Deuteronomy 33
MOSES’ BLESSING
Before ascending
permitted to enter and then to die, Moses took farewell of the
people he
had
so long guided and ruled, by pronouncing on them a blessing in their
several tribes. This blessing was probably spoken on the same day
as the
song recorded in the preceding chapter, and to the same assembly. The one
may
be regarded as the counterpart of the other. In
the song, Moses dwells
chiefly on the calamities that were to befall the people because
of their
apostasy; in the blessing, he depicts the benefits that were to be
enjoyed by
them through the Divine favor. The tone of the one is somber and
minatory; the tone of the other is serene and cheering. The one
presents the
darker side, the other the brighter side, of
fitting utterances for the occasion: the one the farewell warning, the other
the farewell benediction, of him who had so long proved them and known
their ways; who, whilst he desired their welfare, feared they
might forfeit
this by their folly and sin; and who sought, both by warning and by
blessing,
to
encourage them to pursue that course by which alone prosperity and
happiness could be secured.
The blessing consists of a series of benedictions on the
several tribes (vs. 6-25),
preceded by an introduction (vs.1-5), and followed by a conclusion
(vs.26-29).
Introduction (vs. 1-5)
The blessing opens with an allusion to the making of the
covenant and the giving
of
the Law at Sinai, when the Lord revealed Himself in glory and majesty as the
King of Israel, in order at the outset to fix the minds of
the people on the source
whence alone blessing could come to them. God’s love to Israel is celebrated,
and
the intention and end of His choice and elevation of
is
declared.
1 “And
this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God” - This appellation
is
applied to Moses only here and in Joshua 14:6 and the heading of Psalm 90. The
phrase, “man of God,” indicates one favored with Divine
communications, and
employed as God’s messenger to men (compare I Samuel 9:6; I Kings
12:22). In
this heading, the author of the blessing is clearly distinguished from the
person
by
whom it was inserted in this place -
“blessed the children
of
his death.”
2 “And he
said,” - Here begin the words of Moses. He
commences by depicting
the
majesty of Jehovah as He appeared to
covenant with them and give them his Law - “The LORD came from Sinai, and
rose up from Seir unto them;”
- Seir is the mountain
Sinai. “He shined forth from mount Paran,” - is probably the
range of
lofty hills which form the southern boundary of the Promised
Land to the
north of the
different manifestations of the Divine glory, but as indicating the
extent to
which the one manifestation given at Sinai reached. The light of the Divine
glory that rested on Sinai was reflected also from the
mountains of Seir and
Paran (compare Habakkuk 3:3; Judges 5:4) - “and He came with ten
thousands
of saints:” –
rather, he came from ten thousands of holy ones; literally, out from
myriads of holiness; i.e.
“from His celestial seat, where myriads
of angels
surround his throne” - The rendering “with,”
though that of the Targum,
Septuagint, and Vulgate, cannot be retained; nor does Scripture
represent
God as attended by angels when He comes forth to manifest
His glory to men.
They are represented as surrounding His throne in
heaven (I Kings 22:19; Job 1:6;
Daniel 7:10), as His servants awaiting His behest,
and His host that do His pleasure
(Genesis 28:12; 32:2-3; Psalm 103:21); and God is represented
as dwelling in the
midst of them (Psalm
68:17). Hence He is represented here as coming forth from
among them to manifest Himself to His people - “
from His right hand went a
fiery law” -
There is a various reading here; instead
of אֵשׁ םדּת, fire of law,
many codices have אשׁדת in one word, and this is supported by the Samaritan
text and other authorities, and is accepted by most critics and
interpreters. It is
a
fatal objection to the textual reading that דַּת is not a Semitic word, but one
of
Persian origin, brought by the Jews from
post-exilian books (Esther 1:8,
19; 2:8, 12; 3:8, 14; 4:11, 15; Ezra 7:12, 21; 8:36;
Daniel 2:9, 13, 15; 6:5, 9, 13, 16); and in them as applied
to the Law of God only
by
heathens. It is, therefore, altogether mprobable that
this word should be found
in
any Hebrew writing anterior to the Captivity. Besides, what is the sense of
אֵשׁ דַּת, supposing דת to mean
“law?” The words cannot be rendered, as in the
Authorized Version, by “fiery
law;” they can only be rendered by “a
fire, a law,”
or
“a fire of law,” and What either of
these may mean it is not easy to see. The
ancient versions vary here very considerably: Septuagint, ἐκ δεξιῶν
αὐτοῦ
ἄγγελοι μετ αὐτοῦ - ek dexion
autou angeloi met autou – Vulgate, fin
dextera
ejus ignea lex; Targum of Onkelos, “Written by His right hand, from the midst
of
the fire, a law gave he to us;” Syriac, “With myriads of His saints at His right
hand.
He gave to them, and also caused all peoples
to love them.” The best
Hebrew manuscripts have אשׁדת as one word. The Masoretic note
is, “The
Chatiph is one word, and the K’ri two.”
The word אשׁדת is best explained as a
compound of אֵשׁ,
fire, and שׁדא, an Aramaic word signifying to throw or dart;
the
Syriac <ARABIC>, or
the Hebrew יָדָה, having the same signification, so
that the meaning is “fire-dartings:” from His right hand went rays of fire like
arrows shot
forth (compare Habakkuk 3:4; Exodus 19:16). “for them.”
To them; i.e. to the Israelites, to whom this
manifestation was vouchsafed.
