| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Numbers Chapter
Twenty
Numbers 20
Chapter Contents
The people come to Zin
They murmur for water
Moses
directed to smite the rock
The infirmity of Moses and Aaron. (1-13) The
Israelites are refused a passage through Edom. (14-21) Aaron reigns the
priest's office to Eleazar
and dies in mount Hor. (22-29)
Commentary on Numbers 20:1-13
After thirty-eight years' tedious abode in the
wilderness
the armies of Israel advanced towards Canaan again. There was no
water for the congregation. We live in a wanting world
and wherever we are
must expect to meet with something to put us out. It is a great mercy to have
plenty of water
a mercy which
if we found the want of
we should more own the
worth of. Hereupon they murmured against Moses and Aaron. They spake the same
absurd and brutish language their fathers had done. It made their crime the
worse
that they had smarted so long for the discontent and distrusts of their
fathers
yet they venture in the same steps. Moses must again
in God's name
command water out of a rock for them; God is as able as ever to supply his
people with what is needful for them. But Moses and Aaron acted wrong. They
took much of the glory of this work of wonder to themselves; "Must we
fetch water?" As if it were done by some power or worthiness of their own.
They were to speak to the rock
but they smote it. Therefore it is charged upon
them
that they did not sanctify God
that is
they did not give to him alone
that glory of this miracle which was due unto his name. And being provoked by
the people
Moses spake unadvisedly with his lips. The same pride of man would
still usurp the office of the appointed Mediator; and become to ourselves
wisdom
righteousness
and sanctification
and redemption. Such a state of
sinful independence
such a rebellion of the soul against its Saviour
the
voice of God condemns in every page of the gospel.
Commentary on Numbers 20:14-21
The nearest way to Canaan from the place where Israel
encamped
was through the country of Edom. The ambassadors who were sent
returned with a denial. The Edomites feared to receive damage by the
Israelites. And had this numerous army been under any other discipline than
that of the righteous God himself
there might have been cause for this
jealousy. But Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; and now the hatred
revived
when the blessing was about to be inherited. We must not think it strange
if reasonable requests be denied by unreasonable men
and if those whom God
favours be affronted by men.
Commentary on Numbers 20:22-29
God bids Aaron prepare to die. There is something of
displeasure in these orders. Aaron must not enter Canaan
because he had failed
in his duty at the waters of strife. There is much of mercy in them. Aaron
though he dies for his transgression
dies with ease
and in honour. He is
gathered to his people
as one who dies in the arms of Divine grace. There is
much significancy in these orders. Aaron must not enter Canaan
to show that
the Levitical priesthood could make nothing perfect; that must be done by
bringing in a better hope. Aaron submits
and dies in the method and manner
appointed; and
for aught that appears
with as much cheerfulness as if he had
been going to bed. It was a great satisfaction to Aaron to see his son
who was
dear to him
preferred; and his office preserved and secured: especially
to
see in this a figure of Christ's everlasting priesthood. A good man would
desire
if it were the will of God
not to outlive his usefulness. Why should
we covet to continue any longer in this world
than while we may do some
service in it for God and our generation?
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Numbers》
Numbers 20
Verse 1
[1] Then
came the children of Israel
even the whole congregation
into the desert of
Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there
and was buried there.
Then — To
wit
after many stations and long journeys here omitted
but particularly
described
Numbers 33:1-49.
Zin — A
place near the land of Edom
distinct and distant from that Sin
Exodus 16:1.
The first month — Of
the fortieth year
as is evident
because the next station to this was in mount
Hor
where Aaron died
who died in the fifth month of the fortieth year
Numbers 33:38. Moses doth not give us an exact
journal of all occurrences in the wilderness
but only of those which were most
remarkable
and especially of those which happened in the first and second
and
in the fortieth year.
Miriam died —
Four months before Aaron
and but a few more before Moses.
Verse 2
[2] And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron.
No water —
Which having followed them through all their former journeys
began to fail
them here
because they were now come near countries
where waters might be had
by ordinary means
and therefore God would not use extraordinary
lest he
should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story
though like that
Exodus 17:1-7
is different from it
as appears
by divers circumstances. It is a great mercy
to have plenty of water; a mercy
which if we found the want of
we should own the worth of.
Verse 3
[3] And
the people chode with Moses
and spake
saying
Would God that we had died when
our brethren died before the LORD!
Before the Lord —
Suddenly
rather than to die such a lingering death. Their sin was much greater
than that of their parents
because they should have taken warning by their
miscarriages
and by the terrible effects of them
which their eyes had seen.
Verse 8
[8] Take
the rod
and gather thou the assembly together
thou
and Aaron thy brother
and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his
water
and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt
give the congregation and their beasts drink.
The rod —
That which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle; whether it was
Aaron's rod
which was laid up there
Numbers 17:10
or Moses's rod by which he
wrought so many miracles. For it is likely
that wonder-working rod
was laid
up in some part of the tabernacle
though not in or near the ark
where Aaron's
blossoming rod was put.
Verse 9
[9] And Moses took the rod from before the LORD
as he commanded him.
From before the Lord — Out of the tabernacle.
Verse 12
[12] And
the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron
Because ye believed me not
to sanctify me
in the eyes of the children of Israel
therefore ye shall not bring this
congregation into the land which I have given them.
Ye believed me not —
But shewed your infidelity: which they did
either by smiting the rock
and
that twice
which is emphatically noted
as if he doubted whether once smiting
would have done it
whereas he was not commanded to smite so much as once
but
only to speak to it: or by the doubtfulness of these words
Numbers 20:10. Must we fetch water out of the
rock? which implies a suspicion of it
whereas they should have spoken
positively and confidently to the rock to give forth water. And yet they did
not doubt of the power of God
but of his will
whether he would gratify these
rebels with this farther miracle
after so many of the like kind.
To sanctify me — To
give me the glory of my power in doing this miracle
and of my truth in
punctually fulfilling my promise
and of my goodness in doing it
notwithstanding the peoples perverseness.
In the eyes of Israel — This made their sin scandalous to the Israelites
who of themselves were
too prone to infidelity; to prevent the contagion
God leaves a monument of his
displeasure upon them
and inflicts a punishment as publick as their sin.
Verse 13
[13] This
is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD
and he was sanctified in them.
Meribah —
That is
strife.
In them —
Or
among them
the children of Israel
by the demonstration of his
omnipotency
veracity
and clemency towards the Israelites
and of his
impartial holiness and severity against sin even in his greatest friends and
favourites.
Verse 14
[14] And
Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom
Thus saith thy brother
Israel
Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
All the travel —
All the wanderings and afflictions of our parents and of us their children
which doubtless have come to thine ears.
Verse 16
[16] And
when we cried unto the LORD
he heard our voice
and sent an angel
and hath
brought us forth out of Egypt: and
behold
we are in Kadesh
a city in the
uttermost of thy border:
An Angel —
The Angel of the Covenant
who first appeared to Moses in the bush
and
afterward in the cloudy pillar
who conducted Moses and the people out of
Egypt
and through the wilderness. For though Moses may be called an angel or
messenger yet it is not probable that he is meant
partly because Moses was the
person that sent this message; and partly because another angel above Moses
conducted them
and the mention hereof to the Edomites
was likely to give more
authority to their present message.
In Kadesh —
Near
the particle in being so often used.
Verse 17
[17] Let
us pass
I pray thee
through thy country: we will not pass through the fields
or through the vineyards
neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we
will go by the king's high way
we will not turn to the right hand nor to the
left
until we have passed thy borders.
The wells —
Or
pits
which any of you have digged for your private use
not without paying
for it
Numbers 20:19
but only of the waters of common
rivers
which are free to all passengers. No man's property ought to be
invaded
under colour of religion. Dominion is founded in providence
not in
Grace.
