Deuteronomy 17
SACRIFICES TO BE OF ANIMALS UNBLEMISHED (v. 1)
1 “Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or
sheep,
wherein is blemish, or any evilfavoredness:
for that is an abomination unto the
LORD thy God.” Not only was the
setting up of idols an offence to be punished by
the
judge, but also all profanation of the service of Jehovah, such as the offering in
sacrifice of any animal, bullock or sheep, that had any blemish or defect
(compare
Leviticus 22:19-24). Evil-favoredness;
literally, any evil thing, i.e.
any vice or
maim (Ibid. v.22).
The Blemished
(v. 1)
God is to be served with our best. He rejects the blemished
for His service.
o
He is entitled to
our best.
o
He requires it
of us.
o
Withholding it argues
unworthy views of God and of
what is due to him.
It usually implies contempt of God and hypocrisy in His
service
(Malachi 1:12-13).
Ø
The best of our time — when the head is clearest,
the energies most
vigorous, the capacity for service greatest, and when there is
least
distraction. We offer the blemished
when we engross these portions of
our time for self, and give to God only our late hours, or hurried
snatches of a day crowded with unspiritual and exhausting
occupations.
Ø
The best of our
age — youth, the prime of manhood and
womanhood,
with all the service these can render. We offer the blemished when we
conceive the purpose of dedicating to God, in old age, powers
already worn out in the service of the world. “Remember
now
thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come
not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no
pleasure in them.” (Ecclesiastes 121:1)
Ø
The heartiest of
our service. Service
performed half-heartedly
And grudgingly
falls under the category of blemished sacrifices.
Work done in this spirit
will never be well done. Services of devotion
will be huddled through, sermons will be ill prepared, the class in the
Sunday school wilt be badly taught,
visitation duties will be inefficiently
and unpunctually performed. It is the
presentation to God of the
torn, lame, and
sick (Malachi 1:13). “My son, give me thy heart”
(Proverbs 23:26)
Ø
The first of our givings. Givings should be hearty,
liberal, of our first
and best, and in a spirit of consecration. To give what “will
never be
missed” is a poor form of service. It is little to give to God
what costs us
nothing. Still more
conspicuously do we offer the blemished when
we devote to God but the parings of a lavish
worldly expenditure,
or give for His
service far below our ability.
IDOLATERS TO BE
SOUGHT OUT, CONVICTED, AND PUT TO DEATH
(vs. 2-7)
2 “If
there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God
giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought
wickedness in the sight of the LORD
thy God, in transgressing His covenant,” In
ch.13., Moses enacts what is to be done to
those who
seduce into idolatry. Here he declares what is to be done to those who
are so seduced. - wrought wickedness; literally, done
the evil. The definite article is
prefixed; it is not any kind of wickedness that is here denounced,
but the special sin
of
idolatry, - κατ ἐξόχην. – kat exochaen - the wickedness. All
idolatry was
to
be strictly suppressed — those convicted of it to be put to death by stoning.
3 “And
hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun,
or moon, or any of the host of heaven (compare
ch. 4:19), which I have not
commanded; - i.e. have forbidden, a meiosis
(understatement), as in Jeremiah 7:31.
4 And it
be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and,
behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that
such abomination is wrought in
committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates,” - judicial
proceedings were
conducted at the gates of the city, and in some place outside the
walls the sentence was
executed on the condemned criminal (Nehemiah 8:1, 3; Job. 29:7; ch. 22:24; Acts 7:58;
Hebrews 13:12), just as, during the journey through the
wilderness, it had been outside
the
camp that transgressors were punished (Leviticus 24:14; Numbers 15:36) - “even
that man or that woman, and shalt stone
them with stones, till they die.”
6 “At the
mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of
death be put to death; but at the mouth of one
witness he shall not be put to
death. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him
to put him to
death, and afterward the hands of all the
people. So thou shalt put the evil
away from among you.” Only on the
testimony of more than one witness could the
accused be condemned (compare
Numbers 35:30); and the hand of the witnesses
was
to be first against him to put him to death — a rule which would tend to
prevent
accusations being lightly adduced, as none would venture to witness
against any one
unless so deeply convinced of his guilt that they were willing to
assume the responsibility
of
inflicting on him the last penalty with their own hands. Worthy of death be put to
death; i.e.
adjudged or appointed to death; literally, the dead man shall
die. מֵת,
the
part. of מוּת, to die, is here equivalent to בֶּן מָוֶת, son of death (I Samuel 20:31),
or
אִישׁ מָוֶת, a man of death (I Kings 2:26), i.e.
one assigned to death, already the
property of death, and so as good as dead. Put the evil away; literally, consume or
sweep away the evil. The verb בָּעַר;
means primarily to consume by burning.
