Chapter 27: provides for a special service to be performed after they (1)

are located in Canaan. The record of its fulfillment appears in Josh. 8: 30–35. The service was two-fold: first the writing of the law on large plastered stones: second, the proclamation of a series of blessings and also of curses in the presence of the whole people.

As to the first, it does not appear definitely how much was to be written upon these stones. Somewhat more probably than the ten commandments as written originally on two stone tablets; yet probably not all the statutes and judgments which appear in the last four books of Moses. Perhaps the writing included the curses and blessings proclaimed from Mounts Ebal and Gerizim.――――The stones were great; the number is not given. The writing was done while the plaster was yet fresh and soft. When hardened it would stand for a considerable time. The purpose was rather present effect than permanent record――a solemn testimony that the people who had now taken possession of Canaan were in covenant with their God to obey this law.

Moses records in full the manner of the rehearsal of blessings and of curses: the blessings from Mt. Gerizim; the curses from Mt. Ebal: six tribes standing on the former and six on the latter: the Levites solemnly and in concert pronouncing the words, and the people in concert responding, Amen. Here may be seen the words of these blessings and curses (Deut. 27: 14–26, and 28: 1–6). The “curses” specify the sins, but the announcement of blessings, assuming in general obedience to God, simply enumerates the various good which the Lord will bestow.――――The curses do not enumerate _all_ the sins which might be committed nor all upon which curses would fall, but only some heinous crimes as specimens.――――This service, performed with due solemnity, must have been impressive. The gathered thousands of Israel overspreading the contiguous mountains; the priests and Levites rehearsing with loud voice these fearful curses, and the people responding to each curse their expressive Amen:――how must every thoughtful heart have been thrilled, and every sensitive conscience recoiled from the sins thus terribly denounced!

Moses proceeds to expatiate through chapter 28 upon the blessings which should reward obedience, but especially upon the curses that must come upon disobedience. It would seem that this catalogue of curses has well-nigh exhausted the possibilities of calamity――personal, social, national――that can befall the children of men. Alas! this catalogue was fearfully prophetic of that avalanche of woes which came upon this same people in the destruction of their city and country, first by the Chaldeans; last and most fearfully, by the Romans. How were the vials of wrath through those agencies of God poured out upon the guilty people for their great iniquities!

In the two next chapters (29 and 30) Moses seems to gather up all the moral forces of the nation’s history into one fervent appeal to induce obedience and to press the people to most earnest consecration to the Lord their God. The great mercies of God upon them and their fathers on the one hand coupled with largest promises of good hereafter; on the other hand, the fearful curses impending over disobedience, are spread out to their view: life on the one hand, death on the other, awaiting their choice, pending upon their decision, sure to come according to their free election of the one course or the other:――How are these moral forces made to culminate and press upon the conscience of the whole people!

* * * * *

It is a solemn act for even one so holy as Moses to gather a nation of children about him to say to them his last words and prepare to die (chapter 31). There are some last words to be said; some last things to be done. Fully conscious that his days are numbered and that his end is near he must make the public transfer of his responsibilities to Joshua. The written law upon which he has spent so much thought and labor must be properly committed to the priests the sons of Levi (31: 9–13), and provision made not only for its preservation, but for its public rehearsal in each Sabbatic year at the feast of tabernacles.――――Not the least important of these last things was the putting of farewell thoughts into the form of _song_ which might be committed to memory, impressed with all the power of music (perhaps), and embalmed in the hearts of the people with the fragrance and impressiveness of its poetic power. There are properly two songs, one of a general character (chapter 32); the other specific, in the form of blessing or benediction upon the several tribes (chapter 33). The latter follows the patriarchal usage which we have seen in the case of Jacob (Gen. 49).――――As to the first which is distinctively styled “this song,” Moses received from the Lord special directions to write it out and “teach it to the children of Israel” (31: 19); to “put it in their mouths that it might be a witness for God against the children of Israel,” and “not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed” (v. 21). In this chapter (31: 16–30) the Lord not only directed Moses to write out this song but gave him its subject-matter almost entire――the whole current of its thought――the facts in the future history of the people upon which it is built:――in substance, thus:

The Lord said to Moses――Thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; other generations of this people will arise who will depart from me in grievous apostasy――going after the strange gods of the nations; they will break my covenant with them. My anger will kindle against them in that day; I will forsake them and hide my face from them and bring upon them sore judgments――until they say: “Are not these evils upon us because our God is not among us”?――――Yet more definitely the Lord gave Moses some of the inducing causes of this apostasy; viz. fullness of bread; the absence of want and trial; coming into a land flowing with milk and honey. Filling themselves and waxing fat, they will become sensual, pleasure-loving, and lost to the fear of God. So they will turn to other gods (v. 20). Hence the occasion for this witnessing song, of solemn forewarning, pregnant with moral forces against apostasy and rich in suggestions of untold value for those apostate generations to whom it would specially apply.