3 “Yea, He
loved the people;” – The proper rendering is, He
loveth peoples
(עַמִּים). This is
generally understood of the tribes of Israel; but some would
understand it of nations in general, on the ground that such is the
proper meaning
of
the word, as in ch.32:8 and other places. A reference to nations at
large,
however, would seem incongruous here; and the use of the
word in relation to
Israel in such passages as Genesis 28:3; Judges
5:14; Isaiah 3:13; Hosea 10:14;
Zechariah 11:10, justifies the taking it so here - “all His saints are in thy hand:” –
The people of Israel are here called God’s saints, or holy
ones, because they were
chosen by and consecrated to Him. It is not probable, as some
suggest, that the
angels are here intended. The change from the third person to the
second is not
uncommon in Hebrew poetry (compare ch.32:15; Psalm 49:14) - “and they sat
down at thy feet;” – The verb rendered “sat
down” here (תֻּכּוּ)
is found
only in this passage, and is of uncertain meaning. Some of the explanations
are:
“they united or assembled
together to follow thy steps;”“they
wandered at thy feet,”
“they lie down at thy feet.” It is understood of Israel’s following the
lead of
Jehovah in the wilderness, when the ark
of the covenant preceded them in their
march; - “every one shall receive of thy words.” Some render here, they
rise
up at thy words; but
though the verb נָשַׂא;
is sometimes used intransitively, it is
properly an active verb, and there seems no reason why it should
not be so
regarded here: every one receives [the singular, יִשַּׂא, used distributively] thy
words.
4 “Moses
commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of
Jacob.”
Moses here, identifying himself with the
people, uses the third
person, and includes himself among those to whom the Law was
given; Psalm 20.,
21., where David not only speaks of himself in the third
person, but addresses
such prayers for himself as could only be offered by the people for their
king
(compare also Judges 5:12, 15;
Habakkuk 3:19) - Even the inheritance of the
congregation. The “even,” which the translators of the
Authorized Version
have inserted here, were better omitted; the words are in apposition to “law.”
The Law which Moses communicated to Israel was to remain
with them as
the
inheritance of the congregation. The Bishops’ Bible and the Geneva
Version have, more correctly, “for
an inheritance of the congregation.”
5 “And He
was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people
and the
tribes of
was
never recognized as king in
servant” (Hebrews 3:5); but Jehovah alone was
King (Exodus 15:18; Psalm
47:6-7). Jeshurun (compare ch.32:15). The gathering
together refers to the
assembling of the people at Sinai, when Jehovah came forth as their
King
to
give them His Law.
Blessings on the Tribes Individually
(vs. 6-25)
With these may be
compared the blessing which Jacob pronounced on his sons as
representing the tribes of which they were the heads. The two resemble
each other
in
many points; the differences are such as naturally arose from the different
relations of the speakers to the objects of their address, and the
changes in
the
condition and prospects of the tribes which during the lapse of centuries
had
come to pass.
6 “Let
Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.” The negative,
though not expressed in the Hebrew, is to be carried into this clause
from the
preceding. Though the rights of primogeniture had been withdrawn
from
Reuben, and Jacob had declared that he should not excel,
Moses here
assures the tribe of continuance, and even prosperity. Their
number was
not
to be small; which was, perhaps, said to comfort them, in view of the
fact that their numbers had greatly diminished in the course of their
wanderings in the desert (compare Numbers 1:21 with 26:7). At no
time,
however, was this tribe numerous as compared with the others; nor
was it
ever distinguished either by the enterprise of its members or by the
eminence
of
any of them in the councils of the nation or the management of affairs.
Life Impoverished Through Ancestral Sins (v.
6)
For a blessing, there seems something unusually weak in
that pronounced
on
Reuben. Continuance — a preservation from being
blotted out of
existence — is all that the man of God seems to hope or expect from
him.
The English reader may wonder to see that the word “not” is
in italics, as
not
being in the Hebrew, but supplied by the translators. It is, however,
wisely done in this case, as will be seen if the reader will put
stress
sufficient on the word “not” in the following rendering to
carry the force of
the
negative on to the end of the sentence: — “Let Reuben live; and not die
and
his men be few;” i.e. if his men became a mere handful, the tribe
would
be
virtually extinct; and Moses desires that this may not be the case; so
that, according to English idiom, the insertion of the italic not is
required to
preserve the meaning of the original. The gist of the blessing then
is, let not
the
tribe have such a paucity of men as to sink out of sight altogether. Bare
continuance; — this is
all that is prophesied concerning that tribe. This
is,
as
far as we can follow its history, in strict correspondence with its after
experience. There may be noted again and again a decrease in its
numbers;
Numbers 1:21; 26:7; I Chronicles 5:18, from which it
appears that the tribe had
decreased since the Exodus, and also that in later times its numbers, even when
counted with the Gadites and the half of
Manasseh, were
fewer than that of the
Reubenites alone at the census of Numbers 1. They took possession
of a large
and
fertile district east of
soon after the days of Joshua to have lost their early energy: they could
not be roused
to
take part in the national rising against Jabin
(Judges 5:15-16). They do not seem to
have cared to complete the conquest of their own territory; and even the
cities
assigned them were wrested from them by the Moabites. From this
tribe came no
judge, prophet, or national hero arose to redeem it from
insignificance. We are not
at
a loss to account for this. The gross wickedness of the head of this tribe
left a stain upon its name which not
generation after generation could
wipe out, and
destroyed at once the prestige of birth, and the spirit of leadership.
(see Genesis 35:22; 49:4).
MAN THAN THOSE TO WHICH REUBEN GAVE WAY. The
desperately wicked act recorded of him indicates with too much
certainty a
previously formed habit of self-indulgence, in which he had suffered the
reins of self-control and self-respect
to fall from his hands. The effect of
such habits in a physiological point of view is disastrous. But
more
grievous still are their moral issues. They lower the man himself in
his own
eyes. They lower his view of
mankind at large. They lead inevitably to the
association of thought with what is lowest in human nature, rather
than
with what is highest and best. And, unless renounced, these sins will drag
the whole man after them, and make of him a wreck and a ruin. Hence
the terrific warning of our Savior in Matthew 5:29. Nothing will sooner
becloud and deaden the moral sense than indulgence in sensual sins.
