for I know their imagination which they †Heb. do go about even now c Either their inward inclinations to Idolatry which they do not check as they ought but rather entertain with delight and some of them do not onely cherish it in their hearts but as far as they can and dare secretly practise it as may be gathered from Amos 5. 25. Act. 7. 43. or their secret purposes to allow themselves therein when they are settled in their land which were clearly known to God though it may be not fully evident to themselves before I have brought them into the land which I sware 22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day and taught it the children of Israel 23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge and said * Josh. 1. 6. Be strong and of a good courage for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them d This wickedness of theirs which I now foresee and foretell shall not hinder me from bringing them into Canaan and I will be with thee 24 And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until they were finished 25 That Moses commanded the Levites e i. e. The Priests ver 9. who also were Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD saying 26 Take this book of the law and put it in the side f i. e. In the outside in a little chest fixed to it for nothing but the Tables of stone were contained in the Ark 1 King 8. 9. Here it was kept for greater security and reverence of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God that it may be there for a witness against thee g i. e. Against thy people to whom he here turns his speech that they might be more affected with it 27 For I know thy rebellion and thy stiff-neck behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the LORD and how much more after my death 28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes and your officers that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to record against them 29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befall you in the later dayes because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands 30 And Mosesspake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until they were ended CHAP. XXXII 1 GIve * chap. 4. 36. 30. 19. Psal. 50. 4. Isa. 1. 2. Jer 2. 12. 6. 19. ear O ye heavens a Either 1. Angels and men Or 2. You lifeless and senceless creatures heaven and earth which he calls upon partly to accuse the stupidity of Israel that were more dull of hearing than these and partly as witnesses of the truth of his sayings and the justice of Gods proceedings against them and I will speak and hear O earth a Either 1. Angels and men Or 2. You lifeless and senceless creatures heaven and earth which he calls upon partly to accuse the stupidity of Israel that were more dull of hearing than these and partly as witnesses of the truth of his sayings and the justice of Gods proceedings against them the words of my mouth 2 * Isa. 55. 10 11. 1 Cor. 3. 6 7 8. My doctrine shall drop as the rain b Look what effect rain and dew have upon herbs and grass which they make fresh and fragrant and growing the same effect I may justly expect and hope that my discourse wil have upon your hearts i. e. to make them soft and pliable and fruitful Or this may be a prayer Let my doctrine drop c. O that it might do so that my discourse might not be lost upon you but be profitable to you the future tense of the indicative mood being put for the imperative mood as is usual my speech shall distill 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 c i. e. His glorious excellencies and righteous and worthy actions by which he hath made himself known as a man is known by his name and by which it will appear both that there is no blame to be laid upon him whatsoever befals you and that it is gross madness to forsake such a God for dumb Idols and meer vanities ascribe ye greatness unto our God d As I am about to publish the great power and Majesty and glory of God so do you also own and acknowledge it as you have reason to do or do you attend to the words which God hath commanded me to speak to you in his Name with that diligence reverence and godly fear which the presence of so great and glorious a Majesty calls for 4 He is the rock e Or a rock as for the stability and everlastingness of his nature and invincibleness of his power so also for his fixedness and immutability in his counsels and promises and wayes so that if there shall be a sad change in your affairs from an high and prosperous to a calamitous and deplorable condition as there will be remember this proceeds from your selves and from the change of your ways and carriages towards God and not from God in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change Iam. 1. 17. his work is perfect f All his works and actions are unblameable as being perfectly wise and righteous as it follows for all his wayes are judgment g All his administrations in the world and particularly all his dealings with you are managed with judgment and justice a God of truth h Constant to his promises you cannot accuse him of any levity or unfaithfulness towards you to this day and without iniquity just and right is he 5 †Heb. he hath corrupted to himself They i i. e. The Israelites as the following words manifest have corrupted themselves k This phrase sometimes in Scripture notes sin and sometimes destruction And so the sense may be either 1. Their wickedness is not from God but from themselves and their own choice they have wilfully and industriously depraved themselves and sold themselves to sin Or rather 2. Their destruction is not from God who is just and true c. as was now said but wholly and solely from themselves and from their own wickedness as it here follows ‖ Or that they are not his children that is their blot their spot is not the spot of his children l i. e. Their blemishes or sins are not committed through ignorance or frailty or surprizal as good men sometimes sin but they
the matter 10 And he said Now also let it be according unto your words he with whom it is found shall be my servant and ye shall be blameless f Thus he moderates the conditions which they proposed exempting the innocent and exchanging the deserved and offered death of the nocent into slavery 11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every man his sack 12 And he searched and began at the eldest g To take off all their suspicion of his fraud and left at the youngest and the cup h He found doubtless the money there but he accused them not about that matter both because they had an answer ready to that charge from his own mouth chap. 43. 23. and because the greater crime the stealing of the cup which Ioseph so much prized and used might seem to extinguish the less or at least cause him to neglect it was found in Benjamins sack 13 Then they rent their clothes and laded every man his asse and returned to the City i Being afraid and ashamed to go to their father without Benjamin concerning whom they had received so severe a charge and made such solemn promises and imprecations 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Josephs house for he was yet there and they fell before him on the ground 15 And Joseph said unto them What deed is this that ye have done wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly ‖ Or make trial divine 16 And Judah k Who speaks in the cause as being one of the eldest and a person of most gravity and discretion and readiness of speech and most eminently concerned for his brother said What shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak or how shall we clear our selves God hath found out the iniquity l viz. This iniquity of which it seems some of us are guilty and God hath discovered it Or iniquity may be put for iniquities whether we are guilty of this fact or not we are certainly guilty of many other sins for which God is now punishing us to whose providence we therefore willingly submit of thy servants behold we are my Lords servants both we and he also with whom the cup is found 17 And he said God forbid that I should do so but the man in whose hand the cup is found he shall be my servant and as for you get you up in peace unto your father 18 Then Judah came near unto him m Made a little nearer approach to him that he might present his humble petitiâ—… to him and said O my Lord let thy servant I pray thee speak a word in my Lords ears n In thy hearing For this phrase doth not necessarily imply that he whispered in his ears as appears from Numb 14. 