Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy Volume Ii Part 1

Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy.

Volume II.

by Charles Henry Mackintosh.

CHAPTER VII.

"When the Lord thy G.o.d shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, ...

seven nations greater and mightier than thou, and when the Lord thy G.o.d shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them."

In reading the record of G.o.d's dealings with the nations, in connection with His people Israel, we are reminded of the opening words of Psalm ci.--"I will sing of mercy and of judgment." We see the display of mercy to His people, in pursuance of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and we see also the execution of judgment upon the nations, in consequence of their evil ways. In the former, we see divine sovereignty; in the latter, divine justice; in both, divine glory s.h.i.+nes out. All the ways of G.o.d, whether in mercy or in judgment, speak His praise, and shall call forth the homage of His people forever. "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord G.o.d Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of nations.[2] Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou art holy; for all nations shall come and wors.h.i.+p before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest." (Rev. xv. 3, 4.)

[2] "Nations" is read by most editors: Christ is not called the "King of saints."

This is the true spirit in which to contemplate the ways of G.o.d in government. Some persons, allowing themselves to be influenced by a morbid feeling and false sentimentality, rather than by an enlightened judgment, find difficulty in the directions given to Israel in reference to the Canaanites, in the opening of our chapter. It seems to them inconsistent with a benevolent Being to command His people to smite their fellow-creatures, and to show them no mercy. They cannot understand how a merciful G.o.d could commission His people to slay women and children with the edge of the sword.

It is very plain that such persons could not adopt the language of Revelation xv. 3, 4. They are not prepared to say, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of nations." They cannot justify G.o.d in _all_ His ways; nay, they are actually sitting in judgment upon Him. They presume to measure the actings of divine government by the standard of their own shallow thoughts--to scan the infinite by the finite; in short, they measure G.o.d by themselves.

This is a fatal mistake. We are not competent to form a judgment upon the ways of G.o.d, and hence it is the very height of presumption for poor, ignorant, short-sighted mortals to attempt to do so. We read in the seventh chapter of Luke that "Wisdom is justified of _all_ her children." Let us remember this, and hush all our sinful reasonings.

"Let G.o.d be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, 'That Thou mightest be justified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcome when Thou art judged.'"

Is the reader at all troubled with difficulties on this subject? If so, we should much like to quote a very fine pa.s.sage which may help him. "O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.... To Him _that smote Egypt in their first-born_; for His mercy endureth forever; and brought out Israel from among them; for His mercy endureth forever; with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm; for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which divided the Red Sea into parts; for His mercy endureth forever; and made Israel to pa.s.s through the midst of it; for His mercy endureth forever; but _overthrew Pharaoh and his host_ in the Red Sea; for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which _smote great kings_; for His mercy endureth forever; and _slew famous kings_; for His mercy endureth forever; Sihon, king of the Amorites; for His mercy endureth forever; and Og, the king of Bashan; for His mercy endureth forever; and gave their land for a heritage; for His mercy endureth forever; even a heritage unto Israel His servant; for His mercy endureth forever." (Ps. cx.x.xvi.)

Here we see that the smiting of Egypt's first-born and the deliverance of Israel, the pa.s.sage through the Red Sea and the utter destruction of Pharaoh's host, the slaughter of the Canaanites and giving their lands to Israel--all alike ill.u.s.trated the everlasting mercy of Jehovah.[3] Thus it was, thus it is, and thus it shall be. All must redound to the glory of G.o.d. Let us remember this, and fling to the winds all our silly reasonings and ignorant arguments. It is our privilege to justify G.o.d in all His ways, to bow our heads in holy wors.h.i.+p, in view of His unsearchable judgments, and rest in the calm a.s.surance that all G.o.d's ways are right. We do not understand them all; this would be impossible. The finite cannot grasp the infinite.

This is where so many go wrong. They reason upon the actings of G.o.d's government, not considering that those actings lie as far beyond the range of human reason as the Creator is beyond the creature. What human mind can unravel the profound mysteries of divine providence?

Can we account for the fact of a city full of human beings--men, women, and children, in one hour, plunged beneath a tide of burning lava? Utterly impossible; and yet this is but one fact of thousands that stand recorded on the page of human history, all lying far beyond the grasp of the most gigantic intellect. Go through the lanes, alleys, wynds, closes, and court-yards of our cities and towns; see the thousands of human beings that throng these places, living in squalid misery, poverty, wretchedness, and moral degradation. Can we account for all this? can we tell why G.o.d permits it? are we called upon to do so? Is it not perfectly plain to the reader that it is no part of our business to discuss such questions? and if we, in our ignorance and stupid folly, set about reasoning and speculating upon the inscrutable mysteries of the divine government, what can we expect but utter bewilderment, if not positive infidelity?

