Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy Volume Ii Part 3

They were to think of the marvelous history of those forty years in the desert,--the teaching, the humbling, the proving, the watchful care, the gracious ministry, the full supply of all their need, the manna from heaven, the stream from the smitten rock, the care of their garments, and of their very feet, the wholesome discipline for their moral good. What powerful moral motives were here for Israel's obedience!

But this was not all: they were to look forward into the future; they were to antic.i.p.ate the bright prospect which lay before them; they were to find in the future, as well as in the past and the present, the solid basis of Jehovah's claims upon their reverent and whole-hearted obedience.

"For the Lord thy G.o.d bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig bra.s.s."

How fair was the prospect! how bright the vision! How marked the contrast to the Egypt behind them and the wilderness through which they had pa.s.sed! The Lord's land lay before them in all its beauty and verdure, its vine-clad hills and honeyed plains, its gus.h.i.+ng fountains and flowing streams. How refres.h.i.+ng the thought of the vine, the fig-tree, the pomegranate, and the olive! How different from the leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt! Yes, all so different! It was the Lord's own land: this was enough. It produced and contained all they could possibly want. Above its surface, rich profusion; below, untold wealth--exhaustless treasure.

What a prospect! How the faithful Israelite would long to enter upon it!--long to exchange the sand of the desert for that bright inheritance! True, the desert had its deep and blessed experiences, its holy lessons, its precious memories; there they had known Jehovah in a way they could not know Him even in Canaan;--all this was quite true, and we can fully understand it; but still the wilderness was not Canaan, and every true Israelite would long to set his foot on the land of promise, and truly we may say that Moses presents the land, in the pa.s.sage just quoted, in a way eminently calculated to attract the heart. "A land," he says, "wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, _thou shalt not lack any_ _thing in it_." What more could be said? Here was the grand fact in reference to that good land into which the hand of covenant-love was about to introduce them. All their wants would be divinely met. Hunger and thirst should never be known there. Health and plenty, joy and gladness, peace and blessing, were to be the a.s.sured portion of the Israel of G.o.d in that fair inheritance upon which they were about to enter. Every enemy was to be subdued; every obstacle swept away; "the pleasant land" was to pour forth its treasures for their use; watered continually by heaven's rain, and warmed by its sunlight, it was to bring forth, in rich abundance, all that the heart could desire.

What a land! what an inheritance! what a home! Of course, we are looking at it now from a divine stand-point--looking at it according to what it was in the mind of G.o.d, and what it shall most a.s.suredly be to Israel during that bright millennial age which lies before them. We should have but a very poor idea indeed of the Lord's land were we to think of it merely as possessed by Israel in the past, even in the very brightest days of its history, as it appeared amid the splendors of Solomon's reign. We must look onward to "the times of the rest.i.tution of all things," in order to have any thing like a true idea of what the land of Canaan will yet be to the Israel of G.o.d.

Now, Moses speaks of the land according to the divine idea of it. He presents it as given by G.o.d, and not as possessed by Israel. This makes all the difference. According to his charming description, there was neither enemy nor evil occurrent: nothing but fruitfulness and blessing from end to end. That is what it would have been, that is what it should have been, and that is what it shall be, by and by, to the seed of Abraham, in pursuance of the covenant made with their fathers--the new, the everlasting covenant, founded on the sovereign grace of G.o.d, and ratified by the blood of the cross. No power of earth or h.e.l.l can hinder the purpose or the promise of G.o.d. "Hath He said, and shall He not do it?" G.o.d will make good, to the letter, every word, spite of all the enemy's opposition and the lamentable failure of His people. Though Abraham's seed have utterly failed under law and under government, yet Abraham's G.o.d will give grace and glory, for His gifts and calling are without repentance.

Moses fully understood all this. He knew how it would turn out with those who stood before him, and with their children after them, for many generations; and he looked forward into that bright future in which a covenant-G.o.d would display, in the view of all created intelligences, the triumphs of His grace in His dealings with the seed of Abraham His friend.

Meanwhile, however, the faithful servant of Jehovah, true to the object before his mind, in all those marvelous discourses in the opening of our book, proceeds to unfold to the congregation the truth as to their mode of acting in the good land on which they were about to plant their foot. As he had spoken of the past and of the present, so would he make use of the future; he would turn all to account in his holy effort to urge upon the people their obvious, bounden duty to that blessed One who had so graciously and tenderly cared for them all their journey through, and who was about to bring them in and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance. Let us hearken to his touching and powerful exhortations.

