This chapter brings prominently before us the familiar and beautiful
ordinance of the brazen serpent—that great evangelical type. “And they
journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land
of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, ‘Wherefore have
ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is
no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light
bread.’” (Ver. 4, 5.)
Alas! alas! it is the same sad story over and over again—“The murmurs of
the wilderness.” It was all well enough to escape out of Egypt when the
terrific judgments of God were falling upon it in rapid succession. At
such a moment, there was but little attraction in the flesh-pots, the
leeks, the onions, and the garlic, when they stood connected with the
heavy plagues sent forth from the hand of an offended God. But now, the
plagues are forgotten, and the flesh-pots alone remembered. “Would to God
we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by
the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the full.”
What language! Man would rather sit by the flesh-pots, in a land of death
and darkness, than walk with God through the wilderness and eat bread
from heaven. The Lord Himself had brought His glory down into connection
with the very sand of the desert, because His redeemed were there. He had
come down to bear with all their provocation—to “suffer their manners in
the wilderness.” All this grace and exceeding condescension might well
have called forth in them a spirit of grateful and humble subjection. But
no; the very earliest appearance of trial was sufficient to elicit from
them the cry, “Would to God we had died in the land of Egypt!”
However, they were very speedily made to taste the bitter fruits of
their murmuring spirit. “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people,
and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” (Ver. 6.)
The serpent was the _source_ of their discontent; and their condition,
when bitten of the serpents, was well calculated to reveal to them the
true _character_ of their discontent. If the Lord’s people will not
walk happily and contentedly with Him, they must taste the power of the
serpent—alas! a terrible power, in whatever way it may be experienced.
The serpents’ bite brought Israel to a sense of their sin. “Therefore
the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken
against the Lord, and against thee: pray unto the Lord, that He take away
the serpents from us.’” (Ver. 7.)
Here, then, was the moment for divine grace to display itself. Man’s need
has ever been the occasion for the display of God’s grace and mercy.
The moment Israel could say, “We have sinned,” there was no further
hindrance. God could act, and this was enough. When Israel murmured, the
serpents’ bite was the answer: when Israel confessed, God’s grace was
the answer. In the one case, the serpent was the instrument of their
wretchedness; in the other, it was the instrument of their restoration
and blessing. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Make thee a fiery serpent,
and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.’” (Ver. 8.) The very image
of that which had done the mischief was set up to be the channel through
which divine grace might flow down, in rich abundance, to poor wounded
sinners. Striking and beautiful type of Christ on the cross!
It is a very common error to view the Lord Jesus rather as the averter
of God’s wrath, than as the channel of His love. That He endured the
wrath of God against sin is most preciously true; but there is more than
this. He has come down into this wretched world to die upon the cursed
tree, in order that, by dying, He might open up the everlasting springs
of the love of God to the heart of poor rebellious man. This makes a
vast difference in the presentation of God’s nature and character to the
sinner, which is of the very last importance. Nothing can ever bring
a sinner back to a state of true happiness and holiness but his being
fully established in the faith and enjoyment of the love of God. The very
first effort of the serpent, when, in the garden of Eden, he assailed
the creature, was, to shake his confidence in the kindness and love of
God, and thus produce discontent with the place in which God had set him.
Man’s fall was the result—the immediate result of his doubting the love
of God: man’s recovery must flow from his belief of that love; and it is
the Son of God Himself who says, “God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.” (John iii. 16.)
Now, it is in close connection with the foregoing statement that our
Lord expressly teaches that He was the antitype of the brazen serpent.