28. Deut. 32. 44. Iudg. 17. 2. and let not thy anger burn against thy servant for thou art even as Pharaoh o As thou representest his person so thou art invested with his Majesty and Authority and therefore thy word is a law thou canst do with us what thou pleasest either spare or punish us and therefore we do justly deprecate thine anger and most humbly intreat thy favourable audience and princely compassion to us 19 My Lord asked his servants saying have ye a father or a brother 20 And we said unto ray Lord we have a father an old man and a child of his old age a little one p So they call him comparatively to themselves who were much elder and withal to signifie the reason why he came not with them because he was young and tender and unfit for such a journey and his brother is dead and he alone is left of his mother and his father loveth him 21 And thou saidest unto thy servants Bring him down unto me that I may set mine eyes upon him q i. e. See him with my own eyes and thereby be satisfied of the truth of what you say Compare Gen. 42. 15 16. Elsewhere this phrase signifies to shew favour to a person as Ier. 39. 12. and 40. 4. But though that was Iosephs intention as yet he was minded to conceal it from them 22 And we said unto my Lord The lad cannot leave his father for if he should leave his father his father would die 23 And thou saidest unto thy servants * Chap. 43. 3. except your youngest brother come down with you you shall see my face no more r Quest. Why would Ioseph expose his father to the hazard of his life in parting with his dear child Answ. Ioseph supposed that to be but a pretence and might fear lest his brethren had disposed of Benjamin as they did of him and therefore could not bring him forth And as for his father the experience which he had of his continuance in life and health after the supposed untimely death of Ioseph gave him good assurance that his parting with Benjamin for a season and that under the care and charge of his brethren was not likely to make any dangerous impression upon him 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father we told him the words of my Lord. 25 And * Chap. 43. 2. our father said Go again and buy us a little food 26 And we said we cannot go down if our youngest brother be with us then will we go down for we may not see the mans face except our youngest brother be with us 27 And thy servant my father said unto us Ye know that my wife s He calleth her so by way of eminency as Gen. 46. 19. because she onely was his wife by design and choice whereas Leah was put upon him by fraud and might have been refused by him if he had so pleased and the other two were given to him by Rachel and Leah bare me two sons 28 And the one went out from me and I said * Chap. 37. 33. surely he is torn in pieces and I saw him not since 29 And if ye take this also from me and mischief befall him ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us seeing that his life is bound up in the lads life t The death of the Child which upon this occasion he will firmly believe will unavoidably procure his death also 31 It shall come to pass when he seeth that the lad is not with us that he will die and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father saying * Chap. 43. 9. If I bring him not unto thee then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever 33 Now therefore I pray thee let thy servant abide in stead of the lad u Partly in
fire f Whereby was fitly represented Gods Majesty and purity and power but of the midst of a bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed g Which doubtless represented the condition of the Church and people of Israel who were now in the fire of affliction yet so as that God was present with them and that they should not be consumed in it whereof this vision was a pledge 3 And Moses said I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see God called unto him * Deut. 33. 16. out of the midst of the bush and said Moses Moses h He doubles the name partly to shew kindness and familiarity and principally to make Moses more attentive to the business before him and he said Here am I. 5 And he said Draw not nigh hither i Keep thy distance whereby he checks his curiosity and forwardness and works him to the greater reverence and humility Compare Exod. 19. 12 21. Ios. 5. 15. * Act. 7. 33. put off thy shoes from off thy feet k This he requires as an act and token 1. of his reverence to the divine Majesty then and there eminently present 2. of his humiliation for his sins whereby he was unfit and unworthy to appear before God for this was a posture of humiliation 2 Sam. 15. 30. Isa. 20. 2 4. Ezek. 24. 17 23. 3. of purification from the filth of his feet or ways or conversation that he might be more fit to approach to God See Ioh. 13. 10. Heb. 10. 22. 4. of his submission and readiness to obâ—… Gods will for which reason slaves used to be barefooted for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground l With a relative holiness at this time because of my special presence in it 6 Moreover he said * Mat. 22. 32. Act. 7. 32. I am the God of thy father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob m The God ingaged to them by covenant or promise which I am now come to perform And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God n As other excellent servants of God have been through the sence of their own meanness and sinfulness and of Gods Majesty and holiness See Gen. 16. 13. and 17. 3. 1 King 19. 13. Isa. 6. 2 5. c. 7 And the LORD said I have surely seen o Heb. In seeing I have seen i. e I have seen and observed it diligently accurately and certainly for so much the doubling of the verb signifies the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and * chap. 2. 23. have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters for I know their sorrows 8 And I am come down p This word notes Gods manifestation of himself and his favour and giving help from heaven See Gen. 18. 21. to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large q So it was not onely comparatively to Goshen where they now dwelt and to the number of the Israelites at that time but absolutely if you take the land of promise according to its true and first and antient bounds of it as you have them described Gen. 15. 18. Deut. 1. 7. and 11. 24. and not according to those narrow limits to which they were afterwards confined for their unbelief floth cowardize and impiety unto a land flowing with milk and honey r i. e Abounding with the choicest fruits both for necessity and for delight The excellency and singular fruitfulness of this land howsoever denied or disputed by some ill minded persons is sufficiently evident 1. from express testimony not onely of Moses Deut. 8. 7 8 9. but also of the spies who were sent to view it and though prejudic'd against it yet acknowledged it Numb 13. 27. and of the holy Prophets that lived long in it as David Psal. 106. 24. Ioel chap. 2. 3. and Ezekiel who calls it the glory of all lands Ezek. 20. 15. Which if it had not been true it is ridiculous to think that they durst have said and writ so when the people with whom they contested and thousands of other persons there and then living were able to confute them After them Iosephus and St. Hierom and others since who lived long in that land have highly commended it And whereas Strabo speaks of the barrenness of the soâ—…l about Ierusalem that is true but by himself it is limited to the compass of 60 furlongs from Ierusalem And if at this day the land be now grown barren in a great measure it is not strange considering both the great neglect and sloth of the people as to the improvement of it and the great wickedness of its inhabitants for which God hath threatned to turn a fruitful land into barrenâ—… Psal. 107. 34. unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites s These people are diversâ—…y numbred there are ten sorts reckoned Gen. 15. 19 20 21. and seven Deut. 7. 1. and here but six because some of them were either destroyed or driven out of their land by others or dâ—…d by choice and design remove to some other place as many in those times did though it be not mentioned in Scripture or by cohabitation and marriages with some of the other people did make a coalition and were incorporated with them and so their name was swallowed up in the other or because the names of some of these people as particularly the Câ—…ites and the Amorites were used sometimes more strictly and sometimes more largely so as to comprehend under them the other people as the Girgashites c. whence it comes to pass that all the rest go under the names of the Caâ—…ites Gen. 13. 7. and of the Amorites in some places of Scripture as hath been shewed 9 Now therefore behold the cry * Either in prayer or rather forced by their oppressions as the next clause explains it of the children of Israel is come unto me and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them 10 Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt 11 And Moses said unto God * See Isa. 6. 5. Ier. 1. 6. Who am I t What a mean inconsiderable person am I how unworthy and unfit for that employment He was more forward in the work 40 years ago by reason of the servours of his youth his inexperience in affairs the advantage of his power and interest in the Court by which he thought he could and should procure their deliverance But now age had made him cool and considerate the
this knowingly this was a gross sin Ezek. 18. 6. and they being accused and convicted were punished with death Levit. 20. 18. for as there was a turpitude in the action so it was very prejudicial to the children then begotten who were commonly weak or leprous or otherwise disordered which was also an injury to the Commonwealth of Israel and redounded to the dishonour of God and of the true Religion that the professours thereof gave such publick evidence of their intemperance and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean 25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many dayes out of the time of her separation or if it run beyond the time of her separation r To wit the seven dayes mentioned Levit. 12. 2. as suppose she had the Emerods c. all the dayes of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the dayes of her separation she shall be unclean 26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the dayes of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean as the uncleanness of her separation 27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the even 28 But if she be cleansed of her issue then she shall number to her self seven dayes s From the stopping of her issue as it is apparent And this was for trial whether it was onely a temporary obstruction or a real cessation and after that she shall be clean 29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles or two young pigeons and bring them unto the priest to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation 30 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness 31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness that they die not in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle t Which they did both ceremonially by coming into it in their uncleanness and morally by the gross neglect and contempt of Gods express and positive command to cleanse themselves that is among them 32 This is the law of him that hath an issue and of him whose seed goeth from him and is defiled therewith 33 And of her that is sick of her flowers and of him that hath an issue of the man and of the woman and of him that lieth with her which is unclean CHAP. XVI 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses after * chap. 10. 2. the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered before the LORD and died 2 And the LORD said unto Moses Speak unto Aaron thy brother that he * Exod. 30. 10. Heb. 9. 7. come not at all times a Not whensoever he pleaseth but onely when I shall appoint him to wit to take down the parts and furniture of it upon every removal and to minister unto me once in the year Exod. 30. 10. into the holy place ‖ i. e. Into the Most Holy or the Holy of Holies as the following words demonstrate which is sometimes called onely the holy place as Heb. 9. 2 3 the positive degree put for the comparative which is not unusual in Scripture within the vail b To wit the second vail See Levit. 4. 6. before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark that he die not c For his irreverence and presumption for * Exod. 40. 35. 1 King 8. 12. I will appear d Visibly and gloriously That is as it were my presence-chamber whither the Priest shall not dare to come but when I call him in the cloud e Either in that dark place for there was no light came into it and clouds and darkness go together and one may be put for the other or in a bright and glorious cloud which used to be over the mercy-seat or rather in the cloud of incense mentioned afterward ver 13. by the mercy-seat 3 Thus f In this manner or upon these terms shall Aaron come into the holy place with * a young bullock g i. e. with the blood of it as it is explained ver 14. So it is a Synecdoche the whole put for the part For as for the body of it that was to be killed and offered without upon the Altar of burnt offerings for a sin offering h For his own and families sins for a goat was offered for the sins of the people and chap. 4. 3. a ram for a burnt-offering 4 He shall put on the * Exod. 28. 39 4â—… holy linen coat i It is observable that the High-priest did not now use his peculiar and glorious robes but onely his linnen garments which were common to him with the ordinary priests The reason whereof was either because this was not a day of feasting and rejoycing but of mourning and humiliation at which times people were to lay aside their ornaments Exod. 33. 5. Some conceive that under the linen garments here named are comprehended his more glorious robes also by a Synecdoche But that doth not appear neither from hence nor from other places alledged Had onely his holy garments been mentioned in general all might have been understood but when onely the linen apparel is mentioned here and after ver 23. and when that is so particularly expressed in four several parts of it and not a word of the other either here or in the rest of the chapter it seems presumptuous to adde them here without any ground or evidence Or because it was fit he should not exalt but abase himself when he was to appear before the divine Majesty and therefore he was to come in the meanest of his Priestly habits Or that it might be an evidence of the imperfection of this Priesthood and of the great difference between the Levitical and the true High-Priest Christ Jesus whose prerogative alone it is to go into the true Holy of Holies with his glorious robes when this must carry thither the characters of his meanness and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh and shall be girded with a linen girdle and with the linen mitre shall he be attired These are holy garments k Because appropriated to an holy and religious use for which reason other things are called holy See Exod. 29. 31. and 30. 25. and 2 Chron. 5. 5. therefore * Exod 30 â—…0 shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on 5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering and one ram for a burnt-offering 6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself and make * Heb. 9. 7. an atonement for himself and for his house l i. e.
