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Deuteronomy Chapter
Thirty-one
Deuteronomy 31
Chapter Contents
Moses encourages the people
and Joshua. (1-8) The law to
be read every seventh year. (9-13) The Israelites' apostacy foretold
A song
given to be witness against them. (14-22) The law delivered to the Levites.
(22-30)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 31:1-8
(Read Deuteronomy 31:1-8)
Moses assures Israel of the constant presence of God with
them. This is applied by the apostle to all God's spiritual Israel
to
encourage their faith and hope; unto us is this gospel preached
as well as
unto them; he will never fail thee
nor forsake thee
Hebrews 13:5. Moses commends Joshua to them for
a leader; one whose wisdom
and courage
and affection they had long known; one
whom God had appointed to be their leader; and therefore would own and bless.
Joshua is well pleased to be admonished by Moses to be strong and of good
courage. Those shall speed well
who have God with them; therefore they ought
to be of good courage. Through God let us do valiantly
for through him we
shall do victoriously; if we resist the devil
he will flee from us.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 31:9-13
(Read Deuteronomy 31:9-13)
Though we read the word in private
we must not think it
needless to hear it read in public. This solemn reading of the law must be done
in the year of release. The year of release was typical of gospel grace
which
is called the acceptable year of the Lord; for our pardon and liberty by
Christ
engage us to keep his commandments. It must be read to all Israel
men
women
children
and to the strangers. It is the will of God that all people
should acquaint themselves with his word. It is a rule to all
therefore should
be read to all. Whoever has read of the pains taken by many persons to get
scraps of the Scriptures
when a whole copy could not be obtained
or safely
possessed
will see how thankful we should be for the thousands of copies
amongst us. They will also understand the very different situation in which the
Israelites were placed for many ages. But the heart of man is so careless
that
all will be found too little
to keep up a knowledge of the truths
precepts
and worship of God.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 31:14-22
(Read Deuteronomy 31:14-22)
Moses and Joshua attended the Divine Majesty at the door
of the tabernacle. Moses is told again that he must shortly die; even those who
are most ready and willing to die
need to be often reminded of its coming. The
Lord tells Moses
that
after his death
the covenant he had taken so much
pains to make between Israel and their God
would certainly be broken. Israel
would forsake Him; then God would forsake Israel. Justly does he cast those off
who so unjustly cast him off. Moses is directed to deliver them a song
which
should remain a standing testimony for God
as faithful to them in giving them
warning
and against them
as persons false to themselves in not taking the
warning. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of men's
hearts
and meets them by reproofs and correction. Ministers who preach the
word
know not the imaginations of men; but God
whose word it is
knows
perfectly.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 31:23-30
(Read Deuteronomy 31:23-30)
The solemn delivery of the book of the law to the
Levites
to be deposited in
or rather by the side
of the ark
is again
related. The song which follows in the next chapter is delivered to Moses
and
by him to the people. He wrote it first
as the Holy Spirit taught him; and
then spake it in the hearing of all the people. Moses tells them plainly
I
know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves. Many a sad
thought
no doubt
it occasioned to this good man; but his comfort was
that he
had done his duty
and that God would be glorified in their dispersion
if not
in their settlement
for the foundation of God stands sure.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 31
Verse 1
[1] And
Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
Went and spake —
Continued to speak
an usual Hebrew phrase.
Verse 2
[2] And he said unto them
I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I
can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me
Thou shalt not
go over this Jordan.
Go out and come in —
Perform the office of a leader or governor
because the time of my death
approaches.
Verse 9
[9] And
Moses wrote this law
and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi
which
bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD
and unto all the elders of Israel.
This law —
Largely so called
the whole law or doctrine delivered unto Moses contained in
these five books.
To the priests —
That they might keep it carefully and religiously
and bring it forth upon
occasion
and read it
and instruct the people out of it.
The elders —
Who were assistants to the priests
to take care that the law should be kept
and read
and observed.
Verse 10
[10] And
Moses commanded them
saying
At the end of every seven years
in the solemnity
of the year of release
in the feast of tabernacles
The year of release —
When they were freed from debts and troubles
and cares of worldly matters
and
thereby fitter to attend on God and his service.
Verse 11
[11] When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place
which he shall choose
thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their
hearing.
Thou shalt read —
Thou shalt cause it to be read by the priest or Levites; for he could not read
it himself in the hearing of all Israel
but this was to be done by several
persons
and so the people met in several congregations.
Verse 12
[12]
Gather the people together
men
and women
and children
and thy stranger that
is within thy gates
that they may hear
and that they may learn
and fear the
LORD your God
and observe to do all the words of this law:
Together —
Not in one place. But into divers assemblies or synagogues. Women who hereby
are required to go to Jerusalem at this solemnity
as they were permitted to do
in other solemnities.
Children —
Such of them as could understand
as appears from Nehemiah 8:2
3
the pious Jews doubtless read it
daily in their houses
and Moses of old time was read in the synagogues every
sabbath day. But once in seven years
the law was thus to be read in public
to
magnify it and make it honourable.
Verse 14
[14] And
the LORD said unto Moses
Behold
thy days approach that thou must die: call
Joshua
and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation
that I
may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went
and presented themselves in
the tabernacle of the congregation.
Give him a charge —
Immediately from myself for his greater encouragement
and to gain him more
authority with the people.
Verse 16
[16] And
the LORD said unto Moses
Behold
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this
people will rise up
and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the
land
whither they go to be among them
and will forsake me
and break my
covenant which I have made with them.
The strangers of the land — That is
of the Canaanites
who will be turned out of their possessions
and become as strangers in their own land. This aggravates their folly to
worship such gods as could neither preserve their friends
nor annoy their
enemies.
