Deuteronomy 18
RIGHTS OF THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES (vs. 1-8)
After the ruling powers, the judges and the king, come the priests and the Levites. In
regard to them Moses repeats here the law as before laid down
(compare Numbers
18:20, 23-24).
1 “The
priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi,” - i.e. the whole tribe of Levi,
including both the priests and the general body of the Levites - “shall have no part
nor inheritance with
fire,” -
(literally, the fires or firings of Jehovah), here referred to,
were the meal
offering, the sin offering, and the trespass effusing
(compare Ibid. v.9) - “and
His inheritance.” - i.e. of Jehovah, what was appropriated to Him,
and from Him
to the tribe of Levi, such as tithes, firstlings, and firstfruits.
The Lord Our Inheritance (v.1)
True of the priests and Levites, it is true also of each
believer, that “the
Lord is his inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6). He is in this respect a “priest
unto God” (I Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6).
part, share. Inheritance in
families — the share which each receives of the
patrimony. In the partition of
share. God’s portion or
inheritance was the tithes, with the prescribed parts
of the sacrifices, the firstfruits, etc. Levi had as his portion God Himself,
involving a share of the
provision from God’s table (v. 1).
Ø
The believer possesses God. God
is a better possession for the
soul than any of His gifts.
It is a thought which lies at the foundation
of all true religion, that God Himself is the Supreme Good, the true
and real portion
of the soul.... More intimately than
light becomes
the possession of the eye
on which it streams, or air of the organs
of breathing which inhale
it, or the food we eat, assimilated and
diffused through the
physical system, incorporates itself with the
nature of him who partakes
of it, does He, that Infinite One,
the Light of all our seeing, the Bread of
Life, the nutriment of
our highest
being, become the deep inward portion of each soul
that loves him” (O, for the experience of what God was to
Abraham, “I am thy Shield
and thy exceeding Great Reward”-
Genesis 15:1 - CY – 2012).
Ø
In possessing God, the
believer possesses all things.
And this,
though in an outward sense
he has nothing (II Corinthians. 6:10;
compare I Corinthians
3:21-23).
o
God provides for him
out of the fullness at His command.
Possessing God, the
Possessor of all, he knows that he will
want “no good thing” (Psalm
84:11). Temporally and spiritually,
he will be provided for,
kept, saved, delivered (Ibid. 37:3, 9,
11,
25, 34; 121.; Isaiah 33:16;
Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 1:3).
o
All things work
together for his good (Romans 8:28).
o
He perceives and
enjoys God in all things, as none else can
(Psalm 104.).
o
He is one of the “heirs of God”
in “the times of the restitution of
All things” (Acts 3:24), when the redeemed enter on their glory
(Matthew 25:34). Let the saint reflect on his inheritance in
God.
§
How surpassingly rich
it is!
§
How delightsome it is!
(Psalm 16:6).
§
How enduring it is —
eternal! (II Corinthians 4:17-18).
§
How all-satisfying it is!
(Psalm 73:26).
(And to think that He sings over us – Zephaniah 3:17! Contemplate that we are
His inheritance. I
recommend Deuteronomy ch.
32 v. 9 – God’s Inheritance –
by Arthur Pink – this web
site – CY – 2012)
2 “Therefore shall they have no inheritance
among their brethren: the
LORD is their inheritance, as He hath said
unto them.” - (compare Ibid. v.20).
3 And this
shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a
sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and
they shall give unto the priest the
shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.”
- i.e.
the front leg, the two
jaw-bones, and the rough stomach of ruminants, in which the
digestion is
completed. These were regarded as the choice parts of the
animal, and
were to be given to the priests in addition to the wave
breast and heave leg
of the peace offerings (Leviticus 7:32-34; Numbers
18:11-15), which belonged to the
firings of Jehovah, mentioned in v. 1. To these the priest
had a rightful claim; they were
his due (מִשְׁפַט, mishpat,
right). This right was probably accorded to the priests as
a compensation for the falling off which would take place
in their incomes in
consequence of the repeal of the law that every animal was
to be slaughtered at the
sanctuary as a sacrifice (ch.12:15; Leviticus 17.) According to Josephus (‘Antiq
,’
4:4, 4), Philo (‘De Praemiis. Sacerdot.,’ p. 832, Opp., tom. 2.
p. 235, edit. Maugey),
the Talmud, etc., this injunction relates to the slaying of
animals at home for private use,
and not such as were killed for sacrifice. But the use here
of the sacrificial
phraseology, who offer a sacrifice (זֹבְחֵי הַזֶּבַח, who slay victims for sacrifice —
a phrase nowhere found except in connection with
sacrificial rites) is adverse to this;
and besides, how could such an enactment be carried out?
How could people, residing
at a distance, convey to the priests the portions due to
them every time they slaughtered
an animal for domestic use? At the same time, the
sacrifices here referred to do not
seem to be included in the offerings by fire above
mentioned; and these gifts to
the priest seem to have been something over and above his
ordinary dues. There is
probability, therefore, in the suggestion that “the reference is to
the slaughtering of
oxen, sheep, or goats, which were not intended for shelamim
in the more limited sense,
i.e. for one of
the three species of peace offerings (Leviticus 7:15-16), but for festal
meals in the broader sense, which were held in connection
with the sacrificial meals
prepared from the shelamim.
The Lord our
Inheritance (vs. 1-2)
True of the priests and Levites, it is true also of each
believer, that “the
Lord is his inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6). He is in this respect a “priest
unto God” (I Peter
2:9; Revelation 1:6).
·
THE MEANING OF THE EXPRESSION. Inheritance — equal to lot,
part, share. Inheritance in families — the share which each
receives of the
patrimony. In the partition of
share. God’s portion or inheritance was the tithes, with the
prescribed parts
of the sacrifices, the first-fruits, etc. Levi had as his
portion God Himself,
involving a share of the provision from God’s table (v. 1).
·
THE GRANDEUR OF THE TRUTH.
Ø The believer possesses God. God
is a better possession for the soul than
any of His gifts. “It is a thought which lies at the
foundation of all true
religion,
that God Himself is the Supreme Good, the true and real portion
of the
soul.... More intimately than light becomes the possession of the eye
on which
it streams, or air of the organs of breathing which inhale it, or the
food we
eat, assimilated and diffused through the physical system,
incorporates itself with the nature of him who partakes of it, does He, that
Infinite One,
the Light of all our seeing, the Bread of Life, the nutriment of
our
highest being, become the deep inward portion of each soul that loves
him” (Caird, sermon on ‘The Christian’s Heritage’).
Ø In possessing God, the believer
possesses all things.
And this, though in
an
outward sense he has nothing (II Corinthians. 6:10; compare I Corinthians
3:21-23).
o
God
provides for him out of the fullness at His command. Possessing
God, the
Possessor of all, he knows that he will want “no good thing”
(Psalm 84:11).
Temporally and spiritually, he will be provided for,
kept,
saved, delivered (Psalm 37:3, 9, 11, 25, 34; 121:1-8; Isaiah
33:16; Matthew
6:33; Ephesians 1:3).
o
All
things work together for his good (Romans 8:28).
o
He
perceives and enjoys God in all things, as none else can (Psalm
104.).
o
He is
one of the “heirs of God” in “the times of the restitution of all
things” (Acts 3:21), when the redeemed enter on their glory
(Matthew
25:34).
Let the saint
reflect on his inheritance in God.
o
How
surpassingly rich it is!
o
How
delightsome it is! (Psalm 16:6).
o
How
enduring it is — eternal! (II Corinthians 4:17-18).
o
How
all-satisfying it is! (Psalm 73:26).
4 “The firstfruit also of thy corn,
of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the
first of the
fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.” In
addition to the
first-fruits already prescribed by the Law to be given to the priests (Numbers
18:12-13),
Moses here enacts that the first fleece of the sheep shall be given. All these, though
legally prescribed, were
free gifts on the part of the people; the neglect of the
prescription incurred
only moral blame, not judicial penalty.
5 “For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy
tribes, to stand to
minister in the
name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.”
The reason
assigned for the enactment is that God had chosen the priest to stand and minister
in the Name of Jehovah, i.e. not only by His appointment and authority, but with
full
power to act as mediator between the people and God, him and his sons forever;
referring to the establishment
of the priesthood in the family of Aaron.
Only a portion of the Levites were engaged in the service
of the sanctuary; the rest
lived in their towns throughout the country. It might happen, however, that a Levite,
moved by pious feeling, would come to the place of the sanctuary to worship
there;
and it is prescribed that such a one should fare as his brethren the Levites engaged
in the service of the
sanctuary fared; he should minister along with them, and share
with them in the
gifts of the worshippers; and this in addition to any private means he
might have from the sale of his patrimony
The
Priesthood (v. 5)
priests” (Exodus 19:6). This
priestly character of the nation was
represented formally in the tribe of Levi. The distinctive duties of
the
priesthood were discharged by the sons of Aaron, who were thus the
priests strictly so called.
·
THE PRIESTHOOD IN ITSELF.
Ø
Chosen and set apart
by God. “Chosen him out of all thy tribes.”
Ø
Holy, indicated by
bodily perfection (Leviticus 21:16-24), holy
garments (Exodus 39.), rites of dedication (Leviticus 8.),
ceremonial
regulations and restrictions (Leviticus 21., etc.).
Ø
Represented the people
before God (Exodus 28:12).
Ø
Made propitiation for
sins (Hebrews 5:1).
Ø
Gave forth oracles
(Numbers 27:21).
Ø
Had for these purposes
the right of approach to God.
·
THE PRIESTHOOD AS TYPICAL.
Ø
Of Christ. The high priest, in particular, was typical of Christ as:
o
the One Medium of approach to God (John 14:6; 1 Timothy
2:5).
o
Inherently holy,
absolutely without sin (II Corinthians 5:21).
o
Representing the
Church before God in His person, work, and
intercession (Hebrews 4:14).
o
In His having made
reconciliation for the sins of the people —
himself both Priest and Sacrifice (ibid. 2:17;
10:12).
o
In being the organ of
Divine revelations (Matthew 11:27).
o
For this priestly work
— to which He was divinely ordained
(Hebrews 5:5) — Christ has free and
immediate access to the
holiest of all, and has gained admission to the same for His
people (ibid. 9:12; 10:19).