[3] Very many Christians find considerable difficulty in interpreting and applying the language of a large number of the psalms which call for judgment upon the wicked. Such language would, of course, be quite unsuitable for Christians now, inasmuch as we are taught to love our enemies, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us.

But we must remember that what would be wholly out of place for the Church of G.o.d, a heavenly people, under grace, was, and will yet be, perfectly consistent for Israel, an earthly people, under government.

No intelligent Christian could think for a moment of calling down vengeance upon his enemies or upon the wicked. It would be grossly inconsistent. We are called to be the living exponents of the grace of G.o.d to the world--to walk in the footsteps of the meek and lowly Jesus--to suffer for righteousness--not to resist evil. G.o.d is now dealing in long-suffering mercy with the world. "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." This is to be our model. We are, in this, to be "perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect." For a Christian to deal with the world on the principle of righteous judgment, would be to misrepresent his heavenly Father and falsify his profession.

But by and by, when the Church shall have left the scene, G.o.d will deal with the world in righteousness; He will judge the nations for their treatment of His people Israel.

We do not attempt to quote pa.s.sages, but merely call the reader's attention to the principle, in order to enable him to understand the just application of the prophetic psalms.

The foregoing line of thought will enable the reader to understand the opening lines of our chapter. The Canaanites were to receive no mercy at the hands of Israel. Their iniquities had reached the culminating point, and nothing remained but the stern execution of divine judgment. "Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them; neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other G.o.ds; so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire."

Such were the instructions given by Jehovah to His people. They were clear and explicit. No mercy for the Canaanites, no covenant with them, no union, no fellows.h.i.+p of any kind, unsparing judgment, intense separation.

We know, alas! how soon and how completely Israel failed to carry out these instructions. Hardly had they planted their foot upon the land of Canaan ere they made a covenant with the Gibeonites. Even Joshua himself fell into the snare. The tattered garments and mouldy bread of those wily people beguiled the princes of the congregation, and caused them to act in direct opposition to the plain commandment of G.o.d. Had they been governed by the authority of the Word, they would have been preserved from the grave error of making a league with people who ought to have been utterly destroyed; but they judged by the sight of their eyes, and had to reap the consequences.[4]

[4] It is at once instructive and admonitory to see that the garments, the mouldy bread, and the plausible words of the Gibeonites did what the walls of Jericho could not do. Satan's _wiles_ are more to be dreaded than his _power_. "Put on the whole armor of G.o.d, that ye may be able to stand against the _wiles_ of the devil." The more deeply we ponder the various parts of the whole armor of G.o.d, the more clearly we shall see that they are ranged under these two heads,--obedience and dependence. The soul that is really governed by the authority of the Word, and wholly dependent upon the power of the Spirit, is fully equipped for the conflict. It was thus the Man Christ Jesus vanquished the enemy. The devil could do nothing with a man who was perfectly obedient and perfectly dependent. May we study, in this, as in all beside, our great Exemplar.

Implicit obedience is the grand moral safeguard against the wiles of the enemy. No doubt the story of the Gibeonites was very plausible, and their whole appearance gave a show of truth to their statements; but none of these things should have had the slightest moral weight with Joshua and the princes; nor would they, if they had but remembered the word of the Lord. But they failed in this. They reasoned on what they saw, instead of obeying what they had heard.

Reason is no guide for the people of G.o.d; we must be, absolutely and completely, guided and governed by the Word of G.o.d.

This is a privilege of the very highest order, and it lies within the reach of the simplest and most unlettered child of G.o.d. The Father's word, the Father's voice, the Father's eye, can guide the youngest, feeblest child in His family. All we need is the lowly and obedient heart. It does not demand great intellectual power or cleverness; if it did, what would become of the vast majority of Christians? If it were only the educated, the deep-thinking, and the far-seeing that were capable of meeting the wiles of the adversary, then verily most of us might give up in despair.

But, thanks be to G.o.d, it is not so; indeed, on the contrary, we find, in looking through the history of the people of G.o.d in all ages, that human wisdom, human learning, human cleverness, if not kept in their right place, have proved a positive snare, and rendered their possessors only the more efficient tools in the enemy's hand. By whom have most, if not all, of the heresies been introduced which have disturbed the Church of G.o.d from age to age? Not by the simple and the unlearned, but by the educated and the intellectual. And in the pa.s.sage to which we have just referred, in the book of Joshua, who was it that made a covenant with the Gibeonites? The common people? Nay; but the princes of the congregation. No doubt all were involved in the mischief, but it was the princes that led the way. The heads and leaders of the a.s.sembly fell into the snare of the devil through neglect of the plain word of G.o.d.