As the Son of God sent forth from the Father, He was, most assuredly,
the gift and expression of God’s love to a perishing world. But He was
also to be lifted up upon the cross in atonement for sin, for _only_ thus
could divine love meet the necessities of the dying sinner. “As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so _must_ the Son of Man
be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life.” The whole human family have felt the serpent’s deadly
sting; but the God of all grace has found a remedy in the One who was
lifted up on the cursed tree; and now, by the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven, He calls on all those who feel themselves bitten, to look to
Jesus for life and peace. Christ is God’s great ordinance, and through
Him a full, free, present, and eternal salvation is proclaimed to the
sinner—a salvation so complete, so well based, so consistent with all the
attributes of the divine character and all the claims of the throne of
God, that Satan cannot raise a single question about it. Resurrection is
the divine vindication of the work of the cross, and the glory of Him who
died thereon, so that the believer may enjoy the most profound repose in
reference to sin. God is well pleased in Jesus; and inasmuch as He views
all believers in Him, He is well pleased in them also.
And be it noted, faith is the instrument whereby the sinner lays hold
of Christ’s salvation. The wounded Israelite had simply to _look and
live_—look, not at himself, not at his wounds, not at others around
him, but, directly and exclusively, to God’s remedy. If he refused or
neglected to look to that, there was nothing for him but death. He was
called to fix his earnest gaze upon God’s remedy, which was so placed
that all might see it. There was no possible use in looking any where
else, for the word was, “_Every one_ that is bitten, _when_ he looketh
upon _it_, shall live.” The bitten Israelite was shut up to the brazen
serpent; for the brazen serpent was God’s exclusive remedy for the bitten
Israelite. To look any where else, was to get nothing: to look at God’s
provision, was to get life.
Thus it is now. The sinner is called simply to look to Jesus. He is not
told to look to ordinances—to look to churches—to look to men or angels.
There is no help in any of these, and therefore he is not called to look
to them, but exclusively to Jesus, whose death and resurrection form the
eternal foundation of the believer’s peace and hope. God assures him that
“whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
This should fully satisfy the heart and conscience. God is satisfied,
and so ought we to be. To raise doubt, is to deny the record of God. If
an Israelite had said, How do I know that looking to that serpent of
brass will restore me? or if he had begun to dwell upon the greatness
and hopeless nature of his malady, and to reason upon the apparent
uselessness of looking up to God’s ordinance; in short, if any thing, no
matter what, had prevented his looking to the brazen serpent, it would
have involved a positive rejection of God, and death would have been the
inevitable result.
Thus in the case of the sinner, the moment he is enabled to cast a look
of faith to Jesus, his sins vanish. The blood of Jesus, like a mighty
cleansing stream, flows over his conscience, washes away every stain, and
leaves him without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; and all this, too,
in the very light of the holiness of God, where not one speck of sin can
be tolerated.
But ere closing our meditation on the brazen serpent, it may be well just
to observe what we may call the intense individuality which marked the
bitten Israelite’s look at the serpent. Each one had to look for himself.
No one could look for another. It was a personal question. No one could
be saved by proxy. There was life in a look, but the look must be given.
There needed to be a personal link—direct individual contact with God’s
remedy.
Thus it was then, and thus it is now. We must have to do with Jesus for
ourselves. The Church cannot save us—no order of priests or ministers
can save us. There must be the personal link with the Saviour, else
there is no life. “It came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten _any
man_, when _he_ beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” This was God’s
order then, and this is His order now; for “_as_ Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even _so_ must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
Let us remember the two little words “_as_” and “_so_,” for they apply
to every particular in the type and the Antitype. Faith is an individual
thing; repentance is an individual thing; salvation is an individual
thing. Let us never forget this. True, there is, in Christianity, union
and communion; but we must have to do with Christ for ourselves, and
we must walk with God for ourselves. We can neither get life nor live
by the faith of another. There is, we repeat with emphasis, an intense
individuality in every stage of the Christian’s life and practical
career.
We shall not dwell further upon the familiar type of “the serpent of
brass,” but we pray God to enable the reader to meditate upon it for
himself, and to make a direct personal application of the precious truth
unfolded in one of the most striking figures of Old-Testament times. May
he be led to gaze, with a more profound and soul-subduing faith, upon
the cross, and to drink into his inmost soul the precious mystery there
presented. May he not be satisfied with merely getting life by a look at
that cross, but seek to enter, more and more, into its deep and marvelous
meaning, and thus be more devotedly knit to Him who, when there was no
other way of escape possible, did voluntarily surrender Himself to be
bruised on that cursed tree for us and for our salvation.