I place this song before the reader with explanations of its dark points and some suggestions as to its line of thought and its moral application.

1. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth,
the words of my mouth.

2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil
as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass:

3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye
greatness unto our God.

4. _He is_ the Rock, his work _is_ perfect: for all his ways
_are_ judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and
right _is_ he.

This call upon the heavens and the earth to hear the words of this song must be construed not as a call upon the intelligent beings of heaven to listen to it; much less, upon the material sun, moon, and stars, and this globe of ours; but rather as poetic usage, due to the lofty inspiration of the poet’s soul who feels that the message which burns in his heart is so momentous to his people that all nature――above and beneath――may fitly be summoned to hear. It is his strongest way of saying――Let all people of this and future generations give ear and heart to these messages from the God of heaven and earth.――――The poet-prophets of Israel in later days adopt the same form of address (Isa. 1: 2, and Jer. 2: 12, and 6: 19).――――“My doctrine”――the truths I teach――“shall drop as the rain”; good for the soul as rain for the grass; refreshing, fraught with real life and the beauty of holiness:――the reason of its great value being, “Because I am to proclaim the _name_ of the Lord”――_i. e._ his name as significant of his nature.――――Appreciating this sacred name, ye will testify to his greatness; your heart will be impressed with a sense of his excellent glory.

“Their _Rock_ is he”――the writer placing this forcible word first in order. The great elements of his character are stable, solid, enduring, changeless: every thing in his nature and work is perfect; all his ways are righteous; a God of truth is he, whose words of promise or of threatening can never fail. “Without iniquity” moreover; there is nothing in him morally tortuous; all is on the right line of equity and justice. Such is the Great God of our fathers――the God of our national covenant. It was pertinent to place these views of God at the head of this song because they set the guilt of forsaking God in its true light, and would also vindicate his justice in sending even great calamities upon his apostate people.――――In later ages David uses this figure――(the “Rock”)――of God with exquisite beauty and force (Ps. 18: 2, and 28: 1, and 42: 9).

5. They have corrupted themselves, their spot _is_ not _the
spot_ of his children; _they are_ a perverse and crooked
generation.

The poet turns suddenly to the great fact of the future apostasy of God’s people.――“Their spot”――moral defilement――the dark pollution of their souls. That does not indicate my children. My dutiful sons and daughters never carry such stains; never give their hearts to other gods; never turn their backs upon their loving and glorious Father!

6. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?
_is_ not he thy Father _that_ has bought thee? hath he not made
thee and established thee?

7. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many
generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders,
and they will tell thee.

Is it possible that ye can thus requite your own Jehovah? Is this fair treatment of such a Father? Is not the God whom ye have forsaken the very same who hath bought thee from bondage; redeemed thee for himself; made thee a prosperous and happy nation, and established thee in permanent strength? Go back over the grand ages of your national history; ask the fathers for their testimony to the great works of your God in your behalf.

8. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the
people according to the number of the children of Israel.

9. For the Lord’s portion _is_ his people; Jacob _is_ the lot of
his inheritance.

In the original planting of the nations the Lord reserved Canaan――best and fairest of all lands――for his people. This refers to those providential agencies by which God assigned to the nations descended from Noah’s sons their geographical localities and national home. In this arrangement he reserved sufficient territory for Israel――“according to their numbers”; and in the best locality for their residence. The Lord accounted them his own people and gave them his own reserved “lot.”

10. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling
wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as
the apple of his eye.

11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young,
spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her
wings:

12. _So_ the LORD alone did lead him, and _there was_ no strange
god with him.

“He found him in a desert land.” With poetic license the writer touches Hebrew history where he will――in this case at Sinai where God met Israel visibly, and called them into special covenant with himself. All through that wilderness he led Israel about by his guiding pillar of cloud and of fire; instructed him by precepts and statutes; kept him from danger even as a man guards the apple of his eye (which the more poetic Hebrew called the _little man_ of the eye――that diminutive picture of yourself).――――The next figure――at once exquisite in beauty and forcible for illustration――comes from the eagle training his young to fly. When he sees that the time has come for this training, he stirs up his nestlings――waking them as the father does his sons at the morning hour; flutters over them as if to show them the exercise; spreads abroad his wings; takes them up aloft, casts them off upon their flying power――coming swift to the rescue if their strength should fail;――all to train them into courage, and strength of wing, and steadiness of stroke. So the Lord alone――he and none other――did lead Israel. There was no strange god there. In all his wilderness training of forty most eventful years――that tender youth-time of Israel, there was not the least help from Baal or Ashtoreth. But the hand of his own God was every-where; in his daily bread; in his rock-gushing waters; in his pillar of cloud and of fire; in his victories over Amalek, Arad, and Midian. This high hand and uplifted arm, strong as the eagle’s pinions, bore the younglings taken from his nest over and through the roughnesses of that waste howling wilderness, until at length he set them down in the promised Canaan.

13. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he
might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck
honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14. Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and
rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys
of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

The fatness of this fertile land calls out the richest poetic imagery.――――“He made him ride on the high places of the earth”――letting him down just a little yet but a little from the symbol of the eagle’s lofty flight. “Riding on the high places of the land”――as if his were a railway path, stretched from summit to summit, resting only on mountain peaks, commanding every magnificent prospect; or with an eye to his conquest of Canaan, the poet sees him sweeping through with the tread of a conquerer, for the phrase seems to conceive of the hill-tops as the strategic points in war, commanding the whole country. As we might expect, Isaiah admired and adopted this gem of poetry (Isa. 58: 14).

The richest luxuries of oriental climes lie at the nation’s feet; honey and oil; butter and milk; rams and goats; “with the fat of the kidneys of wheat” which curiously draws its terms for the best of wheat from the favorite qualities of animal food.――――In v. 14 the Heb. word for “pure” [“_pure_ blood of the grape”], means by its etymology――effervescing, bubbling up, in the process of fermentation. Our translators probably supposed it to have worked itself “pure” by this process. The word seems to describe the process――not the subsequent state.

15. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou
art grown thick, thou art covered _with fatness_; then he
forsook God _which_ made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of
his salvation.

16. They provoked him to jealousy with strange _gods_, with
abominations provoked they him to anger.

17. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they
knew not, to new _gods that_ came newly up, whom your fathers
feared not.

18. Of the Rock _that_ begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast
forgotten God that formed thee.

Here is the sad moral result of being over-fed, over-tempted.――――“Jeshurun,” the upright one; he who had bound himself by covenant to walk uprightly with God.――――The Hebrews constantly associate fatness with moral obtuseness, insensibility, and consequent obliquity. The ceremonial distinctions of things clean and unclean assumed this――swine being utterly unclean, and the fatty portions of sacrificed animals being accounted good only for burning on the altar. Hence the figure――Jeshurun, too fat for self-control and self-denial; too fat for the worship of the pure and holy One; and consequently he forsook the God who made and blessed him.――――The verb for “lightly esteemed” means to regard as dried up; withered; of faded beauty. So Israel thought of their God though he had been to them the Rock of their salvation. The sad fact of their fall into idol-worship is reiterated and made impressively emphatic. They provoked God to jealousy; for how could he be otherwise than jealous when they cast him off and gave their hearts’ homage to devils; to new gods, unknown to their fathers; gods that were no gods at all!――――The Hebrew word here for “devils” means primarily _lords_――mighty ones. The Septuagint and Vulgate give it _demons_――true to the ultimate idea, for all idol-worship is equivalent to the worship of the devil, being real obedience to his will.――――The blackness of this guilt lies in its forgetting, disowning God, our Great Benefactor; our only real Friend.

19. And when the LORD saw _it_, he abhorred _them_, because of
the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what
their end _shall be_: for they _are_ a very froward generation,
children in whom _is_ no faith.

21. They have moved me to jealousy with _that which is_ not God;
they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will
move them to jealousy with _those which are_ not a people; I
will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

The most cruel point as to God was that this insult came from his own “_sons and daughters_.” From them he might expect better treatment.――――What shall he do? What can he do, less than to hide his face from them and to leave them to try the friendship of the new gods they had so madly chosen? “I will see what their end shall be.” They will see in due time!――――In v. 21 there is a play upon the words――the same verbs, “move to jealousy” and “provoke,” being used first of their ways toward God; next, of God’s ways in retribution toward them. Paul (Rom. 10: 14) assumes that this passage at least applies well if indeed it does not refer primarily to God’s judgments on Israel by casting her off, and taking into her place of privilege the Gentiles whom Israel had been wont to regard as nobody.

22. For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the
lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and
set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows
upon them.

24. _They shall be_ burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning
heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of
beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the
young man and the virgin, the suckling _also_ with the man of
gray hairs.

These are the vials of retributive judgment poured out on Israel, first for her persistent idolatries; last for her murder of her King Messiah. The fire is thought of as burning _deep_; not merely skimming the surface but penetrating to the deep foundations of her mountains. “Hell” here is not to be taken in its modern usage――the place of future punishment――but in the early Hebrew sense as lying below the earth’s surface――the “pit” into which Korah and his company went down.――――“Burnt with hunger” (v. 24) is more literally exhausted, their vitality sucked out of them by famine――a fearful doom!――――The sword abroad and terror at home (literally, “in the chambers”), shall bereave [Heb.] both the young man and the virgin――a calamity well compared to bereavement of most loved offspring.

26. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the
remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their
adversaries should behave themselves strangely, _and_ lest they
should say, Our hand _is_ high, and the LORD hath not done all
this.