Verse 17
[17] Then
my anger shall be kindled against them in that day
and I will forsake them
and I will hide my face from them
and they shall be devoured
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?
Hide my face —
Withdraw my favour and help. Whatever outward troubles we are in if we have but
the light of God's countenance
we are safe. But if God hide his face from us
then we are undone.
Verse 19
[19] Now
therefore write ye this song for you
and teach it the children of Israel: put
it in their mouths
that this song may be a witness for me against the children
of Israel.
Write this song —
Which is contained Deuteronomy 32:1-43
and is put into a song that
it may be better learned
and more fixed in their minds and memories.
Put it in their mouths — Cause them to learn it
and sing it one to another
to oblige them to
more circumspection.
A witness — Of
my kindness in giving them so many blessings
of my patience in bearing so long
with them
of my clemency in giving them such fair and plain warnings
and my
justice in punishing such an incorrigible people.
Verse 21
[21] And
it shall come to pass
when many evils and troubles are befallen them
that
this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be
forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which
they go about
even now
before I have brought them into the land which I
sware.
Their imaginations —
Inclinations to Idolatry
which they do not check
as they ought; and some of
them do not only cherish it in their hearts
but as far as they can and dare
secretly practise it
as may be gathered from Amos 5:25; Acts 7:43.
Verse 25
[25] That
Moses commanded the Levites
which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD
saying
The Levites —
The priests
Deuteronomy 31:9
who also were Levites.
Verse 26
[26] Take
this book of the law
and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the
LORD your God
that it may be there for a witness against thee.
Take this book —
Probably the very same book
which (after having been some way misplaced) was
found in the house of the Lord
in the days of Josiah
and publickly read by
the king himself
for a witness against a people
who were then almost ripe for
ruin.
In the side — In
the outside
in a little chest fixed to it
for nothing but the tables of stone
were contained in the ark
1 Kings 8:9
here it was kept for greater
security and reverence.
A witness against thee — Against thy people
to whom he turns his speech that they might be the
more affected with it.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
31 Chapter 31
Verses 1-8
Joshua
he shall go over before them.
Joshua
Joshua’s taking possession of the land of Canaan is the figure of
our entering into the promised kingdom on the descent of the Holy Ghost. But
the courage of Joshua speaks of something far more deep and extensive than
this; as the apostle in explaining Joshua and Canaan as the true rest to be
found in Christ
adds
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help.” It is not
then
of boldness
in battle that God would teach us by Joshua
but it is altogether a figure of
something else
of a brave courage in Christ; for “we wrestle not against flesh
and blood
” but against spiritual powers; our weapons are not carnal
but
mighty through God. Such is our Joshua
who hath taken upon Him not the nature
of angels
but the seed of Abraham. But as for all warfare the requisite is
courage
so Joshua represents in particular that courage of heart which is a
great ingredient in the “faith that overcometh the world
” and in that “perfect
love” which “casteth out fear.” Joshua speaks not of human virtue and
affection
but of power; not of man’s disposition
but of victory in God. And
what is this but of God in Jesus Christ? The one lesson
therefore
is that in
all
and beyond all
His saints
we are to look to Jesus
remembering that He
is God as well as man; that it is altogether different to that of looking to
the example of any man
on account of His Godhead
His atonement
the gift of
His Spirit; we look to Him and have power
we have power by looking; nay
by
looking
as the apostle says
we “are changed into the same image
even as by
the Spirit of the Lord.” His example
indeed
seems in some sense to set us
afar off; for He is all perfection
we full of imperfections. He is at such an
infinite distance that we cannot approach Him. But the name of Joshua brings us
near; for by that we know He has power to put His own mind into us
and to make
us like Himself. And the reason of this is
because we can never look to Him
merely as our Example without remembering at the same time that He is in
manifold ways unspeakably more. It is when we believe in Him as our God that
His example itself becomes profitable to us in a way perfectly different from
any example of good men. (Isaac Williams
B. D.)
Be strong and of a good
courage.
Strength and courage
Strength and courage are inseparable
and the injunction to be
strong is nearly equivalent to the injunction to be courageous. “Be strong” can
only mean
“Rally the strength you have.” “Be courageous
” means
“Concentrate
your strength against danger or difficulty.” Courage
then
is the application
of manly force in confronting obstacles. Courage is strong-heartedness.
Etymologically
it suggests that the heart is the innermost centre
“the
rallying ground
” of the forces of moral manhood. Of one who does not or cannot
rally his resources of strength we say that he is discouraged
disheartened
has lost heart. We are dealing
therefore
with a rational rather than with an
animal quality. It is a virtue in so far as it involves a rational
self-determined effort in confronting the contradictions of life. It is a
quality of character rather than a condition of nerve or muscle. It is the
courage of intelligence and freedom
the courage of self-determined moral
purpose
the courage of moral strength
and it has many forms.
1. Such courage is preeminently the courage of a rational faith. In
every struggle
physical
political
moral
whatever it may be
a man needs
good footing. The moral athlete who makes a successful stand against the
difficulties of life must have a good standing ground. Faith gives us footing.
Scepticism is a sapper and miner. It takes the ground from under our feet. In
any difficulty or danger the mind must be in a positive attitude of confidence.
