply Wives to himself, that his heart turn not away from the Lord to sensual pleasures, nor to Idolatry, by the allurement of his Wives, as Solomon's did, 1 Kings 11.4. Neither shall he too too excessively desire to multiply to himself Silver and Gold, lest by such an extraordinary greediness after riches he oppress the people, and heap up Gold and Silver by rapine and unjust exactions, and so his mind be puffed up with pride by reason of his wealth.
Further he was to send for the Original Copy of this Law (which was to remain with the Priests, and to be kept in the Sanctuary, Deut. 31.26.) and to write or cause to be written a Copy of it for his own use, and he was to read therein all the days of his life, that he might learn to fear the Lord, and to keep all the words of this Law, and these Statutes, to do them. That his heart be not lifted up above his Brethren, and that he turn not aside from the Commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days.
[Chap. XVIII] In the next place he shows them, that seeing the Priests are to have no part nor Inheritance with the rest of the Tribes, they shall eat of the Offerings made by fire on the Altar, as the Meat-Offering, Sin-Offering, and Trespass-Offering, [Numb. 18.9.] and of all other things which the Lord challengeth to himself as his Right and Inheritance, and hath reserved for his Service, and the sustenance of his Servants the Priests; for God would not have them cumbered with the affairs of this life, lest by them they should be hindered from doing their duties. Therefore he declares that He himself will be their Inheritance, and will supply all their wants out of his abundance. And this shall be the Priests due from them that bring a Sacrifice of a Peace-Offering. They shall give to Him the Shoulder, the two Cheeks and the Maw. The wave-breast mentioned elsewhere, is here left out, possibly as comprehended under the Shoulder to which it is joined in the Sheep, being both parts of the same quarter. But the Maw and two Cheeks added here are nowhere else mentioned. Further he tells them, They were to give to the Priest the first fruit of their Corn, of their Wine and Oil, and the first of the fleece of their Sheep, [see Exod. 22.29. & Numb. 18.12.] Because the Lord hath called them to stand and minister in his Name, that is, by authority received from him, see Deut. 10.8.
Further he orders, That when ever any of the Tribe of Levi, out of his own voluntary devotion, had an earnest desire to come and serve in the Tabernacle or Temple, they should be admitted to live of the holy things there even as the rest did that in their turns did serve in that place. For such as out of singular devotion to the Service of the Sanctuary did go up to serve there, God would have them to live of the Altar, and not be put thereby to spend their own private estate what ever it was, or that money which came of the sale of their private Patrimony, from 1. to 9.
In the next place he exhorts them to take heed of doing after the abominations of the Canaanites. Let not there be found among you any one (says he) who makes his Son or Daughter to pass through the fire to Saturn or Moloch, see Levite. 18.21. 2 Kings 16.3. or that practices Divination, [see 1 Sam. 6.2. Ezek. 21. 21, 22.] by making use of familiar Spirits, [1 Sam. 6.2. 1 Sam. 28.8.] or an Observer of Times, crying up some days for lucky, others unlucky, or an Inchanter, using Songs or Verses, or other words or Ceremonies to produce supernatural Effects, or a Witch, or a Charmer, or a Consulter with familiar Spirits, or a Wizard, or a Necromancer, who by raising the dead did consult with them about secret things, see 1 Sam. 28.7. These Nations whose Land thou art going to possess hearkened to these, but thou shalt be upright and sincere before the Lord, and devote thyself entirely to him, who will not suffer thee to imitate them in these abominations. And he shows them, they should have no need to seek to such Enchanters and Diviners, because God would still raise up Prophets from among themselves of their own Brethren to reveal his Will to them, and at last about 1400 years after this would send them the great Prophet, the Messias, see Acts 3.22. & 7.37. Joh. 1.45. Joh. 5.46. And though the Prophets sent to Israel were not equal to Moses, Deut. 34.10. yet they were like him, being men sent from God as he was, and raised up from among their Brethren as he was. And so Christ was an High Priest taken from among men, Heb. 5.1. and like unto Moses, yet above him. As Moses brought them the Law from God, so Christ the Gospel out of the bosom of the Father, Joh. 6.40. And he shows how faithful these Prophets would be that he should send to them, to deliver what ever he gave them in Charge, and nothing else but what he should put into their mouths. And this was most eminently verified in Christ, Joh. 15.15. All things that I have heard of my Father have I made known unto you. He further shows, That God will severely punish those that will not hear his Prophets speaking to them in his Name. And this was principally to be fulfilled upon the Jews, who would not hearken to the words of Christ, for which God destroyed their City and Sanctuary, as was prophesied, Dan. 9.26. And further, lest false Prophets should arise and come to them in the Lord's Name, he gives them a Rule how they should discover them. If any of them should predict or foretell any strange and miraculous thing that should come to pass as a proof that they were truly sent of God, if these things did not accordingly come to pass, they might be sure they were false Prophets. And they might know them also by this, if they strove to turn them from the true God and his Law. But in other Predictions, as in foretelling some Judgment that should befall men, that which they foretold might not come to pass, and yet they that foretold these things might be the true Prophets of God for all that. For thus it was with Jonah who prophesied, Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed, Jon. 3.4. And so Isaiah, Who told Hezekiah that he should die of his sickness, 2 Kings 20.1. For in all such Predictions the people might know that those things were conditionally foretold, though the condition were not always expressed, and therefore that in case they repented, God would not inflict the evil denounced against them.
But as for false Prophets that prophesied presumptuously, fathering their own Phantasies and wild Conceits on the true God, they should not need to fear them nor their Predictions, nor fear to put them to death when they found them upon clear proof so to be.
Having before assigned them three Cities of Refuge in the Land without Jordan, [Chap. XIX] which they had already vanquished, [ Deut. 4.41.] now he gives direction that when they had possessed themselves of the Land of Canaan within Jordan, they should there also set apart three Cities of Refuge more, and they should take care that from all parts of the Country round about these Cities there should be a direct, plain, broad, fair Highway or Cawsey leading to these Cities, setting up marks whereby the way might be known leading thither, to the end that the Man-slayer might not be hindered in his flying thither. And because the Land within Jordan was much more long than broad, it was to be divided into three equal parts, and the Cities of Refuge (which were afterwards Kadesh, Shechem and Hebron ) were to be in three places equally distant, and so commodious for men to fly unto. The persons that were to enjoy the Privilege of those Cities, were only such as killed a man unwittingly by Chancemedly (as we call it) and not out of malice, or on purpose. And they were to appoint these Cities of Refuge in the three several divisions of the Land, lest if the person that had killed a man unwittingly had too far to fly ere he could come to one of them, the Avenger (that is, one of the Kinsmen of the dead,) while his heart was hot might pursue him, and overtake him before he could get thither, and so slay him, though he had not deserved death, inasmuch as he hated him not in times past. And though they were at first commanded to set apart only three Cities of Refuge within Jordan, yet he commands them that if afterwards the Lord should enlarge their Coast, viz. by giving them the Land from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates, then they should separate three Cities of Refuge more in those Quarters, that innocent blood might not be shed in the Land which the Lord would give them for an Inheritance, and so blood be upon them. But on the other side, if any man did hate his Neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he died, and then fled unto any of these Cities, in such a case the Elders of the City or place where the slayer dwelleth, and unto which he belongeth, should send and fetch him thence, viz. from the City of Refuge (yea or from the Altar of the Lord, Exod. 21.14.) and deliver him into the hands of the Avenger of blood that he might slay him; In such case they must not pity him upon any pretence whatsoever, and so they should put away the guilt of innocent blood from among them, that it might go well with them, from 1. to 14.
And to prevent occasions of quarrelling and blood-shed, in the next place he charges them that no man should remove his Neighbors Land-mark, [see Deut. 27.17.] which would be a piece of great injustice, and might occasion quarrels about the bounds of their Lands and Possessions. Next he declares, That the testimony of a single man rising up as a witness against another shall not be admitted as sufficient to prove the Crime laid to his Charge, and to cause him to be condemned for it. But by the testimony of two or three witnesses matters shall be established, settled, confirmed, and stand good, [see Joh. 8.17.] And in case two or more witnesses did rise up against a man, and only one of them spake home as to the proof of that whereof he was accused, if here the party accused did allege that this man bare false witness against him, then both these men (between whom the Controversy is) shall stand before the Lord; that is, shall be brought to the place which the Lord shall choose, and shall be set before the Ark or Sanctuary, and there the witness shall be examined as in the presence of God, and possibly if they could not find out the matter by examination, then the Priest was to inquire of the Lord according to that, 1 Kings 8.31, 32. And if the Judges find that the man hath testified falsely against his Brother, then they shall do unto him as he thought to have done to his Brother; that is, the civil Magistrate shall without tenderness or pity inflict such punishment on him as should have been inflicted on the party accused, had he been found guilty, [according to that Law, Exod. 21.23.] And so they should put away evil from among them, and those which remain should hear and fear, and should no more commit any such abominable thing.
