IX 26. there it seems they lost the Brook that Moses fetcht out of the Rock at Massa and Meriba Ex. XVII This Brook had followed them hitherto but it could not ascend as they did to their next station which was at c Num. XX. 1. and XXXIII 36. Kadesh in the * There it was that Miriam the Sister of Moses dyed by which we know the just Time of their being there For at Mount Hor which was their very next stage there her Brother Aaron dyed which was in a Num. XXXIII 38. the fortieth year of the Peoples coming out of Egypt and on the first day of the fifth month of that year But Miriam's death is remember'd by the Iews on the Tenth day of the first month by which account she dyed not quite four months before him b Ios. Ant. IV. 4. p. 109. G. Iosephus saith she was buried there on a Mountain which they call Sein So it seems it was remember'd in his time wilderness of Zin Num. XX. 1. Hereupon there was a second d Num. XXVIII 14. and Deut. XXXII 51. Massa and Meriba so called on the following occasion There being no water for the Congregation they gather'd themselves together against Moses and Aaron and the People dd Num. XX. 2. v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chid with Moses and said would to God we had dyed with our Brethren c. wherefore have you made us to come out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place Here is none of all those good things we were to have in the promised Land e v. 5. neither is there any water to drink This want of water was a Temptation that they had not Faith to withstand And yet even now at this present they could not but see by the Pillar of Chud that the same God which brought them up out of Egypt was still with them And they knew what he could do in this very case by having ee Ex. XVII 6. seen what he did in the like which they could not forget having lived upon the effects of it ever since But besides they had seen many other wonderful proofs of an Almighty Providence over them by which they had been deliver'd out of Egypt brought through the Red Sea and preserv'd and fed for so many years since in the wilderness But all these great works of God they threw back to him with Contempt wishing they had never been They wished that f Num. XX. 3. they had dyed with that Rebellious Crew that perished in the gain saying of Korah This was such a g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 13. quarelling with God as he calls it v. 13. that Moses the meekest Man on the Earth could not bear it It provoked him to that degree that he could not speak to them with Patience Insomuch that when God commanded him to take his Rod and go and speak to the Rock before their Eyes and told him that that being done it should give forth its water abundantly He called the People together to see this work of God and as they stood there h v. 10. together before the Rock v. 10. He said unto them Hear now you Rebels must we fetch you water out of this Rock i v. 11. And Moses lift up his hand and with his Rod he sinote the Rock twice and the water came out abundantly In his Anger it seems he did so far forget himself as to do things like one that believed not what God had said to him He struck the Rock twice when God had told him only a Num. XX. 8. speaking to it would suffice Aaron was as it seems in the same fault with Moses for which the dignity of their Persons being consider'd God thought fit to lay Exemplary Punishments on both of them and so he declared that b v. 12. neither of them should enter into Canaan As for Aaron God shorten'd his Journey then presently for he dyed at the next station which was at c v. 28. Mount Hor as has been already shewn and Moses dyed at d Deut. XXXIV 5. Mount Nebo within six months after 108. The next Journey of the People of Israel was through a Third Murmuring at Tsalmona tedious and troublesome e Num. XXI 4. way in which they had nothing to live upon but what came by daily and continual Miracles And whereas they ought to have been thankful for this they were so far from it that they spoke as well against God himself as against Moses They joined them both together in this bitter Expostulation ee v. 5. wherefore have You brought us up out of Egypt to dye in the wilderness Num. XXI 5. This was their Third Rebellion and the last that we read of in the History of this Generation For the punishment of this Sin f v. 6. punisht with fiery Serpents God sent fiery Serpents among them v. 6. It was a most venemous sort of Creature with which that Wilderness did abound And they bit the People so as that a Multitude of them dyed of it The rest came to Moses to intercede for them g v. 7. They said we have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee pray unto the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us They could not have asked a thing which Moses was readier to do He prayed and God order'd him to h v. 8. set up the Image of such a Serpent made of Brass on the top of a very high Pole that every one that was bitten might look up to it and live It is more than once that our blessed Lord minds us of this as a Type of his being i Ioh. III. 14. XII 32. lifted up on the Cross that they that are bitten with Sin may look up to Him and be saved 109. This last Rebellion was at Tsalmona * This place was so called from Tselem which signifieth an Image in memory of this Brazen Serpent It seems the People took this away with them and had it in so great esteem that in process of time they came to worship it as an Idol for which it was r 2 Kin. XVIII 4 broken in pieces by King Hezekiah 2 Kings XVIII 4. which was the thirty At Zered was an end of this murmuring Generation fift station of God's People in the k Num. XXXIII 41. wilderness Num. XXXIII 41. In four stations more they came to the place called l v. 45. Dibon-Gad in the Valley of Zered There as Moses tells us being m Deut. II. 13. come over the Brook of that name there were now none remaining of that Generation of men that were twenty years old or upward when they came up out of Egypt It was now n v. 14. thirty eight years since they came from Kadesh Barnea and full forty years since God took them first to be his People in Egypt All which time of o