There is nothing but moral imbecility in perpetual distrust or doubt. An
over-sceptical habit of mind involves moral paralysis. Faith is vantage ground
for the battle. A man may find a certain standing ground in himself. Well
God
has put strength into manhood
and He gives men ample opportunity to test it
and a man ought to be able to believe in himself. To distrust one’s self in a
pinch is to invite defeat. It is not safe to suspend one’s self in the
uncertainty of self-distrust. One must trust other men also. No one can stand
alone. We are obliged to believe in our fellowmen. A surrender of faith in God
and providence would leave the world in the imbecility of despair. And I
question if there be not in all rational faith in personal manhood
in fellow
men
and in the world in which we live a certain latent or implicit confidence
in a higher power and in a moral order that has a rational and moral beginning
and goal. Certain it is that when men begin to think ethically and rationally
they are obliged to postulate the reality of God as a basis of confidence in
the ultimate victory of life. This courage of faith in God is the old Hebrew
courage. The same stress is put upon faith in the ethics of the Christian life.
And this is no insignificant thing as related to the moral conflict of life.
Faith is a fundamental virtue in the battle of life
because it is only unto
faith that we shall add a manly courage. It is the God of redemption that is
committed to us and will see us through the struggle of life.
2. It is the courage of rational moral conviction. Conviction
involves the action of truth in the conscience. It gets lodged there in the way
of moral conquest. Moral truth is well intrenched only when it is intrenched in
an intelligent conscience
and the only valiant soldier in its army is the man
who carries it about with him in his moral conviction as a man carries his life
and force in the blood of his heart. The man who is morally mastered by the
truth is himself masterful. Moral realities do not get very deep root in the
soft of the mind alone. Convince and persuade a man
and he may not remain
convinced or persuaded. The truth must get below the mind and below emotion
that only transiently dominates the will. But it has won a great victory when
it gets hold of the conscience and wins men to its intelligent service. When a
man invests with moral sacredness what he holds for truth he will maintain it
against all comers and will advance with it in the face of all opposition. Men
do not sacrifice much for nor stand by what they hold indifferently. But the
quality of correctness is not enough. Living things hold by the root
and they
need good soil. Rational moral soil is the only soil that is fit for the truth
one holds with tenacity and defends with courage. The passive virtue of
humility is indeed a Christian virtue
but it is a humility that should be
matched by the most heroic and aggressive boldness. That was a brave Church
that Apostolic Church. They did not stop to balance dangers against duties.
They spoke and acted and took the consequences
and they won a victory
unmatched in human history. It was not temporising
it was not political
trimming
it was not partisan cowardice
that founded Christianity. Strength is
what this world is looking for
and what it is sure to respect. Not too bold
not shallow audacity; the sober courage of strong moral conviction--this is
Christian courage
and this is what the world needs today.
3. A rational devotion also lies at the foundation of strong and
courageous character. Devotion implies an object to be attained
upon which one
concentrates his energies. There is a goal to be reached. It lies beyond all
intervening obstacle
difficulty
or danger
and to reach it one concentrates
effort upon it. Any sort of devotion
even the commonest
involves a rallying
of one’s personal forces about a central and commanding purpose to reach the
desired object at all hazard and despite all difficulty. And here is the
rallying ground of courage. In fact
what is courage but devotion to a desired
object in the face of all obstacles? Now
all concentrated and persistent
effort in the work of life must rally about this central purpose
and this
purpose will successfully meet all difficulty that lies scattered along the
entire life path. Such a life must be a strong and courageous life. It is the
life of one who puts the object of his striving far over and beyond the
farthest mountain peak of earthly difficulty
and who has an inclusive and
commanding purpose to go over
mastering every barrier till he compass the
object of his life. This mighty purpose to reach the goal of life is a species
of devotion. The moral life of the world is dependent on personal relations.
Some form of piety is necessary to morality. It is preeminently true in the
higher domain of religion. The constraint of Christ’s love is the heart of
Christian devotion. And what is Christian courage but the soul’s trusting and
loving self-preservation for the tasks of life
in face of all difficulty and
obstacle and danger
out of a sentiment and principle of gratitude to Him who
is of right the Lord and Master of life?
4. To a rational faith
conviction
and devotion there should be
added a rational hope as the crown and completion of a strong and courageous
Christian life. What we strive for must be attainable in some measure and form
at least
or strength and courage fail. If hope should fail the battle of life
would end. All over the field men would drop and rise no more. The powers of
manhood would fail
and the end would be a universal wail of despair. Therefore
you hope
and therefore you have courage for the battle of life. And there is
always an abundant stock of hope on hand for the world at large. All over the
world we see its conquests. The heart of man in a struggling life is
demonstration that
good lies behind and before. It is God’s witness. That it
is possible amid life’s mountain barriers is intimation that good is the law of
life and good its final goal. What a world it is
and what a life is this human
life! If this small fragment of it were the end it sometimes seems as if no
power of last defeat could crush the energies of this strange struggling
creature
man. It is clear enough that the world was built for conquest by him
even material conquest. But it was built
too
for moral conquest
and what we
need is hope for moral conquest. To conquer the world is not to conquer the
untrained forces of the soul
nor to conquer sin
nor to conquer death. We are
conquering the material world in this nation of ours
but materialism and
animalism and sordid selfishness are conquering us. But not all men are
conquering in the battle of material life. The notes of discontent all about us
are bodeful. They may portend the desolation of a coming tempest. Many give up
the struggle. What shall we do with the baffled? After all
is it not the
larger number with whom the world goes ill? And there is a little joyous
section of this struggling world
weighted with the common sorrows
but joyful
still
that for almost nineteen centuries has been singing the song of hope to
keep the weary brotherhood and sisterhood in heart. The literature of hope is
very rich. And it suggests how much the song of hope is needed in the bafflings
of life. The true goal of life is “where beyond these voices there is peace.”