The Guarding of Personal Reputation in the Regulations
Concerning Human Testimony (vs. 2-7)
As God so guarded His own honor that it might not be
sullied with impunity, so He
guarded the reputation of the people that it might not be assailed
or impeached on
any
frivolous pretext or any unproven report. The exactitude in the order of
expression
in
the fourth verse is very noticeable: If it be so — and it be told thee — and
thou hast
inquired — diligently — and, behold, it is true — and
the thing certain — then, and
not
till then, may the penalty be inflicted. Observe:
o
Every one was held to
be innocent till he was proved otherwise.
o
No one’s character was
put at the mercy of any one unattested witness.
o
He who reported with
his tongue should be the one to smite with his
hand! (v. 7). A mighty stroke of policy this, to guard personal honor
from assailment! It might sometimes make crime more difficult
of proof,
but it gave the innocent a wondrous guard against unjust
accusation.
Many would be ready to
backbite who would shrink from stoning another.
Men by thousands may be found
who would not break bones, but who
think nothing of breaking hearts.
o
The people were to cooperate
in putting away the evil when once it
was proven to exist. “Slow
to suspect, but quick to put down evil,” was
to be the moral rule of their conduct in such cases. Now, of
course, it is
not our province to deal with all this from the purely legal point
of view,
as a matter of jurisprudence; but we cannot fail to indicate the
moral
principles which are here
involved; and which a Christian teacher would
do well to set in the light of Jesus’ words, “Judge not, that ye be not
judged. For with what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged:
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again.” Matthew 7:1-2.
Observe:
IN PUTTING DOWN EVIL. We are to be workers together with Him. He
has redeemed us that we may be zealous of good works.
Name, but also very sensitive to the spotlessness of each other’s name
And fame. This passage is
quite as remarkable for the guard it throws around
man, as it is for the concern it would evoke for the honor of
God (see Leviticus
19:16; Psalm; 15:1-3; Psalm
34:13; I Peter 3:10).
BARE EVIDENCE OF RUMOR. Each one’s reputation is too sacred in
God’s eye and ought to be too
precious in ours for this. It is humiliating to
think such precepts as these should be needed. “The Law is not made for a
righteous man” (I
Timothy 1:9), And it is a sad proof of how much
unrighteousness there is in the world that such a law should be needed
still.
Every one is to be regarded as
innocent till he is proved guilty. (I
have
read where someone said, “a man should live in such a way, if
someone
accused him of doing wrong, no one would believe it” – also – It
takes a
lifetime to build a reputation but only a moment to lose it! - CY – 2012)
BE EXAMINED. It may be painful work, but it has to be done sometimes.
But we are tempted to think it
would be a mighty safeguard against ill
reports being raised on any light or frivolous pretext, if he who
first moved
secretly with his tongue were always required to be the first to
smite
openly with the hand!
TAKEN
THEREON. No man’s repute is to be smitten
at a venture. To all
men it is precious as life. The best men value it more than
life. They would
rather give up their breath than part with their honor. And the legislation of
high heaven upholds them!
believe ill of another; but when such ill is proved beyond doubt,
then it
behooves us to censure, to expose, to condemn it, and to put
it away. We are to stand by a brother till he is shown to be
guilty, but that
once done, regard both for
God and man requires us to disavow all
sympathy with wrong, and to
cooperate with God, the Supreme
Judge
of all the earth,
in the extirpation of evil!
Idolatry a Crime Against
Society (vs. 2-7)
Whether the fact be obvious to all
men or not, it is fact that sin against God is also sin
against human society. The relation
of the Hebrew nation to God, is a type of the relation
which God sustains to every nation. He is the Creator of individual
life and of
individual endowments. He is the Source of all the moral
forces which bind men
together in civil society. He has appointed to each
nation its habitation, and has enriched
it
with more or less
of material good. Hence every nation is
under obligation to
acknowledge and honor THE ONE CREATING
AND REIGNING GOD!
Creator. This was a direct breach of treaty between God and the
nation.
