CHAPTER I.

NOTES

_on the book of_

DEUTERONOMY

_Volume I_

C. H. MACKINTOSH

"_Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven._"

"_Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin

against Thee._"

LOIZEAUX BROTHERS

_Neptune, New Jersey_

FIRST EDITION 1880

TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING 1965

LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, INC., PUBLISHERS

_A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work

and to the Spread of His Truth_

NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PREFATORY NOTE

TO THE AMERICAN EDITION

As several persons in America have, without any authority whatever

from me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumes of "Notes," I deem

it my duty to inform the reader that I have given full permission to

Messrs. LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books in such

form as they shall consider most suitable.

C. H. MACKINTOSH.

_6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough,

May 1st, 1879._

[1] Now six.

PREFACE

The value and importance of the Word of God cannot be over-estimated

at the present moment. Its integrity and authority are being assailed

from almost every quarter and in every form of attack. "If the

foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps. xi. 3.)

Infidel thoughts and principles are not limited to a few literary and

speculative minds, as they were fifty years ago, but are now asserted

by many who ought to be the true guardians of Christianity and the

defenders of the Bible as a revelation from God.

In this way the multitude of the simple and unsuspecting are deceived.

If the style of address be pleasing, few care to compare what they

have been hearing with the holy Scriptures. The conscience not being

aroused, they take no further trouble.

But what of the state of immortal souls, under such a ministry, in

view of eternity? On whom does the weight of responsibility rest?

Fine-spun theories will never awaken a soul asleep in sin: the lost

sinner must be brought face to face with the plain Word of God and the

solemn realities of eternity. His voice must be heard. All is

absolute, positive, and definite here, whatever infidelity may say.

"The Word of the Lord endureth forever."

The burden of the following pages, I am thankful to find, is well

calculated to meet and counteract the looseness and indefiniteness of

the prevailing teaching of the present day.

And this, I may also say, is the burden of the book of Deuteronomy.

The Jewish lawgiver presses with great earnestness the Word of Jehovah

on the heart of Israel. It is not a book of ceremonials, but the

reminding of the people of their obligation to keep the commandments,

the statutes, and the judgments of the Lord.

This is the first moral duty of man in every age--implicit obedience

and submission to the revealed will of God. Moses speaks to the

children of Israel as a father, and appeals to them in the most tender

and loving way. "Hearken, O Israel," he says, "unto the statutes and

unto the judgments which I teach you ... ye shall not add unto the

word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it,

that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command

you." And again, he says, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine

hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou

shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

The welfare of the people individually and nationally depended on

their faithfully observing these oft-repeated laws. To neglect them

was to bring upon themselves the displeasure and chastening of the God

of Israel.

But more need not be said here on these subjects. The reader will find

in the following pages the most ample unfolding and practical

application of these divine exhortations and warnings. But the writer

has not confined himself to what Deuteronomy teaches, but has enlarged

on what it suggests. In this way we have brought before us the grand

cardinal truths of Christianity: a wide circle of truth is embraced,

and much that applies to the individual Christian, the family, the

household, and the Church of God will be found in the accompanying

book.

It now goes forth with the earnest desire that the Lord may be

graciously pleased to use it for the glory of His own name, the help

of His people, and the eternal blessing of many precious souls.

_A. M._

_London, November, 1880._

CONTENTS

_Page._

INTRODUCTION, 1

CHAPTER I, 22

" II, 107

" III, 132

" IV, 162

" V, 284

" VI, 377

NOTES

ON

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

INTRODUCTION

The character of the book on which we now enter is quite as distinct

as that of any of the four preceding sections of the Pentateuch. Were

we to judge from the title of the book, we might suppose that it is a

mere repetition of what we find in previous books. This would be a

very grave mistake. There is no such thing as mere repetition in the

Word of God. Indeed, God never repeats Himself, either in His Word or

in His works. Wherever we trace our God, whether on the page of holy

Scripture or in the vast fields of creation, we see divine fullness,

infinite variety, marked design; and just in proportion to our

spirituality of mind will be our ability to discern and appreciate

these things. Here, as in all beside, we need the eye anointed with

heavenly eye-salve. What a poor idea must the man entertain of

inspiration who could imagine for a moment that the fifth book of

Moses is a barren repetition of what is to be found in Exodus,

Leviticus, and Numbers! Why, even in human composition we should not

expect to find such a flagrant imperfection, much less in the perfect

revelation which God has so graciously given us in His holy Word. The

fact is, there is not, from cover to cover of the inspired volume, a

single superfluous sentence, not one redundant clause, not one

statement without its own distinct meaning--its own direct

application. If we do not see this, we have yet to learn the depth,

force, and meaning of the words, "All scripture is given by

inspiration of God."

Precious words! Would they were more thoroughly understood in this our

day! It is of the utmost possible importance that the Lord's people

should be rooted, grounded, and settled in the grand truth of the

plenary inspiration of holy Scripture. It is to be feared that laxity

as to this most weighty subject is spreading in the professing church

to an appalling extent. In many quarters it has become fashionable to

pour contempt upon the idea of plenary inspiration. It is looked upon

as the veriest childishness and ignorance. It is regarded by many as a

great proof of profound scholarship, breadth of mind, and original

thinking to be able, by free criticism, to find out flaws in the

precious volume of God. Men presume to sit in judgment upon the Bible

as though it were a mere human composition. They undertake to

pronounce upon what is and what is not worthy of God. In fact, they do

virtually sit in judgment upon God Himself. The present result is, as

might be expected, utter darkness and confusion, both for those

learned doctors themselves and for all who are so foolish as to listen

to them. And as for the future, who can conceive the eternal destiny

of all those who shall have to answer before the judgment-seat of

Christ for the sin of blaspheming the Word of God, and leading

hundreds astray by their infidel teaching?

We shall not, however, occupy time in dwelling upon the sinful folly

of infidels and skeptics (even though called Christians), or their

puny efforts to cast dishonor upon that peerless volume which our

gracious God has caused to be written for our learning. They will some

day or other find out their fatal mistake. God grant it may not be too

late! And as for us, let it be our deep joy and consolation to

meditate upon the Word of God, that so we may ever be discovering some

fresh treasure in that exhaustless mine--some new moral glories in

that heavenly revelation!

The book of Deuteronomy holds a very distinct place in the inspired

canon. Its opening lines are sufficient to prove this.--"These be the

words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the

wilderness, in the plain over against the Red Sea, between Paran, and

Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab."

Thus much as to the place in which the lawgiver delivered the contents

of this marvelous book. The people had come up to the eastern bank of

the Jordan, and were about to enter upon the land of promise. Their

desert wanderings were nearly ended, as we learn from the third verse,

in which the point of time is as distinctly marked as is the

geographical position in verse 1.--"It came to pass in the fortieth

year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses

spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord

had given him in commandment unto them."

Thus, not only have we both time and place set forth with divine

precision and minuteness, but we also learn, from the words just

quoted, that the communications made to the people in the plains of

Moab were very far indeed from being a repetition of what has come

before us in our studies on the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and

Numbers. Of this we have further and very distinct proof in a passage

in chapter xxix. of the book on which we are now entering.--"These are

the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with

the children of Israel in the land of Moab, _beside the covenant which

He made with them in Horeb_."

Let the reader note particularly these words. They speak of two

covenants--one at Horeb and one in Moab; and the latter, so far from

being a mere repetition of the former, is as distinct from it as any

two things can be. Of this we shall have the fullest and clearest

evidence in our study of the profound book which now lies open before

us.

True, the Greek title of the book, signifying the law a second time,

might seem to give rise to the idea of its being a mere recapitulation

of what has gone before; but we may rest assured it is not so.

Indeed, it would be a very grave error to think so. The book has its

own specific place. Its scope and object are as distinct as possible.

The grand lesson which it inculcates, from first to last, is

_obedience_; and that, too, not in the mere letter, but in the spirit

of love and fear--an obedience grounded upon a known and enjoyed

relationship--an obedience quickened by the sense of moral obligations

of the weightiest and most influential character.

The aged lawgiver--the faithful, beloved, and honored servant of the

Lord was about to take leave of the congregation. He was going to

heaven and they were about to cross the Jordan, and hence his closing

discourses are solemn and affecting in the very highest degree. He

reviews the whole of their wilderness history, and that, too, in a

manner most touching and impressive. He recounts the scenes and

circumstances of their forty eventful years of desert life, in a style

eminently calculated to touch the deepest moral springs of the heart.

We hang over these most precious discourses with wonder and delight.

They possess an incomparable charm, arising from the circumstances

under which they were delivered, as well as from their own divinely

powerful contents. They speak to us no less effectively than to those

for whom they were specially intended. Many of the appeals and

exhortations come home to us with a power of application as if they

had been uttered but yesterday.

And is it not thus with all Scripture? Are we not continually struck

with its marvelous power of adaptation to our own very state, and to

the day in which our lot is cast? It speaks to us with a point and

freshness as if it were written expressly for us--written this very

day. There is nothing like Scripture. Take any human writing of the

same date as the book of Deuteronomy; if you could lay your hand on

some volume written three thousand years ago, what would you find? A

curious relic of antiquity--something to be placed in the British

Museum, side by side with an Egyptian mummy, having no application

whatever to us or to our time--a musty document--a piece of obsolete

writing, practically useless to us, referring only to a state of

society and to a condition of things long since passed away and buried

in oblivion.