the congregation to minister unto them a i. e. In their stead and for their good So they were the servants both of God and of the Church which was an high dignity though not sufficient for their ambitious minds 10 And he hath brought thee near to him and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee and seek ye the priesthood also b There being at this time but very few Priests and the profits and priviledges belonging to them being many and great they thought it but fit and reasonable that they or some of the chief of them should be admitted to a share in their work and advantages 11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD c Whose minister and chosen servant Aaron is You strike at God through Aarons sides Compare 1 Sam. 8. 7. Luk. 10. 16. Ioh. 13. 20. and what is Aaron that ye murmure against him 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram d To treat with them and give them as he had done Korah and his company a timely admonition the sons of Eliab which said e Unto the messengers sent to them by Moses We will not come up f To Moses his Tabernacle whither the people used to go up for judgment Men are said in Scripture phrase to go up to places of judgment See Deut. 25. 7. Ruth 4. 1. Ezra 10. 7 8. But because they would not now go up therefore they went down quick into the pit ver 33. 13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey g i. e. Out of Egypt a place indeed of great plenty bâ—… to them a place of torment and intolerable slavery They invidiously and scoffingly use the same words wherewith God by Moses commended the land of Canaan to kill us in the wilderness 〈◊〉 make thy self altogether a prince over us 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards wilt thou †Heb. â—…re out put out the eyes of these men h i. e. Of those who are confederate with us and of all the people who are of our mind Whilst thou make them blind or perswade them that they are blind and that they do not see what is visible to all that have eyes to wit that thou hast deceived them and broken thy faith and promise given to them or wilst thou lead them about like blind men whither thou pleasest one time towards Canaan another time toward Egypt again we will not come up i We will not obey thy summons nor own thy authority 15 And Moses was very wroth k Not so much for his own sake for he had learnt to bear indignities Numb 12. as for Gods sake who was highly dishonoured blasphemed and provoked by these speeches and carriages in which case he ought to be angry as Christ was Mark 3. 5. and said unto the LORD * Gen. 4. 4 5. Respect not thou their offering l i. e. Accept not their incense which they are now going to offer but shew some eminent dislike of it He calls it their offering though it was offered by Korah and his companions because it was offered in the name and by the consent of all the conspiratours for the decision of the present controversie between them and Moses I * Acts 20. 33. have not taken one ass m i. e. Not any thing of the smallest value as an ass was See 1 Sam. 12. 3. from them neither have I hurt one of them n I have never injured them nor used my power to defraud or oppress them as I might have done but which is here implied I have done them many good offices but no hurt therefore their crime is inexcusable because without any cause or provocation on my part 16 And Moses said unto Korah Be thou and all thy company before the LORD o Not in the Tabernacle which was not capable of so many person severally offering incense but at the door of the Tabernacle ver 18. which place is oft said to be before the Lord as Exod. 29. 42. Levit. 1. 11. c. where they might now lawfully offer it by Moses his direction upon this extraordinary occasion and necessity because this work could not be done in that place which alone was allowed for the offering up of incense not onely for its smallness but also because none but Priests might enter to do this work Here also the people who were to be instructed by this experiment might see the proof and success of it thou and they and Aaron to morrow 17 And take every man his censer and put incense in them and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer two hundred and fifty censers thou also and Aaron each of you his censer 18 And they took every man his censer p Which they could easily make in a sleight manner which would suffice for the present purpose and put fire in them q Taken from the Altar which stood in that place Levit. 1. 3 5. for Aaron might not use other fire Levit. 10. 1. And it is likely the remembrance of the death of Nadab and Abihu deterred them from offering any strange fire and laid incense thereon and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation r That they might be witnesses of the event and upon their success which they doubted not of might fall upon Moses and Aaron with popular rage and destroy them And it seems by this that the people were generally incensed against Moses and inclined to Korahs side against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and the glory of the LORD appeared s In the cloud which then shone with greater brightness and Majesty as a token of Gods approach and presence See Exod. 16. 7 10. Levit. 9. 6 23. Numb 20. 6. unto all the congregation 20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying 21 * Gen. 19. 1â—… 22. Jer. â—… â—… Rev. 18. â—… Separate your selves from among this congregation ‖ To wit Korah and his 250 men and the people whom he â—…athered against Moses and Aaron ver 19. that I may consume them in a moment 22 And they fell upon their faces and said O God * chap. 2â—… â—… Job 12. 2â—… Eccl. 12. â—… Isa. 57. 1â—… Zach. 12. â—… Heb. 12. â—… the God of the spirits t i. e. Of souls as the word spirit in Scripture is oft used as Psal. 31. 5. and 77. 3. Prov. 17. 22. Eccl. 12. 7. Luk. 23. 46. Act. 7. 59. And this is no empty title here but very emphatical and argumentative thus Thou art the maker of spirits Zach. 12. 1. destroy not thy own workmanship