"When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy G.o.d for the good land which He has given thee." How simple! how lovely! how morally suitable! Filled with the fruit of Jehovah's goodness, they were to bless and praise His holy name. He delights to surround Himself with hearts filled to overflowing with the sweet sense of His goodness, and pouring forth songs of praise and thanksgiving. He inhabits the praises of His people. He says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me." The feeblest note of praise from a grateful heart ascends as fragrant incense to the throne and to the heart of G.o.d.

Let us remember this, beloved reader. It is as true for us, most surely, as it was for Israel, that praise is comely. Our grand primary business is to praise the Lord. Our every breath should be a halleluiah. It is to this blessed and most sacred exercise the Holy Ghost exhorts us, in manifold places. "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to G.o.d continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." We should ever remember that nothing so gratifies the heart and glorifies the name of our G.o.d as a thankful, wors.h.i.+ping spirit on the part of His people. It is well to do good and communicate,--G.o.d is well pleased with such sacrifices; it is our high privilege, while we have opportunity, to do good unto all men, and especially unto them who are of the household of faith; we are called to be channels of blessing between the loving heart of our Father and every form of human need that comes before us in our daily path;--all this is most blessedly true, but we must never forget that the very highest place is a.s.signed to praise. It is this which shall employ our ransomed powers throughout the golden ages of eternity, when the sacrifices of active benevolence shall no longer be needed.

But the faithful lawgiver knew but too well the sad p.r.o.neness of the human heart to forget all this--to lose sight of the gracious Giver, and rest in His gifts; hence he addresses the following admonitory words to the congregation--wholesome words, truly, for them and for us. May we bend our ears and our hearts to them, in holy reverence and teachableness of spirit.

"Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy G.o.d, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day. Lest _when thou hast eaten and art full_, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy G.o.d, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, _to do thee good at thy latter end_; and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy G.o.d; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy G.o.d, and walk after other G.o.ds, and serve them, and wors.h.i.+p them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, _because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your G.o.d_." (Ver. 11-20.)

Here is something for us to ponder deeply. It has most a.s.suredly a voice for us, as it had for Israel. We may perhaps feel disposed to marvel at the frequent reiteration of the note of warning and admonition, the constant appeals to the heart and conscience of the people as to their bounden duty to obey in all things the word of G.o.d, the recurrence again and again to those grand soul-stirring facts connected with their deliverance out of Egypt and their journey through the wilderness.

But wherefore should we marvel? In the first place, do we not deeply feel and fully admit our own urgent need of warning, admonition, and exhortation? Do we not need line upon line, precept upon precept, and that continually? Are we not p.r.o.ne to forget the Lord our G.o.d--to rest in His gifts instead of Himself? Alas! alas! we cannot deny it. We rest in the stream, instead of getting up to the Fountain; we turn the very mercies, blessings, and benefits which strew our path in rich profusion into an occasion of self-complacency and gratulation, instead of finding in them the blessed ground of continual praise and thanksgiving.

And then, as to those great facts of which Moses so continually reminds the people, could they ever lose their moral weight, power, or preciousness? Surely not. Israel might forget and fail to appreciate those facts, but the facts remained the same. The terrible plagues of Egypt, the night of the pa.s.sover, their deliverance from the land of darkness, bondage, and degradation, their marvelous pa.s.sage through the Red Sea, the descent of that mysterious food from heaven morning by morning, the refres.h.i.+ng stream gus.h.i.+ng forth from the flinty rock,--how could such facts as these ever lose their power over a heart possessing a spark of genuine love to G.o.d? and why should we wonder to find Moses again and again appealing to them and using them as a most powerful lever wherewith to move the hearts of the people?

Moses felt the mighty moral influence of these things himself, and he would fain lead others to feel it also. To him, they were precious beyond expression, and he longed to make his brethren feel their preciousness as well as himself. It was his one object to set before them, in every possible way, the powerful claims of Jehovah upon their hearty and unreserved obedience.