The Bible, on the contrary, is the book for to-day. It is God's own

book--His perfect revelation. It is His own very voice speaking to

each one of us. It is a book for every age, for every clime, for every

class, for every condition--high and low, rich and poor, learned and

ignorant, old and young. It speaks in a language so simple that a

child can understand it, and yet so profound that the most gigantic

intellect cannot exhaust it. Moreover, it speaks right home to the

heart; it touches the deepest springs of our moral being; it goes down

to the hidden roots of thought and feeling in the soul; it judges us

thoroughly. In a word, it is, as the inspired apostle tells us, "quick

and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to

the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,

and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb.

iv. 12.)

And then mark the marvelous comprehensiveness of its range. It deals

as accurately and as forcibly with the habits and customs, the manners

and maxims of the nineteenth century of the Christian era as with

those of the very earliest ages of human existence. It displays a

perfect acquaintance with man in every stage of his history. The

London of to-day and the Tyre of three thousand years ago are

mirrored, with like precision and faithfulness, on the sacred page.

Human life, in every stage of its development, is portrayed by a

master-hand in that wonderful volume which our God has graciously

penned for our learning.

What a privilege to possess such a book!--to have in our hands a

divine revelation!--to have access to a book, every line of which is

given by inspiration of God!--to have a divinely given history of the

past, the present, and the future! Who can estimate aright such a

privilege as this?

But then, this book judges man--judges his ways--judges his heart. It

tells him the truth about himself. Hence man does not like God's book.

An unconverted man would vastly prefer a newspaper or a sensational

novel to the Bible. He would rather read the report of a trial in one

of our criminal courts than a chapter in the New Testament.

Hence, too, the constant effort to pick holes in God's blessed book.

Infidels in every age and of every class have labored hard to find

out flaws and contradictions in holy Scripture. The determined enemies

of the Word of God are to be found, not only in the ranks of the

vulgar, the coarse, and the demoralized, but amongst the educated, the

refined, and the cultivated. Just as it was in the days of the

apostles, "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort," and "devout and

honorable women"--two classes so far removed from each other socially

and morally--found one point in which they could heartily agree,

namely, the utter rejection of the Word of God and of those who

faithfully preached it. (Comp. Acts xiii. 50 with xvii. 5.) So we ever

find that men who differ in almost every thing else, agree in their

determined opposition to the Bible. Other books are let alone. Men

care not to point out defects in Virgil, in Horace, in Homer, or

Herodotus; but the Bible they cannot endure, because it exposes them

and tells them the truth about themselves and the world to which they

belong.

And was it not exactly the same with the living Word--the Son of

God--the Lord Jesus Christ when He was here among men? Men hated Him

because He told them the truth. His ministry, His words, His ways--His

whole life was a standing testimony against the world; hence their

bitter and persistent opposition. Other men were allowed to pass on,

but He was watched and waylaid at every turn of His path. The great

leaders and guides of the people "sought to entangle Him in His talk,"

to find occasion against Him, in order that they might deliver Him to

the power and authority of the governor. Thus it was during His

marvelous life; and at the close, when the blessed One was nailed to

the cross between two malefactors, these latter were let alone; there

were no insults heaped upon them--the chief priests and elders did not

wag their heads at them. No; all the insults, all the mockery, all the

coarse and heartless vulgarity--all was heaped upon the divine

Occupant of the centre cross.

Now, it is well we should thoroughly understand the real source of all

the opposition to the Word of God--whether it be the living Word or

the written Word. It will enable us to estimate it at its real worth.

The devil hates the Word of God--hates it with a perfect hatred; and

hence he employs learned infidels to write books to prove that the

Bible is not the Word of God, that it cannot be, inasmuch as there are

mistakes and discrepancies in it; and not only so, but in the Old

Testament we find laws and institutions, habits and practices,

unworthy of a gracious and benevolent Being.

To all this style of argument we have one brief and pointed reply. Of

all these learned infidels we simply say, They know nothing whatever

about the matter. They may be very learned, very clever, very deep and

original thinkers, well made up in general literature, very competent

to give an opinion on any subject within the domain of natural and

moral philosophy, very able to discuss any scientific question;

moreover, they may be very amiable in private life--truly estimable

characters--kind, benevolent, philanthropic, beloved in private and

respected in public,--all this they may be, but being unconverted, and

not having the Spirit of God, they are wholly unfit to form, much less

to give, a judgment on the subject of holy Scripture. If any one

wholly ignorant of astronomy were to presume to sit in judgment on the

principles of the Copernican system, these very men of whom we speak

would at once pronounce him utterly incompetent to speak, and unworthy

to be heard on such a subject. In short, no one has any right whatever

to offer an opinion on a matter with which he is unacquainted. This is

an admitted principle on all hands; and therefore its application in

the case now before us cannot justly be called in question.

Now, the inspired apostle tells us, in his first epistle to the

Corinthians, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the

Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; _neither can he know

them_, because they are spiritually discerned." This is conclusive. He

speaks of man in his natural state, be he ever so learned, ever so

cultivated. He is not speaking of any special class of men, but simply

of man in his unconverted state--man destitute of the Spirit of God.

Some may imagine that the apostle refers to man in a state of

barbarism, or savage ignorance. By no means; it is simply man in

nature, be he a learned philosopher or an ignorant clown. "He cannot

know the things of the Spirit of God." How, then, can he form or give

a judgment as to the Word of God? How can he take it upon him to say

what is or what is not worthy of God to write? And if he is audacious

enough to do so (as, alas! he is), who will be foolish enough to

listen to him? His arguments are baseless, his theories worthless, his

books only fit for the wastepaper basket; and all this, be it

observed, on the universally admitted principle above stated, that no

one has any title to be heard on a subject of which he is wholly

ignorant.

In this way we dispose of the whole tribe of infidel writers. Who

would think of listening to a blind man on the subject of light and

shade? And yet such a man has much more claim to be heard than an

unconverted man on the subject of inspiration. Human learning, however

extensive and varied--human wisdom, however profound, cannot qualify a

man to form a judgment upon the Word of God. No doubt a scholar may

examine and collate MSS. simply as a matter of criticism; he may be

able to form a judgment as to the question of authority for any

particular reading of a passage; but this is a different matter

altogether from an infidel writer undertaking to pronounce judgment

upon the revelation which God has, in His infinite goodness, given to

us. We maintain that no man can do this. It is only by the Spirit, who

Himself inspired the holy Scriptures, that those Scriptures can be

understood and appreciated. The Word of God must be received upon its

own authority. If man can judge it or reason upon it, it is not the

Word of God at all. Has God given us a revelation, or has He not? If

He has, it must be absolutely perfect in every respect; and being

such, it must be entirely beyond the range of human judgment. Man is

no more competent to judge Scripture than he is to judge God. The

Scriptures judge man; not man the Scriptures.

This makes all the difference. Nothing can be more miserably

contemptible than the books which infidels write against the Bible.

Every page, every paragraph, every sentence, only goes to illustrate

the truth of the apostle's statement, that "the natural man receiveth

not the things of the Spirit of God; ... _neither can he know them_,

because they are spiritually discerned." Their gross ignorance of the

subject with which they undertake to deal is only equaled by their

self-confidence. Of their irreverence we say nothing; for who would

think of looking for reverence in the writings of infidels? We might

perhaps look for a little modesty were it not that we are fully aware

of the bitter _animus_ which lies at the root of all such writings,

and renders them utterly unworthy of a moment's consideration. Other

books may have a dispassionate examination; but the precious book of

God is approached with the foregone conclusion that it is not a divine

revelation, because, forsooth, infidels tell us that God could not

give us a written revelation of His mind.

How strange! Men can give us a revelation of their thoughts (and

infidels have done so pretty plainly), but God cannot! What folly!

What presumption! Why, we may lawfully inquire, could not God reveal

His mind to His creatures? Why should it be thought a thing

incredible? For no reason whatever, but because infidels would have it

so. The wish is, in this case assuredly, father to the thought. The

question raised by the old serpent in the garden of Eden nearly six

thousand years ago, has been passed on from age to age by all sorts of

skeptics, rationalists, and infidels, namely, "Hath God said?" We

reply, with intense delight, Yes; blessed be His holy name, He has

spoken--spoken to us. He has revealed His mind; He has given us the

holy Scriptures. "_All scripture is given by inspiration of God_, and

is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect

[αρτοις], thoroughly furnished unto all good works." And

again, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our

learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might

have hope." (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; Rom. xv. 4.)

The Lord be praised for such words! They assure us that all Scripture

is given of God, and that all Scripture is given to us. Precious link

between the soul and God! What tongue can tell the value of such a

link? God has spoken--spoken to us. His Word is a rock against which

all the waves of infidel thought dash themselves in contemptible

impotency, leaving it in its own divine strength and eternal

stability. Nothing can touch the Word of God. Not all the powers of

earth and hell, men and devils combined can ever move the Word of

God. There it stands, in its own moral glory, spite of all the

assaults of the enemy, from age to age. "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is

settled in heaven." "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name."

What remains for us? Just this: "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that

I might not sin against Thee." Here lies the deep secret of peace. The

heart is linked to the throne--yea, to the very heart of God by means

of His most precious Word, and is thus put in possession of a peace

which the world can neither give nor take away. What can all the

theories, the reasonings, and the arguments of infidels effect? Just

nothing. They are esteemed as the dust of the summer threshing-floor.