cannot be denyed by any man of sence upon supposition that this place speaks of and this power given to the Priest or Judge reacheth to all controversies or questions of faith and manners as the Papists would extend it For put case these Priests or Judges should give a sentence directly contrary to the express words of Gods Law Thou shalt worship a graven Image as Aaron did in the case of the calf thou shalt prophane the Sabbath thou shalt dishonour thy Father and Mother thou shalt Murder Steal commit Adultery c. I ask were the people in this case bound to do as the Judge determined or not If any say they were such a bold and wicked assertion must needs strike all sober Christians with horrour and if they say they were not then this must needs be taken for a limitation But if this place speak onely of particular suits between man and man as is apparent from the notes on v. 8. And in all such cases although the Judge be hereby confined and tied to his rule in giving the sentence yet it seems but fit and reasonable that people should be bound simply to acquiesce in the sentence of their last and highest Judge or else there would have been no end of strife and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee thou shalt do thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee to the right hand nor to the left 12 And * Hos. 4. 4. the man that will do presumptuously a i. e. That will proudly and obstinately oppose the sentence given against him This is opposite to ignorance and errour Exod. 21. 13 14. †Heb. not to hearken and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God or unto the judge even that man shall die and thou shalt put away the evil b Either 1. The evil thing that scandal that pernicious example Or 2. That evil refractary pernicious person whose practise herein tends to the dissolution of all Government and the ruine of the Common-wealth of Israel from Israel 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously 14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee and shalt possess it and shalt dwell therein and shalt say I will set a King over me c He onely foresees and foretells what they would do but doth not seem to approve of it because when they did this thing for this very reason here alledged he declares his utter dislike of it 1 Sam. 8. 7. like as all the nations that are about me 15 Thou shalt in any wise set d i. e. Appoint or instal If you will chuse a King which I shall suffer you to do I command you to observe this in your choice him king over thee whom the LORD thy God shall chuse e Approve of or appoint So it was in Saul and in David God reserved to himself the nomination both of the Family and of the person See 1 Sam. 9. 15. 10. 24. and 16. 12. 1 Chron. 28. 4 5. One * Jer. 30. 21. from among thy brethren f Of the same nation and Religion partly because such a person was most likely to maintain true Religion and to rule with righteousness gentleness and kindness to his subjects and partly that he might be a fit type of Christ their supream King who was to be one of their brethren shalt thou set king over thee thou mayest not set a stranger over thee g To wit by thy own choice and consent but if God by his providence and for their sins should set a stranger over them they might submit to him as appears from Ier. 38. 17. Ezek. 17. 12. Mat. 22. 17. which is not thy brother 16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself g To wit excessively beyond what the State and Majesty of his place required Hereby God would prevent many sins and mischiefs as 1. Pride of heart and contempt of his people 2. Oppression and Tyranny and the Imposition of unnecessary burdens upon his people 3. Carnal confidence which by this means would be promoted See Psal. 33. 17. Prov. 21. 31. 4 Much commerce with Egppt as it here follows which was famous for Horses as appears from Exod. 14. 23. 1 King 10. 26 28. 2 Chron. 1. 16. and 9. 28. Isa. 31. 1 3. Ezek. 17. 5. nor cause the people to return to Egypt h Either for habitation or for trade This God forbad to prevent 1. Their unthankfulness for their deliverance out of Egypt 2. Their confederacies with the Egyptians their trusting to them for aid which they were very prone to and their infection by the Idolatry and other manifold wickednesses for which Egypt was infamous 3. Their multiplication of Horses as it here follows to the end that he should multiply horses forasmuch as the LORD hath said i When or where Answ. Either implicitely when he shewed his dislike of their return to Egypt as Exod. 13. 17. Numb 14. 3 4. or expresly at this time The Lord hath now said it to me and I in his name and by his command declare it to you unto you * chap. 28. 68. Hos. 11. 5. ye shall henceforth no more return that way k In the way that leads to that place 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself l As the manner of other Kings was that his heart turn not away m To wit from God and his law Either 1. To Idolatry and Superstition to which women are oft times prone and especially such women as he was likely to chuse even the Daughters of Neighbouring and Idolatrous Kings and Princes as Solomon did Or 2. To other manifold sins and violations of his duty to his people either by neglect and contempt of his business through effeminacy and sloath or by oppressing his people and perverting justice to comply with the vast and exorbitant desires of his Wives m Least this should lift up his heart in confidence and pride which God abhorrs and beget in him a contempt of his people and least it should encline or engage or enable him to burden his people with immoderate exactions They are not simply forbidden to be rich if God made them so either by the voluntary gifts of their subjects or by the spoils of their enemies which was the case of David and Solomon and Iehoshaphat c. but they are forbidden either inordinately to desire or irregularly to procure great richs by grinding the faces of their poor people or by other wicked arts and courses as the manner of their neighbouring Kings was neither shall he greatly multiply to himself n silver and gold 18 And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write o Either with his own hand as the Jews say or at least by his command