This, reader, will account for what might, to an unspiritual, unintelligent, cursory reader, seem the too frequent recurrence to the scenes of the past in those wonderful discourses of Moses. We are reminded, as we read them, of the lovely words of Peter, in his second epistle,--"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you _always in remembrance of these things_, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, _to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance_; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have _these things always in remembrance_."

(Chap. i. 12-15.)

How striking the unity of spirit and purpose in these two beloved and venerable servants of G.o.d! Both the one and the other felt the tendency of the poor human heart to forget the things of G.o.d, of heaven, and of eternity, and they felt the supreme importance and infinite value of the things of which they spoke; hence their earnest desire to keep them continually before the hearts and abidingly in the remembrance of the Lord's beloved people. Unbelieving, restless nature might say to Moses, or to Peter, Have you nothing new to tell us? Why are you perpetually dwelling on the same old themes? We know all you have got to say; we have heard it again and again. Why not strike out into some new field of thought? Would it not be well to try and keep abreast of the science of the day? If we keep perpetually moping over those antiquated themes, we shall be left stranded on the bank, while the stream of civilization rushes on. Pray give us something new.

Thus might the poor unbelieving mind--the worldly heart reason, but faith knows the answer to all such miserable suggestions. We can well believe that both Moses and Peter would have made short work with all such reasonings. And so should we. We know whence they emanate, whither they tend, and what they are worth; and we should have, if not on our lips, at least deep down in our hearts, a ready answer--an answer perfectly satisfactory to us, however contemptible it may seem to the men of this world. Could a true Israelite ever tire of hearing of what the Lord had done for him, in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness? Never! Such themes would be ever fresh, ever welcome to his heart. And just so with the Christian. Can he ever tire of the cross and all the grand and glorious realities that cl.u.s.ter around it?

can he ever tire of Christ, His peerless glories and unsearchable riches, His Person, His work, His offices? Never! No, never, throughout the bright ages of eternity. Does he crave any thing new?

Can science improve upon Christ? can human learning add aught to the great mystery of G.o.dliness, which has for its foundation G.o.d manifest in the flesh, and for its top-stone a Man glorified in heaven? can we ever get beyond this? No, reader, we could not if we would, and we would not if we could.

And even were we, for a moment, to take a lower range, and look at the works of G.o.d in creation; do we ever tire of the sun? He is not new; he has been pouring his beams upon this world for well-nigh six thousand years, and yet those beams are as fresh and as welcome to-day as they were when first created. Do we ever tire of the sea? It is not new; its tide has been ebbing and flowing for nearly six thousand years, but its waves are as fresh and as welcome on our sh.o.r.es as ever. True, the sun is often too dazzling to man's feeble vision, and the sea often swallows up, in a moment, man's boasted works; but yet the sun and the sea never lose their power, their freshness, their charm. Do we ever tire of the dew-drops that fall in refres.h.i.+ng virtue upon our gardens and fields? do we ever tire of the perfume that emanates from our hedge-rows? do we ever tire of the notes of the nightingale and the thrush? And what are all these when compared with the glories which cl.u.s.ter around the Person and the cross of Christ?

what are they when put in contrast with the grand realities of that eternity which is before us?

Reader, let us beware how we listen to such suggestions, whether they come from without or spring from the depths of our own evil hearts, lest we be found, like Israel after the flesh, loathing the heavenly Manna and despising the pleasant land; or like Demas, who forsook the blessed apostle, having loved this present age; or like those of whom we read in the sixth of John, who, offended by our Lord's close and pointed teaching, "went back, and walked no more with Him." May the Lord keep our hearts true to Himself, and fresh and fervent in His blessed cause, till He come.

CHAPTER IX.

"Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pa.s.s over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, 'Who can stand before the children of Anak!'" (Ver. 1, 2.)

This chapter opens with the same grand Deuteronomic sentence, "_Hear_, O Israel." This, we may say, is the key-note of this most blessed book, and especially of those opening discourses which have been engaging our attention. But the chapter which now lies open before us presents subjects of immense weight and importance. In the first place, the lawgiver sets before the congregation, in terms of deep solemnity, that which lay before them in their entrance upon the land.

He does not hide from them the fact that there were serious difficulties and formidable enemies to be encountered. This he does, we need hardly say, not to discourage their hearts, but that they might be forewarned, forearmed, and prepared. What that preparation was we shall see presently; but the faithful servant of G.o.d felt the rightness, yea, the urgent need of putting the true state of the case before his brethren.