28. For they _are_ a nation void of counsel, neither _is there
any_ understanding in them.

The thought is that for these great sins the Lord would have utterly annihilated Israel were it not for the honor of his name before the nations as their recognized God.――――The word for “scatter into corners” means rather, _to blow away_ as with his powerful breath.――――It is not precisely the “_wrath_” of the enemy, but rather the _reproaches_, or the underlying spirit which would manifest itself in insult and haughty exultation. The context shows the true idea. Lest they should say “Israel is down because _our_ hand is high and _our_ power resistless. _We_ have done it. _Their God_ is far enough from being Almighty.”――――“Behave themselves strangely” should rather be――should _reason_ strangely; should make this strange inference, that the fall of Israel was due to their own great power, rather than to God’s forsaking them for their great sin.

29. O that they were wise, _that_ they understood this, _that_
they would consider their latter end!

30. How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to
flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut
them up?

31. For their rock _is_ not as our Rock, even our enemies
themselves _being_ judges.

How does the tenderness of a loving Father’s heart pour itself out in these matchless words! O if my people were only wise; wise to know and appreciate their Great Benefactor! Wise to render him the homage, the trust, and the love of their heart! How would one of them chase a thousand of their foes if only their God were on their side; if he who is their Rock and Strength had not sold and disowned them!――――Expressively Moses adds――For as they very well know――we have it on their own admission――their Rock is not as our Rock; their gods were never like our God. Moses did not say this without authority. He remembered how the Egyptian hosts in the Red Sea cried out, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians” (Ex. 14: 25). The testimony of Balaam was still fresh: “God hath blessed; I can not reverse it. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion,” etc. (Num. 23: 20–24). The fame of God’s wonders for Israel was already abroad among all the adjacent nations, as may be seen in the words of Rahab (Josh. 2: 9–11).

32. For their vine _is_ of the vine of Sodom, and the fields of
Gomorrah: their grapes _are_ grapes of gall, their clusters
_are_ bitter:

33. Their wine _is_ the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom
of asps.

34. _Is_ not this laid up in store with me, _and_ sealed up
among my treasures?

35. To me _belongeth_ vengeance, and recompense; their foot
shall slide in _due_ time: for the day of their calamity _is_
at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

By a somewhat sudden transition of thought, “for” [first word of v. 32] answers the implied question――Why then, if Israel’s Rock is so mighty, does not Israel live and triumph in perpetual victory and prosperity? Do ye ask, _Why not?_ Because they are corrupt like Sodom; their “vine” being put poetically for themselves morally considered. Their heart and life are altogether rotten.――――In v. 34 I take the sense to be――Do I not remember all their sin? Is it not laid up before me, awaiting its time for a fearful retribution, sealed up as securely as one keeps his choice treasures? “Vengeance belongeth to me”――is my sole prerogative, and can not fail of its due execution.

36. For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself
for his servants, when he seeth that _their_ power is gone, and
_there is_ none shut up, or left.

37. And he shall say, Where _are_ their gods, _their_ rock in
whom they trusted,

38. Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, _and_ drank the
wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you,
_and_ be your protection.

God will arise for judgment and retribution. Calamities must scourge the guilty; mercy will spare the innocent and ultimately save his Zion. In the latter portion of this song (vs. 36–42), the divine agency seems to be of a twofold character; exterminating the hopelessly guilty, but sparing and restoring the penitent, and ultimately retrieving the fortunes of his kingdom.――――When God seeth that his people are powerless and none remain, either bond or free, shut up or let go [the sense of the Heb. words translated “shut up or left”], he will ask, What has become of the gods to whom my people have apostatized, with whom they ate their sacrifices in common? Since those gods have utterly failed them, let me call their attention to myself. Perhaps now it will not be in vain.

39. See now that I, _even_ I, _am_ he, and _there is_ no god
with me: I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal: neither
_is there any_ that can deliver out of my hand.

40. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever.

41. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on
judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will
reward them that hate me.

42. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall
devour flesh; _and that_ with the blood of the slain and of the
captives from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

They shall know the power of their God. When I lift up my awful hand to bring down retribution on the guilty apostates among my people, shall not my arrows be drunk with blood and my sword devour flesh? The guilty must fall; yet through the fires of these sore judgments Zion shall be purified and so redeemed.――――The last clause of v. 42 were better read――“From the head of the princes of the enemy.”

43. Rejoice, O ye nations, _with_ his people: for he will avenge
the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his
adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, _and_ to his
people.