Ø
Of believers.
o
o
Consecrated (I Corinthians 1:2).
o
Having freedom of
approach to God (Hebrews 10:19).
o
Offering spiritual
sacrifices (I Peter 2:5).
o
Interceding for the
world.
6 “And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all
sojourned,” – The Levite, though not homeless, was regarded as only a
sojourner
in the land, inasmuch as the tribe had no inheritance (נַחֲלָח) there -“and come
with all the
desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose;”
7 Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as
all his
brethren the
Levites do, which stand there before the LORD.
8They
shall
have like
portions to eat,” - literally, they
shall eat portion as portion, i.e.
share and share alike -
“beside that which cometh of the
sale of his patrimony.”
- literally, his price
upon [the house] of [his] fathers, i.e. the
produce of the
sale effected on the house he inherited from his ancestry
(compare Leviticus 25:33).
God’s Provision for the Priests
and Levites (vs. 1-8)
From the limitations of the monarchy, Moses next turns to
the provision for the
“priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi.”
They were not to receive any
estate in
“the Lord
as their inheritance.” We have already
seen that
good land for training up a spiritual people; it was
a land where dependence upon
God was constantly enforced. But among this people, thus
invited to depend upon
God, there was a tribe whose dependence upon God was to be
further stimulated
by the absence of any tangible inheritance. Their life was thus to be a life of trust in
God’s continual care. In these circumstances
the Lord made certain laws about
the priests’ due. He took good care of the tribe that
trusted Him. It has been supposed
that the animals, of which the priests were to have a
definite part, were not merely
sacrifices, but also those privately slaughtered, and the
words (לֺזבְחֵי הַזֶּבַח
)
translated “them that
offer a sacrifice” will bear the rendering “those who
slaughter animals.” Still, it seems more probable that it
was by the central altar that
the priests and Levites were to live. Assuming this, then,
the following lessons are
here taught.
IN THEIR ALLOTTED PORTION. For as a matter of fact,
“the
shoulder, the two cheeks, and the maw” were deemed dainty portions
of the animal. The best portions ascended to God in
the altar fire, and then
the second best were assigned to the priests and Levites, while the offerer
was content with what was left. God and His ministers were regarded as
the guests of the Jewish worshippers, and, as the
guests enjoy the best
which we can offer in the exercise of our hospitality, the support of the
priests
and Levites was amply secured. These dues of the priests and Levites
seem to
have been regularly paid while
the people remained true to God; of course,
their support would suffer in
sinful and idolatrous times, yet, even when
they suffered with the neglect
of God’s altar, it was suffering with God.
And as a rule those who trust
God are not disappointed with His provision.
Even when it is limited in
amount, He is sure to give sublime compensations.
Though ministerial support is
not what it ought to be, there is no
class of
men who enjoy
life so much as God’s servants.
CALLED PRE-EMINENTLY TO THE LIFE OF TRUST. There is
A great temptation to encircle
ourselves with so much worldly possession as
that trust in God will be
difficult and seem superfluous. In other words,
there is an effort to be able to
live by sight rather than by faith. (This
seems to be
reinforced by Contemporary Christianity –
CY – 2012)
But the
Master whom we serve is realized by faith, and His kingdom
must be
propagated by faith. Hence He so
arranges the lot of His servants
that a loud call for faith
is always ringing in their ears, and they
should never
neglect that call. The priests and Levites were at liberty to purchase land
and leave it to their
children, and doubtless many of them so far “made
assurance doubly
sure, and took a bond of fate.” Yet
the life of faith, the
dependence upon God’s
altar, was better and wholesomer than the life
of sight.
AND LEVITES DUE BECAUSE OF ANY PRIVATE PATRIMONY
INDIVIDUALS MIGHT POSSESS. A good deal of
deficient ministerial
support is due to the people
very unfairly discounting private incomes and
often exaggerating them, so as
to save themselves. Ministers may
inherit
means through the kindly
consideration of parents and friends; but this is
no reason why people should hold
their hand in the matter of ministerial
support. The Lord specially
provided that the Levite (v. 8) should have
like portions to eat beside that
which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
The truth is that private means invariably go to make a public ministry
more effective, if the ministry is true at all. They are not selfishly
utilized,
but used as a matter of’
stewardship. In such circumstances, instead
of
being a hindrance to
liberality, these private possessions should be
a
stimulus, as they are so much more in the line of things devoted to
the
Lord.
The case of the Levite here
referred to corresponds to a minister who has
responded to a Divine call,
against what one might call the dictates of
worldly prudence. He has
followed the inward impulse (v. 6), and come
to aid the priests at the
central altar from his snug patrimony at home. Such
devotion is to be considered and
rewarded. The Levite, who was so
interested as to relinquish his
country life and patrimony, deserved the
payment of the dues at the
altar. So with the generous devotion of the
ministers of God. When men relinquish good worldly prospects for the
Church, their doing so should
be considered.
The Support of the Ministry is the Duty of
God’s People
(vs. 1-8)
In a note on a corresponding passage in Numbers 18:21-22,
Dr. Jameson
remarks, “Neither the priests nor the Levites were to possess any
allotments of land, but to depend entirely upon Him who liberally
provided
for
them out of His own portion; and this law was
subservient to many
important purposes, such as that, being exempted from the cares
and labors
of worldly business, they
might be exclusively devoted to His service; that a
bond of mutual love
and attachment might be formed between the people
and the Levites,
who, as performing religious services for the people,
derived their subsistence from them; and further, that, being the
more easily
dispersed among the different tribes, they might be more useful in
instructing and directing the people.” This suggestive note seems to
us to
contain the pith of the Mosaic instructions concerning the
maintenance of
the
Levites. (For the several details, see Exposition.) We can scarcely fail
to
see in this passage principles far wider in their application than to the
Jewish people alone, and reaching much further onward than
the times of
the
old covenant. And though, as it falls to the lot of the preacher to
expound these principles, it may not quite fall within his
preference to do
so,
if he is, like the Levites, supported by the contributions of the people,
yet,
when he is continuously expounding the Word of God, he may not
omit to teach the people that "he that is taught in the Word should
communicate unto him that teacheth in all
good things.” (Galatians 6:6)
This is part of the “counsel of God,” and should not
be withheld, since it is not
for
his own sake, but for the sake of the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus, for
which, if he is faithful, he will plead. The principles which
may be expounded
by
the ministers of the New Testament are these:
True, there are now no sacrifices to be offered, nor is there
any
complicated ritual of service to be performed; but there is a mighty work to
be done in heralding the gospel “to every creature,” and in “building up the
body of Christ.” And
so long as sin and ignorance prevail, so long will the
people need those who will lead the way in seeking their
expulsion and
extinction. For this end our Lord has instituted a New Testament
ministry.
The work now to be fulfilled is
that of teaching and preaching Jesus Christ
(Ephesians 4:1-16; 1
Corinthians. 9.). “Faithful men, able to teach,” are
to be appointed. These are the qualifications. The Church needs no
priesthood in it. It
is itself the priesthood for the world. Ministers do not
come now in a family, a tribe, or line. The figment of apostolical succession
is “less than nothing, and vanity.” It is
not by the law of “a carnal
commandment” that any
ministry is valid now. But wherever God’s
Spirit
fills a man with holy yearning for this work, where the needful
gifts are
imparted, where God’s providence leads and clears the way, and the
divinely inspired voice of a free Christian people says to him,
“Come and
be our teacher and guide in the ways of the Lord,” there are
calls to a
ministry such as cannot be mistaken, and such as ought not to be
ignored.
And when, on such a ministry,
the seals of Divine approval are set, when
the minister can see the law of Christ which is promulgated by
his lips,
reproduced in men’s hearts and lives, when he can see many a wanderer
reclaimed through his pleading and prayers, — then can his ministry
show
a like validity even with that of Paul, for he, like him,
can point to one and
another and say, “If I be not an apostle unto others, yet
doubtless I am to
you, for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.”
THE ENTIRE LIFE. We by no means intend here that none should teach
or preach but those who can give their whole time thereto.
But that, as a
part of the application of the “division of labor” in the
Church, the
demands on those who make the ministry of the Word their care are
such,
that only the entire consecration of their life to it will
enable them fittingly
to meet them. To take the oversight of the flock of God: to
give unto each
one their portion of meat in due season: to visit the
fatherless and widow,
the poor and the sick: to observe the signs of the times: to
know what
Israel ought to do, and to
direct them in doing it: to keep abreast of the
thinking of the day, whether helpful or adverse: and so to declare
the
whole counsel of God, as by manifestation of the truth to
commend himself
to every conscience: — all these things go to make up a work so
varied, so
momentous, so exhausting, that nothing less than “giving himself wholly”
to it can enable any man even approximately to discharge it.
MINISTER SHOULD NOT BE ENTANGLED IN IMPEDING CARES.
The Levites were not to have
great estates that might draw off their
interest from the duties of their office, nor were they to be left
at an
uncertainty respecting the supply of their temporal need. Even so now. It
will greatly fetter and hamper a minister if he is entangled
with the affairs
of his life, whether by having so much on his hands that his
time is
absorbed in secular, which ought to be devoted to sacred, things;
or by
having so little on which he can rely, that the anxiety about
feeding the
people with living bread, is diverted from its proper channel, by
anxiety
about having the “bread that perisheth”
for himself and his.
MINISTRY, WHICH IS FOR THE PEOPLE, SHOULD BE THE CARE
OF THE PEOPLE.
This may be set on several grounds.
Ø
It is manifestly right.
If a man gives up all ways of securing temporal
comforts for the sake of serving the people, they are bound to
secure
him the temporal comforts in some other way.