[Chap. XX] In the next place he comes to give them directions concerning War, and how it should be managed: 1. The Priests should encourage the people when they drew nigh to battle with their Enemies, exhorting them not to be afraid though they were more than they. And they should say to them, Hear, O Israel, you approach this day unto battle against your Enemies; Let not your hearts faint, fear not neither be ye terrified because of them; For the Lord your God is with you, and goeth forth with you to fight for you against your Enemies, and to save you. 2ly, The Officers should proclaim to the people before the battle, That if there were any man there that had built a new house, and had not dedicated it or initiated it; that is, taken possession of it, and begun to use it and dwell in it, (which was to be done with praying, singing Psalms, and feasting, ) he might go home if he would; God in this and the two next particulars manifesting a special Compassion, that men should not suddenly be taken off from those Comforts which they had long labored for, even when they were first entering upon the fruition of them; that being threatened as a Curse, Ch. 28.30. Thou shalt build an house and shalt not dwell therein. Or if any man had planted a Vineyard, and it was not yet made common; that is, such as himself and others might freely eat of (which he could not do by the Law till the fifth year from the planting of it) he might also return to his house, lest he should die in the battle and another enjoy his Vineyard. Or if any man had betrothed a Wife, whither Maid or Widow, and had not yet taken her to himself, he might have liberty to go home also and take her to wife. And lastly, If any were fearful and faint-hearted they might also depart if they would, lest by their fear and faint-heartedness they should infect their Brethren also; God hereby testifying how much he disliked a timorous fearful spirit in those that serve Him, whom he would have by faith to trust in him, and to rest secure of his Protection, see Judge. 7.3. The Officers having proclaimed these things, they were then to order the battle, and appoint every Captain in his place to lead the several Companies of Soldiers, from 1. to 10.
Further he enjoins them, that when they went to besiege any City out of the Land of Canaan, they should first proclaim peace to it; And if it did accept of the conditions of peace proffered to them, then they should spare that City, and only make them Tributary to them. But if they refused the Conditions of peace tendered to them, then (if God delivered them into their hands) they should kill every Male they found there, but the Women, little Ones, and Cattle, and all the Spoil of the City they should take unto themselves, and so they should eat and enjoy the Spoil of their Enemies which the Lord had given them. But when they went to besiege any of the Cities of the seven Nations in the Land of Canaan [see Ch. 7.1.2.] which God had commanded them to destroy, then they were not to spare Man, Woman or Child, lest (being left alive) they should teach them to do after their abominations which they had practiced towards their gods, and so occasion them to sin against the Lord. Further he enjoins them, that when they besieged a City they should not cut down the Fruit-Trees that grow about it, for their use in the siege, except upon unavoidable necessity, because those are very useful for man's food, and with these the Land could not be suddenly stored again. Therefore they must take heed that in their rage they did not so wast the Land as to prejudice Posterity. But with other Trees that were not Fruit-Trees they might build Bulwarks about a City which they besieged, till it was subdued, from verse. 10. to the end.
He now gives directions concerning uncertain Murder, how it is to be expiated. [Chap. XXI] If one be found slain, and lying in a field, and it be not known who hath slain him, then the Elders and Judges of the Towns and Cities round about shall, for the better satisfaction of them all, come forth and see the measure taken between the dead body and the Cities round about it (if it be doubtful what City is nearest) because the next City is to make expiation for the Murder in manner following, viz. The Elders of that City shall take an Heifer that hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the Yoke, and they shall bring down the Heifer unto a rough and obscure Valley that lies neglected and uncultivated, to make the thought of Murder more horrible and dreadful, and there they shall strike off the Heifers neck, signifying that the Murderer ought so to be used, could he be found out, and that if they had him in their hands they would so serve him. And the Priests, the Sons of Levi, shall come near (whom the Lord hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless the people in his Name,) to show by their presence that this was an extraordinary Sacrifice, and that the Elders might before them, as in God's presence, protest their Innocence, and to see that all things were done according to Law, and to satisfy the Elders in anything that might seem doubtful; For by their word and Sentence, as Expounders of God's Law, anything in Controversy, or any Stroke, must be judged or tried. And all the Elders of that City which was nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the Heifer, thereby intimating that they were innoce •• of the blood of the slain man, [see Matth. 27.24.] and they shall solemnly declare and protest, That their hands have not shed that blood, neither have their eyes seen it shed by any other. Then the Priest shall say, Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto their Charge; Impute not that to them which hath not been done by them, and lay not the punishment thereof upon them. And so they shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among them; that is, they shall be discharged from the guilt of this murder, and shall not be punished for it, they performing all these things which are here commanded by God, from verse. 1. to 10.
2ly, He gives direction, that when they go out to War with a foreign Nation, and among the Captives see a beautiful Woman, which one of them hath a desire to make his wife; In such case he shall bring her home to his house, and she shall shave her Head, and pare her Nails, and shall put off the Heathenish Garment wherein she was taken, and shall bewail her Father and Mother a full month, (as if they were dead ) she being to bid farewell forever to them; by all which things was intimated that she must renounce her Heathenism, and all the corrupt Customs and Superstitions thereof, and forsaking her Fathers house, must be engrafted into the Israel of God, and must worship God as they did. These things being performed, she might become his wife. But if after he had consummated the marriage with her, he should find no content in her, and was desirous to put her away, he might do it, but must then freely set her at liberty to go whether she would, because he had humbled her; He must not sell her for money under pretence that she was his Captive and Servant, from verse. 10. to 15.
3ly, If a man have two wives (which though contrary to God's first Institution, Gen. 2.22, 23, 24. yet He for a time suffered, but approved not, as appears Mal. 2.15. Matth. 19.4, 5.) and one of them was better beloved by him than the other, and he have Sons by them both. He commands that the Son by the first wife, though less beloved, shall not lose his right of Primogeniture, but he shall enjoy the right of the first-born, which by the Law of Nature belonged unto him, and his Father shall give him a double portion of all that he hath, For he is the beginning of his strength, from verse. 15. to 18.
4ly, If any man have a stubborn and rebellious Son which will not obey the voice of his Father, or the voice of his Mother, and that when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, then shall his Father and Mother bring him to the Elders of the City, and shall say unto them, This our Son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a Glutton and a Drunkard. Then the Elders of the City shall examine the matter brought against him, and if they find it true, the men of the City shall stone him with stones that he die. So shall ye put away evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. By the severity of this Law Children were taught to be more obedient to their Parents, and Parents were taught to be more careful in a right Education of their Children, from verse. 18. to 22.
5ly, If any man have committed some notorious Offence, that deserveth the judgment of death, and being condemned for it, be hanged on a Tree, His body shall not remain all night upon the Tree, but they must in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God) that the Land be not defiled. This kind of death was usually the punishment only of those who had by some notorious wickedness provoked God to pour out his Wrath upon the whole Land, and so were hanged up to appease his Wrath, as we may see Numb. 25.4. & 2 Sam. 21.6. And it was esteemed the most shameful and accursed, because the very manner of this death did intimate that such men as were thus executed, were such execrable and accursed Wretches that they did (as it were) defile the Earth with treading on it, and would pollute it more if they should die upon it, and were therefore to be trussed up in the Air as not fit to be among men, that others might look upon them as Spectacles of God's Indignation and Curse, (because of the wickedness they had committed) which was not so legible and apparent in other kinds of death. And therefore they were to bury them that were hanged that very day, that the Land might not be defiled, which otherwise it might be, by such a monument of God's Curse remaining so visibly upon it; And the burial was to abolish the Curse from appearing in the Lord's Land, from verse. 22. to the end.
He now prescribes love and faithfulness in one Neighbor towards another, which [Chap. XXII] they were to testify in these or the like cases. When thou seest, saith he, thy Brothers Ox or his Sheep go astray, thou shalt not demean thyself as not concerned, or as if thou hadst not seen them (yea though he be thine Enemy, Exod. 23.4.) but shalt bring them again to him. And if the Owner dwell afar off, or be altogether unknown to thee, then thou shalt drive the Cattle home to thine own house, and keep them there till the Owner doth seek them, and then thou shalt restore them. And thus they were to do by anything else of their Brothers that was lost, whither Rayment or any such thing, they were not to conceal it, but restore it. And so if they saw their Brothers Ox or Ass fall by the way, they were not to refrain from helping him up again, verse. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Further he enjoins, that the difference of Apparel, to distinguish the Sexes, should be constantly observed, and never altered, except in case of necessity, and to avoid some present and sudden mischief. The woman, says he, shall not wear that which appertaineth to a man, nor a man put on a woman's Garment; for all that do so are abomination to the Lord, verse. 5.
In the next place he enjoins them, that when they find a Birds-nest they should not destroy the Dam with her young ones, or with her Eggs in breeding-time, but should let the Dam go, taking only the young ones, because she might ere long have other young ones, and so might still continue the store of Birds for the good of men. This Law might intimate unto them how well pleasing it was unto God that his people should be merciful and pitiful, and in so doing it should be well with them, and they should prolong their days, verse. 6, 7.
Furthermore the houses of the Israelites being usually built flat on the tops (on which they used to walk and recreate themselves, and sometimes to pray, see Acts 10.9.) they are here enjoined to make battlements round about their house tops, to prevent the casual falling of any from thence, and so to prevent all occasions of bloodshed, and other evils that might redound to their Brethren through their default, verse. 8.