This closing strain brings out in unmistakable terms the idea which seems to have been implied since v. 36, viz. that these great judgments on Israel will not ultimately break down God’s cause and kingdom, but will only cut off the hopelessly reprobate and really bring deliverance, purity, salvation to Zion. Therefore let all the nations rejoice with his people. They have a deeper interest than they are yet aware of in this purifying process for the ultimate redemption of Zion. The prophetic eye of Moses sees through to the glorious ingathering of the Gentiles to Christ, and seems to trace the connection of this ingathering with the judgments sent on apostate Israel in the first Christian age.――――The outcome of this song is therefore ultimately hopeful to the real Zion. It gives a fearfully dark view of the guilty apostasies of Israel――those which culminated first in the captivity to Babylon; last in the fall of their city before the Romans. In the result God vindicates his great name; purifies his people, and spreads the glory of his name far abroad among the nations.

DEUT. 33.

_The blessing of Moses upon the tribes shortly before his death._

This blessing of Moses follows in general the usage of patriarchal times, as seen in Noah, but especially in Jacob, the great tribe-father (Gen. 49). It also follows the impulses of the great heart of Moses, now a patriarch of one hundred and twenty years, who had long outlived the associates of his earlier days; who had suffered and borne every thing for his people and had labored for them more than a father for his sons and daughters. In this parting hour he has some last blessings to bequeathe before his eyes shall close in death. Let us listen to his dying benedictions.

The first five verses apply generally to all the tribes. The last four also are general rather than special; while the intervening portion of the chapter (vs. 6–25) is made up of special benedictions upon the several tribes.――――Note also that while the “Song” [chap. 32] is largely in the minor strain――a sad prophetic vision of the nation’s future apostasies and consequent calamities, this chapter is _pure benediction_――the outpouring of hopeful prayers and heartfelt good wishes, with no shade of anticipated disaster, no foreseen calamities.

1. And this _is_ the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God
blessed the children of Israel before his death.

2. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir
unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with
ten thousands of saints: from his right hand _went_ a fiery law
for them.

3. Yea, he loved the people; and all his saints _are_ in thy
hand: and they sat down at thy feet; _every one_ shall receive
of thy words.

4. Moses commanded us a law, _even_ the inheritance of the
congregation of Jacob.

5. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people
_and_ the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

The first thing to be noticed was that greatest fact, equally of the life of Moses and of the life of all Israel, viz. the coming forth of the glorious God in majesty so sublime from the mountains of Sinai. How did the blaze of his glory illumine her towering summits and flash forth from all her hill-tops! Such a coming――when had the world ever seen before?――――“Rose up from Seir” would suggest to a Hebrew the rising of the sun in his glory.――――“He came _with_ ten thousands of saints,” says our English version; but the Hebrew has it _from_――the same preposition which is used before Sinai, Seir, and Paran――certainly implying therefore that God came forth _from_ the midst of those ten thousand holy ones in a sense analogous to that in which he shone forth from Sinai, Seir, and Paran. He must refer to holy angels to whom in great numbers Jacob was introduced at Bethel and Mahanaim. But whether the Lord came forth _from_ them, leaving them in heaven, or shone forth _from among_ them, attending him on Sinai, can not be certainly determined from the words used here. Other scriptures however speak of the law as given by the ministration of angels, and therefore fully imply their presence on Sinai at the giving of the law. See Ps. 68: 17, and Acts 7: 53, and Gal. 3: 19, and Heb. 2: 2.――――The last clause of v. 1――“from his right hand went forth a fiery law for them”――involves grave difficulties of a sort which can not well be put before the English reader. The word translated “law” is unknown to the ancient Hebrew――is not the word used for law in v. 4 and in the Pentateuch generally. The best critical authorities would unite these two words which our translators supposed to mean “fire” and “law,” into one word of quite different signification, referring perhaps to the pillar of fire [Gesenius]; or to some geographical point [Fuerst]; or to flashes of lightning [Keil].――――V. 3 is singularly abrupt, and consequently the course of thought is obscure. God was loving the people [continuous action]――_i. e._ all the nations and not the Hebrews only――showing that God shone forth from Sinai _in love to the race_. All his holy ones are his wards, upheld by his arm. They lie humbly at his feet; in filial loving obedience they receive his words――indicating most beautifully the spirit with which all true souls welcome God’s uttered words as to moral duty. It is perhaps possible that [as Keil suggests] the “holy ones” here are holy angels; yet I incline to apply the phrase without restriction to all holy beings, man certainly not excluded.――――Moses gave us a law, as a legacy, inheritance, for the whole congregation of Jacob. He [God] was King in Jeshurun [over the _upright people_], even over all that great nation with its congregated tribes and their tribal leaders.

6. Let Reuben live, and not die; and let _not_ his men be few.

As to Reuben, let his tribe be perpetuated and not become extinct; for some fear on this point might have sprung from the scenes of Num. 16; the fearful death of Dathan, Abiram, and On, all sons of Reuben (Num. 16: 1, 27).

7. And this _is the blessing_ of Judah: and he said, Hear, Lord,
the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands
be sufficient for him; and be thou a help _to him_ from his
enemies.