MAN HIMSELF. With regard to those whose good opinion and respect
are most worth having, it is impossible for them to look on
one who
indulges in such sins otherwise than with profoundest pity and
shame, and
even with disgust! They see that one who by his sex is meant to
be the
guardian of woman’s purity, honor, and joy, is basely tampering with them
all! Not even Jacob,
though the tenderness of the old patriarch under such
circumstances must have been at its height, could bring himself to
pronounce a rich blessing even on his firstborn, whose life had been thus
DISFIGURED and DISGRACED.
Reuben’s whole family and tribe
shared in the STIGMA of their father’s sin;
not as being guilty in like
manner, but because the name of their sire could not henceforth
be
dissociated from the thought of base and treacherous lust.
THE GENERATION IN WHICH THEY WERE COMMITTED.
The foul odor of Reuben’s crime
rises up before Moses. ‘Tis
not named
indeed. But he has no blessing for his tribe of any richness or
depth. “May he
not become so weak as to be lost sight of altogether!” Such is
the gist of it.
The descendants of Jacob’s
firstborn were long, long under the gloomy
shadow cast on them by the sins of their sire! There is nothing in this
record of the Word of God which does not frequently find its COUNTER
-PART IN THE
GENERATIONS OF MEN NOW! Many, many there
are who inherit some physical ill, some mental weakness, or
some moral
incapacity or obliquity, through a constitutional taint from sins
long gone by!
Ø
Even
though guilty of sensual sins, God invites
every man to come
to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, that sin, as guilt, may
be forgiven;
and that, as disease, it may be cured.
Ø
Wherever God’s
invitation is accepted, His grace will cancel guilt and
cure corruption; thus imparting health and soundness for the
life that
now is, and promising the life to come.
Ø
To this each one may
well be urged, not only on the ground of his
individual well-being, but also on the ground that the streams of
purifying
grace, cleansing his nature, may do much to check the onward
flow of
the poison he inherits, and to
help towards a sounder life in those
who shall follow him.
7 “And this
is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of
of
prayer to Jehovah. As Jacob had promised to Judah supremacy over his
brethren and success in war, so Moses here names him next after
Reuben, whose
preeminence he had assumed, and prays for him that, going forth at the
head of
the
tribes, he might return in triumph, being helped of the Lord. “let his hands
be sufficient
for him;” - rather, with his hands he contendeth for it (to wit, his
people). רַב here is not the adj. much, enough, but the part. of
the verb רִיב,
to contend, to strive; and יָדָיו
is the accusative of instrument. The
rendering in the Authorized Version is grammatically possible; but
the
meaning thereby brought out is not in keeping with the sentiment
of the
passage; for if
sufficient for him, what need had he of help from the Lord? - “and
be
thou an help to him from his enemies.”
The blessing on Levi is also in the form of a prayer. In
Jacob’s blessing,
Simeon is joined with Levi, but Moses passes him over
altogether, probably
because, as Jacob foretold, he was to be scattered among his
brethren (Genesis
49:7), and so lose his
tribal individuality. Simeon, however, is included in the
general blessing pronounced on
towns within the
as
included in the blessing on that tribe.
8 “And of
Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim” – thy Right and thy
Light (compare Exodus 28:30). The high priest wore the breast-plate on which
these were placed when he went in before the Lord; and this is
here represented
as
the prerogative of the whole tribe. Thy holy one; i.e. Levi, the
tribe-father,
representing the whole tribe to which the blessing applies; hence in
the following
verses the verb passes into the plural - “be
with thy holy one, For “holy one,”
it
would be better to read “pious” or “godly one;” literally, the man thy
pious
one. Some would render “the man thy favored one,” or “the man
of thy friendship;”
but
this is wholly arbitrary, the word (חָסִיד;)
has no such meaning. To explain
this more particularly, reference is made to the trials at Massah and the waters of
Meribah
(strife), when the people rebelled and
murmured against Moses and Aaron,
whereby the piety of these men was put to the test, and in them,
the heads of the
tribe of Levi, the whole tribe was proved – “whom thou didst prove at Massah,
and with whom thou
didst strive at the waters of Meribah;” - (On Massah,
see
Exodus 17:1-7; and on the waters of strife, see Numbers 20:1-13.) In these
trials, Levi had proved himself faithful and godly, having risen
up in defense of
the
honor of Jehovah, and in support of His covenant, though in the latter case
both Moses and Aaron
stumbled.
9 “Who
said unto his father and to his mother,” - This
refers to what is narrated in
Exodus 32:26-29, when the Levites drew their swords against
their brethren at the
command of Moses, to execute judgment without respect of person,
because of the
sin
of the people in the matter of the golden calf (also in the matter of Baal-Peor
in
Numbers 25:1-9) and, for the principle here implicitly
commended, see Matthew 10:37;
19:29; Luke 14:26). Because of their zealous devotion to
the claims and service of
the
Lord, the dignity of the priesthood had been conferred on this tribe; and to
them belonged the high office of being instructors of the people in Divine
things, and
of
presenting the sacrifices of the people to the Lord. For those entrusted with
such an
office, nothing was more to be desired than that they should be
blessed with power
rightly to discharge the duties of their office, that their
service should be accepted with
favor, and that their enemies and haters should be foiled and
rendered impotent; and
for
this Moses prays on their behalf.