We need a Divine hand to tear away the darkness of life and disclose the crown
that glitters for the conqueror amid the glories of the perfected kingdom of
redemption. The song of the redemption hope is a new song for earth. It is this
hope of eternal redemption that holds the soul to its heavenly inheritance.
Courage for the moral conflict of life
courage to meet the power of sin and of
the last great enemy
is the courage of Christian hope. (L. O. Brascow
D.
D.)
The Lord
He it is that
doth go before thee.--
The new year
I. “the Lord.”
Lordship
kingship
governorship--call it what you may
the central authority
of any order of government embodies a truth which is universally desired
a
power which can hold in control other powers
and round which they can centre.
I can see along the untrodden path terrible threatening
defying
resisting
foes within and without. Sorrow
suffering
sin
and temptation; a prosperity
when we may forsake Him
an adversity when we may forget Him. Is there anyone
who can lord it over all these? It is in the finding of that lordship that the
happiness
the safety of the year is ensured. Keep that word
“The Lord
”
before you all through the year; take orders from Him for the daily march;
report yourself to Him each night. The Lord reigneth!
II. “He it is that
doth go before.” You have a year before you. You cannot live without thinking
of the future. The error lies in thinking of tomorrow without thinking of
tomorrow’s God. God has gone before you.
III. “He will be
with thee.” Out of providence grows the desire of fellowship--companionship. I
do not doubt that God finds some pleasure in being with us; but surely the
greater pleasure should be in our being with Him. He knows that
and He meets
our wishes for fellowship.
IV. “He will not
fail thee.” How little do we believe in the omnipotence of God
which backs all
His love! We cannot exhaust His resources. In no possible position can we be
placed where He cannot assist us.
V. “Neither
forsake thee.” Then fear not
neither be dismayed! (A. D. Spong.)
Courage
with God as our leader
Think what a difference it makes to men in meeting difficulties
privations
dangers if their eyes are set on a leader whom they know and trust
even though he be but a man like themselves. I shall always remember a
description given to me once of a body of English troops charging up a slope
under heavy fire to gain a strong position. As they charged on
and when the
enemy’s fire had begun to tell seriously on them
they came for a while under
shelter; the losses and the danger ceased
and they stopped to pull themselves
together. But then came the real trial; beyond the shelter there was another
open stretch of slope
fully exposed; they had found out what advancing under
fire meant
and they saw it would be worse than ever ell there. It was one of
those moments that bring out in men the natural love of life
that make it
hardest to keep straight and firm. It was the starting again that went so much
against the grain; starting again
with the experience of past loss
to the
certainty of more loss--no one quite liked to begin
--and they were already
staying under the shelter a bit longer than was needed; it seemed almost as if
they might refuse to come out and go on. And then
by one man’s act
through
God’s grace
it all came right again; a young officer sprang out on to the
mound at the edge of the shelter
and with a cheer the men followed him
unfalteringly. It was the lead they wanted
the sense of someone going before
them
the sense of having someone to follow loyally--unto death if need be.
That call to follow one we trust
that sense of one who goes before us: it is a
wonderful help for courage and perseverance
when things are hard with us. And
there is one fight in which we all want it
in which we all may have it: the
fight
the very real
stiff fight against our temptations to do wrong. “The
Lord
He it is that doth go before thee.” It is hard to face being laughed at
being scored off
being looked down on for doing what is right. But Christ has
gone before us on that road; He was despised
mocked
laughed at; we have a
Leader to follow when we are tried that way. It is hard to put up with
injustice
to forgive quite heartily one’s enemies; but He has gone before us
there. He prayed for the men who were driving the nails through His hands on
Calvary. It is hard to give up pleasures
to say “No” to one’s natural desires
to keep one’s body in subjection; but He has gone before us in that: He fasted
forty days; He spent whole nights in prayer upon the hills; He had nowhere to
lay His head. It is hard to bear pain patiently
or to go on with the same
weary burden day after day; but we can never have so much to bear as He bore.
It will be hard
perhaps
to face death rightly
calmly
when the time comes;
but on that mysterious journey also He has gone before us
and thousands upon
thousands of His soldiers have quietly and fearlessly advanced to die
because
they were sure He would not fail or forsake them. It is wonderful to think of
the great army that has followed
that is following Him who has gone before
upon that way of truth and loyalty and patience. Some in one sort of work
and
some in another
they have set themselves to pass on up that rough
weary road;
stumbling often
it may be
hut not falling out; sticking to it day after day
to keep a pure unselfish purpose
and to do their duty. Men and women
rich and
poor
young and old
soldiers
students
statesmen
labourers
men of business:
temptation comes on them
and weakness binders them
and past sins
it may be
shame them; but they seek His pardon and they humbly long that anyhow He will
not cast them off
or leave them desolate in the darkness. And so they Struggle
on
nearer
it may be
all the while than they at all imagine
to Him who goes
before them; surer year by year of His constant care and love for them; surer
that for all the roughness and steepness there is no way like His: no other way
in which a man so grows in manliness and strength
so learns to love both God
and man. (Bishop Paget.)
Fear not
neither be
dismayed.--
No fear
Glorious words of encouragement to a people going forth to meet
opposing forces
terrible foes
and unknown dangers.
I. The assurer.
“The Lord.” The very word implies kingship
governorship
authority
power.
II. The assurance.
Three promises.
1. Prevision. “Go before.”
2. Fellowship. “Be with” thee.”
3. Constancy. “Will not fail.”
III. The inference.
Our Father never sleeps
never tires; and if He is all that He promises
how
can we fear? (Homilist.)
Verses 10-12
Thou shalt read this law.
The public reading of the law
Directions here given for public reading of the law.