Verse 18
[18] And
Edom said unto him
Thou shalt not pass by me
lest I come out against thee
with the sword.
By me —
Through my country: I will not suffer thee to do so: which was an act of
policy
to secure themselves from so numerous an host.
Verse 19
[19] And
the children of Israel said unto him
We will go by the high way: and if I and
my cattle drink of thy water
then I will pay for it: I will only
without
doing any thing else
go through on my feet.
Said —
That is
their messengers replied what here follows.
Verse 23
[23] And
the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor
by the coast of the land of
Edom
saying
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron — So these two dear brothers must part! Aaron must die first: but Moses is
not likely to be long after him. So that it is only for a while
a little
while
that they are separated.
Verse 24
[24]
Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land
which I have given unto the children of Israel
because ye rebelled against my
word at the water of Meribah.
Because they rebelled — This was one but not the only reason. God would not have Moses and Aaron
to carry the people into Canaan
for this reason also
to signify the
insufficiency of the Mosaical law and Aaronical priesthood to make them
perfectly happy
and the necessity of a better
and to keep the Israelites from
resting in them
so as to be taken off from their expectation of Christ.
Verse 26
[26] And
strip Aaron of his garments
and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall
be gathered unto his people
and shall die there.
His garments —
His priestly garments
in token of his resignation of his office.
Put them on Eleazar — By
way of admission and inauguration to his office.
Verse 27
[27] And
Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight
of all the congregation.
In the sight of all the congregation — That their hearts might be more affected with their loss of so great a
pillar
and that they all might be witnesses of the translation of the
priesthood from Aaron to Eleazar.
Verse 28
[28] And
Moses stripped Aaron of his garments
and put them upon Eleazar his son; and
Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from
the mount.
And Moses stript Aaron — And Death will strip us. Naked we came into the world: naked we must go
out. We shall see little reason to be proud of our cloaths
our ornaments
or
marks of honour
if we consider how soon death will strip us of all our glory
and take the crown off from our head! Aaron died there - He died in Mosera
Deuteronomy 10:6. Mosera was the general name of
the place where that station was
and mount Hor a particular place in it.
Presently after he was stript of his priestly garments
he laid him down and
died. A good man would desire
if it were the will of God
not to outlive his
usefulness. Why should we covet to continue any longer in this world
than
while we may do God and our generation some service?
Verse 29
[29] And
when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead
they mourned for Aaron
thirty days
even all the house of Israel.
Saw —
Understood by the relation of Moses and Eleazar
and by other signs.
Thirty days —
The time of publick and solemn mourning for great persons.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Numbers》
20 Chapter 20
Verse 1
The people abode in Kadesh.
The new departure
The fortieth year is now running its course. The time of the curse
has nearly expired. And now preparations may be begun for entering a second
time on the march to Canaan
where a new generation must vindicate the claim of
Israel to be indeed “the hosts of the Lord
” by taking possession of the land
of promise. It was at Kadesh that the sentence had been pronounced which doomed
their fathers to these dreary years of wandering. It is at Kadesh again that
the camp is reorganised. It seems likely that during the interval there was no
definite aim or object before the people
so that they moved about as suited
their convenience or necessities
very much as the wandering tribes of the
desert do still. This would lead to a relaxation of discipline and order in the
camp
and more or less scattering of the people. Their unity was indeed to a
certain extent kept up
and their marching orders given as of old
probably at
long intervals. So at least we would infer from the itinerary in chap. 33.; but
there must have been no little disorganisation and dispersion
rendering it
necessary that there should be a reassembling of the forces. For this purpose
no place could be better or more
appropriate than Kadesh
not only because it must have been so familiar to all
but also because
by making it their point of departure
they resumed the
thread that had been broken by the unbelief of their fathers. The total loss of
the long interval of time
moreover
is more distinctly marked by the gathering
of the people together at the old halting-place. There is a striking contrast
between the new
departure and the old. The first began with the numbering and mustering of the
armed men
and all the bustle
activity
and energy of a youthful host setting
out to victory. The second seems to have a much less hopeful beginning. The
twentieth of Numbers is one of the saddest chapters in the book. It begins with
the death of her who had been the leader in the song of victory on the shores
of the Red Sea. It ends with the death of him who had so long been the honoured
representative of Israel in the Holy and the Most Holy Place. And
between the
two
we have the old story of murmuring on the part of the people
and mercy on
the part of God
but with this sad addition
that Moses himself has a fall--a
fall so serious that it leads to his own
as well as Aaron’s
exclusion from
the land of promise. It seems a hopeless beginning indeed. But was there not
something hopeful in its very hopelessness? Recall that scene of wrestling at
Peniel
when the patriarch Jacob gained the new name of Israel. How did he gain
it? By his own strength? Nay. It was through weakness that he was made strong. It
was when his power was utterly broken that his hope of victory began. This will
illustrate what we mean when we say that there is something hopeful in the very
hopelessness of this chapter. And this prepares the way for the great lesson of
the next chapter
which may be expressed in the very words which follow the
passage just quoted from the 146th Psalm
“Happy is he that hath the God of
Jacob for his help
whose hope is in the Lord his God.” (J. M. Gibson
D. D.)
Miriam died there.
The death of Miriam
I. Death
terminates the most protracted life. Miriam must have been about 130 years old
when she died.
II. Death
terminates the most eventful life.
1. The girl watching over the life of her infant brother (Exodus 3:4-8).
2. The experienced woman sharing in the interest and action of the
stirring events which led to the great emancipation from Egypt.
3. The prophetess leading the exultant songs and dances of a
triumphant people (Exodus 15:20-21).
4. The envious woman aspiring after equality with
and speaking
against her greater brother (Numbers 12:1-2).
5. The guilty woman smitten with leprosy because of the sin (Numbers 12:9-10).
6. The leprous woman healed in answer to the prayer of the brother
whom she had spoken against (Numbers 12:13-15). The most stirring and
eventful life is closed by death
as well as the quiet and monotonous one.
III. Death
terminates the most distinguished life.
1. Miriam was distinguished by her gifts. Prophetic gifts arc
ascribed to her. “Miriam
the prophetess
” is her acknowledged title (Exodus 15:20).
2. Miriam was distinguished by her position.
IV. Death
by
reason of sin
sometimes terminates life earlier than it otherwise would have
done.
V. death sometimes
terminates life with suggestions of a life beyond. It was so in the case of
Miriam. Can we think that the gifts with which she was so richly endowed
and
the treasures of experience which in her long and eventful life she had
gathered
were all lost at death? This would be in utter opposition to the
analogy of the Divine arrangements in the universe. (W. Jones.)
Neither is there any water to drink.
The privations of man and the resources of God
I. There are
privations in the pilgrimage of human life. One man thinks that without health his
life would be worthless; yet he has to submit to its loss for a time. To
another man prosperity seems essential; to another
friendship
or some one
friend or relative; yet of these they are sometimes deprived. Life
in our
view
has many privations. This characteristic of our pilgrimage is for wise
and gracious ends. Privation should remind us that we are pilgrims--incite us
to confide in God--and discipline our spirits into patience and power.
II. The privations
in the pilgrimage of life sometimes develop the evil tendencies of human
nature. This murmuring of the Israelites was--
1. Unreasonable.
2. Cruel.
3. Ungrateful.
4. Degraded.
5. Audaciously wicked.
III. The privations
in the pilgrimage of life
and the evils which are sometimes occasioned by them
impel the good to seek help of God.
1. Consciousness of need.
2. Faith in the sufficiency of the Divine help.
3. Faith in the efficacy of prayer to obtain the Divine help.
4. Faith in the efficacy of unspoken prayer.
IV. The privations
in the pilgrimage of life are sometimes removed in answer to the prayer of the
good. (W. Jones.)