Ø
The Apostle Paul
distinctly lays it down as an appointment by the Lord
Jesus (I
Corinthians 9:14). (Paul waived this
right, rather than hinder
the gospel by pressing it, as is now done under like
circumstances; but
it was a right, nevertheless, and a
Divine appointment.)
Ø
Wherever a people
cause a minister to be embarrassed in temporalities,
they will suffer for it. The minister’s work, teaching, and
preaching will
all bear the traces of such embarrassment, and will be the
weaker for it.
Ø
This Divine ordinance
helps to promote the mutual care of minister and
people for each other. They reap his spiritual things; he reaps
their
carnal things.
Ø
There is also thus a high
and holy spiritual education of the people, in
calling out their own kindly and just activities to uphold that
ministry by
which they themselves are upheld. The ministry is not to be
found for
them, but to be maintained by them. Thus there is seen to be a
guard
against abuse of position on either side.
ITSELF A PRIESTHOOD FOR THE WORLD. So Churches are to guard
the honor of their own ministry, because they have a ministry for the world.
It is not for the ministers’ own
sakes that they are to be thus cared for, but
on account of the high and holy cause which they represent,
and which
they seek, however imperfectly, to maintain. They are to be esteemed very
highly in love for
their work’s sake; for the work which they fulfill is that
which is purifying and saving the world. It is, in fact, by thus
supporting a
ministry that the Church is fulfilling its commission, “to
preach the gospel
to every creature.”
Of course, it follows from all this, that a ministry can
claim such and such support, only so far as it is carrying out
the Divine
intent, or seeking in all fidelity to do so. It is not that God
has put clergy as
a kind of official police over the people; but that those
who love
righteousness are to show it by upholding the preaching of
righteousness,
and that those who love their Savior’s Name are to sustain the
heralds of
that Name, both at home and abroad.
The True Priest is the Highest Type of Man (vs. 1-8)
God here lays down the lines along which men may rise to
the dignity of
the
true priesthood. The ordinance did not secure the ideal reality. “The
Law was weak through the flesh.” (Romans 8:3) Human
choice and endeavor
were requisite to attain to God’s ideal priest. It is his privilege to
receive from
God, and to reveal to men.
·
DIVINE CHOICE AND HUMAN
DESIRE MUST COMBINE TO
MAKE A REAL PRIEST.
The man, though born a Levite, must “come
with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the Lord shall
choose”
(v. 6). The human will must co-operate with God’s will. This is
the
product of the second birth. In this ancient arrangement, we see
the
forecast of the Christian life — the true priesthood.
·
THE PRIEST’S OFFICE IS, NOT FOR HONOR, BUT FOR
SERVICE. “He
shall minister in the Name of the Lord his God.” In other
words, he shall serve in the stead of God, and by His authority.
This is the
hardest work, yet the most honorable. No toil or self-sacrifice can he
decline while appearing in the stead of God, for he serves the
noblest part
of man. In God’s kingdom there is no honor apart from
character; and
character is attained by service.
·
THE PRIEST’S EARTHLY NEEDS SHALL BE MET WITHOUT
ANXIETY ON HIS PART. “They that minister at the altar shall
partake of
the altar” (vs. 3-4,
8). While we are employed on the King’s errands, the
King will provide our rations.
We have a Divine guarantee that bodily
wants shall be supplied, for God Himself is our inheritance. It is surely
better to trust:
Ø
the Fount rather than
the stream,
Ø
the First Cause
rather than the intermediate channel, and
Ø
the Creator
rather than the creature.
The priest shall be supplied
before other men, for the first-fruits of corn and
wine and oil are his. They that serve God without stint shall never be
forgotten.
·
THE TRUE PRIEST OCCUPIES THE APEX OF THE SOCIAL
PYRAMID. The true
priest really rules. For him all other orders of men
toil. For the priest to possess any earthly inheritance would
be a burden, a
care, an injury. Others till the ground for him,
thresh his corn, and winnow
his grain. As a god, he receives. For other men the inferior
creation toils
and groans. The unreasoning animals bear his burdens and do
his will. Yet
these men, served well by the
subordinate orders of life, wait upon the
priest, and minister to his human wants. And in return, the real priest
ministers to the hunger of the soul, and supplies light and
guidance and
hope. The real
priest is the greatest benefactor to the human race; the
counterfeit priest is a
pest.
Love to the
Sanctuary (vs. 6-8)
God loves those who love the sanctuary.
·
LOVE TO THE SANCTUARY SEEN.
Ø
In desire for it (v.
6).
Ø
In pain at being
deprived of its ordinances (Psalm 42:1-7;
chps. 63 and
84).
Ø
In overstepping the
bounds of bare duty in attendance on it (v. 6).
·
LOVE TO THE SANCTUARY REWARDED.
Ø
By acceptance of those
repairing to it.
Ø
By provision made for
them (Psalm 63:5).
THE ARTS OF DIVINATION OF THE HEATHEN TO BE
AVOIDED
(vs. 9-14)
9 “When
thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee, thou shalt
not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.”
i.e. certain
forms of superstitious usage by which the heathen sought to procure the
favor of their deities, to obtain from them direction and
counsel, and to penetrate
into the hidden future of events. Moses charges the people to avoid all such usages,
and not even to learn to do after such abominations
(compare Leviticus 18:21;
Leviticus 19:26, 31; Numbers 23:23).
10 “There
shall not be found among you any one that maketh his
son or
his daughter to pass through the fire,”
- (see
note on ch.12:31) -“or that
useth divination,” - (compare Ezekiel 21:21, where the different methods of
divination are enumerated). “or an observer of
times,” - This is according to the
Targum, observans horns;
the Septuagint has κληδονιζόμενος,
–
klaedonizomenos - one who augurs what is to happen -The word (מְעונֵן)
is part of a verb which signifies to cover, to use covert
arts, to practice sorcery;
though some derive it from the noun ˆ עָנַן, a thick cloud, and explain it as “interpreter
of clouds;” while others trace it to עַיִן, the eye, and explain it as “one who cheats by
optical fascinations” (so the Syriac,
fascinans oculis),
or one who divines by inspection
— an augur” - “or an
enchanter,” - one who practices
magic, or divines by signs
(compare Genesis 44:5; Numbers 24:1). It is sometimes said
that the verb of which
this word is a part (נִחֵשׁ)
is a denominative from נָחָשׁ,
a serpent; whence it is inferred
that the species of
divination indicated by this word is ophiomancy,
or divination by
serpents, but this is not generally accepted by scholars
- “or
a witch.” (מִכַשֵׁפ;
Septuagint, φαρμακός –
pharmakos – sorcerer; from
which we get our word
pharmacy; using drugs, etc.
-
:Vulgate, maleficus);
probably one who pretended
to cure diseases, or procure some desired result, by means
of nostrums and philtres.
In the enumeration of the wise men of
a place beside the Hartummim, and
in Genesis 41:8 and Exodus 7:11, they are joined
with the Hachamim or Magi of
had a quasi-scientific basis. The English word “witch” is
now restricted to the female
practicer of unlawful arts; formerly it was applied to males as
well, if not chiefly
(Trench, ‘Select Glossary,’ p. 806).
11 Or a charmer,” - (חֹבֵר הָבֶר); a dealer in spells, one who by means of spells
Or charms pretends to achieve some desired result. The verb
here used primarily
means to bind, and the species of magic indicated is
probably that practiced by binding
certain knots, whereby it was supposed that the curse or
blessing, as the case might he,
was bound on its object; this was accompanied apparently
with incantation (Psalm 58:5).
Compare the English word spell-bound, and the
phrase, “to rivet charms.” A species
of incantation known to the Romans consisted in tying knots
with threads of different
colors, three in number, which were supposed to become a
bond to secure an object
(cf. Virgil., ‘Eclog.’ 8:76,77) -
“or a consulter with familiar spirits,”
- This phrase
conveys something different from what is expressed, in the
Hebrew. שֹׂאֵל אוב is
one who asks or inquires of an
supposed to be in the person of the
conjurer, and to be able to reveal to him what was
secret or hidden in the future (Leviticus
20:27; I Samuel 28:7-8; Acts 16:16). The
notion of “a familiar spirit,” i.e. a spirit not dwelling in
the person, but with which
he is intimate — generally the spirit of
one who formerly lived on earth — is a modern
notion
not known to Scripture.
The persons here referred to were probably
ventriloquists (Septuagint, ἐγγαστρίμυθοι – eggastrimuthoi ), and used their faculty
in this respect for purposes of magic,
pretending that they had within them a spirit
which they could consult, and by which
they could predict what would happen or reveal
what was hid - “or a wizard,” - The English word “wizard”
did not originally convey
the idea of anything evil in the person of
whom it was used;
Magi who came to worship at
“the wise one,” or “the knowing one;” and
thus is an exact equivalent for the Hebrew
word here used (יְדעֹנִי, knowing, wise, from יָדַע, to know) - “or a necromancer.”
- one who professed to call up the dead, and from them to
learn the secrets of futurity
(compare I Samuel 28:7).
12 “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the
LORD: and
because of these
abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from
before thee.” All who practiced such arts were an abomination unto
the
Lord, and His people are
forbidden to have anything to do with them. They
are connected here with the Moloch-worship, because of the intimate
relation between idolatry and the use of magical arts; and Moloch-worship
is specially mentioned, probably because it was the form of
idolatry with
which the Israelites were most likely to come in contact,
both where they
then were and also in
13 “Thou shalt be perfect with the
LORD thy God.” The word translated
“perfect”
properly means entire, whole, answering to the Latin integer; it is used
only in a moral sense, and is best rendered by “upright;” the
Israelites were to be
upright and sincere with, i.e. in relation
with, Jehovah
their God. (Compare “Be
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:48)
14 “For these nations, which thou shalt
possess, hearkened unto observers
of times, and unto
diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not
suffered thee so
to do.” Though the heathen whose land they were to possess
sought to
diviners and enchanters,
at the beginning of the clause is an emphatic
nominative), Jehovah their God had
not suffered (נָתַן, given, granted, allowed) them to do such things.