We shall close our remarks on Numbers xxi. by calling the reader’s
attention to verses 16-18. “And from thence they went to Beer: that is
the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, ‘Gather the people together,
and I will give them water.’ Then Israel sang this song, ‘Spring up, O
well; sing ye unto it. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the
people digged it, by the direction of the law-giver, with their staves.’”
This is a remarkable passage coming in at such a moment and in such a
connection. The murmurings are hushed, the people are nearing the borders
of the promised land, the effects of the serpents’ bite have passed away,
and now, without any rod, without any smiting, the people are supplied
with refreshment. What though the Amorites, Moabites, and Ammonites are
about them? what though the power of Sihon stands in the way? God can
open a well for His people and give them a song in spite of all. Oh, what
a God is our God! How blessed it is to trace His actings and ways with
His people in all these wilderness scenes! May we learn to trust Him more
implicitly, and to walk with Him, from day to day, in holy and happy
subjection. This is the true path of peace and blessing.
CHAPTERS XXII.-XXIV.
These three chapters form a distinct section of our book—a truly
marvelous section, abounding in rich and varied instruction. In it we
have presented to us, first, the covetous prophet, and secondly, his
sublime prophecies. There is something peculiarly awful in the case of
Balaam. He evidently loved money—no uncommon love, alas! in our own day.
Balak’s gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man—a
bait too tempting to be resisted. Satan knew his man, and the price at
which he could be purchased.
If Balaam’s heart had been right with God, he would have made very short
work with Balak’s message; indeed it would not have cost him a moment’s
consideration to send a reply. But Balaam’s heart was all wrong, and we
see him in chapter xxii. in the melancholy condition of one acted upon
by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent upon going, because it was
bent upon the silver and gold; but at the same time, there was a sort of
reference to God—an appearance of religiousness, put on as a cloak to
cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money, but he would fain
lay hold of it after a religious fashion. Miserable man!—most miserable!
His name stands on the page of inspiration as the expression of one very
dark and awful stage of man’s downward history. “Woe unto them!” says
Jude; “for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after _the
error of Balaam for reward_, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
Peter, too, presents Balaam as a prominent figure in one of the very
darkest pictures of fallen humanity—a model on which some of the vilest
characters are formed. He speaks of those “having eyes full of adultery,
and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; a heart they
have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: which have
forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam
the son of Bosor, _who loved the wages of unrighteousness_; but was
rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad
the madness of the prophet.” (2 Peter ii. 14-16.)
These passages are solemnly conclusive as to the true character and
spirit of Balaam. His heart was set upon money—“he loved the wages
of unrighteousness,” and his history has been written by the pen of
the Holy Ghost as an awful warning to all professors to beware of
covetousness, which is idolatry. We shall not dwell further upon the sad
story. The reader may pause for a few moments, and gaze upon the picture
presented in Numbers xxii. He may study the two prominent figures—the
crafty king and the covetous, self-willed prophet; and we doubt not
he will rise up from the study with a deepened sense of the evil of
covetousness, the great moral danger of setting the heart’s affections
upon this world’s riches, and the deep blessedness of having the fear of
God before our eyes.
We shall now proceed to examine those marvelous prophecies delivered by
Balaam in the audience of Balak, king of the Moabites.
It is profoundly interesting to witness the scene enacted on the high
places of Baal, to mark the grand question at stake, to listen to the
speakers, to be admitted behind the scenes on such a momentous occasion.
How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah
and the enemy. It may be they were murmuring in their tents at the very
moment in the which God was setting forth their perfection by the tongue
of the covetous prophet. Balak would fain have Israel cursed, but,
blessed be God, He will not suffer any one to curse His people. He may
have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will
not suffer another to move his tongue against them. He may have to expose
them to themselves, but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.