“I have not seen him; neither
did he
acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed
thy word, and kept thy covenant. 10 They
shall teach Jacob thy judgments,
and
upon thine altar. 11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and
accept the work of his
hands; smite
through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them
that hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 “And of
Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell
in
safety by Him;” - Benjamin,
the beloved of his father, is also the beloved of the
Lord, and would be cared for and protected by Him - shall
dwell securely upon
Him, i.e.
resting on him - “and the Lord
shall cover” - The word rendered “cover”
(חַפַפ) occurs only here; construed with עַל, upon, it conveys the idea of sheltering:
He continually is
sheltering him -“ him all the day
long, and he shall dwell
between His shoulders.” “To be between the
shoulders” is to be carried on
the
back (compare I Samuel 17:6); and as a father might thus bear his child, so
should Benjamin be borne of the Lord. There
can be no doubt that Benjamin
is
the subject of this clause; to understand it of Jehovah dwelling on the shoulders
of
Benjamin, in the sense of having the temple, the place of his rest, within
the
In the change of subject in the three clauses of this verse, there
is nothing
strange, since such a change repeatedly occurs, and is found even
in prose,
as
e.g. II Samuel 11:13. “To dwell upon
God, and between His shoulders,
means as much as to lean upon Him; the similitude being taken from fathers
who
carry their sons while yet small and tender!
13 “And of
Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for
the precious
things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep
that coucheth beneath,” - The
blessing on Joseph by Moses closely resembles that pronounced by
Jacob on his
favorite son; he solicits for him the utmost abundance of
temporal blessing, and the
riches of the Divine favor. There is this difference, however, between the
two blessings,
that in that of the patriarch it is the growth of the tribe in power and might
that is chiefly
contemplated; whilst in that of Moses it is the advance of the tribe in
wealth, prosperity,
and
influence that is chiefly indicated. Jacob described the growth of Joseph under
the
figure of a luxuriant branch of a fruit tree planted by the
water; whilst Moses fixes his
eye
primarily upon the
14 “And
for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious
things put forth by the moon,” - Several codices, for מטל, “for dew,” read מעל,
above — “the precious
things of heaven above;” and this reading,
some critics of
eminence adopt. Probably, however, this is only a correction, to bring this passage
into accordance with Genesis 49:25. The Targums and
the Peshito combine both
readings. Instead of “for the precious things,” it is better to read “with,” etc., and so
throughout vs. 13-16.
Literally, it is from, מִמֶּגֶד, the מ expressing
the instrumental
cause of the blessing, of which the Lord is the efficient
cause. The noun מֶגֶד,
literally, excellency, preciousness, occurs only here
and in Song of Solomon 4:13,
16 and 7:13, where it is rendered by “pleasant.” The precious fruit of the heavens
is
the dew, which, with the waters stored up in the recesses of the earth,
furthers the
growth of the earth’s produce, ripened
by the influences of sun and moon.
15 And for
the chief things of the ancient mountains,” - literally, and from the
head
of the mountains of old. The precious
things of the mountains and hills are
the
vines and olive trees with which the lower slopes are adorned, and the forests
that crown the loftier - “and
for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for
the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof,
and for
the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush:”
- The reference is to the appearance
of
Jehovah to Moses in the bush at Horeb (Exodus 3),
when He manifested
Himself as the Deliverer of Israel, whose good pleasure it
was that they should be
redeemed from bondage and favored with blessing - “let the blessing come
upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of
the head of him that
was separated from his brethren.” Separated in
the sense of consecrated, or
distinguished (נָזִיר, from נָזַר,
to consecrate), from among his brethren.
17 His
glory is like the firstling of his bullock,” - rather, the firstborn of his
oxen, majesty is to him. The singular, שׁור, is here used collectively, as in ch.15:19.
The oxen are Joseph’s sons, all of whom were strong, but
the firstborn excelled the
rest, and was endowed with majesty.
It is Ephraim that is referred to, whom Jacob
raised to the position of the firstborn (Genesis 48:8-20) - “and
his horns are like
the horns of unicorns:” - literally, and
horns of a reem are his horns. The reem is
supposed to be the aurochs, an animal of the bovine species, allied
to the buffalo,
now
extinct, but which the Assyrian bas-reliefs show to have been formerly hunted
in
that region (compare Job 39:9; Psalm22:21. By his strong power, Ephraim
should
thrust down nations, even the most distant. “with them he
shall push the people
together to the ends of the earth: and they are the
ten thousands of Ephraim,”
and these are, etc.; i.e.
in such might will the myriads of Ephraim come forth. To
Ephraim, as the chief, the myriads are assigned; to
Manasseh only the thousands -
“and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 “And of Zebulun he said,
Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and,
Issachar, in thy tents.” Zebulun and Issachar, the two last sons of Leah, are taken
together by Moses; and Zebulun, though
the younger son, is placed first, in
accordance with Genesis 49:13. Success in enterprise, and felicity at
home, are
assured to both. Although ‘going out’ (enterprise, labor) is attributed
to Zebulun,
and
‘remaining in tents’ (the comfortable
enjoyment of life) to Issachar, in accordance
with the delineation of their respective characters in the blessing of
Jacob, this is to be
attributed to the poetic parallelism of the clauses, and the whole is
to be understood as
applying to both!
19
They shall call the people unto the mountain;”
- rather, they
shall call nations
to the mountain, i.e.
the mountain of the Lord’s inheritance (Exodus 15:17-18), the
place of His sanctuary - “there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness:” - i.e.
sacrifices offered according to God’s Law, and in a manner and a
spirit well pleasing to
Him
(Psalm 4:6; 50:21) - “for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas,
and
of treasures hid in the sand.” The treasures of
both sea and land should be theirs.
The Targumist Jonathan Ben Uzziel explains this as referring especially to the
obtaining of the rich purple dye from the shell of the oyster (murex
Syrius), and the
producing of mirrors and glass vases from the sand. The existence of
vitreous sand on
the
coast of
(‘Nat. Hist.,’ lib. 36. c. 286).