To one who has really learnt, through grace, to confide in the Word of

God--to rest on the authority of holy Scripture, all the infidel books

that ever were written are utterly worthless, pointless, powerless;

they display the ignorance and terrible presumption of the writers;

but as to Scripture, they leave it just where it ever has been and

ever will be--"settled in heaven," as immovable as the throne of

God.[2] The assaults of infidels cannot touch the throne of God,

neither can they touch His Word; and, blessed be His name, neither can

they touch the peace that flows through the heart that rests on that

imperishable foundation. "Great peace have they that love Thy law, and

nothing shall offend them." "The Word of our God shall stand forever."

"All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of

grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but

the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by

the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Pet. i. 24, 25.)

[2] In referring to infidel writers, we should bear in mind that by

far the most dangerous of such are those calling themselves

Christians. In our young days, whenever we heard the word "infidel,"

we at once thought of a Tom Paine or a Voltaire; now, alas! we have to

think of so-called bishops and doctors of the professing church.

Tremendous fact!

Here we have the same precious golden link again. The Word which has

reached us in the form of glad tidings is the Word of the Lord which

endureth forever; and hence our salvation and our peace are as stable

as the Word on which they are founded. If _all_ flesh is as grass, and

_all_ the glory of man as the flower of grass, then what are the

arguments of infidels worth? They are as worthless as withered grass

or a faded flower; and the men who put them forth and those who are

moved by them will find them to be so, sooner or later. Oh, the sinful

folly of arguing against the Word of God--arguing against the only

thing in all this world that can give rest and consolation to the

poor, weary human heart--arguing against that which brings the glad

tidings of salvation to poor lost sinners--brings them fresh from the

heart of God!

But we may perhaps here be met by the question so often raised, and

which has troubled many and led them to fly for refuge to what is

called "the authority of the church." The question is this: "How are

we to know that the book which we call the Bible is the Word of God?"

Our answer to this question is a very simple one--it is this: The One

who has graciously given us the blessed book can give us also the

certainty that the book is from Him. The same Spirit who inspired the

various writers of the holy Scriptures can make us know that those

Scriptures are the very voice of God speaking to us. It is only by the

Spirit that any one can discern this. As we have already seen, "the

natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; ... neither

can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." If the Holy

Spirit does not make us know, and give us the certainty that the Bible

is the Word of God, no man or body of men can possibly do it; and on

the other hand, if He does give us the blessed certainty, we do not

need the testimony of man.

We freely admit that on this great question a shadow of uncertainty

would be positive torture and misery; but who can give us certainty?

God alone. If all the men upon earth were to agree in their testimony

to the authority of holy Scripture--if all the councils that ever sat,

all the doctors that ever taught, all the fathers that ever wrote,

were in favor of the dogma of plenary inspiration--if the universal

church, if every denomination in christendom were to assent to the

truth that the Bible is, in very deed, the Word of God--in a word, if

we had all the human authority that could possibly be had in reference

to the integrity of the Word of God, it would be utterly insufficient

as a ground of certainty; and if our faith were founded on that

authority, it would be perfectly worthless. God alone can give us the

certainty that He has spoken in His Word; and blessed be His name,

when He gives it, all the arguments, all the cavilings, all the

quibblings, all the questionings of infidels, ancient and modern, are

as the foam on the water, the smoke from the chimney-top, or the dust

on the floor. The true believer rejects them as so much worthless

rubbish, and rests in holy tranquillity in that peerless revelation

which our God has graciously given us.

It is of the very last possible importance for the reader to be

thoroughly clear and settled as to this grave question, if he would be

raised above the influence of infidelity on the one hand and

superstition on the other. Infidelity undertakes to tell us that God

has not given us a book-revelation of His mind--could not give it:

Superstition undertakes to tell us that even though God has given us a

revelation, yet we cannot be assured of it without man's authority,

nor understand it without man's interpretation. Now it is well to see

that by both alike we are deprived of the precious boon of holy

Scripture. And this is precisely what the devil aims at. He wants to

rob us of the Word of God; and he can do this quite as effectually by

the apparent self-distrust that humbly and reverently looks to wise

and learned men for authority, as by an audacious infidelity that

boldly rejects all authority, human or divine.

Take a case. A father writes a letter to his son at Canton--a letter

full of the affection and tenderness of a father's heart. He tells him

of his plans and arrangements, tells him of every thing that he thinks

would interest the heart of a son--every thing that the love of a

father's heart could suggest. The son calls at the post-office in

Canton to inquire if there is a letter from his father. He is told by

one official that there is no letter, that his father has not written

and could not write--could not communicate his mind by such a medium

at all, that it is only folly to think of such a thing. Another

official comes forward, and says, Yes; there is a letter here for you,

but you cannot possibly understand it; it is quite useless to you,

indeed it can only do you positive mischief inasmuch as you are quite

unable to read it aright. You must leave the letter in our hands, and

we will explain to you such portions of it as we consider suitable for

you. The former of these two officials represents Infidelity; the

latter, Superstition. By both alike would the son be deprived of the

longed-for letter--the precious communication from his father's heart.

But what, we may inquire, would be his answer to these unworthy

officials? A very brief and pointed one we may rest assured. He would

say to the first, I know my father can communicate his mind to me by

letter, and that he has done so. He would say to the second, I know my

father can make me understand his mind far better than you can. He

would say to both, and that, too, with bold and firm decision. Give me

up at once my father's letter; it is addressed to me, and no man has

any right to withhold it from me.

Thus, too, should the simple-hearted Christian meet the _insolence_ of

Infidelity and the _ignorance_ of Superstition--the two special

agencies of the devil, in this our day, in setting aside the precious

Word of God. "My Father has communicated His mind, and He can make me

understand the communication."--"All Scripture is given _by

inspiration of God_;" and, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime

were written _for our learning_." Magnificent answer to every enemy of

God's precious and peerless revelation, be he rationalist or

ritualist!

We do not attempt to offer any apology to the reader for this

lengthened introduction to the book of Deuteronomy. Indeed we are only

too thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony to the

grand truth of the divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures. We feel

it to be our sacred duty, as most surely it is our high privilege, to

press upon all to whom we have access, the immense importance--yea,

the absolute necessity of the most uncompromising decision on this

point. We must faithfully maintain, at all cost, the divine authority,

and therefore the absolute supremacy and all-sufficiency, of the Word

of God at all times, in all places, for all purposes. We must hold to

it that the Scriptures, having been given of God, are complete, in the

very highest and fullest sense of the word; that they do not need any

human authority to accredit them, or any human voice to make them

available: they speak for themselves, and carry their own credentials

with them. All we have to do is to believe and obey, not to reason or

discuss. God has spoken it: it is ours to hearken, and yield an

unreserved and reverent obedience.

This is one grand leading point throughout the book of Deuteronomy, as

we shall see in the progress of our meditations; and never was there a

moment, in the history of the Church of God, in which it was more

needful to urge home on the human conscience the necessity of implicit

obedience to the Word of God. It is, alas! but little felt. Professing

Christians, for the most part, seem to consider that they have a right

to think for themselves--to follow their own reason, their own

judgment, or their own conscience. They do not believe that the Bible

is a divine and universal guide-book. They think there are very many

things in which we are left to choose for ourselves; hence the almost

numberless sects, parties, creeds, and schools of thought. If human

opinion be allowed at all, then, as a matter of course, one man has as

good a right to think as another; and thus it has come to pass that

the professing church has become a proverb and a by-word for division.

And what is the sovereign remedy for this widespread disease? Here it

is: _Absolute and complete subjection to the authority of holy

Scripture_. It is not men going to Scripture to get _their_ opinions

and _their_ views confirmed; but going to Scripture to get the mind of

God as to every thing, and bowing down their whole moral being to

divine authority. This is the one pressing need of the day in which

our lot is cast--reverent subjection, in all things, to the supreme

authority of the Word of God. No doubt, there will be variety in our

measure of intelligence, in our apprehension and appreciation of

Scripture; but what we specially urge upon all Christians is that

condition of soul, that attitude of heart expressed in those precious

words of the psalmist, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I

might not sin against Thee." This, we may rest assured, is grateful to

the heart of God. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor

and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word."

Here lies the true secret of moral security. Our knowledge of

Scripture may be very limited; but if our reverence for it be

profound, we shall be preserved from a thousand errors--a thousand

snares. And then there will be steady growth. We shall grow in the

knowledge of God, of Christ, and of the written Word; we shall delight

to draw from those living and exhaustless depths of holy Scripture,

and to range through those green pastures which infinite grace has so

freely thrown open to the flock of Christ. Thus shall the divine life

be nourished and strengthened; the Word of God will become more and

more precious to our souls, and we shall be lead, by the powerful

ministry of the Holy Ghost, into the depth, fullness, majesty, and

moral glory of holy Scripture. We shall be delivered completely from

the withering influences of all mere systems of theology, high, low,

or moderate--a most blessed deliverance! We shall be able to tell the

advocates of all the schools of divinity under the sun that whatever

elements of truth they may have in their systems we have in divine

perfectness in the Word of God; not twisted and tortured to make them

fit into a system, but in their right place in the wide circle of

divine revelation which has its eternal centre in the blessed Person

of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER I.

"These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side

Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red Sea,

between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

(There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir,

unto Kadesh-barnea.)"