On God’s side the engagement was
to bring them into the
and secure them against foes. On
worship no other Deity but Jehovah. Hence the violation of a covenant so
openly made and frequently ratified was a flagrant sin. Yet with every
nation such a covenant is made by implication. If life is obtained
from the
invisible God, it is held on conditions imposed by Him, and every
item of
conduct which is contrary to His known will is an act of
rebellion. If
rebellion against an earthly king is counted highest crime, incomparably
greater is a deed of OPEN REBELLION AGAINST THE KING
OF KINGS! Idolatry is the root-stem of grossest immorality.
the greatness of the crime must be the carefulness of
investigation, No
punishment is to be inflicted on the ground of suspicion or
prejudice.
Human life is to be accounted
precious, but the interests of righteousness
are more precious still. On both these grounds, the scrutiny
must be
thorough. To prevent any injury to the sacred cause of justice,
through
error, or incompetence, or malice, one witness must be
incompetent to
obtain a verdict. Security against injustice comes from
corroborated
testimony and from independent witnesses. While every man is bound, in
his sphere, to think and act righteously towards his
neighbors, he must
safeguard himself against hasty judgments and against the
whispers of slanderers. In many positions in life we are called to act
in the place of God.
early age, and especially in the desert, there were no
mechanical
contrivances for suddenly extinguishing life. They were largely the
children
of nature, and possessed but few inventions of civilized
life. The sagacity of
Supreme Wisdom had placed frail
man among natural forces, which might
easily be employed in terminating bodily life. This arrangement
impresses
men with a sense of dependence. His
bodily life succumbs to a stone. The
unit must be sacrificed to the well-being of the community. “No man lives
for himself.”
against an offender, became, by God’s appointment, executor of the
judicial sentence. This secured economy in the administration of
law. It
secured, to a large extent, veracity among witnesses, and moral
certainty of the rightness of the verdict. Yet, that obloquy
might
not attach itself to one man alone, THE WHOLE COMMUNITY
WAS
CHARGED TO TAKE PART
IN THE EXECUTION OF THE
SENTENCE (Thus, the great guilt in the
not carrying out God’s will but think of our neglect since Roe v. Wade,
1973, to the tune of neglecting the deaths of 50,000,000 babies –
I recommend Numbers ch. 32 v. 23 - Spurgeon Sermon - The Great Sin
of Doing Nothing, and Abortion Rationale 2012 # 7 – this web site – CY
–
2012) The
deed would thus be the common deed of all. This practice
would foster oneness of sentiment, oneness of purpose, and would
promote harmonious national life.
(On the negative side, public neglect
would bring ONENESS
IN PUBLIC JUDGMENT! Unless we
repent, this is what
It should be both interesting
and instructive how that OUR ECONOMIC
WOES ARE CORRELATED WITH THE TIMING OF OUR
DEPARTURE FROM
GOD, speedily
implemented, in of all places,
THE JUDICIARY OF
THE UNITED STATES – the very ones;
heavy ladened
with the responsibility of “representing” THE
GOD OF ALL THE
EARTH WHO ONLY DOETH RIGHT! -
CY– 2012)
THE HIGHER JUDICIAL
COURT AT THE SANCTUARY (vs. 8-13)
So long as Moses was with the people, they had in him one
to whom, in the last resort,
cases might be brought for decision which were found too
difficult for the ordinary
judges (Exodus 18:19-26). But, as he was not to be always with
them, it was needful
to
provide a supreme court, to which such cases might be carried when they could
no
longer be decided by him; and such a
court is here appointed to be held at the
SANCTUARY!
8 “If
there arise a matter too hard for thee” - literally,
too marvelous;
something extraordinary, and which could not be decided by the
ordinary rules of the
judicature - “in
judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea,
and between stroke and stroke,” - i.e. in cases where blood had been shed and
death had ensued, either accidentally or from murderous intent
(compare Exodus
21:13; Numbers 35:9-34); in cases of disputed rights and
claims (compare
II Chronicles 19:10); and in cases where corporeal injury
had been suffered, whether
in
strife or from assault (Exodus 21:18-27); and, in general, “being matters of
controversy” – disputes
as to what was lawful and right, might arise in their towns
and
villages. In all such cases recourse was to be had to the court at the sanctuary
—
“to the priests the Levites,” i.e.