There should be no need for
or such like, because from amongst themselves, of their own
brethren, would God raise
up prophets like unto Moses, who, as occasion required,
would reveal to them what
God willed them to know.
Moses was not only the leader and ruler of the people, he
was also the medium
through which God communicated with the people, gave them
His laws, and
conveyed to them His word and will. In this respect his
place could be supplied
neither by priest nor by king. In the prospect of his
demise, therefore, there required
to be instituted another office, that of a prophet, one who
should be between God
and the people, as the channel through which Divine
communications might pass to
them. This office Moses here announces that God would
establish among them when
they had entered the Promised Land.
Spiritualism Condemned (vs. 9-14)
In the verses forming this paragraph, there are nine terms
or phrases, each
with its own special meaning, pointing to
some pagan superstition, against
which Moses is warning the people. The variety and number of
such terms
show us how great a bold a spurious “spiritualism” had upon the people.
The phenomena connected therewith, however, present to us
an aspect of
history that is worthy of careful study. In some sort, the pagan
customs of
olden times connected with divination may seem so completely out
of date,
that it may be thought useless for the preacher to allude to them now. But
though some details connected therewith may vary, yet the two
purposes
for which men “divined” of
old, are still sought to be accomplished,
viz.:
(1) the ascertainment of destiny; and
(2) a peep into the invisible realm of the departed.
And not only so; but the methods of a modern so-called
“spiritualism” are
so
nearly analogous to those of ancient times, that it is as needful for the
preacher now to warn the people against them, as it was for Moses
to warn
the
Hebrews. Even among them, the roothold of this superstition was so
strong, that Isaiah had to caution the men of his time against
it, and to
remind them of the more excellent way (see Isaiah 8:19-20). But
it is
very remarkable that neither Moses nor Isaiah closes up the matter at once
by
saying, “You may as well give up all that, for you cannot possibly hold
any
communication with the departed.” Neither of them suggests that the
invisible world is absolutely closed against all possible access.
Various
reasons for this may be surmised. It may be that the question of
the
abstract possibility or otherwise of communications with the
departed,
formed no part of God’s revelation to Moses; or that God has not
seen fit
at
any time to inform us thereon, deeming an education on the moral
bearings of the question, of far greater moment than intelligence
on its
physical or metaphysical aspects. Any way, certain it is, that we
are not
called on to ask, Can we converse with the dead? But we are rather
forbidden to attempt it. Five reasons are suggested as we compare and
unite the teachings of Isaiah and Moses.
·
IT IS UNREASONABLE. “Should
not a people seek unto their God?”
If they wish to commune with
spirit, there is one Great Infinite Spirit with
whom they can hold fellowship, who has said, “Call on me in the day of
trouble.” (Psalm
50:15) From
Him we may get at any time all needful light
on the daily path, and all needful intercourse with the
spiritual world. We
may hear a voice behind us, saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
(ibid. ch. 30:21) And if we may consult the Great Supreme, why
leave
the highest authority, for the sake of consulting any others?
·
IT IS UNNECESSARY. For
what is that we really need? Light for the
future, but not
light on it; and light concerning the
invisible world, but not
light into it. And these are given
to us in the revelation of the Divine Word
(see
next Homily). The connection between this paragraph and the next
should not be lost sight of. Moses says, “The Lord thy God will raise up
unto thee a Prophet,” etc.
(v. 15), i.e. not only one Prophet in the
fullness of time, but also from time to time as may
be needed, prophet after
prophet shall be sent you to direct you in the
truth, so
that you will have no
excuse whatever for seeking light elsewhere, or in any forbidden
ways. If
that was true of
light and truth have we in Christ! And now that we have an
unction from
the Holy One to teach us the deep things of God (I John 2:20,
26), it is a
wildly foolish and needless step to go knocking at the gates of
the invisible
world!
·
IT IS USELESS. It
might very fairly be asked, “If you get an answer,
how are you to verify its worth?” But Isaiah practically
impales the
“spiritualists”
on the horns of a dilemma. “To the Law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is
no light in them”
(Isaiah 8:20), i.e. supposing you consult the dead, and get
an answer from them, that
answer will either accord with “the Law
and the
testimony,” or it will not. If
it does, you are no better off than you were
before, for you had it in the Book before you inquired. If it does
not, still
you are no better off, for “it is because there is no light in them,” and if
they have no light, THE
CAN CERTAINLY GIVE NONE TO YOU!
So that either
way the inquiry after the dead is utterly useless. And besides,
who ever heard of anything alleged to be communicated by “the
spirits”
which contained aught that was not previously known? We have an
infinitely
more sure “word of prophecy” (I Peter 1:19),
and we shall be guilty of the
veriest
folly if we forsake it for the random guessings of “spiritualism.”
Hence:
·
IT IS SINFUL. The
preacher may press this on the following grounds.
Ø
It is a wayward effort
to force an opening into a region which God as
yet sees fit to conceal from view.
Ø
It comes of a wish to
get light on future issues rather than on
present
duty. Duty is ours,
events are God’s.
Ø
It involves the
neglect of a rule which God has given, and a search after
one which He has not.
Ø
It is a waste of time.
Ø
It puts a prying
curiosity in the place of a lowly, loyal obedience.
Ø
It springs out of a
guilty unbelief or from dissatisfaction with the ways of
God.
Why, even among the heathen who
knew not God, it was regarded
by Him as an “abomination;” how much more must He
so regard it among a
people to whom He has revealed Himself in deepest, tenderest love? Have
men not yet learned that it is
mercy which hides the future, and shrouds in
veil the realm of the dead? Who of us could bear to
have either curtain
drawn aside? Oh! it is no wonder that this spirit of false inquiry should be
forbidden by God.
We should frown on it in others, sternly and constantly,
and it should not be so much as named among us as becometh saints.
(Ephesians 5:3)
·
THERE IS ANOTHER AND A BETTER WAY OF GETTING ALL
THE LIGHT WE NEED. “The Law and the testimony.” Here are the
words of God which are to direct us. Here we may “inquire of
God,” and
to the lowly, childlike heart the
Book will be full of divinest, holiest
teaching. It will give us
light on the daily path, and guide us to a course
which has “promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come.”
(I Timothy 4:8) It abounds with promises that will cheer
life’s gloom, and
chase away the darkness even from the grave. It opens up immortality and life.
(II Timothy 1:10) By its light we know that our departed ones
in Christ, though
absent from the body, are present with the Lord. (II Corinthians
5:8) Cheered
by its words of hope, we can sing, “Thou shalt
guide me with thy counsel,
and afterwards receive me to glory!” (Psalm 73:24) We are not treading
uncertainly. We walk not at random. We are not helplessly drifting
down
a current. We are “firm
on the rock.” We are surrounded
with light from
Him who is “the Light of the world;” and with all this, cannot we wait a
while, and let Him who is redeeming us reveal the mysteries
of the spirit world
to us in His own good time rather than our own?
Hush! these longings to know
beforehand. Let us keep to THE WRITTEN WORD! It tells us quite as
much
as we can bear to know while in these tabernacles of clay. Be it ours to study
the Book of God: to take it not only as a guide, but as THE GUIDE; not
simply as the only guide, but as the all-sufficient one, “until
the day break,
and the shadows flee away.”
(Song of Solomon 2:17; 4:6; II
Peter 1:19)
Divination
Forbidden (vs. 9-14)
The process of divination, in its different forms here
referred to —
“divination,” “observing the
heavenly bodies,” “enchantment,”
“witchcraft,” “charming,”
“consultation of spirits,” “sorcery,” and
“necromancy” was an effort to discover secrets by unwarrantable
methods.
It was man’s longing for
revelation undergoing degradation through the
imaginations of men. It had been
practiced by the predecessors in
and
in consequence they were being cast out. The Israelites were to deem
it
abomination, and unworthy of the people of God. From the succeeding
verses, it is evident that it is
to be contrasted with the Divine order of
prophetical inspiration, and in consequence rejected
with detestation.
·
OUR IDEAS OF REVELATION SHOULD BE WORTHY OF GOD.
We have no right to expect God
to degrade Himself in the methods of
revelation. Our own instincts should lead us to abhor such processes
as
have been adopted to secure the secrets of the Most High. All the mean
and abominable ways which are here enumerated ought to have been
renounced by thinking men instead of adopted. They are all unworthy
channels for God’s messages. Astrology, enchantment, necromancy, —
all
are miserable makeshifts for a decent mode of revelation.
God has in “diverse manners”
certainly made known His will to men
(Hebrews 1:1). He has used
dreams (Genesis 37:8; Job 33:15),
revealing to the soul, whose avenues of sensation are temporarily
closed,
the information it needed. The dream was the condition of the
communication to Jacob (Genesis 28:12-22). God spoke when He had got
man’s ear shut to other things. And we can see this to be a most
worthy way!
Then by angelic visits He oftentimes revealed His will, instances of which
are many in the Bible. This also was worthy. Last of all, by inspiring
men,
that is, through human nature, which is also eminently worthy
of God. But
the divination process is and should have been regarded as
wrong and
contemptible.
·
IT IS EVIDENCE OF THE GREAT CREDULITY OF MEN THAT
DIVINATION HAS IMPOSED UPON THEM. In connection with
“spiritualism,”
for example, we have examples of credulity now
corresponding exactly to the divination of the earlier times. As if such
mean methods would be adopted by the Infinite Majesty, who has
spoken
in these last days by His Son! (Hebrews 1:1-3) The power of belief is
incalculable. Credulity (gullibility) is the believing power exercised
on
false objects and on insufficient evidence. We have ample faith in the world,
if we could only get it rightly directed! And sometimes we find
men who
are most skeptical about religious matters, most gullible
about the novelties
of spiritualism. They yield to phenomena a credence that they
deny to the
well-authenticated Word.