In the next place he tells them, they must not sow their Vineyards with divers Seeds, that is, with Seeds different and divers from that of the Vine, [see Levite. 19.19.] for that is the way to have the Seeds, and consequently the Fruits to be mixed, and not pure, and so defiled and rendered unfit to be offered to the Lord in the first-fruits or otherwise, verse. 9.
Further they must not plow with an Ox and an Ass together, the one being a clean Creature, the other unclean; hereby God seems to intimate that ye would not endure the unequal yoking of his people with Infidels, [see 2 Cor. 6.14.] verse. 10.
Further they must not wear a Garment of divers sorts, as of Woollen and Linnen together. This Law seems also to be figurative, and to intimate to them what simplicity and sincerity God required in them that were his peculiar people, verse. 11.
In the next place he enjoins them to make Fringes upon the four quarters of their Vestures and Garments. The end of those Fringes was to put them in mind of the Commandments of God, [see Numb. 15.38, 39.] and that they might remember, by looking on them, that they were God's peculiar people, and by these Fringes distinguished in their habits from other Nations, verse. 12.
He comes next to show how that man shall be dealt with that slandereth his wife, pretending he found her not a Virgin when he married her. In that case the Parents of the Damsel shall produce the Cloth containing the Tokens of her Virginity (and attested by good witnesses to be so, as the Hebrews say,) which they carefully kept for their own honor, and the honor of their Daughter. Then the Elders of the City shall Chastise that man, and amerce him at an hundred Shekels of silver, to be paid to the Father of the Damsel, because he hath defamed her; and she shall continue to be his wife all her life; He shall not send her away by a Bill of Divorce, as other men were permitted to do, Deut. 24.1. But if she be guilty, and no Tokens of her Virginity were found when he married her, then she shall be stoned before the d • or of her Fathers house, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, and hath played the whore in her Fathers house. So, says He, shall ye put away evil from among you, from verse. 13. to 22.
Next he enjoins, That Adultery both in man and woman shall be punished with death, [see Levite. 20.10.] verse. 22.
Or if a man lie with a Damsel in the City betrothed to another man, they shall both be stoned to death; she, because she cried out not; He, because he hath humbled his Neighbors wife; For so she is to be reckoned after betrothing, which was done by mutual promise in the presence of witnesses before marriage, Matth. 1.18.
But if a man find a betrothed Damsel in the field and force her, and she Cry out, then the man only shall die.
If an unmarried man find a Damsel that is a Virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and this be discovered, then the man that lay with her shall give to the Damsels Father fifty Shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; He may not put her away all his days, from verse. 22. to 28.
A man must not take his Fathers wife, nor discover his Fathers skirt; that is, which his Father only might uncover, and not he, [see Levite. 18.7. verse. 30.
[Chap. XXIII] He now comes to show who shall not be admitted to bear Office in the State or Commonwealth of Israel, who shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord; that is, the assembly of Judgss and Magistrates, [see Psal. 82.1.] nor be capable of the Privileges of other Israelites. 1. He that is wounded in his Stones, or has his Privy-member cut off. 2. A Bastard, or one born illegitimate, shall be excluded to the tenth Generation. The reason of these Injunctions seems to be, because such persons are usually of a sluggish cowardly spirit, and liable to be scorned and despised by others, and therefore not fit to be in any place of Authority; and possibly God intended to show them hereby how free from all stains and blemishes he required his people should be. And He laid this mark of Infamy and Dishonor upon a spurious Issue, to show unto them how detestable all uncleanness was in his sight, so that not till after ten Generations this stain should be blotted out. And possibly the Lord also intended hereby that the Commonwealth of the Jews should, upon this account, be more respected and honored by foreign Nations. 3. Neither the Ammonites nor Moabites, that became Proselytes, and embraced the Religion of the Jews, were to be received into full Communion with the Commonwealth of Israel, nor any of their Posterity to the tenth Generation. But this is not to be understood of the Israelites Children born of Ammonitish and Moabitish Mothers (as the Stories of Orpah and Ruth do evidence) but only of the Children of Ammonites and Moabites that became Proselytes, who because they were of those Nations might not be incorporated into the Commonwealth of Israel unto the tenth Generation, see Nehem. 13.1. And this Law was to be forever inviolably observed, and not to be dispensed with upon any pretense whatsoever; and the reason of this severe Injunction was twofold: 1. Because these Ammonites and Moabites, being the Posterity of Lot (who was so near of kin to Abraham, from whom the Israelites descended) met not the Israelites when they came out of Egypt with bread and water. And 2ly, Because the Moabites hired Balaam to Curse them, [see Numb. 22.] though the Lord turned his Curse into a Blessing, because He loved them. Upon these accounts He enjoins them, that they shall not seek peace with the Moabites, nor endeavor their Prosperity, but rather be at perpetual enmity with them; because they made Israel to sin, [see Numb. 25. and upon that score they were to abhor them. But they were not to abhor the Edomites descended from Esau (their Father Jacob 's Brother) and so the nearest kin to them of all people of the Earth; nor an Egyptian, because they were once Strangers in that Land, and kindly used in Joseph 's time; God teaching men hereby rather to remember good turns than injuries. These in their third Generation after they became Proselytes might be endenized, and made free among the Jews as well as if they were native Israelites, from 1. to 9.
Another direction he gives them is this, When the Host goeth forth against their Enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing; to show them that they had need at that time in a more especial manner to be careful to keep themselves to the exact rules of holiness and righteousnesr. For first, They go out then to execute Vengeance upon others for the evils they have done, and they are not fit to punish others that are wicked themselves. 2ly, Because a clear Conscience is one of the best means to make men truly valiant. 3ly, They have then more especially need of God's assistance, and are most in danger of mischief if the Lord should abandon them. Therefore when they went out to War they had need be very careful to keep themselves from all misdemeanors and transgressions either of the Moral or Ceremonial Law, that they might not provoke the Lord to forsake them.
Further He shows, That if there were any among them in the Camp that were unclean, by reason of nocturnal pollution, they should voluntarily go forth from among their Brethren, till having washed themselves with water they might at evening return again to their Tents, [see Levite. 15.4.] verse. 10, 11.
He enjoins also, That they should have a place without the Camp, appointed by public Order, whether they should go for the ease of Nature, and then with a paddle (which they were to carry with their Armor) to dig a hole in the earth, and cover it; and this not only to prevent annoyance, but to teach them, by reason of God's presence among them, to keep themselves both from all spiritual and outward pollution and uncleanness. For the Lord thy God (says He) walketh in the midst of thy Camp to deliver thee, and to give up thine Enemies before thee: therefore shall thy Camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee, from verse. 12. to 15.
Another Law He gives them concerning Servants, Thou shalt not deliver to his Master the Servant that is escaped from his Master unto thee. This is to be understood of Servants that fled from Heathenish Masters, who tyrannized over them, and oppressed them, and so they fled to the Israelites, and were willing to embrace the Jewish Religion. For it was more Charity to keep them among the true worshippers of God, then to return them to their cruel, tyrannical and idolatrous Masters. Therefore, says He, when thou hast, upon examining the matter, found that the Servant had a sufficient and warrantable ground to leave his Master, thou shalt permit him to live in any of thy Cities or dwelling-places, where it liketh him best, and thou shalt not oppose him, verse. 15, 16.
In the next place He prohibits tolerating of Whoredom or Sodomy among them, and by consequence permitting such filthiness to be practiced by any of other Nations that should live among them, verse. 17.
An Harlot was by no means to offer to God the hire or wages of her Whoredom; nor was the price of a Dog (which was an unclean Creature) to be offered to Him, God intending hereby to teach them to reverence his Sanctuary, and not to offer to him anything that had been sinfully gotten, or was base and unworthy, or that might make his Worship vile and contemptible, verse. 17, 18.
In the next place He commands them to lend to their poor Brethren freely, and not to take again anything more than what was lent. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy Brother neither Money nor Victuals. But to Gentiles that were Infidels they might lend upon Usury. And this they were to observe that the Lord might bless them in all that they set their hand unto, verse. 19, 20.
Another Law He gives them concerning Vows, When thou vowest a Vow to the Lord, (viz. of a thing possible and lawful) thou must not be slack to pay it. Far the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and to neglect to pay it would be sin in thee, and consequently would be inquir'd into, and punished by God. But if thou forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform, and pay thy free-will-Offering which thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, verse. 21, 22, 23.
Another Law He gives them concerning Trespasses, When thou art hired to work in thy Neighbors Vineyard, thou mayst eat of the fruit thereof. Or when thou occasionally travellest through his Vineyards and Corn-fields, thou mayst, for the refreshing thyself in time of need, gather and eat, but thou mayest not carry any home for thy self or any other. When thou comest into the standing Corn of thy Neighbors, thou mayst pluck the ears with thy hand, but thou shalt not move a Sickle into thy Neighbors standing Corn, verse. 24, 25.
