out? Perhaps in the loss of the possessions they have selfishly
guarded, and their reduction to the level of those whom they kept at
arm's-length and treated as inferiors or as enemies. Perhaps in the
harshness of temper and bitterness of spirit the proud, friendless rich
man may find growing upon him in old age, the horrible feeling that
he has not one brother where he should have had thousands, no one to
care--except selfishly--whether he lives or dies. To come to that, so
far as a man is concerned with his fellow-men, is to be indeed lost.
But these retributions may be artfully escaped. What then? Is not
One to be reckoned with who is the Guardian of the human family and
gives men power and wealth only as His stewards, to be used in His
service? The future life does not obliterate society, but it destroys
the class separations, the factitious distinctions, that exist now.
It brings a man face to face with the fact that he is but a man, like
others, responsible to God. Is not the result indicated by our Lord
when He says to exclusive Pharisaical men, "They shall come from the
east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the
kingdom--ye yourselves cast forth without"? Brotherhood here, not in
name, but in deed and truth, means brotherhood above. Denial of it here
means unfitness for the society of heaven.
We learn from ver. 19 that the Reubenites and Gadites confidently
affirmed, even when they made their request to Moses, that their
inheritance had fallen to them on the east side of Jordan. It may
be asked how they knew, since the division was not yet made. And
the answer appears to be that they had made up their minds on the
subject. Without waiting for the lot, they seem to have said, This is
nobody's land now that the Amorites and Midianites are dispossessed.
We will have it. And there was no sufficient reason for refusing them
their choice when they accepted the conditions. At the same time,
these tribes did not act fairly and honourably. And the result was
that, although they gained the fat land and the good pastures, they
lost the close fellowship with the other tribes which was of greater
value. Reuben, the premier tribe, could no longer keep its position.
It was by-and-by succeeded by Judah. Neither Reuben nor Gad made any
great figure in the subsequent history. The half-tribe of Manasseh,
which was settled, not on its own request, but by authority, in the
northern part of Gilead towards the Argob, had greater distinction.
Gad has some notice. We read of eleven valiant men of this tribe who
swam the Jordan at its highest to join David in his trouble. "But
no person, no incident is recorded to place Reuben before us in any
distincter form than as a member of the community (if community it
can be called) of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe
of Manasseh. The very towns of his inheritance--Heshbon, Aroer,
Kiriathaim, Dibon, Baal-meon, Sibmah, Jazer--are familiar to us as
Moabite, not as Israelite, towns." The Reubenites, in fact, under the
influence of their wild neighbours, gradually lost touch with their
brethren and fell away from the religion of Jehovah.
It is a parable of the degeneration of life.--Earthly choice rules
and heavenly faith is hazarded for the sake of a temporal advantage.
Men have their will because they insist upon it. They do not consult
the prophet, but make terms with him, that they may gain their end.
But as they place themselves, so they have to live, not on the soil
of the promised land, no integral part of Israel.
XXV
_THE WAY AND THE LOT_
NUMBERS xxxiii., xxxiv
1. The itinerary of xxxiii. 1-49 is one of the passages definitely
ascribed to Moses. It opens with the departure from Rameses in Egypt
on the morrow after the passover, when the children of Israel "went
out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians." The exodus
is made singularly impressive in this narrative by the addition that
it took place "while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn,
which the Lord had smitten among them." The Divine salvation of
Israel begins when the dark shadow of loss and judgment rests on
their oppressors. The gods of Egypt are discredited by the triumph
of Jehovah's people. They can neither save their own worshippers nor
prevent the servants of another from obtaining liberty.
From Rameses, the place of departure, to Abel-shittim, in the plains
of Moab, forty-two stations in all are given at which the Israelites
pitched. Of these about twenty-four are named either in Exodus, in
other parts of the Book of Numbers, or in Deuteronomy. Some eighteen,
therefore, are mentioned in this passage and nowhere else. Of the whole
number, comparatively few have as yet been identified. The Egyptian
localities, at least Rameses and Succoth, are known. With the exit
from Egypt, at the crossing of the Red Sea difficulty begins. Our
passage says that the Israelites went three days' journey into the
wilderness of Etham; Exodus calls it the wilderness of Shur. Then Marah
and Elim bring the travellers, according to chap. xxxiii., to the Red
Sea, the _Yâm Suph_. Ordinarily, this is supposed to be the Gulf of
Suez, alongside which the route would have lain from the day it was
crossed. There are, however, the best reasons for believing that this
"Red Sea" is the eastern gulf, The Elanitic, as it must be in xiv.