This is a point of deepest interest. The great question is not so
much what the enemy may think of God’s people, or what they may think
about themselves, or what they may think of one another. The real—the
all-important question is, What does God think about them? He knows
exactly all that concerns them, all that they are, all that they have
done, all that is in them. Every thing stands clearly revealed to His
all-penetrating eye. The deepest secrets of the heart, of the nature, and
of the life are all known to Him. Neither angels, men, nor devils know us
as God knows us. God knows us perfectly, and it is with Him we have to
do; and we can say, in the triumphant language of the apostle, “If God
be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. viii.) God sees us, thinks of
us, speaks about us, acts towards us, according to what He Himself has
made us and wrought for us, according to the perfection of His own work.
“Beholders many faults may find;” but, as regards our standing, our God
sees us only in the comeliness of Christ: we are perfect in Him. When God
looks at His people, He beholds in them His own workmanship; and it is to
the glory of His holy name, and to the praise of His salvation, that not
a blemish should be seen on those who are His—those whom He, in sovereign
grace, has made His own. His character, His name, His glory, and the
perfection of His work are all involved in the standing of those with
whom He has linked Himself.
Hence, therefore, the moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene,
Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation; and
His answer is always founded, not upon what His people are in themselves,
but upon what He has made them through the perfection of His own work.
His glory is linked with them, and in vindicating them, He maintains His
own glory. He places Himself between them and every accusing tongue.
His glory demands that they should be presented in all the comeliness
which He has put upon them. If the enemy comes to curse and accuse,
Jehovah answers him by pouring forth the rich current of His everlasting
complacency in those whom He has chosen for Himself, and whom He has made
fit to be in His presence forever.
All this is strikingly illustrated in the third chapter of the prophet
Zechariah. There, too, the enemy presents himself to resist the
representative of the people of God. How does God answer him? Simply by
cleansing, clothing, and crowning the one whom Satan would fain curse and
accuse, so that Satan has not a word to say. He is silenced forever. The
filthy garments are gone, and he that was a brand is become a _mitred_
priest—he who was only fit for the flames of hell is now fitted to walk
up and down in the courts of the Lord.
So also when we turn to the book of Canticles, we see the same thing.
There, the bridegroom, in contemplating the bride, declares to her, “Thou
art _all fair_, my love; there is _no spot_ in thee.” (Chap. iv. 7.) She,
in speaking of herself, can only exclaim, “_I am black_.” (Chap. i.
5, 6.) So also in John xiii. the Lord Jesus looks at His disciples and
pronounces them “clean every whit,” although, in a few hours afterwards,
one of them was to curse and swear that he did not know Him. So vast
is the difference between what we are in ourselves and what we are in
Christ—between our positive standing and our possible state.
Should this glorious truth as to the perfection of our standing make us
careless as to our practical state? Far away be the monstrous thought!
Nay, the knowledge of our absolutely settled and perfect position in
Christ is the very thing which the Holy Ghost makes use of in order to
raise the standard of practice. Hearken to those powerful words from
the pen of the inspired apostle—“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ our
life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Mortify
_therefore_ your members,” etc. (Col. iii. 1-5.) We must never measure
the standing by the state, but always judge the state by the standing. To
lower the standing because of the state, is to give the death-blow to all
progress in practical Christianity.