·
GOD’S PRESENCE IS TO DETERMINE OUR CONDUCT. When
Moses says, “Thou shalt
be perfect with (עִס) the
Lord thy God” (v. 13),
the idea seems to be that the overshadowing Presence is to
determine our
conduct before Him. We will strive to be perfect as He is, and not
look for
mean methods from Him.
Gross Superstition the Alternative
of True Religion
(vs. 9-14)
The popular superstitions of every age are very
seductive. Our only safeguard
against them is COMPLETE LOYALTY TO
THE LIVING GOD!
The indwelling
Spirit is a Guide and a Defense.
·
MAN GENERICALLY CRAVES TO UNRAVEL THE FUTURE. In
every sane mind the inquiry arises, “What is beyond phenomena?
What is
to happen tomorrow?” The present enjoyment may satisfy
animals; it does
not satisfy man. He has a faculty that lives in the future. He
is ever
forecasting life. This inquisitiveness, if repressed, becomes a
passion — an
insatiable fire. If there is no
true oracle that will give reply to his queries,
he will betake himself to false ones. If no reply is forthcoming, he is
driven
hither and thither by the demon of unrest.
·
THIS CRAVING FOR REVELATION LEADS TO CHILDISH
SUPERSTITIONS.
This conscious want of the soul clearly indicates that
some provision has been made by God; but, lacking this, men betake
themselves to a thousand subterfuges. The more shrewd and avaricious
among them trade upon this prying curiosity, and invent a
thousand frauds
for self-enrichment. In olden times, every village had its
self-anointed
oracle; every nation has had its modes of divination. No price has
been too
great to pay for this envied knowledge. Parental feeling has been freely
sacrificed at this blood-stained altar. Fathers have made their loved
ones to
pass through the fire, in order to avert supposed disaster. Without doubt,
THE DEVIL has been the moving genius in these
systems of enchantment.
·
CRUEL SUPERSTITIONS HAVE LED TO HEAVIEST
DISASTERS. So deeply rooted had these systems of diabolic divinations
become in the
extirpate the people also. We are not at liberty to suppose that the
Amorites were destroyed because
of aberrations in intellectual belief. But
the fruit of superstitious belief is soon experienced in
sensuality, bestial
excess, witchcraft, murder, war.
Under such influences SOCIETY IS
RENT IN PIECERS, every man’s hand is red with rapine and blood.
At length it becomes an act of necessity to remove such a
people from the
face of the earth. The deeds of the Canaanites had become a stench in Jehovah’s nostrils — a detestation that could no longer
be endured. HENCE THEIR
EXTERMINATION!
·
OUR ONLY SAFETY IS IN LOYAL
OBEDIENCE TO GOD. No
resting-place can be found for intellect or heart of man
between degrading
superstition and religious faith. Who can solve mysteries but God alone? If
God reveal to us our line of
duty just to the extent that we really need it;
and if, in addition, He give us the assurance that the soul’s need shall be
met as fast as that need arises; — this will satisfy
every reasonable request.
Men can and must trust the true God. As a child walks along the darkest
road quite contentedly so long as its hand is in its father’s
hand, so with
equal confidence may we confide in the safe and
unerring guidance of our
Almighty Parent. WE
HAVE IN GOD A PERFECT FRIEND, ALL THAT
IS NEEDED FOR WELL-BEING is in COMPLETE SUBMISSION!
“Thou shalt be
perfect with the Lord thy God.” (v. 13) To have recourse to
witchcraft or divination is practical treason!
Magic
(vs. 9-14)
·
A STERN PROHIBITION OF CANAANITISH PRACTICES. The
practice of magic is known to have been extensively developed in
ancient
Canaanites (e.g.
I Samuel 28:7-10). The lower kinds of
magic are of
rank growth in all barbarous and semi-civilized communities.
The priests
combine the functions of diviners, prophets, exorcists, thaumaturgists,
physicians, and makers of idols and amulets. The magic of the
ancients was
distinguished as good or bad, according as it was exercised to conjure
diseases and to combat demoniacal influences, or was abused to work
harm. This last, which was avowedly diabolical in its
character, was what
was properly called “sorcery,” and was universally
regarded with horror.
The noteworthy fact, however, is
that the books of Moses make no
distinction as to kind, but forbid
absolutely the practice of every species of
magical art. Moses
recognizes no magic that is good; he classes all under
the same category of “abominations.” The text is in
principle a prohibition
of the use of all such arts, whether the pretender to magical
power believes
in its efficacy or not. It prohibits, further, resort to such
as profess these
arts. The “spiritualistic” delusions of our time in all their
varieties (spirit
mediums, rappings, planchettes,
etc.), with “fortune-telling,” and
superstitious practices supposed to
bring good or to avert evil “luck,” are
condemned by the passage.
·
A REASON FOR THIS PROHIBITION.
Ø
The nature of the
practices as “abominations.” They were:
o
Irrational.
o
Evil.
Moses, as noticed above,
recognizes no “good” magic. It is viewed
either as imposture or, assuming its reality, as demonish (Satanic).
It was connected with foolish
and wicked rites.
Ø
The character of the
people as “perfect” (v. 13). There could not be
perfect love to God and communion with Him, and trafficking with
the
devil at the same time.
Love to God, faith in Him, and entirety of
devotion to Him should preclude these superstitions. What He wills
His people to know He will teach
them by proper means; what He
conceals they have no right to seek by means that are improper
(Isaiah 8:19).
A PROPHET PROMISED WHOM
(vs.
15-19)
15 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet” - The
Hebrew word
so rendered (נָבִיא) is a derivative from a verb (נָבָא), which signifies to tell, to
announce; hence the primary concept of the word is that of
announcer, or forth-speaker;
and to this the word “prophet” (Greek προφήτης – prophaetaes from πρόφημι –
prophaemi - I speak before or in place of) closely corresponds; the
prophet is one who
speaks in the place of God, who conveys God’s word to men,
who is an interpreter of
God to men. (As illustrative of the meaning of the
word, compare Exodus 7:1; 4:16.)
Hence Abraham is called a prophet (Genesis 20:7), and the
term is applied to the
patriarchs generally (Psalm 105:15); God conveyed His mind
to them, and they spoke
it forth to others (Amos 3:7) - “from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto
me;” - When the
people heard the voice of God speaking to them at Sinai, and from
the midst of the fire uttering to them the Ten Words, they were struck with terror,
and besought that they might not again hear that awful
voice, but that Moses
might act as mediator between God and them — might hear what God should say,
and speak it unto them (ch. 5:22-27).
Moses thus became God’s prophet to the people;
and of this he reminds them here, as well as of the circumstances
amid which he entered
specially on this office (compare vs. 16-17). The phrase, “like
unto me,” does not
necessarily imply that the prophet who was to come after Moses was to be in every
respect the same as he; all that is indicated is that he would act as Moses
had acted
as a mediator between God and the people in the way of conveying
His will to them
-
“unto him ye
shall hearken;” 16 “According to all that
thou desiredst of the
LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly,” - (ch. 9:14; 10:4) -
“saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God,
neither
let me see this
great fire any more, that I die not.”
17 “And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that
which they
have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren,
like unto thee,
and will put my words in His mouth;” - will so reveal to him
my mind, and so inspire him to utter it, that the words he
speaks shall be
really my words. The question has been raised whether, by
the Prophet like
unto Moses, here promised to the people of
some eminent individual, or whether this refers to the
prophetic διαδοχὴ -
diadochae - succession, that was to continue under the theocracy. For the latter
the context strongly
speaks, for
resort to diviners and soothsayers,
and the provision He would make for
them so as to render this
needless, point to a succession of prophets rather
than to one individual;
from true prophets, shows that a
multiplicity and a succession of prophets
was in the view of the speaker,
not a single individual; and
this part of the Mosaic
legislation, the presumption is that a succession also
of prophets was contemplated. At
the same time, the use of the singular
here is remarkable, for
nowhere else is the singular, nabhi, employed
to
designate more than one
individual; and this suggests that the reference
here may be to some individual
in whom not only was the succession to
culminate as in its crown and
eminence, but whose spirit was to pervade
the whole succession, — that
each member of it should exercise his
functions only as that Spirit
which was in them did signify (I Peter 1:11).
It is possible that “Prophet” here may be used as “seed”
is in Genesis 3:15,
and that this is a prediction of Christ as the True
Prophet, just as the assurance
to Eve was a prediction of the Messiah, who, as the Head and Crown of the
“godly seed,” should end the conflict with the serpent and his seed by a
crushing
victory. It is to be considered
also that, whilst the words “like unto
me” do
not necessarily imply a
resemblance in all respects between Moses and the
Prophet here promised, and whilst
they may be well applied to One
superior in many respects to
Moses, it would be taking them at much
below their real worth were we
to understand them of one greatly inferior
to Moses, as all the prophets
who succeeded him in
Chief came (ch.
34:10; Hebrews 3:1-6). Finally, there can be no
doubt that the Jews expected
that the Messiah would appear as
the Prophet by pre-eminence, and
that they founded that expectation on the
promise here recorded (John
1:21; 6:14; Acts 3:22-26; 7:37). It may be added
that our Lord seems to apply
this to Himself, when He says to the Jews,
“There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust.
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for
he wrote of
me” (John 5:45-46;
compare also 11:48-50). How early and how widespread
was the expectation that the
Messiah would come as a prophet, may be
inferred from the existence of
this among the Samaritans (John 4:25). It
is to be concluded, then, that
this promise has reference ultimately to the
Messiah, the
Great Revealer of God, between whom
and Moses there
should be a long succession of
prophets, so that there should always be a
medium of Divine
communication between Jehovah and His people -
“and
He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.”
To the Prophet who should thus speak to the people all that
God should command Him,
they were to pay the utmost deference, and to His words
they were to render implicit
obedience.
19 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken
unto my
words which He
shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” I will
judge him
and punish his disobedience
(compare Genesis 42:22; II Samuel 4:11; Psalm 10:13).
THE PROMISED PROPHET (vs.