[Chap. XXIV] In the next place He gives directions concerning Divorce. If a man have married a wife, and afterwards finds something in her person or qualities which before was unknown to him, upon which he grows into a dislike of her, and resolves to put her away, in that case he must write her a Bill of Divorce, and give it into her hand, and so send her out of his house, that she may have this as a Testimony for her that she had not of her own accord forsaken her Husband, but was put away by him, and so being now free, might lawfully marry another. And if it should so happen that her second Husband should put her away also, or should die, her first Husband notwithstanding may not take her to wife again, after she hath been another man's wife, for this is an abominable thing in the sight of God, and brings guilt upon the Land, and so makes it liable to punishment, Ch. 24. from 1. to 5.
2ly, Concerning a man that had newly married a wife. Such an one was not to be sent out to War the first year, nor charged with any public Employment that would necessarily cause him to be absent from his wife; But he was to be free for one year, that He might live at home, and cheer up his wife, who being newly taken from her Fathers House and Family, and transplanted into a new stock, might be subject on that account to Melancholy, and so had need have the Company of her Husband to cheer her up. And besides, by living lovingly together the first year, their love to each other would (in all likehood) be so firmly settled, that there would be no great danger but that it would so continue afterwards, verse. 5.
3ly, He enjoins that no man shall take his Neigbours nether or upper Millstone to pledge; for one of the Millstones being gone, the other is unuseful; And by consequence the taking of anything as a Pledge that is of like necessary use for the exercise of a man's Calling, or support of his life, is here forbidden. For he that doth so, takes a man's life to Pledge; that is, that by which he lives and maintains his life, verse. 6.
4ly, If any man be a plagiary, that is, steal away any of the Children of Israel, and sell him, that man shall die for it, see Exod. 21.16. The reason why this kind of theft was only punishable with death among the Hebrews was this, because it was a debasing of man (made after the Image of God) to be sold like a beast, and much more was it a great indignity to sell one of their Brethren (that were God's people); and the selling them to Heathens (for none of their Brethren in likelihood would buy them) was an evident exposing their Souls to extreme danger, besides the miseries they were like to endure in such cruel bondage, verse. 7.
5ly, In the Plague of Leprosy he shows them, they were to observe diligently what the Priests and Levites should teach them to observe and do, lest God should smite them with Leprosy, as he did Miriam, who was by God's special Command shut out of the Camp seven days, until she had been purified according to the Law. And if she could not be exempted, none of them must hope for exemption in that case from what the Law required, verse. 8, 9.
6ly, When a man did lend anything to his Brother upon a Pledge, he was not to go into his house, and pick and choose what Pledge he pleased, but should be content with that which the Borrower brought out to him, poor men being unwilling that strangers should see their penury and want. And if the man were very poor, so that he gave his Covering or Garment wherein he lodged to Pledge (see Exod. 22.26) the Lender was to return it to him again before the Sun went down, that he may sleep in his own Rayment, and so may bless the Lender, and pray for him for his mercifulness to him, and it should be esteemed as a righteous thing, and a good work in him before the Lord, who will reward him for it, from verse. 10. to 14.
7ly, They were not to oppress an hired Servant, whither of their own Brethren or a Stranger, that was poor and needy, but to pay him his wages at the day appointed, and not put him off further. For being poor he setteth his heart upon his hire as that by which he must maintain himself. If they did otherwise the poor man might Cry unto the Lord against them, and God might thereupon be provoked to punish them for their unmercifulness, verse. 14, 15.
8ly, Neither the Fathers shall be put to put to death for the sin of the Children, nor the Children for the sin of the Fathers, but every man shall suffer for his own sin, verse. 16.
9ly, They were not to pervert the Judgment of the Fatherless or Stranger, or take a Widows Garment to Pledge, but should remember how they themselves were Bondmen in Egypt, and how God delivered them thence, and therefore they should be merciful to others, verse. 17, 18.
10ly, In time of Harvest if they have forgotten a sheaf in the Field, they shall not go and fetch it, but leave it for the Stranger, Fatherless and Widow, that God may bless them in all the works of their hands, Levite. 19.9. & 23.22. And so when they gather their Grapes and Olives they shall leave the gleanings for the poor, verse. 19. to the end.
11ly, The Judges are appointed to judge righteously in all cases that shall come [Chap. XXV] before them, to justify the Righteous, and condemn the Wicked. And if a wicked man or Malefactor deserve to be beaten, they shall order him to receive forty stripes and no more, lest if they should proceed to what extremity they listed, their Brother should seem vile in their eyes, and fit to be used with no more regard than if he were a beast. The Jews were so superstitiously careful not to transgress this Law, that their custom was to stay at 39 stripes, even when they meant to go as high as they might, and that for fear they should exceed, from verse. 1. to 4.
12ly, They were not to muzzle the Ox when he treadeth out the Corn. The Israelites used not to thresh their Corn with Flails, (as we do) but trod it out with the feet of Beasts, Hosea 10.11. yea sometimes with Cart-wheels, see Isa. 28.27, 28. By this Law the Lord taught them to be merciful to the brute Beasts they had occasion to make use of; and by necessary consequence to beware of depriving their Brethren of that which was due to them for the service they did them, but to let them eat and enjoy the fruit of their Labors, see 1 Cor. 9.9.
13ly, If a man die leaving no Child, his wife may not marry out of her Husbands Family, but her Husbands next Brother or next Kinsman shall marry her, and the first-born which she beareth him shall be counted the legal Son of his Brother that died without Issue, that so his name may be continued in Israel. But if the next Brother refuse to marry her, she shall complain to the Elders, and if he still persist in it before them that he will not take her to wife, she shall loose his shoe from off his foot, (as intimating thereby that he was unworthy to enter upon and possess his Brothers Estate ) and shall spit in his face by way of disgrace and contempt, thereby declaring him a man unworthy to show his face among his Brethren, and shall say, Thus shall it be done to the man that refuses to build up his Brothers house. And when in after-times this man's Family shall be spoken of, they shall speak of it as the House or Family of a man that had his shoe loosed, and so a note of Infamy shall rest upon him and his Family, that men may thereby be made the more careful to submit to the directions of God's Law, from verse. 5. to 11.
14ly, If a woman see a man beating her Husband, and run in to help him, she may not take him that strove with her Husband by the Secrets (thinking thereby to make him give over smiting him); if she do, her hand shall be cut off by the Magistrate without pity; God thereby intimating to them how much he abhorred all bold, shameless and impure behavior in those that professed themselves to be his people, verse. 11, 12.
15ly, He forbids all fraud in buying and selling, and commands that they should not have divers Weights and Measures, to wit, great ones to buy with, and small ones to sell with; or great ones to show to the Officers when they come to view and try their Weights and Measures, and less to sell their Wares by. They are commanded to do just things, that so their days may be lengthened in the Land which the Lord giveth them. For all that do such things, and deal unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord, from verse. 13. to 17.
16ly, He puts them in mind of executing what God had declared against Amalek, who smote the hindmost and feeblest of them when they came out of Egypt, [see Sect. 11. of Ch. 4.] which was a great act of inhumanity and cruelty to seek to hurt them that had been lately so horribly oppressed in Egypt; and it was a sign the Amalekites feared not God (who had so visibly owned that people) and so in fighting against the Israelites they fought against God Himself. Therefore when they were peaceably settled in the Land which God intended to give them, they should blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven. This Judgment God appointed Saul to execute, 1 Sam. 15.2, 3. but he failed in the performance of it, as we may see verse. 9. Afterwards God stirred up the Simeonites in Hezekiah 's days to do it, who smote the rest of the Amalekites, 1 Chron. 4.42, 43. And what befell Haman and his Sons is largely related in the third Chapter of the Book of Esther, from verse. 17. to the end.
[Chap. XXVI] 17ly, He gives directions that when they were come into the Land of Canaan, every man should every year bring a Basket of his first-fruits at the Feast of Tabernacles [Exod. 23.16.] to the Priest, to be by Him presented to the Lord as an acknowledgment that the Lord had freely given them this Land, as He had promised to their Fathers, and that of Him they still held it; and therefore to Him as Lord in Chief (by way of Tribute ) they brought these first-fruits, testifying also thereby that to him they owed the yearly fruitfulness of their Land. And when the Priest hath set down the Basket before the Altar, the Offerer shall make this solemn Profession; Our Ancestor Jacob was forced to fly into Syria, and in respect of his long abode and continuance there with his Uncle Laban he may well be called a Syrian, though born in the Land of Canaan. There he was near lost, and ready to perish, by reason of the wrongs he received from his hard Father-in-law. When he returned thence into the Land of Canaan, after a few years, by extremity of Famine, he was constrained to remove into Egypt, and there sojourned with a few, who afterwards became a great, mighty and populous Nation. Then the Egyptians evil entreated us, and laid upon us hard Bondage, but when we cried unto the Lord, He looked down with pity upon our Affliction, and Labor, and Oppression; And brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand, and an out-stretched Arm, and with great terribleness, and with Signs and Wonders, and hath brought us into this good Land flowing with Milk and Honey. And behold I have brought to thee the first-fruits of the Land which thou, O Lord, hast given me. Then leaving his Basket before the Altar for the use of the Priest, (who, with the rest of his Brethren, was afterwards to eat of them; all first-fruits by God's appointment appertaining to them, Deut. 18.4.) and humbly worshipping the Lord, He shall depart; and after he hath thus testified his thankfulness, and done this Service, he shall go and feast with the Levites and Strangers upon the Peace-Offerings He had brought thither, even as they used to do at all other Feasts, rejoicing in every good thing which the Lord hath given them, [see Deut. 16.11, 15.] from verse. 1. to 12.