"Thou shalt make no covenant with them." Could aught be plainer than this? Could tattered garments, old shoes, and mouldy bread alter the meaning of the divine command, or do away with the urgent necessity for strict obedience on the part of the congregation? a.s.suredly not.

Nothing can ever afford a warrant for lowering, the breadth of a hair, the standard of obedience to the Word of G.o.d. If there are difficulties in the way, if perplexing circ.u.mstances come before us, if things crop up for which we are not prepared, and as to which we are unable to form a judgment, what are we to do? Reason? Jump to conclusions? Act on our own or on any human judgment? Most certainly not. What then? Wait on G.o.d; wait patiently, humbly, believingly, and He will a.s.suredly counsel and guide. "The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." Had Joshua and the princes acted thus, they never would have made a league with the Gibeonites; and if the reader acts thus, he will be delivered from every evil work and preserved unto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In verse six of our chapter, Moses sets before the people the moral ground of the line of action which they were to adopt in reference to the Canaanites--the rigid separation and the unsparing judgment.

"_For_ thou art _a holy people unto the Lord thy G.o.d_; the Lord thy G.o.d hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."

The principle here laid down is of the very weightiest character. Why were the people to maintain the most marked separation from the Canaanites? Why were they to refuse, with firm decision, to make any covenant, or form any matrimonial alliance with them? Why were they to demolish their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves?

Simply because they were a holy people. And who had const.i.tuted them a holy people? Jehovah. He had chosen them and set His love upon them; He had redeemed them, and separated them to Himself; and hence it was His province and prerogative to prescribe what they were to be, and how they were to act. "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

It was not by any means on the principle of "Stand by thyself, I am holier than thou." This is manifest from what follows. "The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." (Ver. 7, 8.)

Seasonable words these for Israel!--most healthful and needful! They were to remember that they owed all their dignity, all their privileges, all their blessings, not to aught in themselves--their own goodness or their own greatness, but simply to the fact of Jehovah's having identified Himself with them, in His infinite goodness and sovereign grace, and in virtue of His covenant with their fathers--"a covenant ordered in all things and sure." This, while it furnished a divine antidote against self-complacency and self-confidence, formed the solid basis of their happiness and their moral security. All rested upon the eternal stability of the grace of G.o.d, and therefore human boasting was excluded. "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof and be glad."

It is the settled purpose of G.o.d that "no flesh shall glory in His presence." All human pretension must be set aside. He will hide pride from man. Israel had to be taught to remember their origin and their true condition--"bondmen in Egypt"--"fewest of all people." No room for pride or boasting. They were in no wise better than the nations around them; and therefore, if called to account for their high elevation and moral greatness, they had simply to trace it all up to the free love of G.o.d and His faithfulness to His oath. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake." (Ps. cxv. 1.)

"Know therefore that the Lord thy G.o.d, He is G.o.d, the faithful G.o.d, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face." (Ver. 9, 10.)

We have two weighty facts set before us here,--one, full of rich consolation and comfort to every true lover of G.o.d; the other, fraught with deep solemnity to every hater of G.o.d. All who really love G.o.d and keep His commandments may count on His infallible faithfulness and tender mercy at all times and under all circ.u.mstances. "_All things_ work _together_ for good to them that love G.o.d, to them who are the called according to His purpose." If, through infinite grace, we have the love of G.o.d in our hearts, and His fear before our eyes, we may move on with good courage and joyful confidence, a.s.sured that all shall be well--must be well. "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward G.o.d. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

This is a grand, eternal truth--a truth for Israel, a truth for the Church. Dispensations make no difference as to this. Whether we study the seventh of Deuteronomy or the third chapter of 1 John, we learn the same great practical truth, that G.o.d delights in those who fear Him and love Him and keep His commandments.

Is there aught of the legal element in this? Not a tinge. Love and legality have nothing in common; they are as far removed as the poles.

"This is the love of G.o.d, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous." The spirit and genius, the ground and character of our obedience all go to prove it the very reverse of legality. It is our deep and settled conviction that those persons who are ever ready to cry out, "Legal! Legal!" whenever obedience is pressed upon them, are sadly and grossly mistaken. If indeed it were taught that we must earn by our obedience the high position and relations.h.i.+p of children of G.o.d, then verily the solemn charge of legality might justly be urged; but to bestow such an epithet on Christian obedience, is, we repeat, a serious moral mistake. Obedience could never precede sons.h.i.+p, but sons.h.i.+p should ever be followed by obedience.