Judgment seat God hath shined e. 3. Our God f These Words are used here as they are also Heb. 12. 29. emphatically The Prophet speaks this in the Person of the Israelites and Worshippers of God whereof he was one and thereby takes off their â—…ond Pretence as if because God was their God in Covenant with them and nearly related to them by Abraham his Friend for ever he would bear with their Miscarriages and would not deal so severely with them as some fancied which also was their Conceit Ier. 7. 4. c. Mat. 3. 9 10. No saith he though he be our God yet he will come to execute Judgment upon us shall come g Either 1. From Heaven his dwelling place to Zion to sit in Judgment there Or 2. Out of Zion to some other place as was said on v. 2. and shall not keep silence h So the Sence is he will no longer forbear or Connive at the Hypocrisie and Profaneness of the Professors of the true Religion but will now speak to them in his Wrath and will effectually reprove and Chastite them But because the Psalmist is not now describing what God did or would say against them which he doth below v. 7. c. but as yet continues in his Description of the Preparation or coming of the Judge to his Throne it seems more Proper to translate the Words as some do he will not cease for this Verb signifies not onely a Cestation from Speech but from Motion or Action as it doth 2 Sam. 19 11. Psal 83. 1. Isa. 42. 14 15. i. e. Not neglect or delay to come So here is the same thing expressed both Affirmatively and Negatively as is frequent in Scripture whereof divers instances have been formerly given for the greater assurance of the Truth of the thing * Psal. 97. â—… a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him i This is a farther Description of that terrible Majesty wherewith God clothed himself when he came to his Tribunal in token of that just severity which he would use in his Proceedings with them He alludes to the manner of Gods appearance at Sinai Exod. 19. and intimates to them that although Zion was a place of Grace and Blessing to all true Israelites yet God would be as dreadful there to the Hypocrites among them as ever he was at Sinai See Isa. 33. 14. 4. He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth k Either to the places themselves and so it is a Figure called Prosopopaeia Or to the Inhabitants of them all Angels and Men whom he calls in for Witnesses and Judges of the Equity of his present Proceedings Comp Deut. 4. 26. and 31. 28. and 32. 1. that he may judge his people l To wit in their Presence and Hearing 5. Gather m O ye Angels summon and fetch them to my Tribunal Which is poetically spoken not as if they were actually to do so but onely to continue the Metaphor and Representation of the Judgment here mentioned my Saints n The Delinquents the 〈◊〉 whom he calls Saints Partly because they were all by Profession an holy People as they are called Deut. 14. 2. Partly by an frony intimating how unworthy they were of that Name and Partly as an Argument or Evidence against them because God had chosen and separated them from all the Nations of the Earth to be an Holy and peculiar People to himself and they also had solemnly and frequently Consecrated and devoted themselves to God and to his faithful Service all which did greatly aggravate their present Apostacy together unto me those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice o i. e. Which have entred into Covenant with me and have ratified that Covenâ—…nt with me by Sacrifice not onely in their Parents Exod. 24 4. c. but also in their own Persons from time to time even as oft as they offer Sacrifices to me This Clause seems to be added here to acquaint them with the proper Nature use and end of Sacrifices which were principally appointed to be Signs and Seals of the Covenant made between God and his People and Consequently to Convince them of their great mistake and Wickedness in trusting to their outward Sacrifices when they neglect the very Life and Soul of them which was the keeping of their Covenant with God and withal to diminish that overweening Conceit which they had of Sacrifices and to prepare the way for the abolition of them as being onely necessary to confirm the Covenant which being once for all confirmed by the Blood of Christ they might without any inconvenience be laid aside and abrogated 6. And * Psal. 97. 6. the heavens shall declare his righteousness p Which they were called to Witness v. 4. So was the Earth also But here he mentions the Heavens onely as I humbly conceive because they were the most impartial and Considerable Witness in the Case for men upon Earth might be false Witnesses either through Ignorance and Mistake or through Prejudice and Partiality and Passion But the Angels understand things more thoroughly and certainly and are so exactly pure and sinless that they neither can nor will tell a lye for God and therefore their Testimony is more valuable Or the meaning is that God would Convince the People of his Righteousness and of their own Wickedness by terrible Thunders and Lightnings and Storms or other dreadful Signs wrought by him in the Heaven or the Air by which he did Convince his People in two like Cases Deut. 5. 22 23. c. 1 Sam. 12. 17 18 19. for God is judg himself Selah q In his own Person or immediately God will not now reprove them or contend with them by his Priests or Prophets with whom they may easily strive as they used to do but he will do it in an immediate and extraordinary manner from Heaven and therefore they shall be forced to acknowledge his Righteousness and their own unrighteousness as they must needs do when the Contest is between them and that God who is the great Judge of the World and cannot possibly do any unrighteous thing Iob 34. 13. Rom. 3. 6. who exactly knows all their Hearts and Works and cannot be deceived nor Contradicted 7. * Psal. 81. 8. Hear O my people and I will speak r Having brought in God as coming to Judgment with them he now gives an Account of the Process and of the Sentence of the Judge whose Words are contained in this and the following Verses O Israel and I will testifie against thee s I will plead with thee and declare my Charge or Inditement against thee I am God even thy God t Not onely in general as thou art my Creature but in a special manner by many singular Favours and Obligations and by that solemn Covenant made at Sinai whereby I avouched thee to