20 “And of
Gad he said, Blessed be He that enlargeth
Gad: he dwelleth
as a lion, and teareth
the arm with the crown of the head.” As in the
blessing
of
Shem by Noah, God is praised for Shem’s prosperity (Genesis 9:26), so here
God is praised for the enlargement of the warlike tribe of
Gad (compare Genesis
49:19). He dwelleth as a lion; rather, as a lioness. Though the noun aybil; has a
masculine termination, usage shows that it was the female and not
the male that
was
thereby designated (see e.g. Genesis 49:9; Numbers 24:9, where it
can hardly,
be
a mere synonym; and Job 4:11; 38:39, where the reference to the young of the
animal accords better with the lioness than with the lion.
21
“”And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a
portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he
came with the heads
of the people, he executed the justice of the
LORD, and his judgments with
beyond
he saw for himself (i.e.
chose) the first, i.e. either the most excellent part
or
the firstfruits of the conquest. Because there, in a portion of
the
lawgiver, was he seated; rather, for there
the portion of the leader was
reserved. The word rendered, lawgiver,” or “leader” (מְחֹקֵק), signifies
primarily one who ordains or appoints, and is used in both the above
senses
(compare Exodus 33:22; Judges
5:14); it is here applied to Gad, because
that tribe displayed such promptitude and energy at the head of the tribes
in
the
conquest of the land, that it might be regarded as their leader. An
entirely different view of the passage has been taken by some, who
by the
mechokek understand Moses as
the lawgiver, and his portion as the place
of
his grave, which was concealed, but was within the inheritance of Gad.
But it is a fatal objection to this view that not only is
the word rendered
“portion” (חֶלְקַת) nowhere used of a grave, but the grave of Moses on
for
himself a portion on the east of
was
sacredly kept for him, though he went with his brethren to the conquest of
was
with the leaders; his place was at the
head of the tribes (Numbers 32:17,21,
32,
and Joshua 1:14; 4:12). He
executed the justice of the Lord, etc.; i.e. he
did
what God required of him, obeying His
commands, and thereby fulfilling all
righteousness (Matthew 3:15; Philippians 3:6). With
of
22 “And of
Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from
springs forth by the way, and
bites the heels of a horse so that the rider falls
backward. Moses here compares the tribe to a young lion that suddenly
leaps
from its lair in
vigor and force which the tribe should display in conflict.
23 “And of
Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full
with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the
west and the south.”
In Jacob’s blessing, Naphtali appears invested with the attributes
of freedom,
gracefulness, and graciousness (Ibid. v. 21); here Moses assures that tribe
of
the
Divine grace and blessing, and promises to it prosperity and
felicity.
Possess thou the west and the south. The word rendered “west” here (ָֻם)
properly means sea, and came to signify “west” from the fact of the
Mediterranean, or
of
the word is to be retained here. As the
be
understood generally of prosperity and felicity. He was to possess riches as
of
the sea, and genial and fructifying
warmth as of the south.
24 “And of
Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children;” - Asher, the
prosperous one, as his name implies, was to be rich, and honored, and
strong, and
peaceful. Blessed with children; rather, blessed
among the sons; i.e. either
blessed more than the rest of the sons, or blessed by the sons who
were to reap
benefit from him. From what follows, the latter explanation seems
the one to be
preferred. The preposition מִן
is constantly used as indicating the
source whence
anything proceeds, or the agent by whom anything is done - “let him be
acceptable to his brethren,” - This tribe should find itself in so advantageous
and
luxurious a condition that the other tribes should have delight and pleasure in
it –
“and let him dip
his foot in oil.” This points to a land abounding in olives, and
generally richly fertile, a fat land and yielding rich dainties,
such as Jacob promised
to
Asher (Ibid. v.20).
25
Thy shoes shall be iron and brass;” - The word rendered “shoes”
(מִנְעָל) occurs only here. It is a derivative from נָעַל; to bolt or shut fast,
and
is to be taken in the sense of a fastness or fortress, a place securely
closed: iron and brass shall be thy fortress; i.e.
his dwelling should be
strong and impregnable. The rendering “shoes” is from a supposed
derivation of the word from נַעַל, a shoe. “and as thy days, so shall thy
strength be.” - literally, as thy
days, thy rest; i.e. as long as thou livest, so
long shalt thou have rest and quiet. The noun
rendered “strength” (דֹבֵא) in
the
Authorized Version. occurs only here, unless it be
found in the proper
name מֶידְבָא,
(Me-deba),
and has no Cognate in Hebrew; but the Arabic
supplies a root for it in (deba),
to rest.
Asher’s
Blessing; Strength as the Day (vs. 24-25)
There are several features in this blessing to Asher. He is
to have a
numerous seed: to enjoy above his brethren the favor of the Lord;
to be
surrounded with plenty; to be guarded with bars of iron and brass;
and to
have strength according to the days. (The Hebrew word translated “days”
is
so rendered or explained by the Targum, Boothroyd, and Parkhurst. The
Septuagint renders
it ἰσχύς – ischus – strength - the French version
has
it
to force; Gesenius
renders it “rest.” In this Homily we follow the Septuagint
and
accept our translation,“strength.”) However great the temporal blessings
may
be which are here promised to Asher, this last-named one is surely the greatest
of
all, yea, greater than any merely earthly blessings could possibly be. And
perhaps
there is no promise of God’s Word which has more deeply touched
the hearts of His
people, or more frequently proved itself a balm in care, than
this one. For that it was
made to Asher first, need not shut off
any child of God from taking the
comfort of it. There is a distinct promise made to Joshua, “I will not fail thee,
nor forsake thee”
(Joshua 1:5); but yet the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews
bids the people whom he is addressing to make that promise their own. And so
assuredly may the people of God in every age and land do with the promise
before us. (Hebrews 13:5).