15-19)
From speaking of the paltry expectations about divination,
Moses goes on to speak of
the general plan of Divine revelation. The people had had the splendid chance of
direct communion with
God, without any mediation. God spoke to them from heaven
at Sinai; but so afraid were they of immediate revelation
that they implored Moses to
mediate the message for them. He became consequently, with
God’s full approval,
the human medium through which the Divine will was
conveyed, which means God’s
prophet. They had had
no difficulty in accepting the Divine messages through him.
Now, Moses assures them that this method of mediation
through human beings will
continue. He puts the promise in comprehensive form, and
says that through a Prophet
like to himself will God continue to speak to them after he
has gone, and HIS
MESSAGE they will reject at their peril.
REVEALING HIMSELF THROUGH A HUMAN BEING.
For man is in the Divine image;
if this be not the case, we can have no
Knowledge whatever of God. Man
is the image of God; and hence God
reveals Himself to men through a
man. The office of prophet is the most
appropriate way of revealing
God’s will. And when we carry on this line
of
thought, we are landed in the
idea that an AN INCARNATIN OF GOD
ALONE could
adequately convey to man the mind and nature of God.
(Our pastor, Marion Duncan, in
the late 1960’s had a series of sermons
on “The Pre-manifestations of the
Incarnation of Christ” taken from
the Old Testament. They were very instructive – CY – 2012)
PROPHET AFTER THE SIMILITUDE OF MOSES IS TO BE THE
MEDIATOR FOR THE AGES.
Now, only one Person answers this
description, and
this is JESUS CHRIST! HE WAS and IS
INCARNATE
GOD! His Spirit he alone could take, and through its gift
to men in the different ages
make them the channel of God’s revelation. As a
matter of fact, “the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”
(Revelation 19:10); and the
prophets were His instruments in the history of
the Church. God has spoken in the last days by His Son; (Hebrews 1:1)
and the prophets
between Moses and Christ were really the inspired
messengers of the one Great
Prophet of God. This is the idea of
Peter that the Spirit of Christ spoke in the prophets (I Peter
1:11;
II Peter 1:19-21). We thus see one Person embracing the
mediating work
of the different ages, and
accomplishing it through holy men.
THE CLIMAX OF DIVINE REVELATION. The previous revelations
were but foreshadowings
of this perfect manifestation of God. A human
history became the
embodiment of Divine thoughts, mercies, self-
denials, and self-sacrifice. The blaze of divinity that was intolerable at
Sinai becomes not only bearable but entrancing in the face of
Jesus Christ
(II Corinthians 4:6). The blinding brilliance has been so toned down that
man can rejoice in Jesus as “God manifest in the flesh.” “We beheld
His glory” (John 1:14). It did not blind or scare men as at the holy mount.
(v. 16)
BY DEATH. This is the
penalty pronounced. We see it in another form in
the Epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha” (I Corinthians 16:22).
If
disobedience to Moses was
visited in many cases by death, how much more
disobedience and disloyalty to
Christ! (compare Hebrews 10:28-31). THE
GOSPEL has penalties of the severest kind for its rejection, as well as
bliss beyond
compare for its reception. The
alternative is thus clearly set
before us. (ch. 30:19; Ezekiel
33:11)
FULFILLMENT, WHILE FALSE PROPHETS ARE TO BE DETECTED
BY THEIR FAILURE (vs.
20-22).
God’s method being a human mediation,
is liable to be imitated, and men from time to
time will profess to be prophets,
when they have no
real commission. Now, God has such a
control of the
future that no unassisted,
uninspired man can forecast it successfully.
Sooner or later he is found out.
Random guesses soon run out, and the
person is discredited. Hence it
was the duty of
communication of the professed
prophets, and to see wherein they were
confirmed by subsequent events. “Beloved,
believe not every spirit,
but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because
many false
prophets are gone
out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of
God: And
every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God: and this is
that
Spirit of anti-christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come;
And even now already
is it in the world. (I
John 4:1-3). The true
prophets had their word
fulfilled, and were Christ’s messengers; the false
prophets had their word
discredited, and were acting presumptuously.
Let us hear the Great Prophet,
and give Him credit for all the predictions of
the minor and but human prophets.
The Prophet
like unto Moses (vs. 15-19)
These chapters bring before us prophet, priest, and king —
offices pointing
forward to and culminating in Christ. Christ is distinctively, and
in the
complete sense, the Prophet like unto Moses (Acts 3:22), Christ and
Moses were alike:
·
AS FOUNDERS OF DISPENSATIONS. It was the greatness of Moses
that he was employed by God in inaugurating a new era in the
history of
His kingdom — in introducing a
new order of things — in settling the
foundations of a new economy. In this respect he stood at the head of
the
Old Testament line of prophets, and in a sense stood apart from them. “The
Law was given by
Moses” (John 1:17). He had the
ordering and
settling of the “house” of God in the form in which
it was to last till Christ
came, who, “as
a Son over His own house,” would revise its arrangements
and reconstitute it on a new and better basis (Hebrews 3:2-7).
Prophets
subsequent to Moses stood within the lines of the economy already
established. They could enforce and maintain, but while predicting the
advent of a new age in which great changes would be wrought, they
had no
authority of themselves to introduce such changes. It was reserved
for
Christ to “change times and seasons,” and so to alter and
remodel Mosaic
institutions, or supersede them by new ones, or abolish
them by giving the
substance for the shadow, as to place the Church upon a permanent and
moveless
basis, and adapt it for the reception of the Gentile nations.
·
IN THE FREEDOM OF CLOSENESS WITH WHICH THEY ENJOYED
WITH GOD.
Moses enjoyed, as was necessary, the freest intercourse with
heaven. God spake with him, not in a
vision, or dream, or in dark speeches,
but “mouth
to mouth” (Numbers 12:6-9), “face to face” (here, ch. 34:10).
This is made, in the passage
last quoted, a feature of distinction between Moses and later prophets in
(ibid. 5:20-21). His communion with the Father was habitual and
uninterrupted. The New Testament apostles, in an inferior degree, shared in this
higher
footing, were habitually
possessed by the Spirit, and spoke and wrote
under His calm and abiding influence.
·
AS MEDIATING BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND GOD. (vs. 16-18.)
It
was when the people were deeply conscious of their need of a
mediator that this promise was vouchsafed. It had only, as regards
mediation, a very inferior application to the Old Testament
prophets. The
fullness of its meaning comes to view in Christ. These points involve others,
as e.g. the resemblance between Christ and
Moses:
Ø
In the degree of
authority with which they were clothed, and in the
mighty signs and wonders which authenticated their mission
(ch. 34:11).
Ø
In the fullness and grandeur
of the revelations made through them.
Ø
In the severe
penalties attaching to disobedience to their words (v. 19;
Acts 3:23; Hebrews 2:1-5;
10:28-29).
Prophecy
(vs. 15-20)
The term “Prophet”
covers the whole series of Old Testament prophets,
culminating in Christ, the Prophet like unto Moses par excellence.
·
PROPHECY IN GENERAL.
The prophet — what? Etymologically, one
“boiling or bubbling over” with the Divine inspiration. No mere religious
genius, but one truly and
supernaturally inspired. A revealer
and declarer of
the will of God. Future events were foretold:
Ø
As signs.
Ø
In warnings and
appeals.
Ø
In denouncing God’s
judgments.
Ø
In administering
comfort.
Ø
In unfolding the
Messianic hope.
Ø
In unfolding the
Divine purpose underlying providential
developments.
Prediction is thus a true
and vital element in prophecy, but it is far from
being of the essence of it. It is the function of the prophet
either to declare
new truth — truth gained by direct revelation, and given forth
with the
authority of Heaven as a “word of the Lord,” or, taking up truth already
revealed, to revive and enforce it with supernatural power and
fervor,
applying it to the circumstances, exigencies, and evils of his
particular time.
“The prophets were
men who, when facing the people, stood as it were
before God, and thus spoke fore
and for him” (Morison).
·
PROPHECY AND MOSAISM. It
is noteworthy that Mosaism
contemplated the rise of prophecy from the first, and left room for it
in the
arrangements of the economy. It even required it for the carrying
forward
of its objects to completion. The dispensation was not a
final one. The
to disclose. The Law enclosed innumerable spiritual germs,
which it was
the function of prophecy to expand and develop. It had,
moreover,
underlying its ceremonialism, a spiritual basis, which it was the business of
the prophets to bring to light, and to recall to people’s
minds when they
appeared in danger of forgetting it. Prophecy was thus a standing
witness
to the life, freshness, and power which lay in the heart of a
religion largely
wrapped up in legal forms. Then there was the necessity for new
light and
guidance under the conditions of advancing national life, and in
times of
national emergency. The Law left not a little scope for extended
applications of its fundamental principles, and it lay with the
prophets to
furnish the direction required. All this, in addition to their
more general
function of rebuking, warning, and testifying, IN TIMES OF
DECLENSION which, with the carrying forward the development
of
revelation in its relation
to CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM, may be
regarded as the chief part of their work.
·
PROPHECY AND HEATHEN DIVINATION. The connection shows
that prophecy is given in lieu of the heathenish practices that
are forbidden.
If God forbids divination,
necromancy, consultation of familiar spirits, etc.,
He gives
something better — something that will
lawfully supply the
craving which these superstitions unlawfully sought to gratify.
The soul:
Ø
Craves for a knowledge of God’s will.
Ø
Desires guidance in
critical times of life.
Ø
Ponders anxiously its
relations to the invisible world and to the
future.
Ø
Feels its personal
unfitness for intimacy with God.
These cravings were the
strength of heathen sorcery, etc., and they were
provided for in prophecy. This, it may be noticed, is throughout a
characteristic of revelation — it does not simply remove the bad, but
provides for the supply of the cravings to which the bad appeals.