No water
I. The place here
spoken of. The wilderness. The people were led thither--
1. For discipline.
2. For solitude.
3. For proving. How sadly they failed.
II. The want. Water--
1. A necessity for sustenance.
2. A necessity for purity.
3. A want which they were unable to provide for themselves.
III. The people’s
action. “They murmured.” An act natural to the human heart; but very sinful and
foolish--
1. Because it distrusted God.
2. Because it did no good.
3. Because it made themselves more wretched and miserable still.
IV. The provision
made.
1. Unexpected in its source.
2. Unexpected in the manner of its attainment.
3. Unexpected in quantity.
V. The instruction
afforded. That rock was a type of Christ. He was appointed of God
stricken of
man
means of salvation to those appointed to die
&c. (Preacher’s
Analyst.)
The muddy bottom
The heart of man is like a peeler standing water. Look at it on a
summer’s day
when not a breeze ruffles the surface
not a bird flies over to
cast its light shadow on its face. It is so clear
so bright
you may see your
own image reflected there. Now cast a stone to the bottom
and watch the
effect. The dark mud is rising all around
rank weeds are floating up which you
never saw before; the whole pool is in a state of motion
and hardly a drop of
water has escaped the foul pollution. Look at your heart when all outward
things go well. No vexing
crossing care mars its tranquil calm
and you think
you see the image of Jesus reflected there. It is so long since sin has
molested you that you think it has left you quite
and that all is sure within.
Now let a sudden offence come
an unkind
undeserved rebuke; let pride be
touched
or self-will roused
and presently all is lost. Like the waves of an
angry sea
the poor mind is tossed from thought to thought
and finds no rest.
The mud is raised from the bottom
and not one comer of that wretched heart is
free from its polluting influence. All gentle
soothing thoughts are gone
and
one by one the dark weeds are floating on the surface. (Quiet Thoughts for
Quiet Hours.)
Speak ye unto the rock.--
God’s use of insufficient means
He told Moses to speak to the rock
and it should give forth
water. On a former occasion he was to smite the rock; now he was only to speak
to it. If there were any unbelievers in the camp they might mock at this
command
and say
How is it possible to get water out of a rock? let us rather
dig wells
if haply we may find water. And truly to the eye and ear of sense
these observations might appear plausible. Now God’s way of bringing sinners to
glory is just the same. The life of the Christian is a life of faith
throughout. The appointed means have no inherent efficacy. God tries the faith
of His people; disappoint it He never will. He has provided strength equal to
their day
yet will He send it in such a way as to make them feel their utter
helplessness. They see most of God’s love and gracious designs
and have most
peace and comfort in their afflictions
who live most by faith. (George
Breay
B. A.)
With his rod he smote the
rock twice.--
The smitten rock
I. The sinful
attitude of the people. They were discontented
enraged
and faithless. And so
men grow discontented and cry out against God
as if trouble were the only
experience they knew anything about--the most unhappy and morbid state of mind
into which any Christian believer can come. It is strange also how
when one
thing goes wrong with us
everything seems to be awry. The children of Israel
were thirsty
and therefore they complained that the desert of Zin was not the
garden of the Lord
full of all manner of fruits. Put a red lamp into a mass of
shrubbery
and leaf and blossom are forthwith dyed an angry crimson. Thwart some
cherished purpose of a man
and immediately everything takes on the colour of
his disappointment. Society is disintegrating
the Church is going to
destruction
life is a vale of tears. Nothing but immovable faith in God can
save us from this wretched partialism.
II. The merciful
attitude of God. What might He be expected to do under the circumstances? What
wonder if He should say
“It is of no use to be patient any longer. This people
will not have Me for their Ruler. Let them perish.” But that is not God’s way.
He recognises the weakness of men
pities their sufferings
relieves their
wants
and so gives the people another chance to understand Him. And how often
that ancient wonder is wrought anew in human experience! Some critical event
occurs in our history
which for a time at least shatters our faith in the
Divine goodness and justice
well established as that faith ought to be when we
remember the general tenor of our life
and God
instead of flaming out against
our inconstancy and leaving us to our own devices
makes that very event the
occasion of a new and gracious revelation of His love. With time and pains we
arrange some well-compacted plan
on whose success it seems to us all our good
fortune depends
and it thrives for a while; but suddenly all things are
against us
and our hopes are wrecked
and we grow bitter and rebellious
and
then God uses that very disaster to teach us juster views of life and to create
in us a nobler frame of mind
and develop a broader manhood
and we have a
nobler ambition and are better equipped than ever before. And then from the
barren rock of bereavement God brings streams of refreshing. The remaining
members of the household are more
closely welded together
a more tender sympathy with each other springs up
the
unseen life becomes a grander reality
and
as in the flush of the sunset that
follows the storm
we forget the fury of the blast in the glory of the
transfigured heavens
so men and women
in the chastened spirit that results
from trials
and in the light of new and larger hopes which have been kindled
bear glad testimony: “It is good for us that we have been afflicted.”
III. The
unwarrantable attitude of Moses and Aaron. They were angry with the people and
called them hard names
addressing them as “rebels.” They spoke as if they were
the chief agents of the miracle which God wrought. “Hear now
ye rebels
” they
said to the people
“must we fetch you water out of this rock?” So far as their
words went
they were taking upon themselves the glory which belonged to God
alone. Then
too
they were not satisfied with the Divine directions. For these
assumptions Moses and Aaron were rebuked on the spot
and a sentence of
punishment pronounced upon them. There is important practical instruction here
for those who teach or preach God’s Word to sinful men. It is not to be done in
a self-satisfied way
with the assumption of superior sanctity. Neither are we
to take credit to ourselves for good results which may follow our
administration of Divine truth. It is not our wisdom or eloquence
but the Word
of God which is “quick
and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword.”
Humility and self-distrust are eminently becoming in those who undertake to do
God’s work of influencing men for good. (E. S. Atwood.)
Moses at the rock
1. Did you ever hear people cry out
“I wish I were dead”? That is
what the Israelites said--“Would God we had died!” These wishes were hasty
and
as insincere as hasty. No doubt those people would flee from death with terror
at the first sign of his approach. It has been well said that “a discontented
heart makes a reckless tongue.”
2. Now we come to Moses’ sin. He did not attend carefully to God’s
Word
nor obey it
because he was angry. Notice his bitter words. Let us beware
of the sin of anger. Look at the fifth of Galatians
and it tells you that
“wrath” is one of the “lusts of the flesh.” In Proverbs we are told that “he
that is slow to anger is better than the mighty
and he that ruleth his spirit
than he that taketh a city.” Why is a person who conquers himself better than a
great general who takes a city? There are three reasons.
Do you know heaven is full of conquerors? And Revelation 12:11 tells us how they
conquered: “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb.” (British Weekly Pulpit.)
The scene at Meribah
This is a memorable incident in the Jews’ history
rich in warning
to us at this day. Moses had failed in his duty towards God in three
particulars.
1. He had failed in strict obedience.
2. He had shown temper
used hard language.
3. He had taken to himself the credit of supplying the Israelites
with water.
I. The danger of
departing
in the least jot or tittle
from any law of God.
II. The immense
importance attached to temperate speech
the necessity of keeping a check on
temper and not letting ourselves be moved to hot and angry words.
III. This scene is
further useful as carrying our thoughts upwards to Him who is the source of all
our hopes
the nourishment of our soul
the very life of our religion
the Lord
Jesus Christ. (R. D. B. Rawnsley
M. A.)
Moses striking the rock
The Biblical writers are charmingly candid. Do they speak of other
men’s faults? They take care also to record their own. Reputation is sacrificed
on the altar of truth; the unselfish lawgiver informs us of his own
transgression and its terrible penalty. What may we learn from his sin?