The inspired writer is careful to give us, in the most precise manner,

all the bearings of the place in which the words of this book were

spoken in the ears of the people. Israel had not yet crossed the

Jordan; they were just beside it, and over against the Red Sea where

the mighty power of God had been so gloriously displayed nearly forty

years before. The whole position is described with a minuteness which

shows how thoroughly God entered into every thing that concerned His

people. He was interested in all their movements and in all their

ways. He kept a faithful record of all their encampments. Their was

not a single circumstance connected with them, however trifling,

beneath His gracious notice. He attended to every thing. His eye

rested continually on that assembly as a whole, and on each member in

particular. By day and by night He watched over them. Every stage of

their journey was under His immediate and most gracious

superintendence. There was nothing, however small, beneath His notice;

nothing, however great, beyond His power.

Thus it was with Israel in the wilderness of old, and thus it is with

the Church now--the Church as a whole, and each member in particular.

A Father's eye rests upon us continually, His everlasting arms are

around and underneath us day and night. "He withdraweth not His eyes

from the righteous." He counts the hairs of our heads, and enters,

with infinite goodness, into every thing that concerns us. He has

charged Himself with all our wants and all our cares. He would have us

to cast our every care on Him, in the sweet assurance that He careth

for us. He most graciously invites us to roll our every burden over on

Him, be it great or small.

All this is truly wonderful. It is full of deepest consolation. It is

eminently calculated to tranquilize the heart, come what may. The

question is, Do we believe it? are our hearts governed by the faith of

it? Do we really believe that the almighty Creator and Upholder of all

things, who bears up the pillars of the universe, has graciously

undertaken to do for us all the journey through? Do we thoroughly

believe that "the Possessor of heaven and earth" is our Father? and

that He has charged Himself with all our wants from first to last? Is

our whole moral being under the commanding power of those words of the

inspired apostle, "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?" Alas! it is to be feared that we know but little of the power

of these grand yet simple truths. We talk about them, we discuss them,

we profess them, we give a nominal assent to them; but with all this,

we prove, in our daily life--in the actual details of our personal

history, how feebly we enter into them. If we truly believed that our

God has charged Himself with all our necessities--if we were finding

all our springs in Him--if He were a perfect covering for our eyes and

a resting-place for our hearts, could we possibly be looking to poor

creature-streams, which so speedily dry up and disappoint our hearts?

We do not and cannot believe it. It is one thing to hold the theory of

the life of faith, and another thing altogether to live that life. We

constantly deceive ourselves with the notion that we are living by

faith, when in reality we are leaning on some human prop, which sooner

or later is sure to give way.

Reader, is it not so? Are we not constantly prone to forsake the

Fountain of living waters, and hew out for ourselves broken cisterns,

which can hold no water? And yet we speak of living by faith! We

profess to be looking only to the living God for the supply of our

need, whatever that need may be, when, in point of fact, we are

sitting beside some creature-stream and looking for something there.

Need we wonder if we are disappointed? How could it possibly be

otherwise? Our God will not have us dependent upon aught or any one

but Himself. He has, in manifold places in His Word, given us His

judgment as to the true character and sure result of all

creature-confidence. Take the following most solemn passage from the

prophet Jeremiah: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh

flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall

be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh;

but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land

and not inhabited." And then mark the contrast--"Blessed is the man

that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is: for he shall be

as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by

the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be

green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall

cease from yielding fruit." (Jer. xvii. 5-8.)

Here we have, in language divinely forcible, clear, and beautiful, both

sides of this most weighty subject put before us. Creature-confidence

brings a certain curse; it can only issue in barrenness and

desolation. God, in very faithfulness, will cause every human stream

to dry up--every human prop to give way, in order that we may learn

the utter folly of turning away from Him. What figure could be more

striking or impressive than those used in the above passage?--"A heath

in the desert," "parched places in the wilderness," "a salt land not

inhabited." Such are the figures used by the Holy Ghost to illustrate

all mere human dependence--all confidence in man.

But on the other hand, what can be more lovely or more refreshing than

the figures used to set forth the deep blessedness of simple trust in

the Lord?--"A tree planted by the waters," "spreading out her roots by

the rivers," the leaf ever green, the fruit never ceasing. Perfectly

beautiful! Thus it is with the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose

hope the Lord is. He is nourished by those eternal springs that flow

from the heart of God. He drinks at the Fountain, life-giving and

free. He finds all his resources in the living God. There may be

"heat," but he does not see it; "the year of drought" may come, but he

is not careful. Ten thousand creature-streams may dry up, but he does

not perceive it, because he is not dependent upon them; he abides hard

by the ever-gushing Fountain. He can never want any good thing. He

lives by faith.

And here, while speaking of the life of faith--that most blessed life,

let us clearly understand what it is, and carefully see that we are

living it. We sometimes hear this life spoken of in a way by no means

intelligent. It is not unfrequently applied to the mere matter of

trusting God for food and raiment. Certain persons who happen to have

no visible source of temporal supplies--no settled income--no property

of any kind, are singled out and spoken of as "living by faith," as if

that marvelous and glorious life had no higher sphere or wider range

than temporal things--the mere supply of our bodily wants.

Now, we cannot too strongly protest against this most unworthy view of

the life of faith. It limits its sphere and lowers its range in a

manner perfectly intolerable to any one who understands aught of its

most holy and precious mysteries. Can we for a moment admit that a

Christian who happens to have a settled income of any kind is to be

deprived of the privilege of living by faith? Or, further, can we

permit that life to be limited and lowered to the mere matter of

trusting God for the supply of our bodily wants? Does it soar no

higher than food and raiment? Does it give no more elevated thought of

God than that He will not let us starve or go naked?

Far away, and away forever, be the unworthy thought! The life of faith

must not be so treated. We cannot allow such a gross dishonor to be

offered to it, or such a grievous wrong done to those who are called

to live it. What, we would ask, is the meaning of those few but

weighty words, "The just shall live by faith"? They occur, first of

all, in Habakkuk ii. They are quoted by the apostle in Romans i, where

he is, with a master-hand, laying the solid foundations of

Christianity. He quotes them again in Galatians iii, where he is, with

intense anxiety, recalling those bewitched assemblies to those solid

foundations which they, in their folly, were abandoning. Finally, he

quotes them again in chapter x. of his epistle to the Hebrews, where

he is warning his brethren against the danger of casting away their

confidence and giving up the race.

From all this we may assuredly gather the immense importance and

practical value of the brief but far-reaching sentence, "The just

shall live by faith." But to whom does it apply? Is it only for a few

of the Lord's servants, here and there, who happen to have no settled

income? We utterly reject the thought. It applies to every one of the

Lord's people. It is the high and happy privilege of all who come

under the title--that blessed title, "The just." We consider it a very

grave error to limit it in any way. The moral effect of such

limitation is most injurious. It gives undue prominence to one

department of the life of faith which, if any distinction be

allowable, we should judge to be the very lowest. But in reality,

there should be no distinction: the life of faith is one. Faith is the

grand principle of the divine life from first to last. By faith we are

justified, and by faith we live; by faith we stand, and by faith we

walk. From the starting-post to the goal of the Christian course it is

all by faith.

Hence, therefore, it is a serious mistake to single out certain

persons who trust the Lord for temporal supplies, and speak of them as

living by faith, as if they alone did so. And not only so, but such

persons are held up to the gaze of the Church of God as something

wonderful; and the great mass of Christians are led to think that the

privilege of living by faith lies entirely beyond their range. In

short, they are led into a complete mistake as to the real character

and sphere of the life of faith, and thus they suffer materially in

the inner life.

Let the Christian reader, then, distinctly understand that it is his

happy privilege, whoever he be or whatever be his position, to live a

life of faith, in all the depth and fullness of that word. He may,

according to his measure, take up the language of the blessed apostle,

and say, "The life that I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of

the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Let nothing

rob him of this high and holy privilege which belongs to every member

of the household of faith. Alas! we fail. Our faith is weak, when it

ought to be strong, bold, and vigorous. Our God delights in a bold

faith. If we study the gospels, we shall see that nothing so refreshed

and delighted the heart of Christ as a fine bold faith--a faith that

understood Him and drew largely upon Him. Look, for example, at the

Syrophenician in Mark vii, and the centurion in Luke vii.

True, He could meet a weak faith--the very weakest. He could meet an

"If Thou _wilt_" with a gracious "I will"--an "If Thou _canst_" with

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible." The faintest look,

the feeblest touch, was sure to meet with a gracious response; but the

Saviour's heart was gratified and His spirit refreshed when He could

say, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt;"

and again, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

Let us remember this. We may rest assured it is the very same to-day

as when our blessed Lord was here amongst men. He loves to be trusted,

to be used, to be drawn upon. We can never go too far in counting on

the love of His heart or the strength of His hand. There is nothing

too small, nothing too great for Him; He has all power in heaven and

on earth; He is head over all things to His Church; He holds the

universe together; He upholds all things by the word of His power.

Philosophers talk of the forces and laws of nature: the Christian

thinks with delight of Christ, His hand, His Word, His mighty power.

By Him all things were created, and by Him all things consist.

And then His love! What rest, what comfort, what joy, to know and

remember that the almighty Creator and Upholder of the universe is the

everlasting Lover of our souls! that He loves us perfectly; that His

eye is ever upon us, His heart ever toward us; that He has charged

Himself with all our wants, whatever these wants may be--whether

physical, mental, or spiritual! There is not a single thing within the

entire range of our necessities that is not treasured up for us in

Christ. He is Heaven's treasury--God's storehouse, and all this for

us.

Why, then, should we ever turn to another? Why should we ever,

directly or indirectly, make known our wants to a poor fellow-mortal?