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one that shall come near the Tabernacle of the Lord shall dye God heard this and thereupon for a farther provision against their falling into this Sin he made a fresh Declaration of his mind almost in the same words in which the People had repeated the former They had said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one that comes near shall dye God repeated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one that comes near shall be put to death For the Reason of this enough XVIII 7. has been said in the Context of this Discourse 104. The direful Complaints of the heavy Judgements of God as appeared by their bitter complaints that they had seen inflicted on others and expected the like on themselves do plainly shew that they had no Abhorrence of the Sins by which those their Brethren that died and perish'd had provoked the Righteous God to send these Judgements upon them So far they were from that that in the mind they were in they seem to have thought of no other but that they should a Num. XVII 12. all perish in like manner though they knew that could not be unless they themselves were guilty of the same Sins They did not know but they might all murmur against Moses and do all the rest that Dathan and Aoiram had done 105. But it seems they took a more particular notice of the Sin especially on Kâ—…rah's death of Korah and his Fellows and of the Judgement of God inflicted on them God had appointed b Num. XVI 38. the Censers of those Sinners against their own Souls to be worked into a Covering for the Altar that it might be a Memorial to all that were not of the Seed of Aaron that not c See Num. XVI 40. in the bottom of page 47. oâ—…e Man of them should come near to offer Incense that is to officiate as a Priest that they might not suffer as Korah and his Company had done Moses d Num. XVII 10 11. warned them again of the same at the setting up of that Second Memorial of Aaron's Rod which warning of his seems to have been the immediate occasion of those passionate words Thereupon the Text saith a vers 12. the Children of Israel spake unto Moses saying behold we dye we perish we all perish then adding that which stuck most in their thoughts namely the b XVI 40. words that he spake at the setting up of the former Memorial Num. XVI 40. There it was declared as they here repeated the words c XVII 13. See it here in the bottom Every one that comes near the Tabernacle of the Lord to offer Incense shall dye How then say they have we done dying Is the Danger over No certainly unless we give up our Right of doing the same that Korah did which it seems they would not promise for themselves In short here is nothing else in all their speech but Tokens of the utmost impenitence They neither ask Pardon of God nor of either of his Ministers they did not so much as desire that Moses would Pray for them nor did they make the least confession of any Sin that either they or those Rebels were guilty of The last mention they made of them in all this History was d XVI 41. Num. XVI 41 where they charged Moses and Aaron with killing them They told them plainly you have killed the People of the Lord. For this God justly called them a Num. XVII 10. Rebels ch XVII 10. and provided the second Memorial quite to take away their murmurings that they dye not But they were still for b vers 22 13. dying and perishing rather than they would promise to Amend and give over those Rebellions by which they that did dye and perish had brought those Judgements on themselves 106. By what has been said it abundantly appears that as yet God gives a New Law against intruding into the Priesthood the Murmurings were not quite taken away nor were like to be as long as this Generation was living God was therefore so much the more concerned to take care that they might not destroy themselves by their Rebellions before the Time was run out that he had set them to wander in the Wilderness And since for the preventing of this no sort of Miracles would do for all had been tried and cast away on this stiff-necked People therefore God was pleased to resort to the Ordinary means by enacting Judicial Laws with strict Penalties and making it the business of Persons concern'd to see them put in Execution It was Aaron himself that was chiefly concern'd in all matters of publick worship He was the High Priest that was appointed of God to be Judge in all causes touching Religion and c Deut. XVII 11. 12. from the Sentence of the Law which he should deliver there was to be no Appeal Deut. XVII 11 12. Therefore now to put an end to those disputes about the Priesthood God was pleased to deliver to Aaron a Judicial Law concerning Holy places and things Num. XVIII 1 7. By which in the first place d Num. XVIII 1 7. God laid upon Him and his Sons the whole charge of those places and things that belonged to the Priesthood viz. of the Sanctuary and the Vessels thereof and also of the Priest's Court wherein was the Altar of Sacrifice But for the People's Court and all the Offices in the outer Verge of the Tabernacle God laid the charge of all these on the other Levites that were not of the Sons of Aaron And as well to oblige them both Priests and Levites to look to their respective charges as to deter others from breaking in upon them he ordain'd that if any one who was not of the Tribe of Levi should intrude into any place of their Ministry or should meddle with any of the Vessels belonging to it he should be put to death and so should the Levites that suffer'd him to do it And for those places and vessels that were within the charge of the Priests the Sons of Aaron if any stranger should presume to come near them he must be e vers 7. put to death v. 7. nay though he were a Levite as Korah was he must dye for it and the Priests that suffer'd it must also dye with him f v. 3. Their second Massa and Meriba v. 3. 107. They were by this Ordinance of God kept under a lasting Aw which they could not be by Temporary Miracles So that now from this time forward we read no more of any one 's intruding into the office of Priesthood in Moses's time or his Successors Nor do we read of the People's Murmuring on any other account till 37 years after their departure from Kadesh Barnea Then the Children of Israel being come down to a Num. XXXIII 35. Ezion Geber Num. XXXIII 35. which was by the Red Sea b 1 Kings IX 26. n. 73. 1 Kings