I. We must not
seek right ends by wrong means. Here Moses erred. How often has his sin been
repeated! Look at Caiaphas. He says in reference to the Saviour
“It is
expedient that one man die
and not that the whole nation should perish.” The
latter part of the sentence is admirable
the former is atrocious . . . Error
should be opposed; we ought to stop its progress as quickly as possible--but by
persuasion
not persecution.
II. We must beware
of doing more than God commands. There are two opposite ways of sinning--by
defect
and by excess. A child who
in adding up a sum
makes it “come to too
much
” blunders as completely as if he made it “come to too little.” And such a
form of wrong-doing is possible
spiritually. We as much violate our duty as “followers of God
” if we get ahead
of our Guide
as though we lagged so far behind that we could no longer see Him
or tread in His steps. Are we not all
for instance
harder in our judgments
more exacting
more stringent and rigorous in our demands
than He is whom we
profess to follow; and is not this to go before God
and to go before Him not
to prepare His way
but to scare men from His presence?
III. Precedent is a
perilous guide. Moses had struck the rock before by God’s command
and probably
he argued that what was right then could not be wrong now. But let us remember
that “circumstances alter cases.” A thing which is wise for one time may be
folly for another. (T. R. Stevenson.)
The sin of Moses
I. What there was
sinful in Moses.
1. Disobedience to the Divine command.
2. Immoderate heat and passion.
3. Unbelief.
4. It was all publicly done
and so the more dishonouring to God.
II. What we may
learn from this tragical story.
1. What a holy and jealous God He is with whom we have to do.
2. The Lord’s children need not think it strange if they get
abundance to exercise that grace in which they most excel.
3. Let us not be surprised to see or hear the saints failing even in
the exercise of that grace wherein they most excel.
4. Never think yourselves secure from failing till ye be at the end
of your race.
5. What need we have to guard constantly our unruly passions
and put
a bridle on our lips.
6. Though God pardons the iniquity of His servants
yet He will take
vengeance on their inventions (Psalms 99:8).
7. If God punishes His children thus for falling into the snare
how
shall they escape who lay the snare for them?
8. Observe the ingenuousness of the penmen of the Holy
Scripture--Moses records his own fault. (T. Boston
D. D.)
Sin in the child of God
I. Very painful to
God.
II. Most
inexcusable.
III. Most disastrous
in its results
IV. Very certain of
punishment.
Let this incident--
1. Make God’s people more watchful.
2. Lead others to ponder their ways ; for if God visits His own
children for sin
a fortiori
He will not let the wicked escape.
3. Let none forget that God can forgive sin--all sin--through Jesus
Christ. (David Lloyd.)
The sins of holy men
and their punishment
The sin of Moses and Aaron seems to have included--
1. Want of faith.
2. Irritation of spirit.
3. Departure from Divine directions.
4. Assumption of power.
5. The publicity of the whole.
I. The liability
of the good to sin.
II. The danger of
good men failing in those excellences which most distinguish them.
III. The
impartiality of the administration of the Divine government.
IV. The great guilt
of those who by their wickedness occasion sin in the good.
V. The means which
God uses to deter men from sin. Divine judgments
expostulations with the
sinner
encouragements and aids to obedience
are all so employed. By the voice
of history
by the law from Sinai
by the gospel of His Son
by the Cross of
Jesus Christ
by the influences of His Spirit
God is ever crying to the
sinner
“Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate.” Let Christians guard
against temptation; let them cultivate a watchful and prayerful spirit. (W.
Jones.)
How it went ill with Moses
It was but one act
one little act
but it blighted the fair
flower of a noble life
and shut the one soul
whose faith had sustained the
responsibilities of the Exodus with unflinching fortitude
from the reward
which seemed so nearly within its grasp.
I. How it befell.
The demand of the people on the water supply at Kadesh was so great that the
streams were drained
whereupon there broke out again that spirit of murmuring
and complaint which had cursed the former generation
and was now reproduced in
their children. They professed to wish that they had died in the plague that
Aaron’s censer had stayed. They accused the brothers of malicious designs to
effect the destruction of the whole assembly by thirst. It could hardly have
been otherwise than that he should feel strongly provoked. However
he resumed
his old position
prostrating himself at the door of the tent of meeting until
the growing light that welled forth from the Secret Place indicated that the
Divine answer was near. Moses was bidden
though betook the rod
not to use it
but to speak to the rock with a certainty that the accents of his voice
smiting on its flinty face
would have as much effect as ever the rod had had
previously
and would be followed by s rush of crystal water. Yes
when God is
with you
words are equivalent to rods. Rods are well enough to use at the
commencement of faith’s nurture
and when its strength is small
but they may
be laid aside without hesitance in the later stages of the education of the
soul. For as faith grows
the mere machinery and apparatus it employs becomes
ever less
and its miracles are wrought with the slightest possible
introduction of the material. Moses might have entered into these thoughts of
God in quieter moments
but just now he was irritated
indignant
and hot with
disappointment and anger. The people did not suffer through their leader’s sin.
The waters gushed from out the rock
as plentifully as they would have done if the Divine injunctions had been
precisely complied with. Man’s unbelief does not make the faith of God of none
effect; though we believe not
yet He remaineth faithful
He cannot deny
Himself
or desert the people of His choice.
II. The principle
that underlay the divine decision.
1. There was distinct disobedience. No doubt was possible about the
Divine command
and it had been distinctly infringed. This could not be
tolerated in one who was set to lead and teach the people. God is sanctified
whenever we put an inviolable fence around Himself and His words; treating them
as unquestionable and decisive; obeying them with instant and utter loyalty. It
is a solemn question for us all whether we are sufficiently accurate in our
obedience.
2. There was unbelief. It was as if he had felt that a word was not
enough. As if there must be something more of human might and instrumentality.
He did not realise how small an act on his part was sufficient to open the
sluice-gates of Omnipotence. It reminds us of the shattering of the Hell-Gate
Rock at the entrance of New York Harbour. The touching of a tiny button by a
little child set in action the train of gunpowder by which that vast
obstruction was blasted to atoms
and heaved for all time out of the path of
the ships. A touch is enough to set Omnipotence in action. It is very wonderful
to hear God say to Moses
“Ye believed not in Me.” Was not this the man by
whose faith the plagues of Egypt had fallen on that unhappy land
and the Red
Sea had cleft its waters? Had the wanderings impaired that mighty soul
and
robbed it of its olden strength
and left it like any other? Surely something
of this sort must have happened. One act could only have wrought such havoc by
being the symptom of some unsuspected wrong beneath. Oaks do not fall beneath a
single storm
unless they have become rotten at their heart. Let us watch and
pray
lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief
lest we depart in
our most secret thought from simple faith in the living God. Let us especially set
a watch at our strongest point. But how much there is of this reliance on the
rod in all Christian endeavour! Some special method has been owned of God in
times past
in the conversion of the unsaved or in the edification of God’s
people
and we instantly regard it as a kind of fetish. We try to meet new
conditions by bringing out the rod and using it as of yore. It is a profound
mistake. God never repeats Himself. He suits novel instrumentalities to new
emergencies. Where a rod was needful once He sees that a word is better now.
What does it matter if the means He ordains appear to our judgment inferior to
those which He commanded once? This is no business of ours.
3. There was the spoiling of the type. That Rock was Christ
from
whose heart
smitten in death on Calvary
the river of water of life has flowed
to make glad the city of God
and to transform deserts into Edens. But death
came to Him and can come to Him but once. “Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many.” It is clear that for the completeness of the likeness between
substance and shadow
the rock should have been stricken but once. Instead of
that it was smitten at the beginning and at the close of the desert march. But
this was a misrepresentation of an eternal fact
and the perpetrator of the
heedless act of iconoclasm must suffer the extreme penalty
even as Uzzah died
for trying to steady the swaying ark.