1. To be read at “the feast of tabernacles
” the greatest of all
their festivals
when
harvest and vintage being completed
they had most
leisure to attend to it. This feast was celebrated in “the year of release
”
the most proper time that could be chosen for reading the law; for then the
people were freed from debts
troubles
and cares of a worldly nature
and at
liberty to attend to it without distraction.
2. The law was to be read by Joshua
chief governor
and by others
who had the charge of instructing the people. Thus Joshua himself read to the
congregation (Joshua 8:34-35); Josiah and Ezra (2 Chronicles 34:30; Nehemiah 8:2). But Jehoshaphat employed
priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 17:9). This public
reading was in part the duty of the king
the Jews say
who began it
and that
afterwards it was taken up by the priests.
3. The law was to be read in the hearing of all Israel (verse 11).
(3)
In Jehoshaphat’s time it was read by his command in the different cities of
Judah
and the people were instructed out of it by the priests and Levites
but
at every year of release the law was read
not only publicly to all the people
but throughout
and read from an original copy
which served as a standard by
which all other copies were tried.
4. The whole congregation must assemble to hear the law.
Hence learn--
1. That when our debts are remitted
and we are brought into the
liberty of God’s children
we shall then delight to hear and obey our
delivering Lord in every call of duty.
2. The Word of God
being our only rule
should be read and known of
all; how cruel the attempt
and how contrary to the Divine will
to keep it
locked up from the people in an unknown tongue
and to establish ignorance by
law!
3. Nothing should engage us more solicitously than the early
instruction of our children in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures
which
alone can make them wise unto salvation. (J. Wilson.)
Verse 13
That their children . . . may hear
and learn to fear the Lord.
Early piety
I. Godliness in
children is accounted by Christians generally to be extraordinary
or at least
uncommon; and perhaps there are but few godly children. Compared with the
number of children who are blessed with godly parentage
and taught in
Christian schools
who are present when the public ordinances of Christ’s
Church are administered
the children who manifest true piety are certainly not
many. If our observation be accurate
Christian parents and teachers and
pastors do not
with sufficient confidence
look for
or expect to find
godliness in children. If we employ those means which are divinely ordained for
the conversion of human beings in our efforts On behalf of children
why should
we not expect immediate and early results?
II. It is true that
the sighs of a child are not heavy; they are not
as in the soul of manhood and
womanhood
ocean waves
but they are rather like the ripple upon the waters of
some sheltered lake. It is true that the emotions of a child are not the hardy
blossoms of a sturdy fruit tree
but the tender and delicate bloom of a tree
that has as yet yielded little more than promise of fruit. Nevertheless
that
blossom
which winds will tear and shake
is the outflowing of life; that
ripple on the lake shows susceptibility in the water towards its sister
element
air; and those dewdrop tears show that earth and heaven
man and God
are working upon the child’s nature. If the understanding of a child be less
enlightened
the soul is more sensitive; if the judgment be less formed
the
conscience is more tender; if there be but little strength of purpose
the
heart is less hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
III. If decided piety
be within reach of a child
how is it that the absence of godliness from
children does not more distress us
and that piety in children is not more our
aim and hope
and that it is not more frequently the burden of our prayer? Why
as some
always suspect a child who professes to be godly? Godly children are
God’s workmanship
created by Jesus Christ
and if we would be the means of
leading children into true godliness
we must bid them look to our Saviour
Jesus. I say to Him
not at Him. There is a vast difference between these
things. The child looks at the King when he goes to see him proceed in state to
open the Parliament; but he looks to his mother when he relies on her for the
supply of his daily wants. (S. Martin
D. D.)
Susceptible periods of life
In fresco painting it is necessary to throw on the colours while
the plaster to be decorated is damp. The rule is
“Work while the moisture
remains”; hence the need in this particular branch of art of a definite plan of
well-mixed colours
and of a swift and steady hand. The principle has a wider
application. There are times when the human character is especially susceptible
to impression
such as the period of early youth
the occasion of a great
sorrow
a great joy
or a great change--times when the influence you exert will
be received readily and sink deeply. Would you stamp lives and hearts around
you with the beauty of heavenly patterns
make them glow with the hues of
heavenly grace? Be sure of your plan
have your materials ready
and paint
while the plaster is wet. (W. A. Gray.)
Verse 14
Thy days approach that thou must die.
The approach of death
I. Those who live
chiefly for this world try not to think of death
because they would like
nothing better than to live on here forever. But the shutting of our eyes to
the approach of death does not make him turn away from us
and therefore our
wisest and safest course is to prepare for his coming
whether it be near or
far off.
II. Death does not
occupy that place in the Word of God which it does occupy in that religion of
ours which professes to be derived from the Word of God. In the New Testament
death is simply treated as an abolished thing. The second coming of Christ is
always
in the exhortations of the New Testament
substituted for death. Death
in the eye of faith
is not the end
but the beginning
of all; it is the
commencement of the “life that knows no ending.”
III. If Christ has
robbed death of its sting
it does not behove us to look at death as if he had
not done so. Let us view the approach of death as something which He means
should bring us nearer to Him. We must pray Him
since the days approach in
which we must die
that death may not find us unprepared. And as we look
forward to the future we must commit our way and ourselves into His keeping. (F.