18ly, He comes now to show what profession and prayer that man was to make that paid his third years Tythes. In the two first years after the Sabbatical year there were only two Tythes to be separated from their Estates; The first for the Levites, the second to be spent in their Journeys to Jerusalem, and in holy feasting there before the Lord. But in the third year they were to separate a third Tythe which was for the Poor in the places where they dwelt. The first of these Tythes was wholly the Levites portion, and therefore often called the Lord's Inheritance; the second or the price of it was to be carried up by the Owners to the Lord's dwelling-place, and there spent in holy feasting before the Lord; but this third Tythe was to be laid up in some public place in the Towns and Cities where they dwelt, and was not only for the use of the Levites, but also of the Stranger, Fatherless and Widow, as is said, verse. 12. that they might eat also within their Gates and be filled. He that paid this third years Tythe was to make such a profession as this; O Lord, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and have given them to the Levites, the Stranger, the Fatherless and the Widow, according to thy Commandments; I have not transgressed thy Commandments, nor forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, that is, in my greatest wants and necessities, and when I was in the greatest straits I have not ventured to supply myself from them; Neither has it caused any mourning or repining in me that I was bound to part with so much of my Increase to the Poor. Neither have I taken ought thereof for any unclean use, that is, for any use besides that for which they were appointed, nor given ought thereof for the dead; that is, for the burying of the dead, or to be provisions for a Funeral Feast. Having made this solemn Protestation that He had not failed in paying his Tythes exactly according to the Law, He was then to add this Prayer, Lord look down from thy holy Habitation, from Heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and this Land which thou hast given us, as thou swearest to our Fathers, from verse. 12. to 18.
19ly, He exhorts them to observe all the Statutes and Judgments which the Lord had given them, and that with all their Hearts and Souls. Which if they really consented to do, then they should consider that, that day they did in effect renew their Covenant with the Lord, and avouch Him to be their God, promising to hearken unto his Voice, and to obey Him. And the Lord did avouch them to be his peculiar people, separate from all others, and devoted to walk in his Statutes (thorough his Grace working in their Hearts) and would make them high above all Nations in praise, in name and in honor, and an holy people unto Himself, from verse. 16. to the end.
20. Having now again assembled the Elders and people of Israel together, He [Chap. XXVII] commands them that after their entrance into Canaan, at their first opportunity, they should build a Monument of great stones, plaistring them with mortar, on Mount Ebal, and to write the Law of God thereon, viz. the ten Commandments very plainly, that it might be a Monument to put them in mind of keeping God's Law. Together with this Monument they were to build an Altar of whole stones, and not to lift up any iron Tool upon it, [see Exod. 20.24, 25.] and thereon to offer Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings, and to eat there and to rejoice before the Lord their God. And because they had at this time renewed their Covenant with God, Moses together with the Priests and Levites advise them to take heed unto themselves, and to obey the Voice of the Lord their God, and to observe his Commandments and Statutes, from verse. 1. to 11.
21. Moses now enjoins the people that when they had set up this Monument of stones on Mount Ebal, and written the Law plainly upon it, and had built the Altar before mentioned, and had offered Sacrifices thereon as God had commanded them, they should then afterwards give their consent to the Blessings and Curses that should be pronounced by the Priests upon those that should keep, and upon those that should break God's Laws; and the manner enjoined for the doing thereof was this, viz. six of the Tribes were to stand upon Mount Gerizim, to wit, Simeon and Levi, Judah and Issachar, and Joseph and Benjamin, (where by the Tribe of Joseph are meant the two Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who are here join'd together as one, because Levi is reckoned as one of the twelve, ) and all these were the Posterity of Leah and Rachel; and then the other six Tribes were to stand on Mount Ebal, to wit, Gad and Asher, Dan and Naphtali, (who were the Sons of their Hand-Maids) and with them the Tribe of Reuben (who for his sin lost his Birth-Right) and Zebulun the youngest of Leah's Sons. And the Tribes being thus divided, the Priests were to come with them into the little Valley that was between these two Mountains, and there first they pronounced the Blessings, (turning their faces as 'tis like towards Mount Gerizim ) and then all the Tribes that stood on that Mountain answered Amen; and then turning their faces towards Mount Ebal, they pronounced the twelve Curses here mentioned, and then all the Tribes that stood on Mount Ebal answered Amen. Moses omits the Blessings possibly because they might be easily enough gathered from the contrary Curses which are here expressed. First, Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten Image (though he keep it never so secret) for it is an abomination to the Lord. 2ly, Cursed be He that setteth light by his Father or Mother, [see Exod. 21.17.] 3ly, Cursed be He that removeth his Neighbors Land-mark. 4ly, Cursed be He that maketh the Blind to wander out of the way; and much more those that mislead the people into pernicious Errors, or give them knowingly pernicious Counsels. 5ly, Cursed be He that perverteth the judgment of the Stranger, Fatherless and Widow. 6ly, Cursed be He that lieth with his Fathers wife. 7ly, Cursed be He that lieth with any manner of Beast. 8ly, Cursed be He that lieth with his Sister, the Daughter of his Father, or the Daughter of his Mother; that is, his half-Sister, (see Levite 1.8, 9.) 9ly, Cursed be He that lieth with his Mother-in-law; that is, his Wives Mother. 10ly, Cursed be He that smiteth his Neighbor secretly, either by secret practices procuring his blood to be shed, or smiting him secretly with his Tongue. 11ly, Cursed be He that taketh a Reward to slay an innocent person, [see Ezek. 22.12.] 12ly, Cursed be He that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them. To everyone of these the people were to say Amen. And so subscribe to the justice of God's Law, as it were wishing that the Curses might fall on them, if they should in any of these things transgress God's Commandment, from verse. 11. to the end.
[Chap. XXVIII] Upon observing God's Commandments, He shows them, that many blessings would follow and overtake them, from verse. 1. to 13. particularly these: 1. God would set them on high above all Nations, both in respect of temporal and spiritual blessings, and they shall be the head and not the tail, verse. 13. that is, shall be highly esteemed above other Nations, and not scorned and despised as a base and contemptible people. 2. They shall be blessed in the City and in the Field; that is, whither they dwell in the City or the Country, and manage business belonging either to a Citizen or a Farmer. 3. They shall be blessed in the fruit of their Bodies, their Children, in the fruits of their Grounds, and the fruits of their Cattle, so that they shall abound in all these, verse. 11.4. They shall be blessed in their Basket wherein they put the fruits of their ground; it shall not be empty; and in their store; they shall have plenty of Provisions, they shall be blessed in their Barns and Store-houses, verse. 8. and God will command his blessing on all that they set their hands unto. 5. They shall be blessed when they come in and when they go out, [see verse. 19.] that is, at home and abroad, and in all their employments and businesses public and private. 6. They shall be blessed with Victory over their Enemies, who shall flee before them many ways. 7. The Lord will establish them for an holy people unto Himself; that is, will establish them for a people that may be His in a peculiar manner, and may appertain to Him as his peculiar Treasure, to serve him faithfully, and to enjoy the blessings of his Covenant, [see Ch. 7.6.] And all Nations shall see by the singular blessings that shall be heaped upon this people, that God did indeed own them for his peculiar people, and that they were called by his Name, and so owned as his Children, and thereupon called the Children of God, upon which account other Nations should be afraid of them. 8. They shall be blessed with rain. The Lord will open to them his good Treasures; the Heavens shall give them rain in due season. The Heavens are called the Lord's Treasure, because He keepeth therein those things wherewith He causeth the Earth to be fruitful, as rain to water the ground, and snow to make it fertil, and the heat of the Sun and influences of the Moon and Stars to make all things therein to grow and prosper. 9. They shall so increase in riches, that they shall lend unto many Nations, and shall not borrow of them, Ch. 15.6. These blessings he shows would follow and overtake them, if they walked faithfully in God's Statutes, and did not turn aside from them either to the right hand or to the left, nor did decline to other gods, from verse. 1. to 15.