III. The
irrevocableness of the Divine decisions. Moses drank very deeply of the bitter
cup of disappointment. And no patriot ever yearned for fatherland as Moses to
tread that blessed soil. With all
the earnestness that he had used to plead for the people
he now
pleaded for himself. But it was not to be. The Lord said unto him
Let it
suffice thee; speak no more unto Me of this matter. The sin was forgiven
but
its consequences were allowed to work out to their sorrowful issue. There are
experiences with us all in which God forgives our sin
but takes vengeance on
our inventions. We reap as we have sown. We suffer where we have sinned. At
such times our prayer is not literally answered. By the voice of His Spirit
by
a spiritual instinct
we become conscious that it is useless to pray further.
But
oh! that God would undertake the keeping of our souls
else
when we least
expect it
we may be overtaken by some sudden temptation
which befalling us in
the middle
or towards the close of our career
may blight our hopes
tarnish
our fair name
bring dishonour to Him
and rob our life of the worthy capstone
of its edifice. (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
Edom refused to give
Israel passage through his border.
A reasonable request
and
an ungenerous refusal:--
I. A reasonable
request.
1. Reasonable in itself.
2. Urged by forcible reasons.
(a) As an indication that it was His will that others should aid them.
(b) As an example to encourage others to aid them.
(c) As an indication of His favour towards them
which suggested that
it was to the interest of others to aid them. It is perilous to resist those
whom God defends; it is prudent to further their designs
&c.
II. An ungenerous
refusal. This refusal of the Edomites probably arose from--
1. Fear that if they complied with the request of the Israelites the
result might be injurious to them.
2. Envy at the growing power of Israel.
3. Remembrance of the ancient injury inflicted by Jacob upon Esau.
Retribution consummated
Who pleads? Israel. To
whom is the plea addressed? To a brother. How did the word “brother “ come into
the narrative? It came historically. We have here Jacob and Esau. Edom is the
name by which Esau was known. Wherever we find the term Edom
our minds may
instantly associate with it the history of Esau
and an action of Divine sovereignty in
relation to that history. Jacob supplanted Esau
ran away in the night-time
met his brother at some distance of time afterwards
the brothers fell upon one
another’s necks
kissed each other
and seemed to sink the infinite outrage in
grateful and perpetual oblivion. Nothing of the kind. Life cannot be managed
thus; things do not lie between man and man only. Herein is the difference
between crime and sin. So Jacob and Esau come face to face throughout the ages.
The supplanter cannot sponge out his miserable cunning and selfish deceit and
unpardonable fraud. Jacob the individual dies
Esau the individual dies: but Jacob and Esau
as
representing a great controversy
can never die: to the end of the chapter Edom will
encounter Israel with deep and lasting animosity. So Esau had his turn. We
pitied the hairy man as he was driven away portionless
without a blessing
his
great heart full of sin no doubt
quivering with agony
for which there was no
adequate expression in words; but in so far as he has been wronged he will see
satisfaction and himself be satisfied. The supplanted family had a land when
the supplanter’s descendants had only a wilderness. This is the law of
Providence. Events are not measured within the compasses of the little day. The
cunning man or the strong man
the oppressor or the wrong-doer
may have his
victory to-day
and may smile upon it
and regard it with complacency
and
receive the incense of adulation from persons who only see between sunrise and sundown. But the
heavens are against him; he has to encounter the eternities
long time after
his victory shall wither
and in his descendants his humiliation shall be
consummated. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 17
We will go by the king’s highway.
The king’s highway
They meant that
however tempting was the fruit of the fields
however fascinating the byways
however inviting the sparkling water in the
wells might seem
they would keep to the bard-beaten thoroughfares that ran
north and south of the country
by which travellers had passed in ages now gone
by. Now
without doubt
such words have a spiritual and typical meaning.
I. Of the nation
at large. Israel pronounced them unanimously as a nation
and we
as the
English nation
may well re-echo them after all these hundreds of years. And it
is well for us to bear in mind that “whole nations” must stand up for God as
well as individuals. Numbers can never make a sin less grievous.
II. They are words
too
that may be hoped for from the mouth of the church. God is essentially a
God of :law and order. The Church must go by the King’s highway.
III. But as with the
nation and with the Church
so with the individual
they are words that are
appropriate in the mouth--
1. Of the young Christian
starting off on life’s journey
just going
into the world. Happy
aye thrice happy
he who
with dogged determination
says
“We will go by the King’s highway.”
2. So
too
they are suited especially to the penitent. He
too
must
look into the future and resolve “to go by the King’s highway.” And here we
must pause to notice that the individual highway consists--
IV. Lastly
we are
not alone in our efforts to go by the King’s highway; we are cheered by the
examples of all the saints whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
In conclusion
I would add that the King’s highway leads to the city of the
Great King. (W. O. Parish.)
Aaron died there in the top of the mount.
The death of Aaron
The first and most superficial aspect of death is that it is the
close of an earthly career. What kind of career was it that was brought to a
close when Aaron died? First of all
there could be no question as to its
prominence. Aaron shares with Moses
though as a subordinate
the glory of
having ruled and shaped the course and conduct of his countrymen at a time of
unexampled difficulty
at a time pregnant with the highest consequences to the
religious future of the world. But Aaron’s place in religious history is more
distinctly measured if we consider the great office to which he was called. He
was the first of a long line of men who were at the head of what was for ages
the only true religion in the world. He was the first high priest of the chosen
people. Office
however
and position is one thing; character is another; and
if it is here that we find a great difference between the brothers
we must
first of all remind ourselves that Aaron is called in Scripture “the saint of
the Lord.” He must have had a great background of those high qualities which go
to make up the saintly character
if he also had defects which are recorded for
our instruction. Aaron was morally a weak man. He had no such grasp of
principle as would enable him to hold out against strong pressure. Nor is it
inconsistent with this that Aaron could display obstinate self-assertion on
inopportune occasions
as when he joined his sister Miriam in murmuring against
Moses. This is exactly what weak people do; they give way when true loyalty to
duty would teach them to resist
and then
haunted by the notion that they are
weak
or at least that the world will think them so
they indulge in some form
of spasmodic self-assertion which may remind us of the ungainly efforts that
invalids will sometimes make to show that they are not quite so ill as their
friends may think them. And now the end had come. Moses and Aaron both knew that Aaron would
die. It may have been that some
hitherto unsuspected disease had shown itself in the constitution
of the old man; it may have been
as has been suggested
that a sand-storm in
the Arabah had withered up his decaying vitality. That Aaron would die might
have been known from observation
as God often speaks to us through the wonted
changes of the world of nature. But Aaron and Moses also knew why Aaron
was to die
and why on Mount Hor. If we knew enough
we should all of us know
that there is a reason in the Divine mind for the hour at which
as for the
means by which
every man and woman departs this life. We all are interested in
ascertaining as exactly as we
can the physical reason of the death of those relations whom God in His
providence removes from our sight; but behind the physical reason there is a
moral reason
if we could only know it; and we may say
with confidence
that
in the eyes of God
who is the perfect moral Being
the moral reason accounts
for much more than the physical. Sometimes a life is prolonged to do one single
piece of work which no other would do as well
and as soon as that work is
done
that life is withdrawn. Sometimes a life is cut short because it has
forfeited the particular privilege which an extension of some months or even
weeks would bring to it
and this was the case of Aaron--“And the Lord spake
unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor
by the coast of the land of Edom
saying
Aaron shall be gathered to his people
for he shall not enter into the land
which I have given to the children of Israel because he rebelled against My
word at the waters of Meribah.” Aaron’s share in the sin of Meribah was due to the
same want of firmness which
as we have seen
was a feature in his character.