25, where, after the evil report of the spies, the Divine command is
given: "To-morrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way
to the Red Sea." From this identification of the Yâm Suph many things
follow. And one is the rejection of the ordinary opinion regarding the
position of Sinai. The mountain of the law-giving is always described
as situated in Midian. Now, Midian is beyond Elath, on the eastern
side of the Yâm Suph, not in the peninsula between the Gulfs of Suez
and Akabah. Elim and Elath, or Eloth, appear to be names for the same
place, at the head of the Gulf of Akabah. We have therefore to look
for Sinai either among the southern hills of Seir or those lying more
southward still, towards the desert. In Deborah's song (Judg. v. 4, 5)
occur the following verses:--
"Lord, when Thou wentest out of Seir,
When Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water;
The mountains flowed down at the presence of the Lord,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel."
In the same direction the "Prayer of Habbakuk" points (iii. 3, 7):
"God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His light....
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction,
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble."
The tradition which places Sinai in the south of the peninsula
between the two gulfs "is of later origin than the lifetime of St.
Paul, and can claim no higher authority than the interested fancies
of ignorant cœnobites. It throws into confusion both the geography
and the history of the Pentateuch, and contradicts the definite
statements of the Old Testament." So the most recent inquiry.
If Mount Sinai was somewhere to the south of Edom, the journey thence
to Kadesh by way of Kibroth-hattaavah and Hazeroth, localities
mentioned both in Numb. xi. and xxxiii., may have had other stations;
and these may be named in ver. 19 of our passage and onward. But
identification of the places is exceedingly doubtful till we come
to Ezion-geber, in the Arabah, and Mount Hor. Deut. x. places the
scene of Aaron's death at Mosera, which seems to be the same as
Moseroth, and is there given along with other stations named in the
itinerary---Bene-jaakan, Gudgodah (= Hor-haggidgad), Jotbathah. And
this seems to prove that these localities were in or near the Arabah,
Moseroth being in the region of Mount Hor. But where Kadesh is to
be found between Rithmah and Moseroth, and under what name, it is
impossible to say. Keil argues for Rithmah itself. Palmer reckons
twenty stations to the first arrival at Kadesh. His map, however,
shows a Mount Sheraif, which may be the same as Shepher, not far from
Gadis, which he identifies with Kadesh. For the rest we are left in
great ignorance, relieved only by this, that at the most there are
but eighteen stations given, more probably thirteen, for the whole
thirty-seven years between the first arrival at Kadesh and the death of
Aaron at Mount Hor; and five or six of these were on the Arabah. During
the whole of that long period there were only a few removals of the
tabernacle, and those apparently within a limited area near Kadesh.
A list of names with only three historical notes appears a singular
memorial of the forty years. Time was, no doubt, when the places
named were all well known, and any Israelite desiring to satisfy
himself as to the route by which his forefathers went could make it
out by help of this passage. To us the interest of the subject is
partly the same as that which might have been found by a Hebrew,
say, of the time of Hezekiah, for whom the verification of the
wilderness journey might be a help to faith. But the impossibility
of identifying the localities shows that there are matters in the
history of Israel which are of no particular importance now. There
is more danger in seeking to gratify mere curiosity, than profit
in any possible discoveries. Why should not the mountain of the
law-giving be hid in the shadows as well as the grave in which Moses
was laid? Why should not the places at which Israel encamped be to
us mere names, since, if we could identify them, it might only be to
add fresh difficulties instead of clearing away those that exist?
The Israelites who entered Canaan had not seen all the way by which
Jehovah led His people. When they crossed the Jordan, present duty
was to engage them, not the mere names that belonged to the past.