the priests who were of the tribe of Levi, and
to
the judge presiding there — the lay judge associated with the high priest
as
president. It is not intended by this that an appeal was to lie from the lower
court to the higher, or that the parties in a suit might carry
it at once to the supreme
judge; the meaning rather is that, when the ordinary judges
found a case too difficult
for
them to deal with, they were themselves to transmit it to the supreme court for
decision - “within
thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee
up into the
place which the LORD thy God shall choose;”
9 “And
thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and
unto the judge
that shall be in those days, and inquire;” - what, namely, is “the
sentence
of judgment;” and this the judge should declare -“and they shall shew
thee the sentence of judgment:” - literally, word of right - verbum juris,
declaration of what was legally right.
10 “And
thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they
of that
place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt
observe to do according to all that they inform
thee: 11
According to the
sentence of the law which they shall teach thee,
and according to the
judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline
from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the
left. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will
not hearken
unto the priest that standeth
to minister there before the LORD thy
God, or unto the judge, even that man shall
die: and thou shalt put
away the evil from
suitors were to accept and implicitly obey. If any through pride or
arrogance
should refuse to accept the interpretation of
the Law given by the priests, or to
submit to the sentence pronounced by the judge, he was to be regarded as
a
rebel against God, and to be put to death, that others might be deterred
from the like
presumption (ch. 13:11). [I should think that
only people
who
are unbelievers should think that enforcement of the law does not
have a deterrent. Down deep, it is wishful thinking, hoping too, that they will
go
unpunished and that their own sins, IN THE END WILL NOT FIND
THEM OUT! - CY - 2012)
13 “And
all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more
presumptuously.” (God
says “ALL THE PEOPLE SHALL HEAR
AND FEAR” – now perhaps, in our age, men choose to take their
philosophy which flies in the face of God. This will not stand as we
are finding out in a very liberal culture, that leniency is not working, and
is one of the loosened nails that is bringing the house down! – CY –
2012)
Religion is the Guard of Justice (vs, 8-13)
The average secular citizen of the
take at this heading, however, justice is
outside the realm of their interest or
ability to execute, in a secular state [the reason
being, God gives them up to
what they want – [see Romans 1:24, 26,28] - The devil has neither the interest
nor the ability to carry justice out,
therefore, TO
DEPART FROM GOD IS
A GREAT TRAGEDY
IN A NATION – {Psalm
9:17} - We are finding
this out in the rapid growth of evil in our land
and nothing being done about
it! – CY – 2012)
In the preceding chapter, vs. 18-20, judges and officers are specified as
appointed by God to be the guardians of justice and right. The Hebrew is
very emphatic in v. 20, “Justice, justice, shalt thou follow!”
Manifold
complications, however, would be sure to arise as the nation advanced,
and
as
the primitive simplicity of their first settlement passed into more fixed
arrangements as to property, etc. In such difficult cases, it might not
be
easy, and perhaps it would not always be possible, for the judges and
shoterim to determine what was
just. The legislator is here bidden,
therefore, to make provision in case such perplexities should arise.
When
the
people should come to the land which the Lord their God gave them,
there would be one place which the Lord would choose to put his
Name
there. There should “thrones of judgment” sit. The priests, who would
have to offer sacrifices and to intercede for the people before God, would
also
be expected to be so versed in the
Law of God, that they could
appropriately be regarded as the highest court of appeal, by whose
decision
the
highest sanctions of religion would be brought to declare and enforce
“justice, justice.” Their decision was held to be given them by light from on
High. And when such
decision was in accordance with the Divine will, the
people were bound by it. To resist
it was “a presumptuous sin;” and,
withal, it was one of so deep a dye, that it was not safe for
man should
continue among them, who spurned the highest decisions
which could
possibly be given. (This is a true
barometer of the condition
of
things in the
poll, as to how many liberal or progressive Americans would be under a
ban,
by v. 12, by their own confession of their revulsion to this law! -
CY – 2012) At the same time, there were sundry
checks and counter-checks
against the abuse of this law. The authority of this highest court
was relative or
conditional, not absolute. If priests became unfaithful, and
their judgments unjust,
then the sin of presumption was chargeable upon them (ch.
18:20; Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Malachi made similar charges against such unfaithful
expounders).