The sin of Meribah was
in the first instance
the sin of Moses
when the
people murmured at the want of water
and Moses
worried no doubt by their
perverseness
in the very act of relieving them betrayed
both by what he said
and by what he did
a temper unworthy of his high office
so that he did not
sanctify the Lord God in the eyes of the people. As a later Psalmist
reflects--“The people angered God at the waters of strife
so that He punished
Moses for their sakes
because that they provoked his spirit so that he spake
unadvisedly with his lips.” As for Aaron
he not only did not check Moses
he
acquiesced in what he must have known to be dishonourable to God; and this in a
man with his spiritual responsibilities was a grave failure of duty. Much more
Moses bad forfeited that high privilege
but then the work which Moses had to
do in the world was not yet done. But Aaron’s appointed work was done
and
there was no reason for delaying his summons. And here we are led to reflect on
a subject which too often escapes notice. Many men
probably the majority of
those who do not incur eternal loss
yet do from some flaw in the character
from some warp or weakness in the will
fall
more or less
greatly short of
what they might have been
of what natural powers and spiritual endowments and
religious and other opportunities might have made them even in this world; and
if here
then also hereafter
even if by God’s mercy in Christ we reach it
it
may be to fill a lower rather than what might have been a higher place
but for
some compliance with what conscience condemned
but for some act or some
omission which has left upon the soul and the character that lasting impress
which survives death. There is much to be noticed in the account of the close
of Aaron’s life
but nothing is more worthy of our notice than his deliberate
preparation for it. He did not let death come on him
he went to meet it. The
last scene was as much a matter of duty
a matter of business
as his
consecration to the high priesthood Ah I death
surely
is like a mountain-top
for the survey which it gives to life
and the deserts through which we have
wandered
and the barriers which have checked our progress
and the hopes
bright or dim
which have cheered us on
and the feebleness and the fear of
man
and the self-seeking
and the petty vanity (if nothing worse) which have
spoiled so much that God meant for Himself
standout in clear outlines above
the haze of the distant past. Doubtless it was with Aaron as with any man who
retains
along with a conscience that has not been seared
the free exercise of
the mind’s powers in those last solemn moments which precede the greatest of
all changes--doubtless
it was with him as with others upon whom their position
and work in life have entailed great responsibility for the real and lasting
happiness or misery of their fellow men. At such times the simply conventional
no longer satisfies. At such times standards of conduct that are natural to
human sanction are seen to be no longer applicable
the mental eye sees through
and beyond the phrases which inclination or passion have hitherto interposed
between it and the past. It sees the past more nearly
not as self-love has
wished it to be
but as it was. At such times the higher a man’s place in the
government
or the social fabric of the state
or in the hierarchy of the
Church
the more sincerely must he breathe the prayer
“If Thou
Lord
shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss
O Lord
who may abide it?” But
time was passing. The last moments were now at hand; so Moses
acting
as we
know
under Divine instructions
stripped Aaron of his garments
and put them
upon Eleazar his son. There was
no doubt
a two-fold motive in this act of
Moses. It showed
first of all
that the office of the high priesthood did not
depend on the life of any single man
that God was watching over the religious
interests of His people
that His gifts and calling were
as the apostle says
“without repentance
without recall
” and that He provides for the due
transmission of those spiritual faculties which have been given that they may
sustain the higher life of man from age to age. But it also reminded Aaron
personally of the solemn truth of the utter solitariness of the soul in death.
Not more than any other man can a high priest retain the outward position
the
valued symbols
of his great office. He
too
shall carry nothing away with him
when he dieth
neither shall his pomp follow him. Death strips us of everything
save that which
so far as we know
is by God’s appointment strictly
indestructible. Our undying personality and that type of character which acts
and habits and the use or misuse of the supernatural grace of God have
for
good or for evil
wrought into its very texture--this is indeed for ever ours.
All else is
like the sacerdotal robes of Aaron
to be abandoned
at the place
where
at the moment when
we lie down to die. It was all over. Aaron had
closed his eyes
and Moses buried him where at this day a Moslem shrine
constructed out of the ruins of some earlier and finer edifice
still bears his
name. It was all over
and like a procession returning from a funeral without
the one object which had formed its chiefest interest
Moses and Eleazar
so we
are told
came down from the mount. What were their thoughts about Aaron? Where
was he now? “Aaron
” so runs the phrase of Moses
“was gathered to his people.”
What does the phrase mean? It is used alike of Moses and Aaron. Does it
describe only the interment of their bodies? But in either case their bodies
rested at a distance from their people
in a foreign soil. Surely
it points to
a world in which the bygone generations of men still live
a world of the
existence of which God’s ancient people were well assured
though they knew
much less of it than we. That world beyond the grave is no doubt presented with
different degrees of clearness in the successive ages of Old Testament history.
The age of the patriarchs is marked by strong and distinct faith in it. In the
days and teaching of Moses it is more kept in the background
probably because
the imagination of Israel was still haunted by the imagery of the underworld of
the dead
as the Egyptians had conceived of it. In Job and some of the Psalms
it is the subject sometimes of anxious discussion
sometimes of strong and
undoubting faith. In the prophets it comes prominently forward as the promised
Messiah
heralded not merely as an earthly ruler
but as a deliverer from the
consequences of sin. In Ezekiel and Daniel we already meet with the
resurrection of the body; in the writers after the captivity this doctrine goes
hand in hand with a distinct faith in the immortality of the soul. We cannot
doubt that
as Moses and Eleazar made their way down the western side of the
mount on which Aaron was left
their thoughts were not only or chiefly centred
on the tomb which enclosed his body; they followed him into the assembly of the
spirits of the dead
they followed him with their sympathies
with their hopes
their prayers
even though around that world on which he had entered there
still hung a veil for them which has been
through Christ’s mercy
removed for
us. The Old Testament is sometimes a foreshadowing of the new
sometimes its
foil. If Aaron was stripped of his sacerdotal robes on the eve of his death
Jesus
our Lord was never more a priest than when He hung upon His Cross
and offered
Himself as a full
perfect
and sufficient sacrifice
oblation and satisfaction
for the sins of the whole world. If Aaron’s dust still lies somewhere among the
rocks of Hor
awaiting the summons to judgment
Jesus is indeed risen from the
dead
“and become the first fruits of them that slept
” nay
He has already
He
has here
“brought life and immortality to light” through His gospel
He has
taught us that there is a life which through His grace we may live
and the
beauty of which our hearts cannot but own
while yet that life does but mock us
if it ends at death
if it does not last
if it does not expand
hereafter. Be
has shown us how this life may be
if at present it is not ours
and in
possessing it we are already and most assuredly “more than conquerors” of death
“through Him that loved us.” (Canon Liddon.)
The death of Aaron
I. The death of
Aaron.
1. As a consequence of sin.
2. By the appointment of God.
3. The death of Aaron was his introduction to life and to congenial
society.
II. The appointment
of Aaron’s successor.
1. Kindness to Aaron. It assured him--
2. A guarantee of the continuance of the Church of God.
III. The mourning
because of Aaron’s death.
1. The worth of faithful ministers.
2. The appreciation of blessings when they are withdrawn from us
which were not valued when they were ours.
Lessons:
1. The universality of death.
2. The imperfection of the Aaronic priesthood.
3. The perfection of the priesthood of Christ (Hebrews 7:22-28; Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:23-28; Hebrews 10:10-14). (W. Jones.)
Death of Aaron
I. The time. In
the fortieth year of the wanderings.
1. A very important year in the history of Israel. Year of death also
of Miriam and of Moses. Dates that mark formation of new or severance of old
friendships
always important.