God Speaking to Man Through Man (vs. 15-22)
This passage’s connection with the preceding paragraph is
obvious. The people
had
been warned against having recourse to familiar spirits, etc., on the ground
that
such practices were an abomination unto the Lord their God. But Moses would
not
only warn the people off the wrong ground, he would direct them to the
right, by
showing them the completeness of the Divine arrangements for
supplying
them from time to time with all the religious teaching they would require,
in
a way far more adapted to their condition and circumstances than by any
unveiling of the secrets of the invisible world. They are reminded
that when
God came in grandeur to speak to them at
bear the sight nor the sound. They begged that Moses would speak to
them, and not Jehovah; “lest we die,” were their own words.
So that it was
clear they would be entirely unable to bear anything
approximating to a full
disclosure of the Divine. It must be toned and tempered within the
limits of
their capacities of reception and of their powers of endurance.
Otherwise,
it
would fail of its end, by crushing those whom it was meant to train.
Hence He who “knoweth our frame” graciously promises to
speak hereafter
to
the people in their own dialect, as it were, and on their own level, by
“raising them up a Prophet, from
the midst of them, of their brethren, like
unto Moses;” and thus
would the needful messages from God be kept up,
making it quite unnecessary for them to make use of unauthorized
means
of
getting supernatural light. There would be, from time to time, one
prophet raised up after another, culminating in Him to whom they all gave
witness. Thus our theme is,” God speaking to
man through man.”
·
UNLESS A DIVINE REVELATION WERE ATTEMPERED TO
OUR WEAKNESS, WE COULD NOT BEAR IT. The cry of
Sinai, “Let not God speak with us, lest
we die,” is a “touch of nature.” No
man could bear the full blaze of God’s glory. Unless there
were a “hiding
of God’s power,” we should be crushed by the revelation of
it. We could
no more endure the full disclosure of the Divine than our
eyes could bear
to gaze on the splendors of a noonday sun. Hence God, “who knows our
frame,” and who, therefore,
knows what we can bear, meets our weakness
by His tender mercy.
·
IN ORDER THAT THE REVELATION MAY BE SUCH AS WE
CAN RECEIVE, GOD HAS SPOKEN TO MEN THROUGH MAN.
As Sinai’s terror, with the
voice of Jehovah, was too much for
says, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a
Prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me.” Each of these phrases is emphatic,
and is intended as the antithesis to the notion of
overwhelming force. The
meaning of Moses is twofold.
Ø
There shall be from
time to time a prophet sent to you, through whom
you may hear the voice of God.
Ø
There shall be
hereafter a great Prophet, who shall be to you as the
living Voice of God; but he shall be also “of your brethren, like unto
me.” We know how true both are. There was from
time to time a line of
prophets who spake for God. There has
come to earth a Prophet greater
than all beside. They always pointed onward to another;
He, never, save
as a heavenly gift from Him was by Him held in reserve, even
the
gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus God has come into communion with our
race, to reveal His mind and will.
·
NEW MESSAGES, COMING IN
FROM SO CONDESCENDING A GOD, BRING THEIR OWN
AUTHORITY WITH THEM. (v. 19.) The
message is not to be set at
naught because the voice which speaks it is but human. If a
prophet speaks
only what the Lord hath spoken, though he may be a weak and
frail
instrument, though the burden of his message may be almost more than
he
can bear, yet, being borne along by the Holy Ghost to utter
such words,
they come with DIVINE AUTHORITY! “The
treasure is put into earthen
vessels;” but though the vessel is earthy, the treasure is Divine.
·
THIS AUTHORITY REACHES ITS CLIMAX IN THE MINISTRY
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Such, surely, is the import of the scene
known as “the
Transfiguration” (Matthew 17.). Moses and Elias are there
— the representatives
of the Law and the prophets. They speak of the
decease which Christ should accomplish at
from the spot, and no one is left with the disciples save “Jesus
only.” Then
a voice out of the cloud said, “Hear Him.” In Acts 3:20-26, we have the
Apostle Peter’s application of
the very passage before us to the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Prophet to
whom all the rest did point. (See also Hebrews
1:1-31; and for New Testament
teaching as to the authority of Christ, and
the importance of hearing and obeying Him, see Hebrews
chapters 2, 9,
and 10.) So full is the revelation of God by Christ,
that it is not only,
revelation through Him, but in Him (John 1:1-18). From these four
principles involved in the paragraph, there are four inferences which
may be safely and profitably drawn.
Ø If the voice of God speaks to us suitably
and. adequately through the
medium of
human voices, then it is utterly needless for us to seek
information
and light by any forced attempts at gaining messages from the
invisible
world (see preceding Homily).
Ø We are here furnished with a test as to
what is truly a Divine message or
no. There
is, in fact, a twofold test. It is partly moral and partly physical.
o
Partly
moral (v. 22, “When,” etc.). It is as if Moses said, “You only
require a
guide in case a ‘prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord,’
for if he
does not, you know what to do (ch. 13.). If he speaks
in
the name
of other gods, you must reject him at once.” Note: Any
supposed
message from God which violates the dictates of
enlightened
reason and conscience, must be set aside.
o
Partly
physical. If a prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, they are
then to
watch and see if the thing comes to pass; and if not, then they
may be
sure that the prophet is a mere pretender; “he hath spoken
presumptuously.”
Ø Here is an antidote to fear. “Thou
shalt not be afraid of him.” What is
the
connection between this and the preceding? Is it not this? Suppose that
the
“prophet” declares that this or that is about to happen, do not give way
to
excitement and alarm. Follow the voice of God, of which you are sure,
and obey
that, and come what will, all is well with you. You can afford to
do this;
“Study to be quiet, and to do your own business,” and whether
what the
prophet declares come to pass or no, you are sure to be safe, if
you have
maintained unswerving loyalty to God. Nothing can harm you. So
with us
under the New Testament dispensation. Many affix dates to this or
that. We
heed them not. We have but to “wait for the Son of God from
heaven.”
Ø The reception of the Divine message is a
part of that obedience which
every man
owes to high Heaven. Its acceptance is not merely the adoption
of a number
of opinions. Oh no! Opinions are one thing, convictions are
another. A man “holds” opinions, but convictions “hold” a man. His
conscience
is held fast in their grip. Even so it is with those who receive
the words
of the living God as their guide through life to immortality. Their
whole
being is held firmly in their strong yet loving and tender hold. A
skeptic
once said to the writer, “I tell you candidly, that if I wanted to
point out
the best specimens of humanity, I should point to some of your
way
of thinking.” So he put
it, “of your way of thinking.” How little does
the
outsider or unbeliever dream of the hold the Father’s words have
on-us!
Our whole being takes shape and outlook from them. Our fealty to
Him whom we
know and love supremely, makes “the law of His mouth to
be better to us than thousands of gold and
silver.” (Psalm 119:72)
The Promised
Prophet (vs. 15-22)
From speaking of the paltry expectations about divination,
Moses goes on
to
speak of the
general plan of Divine revelation. The
people had had the
splendid chance of direct communion with God, without any
mediation.
God spoke to them from heaven at Sinai; but so afraid were
they of
immediate revelation that they
implored Moses to mediate the message for
them. He became consequently, with God’s full approval, the human
medium through which the Divine will was conveyed, which means
God’s
prophet. They had had no difficulty in accepting the Divine
messages
through him. Now, Moses assures them that this method of mediation
through human beings will continue. He puts the promise in
comprehensive
form, and says that through a Prophet like to himself will God continue to
speak to them after he has gone, and His message they will
reject at their
peril. (“And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken
unto my words which He shall speak in my name, I will require it
of him!” (Deuteronomy 18:19)
·
LET US OBSERVE THE APPROPRIATENESS OF GOD
REVEALING HIMSELF THROUGH A HUMAN BEING. For man is in
the Divine image; if this be not the case, we can have no
knowledge
whatever of God. Man is the image of God; and hence God reveals
Himself
to men through a man. The office of prophet is the
most appropriate way
of revealing God’s will. And when we carry on this line of
thought, we are
landed in the idea that an incarnation of God alone could adequately
convey to man the mind and nature of God. If any one wishes to follow out
this line, he will get splendid help in Mr. R. H. Hutton’s
admirable essay on
‘The
Incarnation and Principles of Evidence.
·
IT SEEMS CLEAR FROM THE PROMISE THAT A SINGLE
PROPHET AFTER THE SIMILITUDE OF MOSES IS TO BE THE
MEDIATOR FOR THE AGES. Now, only one Person answers this
description, and this is JESUS
CHRIST! He was and is incarnate God. His
Spirit He alone could take, and through its gift to men in the different ages
make them the channel of God’s revelation. As a matter of fact,
“the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10); and the
prophets were His instruments in the history of the Church. God has
spoken
in the last days by His Son (Hebrews 1:2), and the prophets between Moses
and Christ were really the inspired messengers of the one
Great Prophet of God.
This is the idea of Peter
that the Spirit of Christ spoke in the prophets. We thus
see one Person embracing the
mediating work
of the different ages, and
accomplishing it through holy men.
·
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JESUS, THEREFORE, BECOME
THE CLIMAX OF DIVINE REVELATION. The previous revelations
were but foreshadows of this perfect manifestation of God. A human
history became the embodiment of Divine thoughts, mercies,
self-denials,
and self-sacrifice. The blaze of divinity that was intolerable
at Sinai
becomes not only bearable but entrancing in the face of Jesus Christ.
(II Corinthians 4:6) The blinding brilliance has been so toned
down that
man can rejoice in Jesus as “God manifest in the flesh.” (I Timothy 3:16)
“We beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) It did not blind or
scare men as at
the holy mount.
·
THE DISREGARD OF THE WORDS OF JESUS IS PUNISHABLE
BY DEATH. This is the penalty pronounced. We see it in another form
in
the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, “If any man love not the Lord
Jesus
Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha.” (I Corinthians 16:22)
If disobedience
to Moses was visited in many cases by death, how much more disobedience and
disloyalty to Christ! (compare Hebrews 10:28-31). The gospel has penalties of
the severest kind for
its rejection, as well as bliss beyond
compare for its
reception. The alternative
is thus clearly set before us.