Why not go straight to Jesus? Do we want sympathy? Who can sympathize

with us like our most merciful High-Priest, who is touched with the

feeling of our infirmities? Do we want help of any kind? Who can help

us like our almighty Friend, the Possessor of unsearchable riches? Do

we want counsel or guidance? Who can give it like the blessed One who

is the very wisdom of God, and who is made of God unto us wisdom? Oh,

let us not wound His loving heart, and dishonor His glorious name by

turning away from Him. Let us jealously watch against the tendency so

natural to us to cherish human hopes, creature-confidences, and

earthly expectations. Let us abide hard by the Fountain, and we shall

never have to complain of the streams. In a word, let us seek to live

by faith, and thus glorify God in our day and generation.

We shall now proceed with our chapter; and in so doing, we would call

the reader's attention to verse 2. It is certainly a very remarkable

parenthesis. "(There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way

of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea.)" Eleven days! and yet it took them

forty years! How was this? Alas! we need not travel far for the

answer. It is only too like ourselves. How slowly we get over the

ground! What windings and turnings! How often we have to go back and

travel over the same ground again and again! We are slow travelers,

because we are slow learners. It may be we feel disposed to marvel how

Israel could have taken forty years to accomplish a journey of eleven

days; but we may, with much greater reason, marvel at ourselves. We,

like them, are kept back by our unbelief and slowness of heart; but

there is far less excuse for us than for them, inasmuch as our

privileges are so very much higher.

Some of us have much reason to be ashamed of the time we spend over

our lessons. The words of the blessed apostle do but too forcibly

apply to us--"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have

need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the

oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of

strong meat." Our God is a faithful and wise as well as a gracious and

patient Teacher. He will not permit us to pass cursorily over our

lessons. Sometimes, perhaps, we think we have mastered a lesson, and

we attempt to move on to another; but our wise Teacher knows better,

and He sees the need of deeper ploughing. He will not have us mere

theorists or smatterers: He will keep us, if need be, year after year

at our scales until we learn to sing.

Now, while it is very humbling to us to be so slow in learning, it is

very gracious of Him to take such pains with us, in order to make us

sure. We have to bless Him for His mode of teaching as for all

beside--for the wonderful patience with which He sits down with us

over the same lesson again and again, in order that we may learn it

thoroughly.[3]

[3] The journey of Israel from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea illustrates but

too forcibly the history of many souls in the matter of finding peace.

Many of the Lord's beloved people go on for years, doubting and

fearing, never knowing the blessedness of the liberty wherewith Christ

makes His people free. It is most distressing, to any one who really

cares for souls, to see the sad condition in which some are kept all

their days, through legality, bad teaching, false manuals of devotion,

and such like. It is a rare thing now-a-days to find in christendom a

soul fully established in the peace of the gospel. It is considered a

good thing--a sign of humility--to be always doubting. Confidence is

looked upon as presumption. In short, things are turned completely

upside down. The gospel is not known: souls are under law instead of

under grace,--they are kept at a distance instead of being taught to

draw nigh. Much of the religion of the day is a deplorable mixture of

Christ and self, law and grace, faith and works. Souls are kept in a

perfect muddle all their days.

Surely these things demand the grave consideration of all who occupy

the responsible place of teachers and preachers in the professing

church. There is a solemn day approaching, when all such will be

called to render an account of their ministry.

"And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on

the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of

Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment

unto them." (Ver. 3.) These few words contain a volume of weighty

instruction for every servant of God--for all who are called to

minister in the Word and doctrine. Moses gave the people just what he

himself had received from God--nothing more, nothing less. He brought

them into direct contact with the living Word of Jehovah. This is the

grand principle of ministry at all times. Nothing else is of any real

value. The Word of God is the only thing that will stand. There is

divine power and authority in it. All mere human teaching, however

interesting--however attractive at the time, will pass away and leave

the soul without any foundation to rest upon.

Hence it should be the earnest, jealous care of all who minister in

the assembly of God, to preach the Word in all its purity, in all its

simplicity; to give it to the people as they get it from God; to bring

them face to face with the veritable language of holy Scripture. Thus

will their ministry tell, with living power, on the hearts and

consciences of their hearers. It will link the soul with God Himself,

by means of the Word, and impart a depth and solidity which no human

teaching can ever produce.

Look at the blessed apostle Paul. Hear him express himself on this

weighty subject.--"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with

excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of

God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus

Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in

fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not

with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the

Spirit and of power." What was the object of all this fear and

trembling? "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but

in the power of God." (1 Cor. ii. 1-5.)

This true-hearted faithful servant of Christ sought only to bring the

souls of his hearers into direct personal contact with God Himself. He

sought not to link them with Paul. "Who then is Paul, and who is

Apollos, but ministers _by whom ye believed_?" All false ministry has

for its object the attaching of souls to itself. Thus the minister is

exalted, God is shut out, and the soul left without any divine

foundation to rest upon. True ministry, on the contrary, as seen in

Paul and Moses, has for its blessed object the attaching of the soul

to God. Thus the minister gets his true place--simply an instrument,

God is exalted, and the soul established on a sure foundation which

can never be moved.

But let us hear a little more from our apostle on this most weighty

subject. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I

preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto

you, unless ye have believed in vain. _For I delivered unto you first

of all that which I also received_"--nothing more, nothing less,

nothing different--"how that Christ died for our sins _according to

the Scriptures_; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the

third day _according to the Scriptures_."

This is uncommonly fine. It demands the serious consideration of all

who would be true and effective ministers of Christ. The apostle was

careful to allow the pure stream to flow down from its living

source--the heart of God, into the souls of the Corinthians. He felt

that nothing else was of any value. If he had sought to link them on

to himself, he would have sadly dishonored his Master, done them a

grievous wrong, and he himself would most assuredly suffer loss in the

day of Christ.

But no; Paul knew better. He would not, for worlds, lead any to build

upon himself. Hear what he says to his much-loved Thessalonians.--"For

this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when _ye

received the Word of God_ which ye heard of us, ye received it _not as

the word of men_, but _as it is in truth, the Word of God_, which

effectually worketh also in you that believe." (1 Thess. ii. 13.)

We feel solemnly responsible to commend this grave and important point

to the serious consideration of the Church of God. If all the

professed ministers of Christ were to follow the example of Moses and

Paul, in reference to the matter now before us, we should witness a

very different condition of things in the professing church. But the

plain and serious fact is, that the Church of God, like Israel of old,

has wholly departed from the authority of His Word. Go where you will,

and you find things done and taught which have no foundation in

Scripture. Things are not only tolerated but sanctioned and stoutly

defended which are in direct opposition to the mind of Christ. If you

ask for the divine authority for this, that, and the other institution

or practice, you will be told that Christ has not given us directions

as to matters of church government; that in all questions of

ecclesiastical polity, clerical orders, and liturgical services, He

has left us free to act according to our consciences, judgment, or

religious feelings; that it is simply absurd to demand a "Thus saith

the Lord" for all the details connected with our religious

institutions: there is a broad margin left to be filled up according

to our national customs and our peculiar habits of thought. It is

considered that professing Christians are left perfectly free to form

themselves into so-called churches, to choose their own form of

government, to make their own arrangements, and to appoint their own

office-bearers.

Now the question which the Christian reader has to consider is, "Are

these things so?" Can it be that our Lord Christ has left His Church

without guidance as to matters so interesting and momentous? Can it be

possible that the Church of God is worse off, in the matter of

instruction and authority, than Israel? In our studies on the books of

Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we have seen (for who could help

seeing?) the marvelous pains which Jehovah took to instruct His people

as to the most minute particulars connected with their public worship

and private life. As to the tabernacle, the temple, the priesthood,

the ritual, the various feasts and sacrifices, the periodical

solemnities, the months, the days, the very hours, all was ordered and

settled with divine precision. Nothing was left to mere human

arrangement. Man's wisdom, his judgment, his reason, his conscience,

had nothing whatever to do in the matter. Had it been left to man, how

should we ever have had that admirable, profound, and far-reaching

typical system which the inspired pen of Moses has set before us? If

Israel had been allowed to do what (as some would fain persuade us)

the Church is allowed, what confusion, what strife, what division,

what endless sects and parties, would have been the inevitable result!

But it was not so. The Word of God settled every thing. "As the Lord

commanded Moses." This grand and influential sentence was appended to

every thing that Israel had to do, and to every thing they were not to

do. Their national institutions and their domestic habits--their

public and their private life, all came under the commanding authority

of "Thus saith the Lord." There was no occasion for any member of the

congregation to say, I cannot see this, or, I cannot go with that, or,

I cannot agree with the other. Such language could only be regarded as

the fruit of self-will. He might just as well say, I cannot agree with

Jehovah. And why? Simply because the Word of God had spoken as to

every thing, and that, too, with a clearness and simplicity which left

no room whatever for human discussion. Throughout the whole of the

Mosaic economy there was not the breadth of a hair of margin left in

which to insert the opinion or the judgment of man. It pertained not

to man to add the weight of a feather to that vast system of types and

shadows which had been planned by the divine mind, and set forth in

language so plain and pointed, that all Israel had to do was to

_obey_--not to argue, not to reason, not to discuss, but to obey.

Alas! alas! they failed, as we know. They did their own will; they

took their own way; they did "every man that which was right in his

own eyes." They departed from the Word of God, and followed the

imaginations and devices of their own evil heart, and brought upon

themselves the wrath and indignation of offended Deity, under which

they suffer till this day, and shall yet suffer unexampled

tribulation.