The foregoing line of truth is most forcibly illustrated in Balaam’s four
parables. To speak after the manner of men, we never should have had such
a glorious view of Israel as seen in “the vision of the Almighty”—“from
the top of the rocks”—by one “having his eyes open,” had not Balak sought
to curse them. Jehovah, blessed be His name, can very speedily open a
man’s eyes to the true state of the case, in reference to the standing of
His people and His judgment respecting them. He claims the privilege of
setting forth _His_ thoughts about them. Balak and Balaam, with “all the
princes of Moab,” may assemble to hear Israel cursed and defied; they may
“build seven altars,” and “offer a bullock and a lamb on every altar;”
Balak’s silver and gold may glitter under the covetous gaze of the
false prophet; but not all the powers of earth and hell—men and devils
combined, in their dark and terrible array, can evoke a single breath of
curse or accusation against the Israel of God. As well might the enemy
have sought to point out a flaw in that fair creation which God had
pronounced “very good,” as to fasten an accusation upon the redeemed of
the Lord. Oh, no; they shine in all the comeliness which He has put upon
them, and all that is needed in order to see them thus, is to mount to
“the top of the rocks”—to have “the eyes open” to look at them from His
point of view, so that we may see them in “the vision of the Almighty.”
Having thus taken a general survey of the contents of these remarkable
chapters, we shall briefly glance at each of the four parables in
particular. We shall find a distinct point in each—a distinct feature in
the character and condition of the people as seen in “the vision of the
Almighty.”
In the first of Balaam’s wonderful parables, we have the marked
separation of God’s people from all the nations most distinctly set
forth. “How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy
whom the Lord hath not defied? for from the top of the rocks I see him,
and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and
shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob,
and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his.”[19]
Here we have Israel singled out, and partitioned off to be a separated
and peculiar people—a people who, according to the divine thought
concerning them, were never, at any time, on any ground, or for any
object whatsoever, to be mingled with or reckoned amongst the nations.
“The people shall dwell _alone_.” This is distinct and emphatic. It is
true of the literal seed of Abraham, and true of all believers now.
Immense practical results flow out of this great principle. God’s people
are to be separated unto Him, not on the ground of being better than
others, but simply on the ground of what God is, and what He would ever
have His people to be. We shall not pursue this point further just now;
but the reader would do well to examine it thoroughly in the light of the
divine Word. “_The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations._” (Chap. xxiii. 8, 9.)
But if Jehovah, in His sovereign grace, is pleased to link Himself with
a people; if He calls them out to be a separate people in the world—to
“dwell alone,” and shine for Him in the midst of those who are still
“sitting in darkness and the shadow of death,” He can only have them in
such a condition as suits Himself. He must make them such as He would
have them to be—such as shall be to the praise of His great and glorious
name. Hence, in the second parable, the prophet is made to tell out, not
merely the negative, but the positive condition of the people. “And he
took up his parable and said, ‘Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me,
thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son
of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or
hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? Behold, I have received
commandment to bless; and _He hath blessed;_ and I _cannot_ reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness
in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among
them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a
unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there
any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said
of Jacob and of Israel, What hath _God wrought_! [not, What hath Israel
wrought!] Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up
himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.’” (Chap. xxiii. 18-24.)
Here we find ourselves on truly elevated ground, and on ground as solid
as it is elevated. This is, in truth, “the top of the rocks”—the pure
air and wide range of “the hills,” where the people of God are seen only
in “the vision of the Almighty”—seen as He sees them, without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing—all their deformities hidden from view—all His
comeliness seen upon them.
In this very sublime parable, Israel’s blessedness and security are
made to depend, not on themselves, but upon the truth and faithfulness
of Jehovah. “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of
man, that He should repent.” This places Israel upon safe ground. God
must be true to Himself. Is there any power that can possibly prevent
Him from fulfilling His word and oath? Surely not. “_He hath blessed_;
and I cannot reverse it.” God _will_ not, and Satan _cannot_ reverse the
blessing.
Thus all is settled. “It is ordered in all things and sure.” In the
previous parable, it was, “God hath _not cursed_;” here, it is, “He
_hath blessed_.” There is very manifest advance. As Balak conducts the
money-loving prophet from place to place, Jehovah takes occasion to bring
out fresh features of beauty in His people, and fresh points of security
in their position. Thus it is not merely that they are a separated
people dwelling alone; but they are a justified people, having the Lord
their God _with_ them, and the shout of a King _among_ them. “He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel.”