They were to forget the things behind, and stretch forward to the
things which were before. And duty is the same still. Our backward
glance, especially on the actual path from one spot of earth to
another by which men have gone in trial and anticipation, must not
hinder the efforts called for by the circumstances of our own time.
The way of the desert, especially, may well lie half obliterated in
the distance, since we know the spiritual fruit of the dealings of
God with Israel, and can bear it with us as we follow our own road.
The ideas of change and urgency are in our passage. The wilderness
journey was taken by a people on whom Divine influences had laid
hold, who of themselves would have remained content in Egypt, but
were not suffered, because God had some greater thing in store
for them. The urgency throughout was His. And so is that which we
ourselves feel hurrying us from change to change, from place to
place. We may not be in the wilderness, but in a spot of shelter and
comfort; and it may be no house of bondage, but a vantage-ground
for generous effort. Even when we are thus happily settled, as we
imagine, the call comes, and we must strike our tents. At other times
our own anxiety anticipates the command. But we know that always,
whether we pass into sterner conditions of life or escape to more
pleasant circumstances, the times and changes that happen to us are
of God's appointing, that His providence urges us toward a goal. And
this means that our reaching the goal must be by His way, although
properly we endeavour to find it for ourselves.
The number of the stations at which Israel encamped in the course
of forty years can scarcely be taken as representing the number of
changes from dwelling to dwelling any pilgrim through this world
shall have to make. But if we think of halting-places and movements
of thought, we shall have a fruitful parallel. From the twentieth to
the sixtieth year--may we not say?--is the time of journeying that
takes the mind from its first freedom to comparative rest. Not far
on the Divine law-giving impresses itself on the conscience; and
hence a direct road may appear to lead into the peace of obedience.
But the stations successively reached, Kibroth-hattaavah, Hazeroth,
Rithmah, and the rest, represent each a peculiar difficulty
encountered, a barrier to our steady progress towards the settled
mind. St. Paul indicates one he found when he says: "I had not known
coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Another
halt is imposed when it is found that the law appears to forbid
what is according to nature; still another when obedience requires
separation from those who have been valued friends and pleasant
companions. These hindrances left behind as the soul, still confiding
and hopeful, is urged on towards the goal, a great trial like that
of Kadesh follows. We are not far from the frontier of promise; and
anticipations are formed of many delights for heart and life. Is
not obedience to bring felicity, an easy salvation from doubt and
fear? But it becomes plain that there are enemies to faith and peace
beyond the border as well as in the region already crossed. Complete
conformity to the Divine will has not been achieved. Will it ever
be achieved? We begin to doubt the result of law-keeping. There is
perhaps a backward look to Sinai, implying a question whether God
spoke there, or beyond Sinai, to the old traditional way of life. And
so another term of difficult inquiry begins.
In this way many find themselves held for a long period of middle
life. Their minds move from one point to another without seeming
to make any progress. But neither does rest come. It is seen that
partial obedience, a measure of nearness to the perfection once
dreamed of, will not suffice. Then arises the question whether
obedience can ever save. There is return almost to Sinai itself,
at least to a place from which its peak is seen and the mind is
confirmed as to the inexorability of law. So the urgency of the
Divine will is felt, and the way is fixed. If the soul would make
its own way into peace, it is driven back. For, perhaps, it would
have the difficulty solved by taking the way of a Church, accepting
a creed--as Israel would have passed through the territory of Edom.
This also is forbidden. Trusted helpers fall by the way, as Aaron
died at Hor, and there is sorrowful delay. But movement is enforced;
and, finally, it is by a road that reveals Sinai and the law in
quite another aspect, showing vital faith, not mere obedience, to
be the means of salvation, our progress is made. Round the borders
of Edom, not by trust in creed or Church, but by confidence in
God Himself, the soul must advance. Then strength comes. Point
after point is reached and passed. Self-righteousness, pride, and
Pharisaism--Amorites of the mountain land--are overcome. At length
through the faith of Christ peace is found, the peace that is
possible on this side the river.