·
THE PROPHETS SENT OF GOD SUBMIT TO THE TEST OF
FULFILLMENT, WHILE FALSE PROPHETS ARE TO BE
DETECTED
BY THEIR FAILURE. God’s method
being a human mediation, is liable
to be imitated, and men from time to time will profess to be
prophets,
when they have no real commission. Now, God has such a control
of the
future that no unassisted, uninspired man can forecast it
successfully.
Sooner or later he is found
out. Happy guesses soon run out, and the
person is discredited. Hence it was the duty of
communication of the
professed prophets, and to see wherein they were
confirmed by subsequent
events. The true prophets had their word
fulfilled,
and were Christ’s messengers; the false prophets had their
word
discredited, and were acting presumptuously. Let us hear the Great Prophet,
and give Him credit for all the predictions of the minor and
but human prophets.
THE FALSE AND PRESUMPTUOUS PROPHET
TO BE PUT TO DEATH (vs. 20-22)
20 “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my
name,
which I have not commanded
him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of
other gods, even that
prophet shall die.” If, however, a prophet
should presume
to
speak in the Name of the Lord what
the Lord had not commanded him to speak,
or if
he should speak in the name of other
gods, not only was no regard to be paid
to
his words, but he was himself to be treated as a blasphemer, and to be put to
death.
21 “And if thou say in thine heart,
How shall we know the word which the LORD
hath not spoken? 22 When a
prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the
thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not
spoken, but the prophet
hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be
afraid
of him.” The test
by which it was to be discovered which was the true prophet and
which the false, was the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of his prediction. The reference
here is to the prediction of proximate events — events that were to happen within a
limited period, but which were not such as one not divinely instructed could foresee.
When such came to pass,
the pretensions of the prophet were thereby substantiated,
and
his authority established (compare I Samuel 3:19; John 2:18). This was a more
certain test than such as was offered by signs and wonders. (ch.
13:2)
The False
Prophet (vs. 20-22)
The failure of the word of a prophet was decisive proof
that he had not
spoken by Divine inspiration. Had his word not failed, it would
not have
followed that he was a true prophet, but it showed conclusively that he was
a false one when his
word did fail.
·
CERTAINTY OF FULFILLMENT IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF
GOD’S WORDS.
If e.g. the prophecies of the Scriptures could be shown
to have been falsified by events, it would, by the rule laid
down in this
fundamental prophetic charter, conclusively disprove their claims to
inspiration. It is vain to think of defending the inspiration of the
prophets,
while conceding, with rationalistic writers, occasional failures
in their
predictions. The prophets themselves do not shrink from this test, but
confidently appeal to it (Isaiah 34:16). This shows how different
their
inspiration was from the ordinary inspiration of genius, both in their
estimation of it and in fact. No man of genius, however wide his
range of
vision, be he a Bacon, a Shakespeare, a Goethe, or a Carlyle,
would like to
rest his reputation on the absolute unfailingness
of his words. While
prophecy affords conspicuous instances of the certainty of
fulfillment
characteristic of God’s words, it is to be remembered that this certainty
inheres in all God’s words alike. No word of God or of Christ will fall to
the ground unfulfilled
(Matthew 24:35). The thought should comfort
God’s people, and make His
enemies tremble. This also applies to promises
and threatenings equally with
predictions and doctrines.
·
THE PREDICTIONS OF SCRIPTURE ABIDE THIS TEST OF
TRUE PROPHECY.
The force of the evidence from prophecy can only be
properly felt by those who have been at pains to examine the Bible
predictions in detail. But it does not need more than an examination
of the
principal instances to convince us that here we have no chance
guess-work,
no mere forecasting of natural sagacity. We might point to
the predictions
in Deuteronomy respecting the future of the Jewish nation,
and the
punishment which would overtake them for their sins (Deuteronomy
4:25-29; 28:45-68); or to the
Messianic prophecies (e.g. Isaiah 53.); or to
particular predictions delivered long before the events predicted
occurred,
or could have been foreseen, as when Amos (B.C. 787) predicts
of
a time when the king and nobles were lying on beds of ivory,
and indulging
in every species of dissipation and amusement — “Therefore
will I cause
you to go into captivity beyond
The God of hosts”(Amos 5:27), or when Micah (B.C. 710), a hundred,
years before the Captivity, foretells of
plowed as a field, and
“Be in pain, and
labor to bring forth, O daughter of
travail: for now shalt thou go forth out
of the city, and thou shalt dwell in
the field, and thou shalt go even to
there shall the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies”
(ibid. 4:10). Discovery has not tended to discredit, but in several
striking instances has confirmed the truth of prophecy, as in
regard to
Ezekiel’s prediction of the conquest
of
(here ch. 29:8-16), a prediction pronounced by Kueuen and
skeptical critics to be a mere guess, falsified by the event, but
now
strikingly confirmed from a contemporary hieroglyphic inscription
(see
Expositor, vol. 10.). And
while it is true that an isolated sign and wonder is
not proof sufficient of Divine inspiration (ch. 13.), it is certain
that, taking into account the character of the prophets, the
kind and
number of their predictions, the holiness of their message, and
the
coherence of what they taught with earlier revelations, the evidence
of their
Divine commission is as strong
as could be wished — is, in fact, decisive.
Presages of
the True Prophet (vs. 15-22)
Captious men of the present day complain that they cannot
see God —
cannot hear His voice. In their heart they do not wish to see Him.
He will
not reveal Himself,
as an object of curiosity, to the eye of speculation.
(His principle is “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye
shall search
for me
with ALL YOUR HEART!” Jeremiah 29:13 – CY - 2020) He reveals
Himself to the conscience and to the
loyal heart. But men do not wish to see
Him as the embodiment of righteousness.
They shudder and flee away.
(There will be a greater trembling at the Judgment! CY – 2020)
Yet in no other way can they see Him
than AS HE TRULY IS!
In this circumstance of mutual estrangement THERE IS NEED OF
A MEDIATOR — prophet.
·
GUILTY MEN DEBAR THEMSELVES FROM PERSONAL
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. There is nothing in common between
unrighteous men and a righteous God. They are mutually repellent. The
heart-language of such men is this, “Let us not hear again the voice of the
Lord our God;
neither let us see this great fire any more.” (v. 16)
Ø
To them, His voice is the thunder of war;
Ø
to them,
His presence is a consuming fire.
They have no eye except to see His
burning anger. Hence they flee to hide
themselves. Their wish projects itself into reality; He removes Himself.
·
MEN’S DESIRE TO HOLD COMMUNICATION
WITH GOD
THROUGH A MEDIATOR CONCEDED. The gracious disposition of
God towards men yields to His
creatures’ necessity. Ask what they will, if
righteousness be not dishonored, it shall be done. The all-wise God
candidly admits that the Jews had, in this matter, spoken well. But
the
mediator must be a prophet. He must convey the thoughts and
dispositions
and will of God to men. Human obedience, to have any worth, must be
intelligent — the fruit of
choice and purpose.
·
THE PERFECT PROPHET IS INTRODUCED BY SUCCESSIVE
STAGES. Our
moral instincts often outrun our clear intelligence. The Jews
desired an intermediate agent, who should convey God’s will to
them; but
they scarcely knew what it was they asked for. Could any mortal
man
clearly reveal the mind of the Eternal? Would not the pure stream be
defiled by the impure channel? Nevertheless, God will do the best
for them
in their present condition. As yet the perfect Prophet will
not be
understood nor appreciated. Knowledge of God’s character and purpose
sufficient for the present shall be revealed by imperfect men — types of
THE COMING PERFECT MEDIATOR! (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18;
12:44-45; 14:9; Colossians 1:5) By easy gradations, the human
family must be divinely educated.
·
THE TRUE PROPHET IS A PERFECT VEHICLE OF GOD’S
THOUGHTS. “I
will put my words in his mouth.” Unless the prophet be a
mere mechanical automaton, his words must be the result of his
thoughts.
If God shall use a human person
to reveal Himself to men, He must use his
mind, heart, and will: yea, his entire being. This has been realized only in
the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. Hence He could say, “The words that I
speak, I speak not of myself: but that Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth
the works.” (John
14:10) Hence, again, “He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father also.” (ibid. v.
9) For the advent of this real Prophet,
humanity stood
for centuries on the outlook, on the watch-tower of
hope.
·
CONTUMACY (stubborn refusal to obey) OF THE TRUE PROPHET IS
CONTUMACY AGAINST GOD. Such is the value of this Divine gift, that to treat it with indifference
is heinous crime. No human penalty may
be annexed, but God Himself undertook to punish the deed. Hunger is God’s voice within
the body, and he
who disregards that voice shall surely die. Pain is God’s voice
in human nerves, and he who neglects that summons shall die.
Truth is
everywhere the voice of God, and to turn deaf ears to truth is to
deprive
one’s self of life. And, by parity of reasoning, the voice of God
is heard
more clearly and more authoritatively yet, in the person of His
dear Son:
it is His prerogative to give to men ETERNAL LIFE! Hence, to turn a deaf
ear to Him is folly, contumacy, despair, ruin. God will exact a most fitting
retribution.
·
GOD SUPPLIES A TEST BETWEEN THE FALSE PROPHET
AND THE TRUE.
The eagerness of men to discover the Prophet of
Jehovah, led many to impersonate
Him for the purpose of personal
reputation and gain. Every true prophet of God came with sufficient
credential, so
that no candid mind need have been deceived. They had the
power to read the near future: this was a token of their
heavenly
commission. But better still, their message commended itself to the
conscience of the hearers; and thus might every hearer find in
an honest
conscience that the herald was
from God. If the prophet summoned men
to
repentance and assured them of a
share in the mercy of God, they could
readily ascertain for themselves whether relief came to their
burdened
consciences — whether better feelings arose in the heart. The truth is
never
very far distant if we really wish to find it.
"Excerpted text Copyright AGES Library, LLC. All rights reserved.
Materials are reproduced by
permission."
This material can be found at:
http://www.adultbibleclass.com
If this exposition is helpful,
please share with others.
o