Note, further, that as early as the time of the Judges,
when the priests
profaned their office, God set them aside, and wrought and taught
by
means of the prophet Samuel. (Consider the very interesting and
informative case
study of Eli and his sons – I Samuel 2:12-4:22). So that the supreme court
bound
the
people only so far as it was what it was designed to be, even God’s
appointment for securing justice, by investing it with the sublime
sanctions
of
religion. (Therefore, the Supreme Court
of the
had a role in the turning of the United States Constitution on its head, is subject
to judgment in that a majority of sitting judges of the last half century, have been a
poor and unfaithful example of “THE JUDGE OF ALL
THE EARTH WHO
ONLY DOETH RIGHT” - Genesis 18:25 – CY -
2012) But when
it was that,
and
so far as it answered its end, its utterances were to the people as the voice of
God. Now, we all know that, as a formal institution, this court of appeal has long
since passed away. But we greatly mistake if there are not
couched here sundry
momentous principles, of which no age, country, or race can afford
to lose sight.
These principles are:
BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. That in the
course of time the essence of
religion may have so evaporated, and its place be so taken up by
forms and
ceremonies, that the connection between religion and justice may seem
to
be lost, must be admitted to be a possibility, but it does not alter the
principle here enunciated.
The guarantee of justice between man and man is
found in a power of appeal on both sides to a law of immutable
right
mutually acknowledged. To such a law conscience, the regulative
faculty,
points with steady finger. Such law obeyed, she approves the
obedience,
and when disobeyed, she condemns the disobedience. Both the approval
and the condemnation of the voice within are witnesses to the
existence
and government of a Great
Judge of all, who, seated on the
throne of
universal empire, issues His mandates to the world! And in the appeal from
human acts to the judgment of the Great Supreme, lies the
safeguard of
justice between man and man. In a word, RELIGION IS THE SOLE
ADEQUATE GUARANTEE
OF MORALITY! Both are comprehended
under the one word, “righteousness.” Religion is righteousness
towards
God; morality is righteousness
towards man. If man ever comes to
regard
himself as the supreme existence, (AS
ESPOUSED BY SECULAR
HUMANISM) empowered to make right right, and wrong wrong, instead
of regarding himself as subject to the everlasting laws of
right, the best and
dearest privileges of the human family
will be in imminent peril,
and at best can endure but for a while! (THUS THE TRUE
DANGER
OF THE POPULARITY OF POLLS IN OUR CULTURE?
Remember, that during the decline
and near the end of
a nation, “Then
were the people of
half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make
him
king; and half followed Omri.” - I Kings 16:21 – This is very
significant as in our day we hear so much about red states and blue states!
- CY – 2012)
LAW OF GOD.
See Psalm 19:7-12, in which the Psalmist extols the pure and
holy Law of Jehovah, as being the written expression of perfect
right. In
the Ten Commandments the various phases of the right in act or
thought
are set forth. And according to the ordinance alluded to in
this paragraph,
when a case arose which was too difficult to be solved by the
lower
authorities, it might be taken up to a higher court, that the will of the Lord
might thereby be discovered by
the most trustworthy exposition of the
bearings of God’s Law on each particular case.
RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ENTHRONED, EXPOUNDED, AND
ENFORCED. If
in
was to be sure of it in God’s house. It was a pious Hebrew’s delight to
inquire in God’s temple (Psalm 27:4). And we do not think adequately of
the temple service if we merely regard it as consisting of
sacrifice and
mediation; the holy house was also a place where men could learn THE
MIND AND WILL OF
GOD in their
bearing on the life of man both
in general and in specific cases. And one of the
delights of the Psalmist’s
heart was this: “there are
set thrones of judgment”
(Ibid. 122:5).
And so now, in God’s house, not
only are we bidden to “behold the
Lamb of God,” but “to live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world.” (Titus 2:12)
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
There are no priests now, as of yore. But the Church
of God has a ministry, and by this ministry the truth of God
is to be
“opened up” and “commended to every man’s conscience as in the
sight of God.” (II Corinthians 4:2)
TO THE PEOPLE, THEY ARE LOYALLY TO ACCEPT IT, SUBMIT
TO IT, AND OBEY IT. And
this, not because of him whose voice speaks,
but because of Him in whose behalf the preacher speaks. Men
are to receive
the truth, not as the word of man, but as the Word of God.