2. In about the 123-4 year of Aaron’s life. A long and eventful life.
And yet
though his life was long--
II. The warning.
Many pass away without any warning. Duty of being always ready. In this case
a
solemn intimation that the time appointed had come. It was kindly framed.
“Gathered unto his people.” An old man’s best friends--his people--are mostly
in the better world. Aaron invited to join his people; the great ones amongst
whom he ranked.
III. The place. A
mountain. Reminds us that the good man in death is in death lifted up above the
world ; and that
as Aaron at that time
he dies in view of the Church below
and the Church above. Israel around
and the promised land before him.
IV. The circumstances.
Toilsomely and calmly ascends the hill to be gathered to his fathers. The old
man climbing the last of life’s hills. The last stage a rugged one.
V. The
characteristics. A death--
1. Hastened by sin.
2. Closing all earthly offices and distinctions.
3. Heralded by solemn intimations.
4. Sweetened by presence of friends.
Learn--
1. A good man in dying is gathered to his people.
2. Seek to live on the borders of heaven that we may die in view of
the promised land.
3. Endeavour to do what we have to do while it is called to-day. (J.
C. Gray.)
The death of Aaron
I. We may learn a
salutary lesson from the death of Aaron in its merely literal bearing. Aaron
the high priest
had to ascend Mount Hor clad in his priestly robes of office;
but he must be stripped of them there
because he must die there. He could not
carry his dignity or the emblems of it into the next world. He must lay them
down at the grave’s brink. There is nothing which the world gives that men can
carry with them when death lays hold of them. Even all which outwardly pertains
to spiritual dignity
and which brings men into relation with things that are
imperishable and eternal
must be left behind
and the individual man
as God’s
accountable creature
must appear before his Maker in judgment. There is one
thing imperishable and one dignity which even death cannot tarnish. The
imperishable thing is the life which the Spirit of God imparts to the soul
and
which connects the soul with God. The deathless dignity is that of being
children of God.
II. Aaron must be
stripped of his robes
and his son clad with them in his stead. This reminds us
that while the priests under the law were not suffered to continue by reason of
death
yet the office of the priesthood did not lapse. Aaron’s robes were not
buried with him. His successor was provided. Yet the very thought that he
needed a successor
that the office must be transmitted from one to another
leads us to think of the contrast which the apostle draws between the priests
under the law and Him who abideth always. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
to-day
and for ever. (A. B. Davidson.)
The good and faithful servant
I. The common
destiny of man. “Aaron
” says God
“shall be gathered to his people.” Death is
spoken of here
not as a strange event
not as something peculiar to Aaron
but
as something that had happened to Aaron’s people
and would happen to all
generations. Oh
the teeming myriads that preceded us
that carried on the
works
the commerce
and the reforms of our world; all these
so far as the
body is concerned--all dust!
II. The
rigorousness of moral law. Here is a man who had struggled hard for many years
in the wilderness
a man filled with high hopes
with glowing enthusiasm
a man
who was approaching the goal
approaching the Canaan; and yet mark how
because
of one sin
he dies
and never reaches that blessed spot. However distinguished
a man may be for his excellences
however high he may be in the Church of God
his sin shall not go unpunished.
III. The termination
of life in the midst of labour. We nearly all die with our work unfinished. The
farmer dies when he has only half ploughed his field ; the merchant dies in the
midst of some commercial enterprise to which he has committed himself; the
statesman dies with some great political measure
perhaps
heavy on his hands;
the minister dies with some schemes of thought in his brain unwrought out
some
plans of usefulness undeveloped. That to me is a profound mystery. I should
have thought that a man who had in his brain a great purpose to serve his race
to promote the truth
and to extend the kingdom of Christ
would have his life
preserved
that he might realise his purpose. But it is not so. O God! we are
not surprised when an old tree
though prolific in its day
dies
for it dies
by the law of decay; nor are we astonished that an unfruitful tree should be
cut down
for it is a cumberer of the ground; but we are astonished that a
tree
with its branches full of sap
with its boughs laden with fruit
with
thousands reposing under its shadow
should be struck with a thunderbolt from
heaven. Thy path
O God
is “in the great waters
and Thy footsteps are not
known.”
IV. God’s agency in
man’s dissolution. Why did Aaron die? He was not worn out with age. He was as
vigorous
perhaps
at that moment
as anybody here. Not because there was
disease rankling in his system
not because there was any external violence
applied to him. Why
then
did he die? The Great One determines that he shall
die
and he dies. And this
I take it
is always the philosophy of a man’s
death. We may ascribe it to that disease
to this accident
to this chance
to
this occurrence ; but philosophy
the Bible
and reason all say
“man dies
because the Great One has determined that he should die.” If you will ascertain
the term of a creature s existence
you can only do it accurately by
ascertaining the will of the great God concerning his existence. The
constitution has nothing whatever to do with the question. If God determines
it
the most robust dies in a moment
V. The promptitude
with which providence supplies the places of the dead. Aaron must die
but
there is Eleazar standing by his side ready to step into his place. This is the
order of Providence. A merchant dies
and another man stands by his side ready
to carry on his business. A lawyer dies
and there is a man standing by his
side ready in a moment to step into the place he occupied. A statesman dies
and Providence has a man exactly fitted for his position. Oh
how this
encourages my faith in the progress of Divine truth in this world! I see
missionaries die in the field
and ministers die in the Church; I see authors
die who are moving the minds of men
and influencing them for their highest
good; and sometimes I feel
now
surely there must be a pause. But no
there is
another minister ready to take the departed minister’s place. You labour
and
other men enter into your labours; and when the mystery of godliness shall be
finished
I believe the great series of workers will meet and mingle and rejoice
together in the presence of the great common Father of us all. But whilst this
encourages our faith
it is certainly humbling to our pride. The world can do
without thee. Thou art but a blade in the field ; the landscape will bloom
without thee. Thou art but a drop in the ocean; the mighty billows will not
miss thee. Thou art not at all important.
VI. The trial of
human friendships. Moses and Eleazar were very closely related to Aaron. Moses
was more than a brother to Aaron. There was a spiritual kindredship between
them. There were mental affinities and spiritual affections. Their hearts were
welded together by tender feelings and associations
and yet part they must.
Oh! I ask the question
leaving you to answer it. Can it be that the great God
of love
who has made us to love
and who has disposed us to give our
affections to certain men and persons
can it be that He intended that our love
should lash within us such storms
and produce so many tears that we have to
shed almost daily? The philosophy is here--these friendships are to be renewed.
These losses and tears are only a passing storm
clearing the heavens. There is
to be a renewal of real spiritual friendship. Eleazar
Moses
thou shalt meet
that man whom thou art burying on Mount Hor again! The time is hastening on
when a re-union shall take place
and separation never. After all
the
separation which takes place in the death of true Christian friends is more in
form than in reality--more an appearance than a fact. I have the idea that in
truth we become more really friends by the death separation. Death cannot
destroy our loving memories of them. Death does not kill--nay
it seems but to
intensify our affections. Death seems to bring those who are gone more closely
and more vitally into contact with our hearts. Death
I say
does not effect a
real separation. Love photographs them in the soul.
VII. The painful
recognition by society of its greatest losses. The people mourned for Aaron
thirty days. Well might they mourn. If we cannot weep over great and true
hearts
over what can we weep? Good men are as fountains welling up in the
desert through which you are passing; they are lights in abounding darkness;
they are salt that counteracts our tendency to corruption. Thank God for good
men! But the Christian minister is the best of all men
and his loss is the
greatest of all losses.