But all this leaves untouched the point on which we are just now

dwelling. Israel had the oracles of God, and these oracles were

divinely sufficient for their guidance in every thing. There was no

room left for the commandments and doctrines of men. The Word of the

Lord provided for every possible exigence, and that Word was so plain

as to render human comment needless.

Is the Church of God worse off, as regards guidance and authority,

than Israel of old? Are Christians left to think and arrange for

themselves in the worship and service of God? Are there any questions

left open for human discussion? Is the Word of God sufficient, or is

it not? Has it left any thing unprovided for? Let us hearken

diligently to the following powerful testimony: "All Scripture is

given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for

reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the

man of God may be _perfect_ [αρτοις] _throughly furnished

unto all good works_." (2 Tim. iii.)

This is perfectly conclusive. Holy Scripture contains all that the man

of God can possibly require to make him perfect, to equip him

thoroughly for every thing that can be called a "good work." And if

this be true as to the man of God individually, it is equally true as

to the Church of God collectively. Scripture is all-sufficient--for

each, for all. Thank God that it is so! What a signal mercy to have a

divine guide-book! Were it not so, what should we do? whither should

we turn? what would become of us? If we were left to human tradition

and human arrangement in the things of God, what hopeless confusion!

what clashing of opinions! what conflicting judgments! And all this of

necessity, inasmuch as one man would have quite as good a right as

another to put forth his opinion and to suggest his plan.

We shall perhaps be told that, notwithstanding our possession of the

holy Scripture, we have, nevertheless, sects, parties, creeds, and

schools of thought almost innumerable. But why is this? Simply because

we refuse to submit our whole moral being to the authority of holy

Scripture. This is the real secret of the matter--the true source of

all those sects and parties which are the shame and sorrow of the

Church of God.

It is vain for men to tell us that these things are good in

themselves--that they are the legitimate fruit of that free exercise

of thought and private judgment which form the very boast and glory of

Protestant Christianity. We do not and cannot believe for a moment

that such a plea will stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. We

believe, on the contrary, that this very boasted freedom of thought

and independence of judgment are in direct opposition to that spirit

of profound and reverent obedience which is due to our adorable Lord

and Master. What right has a servant to exercise his private judgment

in the face of his master's plainly expressed will? None whatever. The

duty of a servant is simply to obey--not to reason or to question, but

to do what he is told. He fails, as a servant, just in so far as he

exercises his own private judgment. The most lovely moral trait in a

servant's character is implicit, unquestioning, and unqualified

obedience. The one grand business of a servant is to do his master's

will.

All this will be fully admitted in human affairs; but in the things of

God, men think themselves entitled to exercise their private judgment.

It is a fatal mistake. God has given us His Word; and that Word is so

plain, that wayfaring men, though fools, need not err therein. Hence,

therefore, if we were all guided by that Word,--if we were all to bow

down in a spirit of unquestioning obedience to its divine authority,

there could not be conflicting opinions and opposing sects. It is

quite impossible that the voice of holy Scripture can teach opposing

doctrines. It cannot possibly teach one man Episcopacy; another,

Presbyterianism; and another, Independency. It cannot possibly furnish

a foundation for opposing schools of thought. It would be a positive

insult offered to the divine volume to attempt to attribute to it all

the sad confusion of the professing church. Every pious mind must

recoil, with just horror, from such an impious thought. Scripture

cannot contradict itself; and therefore if two men or ten thousand men

are exclusively taught by Scripture, they will think alike.

Hear what the blessed apostle says to the church at Corinth--says to

us, "Now I beseech you, brethren, _by the name of our Lord Jesus

Christ_" (mark the mighty moral force of this appeal) "that ye all

_speak the same thing_, and that there be no divisions among you; but

that ye be perfectly joined together in _the same mind_, and in _the

same judgment_."

Now the question is, how was this most blessed result to be reached?

Was it by each one exercising the right of private judgment? Alas! it

was this very thing that gave birth to all the division and contention

in the assembly at Corinth, and drew forth the sharp rebuke of the

Holy Ghost. Those poor Corinthians thought they had a right to think

and judge and choose for themselves, and what was the result? "It hath

been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the

house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say,

that _every one of you saith_, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I

of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?"

Here we have private judgment and its sad fruit--its necessary fruit.

One man has quite as good a right to think for himself as another; and

no man has any right whatsoever to force his opinion upon his fellow.

Where, then, lies the remedy? In flinging to the winds our private

judgments, and reverently submitting ourselves to the supreme and

absolute authority of holy Scripture. If it be not thus, how could

the apostle beseech the Corinthians to "speak the same thing, and to

be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same

judgment"? Who was to prescribe the "thing" that all were to "speak"?

In whose "mind" or whose "judgment" were all to be "perfectly joined

together"? Had any one member of the assembly, however gifted or

intelligent, the slightest shadow of a right to set forth what his

brethren were to speak, to think, or to judge? Most certainly not.

There was one absolute, because divine, authority to which all were

bound, or rather privileged, to submit themselves. Human opinions,

man's private judgment, his conscience, his reason--all these things

must go for what they are worth; and most assuredly they are perfectly

worthless as authority. The Word of God is the _only_ authority; and

if we are all governed by that, we shall "all speak the same thing,"

and "there will be no divisions among us;" but we shall "be perfectly

joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment."

Lovely condition! But, alas! it is not the present condition of the

Church of God; and therefore it is perfectly evident that we are not

all governed by the one supreme, absolute, and all-sufficient

authority--the voice of holy Scripture--that most blessed voice that

can never utter one discordant note--a voice ever divinely harmonious

to the circumcised ear.

Here lies the root of the whole matter. The Church has departed from

the authority of Christ, as set forth in His Word. Until this is

seen, it is only lost time to discuss the claims of conflicting

systems, ecclesiastical or theological. If a man does not see that it

is his sacred duty to test every ecclesiastical system, every

liturgical service, and every theological creed by the Word of God,

discussion is perfectly useless. If it be allowable to settle things

according to expediency--according to man's judgment, his conscience,

or his reason, then verily we may as well at once give up the case as

hopeless. If we have no divinely settled authority--no perfect

standard--no infallible guide, we cannot see how it is possible for

any one to possess the certainty that he is treading in the true path.

If indeed it be true that we are left to choose for ourselves, amid

the almost countless paths which lie around us, then farewell to all

certainty--farewell to peace of mind and rest of heart--farewell to

all holy stability of purpose and fixedness of aim. If we cannot say

of the ground we occupy, of the path we pursue, and of the work in

which we are engaged, "This is the thing which the Lord hath

commanded," we may rest assured we are in a wrong position, and the

sooner we abandon it the better.

Thank God, there is no necessity whatever for His child or His servant

to continue for one hour in connection with what is wrong. "Let every

one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." But how are

we to know what is iniquity? By the Word of God. Whatever is contrary

to Scripture, whether in morals or in doctrines, is iniquity, and I

must depart from it, cost what it may. It is an individual

matter.--"_Let every one._"--"_He_ that hath ears."--"_He_ that

overcometh."--"If _any_ man hear My voice."

Here is the point. Let us mark it well. It is _Christ's_ voice. It is

not the voice of this good man or that good man; it is not the voice

of the church, the voice of the fathers, the voice of general

councils, but the voice of our own beloved Lord and Master. It is the

individual conscience in direct, living contact with the voice of

Christ--the living, eternal Word of God--the holy Scriptures. Were it

merely a question of human conscience or judgment or authority, we are

at once plunged in hopeless uncertainty, inasmuch as what one man

might judge to be iniquity, another might consider to be perfectly

right. There must be some fixed standard to go by--some supreme

authority from which there can be no appeal; and, blessed be God,

there is. God has spoken; He has given us His Word; and it is at once

our bounden duty, our high privilege, our moral security, our true

enjoyment, to obey that Word.

Not man's interpretation of the Word, but the Word itself. This is

all-important. We must have nothing--absolutely nothing between the

human conscience and divine revelation. Men talk to us about the

authority of the church. Where are we to find it? Suppose a really

anxious, earnest, honest soul, longing to know the true way. He is

told to listen to the voice of the church. He asks, Which church? Is

it the Greek, Latin, Anglican, or Scotch church? Not two of them

agree. Nay, more; there are conflicting parties, contending sects,

opposing schools of thought, in one and the self-same body. Councils

have differed, fathers have disagreed, popes have anathematized one

another. In the Anglican Establishment, we have high-church,

low-church, and broad-church, each differing from the rest. In the

Scotch or Presbyterian church, we have the Established church, the

United Presbyterian, and the Free church. And then if the anxious

inquirer turns away in hopeless perplexity from those great bodies, in

order to seek guidance amid the ranks of Protestant dissenters, is he

likely to fare any better?

Ah! reader, it is perfectly hopeless. The whole professing church has

revolted from the authority of Christ, and cannot possibly be a guide

or an authority for any one. In the second and third chapters of the

book of Revelation, the church is seen under judgment, and the appeal,

seven times repeated, is, "He that hath an ear, let him hear"--what?

The voice of the church? Impossible! The Lord could never direct us to

hear the voice of that which is itself under judgment. Hear what,

then? "Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

And where is this voice to be heard? _Only_ in the holy Scriptures,

given of God, in His infinite goodness, to guide our souls in the way

of peace and truth, notwithstanding the hopeless ruin of the church,

and the thick darkness and wild confusion of baptized christendom. It

lies not within the compass of human language to set forth the value

and importance of having a divine and therefore an infallible and

all-sufficient guide and authority for our individual path.