E. Paget.)
Nearing the end
There is no day fixed; it is an “approach” that is spoken of. The
word may therefore be addressed to every man well advanced in life. There is a
period at which the road becomes a slope downwards
and at the foot of the hill
is the last earthly resting place. This is the way of God. He tells them that
the end is “approaching.” Now and again He seems to cut them off suddenly as with
an unexpected stroke; yet perhaps the suddenness is in appearance rather than
in reality. To be born is to have notice to quit; to live is to die. Every sin
takes out of us some portion of life; we cannot have an evil thought without
the quantity of life within us being diminished. We cannot think a noble
thought
or find a free way in our hearts for a sublime impulse
without
increasing the sum total of our life--without beginning our immortality. Thus
is a man stronger after prayer than before; thus does every sweet and holy hymn
send a thrill of gladness through the soul that sings. Let every man take
notice that he must die. From a literary point of view that is a pitiful
commonplace; but from the point of view of actual experience and all the issues
of death it is a sublime and an appalling announcement. But Moses must die. We
have never associated the idea of death with Moses. He has always been so
strong: the camp never halted because of his ill health; he was always at the
head; his voice was clear and mellow; his eye was bright and darting
and yet
so genial--as if it could not conceal the smile that was in his heart. Yet the
strongest trees yield to silent time; the mightiest strength bows down itself
in weakness and trouble: Samson dies
Hercules becomes but a figure in ancient
history; there is no man who abideth forever. Now that Moses is walking up the
mountain
we cannot but think of the life-long hardship he has endured. Read
the history of his association with Israel
and say if there is one “Thank you”
in all the tumultuous story. Does one man speak out of the host and say
In the
name of Israel I give thee thanks? We do not know some men until we see them
wandering away from us. What a strain there was also upon the religious side of
his nature! He had no recreation: the bow was never unbent; he was always being
called up to hear the Lord communicate some new law
some new charge or
address. To his veneration a continual appeal was addressed. What wonder if his
face wore the aspect of solemnity? What wonder if his eye was alight with the
very splendours he had beheld? Then is Moses not to see Canaan? Moses would not
care now to see any land flowing with milk and honey. He shall see the upper
Canaan--the happy land where the flowers never wither
where the summer is
guaranteed to last eternally. Thus God educates men. Moses goes upon the
mountain to die. It is well; such a man ought to die upon a mountain. The scene
is full of symbolism; it is quick with spiritual suggestiveness. Men may die upon
mountains if they will; or men may perish in dark valleys if they like. To die
upon the mountain is to die into heaven. The place of our death
as to its
significance and honour
will be determined by the life we lead. We die just as
we live
and
so to say
where we live. Moses lived a mountain life: he was a
highlander; he lived on the hills
and on the hills he died. May it not be so
with us? By well-done duty
by well-endured affliction
by well-tested
patience
by complete self-surrender
by continual imitation and following of
Christ
we may die on some lofty hill
cool with dew or bright with sunshine
the point nearest to the skies. To die at such an elevation is to begin to
live. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Moses therefore wrote this
song.
The last song
The old man whom we
have known so long dies singing. All men should die so; all men may so die; God
is not sparing in His gift of song or privilege of music; music was in His
purpose long before speech; all things are to end in a great song. There are
songs without words; there is singing without articulate and audible voice: we
may sing with the spirit and with the understanding. Blessed are they who
before going up to Nebo to die
sing in the valley
and
so to say
pass out of
sight with their singing robes around them; to this end we are invited in
Christ
and in Christ this is the only possible end--namely
triumph
song; the
rapture of expectancy and
the inspiration of hope. The song was to be a
“witness” for God “against” the children of Israel--say
rather
as between
Himself and the children of Israel. Witness does not always imply accusation;
it quite as frequently implies confirmation
approval. It embodies in itself a
sure testimony
strong because of its indisputableness. Moses wrote the song
“the same day.” We speak of our efforts of genius and the time required for the
elaboration of this or that attempt to serve the sanctuary; but if you can
write a song at all you can write it at once. Herein the great French poet’s
dictum is true: said one to Victor Hugo
“Is it not difficult to write
epic
poetry?” “No
” said the great genius of his day--“no
easy or impossible.” What
are the characteristics of a great song?
1. The first most noticeable characteristic of this song is that it
is intensely theological. The keyword is God--in His majesty
in His
compassion
in His righteousness
in His tears--God is a species of incarnation
thousands of years before the event of Bethlehem.
2. Another characteristic of the song is its broad human history.
Read the thirty-second chapter from end to end
and you will find it a record
of historical events. Facts are the pedestals on which we set sculptured music.
We must know our own history if we would know the highest religious arguments
and apply with unquestionable and beneficent skill great Christian appeals. The
witness must be in ourselves: we must know
and taste
and feel
and handle of
the Word of Life
and live upon it
returning to it as hunger returns to bread
and thirst flies swiftly to sparkling fountains. When you are doubtful as to
religious mysteries
read your own personal record: when metaphysics are too
high or too deep
peruse facts
put the pieces of your lives together
see how
they become a shape--a house not made with hands
a temple fashioned in heaven.
The days are not to be detached from one another
they are to be linked on and
held in all the symbolism and reality of their unity.
3. Hence
another characteristic of the song is its record of
providence. God found Jacob “in a desert land
and in the waste howling
wilderness; He led him about
” etc.; and then comes all the detail of
providential care and love
and all the sublime appeal arising out of the
undisputed goodness of God. We do not need providence to be proved by wordy
argument
for we ourselves are living illustrations of God’s nearness
and
greatness
and love. We must never give up this arm of our panoply; this weapon
is a weapon strong and keen; we must in the use of it testify what we have seen
and known
and we must magnify God by facts that have occurred within the
limits of our own observation and experience. Every Christian man is a miracle;
every Christian life is a Bible; every devout experience is a proof of the
possibility of inspiration.