I know of no man who is rendering such a service to society and to humanity as
he! Such was Aaron. He was a minister of God. He had to go in between the
corrupt Jews and the Infinite
and to entreat upon their behalf; and more than
once did his prayers avert the threatened judgment. Aaron was more than that;
he was a speaker
an orator. His words sometimes fell as a thunder-peal upon
the proud heart of Egypt’s monarch; but they came down with rays of light
and
as the gentle dew
upon the people of Israel. I can fancy Aaron talking to the
people about God
about the coming Christianity
about the new dispensation
about the world to come. But he dies; and they mourn. I do not wonder at that.
I should have been surprised if they had not wept when they know and felt
We
shall see Aaron no more; he has ministered to us for many years
he has given
consolation to our old men
a word of advice to the young men
and has talked
to the children--and we shall see Aaron no more. (D. Thomas.)
The comforts of Aaron’s death
The comforts of Aaron’s death here are these: The Lord appoints it
so
and His will
as it is ever good
so should it ever be our content.
Secondly
his son succeedeth him in his place
a great comfort. Thirdly
he
shall be freed from all his toil
from all his grief
from an unkind people.
Now shall he rest and have peace
and all grief from his heart
all tears from
his eyes wiped quite away. “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord
for they
rest from their labours
and their works follow them.” Let it be a comfort to
all
and by name to God’s ministers
that faithfully and zealously have watched
over their flock
and have reaped but wrong and oppression. God hath His sweet
time to release us
and to gather us to our people as He here did Aaron. He
will care for our children as here for Aaron’s
and put them in some place or
other after us for their good in His great mercy
if we commend them to Him.
Our labours shall not be lost with Him that rewardeth a cup of cold water. If
we have “sowed in tears we shall reap in joy.” Earth’s woe shall be changed to
heaven’s bliss
and happy shall we be. Go on in comfort
be faithful unto the
end
the Lord shall give us a crown of life. (Bp. Babington.)
Divestiture and investiture--ministerial succession
1. In these calm
almost cold
words
is told all that man is to know
of an event full of interest
mystery
and awe. In that year 1452 (as
chronologers say) before the Christian era
a life is brought to its close
which
but for one other life beside it
would have been unique in wonder. That
old man who has gone up into Mount Hor
under Divine direction
to die
is
God’s high priest; the first of a long line
the only line that God ever
consecrated to stand between Himself and His chosen people
in the things of
religion and the soul
until He should at last come
who is the End of all
Revelation and the Antitype of all Priesthood.
2. Aaron is shut out from Canaan for a fault
for a sin. Judged as
man judges
it was a little sin. It was not the greatest of the sins even of
this one life. But with God “great” and “little” have no place in the estimate
of transgression.
3. The lesson of severity lies on the surface of the record.
4. There is here also the lesson of love. See how God chastens
without disowning.
5. There is also the lesson of death. It is the fashion to say that
the language of the Old Testament is cheerless about death. I cannot see it.
These deaths for small sins seem to be eloquent as to the insignificance of
death. They seem to say
“The life that is seen is but a fragment of the whole
life.”
6. Nothing is more pathetic in Holy Scripture than that selflessness
which God requires in His servants; that absorption of natural feeling in the
One higher
which is the perfection of self-control and the self-forgetfulness.
Aaron himself had been enabled to rise to it
when he saw his two sons cut off
before him
forbidden to mourn
forbidden to bury them. And now it is his brother’s
turn to take his part in bearing the burden which God’s ministry lays upon them
that are privileged to exercise it. Now he must strip his dying brother of the
beautiful and costly vestments of his priesthood. He must array in them a new
priest
who is to carry on God’s work before a younger generation. And when the
sad and solemn office is ended
he must turn back
with that other
to the
thoughts and acts of the living
till he also shall have finished his course
and be ready to rejoin his brother in the Paradise of the just made perfect.
7. There are some forms of ministration which suggest succession.
Those garments which are emblematical of office--the judge’s ermine
worn only
on the judgment-seat; the bishop’s lawn
put on with prayer and benediction
in
the midst of the ceremony of his consecration--speak for themselves as to the
disrobing. The wearer had a predecessor
shall have a successor in that
ministry. He is but the life-holder: less than the life-holder
for decay of
strength may further abridge the tenure of that charge
towards God and man
which the vestment of office typifies. There must be that stripping of which
the text speaks; that putting off that another may put on. Let him live in the
foreview of that day.
8. Behold in one view the littleness and the greatness of man. The
littleness in space and time. One generation goeth
and another cometh. Earth
is a speck
and time a moment. But
view life as a trust--view office
view
work
view character
view being
as a priesthood--and all is ennobled
all
consecrated. Say to yourself
I am God’s priest--I wear His ephod and His
crown
and the inscription on that crown is
“Holiness unto the Lord”--then you
are great; great above kings
who know not a hereafter; great above hierarchies
which would shine in God’s stead; your light is God’s light
and the world
shall be the brighter for it. (Dean Vaughan.)
The sin of Moses
and the death of Aaron
I. Faith in God is
the regulating grace of the Christian character. So long as that is preserved
it will keep all other principles of our nature in restraint; but when that is
lost
the brake is removed from the wheel
and everything goes wrong. The loss
of faith leads to panic
and panic is utterly inconsistent with self-control.
If we wish to overcome ourselves
then the victory is to be won through faith
in God. Mere watchfulness will not suffice; but we must cultivate that
confidence in God which believes that all things work together for good to them
who love Him; which realises the universality of His providential
administration as including the minutest as well as the vastest concerns of
life ; and which has the unwavering assurance that we shall enter at last upon
our heavenly inheritance.
II. How important
it is to be always ready for death. The death of Aaron was not altogether
without warning
but in some sense it may be regarded as sudden. There were no
premonitions of it in his bodily frame
else he could not have ascended Mount
Hor; and when God’s command came
it might take him
and probably did take him
by surprise. Yet he was not appalled
for he believed God
and that kept him in
perfect peace. “What
sir
” said a domestic servant
who was sweeping her
doorstep
to young Spencer
of Liverpool
as he was hastening by
“is your opinion
of sudden death?” He paused a moment; then saying
“Sudden death to the
Christian is sudden glory
” he hurried on; and in less than an hour afterward
he was drowned while bathing in the Mersey.
III. The place and
power of the individual in the onward progress of human society.
1. Ministers and people die
but the Church abides
and carries still
forward its beneficent work.
2. We are the heirs of all the preceding generations; and if we act
well our part
we shall leave something additional of our own behind us
which
shall enrich those who shall come after us. The tabernacle service went on
without Aaron
it is true; but if Aaron had not gone before him
Eleazar would
not have entered upon such a sphere of usefulness as that which now opened
before him. If there bad been no Bacon
there might have been no Newton; and if
there had been no Newton
our modern philosophers would not have been what they
are.
3. What
then
is the lesson of all this? It is that each of us shall
strive to do his utmost in the work to which God has called him
so that we may
leave a higher platform for those who shall come after us. (W. M. Taylor
D.
D.)
Aaron’s death
Aaron went up to die. Some die in seclusion and unknown; yet it
matters not where the saints depart
whether on a mount or in a vale
though
as a typical character
this circumstance seemed to indicate the way of the
“spirit
which riseth upwards
” and the destiny of our whole humanity. To him
dying was but ascending; and it will be so to all the Lord’s people. The great
Representative and Forerunner of the Church died on one mount
and ascended
from another. Had not some great truth thereby been to be expressed
Aaron had
not attired himself for death as though to enter the holy of holies. It can
signify but little what he puts on who is about to lie down in the shroud of
dissolution. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb
and naked shall I return
said Job. Oh! how do some long for evening
to undress! “ not that they would
be unclothed
but clothed upon with their house which is from above.” Yet the
priest did not die
but the man. The transfer was made in life: the robes were
taken from him while living
and not when dead. The Church was no moment
without a priest and an offering. (W. Seaton.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》