But if they were Disobedient, then he tells them, Such Judgments and Curses should pursue them and overtake them as were directly contrary to these Blessings. First, God would send upon them cursing, vexation and rebuke in all that they set their hands unto. He would send the Pestilence into their Cities and Towns, and would command it to cleave to them, and to continue long among them. 2ly, He would smite them with the Consumption, Feaver, Inflammation, and extreme burning; and with Drought, Blasting and Mildew. 3ly, The Heaven should be as Brass, and the Earth as Iron, and the Lord would make the rain of their Land powder and dust; that is, instead of rain the dust being driven by the wind in time of drought should fall upon their Grounds, Trees and Plants, &c. 4ly, They shall flee before their Enemies, and shall be scattered into the several Nations of the Earth, and those of them that should be slain by the Enemy, their Carcasses should lie unburied, and should be meat for the Fowls of the Air, and Beasts of the Field, none fraying them away. 5ly, God would smite them with the botch of Egypt; that is, with Boils breaking forth with Blains, [see Exod. 9.9.] and with the Emrods or Piles with the Scab, and with an incurable Itch. 6ly, With madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart; that is, God would deprive them of the use of their understandings, that they should stand like blind men, or men amazed and astonished, not knowing which way to turn themselves, and should do such things which if they were not blind or mad they would never do. And as an effect of this brutish stupidity they should grope at noon-day; that is, should not apprehend their danger, nor discern the right ways of helping themselves; they should be oppressed and spoiled, and none should succor them. 7ly, He threatens to deprive them of things very dear to them, even then when they were in expectation to enjoy them. They should betroth wives and others should enjoy them; they should build Houses, but not dwell in them, plant Vineyards, but not gather the Grapes of them; their Oxen, Asses and Sheep should be violently taken away from them. 8ly, Their Sons and Daughters should be led into Captivity, and their eyes should look earnestly and even fail with longing for their return, and there should be no might or power in their hands to rescue or recover them again out of the hands of their Enemies. They should be oppressed and crushed by a Nation they knew not, who should eat the fruit of their Land, and of their labor, so that they should be even mad and distracted by reason of the dreadful Calamities which they should be constrained to behold with their eyes. 9ly, The Lord would smite them with a sore and incurable Botch, from the crown of the Head to the sole of the Foot. 10ly, They and their King (as it happened to Manassah, Jehoiachim and Zedekiah, ) and their Sons and their Daughters should be carried into Captivity, and there they should be either enticed or forced to serve other gods, (viz. Wood and Stone, ) and their Calamities should be so great that their very Enemies should be astonished at them; and they should be flouted and scorned, and made a laughing-stock in those places where they should be Captive, [1 Kings 9.7.] 11ly, Hurtful Vermin, such as Locusts and Worms, should devour the fruits of their Fields and Vineyards; and their choice Trees should cast their fruit. 12ly, The Strangers that were left among them should prevail against them, and be Lord's over them, and should be in a far better state than themselves. And all these Curses which should overtake them, should be upon them and their Seed as a sign of God's great Indignation against them, and for a wonder that a people who were once so high in his Favor, should be so unwise and wicked as to provoke Him to bring such a Change upon them. And because they served not the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart, with delight and thankfulness, for the abundance of all good things he gave them, that therefore they should be forced to serve their Enemies in hunger and thirst, nakedness, and want of all things; and that their Enemies should put a yoke of Iron upon their Necks, and keep them in bondage till they were destroyed, see Neh. 9.25, 26, 27. Jer. 28.13, 14. 13ly, God would suffer them to be invaded by a powerful foreign Enemy, who should come as swift as an Eagle; that is, suddenly, unexpectedly, and with irresistible Violence, viz. the Babylonians whose Language they understood not, and so would be extremely troubled how to speak to them, or beg any favor of them. A Nation of a fierce Countenance, which should not regard the person of the Old, nor show favor to the Young, who should wast their Country, and eat up the fruits of their Cattle, and of their Land, and should besiege them in all their Cities, and batter down their high and fenced Walls wherein they trusted, and then all the Evils and Calamities incident to places straitly besieged should fall upon them; Parents should eat the fruits of their own Bodies, the flesh of their Sons and Daughters. The man that was tender among them, and very delicate, dainty and voluptuous, should grudge his Brother, nay the Wife of his bosom, and his remaining Children, any share of the Child he shall eat, having nothing else left to feed upon in that Extremity. The tender and delicate woman among them that would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, she should grudge the Husband of her bosom, and her Children grown up, any share of her young Children which she should eat in secret in that extreme Famine, from verse. 15. to 58.
He further tells them, That if they did not set themselves to fear the glorious God, whose Name is Jehovah, He would make their Plagues wonderful, and would bring upon them and their Children great Plagues and Sicknesses, and of long continuance, yea the strange evil Diseases wherewith God plagued the Egyptians (of which they were so much afraid) should cleave unto them; yea more Plagues should fall on them then are written in this Book. And whereas they were as the Stars of Heaven for multitude, they should be so wasted and destroyed, that they should come to be but few in number. And as the Lord formerly rojoyced over them to do them good, and to multiply them, so now He would rejoice in their destruction, and the execution of his Justice upon such Despisers of his Mercy; and they should be plucked off from the Land which God gave them for an Inheritance, viz. Canaan, and so should lose the Pledge of their Adoption, which would be a sad sign to them that their heavenly Father had disinherited them, and cast them off. And they should be dispersed and scattered abroad into many Nations, and in their exile they should be enticed or forced to worship Wood and Stone; and among those Nations they should find no ease or rest, but should be hurried from place to place, so that their hearts should tremble, and their eyes fail with extreme weeping, and their minds be filled with sorrow and vexation. And they should be in continual doubt and fear both day and night of losing their lives, which must needs make their condition exceeding grievous to them. In the morning they should wish it were even, and at even they should wish it were morning thorough the terrors of their minds, and by reason of the dismal things they should see with their eyes. And the Lord would cause them to be carried again by Ships into Egypt, whither he had said they should return no more, [see Ch. 17.16. The Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, that is, into that Country. ] This was verified when the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem, were carried in Ships to Egypt, and there fold for Slaves, but they were so vile and contemptible, that many would not proffer any money for them, even to be their Slaves; and none would buy them with an intent to set them at liberty, from verse. 58. to the end.
[Chap. XXX] He further declares to them, That when in their exile they shall reflect upon the experience they had of God's blessing them so eminently while they continued Obedient, and how severely He punished them when they were Disobedient, and shall thereupon truly repent, and seriously turn unto the Lord, both they and their Children, and shall serve the Lord with all their Heart and Soul, then the Lord will have compassion on them, and will turn their Captivity, and gather them from all the Nations under Heaven, whither he had scattered them, and from thence will fetch them back to their own Country, see Neh. 1.9. And He will Circumcise their hearts, and the hearts of their Children; that is, will purge them of their Corruptions by the Grace of his Spirit, and renew them, and incline them to a ready Obedience to his Will, that it may go well with them. And his Curses shall fall on their Enemies, and on those that persecuted them; But they shall be blessed in the fruit of their Bodies, of their Cattle, and of their Land, and these blessings shall be given them in mercy, and shall tend to their good, and not their hurt; And the Lord will rejoce over them to do them good, as he rejoiced over their Fathers. And lest any of them should object and say, they would willingly obey the Commandments of the Lord if they knew them, He tells them, That the directions he had given them concerning the way and means of Salvation by Faith in the Messias, and the moral Law which he had given them, as the rule of their Obedience, they could not pretend to be ignorant of. Neither were those things hidden from them, so that the knowledge of them need be fetched down from Heaven, or from some remote Country for them, for they were sufficiently revealed to them; the word was very nigh them, in their mouths, and in their heart. It was plainly revealed to them, frequently read and expounded to them by the Levites, so that they could not but talk of it, and remember it. And if they were obedient to this Law they should be happy, but if they turned from the Lord to worship other gods, and serve them, they should not prolong their days in the Land which they were now going to possess. He calls Heaven and Earth to witness that he had dealt faithfully with them. He had on the one side set life before them, with all manner of blessings attending it, if they would be Obedient; and on the other side death and misery, if they were Disobedient. He exhorts them to choose the one, and to avoid the other, and to cleave to the Lord with all their hearts, for He was their life, and the length of their days; that is, as He is the giver of life, so He is the maintainer and prolonger of it. And that they might enjoy the fore-mentioned [Chap. XXIX] Blessings, and escape the Curses, He calls them now to renew their Covenant which their Fathers made with God at Horeb, and to bind themselves more firmly thereby unto the Lord. And possibly the same Ceremonies were observed now in this renewing of the Covenant which were before observed at Horeb [see Exod. 24.] when their Fathers first entered into it. And to prepare them the better for it, 1. He repeats the great and manifold Favors God had bestowed on them. He tells them, That many of them who were then young might remember what God did to Pharaoh and his Servants in Egypt, and the great Plagues whereby He tempted and tried whither he would let Israel go or no. But though they had seen all those great Signs and Wonders with their bodily eyes, yet by reason of their great perverseness, and manifold Provocations, it was not given unto them to understand God's meaning in them, [see Matth. 