They have done so hitherto, and will do so till the end.
Let us meditate on it now, presenting, as it does, this topic — STRENGTH
PROMISED FOR
THE DAY!
we are often reminded, viz.: That we have to live day by day. In one sense
we can do no otherwise. We can never with certainty look over
the rim of
one day so as to see what will happen tomorrow. Then each
day has its
own peculiar alternations and variations of light and shade. One day all is
smiling; the next, perchance, all is in gloom. Every hour, every
place has
“hues
of its own fresh borrowed from the heart.” Consequently, each day
brings its own demands with it.
And for each day we require new
adaptations. Moreover, the
strength of each day will not serve for the
next. Now, these are the facts which this promise is intended
to meet. How
does it meet them?
Ø
It assures us of strength as varied
as the day. Whatever kind of
Strength is wanted, that
kind of strength will be given — whether for
work or war, pain or sickness, poverty or temptation,
bereavement or
death. “They that wait on
the Lord shall renew [i.e. change] their
strength.”
(Isaiah 40:31)
Ø
It is a promise of strength as sure
as the day. No day shall come
Without
its due measure of might to enable us to meet its demands. He
who hath taught his children to cry, “Give us day by day our daily
bread,” in teaching them so
to pray reveals His purpose to fulfill the
prayer He has taught. We shall never find a day when the Savior’s
grace is wanting.
Ø
It pledges strength as long as
the days shall last. So long as any
demands are made upon us, so long will God’s grace be sufficient
to
enable us to meet them. We need not look wistfully and anxiously
ahead. Our Father
cares. One whose words are more to us
than
thousands of gold and silver has
said, “Take no thought for the
morrow, for the
morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew
6:34)
And an inspired writer has given us an impregnable argument, “He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things?”
Romans 8:32)
“As thy days, so
shall thy strength be.” The words
remind us of a
picture drawn by Mrs. Stowe, in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ of a slave
weary
and worn with toiling in the sultry sun. One quotes the words,
“Come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest!”
(Matthew 11:28) “Them’s
good words,” is the reply, “but who says ‘em?”
Obviously all depends on that —
so it is here. The words are said by:
Ø
One who knows what our
days will be.
Ø
One who orders our days.
Ø
One who measures our days.
Ø
One who loved us from
everlasting days.
Ø
One whose love changes
not with the days.
Ø
One who has infinite
resources on which we can draw
throughout the days.
Ø
One whose love as
revealed in Christ is a pledge that He will be
with us to the end of the days.
Is anything wanting to heighten
the value of a promise if it comes from
such a Promiser?
OVER US? Yea, verily. A triple power.
Ø
It should stimulate to
holy obedience.
Ø
It should prepare us
to look onward with holy calmness. “I will
trust, and not be afraid.” (Isaiah 12:2)
Ø
It should embolden us
to meet emergencies with a valiant heart.
Ø
It should lead us to
look upward with a waiting, expectant eye.
As Moses commenced by celebrating the glorious majesty of
Jehovah when He
appeared to establish His covenant with
concludes with a reference to
SAVING HELP OF HIS PEOPLE!
26 “There
is none like unto the God of Jeshurun,” - The points
and
accents direct that this should be read, There is none like God, O
Jeshurun; and though all the ancient versions read as does the
Authorized
Version, the Masoretic
punctuation is vindicated here by the following “thy
help”, which shows
that
heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the
sky.”
27 “The
eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from
before thee; and shall
say, Destroy them.” God is the
Refuge or Dwelling-place of His people, their
Protection amid the storms of life, and the unfailing
Source of comfort and
blessing to them in their pilgrimage state. Over them is His
sheltering
protection, and underneath them the
support of His everlasting arms.
The Eternal God a Refuge (v.
27)
mind sufficiently to take in anything like the grandeur of this
thought? To
think with comprehension of God at all is to many a difficulty.
It shows how
little we do think of Him; how habitually our minds are occupied
with other
objects; that when we wish to bring even His existence clearly
before our minds,
we find it difficult to do so. It is not a difficulty which would be felt if our
relations with God were close and intimate, if our communion with Him
was habitual, if we were trying to live continually as in His presence and
under His eye. “I believe in God the Father Almighty!” (The Apostles
Creed) Is not that just
what most of US do not do? Is there one who would
not tremble far more in the presence of many of his
fellow-mortals than he
ever does at the thought of standing in the presence of his
God? What sort of
a belief is it which leaves us so destitute of all real
apprehension of what God is,
and even of a habitual realization of the feeling that He
is? We think of Him,
but often how coldly, how distantly, how notionally, how
unbelievingly! We
speak of “revivals,” but, sooth to say, we need a revival of
living belief in the
first article of the Creed. We need to have our eyes opened,
thought set to
work, faith made more real. If that were given, then should we
know, as
we had never known before, how wonderful, how sublime, how
infinitely grand a thing it was to have this GOD AS OUR REFUGE
and to know that
underneath us were these everlasting arms. If it is
difficult to attain to a steady persuasion even of God’s existence, vastly more
difficult is it to frame a just conception of HIS
ETENITY! Before worlds
were, GOD EXISTED; when they
shall have waxed old and disappeared,
HE SHALL EXIST
STILL! Time flows, but, like
the rock in the midst of the
stream, which, from its stable base, laughs at the flood whose impetuous course
it overlooks; so, amidst the flow of ages, God endures, “the same yesterday,
today, and forever.” (Hebrews
13:8) Does it
not, then, seem as something
incredible that this eternal God should constitute Himself a Home and Refuge for
weak, sinning, mortals; should even
stoop to press Himself on such mortals as
a FRIEND, SAVIOUR, PROTECTOR, SUPPORT, HELPER? If we
see nothing strange in this, it is impossible that anything
should seem strange to
us; if we can believe this, we need not stumble at much else
in revelation. For
THIS IS THE
CENTRAL TRUTH THE BIBLE HAS TO TELL! It
tells
of A GOD, INFINITE,
EVERLASTING, ALMIGHTY, INFLEXIBILY
RIGHTEOUS,
UNUTTERABLY PURE, INCOMPREHENSIBLY
GREAT AND WISE
AND GOOD; from whom men have indeed
wandered in numberless paths of error;
but who has revealed Himself for
the very purpose of bringing them back to Himself, that they
may be saved
from death and may enjoy eternal life; who will by no means clear the guilty,
but who waits to be gracious to every penitent sinner
returning to His care; and
who has provided all means for that return in the atonement of His Son, our
Savior Jesus
Christ, and in the grace of his Holy Spirit. That is the
message the Bible has to bring, and it is
nothing else than the Almighty and
Eternal God
offering Himself, in His grace, as a Refuge for our otherwise
defenseless souls; stretching out, those everlasting arms of which
the text
speaks, to draw us to
Himself and save us from otherwise inevitable ruin.