The enemy may say, There is iniquity and perverseness there all the
while. Yes, but who can make Jehovah behold it, when He Himself has been
pleased to blot it all out as a thick cloud for His name’s sake? If He
has cast it behind His back, who can bring it before His face? “It is
God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?” God sees His people so
thoroughly delivered from all that could be against them, that He can
take up His abode in their midst, and cause His voice to be heard amongst
them.
Well, therefore, may we exclaim, “‘What hath God wrought!’—it is not,
What hath Israel wrought!” Balak and Balaam would have found plenty to
do in the way of cursing had Israel’s work been in question. The Lord be
praised, it is on what He hath wrought that His people stand, and their
foundation is as stable as the throne of God. “If God be for us, who can
be against us?” If God stands right between us and every foe, what have
we to _fear?_ If He undertakes, on our behalf, to answer every accuser,
then assuredly perfect peace is our portion.
However, the king of Moab still fondly hoped and sedulously sought to
gain his end. And doubtless Balaam did the same, for they were leagued
together against the Israel of God, thus reminding us forcibly of the
beast and the false prophet, who are yet to arise and play an awfully
solemn part in connection with Israel’s future, as presented on the
apocalyptic page.
“And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went
not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, [what a dreadful
disclosure is here!] but he set his face toward the wilderness. And
Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents,
according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he
took up his parable, and said, ‘Balaam the son of Beor hath said, he
hath said, which heard _the words of God_, which saw _the vision of the
Almighty_, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: How goodly
are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys
are they spread forth, as the gardens by the river’s side, as the trees
of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar-trees beside the
waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be
in many waters, and his King shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom
shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were
the strength of a unicorn: he shall _eat up the nations_ his enemies,
[terrible announcement for Balak!] and shall break their bones, and
pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion,
and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth
thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.’” (Chap. xxiv. 1-9.)
“Higher and higher yet” is surely the motto here. We may well shout,
“Excelsior!” as we mount up to the top of the rocks, and hearken to those
brilliant utterances which the false prophet was forced to give out. It
was better and better for Israel, worse and worse for Balak. He had to
stand by and not only hear Israel “blessed,” but hear himself “cursed”
for seeking to curse them.
But let us particularly notice the rich grace that shines in this third
parable.—“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O
Israel!” If one had gone down to examine those tents and tabernacles
in “the vision” of man, they might have appeared “black as the tents
of Kedar;” but looked at in “the vision of the Almighty,” they were
“goodly,” and whoever did not see them thus needed to have “_his eyes
opened_.” If I am looking at the people of God “from the top of the
rocks,” I shall see them as God sees them, and that is, as clothed with
all the comeliness of Christ—complete in Him—accepted in the Beloved.
This is what will enable me to get on with them, to walk with them, to
have fellowship with them, to rise above their points and angles, blots
and blemishes, failures and infirmities.[20] If I do not contemplate them
from this lofty—this divine ground, I shall be sure to fix my eye on
some little flaw or other, which will completely mar my communion, and
alienate my affections.
In Israel’s case, we shall see, in the very next chapter, what terrible
evil they fell into. Did this alter Jehovah’s judgment? Surely not. “He
is not the son of man, that He should repent.” He judged and chastened
them for their evil, because He is holy, and can never sanction, in His
people, aught that is contrary to His nature. But He could never reverse
His judgment respecting them. He knew all about them,—He knew what they
were and what they would do; but yet He said, “I have not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness in Israel.”—“How goodly are
thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!” Was this making light
of their evil? The thought were blasphemy. He could chasten them for
their sins; but the moment an enemy comes forth to curse or accuse, He
stands in front of His people and says, “I see no iniquity.”—“How goodly
are thy tents!”