Judah is thought of as leading the tribes in battle, going forth in advance of all others to war. Hence the prayer――Bring him back safely to his people from the scenes of battle. Let his hand [military power] be equal to any emergency.

8. And of Levi he said, _Let_ thy Thummim and thy Urim _be_ with
thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, _and with_ whom
thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

9. Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen
him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own
children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

10. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law;
they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice
upon thine altar.

11. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands:
smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of
them that hate him, that they rise not again.

The blessing on Levi suggested the insignia on Aaron’s breast-plate, known as the “_Urim and Thummim_” [described somewhat in Ex. 28: 29, 30]――the words signifying _Light and Right_. These breast-plate insignia were used in some way, not altogether clear at this day, in obtaining special directions from the Lord.――――The tribe of Levi as a whole became in a sense God’s “Holy One,” bearing in the person of Aaron these insignia. God had proved them at Massah and Meribah where the people murmured against Moses and Aaron. It was especially in the scenes of the calf-worship (Ex. 32) and of the Midianites (Num. 25) that the tribe of Levi, and particularly Phineas, proved themselves true to God, with higher regard for him and his honor than for father, mother, brethren, or children; for they remembered and honored God’s word and covenant. Let them therefore have the functions of the priesthood, to teach Jacob thy law and to minister at the national altar.

12. _And_ of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall
dwell in safety by him; _and the_ Lord shall cover him all the
day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

Let Benjamin, the beloved of the Lord, dwell safely by the side of the Lord, his protector, abiding between his shoulders――_i. e._ upon his back where fathers are wont to place their children to bear them long distances. This tribe is thought of as God’s child, to be borne upon his shoulder.

13. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord _be_ his land,
for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep
that croucheth beneath,

14. And for the precious fruits _brought forth_ by the sun, and
for the precious things put forth by the moon,

15. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for
the precious things of the lasting hills,

16. And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof,
and _for_ the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let _the
blessing_ come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the
head of him that was separated from his brethren.

17. His glory _is like_ the firstling of his bullock, and his
horns _are like_ the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push
the people together to the ends of the earth: and they _are_
the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they _are_ the thousands of
Manasseh.

The blessings on Joseph comprise all good upon his land; the dew and the shower, the sunshine and the moonbeams; all the products of the mountains and of the deep;――let all come upon the head of him who was _prince_ among his brethren [in Egypt]――this being the sense, rather than “separated” from his brethren.

18. And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out;
and, Issachar, in thy tents.

19. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they
shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck
_of_ the abundance of the seas, and _of_ treasures hid in the
sand.

Let Zebulun and Issachar rejoice both in their going forth and in their tents; equally in their labor and in their repose. Living on the shore of the great sea, let their influence go forth upon and beyond the great waters, calling the nations to the mountain of the Lord’s house for worship with sacrifices of righteousness to the God of the whole earth; and let Zion under their hand become enriched with the abundance of the seas――of all countries beyond the seas――bringing their gold and their treasures to the God of Israel. Isaiah has the same thought often; _e. g._ chapters 49, 60, and 66.

20. And of Gad he said, Blessed _be_ he that enlargeth Gad: he
dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the
head.

21. And he provided the first part for himself, because there,
_in_ a portion of the lawgiver, _was he_ seated; and he came
with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the
Lord, and his judgments with Israel.

The allusion to Gad seems to be built upon his then recent history――leading the movement for locating the two and a half tribes on the East of Jordan and foremost in battle and in victory over the national enemy; prompt also to go over Jordan to execute God’s righteous judgments on the devoted nations of Canaan.

22. And of Dan he said, Dan _is_ a lion’s whelp: he shall leap
from Bashan.

Dan is fierce and formidable in war, to which his border locality on the extreme North may have conduced. Jacob touches the same tribal characteristic (Gen. 49: 16, 17).

23. And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,
and full with the blessing of the Lord, possess thou the west
and the south.

24. And of Asher he said, _Let_ Asher _be_ blessed with children;
let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot
in oil.

25. Thy shoes _shall be_ iron and brass; and as thy days, _so
shall_ thy strength _be_.

Let Asher be blessed _above_ the sons――may be the sense――the favored one among his brethren. May thy castle-bars [not “shoes”] be of iron and brass. But the best authorities on the word “strength” prefer _rest_ [Gesenius], or affluence [Fuerst]. The prayer is that this rest or affluence may be life-long.

26. _There is_ none like unto the God of Jeshurun, _who_ rideth
upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.

27. The eternal God _is thy_ refuge, and underneath _are_ the
everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before
thee and shall say, Destroy _them_.

28. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of
Jacob _shall be_ upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens
shall drop down dew.