But be it remembered, we are solemnly responsible to bow to that

authority, and follow that guide. It is utterly vain, indeed morally

dangerous, to profess to have a divine guide and authority unless we

are thoroughly subject thereto. This it was that characterized the

Jews in the days of our Lord. They had the Scriptures, but they did

not obey them. And one of the saddest features in the present

condition of christendom is its boasted possession of the Bible, while

the authority of that Bible is boldly set aside.

We deeply feel the solemnity of this, and would earnestly press it

upon the conscience of the Christian reader. The Word of God is

virtually ignored amongst us. Things are practiced and sanctioned, on

all hands, which not only have no foundation in Scripture, but are

diametrically opposed to it. We are not exclusively taught and

absolutely governed by Scripture.

All this is most serious, and demands the attention of all the Lord's

people in every place. We feel compelled to raise a warning note in

the ears of all Christians in reference to this most weighty subject.

Indeed, it is the sense of its gravity and vast moral importance that

has led us to enter upon the service of writing these "Notes on the

book of Deuteronomy." It is our earnest prayer that the Holy Ghost

may use these pages to recall the hearts of the Lord's dear people to

their true and proper place--even the place of reverent allegiance to

His blessed Word. We feel persuaded that what will characterize all

those who will walk devotedly in the closing hours of the Church's

earthly history will be profound reverence for the Word of God, and

genuine attachment to the Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The two things are inseparably bound together by a sacred and

imperishable link.

* * * * *

"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, 'Ye have dwelt long

enough in this mount: turn you, and take your journey, and go to the

mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the

plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the

sea-side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the

great river, the river Euphrates.'" (Ver. 6, 7.)

We shall find, throughout the whole of the book of Deuteronomy, the

Lord dealing much more directly and simply with the people than in any

of the three preceding books; so far is it from being true that

Deuteronomy is a mere repetition of what has passed before us in

previous sections. For instance, in the passage just quoted there is

no mention of the movement of the cloud--no reference to the sound of

the trumpet. "The Lord our God spake unto us." We know, from the book

of Numbers, that the movements of the camp were governed by the

movements of the cloud, as communicated by the sound of the trumpet.

But neither the trumpet nor the cloud is alluded to in this book. It

is much more simple and familiar. "The Lord our God spake unto us in

Horeb, saying, 'Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.'"

This is very beautiful. It reminds us somewhat of the lovely

simplicity of patriarchal times, when the Lord spake unto the fathers

as a man speaketh to his friend. It was not by the sound of a trumpet,

or by the movement of a cloud, that the Lord communicated His mind to

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was so very near to them that there was

no need, no room for an agency characterized by ceremony and distance.

He visited them, sat with them, partook of their hospitality, in all

the intimacy of personal friendship.

Such is the lovely simplicity of the order of things in patriarchal

times; and this it is which imparts a peculiar charm to the narratives

of the book of Genesis.

But in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers we have something quite

different. There, we have set before us a vast system of types and

shadows, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies, imposed on the people for

the time being, the import of which is unfolded to us in the epistle

to the Hebrews.--"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into

the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first

tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the time then

present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could

not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the

conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings,

and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation."

(Heb. ix. 8-10.)

Under this system, the people were at a distance from God. It was not

with them as it had been with their fathers in the book of Genesis.

God was shut in from them, and they were shut out from Him. The

leading features of the Levitical ceremonial, so far as the people

were concerned, were bondage, darkness, distance; but on the other

hand, its types and shadows pointed forward to that one great

Sacrifice which is the foundation of all God's marvelous counsels and

purposes, and by which He can, in perfect righteousness, and according

to all the love of His heart, have a people near unto Himself, to the

praise of the glory of His grace, throughout the golden ages of

eternity.

Now, it has been already remarked, we shall find in Deuteronomy

comparatively little of rites and ceremonies. The Lord is seen more in

direct communication with the people; and even the priests, in their

official capacity, come rarely before us; and if they are referred to,

it is very much more in a moral than in a ceremonial way. Of this we

shall have ample proof as we pass along; it is a marked feature of

this beautiful book.

"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, 'Ye have dwelt long

enough in this mount: turn you, and take your journey, and go to the

mount of the Amorites.'" What a rare privilege for any people to have

the Lord so near to them, and so interested in all their movements and

in all their concerns, great and small! He knew how long they ought to

remain in any one place, and whither they should next bend their

steps. They had no need to harass themselves about their journeyings,

or about any thing else. They were under the eye and in the hands of

One whose wisdom was unerring, whose power was omnipotent, whose

resources were inexhaustible, whose love was infinite, who had charged

Himself with the care of them, who knew all their need, and was

prepared to meet it, according to all the love of His heart and the

strength of His holy arm.

What, then, we may ask, remained for them to do? What was their plain

and simple duty? Just to obey. It was their high and holy privilege to

rest in the love and obey the commandments of Jehovah, their covenant

God. Here lay the blessed secret of their peace, their happiness, and

their moral security. They had no need whatever to trouble themselves

about their movements, no need of planning or arranging. Their

journeyings were all ordered for them by One who knew every step of

the way from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, and they had just to live by the

day, in happy dependence upon Him.

Happy position! Privileged path! Blessed portion! But it demanded a

broken will, an obedient mind, a subject heart. If when Jehovah had

said, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough," they, on the

contrary, were to form the plan of compassing it a little longer, they

would have had to compass it without Him. His companionship, His

counsel, and His aid could only be counted upon in the path of

obedience.

Thus it was with Israel in their desert wanderings, and thus it is

with us. It is our most precious privilege to leave all our matters in

the hands, not merely of a covenant God, but of a loving Father. He

arranges our movements for us; He fixes the bounds of our habitation;

He tells us how long to stay in a place, and where to go next. He has

charged Himself with all our concerns, all our movements, all our

wants. His gracious word to us is, "Be careful for nothing; but in

every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known unto God." And what then? "The peace of God,

which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds

through Christ Jesus."

But it may be the reader feels disposed to ask, How does God guide His

people now? We cannot expect to hear His voice telling us when to move

or where to go. To this we reply, at once, It cannot surely be that

the members of the Church of God--the body of Christ--are worse off in

the matter of divine guidance than Israel in the wilderness. Cannot

God guide His children--cannot Christ guide His servants--in all their

movements and in all their service? Who would think, for a moment, of

calling in question a truth so plain and so precious? True, we do not

expect to hear a voice, or see the movement of a cloud; but we have

what is very much better, very much higher, very much more intimate.

We may rest assured our God has made ample provision for us in this,

as in all beside, according to all the love of His heart.

Now, there are three ways in which we are guided: we are guided by the

Word, we are guided by the Holy Ghost, and we are guided by the

instincts of the divine nature; and we have to bear in mind that the

instincts of the divine nature, the leadings of the Holy Ghost, and

the teaching of holy Scripture will always harmonize. This is of the

utmost importance to keep before us. A person might fancy himself to

be led by the instincts of the divine nature, or by the Holy Spirit,

to pursue a certain line of action involving consequences at issue

with the Word of God. Thus his mistake would be made apparent. It is a

very serious thing for any one to act on mere impulse or impression.

By so doing, he may fall into a snare of the devil, and do very

serious damage to the cause of Christ. We must calmly weigh our

impressions in the balances of the sanctuary, and faithfully test them

by the standard of the divine Word. In this way we shall be preserved

from error and delusion. It is a most dangerous thing to trust

impressions or act on impulse. We have seen the most disastrous

consequences produced by so doing. Facts _may be_ reliable. Divine

authority is absolutely infallible. Our own impressions may prove as

delusive as a will-o'-the-wisp, or a mirage of the desert: human

feelings are most untrustworthy. We must ever submit them to the most

severe scrutiny, lest they betray us into some fatally false line of

action. We can trust Scripture without a shadow of misgiving; and we

shall find, without exception, that the man who is led by the Holy

Ghost, or guided by the instincts of the divine nature, will never act

in opposition to the Word of God. This is what we may call an axiom in

the divine life--an established rule in practical Christianity. Would

that it had been more attended to in all ages of the Church's history!

Would that it were more pondered in our own day!

But there is another point in this question of divine guidance which

demands our serious attention. We not unfrequently hear people speak

of "the finger of divine Providence" as something to be relied upon

for guidance. This may be only another mode of expressing the idea of

being guided by circumstances, which, we do not hesitate to say, is

very far indeed from being the proper kind of guidance for a

Christian.

No doubt, our Lord may and does, at times, intimate His mind and

indicate our path by His providence; but we must be sufficiently near

to Him to be able to interpret the providence aright, else we may find

that what is called "an opening of Providence" may actually prove an

opening by which we slip off the holy path of obedience. Surrounding

circumstances, just like our inward impressions, must be weighed in

the presence of God, and judged by the light of His Word, else they

may lead us into the most terrible mistakes. Jonah might have

considered it a remarkable providence to find a ship going to

Tarshish; but had he been in communion with God, he would not have

needed a ship. In short, the Word of God is the one grand test and

perfect touchstone for every thing--for outward circumstances and

inward impressions--for feelings, imaginations, and tendencies--all

must be placed under the searching light of holy Scripture and there

calmly and seriously judged. This is the true path of safety, peace,

and blessedness for every child of God.