EXPOUNDED, IS A
PRESUMPTUOUS SIN. (See passages where
Same Hebrew word is used which
is here rendered “presumptuous,”
Specially Psalm 19:13.) The
epithet indicates the greatness of the sin. It is one
which Jehovah specially hates, severely rebukes, and utterly
condemns. He
“resisteth
the proud” (James 4:6). He hides things from the wise and
prudent but reveals them unto babes (Matthew 11:25). He scorneth the
scorners (Proverbs 3:24). He
taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
(I Corinthians 1:19). First pride, then shame.
“What shall the end
be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (I Peter 4:17)
ELECTION AND DUTY OF A KING (vs. 14-20)
precluded, provided the king chosen by the people were one whom
Jehovah would
approve as His vicegerent. In case, then, of their coming to
desire to have a king over
them like the nations (the heathen) around them, Moses gives instructions here as to the
choice of a king, and as to the duties and obligations resting upon
those who might be
elevated to that office. The form in which these are conveyed
clearly indicates
that, at
the
time this was uttered, the existence of a king in
distant possibility.
14 “When
thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee, and shalt possess
it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt
say, I
will set a king over me, like as all the
nations that are about me;”
This phraseology, which is common to the laws which respect
the affairs of the
Hebrews after they should be settled in
whilst they were yet outside the Promised Land. It is plain also,
from the tenor of the
whole statement in this verse, that the legislator in this case
is providing for what he
supposes may happen, is likely to happen, but which he by no means
desires should
happen. Moses foresaw that the
people would wish to be as the nations around
them — governed by a king — and he legislates accordingly, without approving of
that wish.
15 “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD
thy God shall choose: one from among thy
brethren shalt thou set
king over thee: thou mayest
not set a stranger over thee, which is
not thy brother.” The prohibition
to choose a foreigner indicates that the
people had the right of election. In what way
this was to be exercised, and
how
it was
subject to the Divine choice, is not declared. Judging from what
actually happened in subsequent history, it would appear that only
on special
occasions, such as the election of the first king or a change of
dynasty, did God
take the initiative, and through a prophet direct the choice of the people;
ultimately
the
monarchy became hereditary, and it was understood that the prince who
succeeded to the throne did so with the Divine approval, unless the opposite
was
expressly intimated by a message from God.
16 “But he
shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to
return to
the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth
return no more that way.”
Burning Bridges Behind
Us (v. 16)
“Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” In these words, Moses
reminds the people that
should come in the course of time to desire and to choose a king,
he must
by no
means take them back to
bondage was never to be repeated. They should return that way no more.
The only course open to them was to go onward to the
realization of their
destiny as a free people, for the gate behind them was closed,
never to be
opened again. The text may naturally be regarded as God’s voice
to His
emancipated host, saying, “No retreat!” We shall apply this to
the life of
believers. It is true in two spheres:
of sin, out or’ which the children of God have been brought by the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus and by the power of the Holy
Ghost,
it is true, “ye shall henceforth return no more that way.”
Ø
They may not if they would. They have quitted
the broad road which
leadeth to
destruction, and, through the gateway of
repentance, have
entered on “the King’s
highway of holiness.” Having once come
over from Satan to Christ, it is altogether forbidden them to
dream of a
return. Whosoever he be
who has avowedly quitted the service of sin
for that of the living God, never must he think of returning
to the world
he has left. It would be
like a dog eating his own vomit or a sow that
is washed, returning to the mud! (II Peter 2:22) - Back to his old life
of sin? Never! He is to reckon himself henceforth as “dead indeed
unto sin, but alive
unto God,” (Romans 6:11,13) and,
whether
living or dying, he is to be the Lord’s.
Ø
They would not if they might. Not only is it the
Law of God that
they must not retreat, but the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus
leads them to say, “We will not, by the help of God.” And herein
is the blessed freedom of the new creature in Christ Jesus.
What
God wills, he wills. He has
voluntarily left the world, and voluntarily
he remains out of its camp
(I John 2:15-17). The very
thought of
“returning any more that way” is anguish to him. He has said to
earth, once for all, farewell; to sinful pleasures, farewell; to
the
pride of life, farewell. He has cast in his lot with Christ,
and, like
Moses, he esteems reproach for Him greater riches than the
treasures in
step that is not towards God and heaven. He has done with the
vanities of earth, and can return no
more that way!
steps we have already trodden, nor recall nor reproduce the
circumstances
of bygone days or years.