It is our high privilege to be urged and led on thus by Him who knows
the way we should take, who tries us that we may come forth purified
as gold. Without Divine pressure we should content ourselves in the
desert and never see the real good of life. So many lose themselves
because they will not admit that to be of the truth is necessary to
salvation. There is a way of thinking, or rather refusing to think,
of spiritual verities which keeps the soul unaware of the purpose
God would carry into effect, or indifferent to it. The mind refuses
its duty; and in the midway of life the spiritual goal fades from
view. To guard against this taking place in the case of any one is
the office of the Gospel ministry. If evangelical preaching does not
keep thought awake and attentive to Divine inspirations, if it does
not speak to those who are in every stage of perplexity, at every
possible camping-ground, it fails of its high purpose.
2. Commandment is given that when the Israelites pass over Jordan
they shall use effectual means for establishing themselves as the
people of Jehovah in Canaan. They are, for one thing, to drive out
before them all the inhabitants of the land. Nothing is here said
of putting them all to the sword; only they are not to be left even
in partial occupation. The plan of Israel's settlement in its new
territory requires that it shall be subject to no alien influence,
and shall have the field entirely to itself for the development of
customs, civilisation, and religion. And in this there is nothing
either impossible or, as the ideas of the time went, strange and
cruel. We do not need to take refuge in the command of God and
defend it by saying that He had absolute right over the lives of
the Canaanites. The tides of war and population were continually
flowing and receding. When the Israelites reached Canaan, they had
the same right as others to occupy it, provided they could make their
right good at the point of the sword. Yet for their own special
consciousness the command given by Moses in Jehovah's name was most
important. It was only as His people they were to advance, and as His
people they were to dwell separate in Canaan.
To drive out all the inhabitants of the land was, however, a
difficult task; and even Moses might not intend the order to
be literally obeyed. We have seen that he did not require the
destruction of the Midianites to be absolute. In the wars of conquest
in Canaan cases of a similar kind would necessarily arise. When
a tribe was driven out of its cities many would be left behind,
some of whom would conceal themselves and gradually venture from
their hiding-places. The command was general, and could scarcely
be supposed to require the putting to death of all children. And
again, as we know, there were fortresses which for a long time defied
attempts to reduce them. The Israelites were not so faithful to God
that Moses could expect their success to be insured by supernatural
aid. It is the constant purpose they are to have in view, to sweep
the land clear of those presently in occupation. As they establish
themselves, this will be carried out; and if they fail, allowing any
of the tribes to remain, these will be as pricks in their eyes and as
thorns in their sides.
The will of God that Israel, called to special duty in the world,
was to keep itself separate, is here strongly emphasised. It was
the only way by which faith could be preserved and made fruitful.
For the Canaanites, already civilised and in many of the arts
superior to the Hebrews, had gross polytheistic beliefs imbedded in
their customs, and a somewhat elaborate cultus which was observed
throughout the whole land. "Figured stones," which by their shape or
incised emblems conveyed religious ideas; molten images, probably
of bronze, like those found at Tel el Hesy, which were for household
use, or of a larger size for tribal adoration; "high places" crowned
by altars and sacrificial stones, were specially to be destroyed.
The tendency to polytheism required to be carefully guarded against,
for the gods of Canaan represented the powers of nature, and their
rites celebrated the fruitfulness of earth under the lordship of Baal
or Bel, and the mysterious processes of life associated with the
influence of Astarte, the moon. The divinities of Egypt also appear
to have had their worshippers; and, indeed, the mixed population of
the land had drawn from every neighbouring region symbols, rites, and
practices supposed to propitiate the unseen powers on whose favour
human life must depend. Israel could prosper only by rejecting and
extirpating this idolatry. Allowed to survive in any degree, it would
be the cause of physical suffering and spiritual decay.
The command thus ascribed to Moses was again one which he must have
known the Israelites would find difficult to carry out, even if they
were cordially disposed to obey it. The sacred places of a country
like Canaan tend to retain their reputation even when the rites
fall into disuse; and however expeditiously the work of sweeping
away the original inhabitants might be done, there was no small
danger that knowledge of the cult as well as veneration for the high
places would be learned by the Hebrews. The command was made clear
and uncompromising so that every Israelite might know his duty; but
the difficulty and the peril remained. And as we know from the Book
of Judges and subsequent history, the law, especially in regard to
the demolition of high places, became practically a dead letter.