29. Happy _art_ thou, O Israel: who _is_ like unto thee, O
people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who _is_
the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found
liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

These words of unsurpassed sublimity and most exquisite poetry set forth the glories of the God of Israel and the blessedness of the people who enjoy such a Father and live under such a Protector. Perhaps we can not give them higher praise than to say they are worthy of the pen of Moses――worthy even to be his last words――he noblest utterances of one who above any other mere man had communed with God face to face as man does with his dearest friend.――――The English translation is almost faultless, constituting one of the grandest passages to be found in English literature. In the last clause of v. 27, I prefer to follow the Hebrew more closely and say simply _Destroy!_ The high behest of Jehovah, hurling the enemy forth from the land of his people is best expressed in the emphatic word, _Destroy!_――――In the last verse, the clause, “Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee,” means that they shall cringe, fawn, and flatter with false and lying pretenses to gain if but a little favor from a people so terrible in arms as Israel with God on her side. The case of the Gibeonites is mostly in point.

It was due to the stand-point of Moses, looking forth across the Jordan upon the earthly Canaan, beholding the earthly Israel just then entering there; Jehovah the shield of their help, the sword of their excellency, the scourge of their foes――this mighty God riding sublimely upon the heavens for their help, his everlasting arms underneath them forevermore――that this view should be primarily of scenes in the present life and not in the future; of earthly and material relations rather than of spiritual. Yet let us not forget that the manifestations of God in blessings of earthly sort foreshadow like manifestations in the spiritual life. The God who saves his people here in things of earth, in ways so grand, with power so transcendant, in a spirit so parental and so tender, may surely be trusted to save and shield and bless with his own Godlike wisdom and power against spiritual foes and for the other world no less than for this. Surely there is none like the God of Jeshurun who comes in the tenderness of infinite pity to wipe away the penitent tear; to bind up hearts broken for sin; to place underneath all feeble souls his own everlasting arms; to bid away every spiritual foe with the mandate _Destroy_; and to gather home his redeemed in his own best time to his Canaan above, of which that ancient land of promise gives us only some poetic images and some illustrations of God’s faithfulness and love. It is quite well, therefore, to exchange the earthly sense of this sublime passage for its spiritual significance and transfer its imagery to that world whose glories are worthy of sublimer strains than even these.

_The death and character of Moses._

These benedictions having been uttered, it remained for Moses to see the goodly land with his eyes and then close them in death. The record is that his vision from the top of Pisgah swept the whole country of Palestine even to the Mediterranean――a statement which implies miraculous power. We must either tone down the statement in extent, or admit a superhuman extension of sight――the latter being by far most probable.

The record assumes that at his death Moses had no attendant save the Lord himself――a circumstance which throws a shade of doubt over the ultimate disposition of his body. According to the narrative the Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab; yet the place of his burial remained unknown to mortals. Was the fact of his being buried at all revealed to some Hebrew prophet by special inspiration; or was it merely assumed as the common course of events; or was his body really translated, as in the case of Enoch and Elijah? In favor of the latter supposition are two circumstances; viz. the allusion by Jude (v. 9) to a dispute over his body between Michael the archangel and the devil; and his appearance together with Elijah at the transfiguration of Jesus (Mat. 17: 3). These hints comprise all that is known on the point or can be known at present; or as we may say, all that the Lord thought it important to let us know.

Altogether in keeping with the masterly vigor of mind manifested in the last exhortation of Moses (chap. 27–31); in the “Song” (chap. 32), and in the tribal blessings (chap. 33)――is the statement that although at the age of one hundred and twenty, “his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated.” The Hebrew word suggests, instead of natural force, the idea of freshness, youthful vigor. How wonderfully were his powers of both mind and body preserved till his great work was done!――――The historian who wrote this last chapter says: “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses”――which raises the question, How long a period of time is embraced in this comparison? Was this remark made in the time of Samuel, or in the time of Ezra, or at some point between? Or was it based upon the belief or the special revelation that the divine policy included but one Moses――all later prophets down to the coming of the Great Anointed being of a subordinate grade? I do not see that the choice between these several alternatives can be made with absolute certainty, and it is not specially important that we attempt to balance nicely the mere probabilities.