Reader, dost thou think that such views of divine grace will minister to
a spirit of Antinomianism? Far be the thought! We may rest assured we are
never farther away from the region of that terrible evil than when we are
breathing the pure and holy atmosphere of “the top of the rocks”—that
high ground from whence God’s people are viewed, not as they are in
themselves, but as they are in Christ—not according to the thoughts of
man, but according to the thoughts of God. And furthermore, we may say
that the only true and effectual mode of raising the standard of moral
conduct is to abide in the faith of this most precious and tranquilizing
truth, that God sees us perfect in Christ.
But we must take one more glance at our third parable. Not only are
Israel’s tents seen to be goodly in the eyes of Jehovah, but the people
themselves are presented to us as abiding fast by those ancient sources
of grace and living ministry which are found in God. “As the valleys are
they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign
aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar-trees beside the waters.”
How exquisite! how perfectly beautiful! And only to think that we are
indebted to the godless confederacy between Balak and Balaam for those
sublime utterances!
But there is more than this. Not only is Israel seen drinking at those
everlasting well-springs of grace and salvation, but, as must ever be
the case, as a channel of blessing to others. “He shall pour the water
out of his buckets.” It is the fixed purpose of God that Israel’s twelve
tribes shall yet be a medium of rich blessing to all the ends of the
earth. This we learn from such scriptures as Ezekiel xlvii. and Zechariah
xiv, on which we do not now attempt to dwell; we merely refer to them as
showing the marvelous fullness and beauty of these glorious parables. The
reader may meditate with much spiritual profit upon these and kindred
scriptures, but let him carefully guard against the fatal system falsely
called spiritualizing, which, in fact, consists mainly in applying to
the professing church all the special blessings of the house of Israel,
while to the latter are left only the curses of a broken law. We may
rest assured that God will not sanction any such system as this. Israel
is beloved for the fathers’ sakes, and “the gifts and calling of God are
without repentance.” (Rom. xi.)
We shall close this section by a brief reference to Balaam’s last
parable. Balak, having heard such a glowing testimony to Israel’s future,
and the overthrow of all their enemies, was not only sorely disappointed,
but greatly enraged.—“And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and
he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, ‘I called thee
to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them
these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to
promote thee unto _great honor_; [?] but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee
back from honor.’ And Balaam said unto Balak, ‘Spake I not also to thy
messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me
his house full of silver and gold [the very thing his poor heart craved
intensely], I _cannot_ go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do
either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I
speak. And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, therefore, and I will
advertise thee what _this people_ shall do to _thy people_ in the latter
days.’ [This was coming to close quarters.] And he took up his parable,
and said, ‘Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are
open hath said: he hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew
the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty,
falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see Him, but
not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: [tremendous fact for Balaam!]
there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children
of Sheth.’” (Ver. 10-17.)
This gives great completeness to the subject of these parables. The
top-stone is here laid on the magnificent superstructure. It is, in
good truth, grace and glory. In the first parable, we see the absolute
separation of the people; in the second, their perfect justification;
in the third, their moral beauty and fruitfulness; and now, in the
fourth, we stand on the very summit of the hills—on the loftiest crag
of the rocks, and survey the wide plains of glory in all their length
and breadth, stretching away into a boundless future. We see the Lion of
the tribe of Judah crouching; we hear His roar; we see Him seizing upon
all His enemies, and crushing them to atoms. The Star of Jacob rises to
set no more. The true David ascends the throne of His Father, Israel is
pre-eminent in the earth, and all his enemies are covered with shame and
everlasting contempt.
It is impossible to conceive any thing more magnificent than these
parables, and they are all the more remarkable as coming at the very
close of Israel’s desert wanderings, during which they had given such
ample proof of what they were—of what materials they were made, and
what their capabilities and tendencies were. But God was above all, and
nothing changeth His affection. Whom He loves, and as He loves, He loves
to the end; and hence the league between the typical “beast and false
prophet” proved abortive. Israel was blessed of God and not to be cursed
of any. “And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and
Balak also went his way.”