13.11.] neither had those great Wonders and Deliverances made such Impressions upon them as they should have done, nor inclined them to turn to God, and yield sincere Obedience unto Him. And so God punished the wickedness of their hearts with the blindness of their minds. And the Lord by Moses further spake unto them saying, I have led you forty years in the Wilderness; your Clothes waxed not old upon your Backs, nor your shoes upon your Feet, [see Deut. 8.4.] Ye have not eaten common and ordinary bread, for I have fed you with Manna; you have not drunk Wine or strong Drink, for your drink has been as miraculous as your bread, viz. water fetched out of the Rock, [Numb. 20.11. Psal. 78.15, 16.] and these things I have done for you, that you might know that I am the Lord your God, and yet how little have you considered it? Moses further tells them, That they might remember how since they came hither they had conquered Sihon King of Heshbon, and Og King of Bashan, and how He had given their Land to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the Tribe of Manasseh. Therefore (says he) considering all these great Mercies God hath bestowed on you, you ought to be very careful to observe the 〈◊〉 • ditions and Articles of the Covenant which you are now to enter into, and to confirm with an Oath, that so it may go well with you, and that you may prosper in all that you do. Attend therefore all of you, with all seriousness to this solemn business you are now about. Behold you all stand this day before the Lord your God, the Captains of your Tribes, your Elders and Officers, you, your Wives and little Ones, and the Strangers that are in your Camp, even from the Hewer of Wood unto the Drawer of Water, ye are all met together, and stand here before the Lord your God to enter into Covenant with Him, and to confirm it with an Oath, whereby you bind yourselves to perform it, that so He may establish you for a people unto Himself, and that He may be your God as He promised your Fathers. Neither do I bind only you who are here present to the observance of this Covenant, but your Posterity also, who are not yet born. And there is great reason you should now enter into this Covenant, because having dwelt in the Land of Egypt (at least many of you in your younger years) and having gone thorough the Confines of some Idolatrous Nations in your Journey towards Canaan, and seen their several Idolatries and Abominations, there is some cause to fear lest some of you may be tainted with their evil Manners. And therefore to prevent this, it is fit that ye should all solemnly enter into Covenant with God, lest there be found among you any Man, Woman, Family or Tribe whose hearts are inclined to serve the gods of these Nations, and lest there be found among you any Root that beareth Wormwood; that is, any root of Idolatry or Rebellion against God, which is as displeasing and distasteful to Him, as Gall and Wormwood is to us, and which will prove to the Sinner, and whoever is infected therewith, bitterness in the latter end, [see Heb. 12.15, &c. ] And he tells them, If there shall be found any such evil-spirited and infectious persons among them, who when they shall hear the words of this Curse, yet shall bless themselves in their own hearts, saying, They shall have peace though they walk in the evil imaginations of their own hearts, and so add drunkenness to thirst; that is, being wicked already do yet encourage themselves to be more wicked, (as Drunkenness increases thirst, and so draws on another Drunkenness, ) the Lord will not spare such persons, but his anger and jealousy will smoke against them, and all the Curses in this Book will light upon them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under Heaven, and will separate them out of all the Tribes of Israel unto punishment, mischief and destruction, answerably to the threatenings that are denounced against the Breakers of this Covenant, and are written in this Book of the Law. So that when your Children that shall be born hereafter, and the Strangers that come from a far Country, shall see the Plagues and Sicknesses that the Lord will bring upon the Inhabitants of the Land for these Transgressions, and how the Land, by God's just Curse, is so defaced and altered, that it is become (in a manner) like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, (which Cities the Lord overthrew in his wrath and anger) they and other Nations also that shall hear of it shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord thus punished this Land? what meaneth the heat of his great anger against it? Then men shall answer, It is because they have forsaken the Covenant of the God of their Fathers, which He made with them when he brought them forth out of Egypt; For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, viz. gods of Gold and Silver, Wood and Stone whom they knew to be no gods, nor to have given them anything, nor could or would do them any good. And they knew also that the Lord had forbidden them to worship Him by such Idols and Images, and thereupon his anger was kindled against them, and he was provoked to bring upon them all the Curses denounced in his Law against the Violators of his Covenant. And hence it was that after those great Judgments He had sent upon them in their own Nation, He was provoked to root them out of their own Land in wrath, anger and indignation, and to scatter them into other Nations, as you see it is now come to pass. But (says he) if you shall ask me, When will these things be? when will our Posterity by their Rebellions thus provoke God, and bring such heavy Judgments on themselves and the Land? I answer, That is only known to God Himself; secret things belong to Him, but things revealed belong to us and our Children; and therefore we may safely conclude, That if they do thus provoke God, then all this Misery and Calamity will certainly befall them, except by true and timely repentance and turning unto God they prevent this ruin. This (says He) God hath revealed; and what he hath revealed it becomes us and our C •• ldren always to consider and lay to heart, that we may not provoke Him by transgressing any of his Commandments.
[Ch. XXXI] Moses now calling the people together, He tells them, He was at this time an 120 years old, and therefore by the course of Nature it could not be expected that he should be able much longer to go in and out before them, and to lead and govern them as before he had done. And besides the Lord had told him, He should not go over Jordan. However he bids them be of good courage, for the Lord Himself would go before them, and by the Conduct of his Servant Joshua would subdue their Enemies for them, (as he had already done Sihon and Og Kings of the Amorites ) and they should destroy them as he had commanded; and therefore he bids them not to be afraid of them, for the Lord would go along with them, and would not fail them nor forsake them. Then he addresses his Speech to Joshua, and in the sight of them all, bids him be strong and of a good courage, trusting in God's Providence and Assistance, who would not fail him nor forsake him; He tells him, He must lead the people over into Canaan, and cause them to inherit it.
Then Moses having put into writing this Law; that is, this Book of Deuteronomy, he delivered it solemnly unto the Priests (who upon some extraordinary occasions did carry the Ark as well as the Levites, see Joshua 3.17. &. Josh. 6.12.) and unto all the Elders of Israel, thereby giving them to understand that they were the men to whom it did especially belong to see that this Original Copy of the Law were safely kept, and that the Laws therein commanded were duly observed both by themselves and the people. And Moses commanded the Priests to read this Book, this Original Copy of the Law every seventh year (which was the year of Release) among the people at the Feast of Tabernacles. 'It is like some part of the Book of the Law was read among them by the Levites every Sabbath-day, [see Acts 15.21.] and 'tis like the people had Copies of the Law for their own private use, in the reading whereof they did daily exercise themselves. But yet once in seven years God would have this Book to be read by the Priests, from the beginning to the end, among the people, both that it might make the deeper impression on them, and cause them to fear the Lord their God, and to observe and do all the words of this Law; and that it might appear to them that those Copies of the Law which they had among them, and were read to them every Sabbath-day, did agree with this Original Copy which Moses had given them. And God appointed this to be done in the year of Release, because then they had most liberty to mind and attend that Service, the Land lying that year at rest, themselves being freed from the danger of having their Debts exacted of them. It was also an holy year, the Sabbath of years, and so the fitter for this extraordinary duty. And it was appointed to be done at the Feast of Tabernacles, because all Israel used then to appear before the Lord. For though the Males only were bound to appear at the three solemn Feasts, [Exod. 23.17.] yet at this Feast (it seems) they carried their Wives and Children and the Strangers within their Gates along with them, as appears verse. 12. & Neh. 8.3. And hereby their Children who had not seen the Wonders and Miracles that God had wrought for them, as their Fathers had done, might by hearing this Original Book of the Law read openly among them, learn to fear the Lord their God, and to serve him faithfully as long as they lived.
Then the Lord tells Moses, That the day of his death did now approach, and therefore he should call Joshua, and they two should present themselves before Him in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, that there he might give Joshua his Charge. They accordingly went to the Tabernacle, and the Pillar of Cloud stood over the door of it, and the Lord said unto Moses, Behold thou shalt lie down to sleep in the dust as did thy Fathers, but I know that after thy death this people will go a whoring after the gods of the Canaanites, and will forsake me, and break my Covenant. Then my anger will be kindled against them, and I will forsake them, and hide my Face from them, and withdraw my Favor, Blessing and Help; and then they shall be devoured by their Enemies as by wild Beasts, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? The Lord therefore commands Moses to write this following Song (set down in the next Chapter) containing a Prophesy of their falling off from God, and his just Judgment upon them for it. And the Lord was pleased to give it to them in the form of a Song, that it might be the better remembered by them, and might work more upon their affections; and the Israelites were to learn it and sing it, that in time to come when they should so provoke God by their sins, as is there set forth, and God should thereupon punish them with those very evils that are there foretold; this Song (as out of their own mouths) might be a Witness for God against them, viz. that He had given them sufficient warning, and yet notwithstanding by their willful and heinous Provocations they had brought these Miseries on themselves. For (says the Lord) I know their secret Imaginations, and the base apostatizing thoughts, and purposes which some of them already have in their hearts, even now before I have brought them into the Land, which I sware unto their Fathers to give them, [see Amos 5.25. and Acts 7.43.] and I do foresee what they will do hereafter. Moses accordingly wrote this Song the same day, and taught it the Children of Israel.