And while we are on this subject, we must call the attention of the reader to a pa.s.sage or two of New-Testament scripture as to which there is a want of clearness in many minds. In the fifth chapter of Matthew, we read, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy;' but _I_ say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the sons [????] of your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.... Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Ver.

43-48.)

This pa.s.sage might, in the judgment of some, seem to teach that the relations.h.i.+p of children can be attained by a certain line of action; but it is not so. It is a question of moral conformity or suitability to the character and ways of our Father. We sometimes hear, in every-day life, the saying, "You would not be your father's son if you were to act in such a way." It is as though our Lord had said, If you want to be the sons of your heavenly Father, you must act in grace to all; for that is what He is doing.

Again, in 2 Corinthians vi. we read, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Here, it is not a question of the secret relations.h.i.+p of children, formed by a divine operation, but the public acknowledgment of the position of sons [?????] as the result of our separation from evil.[5]

[5] Speaking in a general way, the word t?????, child, is a term of endearment; ????, son, of moral dignity.

pa?? is either a child or a servant: ??p???, a babe.

It will be well for the reader to seize this important distinction; it is of great practical value. We do not become children by separation from the world, "for ye are all the children of G.o.d by faith in Christ Jesus." "As many as received Him, to them gave He power [or authority, ????s?a?] to become children [t???a] of G.o.d, to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of G.o.d." (Gal. iii. 26; John i. 12, 13.) "Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth."

(James i. 18.) We become children by new birth, which, thanks be to G.o.d, is a divine operation from first to last. What had we to do with our natural birth? Nothing. And what have we to do with our spiritual birth? Clearly nothing.

But then we must remember that G.o.d can only identify Himself with, and publicly acknowledge those who, through grace, seek to walk in a way worthy of Him--a way befitting the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. If our ways are unlike Him, if we are mixed up with all sorts of wrong things, if we are unequally yoked together with unbelievers, how can we expect G.o.d to own us as His sons? We read, in Hebrews xi, of those who "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth," and who "declared plainly that they sought a country;" and of them we are told that "_G.o.d was not ashamed_ to be called their G.o.d." He could publicly identify Himself with them, and acknowledge them; He could own them as His.

Reader, let us seriously apply our hearts to the consideration of this great practical question. Let us look, seriously and honestly, to our ways. Let us, in truthfulness and uprightness of heart, inquire whether we are "unequally yoked together with unbelievers," on any ground, or for any object whatsoever. If so, let us give earnest heed to the words, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." It may be that the carrying out of this holy commandment will expose us to the charge of bigotry, narrowness, and intolerance; it may wear the aspect of pharisaic pride and self-complacency. We may be told, we are not to judge, or set ourselves up to be holier or better than other people.

To all this line of argument we have the one simple, conclusive answer, namely, G.o.d's plain command. He tells us to be separate, to come out, to touch not the unclean; and all this in order to His receiving us, and acknowledging us as His sons and daughters. This ought to be quite sufficient for us. Let people think or say what they will of us,--let them call us what they please; G.o.d will settle the matter with them, sooner or later; our duty is to separate ourselves from unbelievers, if we would be received and owned of G.o.d. If believers are mixed up with unbelievers, how are they to be known or distinguished as the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?

But we may perhaps be asked, How are we to know who are unbelievers?

All profess to be Christians--all take the ground of belonging to Christ: we are not surrounded by ignorant heathen, or unbelieving Jews; how then are we to judge? It was plain enough in the early days of Christianity, when the apostle wrote his epistle to the a.s.sembly at Corinth--then the line of demarkation was as clear as a sunbeam; there were the three distinct cla.s.ses--"the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of G.o.d;" but now all is changed,--we live in a Christian land, under a Christian government, we are surrounded on all hands by Christians, and therefore 2 Corinthians vi. cannot apply to us; it was all very well when the Church was in its infancy, having just emerged from Judaism on the one hand and heathenism on the other, but to think of applying such a principle at this advanced stage of the Church's history, is wholly out of the question.

To all who take this ground, we would put a very plain question,--Is it true that the Church has reached a stage of her history in which the New Testament is no longer her guide and authority? Have we got beyond the range of holy Scripture? If so, what are we to do? whither are we to turn for guidance? If we admit for a moment that 2 Corinthians vi. does not apply to Christians now, what warrant have we for appropriating to ourselves any portion of the New Testament?