Ø
We cannot recall, or
change, or obliterate the past,
even if
we would. The
trials and cares of bygone years are gone, never to
be repeated. The actions of past years are done, and however we
may desire it, they cannot be undone. There is no such thing as
recalling a single moment, to correct what has been amiss, nor
erasing a single word or deed so as to prevent its issues
traveling
on to eternity! (Jesus
said, “Every
idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment” (Matthew
12:36). We may
do something now to
shape future years, but — to alter past years — nothing. For good
or ill they have been lived and left their mark. We can alter
nothing. We can “return
no more that way.”
Ø
The pilgrim, Zionward, would
not retreat if he could. The
child
of God who has been, however imperfectly, endeavoring in
Divine
strength to serve and please his Father in heaven, reviewing his
years
with their trials, afflictions, and cares, feels it to be
a great joy to him
that he can return no more that way. He would not linger here.
He wants to speed him
onward. He oftentimes sings at eventide, with
thankful heart, “a day’s march
nearer home.” The goal of his being
is ahead. To serve God here is blissful. But he longs, not to
repeat
past imperfections, but to “go on unto perfection” (Hebrews 6:1),
to press forward
towards the higher service of the heavenly world
(Philippians 3:13:14). He feels and knows that all the Divine
arrangements for him are mercy and truth - “goodness
and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever” – (Psalm
23:6). GOD IS
ABUNDANT IN GOODNESS AND TRUTH – (Exodus
34:6). He
would not change them. Mercy shuts off
the past beyond
recall. Mercy opens the
future.
“Then,
welcome, each declining day,
Welcome each closing year!”
17
“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not
away:
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself
silver and gold.” Certain rules are
prescribed for the king. It is forbidden to him to
multiply horses, to multiply wives,
and
to amass large treasures of silver and gold, and he must
have a copy of the
Law written out for him from that kept by the priests, that he might have
it
BY HIM, AND READ IT ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE!
The multiplying
of
horses is prohibited, because this would bring
relations with
they had been so marvelously delivered; a prohibition which could only have
been
given at an early stage in the history of the people, for at a
later period, after they
had
been well established in
would have been simply ridiculous. The prohibition to multiply
wives and
to
amass large treasures has respect to the usage common from the earliest
period with Oriental monarchs to have vast harems and huge
accumulations of the
precious metals, as much for ostentation as for either luxury or
use; and as there
was
no small danger of the King of Israel being seduced to follow this usage,
and
so to have his heart turned away from the Lord, it was fitting that such
a prohibition
should be prospectively enacted for his guidance. Both these
prohibitions were neglected by Solomon, and probably by others of the
Jewish kings;
but this only indicates that the law was so ancient that it had
come in their time to be regarded as obsolete. (Much like society in the
21st century considering
the Bible to be obsolete, however, it
did not
work for
WORK FOR US! – CY – 2012) The rule that the king was to write him a
copy of the Law for his own constant use
does not necessarily imply that he
was
to write this with his own hand; (although
that would be a good thing
for
anyone who refuses to read or heed God’s Word – CY – 2012) - he might
cause it to be written by some qualified scribe for him.
18 “And it
shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his
kingdom,
that he shall write him a copy of this law” - literally, a double of this Law,
i.e. a duplicate or copy of the Pentateuchal
Law. The Jews understand by
“double” that two copies of
the Law were to be made by the king; but
this is
unnecessary: every copy of a law is a double of it -“in a book out of that
which is before the priests the Levites:” The priests were
the custodians
of
the written Law (ch. 31:26); and from the
text of their codex was the king’s
copy to be written.
19 “And it
shall be with him,” - It was to be carefully kept
by him, but not as
a
mere sacred deposit or palladium; it was to be
constantly with him wherever
he was, was to be the object of his continual study, and
was to be the
directory and guide of his daily life (compare “thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all
that is written therein” -Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 119:15-16, 24, 97-99) –
“and he shall read
therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to
fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words
of this law and these
statutes, to do them:”
20 “That
his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,” - Not imagining
himself to be above all laws, nor slighting his subjects, as
unworthy of his notice,
but
taking a due care to promote their happiness - “and that he turn not aside
from the commandment, to the right hand, or to
the left: to the end that he
may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and
his children,”
– properly,
his sons (בָנָיו). The legislator anticipated not an elective monarchy, but
one
hereditary in the same family - “in the midst of Israel.”
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