God then gives Joshua his Charge, saying to him, Be strong, and of a good courage, for thou shalt bring this people into the Land of Canaan, and I will be with thee. Moses now commands the Priests (the Sons of Levi ) to put this Book of the Law which he had written in some safe Repository or Chest on the outside of the Ark, where was the Pot of Manna, and Aaron 's Rod, see Heb. 9.4. Indeed in the Ark itself were only the two Tables, [1 Kings 8.9.] but on the outside of it, and by it was this Volume of the Law to be kept. This Book was many years after found in the Treasury of the Temple in Josiah 's Reign, 2 Kings 22.8. & 2 Chron. 34.14. and therefore it seems it had been removed from the Ark, and kept elsewhere; wherein seeing they transgressed the directions that God here gave to the Priests, no marvel if this precious Treasure was for some years lost, and not looked after. Moses having commanded them to place this Book on the outside of the Ark, He said to them, O Israel, if thou art disobedient, this Book shall be a witness against thee wherein thou art sufficiently warned to the contrary, and shown the Judgments that will thereupon insue. But alas I know thy rebellious Disposition, and thy stiff Neck. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord while I was with you, how much more will ye be so when I am dead. Gather therefore unto me all the Elders of your Tribes, and your Officers, that I may speak unto them, and call Heaven and Earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, and thereby provoke Him to anger. The Elders and Officers of the people being met, Moses spake in the ears of all the Congregation of Israel the words of this following Song.
[Ch. XXXII] Give Ear O ye Heavens, and I will speak, and hear O Earth the words of my mouth. He beginneth this Prophetical Song with a Rhetorical Scheme, calling the Heavens and Earth, and all the Creatures in them, to be witnesses of his word, the more to affect the hearts of the people, to reprove their hardness, and to excite their attention. I wish (says He) my Doctrine (which I have received from God) might so fall upon your hearts, as the sweet and gentle Showers and fruitful Dew falleth upon the Herbs, and Flowers, and Grass of the Earth, and causeth them to spring forth and flourish, [ Isa. 55.10.] Hear therefore for I will now publish unto you the Name of the Lord; that is, his glorious Excellencies, viz. his infinite Power, Wisdom and Goodness, and therefore see that ye ascribe Greatness and Majesty to Him, and that ye magnify Him as ye ought to do, saying, Thine, O Jehovah, is the Greatness and the Power, and the Glory, 1 Chron. 29.11. and that ye attend to what is spoken with all humility, and lay it to heart, and yield Obedience thereunto. Know ye therefore, that God is the Rock, He is an All-sufficient stable, and sure Refuge for all those that fly to Him; neither is there any sure Shelter anywhere else but in Him. His Work is perfect, for all his ways are Judgment.
All his Works are perfect, and without any blemish, there is no defect or fault to be found in any of them; All his ways are Judgment, his dealings with his people have been always right and just; He is a God of truth and without Iniquity, just and right is He. But as for this people, they have corrupted themselves by their Idolatry, their spot is not the spot of his Children, for it proceedeth not of weakness and infirmity, (to which all are subject) but of willfulness and perverseness, and an impenitent heart. They are a perverse and crooked Generation, for both their hearts and ways are evil, and turned aside from the right Rule of God's Law. Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise? Is not God thy Father that made thee? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee; that is, ransomed and brought thee forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand, and the power of Miracles? Hath not He made thee his people, and established thee by Covenant to continue so, if thou art not wanting to thyself, and thy duty? Remember the days of old, and consider the years of many Generations; ask thy Father, and he will show thee; thy Elders, and they will tell thee, how God when by his Providence He disposed the several Nations that came out of the Loins of Adam into several parts of the Earth (allotting to one Nation one Country, and another to another) did then set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel; that is, did then choose the Children of Israel to be his peculiar people and Inheritance, and where they were, there it might be said was his people, and where their bounds ended, there was the end and utmost bound of his people, and the bounds of the Heathen then began; and according to his secret purpose he gave and allotted to the Canaanites such bounds and limits as he knew would serve for the number of the Israelites. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance; that is, the Israelites are that portion of Mankind whom he was pleased to make his peculiar people; they are his Inheritance, and therefore dear to Him as Inheritances use to be to men, which are divided to them by lot; and they were to acknowledge no other Lord over them but Himself, and they and their Children after them were to be His successively. He found them in a desert Land, in a wast howling Wilderness inhabited only by wild howling Beasts of Prey; He found them there in desperate danger, but came in seasonably to their succor, when they were ready to perish; He led them about, he instructed them both by his Word and Works, by his Spirit, and the several Dispensations of his Providence; He kept them as the apple of his eye, with tender care and love. As an Eagle stirreth up her nest; that is, awaketh her brood or young ones in her nest, rousing them up with the Cry that she maketh, to signify to them that she intends to teach them to fly, and spreading abroad her wings taketh them up, and beareth them thereon; so did the Lord carry Israel towards Canaan, leading them Himself thither, and there was no strange god with him; that is, no strange God had any hand in it. He made him ride on the high places of the Earth; that is, he enabled them to subdue and conquer the mountainous places and the high-walled Cities of their Enemies, and to possess a Land far excelling others in all Commodities whatsoever. He made him to eat of the increase of the Earth, to suck Honey out of the Rock; that is, of Bees nestling in the holes of Rocks, and Oil of Olive-Trees that grow in stony places. He made him to eat of Butter of Kine and Milk of Sheep, with the fat of Lambs and Rams of the choice breed of Bashan, and Bread made of the finest, plumpest and largest kernels of Wheat, resembling Kidneys in shape, and to drink the pure blood of the Grape; that is, the choicest red Wine. But Jeshurun being waxed fat, kicked; that is, hath behaved himself wantonly, forsaking God that made him, contemptuously and lightly esteeming the Rock of his Salvation, in whom alone was his help. They provoked Him to jealousy, and made him exceeding angry by their spiritual Fornication, and worshipping strange gods; They sacrificed unto Devils; that is, unto Idols wherein the Devil was served and not God, [Levite. 17.7. 1 Cor. 10.20.] They sacrificed to gods whom they knew not, nor had any knowledge or experience of any good from them, to new gods, newly come up; for though they had continued many hundred years in the World, yet if compared to the Eternal ever-living God they might be said to be newly come up, and to be mere up-starts, and such as their Fathers slighted as Vanities. Of the Rock, that is, of the strong God that created them and begat them they were unmindful, and forgot Him that formed them and made them his people, Isa. 43.21. When the Lord saw this he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his Sons and Daughters; that is, of those that professed themselves to be his people. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be; that is, I will let them see what a miserable end they will come to, when I forsake them. For they are a very froward Generation, Children in whom there is no faithfulness, or fidelity, or stedfastness to keep their Covenant with me. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not god, that is, provoked me to Displeasure, by giving that worship which is only due to me to Idols which are no gods, and so preferring mear Vanities, viz. Stocks and Stones before their Creator. Therefore (he says) he would move them to jealousy, that is, vex and disquiet them with those that are not a people, even with a foolish Nation; that is, by calling the Gentiles who were not now his people, and were despised by the Jews for their blindness and folly, Rom. 10.19. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest Hell, and shall consume the Earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the Mountains; that is, the Judgments which God in his anger would bring upon them should be most vehement and dreadful, and should utterly destroy the Land, and therefore this desolation and destruction is set forth in expressions resembling the Conflagration of the World at the last day. He further adds, I will heap mischiefs upon them, I will spend mine arrows upon them; that is, I will strike them with many Plagues, and they shall be wounded with them, as with Arrows, suddenly and unexpectedly. They shall be burnt with hunger; that is, consumed with Famine, [see Lam. 4.8.] and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction; that is, with burning Carbuncles and fiery Ulcers on their Bodies. I will send the teeth of Beasts upon them, with the poison of Serpents of the dust, viz. that hide themselves in the dust, and feed on the dust; and assault suddenly. They that are abroad shall be slain by the Sword, and they that are within shall die with terror and fear, and this misery and calamity shall fall on all sorts, old and young. I said I would scatter them into Corners, and make the remembrance of them cease from among men, were it not that I feared the wrath of the Enemy, lest the Adversaries of my people should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done this. God here speaks of Himself after the manner of men, who oftentimes desist from doing what otherwise they intended to do, for fear of encouraging the pride and insolency of wicked men. And therefore God would not bring his people so near to utter destruction as their sins deserved, lest their Enemies should thereupon exalt themselves as if by their own power alone, or the help of their Idols, they had vanquished Israel, and done all that they had done, [see Psal. 140.8.] And the reason why God was so far provoked as to be ready almost utterly to destroy the Israelites, had not respect to his own glory restrained him, was, because they were a Nation void of Counsel, neither was there any understanding in them; that is, they went on blindly and desperately in wickedness, without considering what would be the issue of it. O that they were wise (says God) that they would consider what will befall them in the latter end, if they go on in their Rebellions against me, that so by true Repentance they may prevent these miseries. For if they had not by their frequent and high Transgressions extremely provoked me, their Enemies should never have had that power over them that they have had; seeing I had promised them, in case they were obedient, that an hundred of them should put ten thousand of their Enemies to flight, [Josh. 23.10. Levite. 26.8.] and this they have found true in many strange Victories which they have gotten, wherein a few of them have defeated whole Armies of their Adversaries. And how could it come to pass quite contrary, that one of their Enemies should chase a thousand of them, and that two of their Enemies should put ten thousand of them to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up; that is, except the Lord who is their Rock, and their only Stay and Strength had delivered them up into the hands and power of their Enemies to be captivated and imprisoned by them at their will, and to be made their Slaves and Vassals, see Psal. 31.7, 8. And the Israelites may well say, If our God had not done it, the Idol gods of the Heathens could never have made them so Victorious