4. The song is also accusatory: “Jeshurun waxed fat
and kicked; thou
art waxen fat
” etc. When a song accuses
how terrific is the indictment! Who
expects a song to double back upon the singer and accuse him of ingratitude
presumption
or forgetfulness? Our hymns are witnesses for us and against us;
our very music has some plain things to tell us; even in song we do not escape
justice. The songs of the Bible are not mere sentiments melodised and turned
into a species of aesthetic luxury: Bible songs are Bible theology
Bible
statutes
Bible precepts
Divine interventions and providences. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Farewell song of Moses
A most noticeable and
outstanding feature of this great song is its series of pictures for the
popular imagination
and its long array of vivid figures
to school and chasten
a stiff-necked people. There is nothing hero of abstract reasoning or cold
analysis. Everything is presented in concrete form as to a nation still in its
spiritual childhood. This is the educative song of Israel. In tone it is both
tender and terrifying. Its imagery
sometimes winning
sometimes startling
lends itself to warmest expostulations and appeals. How graphic and memorable
are its emblems! The Divine words are at the outset likened to the gentle rain
and dew; God Himself is the Rock
for stability and faithfulness; His training
of Israel
like the eagle with its fledglings; the people
an intractable and
stubborn ox resentful of the yoke; their apostate conduct
that of a faithless
wife; the Divine love glowing and gleaming about them like the fire of spousal
jealousy
and His indignation like an armed host--these
and other figures
follow in quick succession
many of them derived from Israel’s wilderness
experiences. For it is the poetry of the desert that dominates the song. But
while the imagery is derived from the past
the song itself reaches out to the
future. It is
in fact
a prophetic outline of Jewish history
designed to
lodge in the nation’s heart the solemn truth that
“Sorrow tracketh wrong
As echo follows song.”
This is the primitive or
moral prophecy
the type and canon of all future prophetic work as Moses first
song was the type of all that was to be spiritually poetic. (A. H. Drysdale
M. A.)
The farewell ode
For poetic sublimity
for
devout piety
for holy expostulation
and for solemn warning
this farewell ode
has never been surpassed
and it furnishes an incidental proof of the fact
that
unlike most other men
Moses continued
to the very end of his long life
to grow in those qualities of imagination and fiery enthusiasm which are
usually regarded as the special characteristics of youth. There is in it a
wondrous combination of the strength of manhood with the experience of old age
and of the imaginative force of youth with the wisdom which increasing years
supply. Nor is this all: there is a marvellous interblending of the various
relationships in which Moses stood at once to God and to the people. He praises
Jehovah with the fervour of a seraph
and he pleads with the people with the
tenderness of a father. He deals with national subjects in the spirit of a
statesman
and warns of coming doom with the sternness of a prophet. Now the
strains are soft and low
as if they came from the cords of an AEolian harp
stirred by the breeze of a gentle summer eve; anon they are loud and stormful
as if some gust of passionate intensity had come sweeping over his spirit; now
they are luminous with the recollection of God’s mercies
and again they are
lowering
as if laden with the electric burden of God’s coming wrath. Of
course
in all he spoke as he was moved by the Holy Ghost; but
as the Spirit
used not the vocal organs only
but the soul of the man
this ode conclusively
proves that if Moses had not been the grandest lawgiver and statesman of his
nation
and even of the world
be might have been one of the noblest poets. It
shows
too
that there was in him the exceedingly rare alliance of a mind which
was alive to the importance of the minutest details of legislation
with a soul
whose wings could soar into the loftiest regions of thought and feeling. With
undimmed eye he looked on more trying light than that of the common sunshine
and with unabated force he ascended
even at the age of six-score years
a more
ethereal height than that of Pisgah; so that
if this ode had been found
elsewhere than in the Bible
mere literary critics would have risen into
ecstasies over its exquisite manifestation of beauty in the lap of terror. (W.
M. Taylor
D. D.)
The dying song of Moses
The subject of the song is
Jehovah and His people
and the substance of it is given in Deuteronomy 32:3-6. The faithfulness of Jehovah
the God of truth
the Rock of
salvation
and the unfaithfulness of His fickle and foolish people--such are
clearly to be the main ideas of the song. In the after developments there are
three things very powerfully set forth.
I. What Israel owes
to God (Deuteronomy 32:7-14). Here the great things which God had done for them are brought
out in a few bold delineations
mingling strength and pathos in a marvellous
degree. He shows how from the beginning God had set His regardful eyes upon
them
how He had guided the history of all other nations in a manner
subservient to their welfare
making them and their development the historic
centre of the ancient world; how He had found them poor
helpless wanderers in
the wilderness
and formed them into a people there--His own people
whom He
had fed and led and trained as a tender mother might--and at last brought into
the goodly land He had promised them
exalting them high among the nations of
the earth
and giving them richly all things to enjoy.
II. How will Israel
pay the debt? To this question the prophetic song gives a sad answer. Israel
will pay her debt of gratitude to God by base ingratitude
beginning with
self-indulgence
and going on to neglect of Jehovah and the worship of strange
gods. Such is the sad prophetic picture in Deuteronomy 32:15-18. Thus Israel requites God.
III. How will God
requite Israel? Almost all that remains of the song is taken up with the
fearful answer to this question
setting forth how God takes notice of it
first
and is filled with indignation; how He hides His face and leaves His
people to themselves and to the bitter fruits of their ingratitude; how He
takes their precious privileges from them
and gives them to those who till
then had been “no people”; how
finally
He lets loose on them all the fury of
His vengeance
and utterly destroys their place and nation. All this we find
realised in history. The entire history of the founding of the Christian
Church
especially in the light in which it is put by the great apostle
who
again and again quotes the words of this song in connection with the calling of
the Gentiles
is a fulfilment of these warning words of Moses. All this is very
dark; but it is dark only to those who “forsake God
and lightly esteem the
Rock of their salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:15). The very faithfulness of God to His most terrible threatenings
is an additional reason why those who believe in Him should exercise most
unshaken confidence in Him. Then
too
if you examine the song throughout
you
will find it full of evidence of the goodness and long-suffering of the Lord.