Say not, you do not need this refuge! The son of man is not yet born who does
not need it, and who will not one day, whether he does so now or
not,
acknowledge that he needs it. And
say not, you will delay in seeking it! For
even could a day or a year be guaranteed in which to rethink the question now
proposed, it is plainly folly
in itself, and grievous dishonor done to God,
that so vast and
glorious an opportunity should stand for a single day
unimproved; that God should sue to you, and you
refuse His gracious invitations.
Rather, “seek the Lord while He may be found, CALL
UPON HIM
WHILE HE IS NEAR” (Isaiah 55:6). (I
recommend How to Be Saved –
# 5 - this web site – CY – 2012)
relations. In relation:
Ø
To our temporal existence. Having God as our
Refuge does not
Indeed imply that we are to
have a great abundance of this world’s
possessions, or be absolutely free from cares and sorrows. It does
not secure that we are to be either the richest or the least
tried of all
around us. God knows how often it is otherwise. Some of the best of
God’s saints have been, like Paul, the worst off of humankind.
“They were stoned, they were sawn asunder,”etc.
(Hebrews 11:37).
Was God therefore not the “Refuge” of those
saints because they were
so ill off in this life, or did the “everlasting arms” not
sustain them? Or
was it not in the midst of these “great fights of afflictions” (Ibid. ch.
10:32) that they first
realized how true a Refuge God was to them?
When
Paul was at his work, “in journeyings
often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils of his countrymen, in perils of the
heathen,
in
perils of the city, in perils of the wilderness, in perils of the sea, in
perils of false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness”
(II Corinthians 11:24-28), had God in these
circumstances falsified His
promise, and failed to
be a Refuge to him? The question needs only to be
put to be its own answer.
Yet it is certain that, even in outward things,
God is a Refuge for His people, and that under His care
they ordinarily
enjoy both unusual blessing and a quite especial protection. Jesus
teaches us to trust our Father
in heaven, while of course using the means
He gives us, for all our temporal necessities (Matthew 6:25-34).
He
pledges Himself that, so long as it is the Father’s will that we
should live in the world, we shall be protected from harm, and
suitably provided for. This was David’s confidence, expressed in many
of the psalms, and IT
HAS BEEN THE CONFIDENCE OF ALL
GOD’S
PEOPLE! Experience verifies that the good man’s dwelling is
the “munitions of
rocks;” his bread is given him, his water is sure
(Isaiah 33:16).
Ø
To our spiritual existence. God is the soul’s:
o
spiritual Savior. Though
our Lord and Judge, it is only in His
bosom, in His forgiving grace, we can find refuge from our sins,
from the unhappiness they cause us, and from the ruin they
have brought upon us.
The child that has offended his parent
may seek the whole world through in vain for the rest
he can find
at once by coming back, confessing his sin, and being forgiven.
GOD HAS DEVISED MEANS “that His banished be not
expelled from Him” (II
Samuel 14:14). The way is open.
“O Israel, thou hast
destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help”
(Hosea 13:9).
o
unfailing Retreat in trouble. No matter what storms beat
without, what blessings of an outward kind are given or withheld,
what threatening forms the enmity of man may assume, the soul
has in GOD A RETREAT,
REFUGE, WHICH
NEVER FAILS! There it dwells in a
region of love, breathes an atmosphere of peace, holds a
communion with the Father of spirits, which only grows the
sweeter the longer life lasts, and the more the outward cup is
bitter to the taste. In this inward home of the spirit it renews
its
strength and drinks of living waters, has meat to eat which the
world knows not of, finds satisfaction for its deepest needs
“Although the fig
tree shall not blossom, neither shall
fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and
the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice
in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my
Salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
o
unfailing Support. He
upholds the soul. Has the believer trials
to come through? He is upheld to bear them. Has he
temptations
to face? He is upheld to conquer in them. Has he work to do?
He is upheld and
strengthened to perform it. Has he enemies to
fight? His courage is sustained, and he is made “more than
conqueror” (Romans 8:37). But for the upholding of
the “EVERLASTING ARMS” how many of God’s saints
would never have come through what they have
experienced!
Ø
To our eternal existence. “The eternal God
is thy Refuge.”
Heavenly and eternal existence are wrapped up in this promise.