Jehovah was worshipped at the ancient places of sacrifice; and so far
were even pious Israelites of the next few centuries from thinking
they did wrong in using those old altars, that Samuel fell in with
the custom. It was true in regard to this commandment as it is with
regard to many others,--the high mark of duty is presented, but few
aim at it. Expediency rules, the possible is made to suffice instead
of the ideal. There is reason to believe, not only that the images
and stone symbols of Canaan were venerated, but that Jehovah Himself
was worshipped by many of the Hebrews under the form of some animal.
And the Canaanites became to those who fraternised with them as
pricks in their eyes. Spiritual vision failed; faith fell back on
the coarse emblems used by the old inhabitants of the land. Then the
vigour of the tribes decayed and they were judged and punished.
3. The boundaries of the land in which the Israelites were to dwell
are laid down in ch. xxxiv.; but, as elsewhere, there is difficulty
in following the geography and identifying the old names. The south
quarter is to be "from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of
Edom"--that is to say, it is to include the region of Zin near Kadesh
and extend to the mountains of Seir. The "ascent of Akrabbim" is
apparently the Ghor rising southwards from the Dead Sea. The line
then runs along the Arabah for some distance, say fifty miles, across
by the south of the Azazimeh hills and of Kadesh Barnea towards the
stream called the river or brook of Egypt, which it followed to
its debouchment in the Mediterranean. The western boundary was the
Mediterranean or Great Sea for a distance of perhaps one hundred and
sixty miles. The northern boundary is exceedingly obscure. They were
to keep in view a "mount Hor" as a landmark; but no two geographers
can be said to agree where it was. The "entering in of Hamath" is also
a locality greatly disputed. Most likely it was some well-known part
of the road leading along the Leontes valley to that of the Orontes.
If we take the mount Hor here indicated to be Hermon, a line running
west and striking the Mediterranean somewhere north of Tyre would be a
natural boundary, and would correspond fairly with the actual partition
and occupation of the country. It is certain, however, that both the
Philistines and Phœnicians, especially the latter, were so strongly
established in the southern and northern parts of the seaboard that
any attempt to dispossess them was soon discovered to be futile. And
even in the limited central range from Kedesh Naphtali to Beersheba the
settlement was only effected gradually.
The Canaan of the Divine promise marked out, yet never fully
possessed, is a symbol of the region of this life which those who
believe in God have assigned to them, but never entirely enjoy.
There are boundaries within which there is abundant room for the
development of the life of faith. It is not, as the world reckons, a
district of great resources. As Canaan had neither gold nor silver,
neither coal nor iron mines, as its seaboard was not well supplied
with harbours, nor its rivers and lakes of great use for inland
navigation, so we may say the life open to the Christian has its
limitations and disabilities. It does not invite those who seek
pleasure, wealth, or dazzling exploits. Within it, discipline is to
be found rather than enjoyment of earthly good. The "milk and honey"
of this land are spiritual symbols, Divine sacraments. There is room
for the development of life in every branch of study and culture,
but in subordination to the glory of God, and for the testimony that
should be borne to His majesty and truth.
Many of us affect to despise so narrow a range of thought and
endeavour, and persist in believing that something more than
discipline may be looked for in this world. Is there not a proper
kingdom of humanity better than any kingdom of God? May not the race
of men, apart from any service paid to an Unseen God, attain dignity
of its own, power, gladness, magnificence? It is supposed that by
rejecting all the limitations of religion and refusing the outlook
to another life the united labour of men will make this life free
and this earth a paradise. But it remains true that men must limit
their hopes with regard to their own future here as individuals and
the future of the race. We must accept the boundaries God has fixed,
on one side the swift Jordan, on the other the Great Sea. There are
seemingly rich fields beyond, wide regions that invite the tastes and
senses, but these are no part of the soul's inheritance; to explore
and reduce them would bring no real gain.