the People of Israel and together with him the Daughter of a King of the Midianites who would surely make it a National Quarrel This was such a thing as God would not let vs be ignorant of and therefore he plainly tells us that the Name of the Man was g v. 14. Zimri the Son of Salu a Prince of the cheif family among thr Simeonites and that the Woman was h v. 15. Cozbi the Daughter of Zur who as he tells us i XXXI 8. elsewhere was one of the five Kings of Midian Such an Heroic Action as this was being done in pure Zeal for Gods Cause was so highly acceptable to him that thereupon he stopt his hand and would not suffer the Plague to proceed any farther And not onely so but as well for a Reward to Phineas at present as for a Memorial of it in future times God gave him the promise of continuing the Priesthood to him and his seed after him for ever 120. By this one Act of his it came to pass that this Judgment of The Plague held but one day God was no more than k 〈◊〉 Cor. X. 9. one days work It was l Num. XXV 18. the Day of the Plague as Moses calls it But in that short space of time there dyed m v. 9. of the Plague no fewer than 24000. Moses elsewhere has told us that those were n Deut. IV. 3. all the Men that followed Baal-Peor And that none dyed after this day till the Date of the Book o Deut. I. 3. of Deuteronomy which was but one Month before his death This is certain from what he told them in the next words p v. 4. You that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day 121. No doubt they that saw this terrible Judgment of God Moses's last numbring of the People though they knew how just it was upon them that perished in it yet could not but be in some kind of fear for themselves none of them being secure but that living as they did among those Idolatrous Nations with whom God would not let them be in hostility they might by conversing with them be ensnared into some Sin or other for which they might perish in like manner God was pleased therefore to let them know that the danger they were in on that account was not long to continue There was onely the a Num. XXVI 3. River Iordan between them and the Land which God had promised to their Fathers Their next Remove would bring them thither And when they had taken possession of that Land which God could give them as easily as he had given them all on this side Iordan they were then b 53 ... 55. to divide it for an Inheritance among themselves To let them see it was the Care of Gods Providence that it should be equally shared he was pleased to order c v. 1. Moses and Eleazar the High Priest to make a second Numbring of the People like that which Moses and Aaron had d Num. l. 1. formerly made in the Wilderness of Sinai It could not but comfort them to see that after the dying away of more than e v. 46. 600000 men that had been then Numbred many of them no doubt dying Natural deaths but all the rest save f Num. XXVI 65. onely Ioshua and Caleb having been swept away by those Judgments of God that had fallen upon them within these last 38. Years yet now they were but g v. 51. 1120. men fewer than they were at that former Numbring which small Number of men might very likely have been lost by their own Miscarriages in the h XXI 31 35. Conquering of those two Kingdoms 122. All this while as well they as their Fathers before them They had now all Extraordinary means had continually before their Eyes those i v. 71 86 93. evident proofs of Gods presence among them in the Pillar of fire all night and of cloud all day either moving before them or resting over the Tabernacle They had the k Deut. VIII 3. Manna which their Bread was made of immediately from Heaven They had their l v. 15. Water first out of one Rock and then out of another still following them all the while they were in the Wilderness None of them had his Raiment waxen old nor his m v 4. and XXIX 1. Shoes grown uneasy to his feet in all these 40. Years God was pleased to let them know that his design in all this was as well to n v. 2 3 16. humble them seeing they had nothing they could call their own as also to teach them to live in an entire Dependance on his Providence 123. There was certainly Need of such Extraordinary ways to With little of the Ordinary instruct them and to mind them of their duties there being then so little of the Ordinary means which God gave to his People in after times They had not the Sacrament of o Iosh. V. 5. Circumcision since their coming up out of Egypt They had no p v. 10 12. Passeover since the second Year after that They had no written Rule to walk by but onely that of the q Ex. XX. Ten Commandments r XXXIV 27. written in Tables of stone and they had also those National Judgments which are all conteined in s Ex. XXI XXII XXIII three Chapters of Exodus Whatsoever Teaching they had more it could be no other than what they had from the mouth of Moses for he writ nothing till the last l Deut. XXXI 9 25. year of his life 124. And yet perhaps no people in the world ever needed teaching Their great Degeneracy more than they did For though they were Abraham's Seed by Sarah his wife and that according to the a Gen. XVII 19. promise of God which was their great Privilege yet even that did not free them from Original Corruption that came to them from much nearer Parents than Abraham and Sarah The immediate Fathers of the Twelve Tribes of Israel were the Twelve Sons of Iacob by whose names they were called But for these Patriarchs how any of them lived or what they did we have no Account in any other Book but that of Genesis and even there we have nothing told us particularly but of the four Eldest Sons and of Ioseph And though this last appears to us wholely without Spot yet of those four others the most that we know is of their Crimes We cannot read of the Incests of b Gen. XXXV 22. Reuben and c XXXVIII 18. Iudah the Faithbreach and Cruelty of d XXXIV 27. Simeon and Levi without sad reflections on the Ignorance of those times For the rest of Iacob's Sons God has not been pleased to let us know any thing of them save only this that when those two Bloudy men were for e XXXVII