God does not make His
eternity a refuge for beings of a day. There
would be an utter disproportion between an everlasting dwelling-
place and a creature of some three score years and ten. All
eternal
good is here implied, and this
crowns the promise and carries it
beyond all comprehension of its greatness. “Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him.” (Isaiah 64:4; I Corinthians 2:9)
28 “
be upon a land of corn and wine; also His
heavens shall drop down
dew.” The clauses of this verse are parallel to each other; their symmetry
will
be
seen if we render and arrange thus:
“And
Alone,
the fountain of Jacob,
On a
land of corn and new wine;
His
heavens also drop down dew.”
The fountain of Jacob is parallel to
because they came forth from Jacob as waters from a copious source
(Isaiah 48:1; Psalm 68:26).
29 “Happy
art thou, O
the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the
sword of thy excellency!
and thine enemies
shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread
upon
their high places.” This concluding
verse comprehends the whole blessing.
is
to be congratulated and praised because, through the true God, it has
unparalleled protection, salvation, and triumph. Thine
enemies shall be found
liars
unto thee; literally,
shall feign unto thee; i.e. shall pretend to be
thy friends,
in
order to obtain favor with thee. The verb conveys the idea of fawning upon
a
person with a feigned humility and submissiveness
(compare Psalm 18:44; 66:2;
81:15). Thou shalt tread
upon their high places; i.e. shalt
wholly subdue them
and
triumph over them (ch.32:13; Amos 4:13; Micah 1:3)
God, the Crown of
As soon as Moses touches upon this theme, language seems
too poor to
express the greatness of his thought — too cold to convey the
glowing
ardor of his love. Here all metaphors fail; all
comparisons are vain.
GOD IS ABOVE ALL IMAGERY, OR METAPHOR, OR
ILLUSTRATION! As there is none like Him, so nothing can fitly express
His deeds towards His chosen, His conduct is, like Himself,
ineffable.
As heaven is loftier than earth, so do God’s thoughts and ways
transcend
human conception. (Isaiah
55:9)
the eternal Sovereign of the universe has come into intimate
alliance with
His chosen
people. He is not simply God — the
abstract Deity — He is the
“God of Jeshurun.” His eternity is brought into human
use — is available
for human needs. In the eternal and
unchangeable God we may dwell. He is
our Refuge, our Dwelling-place, our Sanctuary. All the resources of His
omnipotence are for us: beneath us “are
the everlasting arms.” But hath
God arms? Hath He human members and organs? “He that formed the eye,
shall He not see?”
(Psalm 94:9) He that fashioned our arms
and hands, hath
He no
instruments with which to support our sinking frame? Yea, “in Him we
live and move and have our being!” (Acts 17:28) All the activities
of His
providential government are for us. “He rideth upon the heavens,” like a
king in his chariot, for our help. This is true, both for
for every individual
believer. In every decree that issues from His
throne,
He has us in view. All the machinery of His extended providence works
with
one design, viz. our advantage. He thinks, and plans, and executes, and
overturns for one main end — THE
FINAL REDEMPTION OF HIS
PEOPLE! God and we are
one. “And
ye are Christ’s; and Christ
Is God’s.” (I Corinthians 3:23)
foregoing premise, this is a sound and certain conclusion. “If God be for
us,” who can assail
us successfully? (Romans 8:31) What can
prevail against
omnipotence? What can penetrate
the thick bosses of Jehovah’s shield? Fear
in such a case is unreasonable
disloyalty. This globe must be shivered
into a
thousands of atoms, all the forces in God’s universe must be
rendered powerless
and ineffective, the scepter of Jehovah must be broken, before
any danger can
touch the elect of God. Safe, beyond the specter of a fear, are
those whom God
defends.
land of corn and wine.” Jacob
is represented as the fount or source of many
people, all of whom shall find an abode in the land of corn and
wine. Every
want shall be met. “And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts
make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on
the lees,
of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well
refined. And He
will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast
over all people,
and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will
swallow up death in
victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the
earth: FOR
THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.
And it shall be said in that day, Lo,
this is our God; we have waited
for Him, and He will save us: this is the
LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His
Salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9) (Charles Spurgeon talked of this great feast
in many of his sermons – some of which are on this web site –
CY – 2012)
In the paradise of
God there flourishes on both sides of the stream, the
tree of life, which bears twelve manner of fruits, and yieldeth her fruit
every month. (Revelation
22:2) Here is a perennial supply
and satisfying
variety. And though
this is expressed by material images, it sets forth substantial
and eternal truth — the very truth of God. In the
provided whatever can please the eye, delight the ear, regale the
appetite,
relieve a need, gratify a sense. For perpetually does the voice of
the King
ring out a hearty welcome, “Eat, O friends; yea, drink
abundantly, O
beloved.”
will not dissociate Himself from His people. “His covenant is an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure” (II Samuel
23:5). Yea, God’s conquests are not separate and
distinct from ours.
He conquers through us — yea, by
means of
us. If we belong to the true
interests are our interests. Our excellent Sword in this
warfare is God; He
Himself is “the Shield of our help” (Psalm 33:20). The contest may be
protracted, severe, wavering; success may seem to hang in suspense; but
beyond the smoke and dust and uncertainty of battle, faith clearly sees the
final triumph, and hears the immortal pen, “Thou shalt tread upon their
high places.”
impossible of enlargement, who repose themselves in the very heart of
God, and dwell perpetually in
His love! The utmost capacity of human
speech is impotent to express their DEEP AND SATISFYING JOY!
It is a thing to be experienced, not
expressed. Such joy hath no vocabulary,
no tongue. It is “JOY UNSPEAKABLE
AND FULL OF GLORY!”
(I Peter 1:8). What the noonday sun is to a glowworm’s
spark, so is the
joy of the righteous compared with the joys of earth. God’s own joy is
conveyed to godly hearts. (His joy is expressed in singing over us –
“He will joy over thee with singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17 – CY – 2012)
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