It may, however, be said, in reply to all this, that we cannot expect

to find a text of Scripture to guide us in the matter of our

movements, or in the thousand little details of daily life. Perhaps

not; but there are certain great principles laid down in Scripture,

which, if properly applied, will afford divine guidance even where we

might not be able to find a particular text. And not only so, but we

have the fullest assurance that our God can and does guide His

children in all things. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the

Lord."--"The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He

teach His way."--"I will guide thee with Mine eye." He can signify His

mind to us as to this or that particular act or movement. If not,

where are we? How are we to get on? How are we to regulate our

movements? Are we to be drifted hither and thither by the tide of

circumstances? Are we left to blind chance, or to the mere impulse of

our own will?

Thank God, it is not so. He can, in His own perfect way, give us the

certainty of His mind in any given case; and without that certainty we

should never move. Our Lord Christ (all homage to His peerless name!)

can intimate His mind to His servant as to where He would have him to

go and what He would have him to do; and no true servant will ever

think of moving or acting without such intimation. We should never act

or move in uncertainty. If we are not sure, let us be quiet and wait.

Very often it happens that we harass and fret ourselves about

movements that God would not have us make at all. A person once said

to a friend, "I am quite at a loss to know which way to turn." "Then,

don't turn at all," was the friend's wise reply.

But here an all-important moral point comes in, and that is, our whole

condition of soul. This, we may rest assured, has very much to do with

the matter of guidance. It is "the meek He will guide in judgment, and

teach His way." We must never forget this. If only we are humble and

self-distrusting--if we wait on our God, in simplicity of heart,

uprightness of mind, and honesty of purpose, He will most assuredly

guide us. But it will never do to go and ask counsel of God in a

matter about which our mind is made up, or our will is at work.

This is a fatal delusion. Look at the case of Jehoshaphat, in 1 Kings

xxii.--"It came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king

of Judah came down to the king of Israel"--a sad mistake, to begin

with.--"And the king of Israel said unto his servants, 'Know ye that

Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the

hand of the king of Syria?' And he said unto Jehoshaphat, 'Wilt thou

go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead?' And Jehoshaphat said to the

king of Israel, 'I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses

as thy horses; and, (as we have it in 2 Chronicles xviii. 3,) we will

be with thee in the war.'"

Here we see that his mind was made up before ever he thought of asking

counsel of God in the matter. He was in a false position and a wrong

atmosphere altogether. He had fallen into the snare of the enemy,

through lack of singleness of eye, and hence he was not in a fit state

to receive or profit by divine guidance. He was bent on his own will,

and the Lord left him to reap the fruits of it; and but for infinite

and sovereign mercy, he would have fallen by the sword of the Syrians,

and been borne a corpse from the battle-field.

True, he did say to the king of Israel, "Inquire, I pray thee, at the

word of the Lord to-day." But where was the use of this, when he had

already pledged himself to a certain line of action? What folly for

any one to make up his mind and then go and ask for counsel! Had he

been in a right state of soul, he never would have sought counsel in

such a case at all; but his state of soul was bad, his position false,

and his purpose in direct opposition to the mind and will of God.

Hence, although he heard, from the lips of Jehovah's messenger, His

solemn judgment on the entire expedition, yet he took his own way, and

well-nigh lost his life in consequence.

We see the same thing in the forty-second chapter of Jeremiah. The

people applied to the prophet to ask counsel as to their going down

into Egypt; but they had already made up their minds as to their

course--they were bent on their own will. Miserable condition! Had

they been meek and humble, they would not have needed to ask counsel

in the matter; but they said unto Jeremiah the prophet, "'Let, we

beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for

us unto the Lord _thy_ God [Why not say, The Lord _our_ God?] even for

all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do

behold us:) that the Lord _thy_ God may show us the way wherein we may

walk, and the thing that we may do.' Then Jeremiah the prophet said

unto them, 'I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord _your_

God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that

whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto

you; I will keep nothing back from you.' Then they said to Jeremiah,

'The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even

according to all things for the which the Lord _thy_ God shall send

thee to us. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil [How could the

will of God be aught but good?], we will obey the voice of the Lord

our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we

obey the voice of the Lord our God.'"

Now, all this seemed very pious and very promising; but mark the

sequel. When they found that the judgment and counsel of God did not

tally with their will, "then spake ... _all the proud men_, saving

unto Jeremiah, 'Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent

thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there.'"

Here, the real state of the case comes clearly out. Pride and

self-will were at work; their vows and promises were false. "Ye

dissembled in your hearts," says Jeremiah, "when ye sent me unto the

Lord your God, saying, 'Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and

according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto

us, and we will do it.'" It would have been all very well had the

divine response fallen in with their will in the matter; but inasmuch

as it ran counter, they rejected it altogether.

How often is this the case! The Word of God does not suit man's

thoughts; it judges them, it stands in direct opposition to his will,

it interferes with his plans, and hence he rejects it. The human will

and human reason are ever in direct antagonism to the Word of God, and

the Christian must refuse both the one and the other if he really

desires to be divinely guided. An unbroken will and blind reason, if

we listen to them, can only lead us into darkness, misery, and

desolation. Jonah _would_ go to Tarshish, when he ought to have gone

to Nineveh; and the consequence was that he found himself "in the

belly of hell," with "the weeds wrapped about his head." Jehoshaphat

_would_ go to Ramoth-gilead, when he ought to have been at Jerusalem;

and the consequence was that he found himself surrounded by the swords

of the Syrians. The remnant, in the days of Jeremiah, _would_ go into

Egypt, when they ought to have remained at Jerusalem; and the

consequence was that they died by the sword, by the famine, and by the

pestilence in the land of Egypt, "whither they _desired_ to go and to

sojourn."

Thus it must ever be. The path of self-will is sure to be a path of

darkness and misery; it cannot be otherwise: the path of obedience, on

the contrary, is a path of peace, a path of light, a path of blessing,

a path on which the beams of divine favor are ever poured in living

lustre. It may, to the human eye, seem narrow, rough, and lonely; but

the obedient soul finds it to be the path of life, peace, and moral

security. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth

more and more unto the perfect day." Blessed path! May the writer and

the reader ever be found treading it, with a steady step and earnest

purpose.

Before turning from this great practical subject of divine guidance

and human obedience, we must ask the reader to refer, for a few

moments, to a very beautiful passage in the eleventh chapter of Luke.

He will find it full of the most valuable instruction.

"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is

single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is

evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that

the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body

therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be

full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee

light." (Ver. 34-36.)

Nothing can exceed the moral force and beauty of this passage. First

of all, we have the "single eye." This is essential to the enjoyment

of divine guidance. It indicates a broken will--a heart honestly fixed

upon doing the will of God. There is no under-current, no mixed

motive, no personal end in view. There is the one simple desire and

earnest purpose to do the will of God, whatever that will may be.

Now, when the soul is in this attitude, divine light comes streaming

in and fills the whole body. Hence it follows that if the body is not

full of light, the eye is not single; there is some mixed motive;

self-will or self-interest is at work; we are not upright before God.

In this case, any light which we profess to have is darkness; and

there is no darkness so gross or so terrible as that judicial darkness

which settles down upon the heart governed by self-will while

professing to have light from God. This will be seen in all its

horrors by and by in christendom, when "that Wicked shall be revealed,

whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall

destroy with the brightness of His coming; even him, whose coming is

after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;

because _they received not the love of the truth_, that they might be

saved. And _for this cause_ God shall send them strong delusion, that

they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed

not the truth, but _had pleasure in unrighteousness_." (2 Thess. ii.

8-12.)

How awful is this! How solemnly it speaks to the whole professing

church! How solemnly it addresses the conscience of both the writer

and the reader of these lines! Light not acted upon becomes

darkness.--"If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is

that darkness!" But on the other hand, a little light honestly acted

upon is sure to increase; for "to him that hath shall more be given,"

and "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more

and more unto the perfect day."

This moral progress is beautifully and forcibly set forth in Luke xi.

36.--"If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having _no part

dark_"--no chamber kept closed against the heavenly rays--no dishonest

reserve--the whole moral being laid open, in genuine simplicity, to

the action of divine light; then "the whole shall be full of light, as

when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." In a word,

the obedient soul has not only light for his own path, but the light

shines out, so that others see it, like the bright shining of a

candle. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your

good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

We have a very vivid contrast to all this in the thirteenth chapter of

Jeremiah.--"Give glory to the Lord your God, _before He cause

darkness_, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and

while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make

it gross darkness." The way to give glory to the Lord our God is to

obey His Word. The path of duty is a bright and blessed path; and the

one who, through grace, treads that path will never stumble on the

dark mountains. The truly humble, the lowly, the self-distrusting,

will keep far away from those dark mountains, and walk in that blessed

path which is ever illuminated by the bright and cheering beams of

God's approving countenance.

This is the path of the just, the path of heavenly wisdom, the path of

perfect peace. May we ever be found treading it, beloved reader; and

let us never, for one moment, forget that it is our high privilege to

be divinely guided in the most minute details of our daily life. Alas!

for the one who is not so guided. He will have many a stumble, many a

fall, many a sorrowful experience. If we are not guided by our

Father's eye, we shall be like the horse or the mule, which have no

understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle,--like

the horse, impetuously rushing where he ought not, or the mule,

obstinately refusing to go where he ought. How sad for a Christian to

be like these! How blessed to move, from day to day, in the path

marked out for us by our Father's eye!--a path which the vulture's eye

hath not seen, or the lion's whelp trodden; the path of holy

obedience; the path in which the meek and lowly will ever be found, to

their deep joy, and the praise and glory of Him who has opened it for

them and given them grace to tread it.

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