away safe and none g Neither the Iews themselves nor the Egyptians to whose help they will trust nor any of their Confederates shall deliver it 30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea h Which is violent and frightful and if one * Chap. 8. 22. look unto the land behold darkness and ‖ Or distress sorrow i Darkness to wit Sorrow the latter Word explains the former and the Particle and is put expositively as it is frequently ‖ Or when it is light it shall be dark in the destructions thereof and the light is darkned in the heavens thereof k When they look up to the Heavens as men in distress usually do they see no Light there their Comforts are wholly eclipsed and their Hopes are like the giving up of the Ghost CHAP. VI. IN the year that * 2 Kings 15. 7. king Uzziah died I * John 12. 41. saw a In a Vision or Ecstasie also the Lord b Either 1. God the Son who frequently appeared to the Patriarchs and Prophets and that sometimes in the form of a Man Or rather 2. the Divine Majesty as he subsisteth in Three Persons as may be gathered both from the Plural Number â—…s used of this Lord v. 8. and by comparing other Scriptures for God the Father is described as sitting upon a Throne Dan. 7. 9 13. and elsewhere and the Glory of God here manifested is said to be Christ's Glory Iob. 12. 41. and the Words of the Lord here following are said to be spoken by the Holy Ghost Act. 28. 25. sitting upon a throne c In the posture of a Judge to hear Causes and give Sentence high and lifted up d Towards the Roof of the Temple and ‖ Or the skirts thereof his train e Or as the Word properly signifies and is here rendred by divers the skirts or borders of him or of it to wit his Royal and Judicial Robe for he is represented as a Judge filled the temple f His glorious Robes reached down to the bottom of the Temple and were spread abroad in the Temple which was an Evidence of a more than ordinary Majesty The Temple may be here taken either 1. largely and so it includes the Courts as well as the House as that Word is oft used or 2. strictly for the House it self or for that part of the Temple in which this Vision was exhibited which may seem to have been the Porch for that was much higher than the other Parts 2 Above it stood g As Ministers attending upon their Lord and waiting to receive and execute his Commands the Seraphims h Certain holy and blessed Angels thus called from fire and burning which this Word properly signifies to represent either 1. their Nature which is bright and glorious subtil and pure and spiritual like Fire or 2. their Property of fervent Zeal for God's Service and Glory or 3 their Office and present Employment which was to execute God's Vengeance upon the Iews and to burn them up like Dross each one had six wings * Ezek. 1. 11. with twain he covered his face i Out of profound Reverence as being so sensible of the infinite distance between God and him that he durst not presume to look directly upon him and judg'd himself neither able nor worthy to behold the Brightness of his Glory and with twain he covered his feet k Either 1. his secret Parts which sometimes come under that name as Deut. 28. 57. Isa. 7. 20. 36. 12. of which see more in my Latin Synopsis upon Exod. 4. 25. And so this is done for our â—…nstruction to teach us Modesty and Chastity Or 2. their Feet properly so called as that Word is generally used from which use we should not depart without necessity which with submission seems not to be in this place And so this may signifie a sence of their own natural though not moral Infirmity and a desire that God would not too severely examine all their Ways and Actions which the feet commonly signifie because though they did not swerve from God's Commands yet they were not worthy of the acceptation nor suitable to the Dignity of so glorious a Majesty and with twain he did flie l Which signifies their great forwardness and expedition in executing God's Commands Comp. Dan. 9. â—…1 3 And †Heb. this cried to this one cried unto another m Singing in Consort the Praises of their Lord. and said * Rev. 4. 3. Holy holy holy n 〈◊〉 is repeated thrice either 1. to intimate the Trinity of Persons united in the Divine Essence or 2. that he was most eminently and unquestionably holy in his present Work of Judgment and in all his Ways such Repetitions being very frequent in Scripture for the greater assurance of the thing as Ier. 7. 4. Ezek. 21. 9. is the LORD of hosts †Heb. his glory is the fulness of the whole earth the whole earth o Not onely Conaan to which the Iews did vainly and arrogantly confine the Presence of God but all the World Which seems to have a respect to the Conversion of the Gentiles which did accompany the plenary and last Execution of this Judgment here threatned against the Jewish Nation v. 10. as is evident by comparing this with Mat. 13. 14 15. Act. 28. 19. and other places of the New Testament is full of his glory p Of the Effects and Demonstrations of his glorious Holiness as well as of his Power and Wisdom and Goodness 4 And the posts of the †Heb. threâ—… door q Together with the Door it self as if the Door was to be removed and the Temple thereby to be exposed to the view and rapine of profane Persons Such violent Motions were commonly Tokens of God's Anger moved at the voice of him that cried r To wit the Angel which cried v. 3. and the house was filled with smoak s Which elsewhere is a Token of God's Presence and Acceptance as Exod. 40. 34. 1 Kings 8. 10. but here of his Anger as Psal. 18. 8. and elsewhere 5 Then said I Wo is me for I am †Heb. cut off undone because I am a man of unclean lips t I am a great Sinner as many other ways so particularly by my Lips which being in a special manner consecrated to God by my Prophetical Office should have been intirely devoted to him But alas my Speeches either to God in Prayer or from God in Preaching and Prophecying to the People have been mixed and defiled with so much irreverence dulness distraction of Thoughts and Affections carnal Fear and many other Infirmities that I dread the thoughts of appearing before thy Judgment-seat which I see erected in this place For Isaiah had been a Prophet before this time chap. 1. 1. and was now called