There are two ways of looking at difficulties; we may look at them from a human stand-point, or from a divine one; we may look at them in a spirit of unbelief, or we may look at them in the calmness and quietness of confidence in the living G.o.d. We have an instance of the former in the report of the unbelieving spies in Numbers xiii; we have an instance of the latter in the opening of our present chapter.

It is not the province, nor the path, of faith to deny that there are difficulties to be encountered by the people of G.o.d; it would be the height of folly to do so, inasmuch as there are difficulties, and it would be but fool-hardiness, fanaticism, or fleshly enthusiasm to deny it. It is always well for people to know what they are about, and not to rush blindly into a path for which they are not prepared. An unbelieving sluggard may say, There is a lion in the way; a blind enthusiast may say, There is no such thing; the true man of faith will say, Though there were a thousand lions in the way, G.o.d can soon dispose of them.

But, as a great practical principle of general application, it is very important for all the Lord's people to consider, deeply and calmly, what they are about, ere they enter upon any particular path of service or line of action. If this were more attended to, we should not witness so many moral and spiritual wrecks around us. What mean those most solemn, searching, and testing words addressed by our blessed Lord to the mult.i.tudes that thronged around Him in Luke xiv?--"He turned and said to them, 'If any man _come to Me_, and hate not his father and mother, his wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'" (Ver. 26-30.)

These are solemn and seasonable words for the heart. How many unfinished buildings meet our view as we look forth over the wide field of Christian profession, giving sad occasion to the beholders for mockery! How many set out upon a path of disciples.h.i.+p under some sudden impulse, or under the pressure of mere human influence, without a proper understanding, or a due consideration of all that is involved; and then when difficulties arise, when trials come, when the path is found to be narrow, rough, lonely, unpopular, they give it up, thus proving that they had never really counted the cost, never taken the path in communion with G.o.d, never understood what they were doing.

Now, such cases are very sorrowful; they bring great reproach on the cause of Christ, give occasion to the adversary to blaspheme, and greatly dishearten those who care for the glory of G.o.d and the good of souls. Better far not to take the ground at all than, having taken it, to abandon it in dark unbelief and worldly-mindedness.

Hence, therefore, we can perceive the wisdom and faithfulness of the opening words of our chapter. Moses tells the people plainly what was before them; not, surely, to discourage them, but to preserve them from self-confidence, which is sure to give way in the moment of trial, and to cast them upon the living G.o.d, who never fails a trusting heart.

"Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy G.o.d is He which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee."

Here, then, is the divine answer to all difficulties, be they ever so formidable. What were mighty nations, great cities, fenced walls, in the presence of Jehovah? Simply as chaff before the whirlwind. "If G.o.d be for us, who can be against us?" The very things which scare and stumble the coward heart afford an occasion for the display of G.o.d's power, and the magnificent triumphs of faith. Faith says, Grant me but this, that G.o.d is before me and with me, and I can go any where. Thus the only thing in all this world that really glorifies G.o.d is the faith that can trust Him and use Him and praise Him; and inasmuch as faith is the only thing that glorifies G.o.d, so is it the only thing that gives man his proper place, even the place of complete dependence upon G.o.d, and this insures victory and inspires praise--unceasing praise.

But we must never forget that there is moral danger in the very moment of victory--danger arising out of what we are in ourselves. There is the danger of self-gratulation--a terrible snare to us poor mortals.

In the hour of conflict we feel our weakness, our nothingness, our need. This is good and morally safe. It is well to be brought down to the very bottom of self and all that pertains to it, for there we find G.o.d, in all the fullness and blessedness of what He is, and this is sure and certain victory and consequent praise.

But our treacherous and deceitful hearts are p.r.o.ne to forget whence the strength and victory come; hence the moral force, value, and seasonableness of the following admonitory words addressed by the faithful minister of G.o.d to the hearts and consciences of his brethren: "Speak not thou _in thine heart_"--here is where the mischief always begins--"after that the Lord hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee."