We think of Moses (as of Paul, Isaiah, Daniel) as a sublime illustration of God’s marvelous resources for raising up great men for great occasions. Where shall we set the limit to these resources? True, these great men die (unless they may be translated), but their names die not; their work does not die; their influence travels onward down the ages, and will, long as men live on the earth. They are the world’s really _great men_, belonging to a totally different order from the Cæsars, the Alexanders, and the Napoleons, or the Platos and the Aristotles of the race. It may not be unprofitable to note that all these were _modest men_; meek above most other men; of unaspiring spirit; true to their divine mission, and little caring to give their thought to any thing else. The fact in the recorded history of Moses which seems to me the very gem of his life was that God’s proposal, twice made to him, to cut off all Israel and make of him a great nation (Ex. 32: 10 and Num. 14: 12) did not get from him a moment’s attention. He never even alluded to it. But as the Lord seemed to overlook the glory of his own name before the nations, Moses took the responsibility (boldly, shall we say?) of reminding him as to this point. Apparently his soul was so much absorbed in this line of considerations――the glory of God as before the nations of the earth――that he could not let it drop from his range of view. Hence Moses was mighty (almost omnipotent we may say) in prayer. It would seem to have been the Lord’s special purpose to bring out this prime quality of his religious character and set it in sunlight before all future ages――an illustration of the fact that _the great men of all time are mighty with God in prayer_. They know the secret of communion with God. They have easy, unrestricted access to his throne.――――One blemish――nay rather, one sin, stands on the record of his life in his own hand-writing; one sad, humiliating fact mars his history――viz. that at Kadesh his sensibilities to himself were too keen; that for the moment, self threw even his God into the shade, and he cried out: “Ye rebels; must _we_ fetch you water from this rock”? True, the complaints of Israel were severely cruel as against Moses; but how much more so against God! And if Moses had thought and felt much less as to himself and much more of God, he had passed through this stern ordeal unhurt. From that point onward this sin could not pass altogether out of his mind. It had been the aspiration of his life to see the goodly land of Canaan and to plant his children――the great Hebrew nation――there with his own hand and see them with his own eyes in their glorious home! We sympathize in his disappointment and trial in that he must die short of Canaan. But this is not quite a sinless world. The painful experiences of imperfection force themselves into the best Christian lives. There is a better life beyond!

_The Mosaic system and the future life._

The question often comes up in even the most candid and honest minds: Why is the Pentateuch silent, or at least, _so nearly_ silent as to the rewards and punishments of the future life?――――Moreover, there is a class of critics who are fain to decry the Hebrew people as almost contemptibly low in point of knowledge, culture, and civilization, and who are wont to deny that the Mosaic system, civil or religious, has any allusion to the future life or even assumes its existence.――――From this supposed fact, they infer that the Hebrew people and even Moses himself _had no knowledge of the future life_.

In briefly discussing this subject, I propose,

1. To qualify somewhat the absolute statement――_No allusion to the future life or assumption of its existence_.

2. To give some reasons for placing the Theocracy mainly on the basis of temporal rewards and punishments.

3. To maintain that Moses and the patriarchs knew and believed in the future life as one of rewards and punishments.

1. I propose to qualify somewhat the absolute statement――“No allusion to the future life and no assumption of its existence.”

Here I call attention to the remarkable fact that there are several statutes _without penalties_――left simply upon the consciences of men and upon their sense of the fear of God.――――As to those who violate the third of the ten commandments, it is simply said, “The Lord will not hold him guiltless”; but it is not intimated that any due punishment should befall him in the present life. The statutes touching this sin stand also without penalties. Correspondingly the statutes forbid perjury; but they seem to leave the sanctity of the solemn oath upon the conscience and upon men’s fear of God. So of the precept, “Thou shalt not revile the judges, nor curse the rulers of thy people” (Ex. 22: 28).

Now it scarcely need be suggested that human laws without penalties are mere puerilities――virtually no laws at all. Suppose under any human government, sundry statutes were left without penalties, the law saying only, “he shall bear his iniquity”; “his sin shall be upon him”: Would not the whole body of lawless, law-breaking men say in their heart, What of that? What then? Every violator of human law knows well enough that there is nothing to fear _from it_ beyond the grave. If human law will only let them have their way in this world, they would scoff at the thought of _its penalties_ in the next.――――Now my point is that the Hebrew statutes did not leave the law-breaker’s conscience in this attitude. The man who scorned those statutes because they stood without penalties in this world _had something to think of for the world to come_. Those statutes, left without penalties for this life were not by any means for that reason powerless. So far from being powerless, they were in many minds more terrible than any other statutes. Was it of no account to them that God had said――“His sin shall be _upon him_” and “he shall bear his iniquity”? Did they not know that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”――fearful, moreover, not because he might bring trouble on them in time, but because there is an after-life and the same dreadful God is there――terrible to those who have defied his authority and scorned his law?――――Therefore the statement that this Hebrew code did in no manner assume the existence of an after-life and of a God terrible to the sinner there, must be somewhat modified.

2. _I am to assign some reasons for putting this Theocracy mainly on the basis of temporal rewards and punishments._

(1.) It was to be administered chiefly by human agents. Human judges sat upon offenses against it, and human hands executed their decisions.――――I qualify these statements with the words “mainly,” “chiefly,” stating this as being the case _for the most part_.――――The fact as to human agents being admitted, there is no need of further reasons for placing the administration of this government mainly on the basis of earthly rewards and punishments――penalties in this world, not in the next. How could human judges award judgments for the world to come, and human hands execute them there?