a murderer but to secure himself from so dangerous a person probably supposing that this was the man foretold to be the scourge of Egypt and the deliverer of Israel But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian and he sate down by a well 16 Now the ‖ Or Prince Priest t Not of Idols for then Moses would not have married into his family but of the true God for some such were in those antient times here and there as appears by Melchisedeck though his manner of worshipping God might be superstitious and corrupt Or the Hebrew Cohen may here signify a Prince or a Potentâ—…te as Gen. 41. 45. Nor doth the employment of his daughters contradict that translation both because principalities were then many of them very small and mean and because this employment then was esteemed noble and worthy of great mens daughters as appears from Gen. 24. 15. and 29. 6. c. of Midian had seven daughters and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their fathers flock 17 And the shepherds came and drove them away u That they might enjoy the fruit of their labours and make use of the water which they had drawn for their own cattle but Moses stood up and helped them x Either by perswading them with fair words or by force for Moses was strong and full of courage and resolution wherewith the Shepherds were easily daunted and watered their flock 18 And when they came to Reuel their father x Either 1. Strictly and then he is the same who elsewhere is called Iethro Exod. 3. 1. and 18. oft-times and as some think Hobab Iudg. 4. 11. Or 2. largely i. e. their grandfather for such are oft called fathers as Gen. 31. 43. 2 King 14. 3. c. and 16. 2. and 18. 3. so he was the father of Iethro or Hobab Numb 10. 29. he said How is it that you are come so soon to day 19 And they said An Egyptian y So they guessed him to be by his habit and speech or he told them that he came from thence delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and also drew water enough z Heb. in drawing drâ—…w which notes that he drew it very diligently and readily which caused their quick return for us and watered the flock 20 And he said unto his daughters And where is he why is it that ye have left a Heb. have left thus or now at this time of the day when it is so late and he a stranger and traveller the man Call him that he may eat bread 21 And Moses was content b Or consented to his desire or offer And so his present and temporary repose there is turned into a settled habitation to dwell with the man and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter c Whom Moses married not instantly but after some years of acquaintance with the family as may probably be gathered from the youngness and uncircumcisedness of one of his sons 40 years after this Exod. 4. 25. In which time as Moses would not fail to instruct them in the knowledge of the true God which he was able excellently to do so it is likely he had succeeded therein in some measure and therefore married Zipporah 22 And she bare him a son and he called his name * chap. 18. 3. Gershom for he said I have been * Heb. 11. 13 14. a stranger in a strange land 23 And it came to pass in process of time d Heb. in those many days viz. in which he lived or abode there i. e. after them In is put for after here as it is Numb 28. 26. Isa. 20. 1. Mark 13. 24. compared with Mat. 24. 29. Luk. 9. 36. After 40 years as appears by comparing Exod. 7. 7. with Act. 7. 30. that the King of Egypt e And after him one or two more of his sons or Successors and the rest who sought for Moses his life Exod. 4. 19. died and the children of Israel * Num. 20. 16. sighed †Because though their great oppressor was dead yet they found no relief as they hoped to do by reason of the bondage and they cryed and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage 24 And God heard their groaning and God remembred his * Gen. 15. 14. and 46. 4. Covenant with Abraham with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel and God †Heb. knew * chap. 3. 7. had respect unto them f Heb. knew them so as to pity and help them as words of knowledge are oft used as Psal. 1. 6. and 31. 7. he who seemeâ—… to have rejected them now owned them for his people and came for their rescue CHAP. III. 1 NOW Moses kept the flock of Jethro a Either the same with Reuel or his son who upon his fathers death succeeded into his office See Exod. 2. 18. his father in law the Priest of Midian and he led the flock to the back-side of the desert b To its innermost parts which were behind Iethro's habitation and the former pastures whither he went for fresh pastures and came to the mountain of God c So called either as an high or eminent mountain or from the vision of God here following See Act. 7. 30. or by anticipation from Gods glorious appearance there and giving the law from thence Exod. 18. 5. and 19. 3. See also 1 King 19. 8. even to Horeb d Called also Sinai Exod. 19. 1. Act. 7. 30. Or Horeb was the name of the whole tract or row of mountains and Sinai the name of that particular mountain where this vision hapned and the law was delivered Or Horeb and Sinai were two several tops of the same mountain 2 And the Angel of the LORD e Not a created Angel but the Angel of the covenant Christ Jesus who then and ever was God and was to be man and to be sent into the world in our Flesh as a messenger from God And these temporary apparitions of his were presages or fore-runners of his more solemn mission and coming and therefore he is fitly called an Angel That this Angel was no creature plainly appears by the whole context and specially by his saying I am the Lord c. The Angels never speak that language in Scripture but I am sent from God and I am thy fellow-servant c. And it is a vain pretence to say that the Angel as Gods Ambassadour speaks in Gods name and person For what Ambassadour of any King in the world did ever speak thus I am the King c. Ministers are Gods Ambassadours but if any of them should say I am the Lord they would be guilty of blasphemy and so would any created Angel be too for the same reason appeared unto him in a * Deut. 33. 16. flame of