Though there is inflexible justice
both in the prophecy itself and in its
fulfilment
yet throughout all it is evident that He speaks and acts
“who
delighteth not in the death of him that dieth”; who “willeth not that any
should perish
but that all should turn unto him and live We have looked at
this song as a witness against Israel. This was doubtless its original design;
but its scope is far wider. This song was written for a witness against all who
enjoy Israel’s privileges and follow Israel’s sins. Even among the Gentiles
though all are alike welcome
and exclusive privileges are now done away
entirely in Christ Jesus
there have been and are those who are far in advance
of others in respect to the advantages they enjoy. First came the Greek and
Latin races
united in the mighty Roman Empire. To them first
among the
Gentiles
the Gospel was preached; and by them first
as a nation and race
was
the Gospel received. Three hundred years had not passed away from the death of
“Jesus of Nazareth” till the faith of “that same Jesus” was the established
religion of the Roman Empire; and not long thereafter the privileges of the
Gospel were within reach of almost the whole of that vast population. What a
change from the martyr days
the days of hiding in the catacombs! Was it not as
true of the Christians of the Roman Empire as it was of ancient Israel
that
God had “found them in a desert land
” had “led them about
” had “kept them as
the apple of His eye
” and had at last “made them ride upon the high places of
the earth
” and given them to “eat the increase of the fields”? Well
how did
the favoured people then pay their debt of gratitude? Was it not the old story
over again? “Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.” They “waxed fat
grew thick
were
covered with fatness; then they forsook God
and lightly esteemed the Rock of
their salvation.” They became self-indulgent
“earthly
sensual
devilish.”
Corruption of manners and corruption of doctrine set in “like a flood;” they
turned to “strange gods”; they worshipped saints and relics
and bowed down to
images; they adored the consecrated wafer. The very light that was in them
became darkness
and “how great was that darkness!” And as
before
the
heritage of truth and blessing had passed from the Jew to the Gentile
so now
it passed from the Roman to the Teuton. These Teutonic races of the north had
been “no people” in the eyes of the empire of Rome. They had been known only as
barbarians
both in the Greek and Latin tongues. Yet these “no people
” these
“barbarians
” who had fallen one by one before the all-conquering might of
Rome
became the very people who fell heirs to the legacy of Divine truth
and
the great blessings which accompany its possession. For
though the first
reformation seemed for a time to work among the Latin races also
it was only
for a time; the hold of corruption was too firm for it to last
and they all
relapsed into the darkness from which at first they had seemed ready to emerge
while among the Germanic races the light of truth continued to shine and to
diffuse itself over a widening area. And now it is the Teutonic races who are
in the position of Israel of old
and principally those who speak the English
language. Who can tell what we who speak the English tongue owe to Jehovah
“the Rock of our salvation”? Where did He “find” us? Was it not “in a desert
land” indeed--a very howling wilderness? See what the early Britons were when
first they heard Jehovah’s name. And how has the Lord “led” them since then!
How tenderly did He “bear” our fathers on
teaching them by degrees the use of
that liberty which has grown with Britain’s growth
and strengthened with her
strength. And how has He now “made us to ride upon the high places of the
earth
” and given “us the increase of the fields”! For is it not a patent fact
that the destinies of the world are at this moment
under God
swayed by those
who speak our mother tongue
while the great mass of the world’s wealth is ill
their hands? And all this we owe to Him who is “Head over all things.” Not only
our rich spiritual privileges
but even our temporal greatness
our and
position and power and wealth in the world
we owe to Jehovah
God of Israel
“the Rock of our salvation.” Well
how do we “requite the Lord”? Is it not very
much in the old way? Is not wealth breeding self-indulgence and luxury; and are
not these leading us
as a people
to forget God
and “lightly to esteem the
Rock of our salvation”? Are there not many “strange gods” among us: Mammon
Fashion
Pleasure? And what of this sad revival of Middle-Age superstition? Has not the
sign of Rome been written with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond? And
why this haste to be partakers again of her sin and of her plagues? Oh
is not
this song a witness against us too? God is long-suffering indeed
and it is
well that He is
or where should we English-speaking people be today? But His
long-suffering has a limit
as is evident from the past. (J. M. Gibson
D.
D.)
Verse 27
Thy stiff neck.
Stiff necks
There are many stiff-necked people. They are met with in
the workshop
in the office
and almost everywhere. I should not be surprised
at all if we had many in this assembly whose necks are as stiff as it is
possible to be. There are a great many necks stiff with pride and selfishness.
There are some men who are saving money; who live in their freehold cottages;
whose necks are too stiff to see that they ought to pay the rent of the cottage
in which their poor old parents live
who
perchance
in some country village
are getting parish relief. There are other kinds of stiff necks. From our
childhood most of us have been taught to love the Saviour
to trust in God
and
do good. Yet I am afraid that a great many of us have disregarded the advice of
those who loved us
and we have grown so unwise that many of us have stiffened
our necks against religion. There is a tendency
now and again
to sneer at
religion
and to talk about it as if it were all nonsense. There are a great
many men who stiffen their necks. This is unwise. Take the New Testament and
study that life of Jesus Christ
as sensible men. Look at the book
examine its
pages
and learn its religion. Do not stiffen your necks against God
against
purity
against holiness. (Charles Leach.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》