Alas! what materials there are in us! what ignorance of our own hearts! what a shallow sense of the real character of our ways! How terrible to think that we are capable of saying in our hearts such words as, "For my righteousness"! Yes, reader, we are verily capable of such egregious folly; for as Israel was capable of it, so are we, inasmuch as we are made of the very same material; and that they were capable of it is evident from the fact of their being warned against it; for, most a.s.suredly, the Spirit of G.o.d does not warn against phantom dangers or imaginary temptations. We are verily capable of turning the actings of G.o.d on our behalf into an occasion of self-complacency; instead of seeing in those gracious actings a ground for heartfelt praise to G.o.d, we use them as a ground for self-exaltation.

Hence, therefore, we would do well to ponder the words of faithful admonition addressed by Moses to the hearts and consciences of the people; they furnish a very wholesome antidote for the self-righteousness so natural to us as well as to Israel. "Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land; but for the wickedness of those nations the Lord thy G.o.d doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Understand, therefore, that the Lord giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people.

Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy G.o.d to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord." (Ver. 5-7.)

This paragraph sets forth two great principles, which, if fully laid hold of, must put the heart into a right moral att.i.tude. In the first place, the people were reminded that their possession of the land of Canaan was simply in pursuance of G.o.d's promise to their fathers. This was placing the matter on the most solid basis--a basis which nothing could ever disturb.

As to the seven nations which were to be dispossessed, it was on the ground of their wickedness that G.o.d, in the exercise of His righteous government, was about to drive them out. Every landlord has a perfect right to eject bad tenants; and the nations of Canaan had not only failed to pay their rent, as we say, but they had injured and defiled the property to such an extent that G.o.d could no longer endure them, and therefore He was going to drive them out, irrespective altogether of the incoming tenants. Whoever was going to get possession of the property, these dreadful tenants must be evicted. The iniquity of the Amorites had reached its highest point, and nothing remained but that judgment should take its course. Men might argue and reason as to the moral fitness and consistency of a benevolent Being unroofing the houses of thousands of families and putting the occupants to the sword, but we may depend upon it the government of G.o.d will make very short work with all such arguments. G.o.d, blessed forever be His holy name, knows how to manage His own affairs, and that, too, without asking man's opinion. He had borne with the wickedness of the seven nations to such a degree that it had become absolutely insufferable; the very land itself could not bear it. Any further exercise of forbearance would have been a sanction of the most terrible abominations; and this, of course, was a moral impossibility. The glory of G.o.d absolutely demanded the expulsion of the Canaanites.

Yes; and we may add, the glory of G.o.d demanded the introduction of the seed of Abraham into possession of the property, to hold as tenants forever under the Lord G.o.d Almighty--the Most High G.o.d, Possessor of heaven and earth. Thus the matter stood for Israel, had they but seen it. Their possession of the land of promise and the maintenance of the divine glory were so bound up together that one could not be touched without touching the other. G.o.d had promised to give the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham as an everlasting possession. Had He not a right to do so? Will infidels question G.o.d's right to do as He will with His own? Will they refuse to the Creator and Governor of the universe a right which they claim for themselves? The land was Jehovah's, and He gave it to Abraham His friend forever; and although this was true, yet were not the Canaanites disturbed in their tenure of the property until their wickedness had become positively unbearable.

Thus we see that in the matter both of the outgoing and incoming tenants the glory of G.o.d was involved. That glory demanded that the Canaanites should be expelled, because of their ways; and that glory demanded that Israel should be put in possession, because of the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But, in the second place, Israel had no ground for self-complacency, as Moses most plainly and faithfully instructs them. He rehea.r.s.es in their ears, in the most touching and impressive manner, all the leading scenes of their history from h.o.r.eb to Kadesh-barnea; he refers to the golden calf, to the broken tables of the covenant, to Taberah and Ma.s.sah, and Kibroth-hattaavah; and sums all up, at verse 24, with these pungent, humbling words, "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you."

This was plain dealing with heart and conscience. The solemn review of their whole career was eminently calculated to correct all false notions about themselves; every scene and circ.u.mstance in their entire history, if viewed from a proper stand-point, only brought to light the humbling fact of what they were, and how near they had been, again and again, to utter destruction. With what stunning force must the following words have fallen upon their ears!--"And the Lord said unto me, 'Arise, get thee down quickly from hence, for _thy_ people which _thou_ hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.' Furthermore, the Lord spake unto me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; _let Me alone, that I may destroy_ them, and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.'" (Ver. 12-14.)

How withering was all this to their natural vanity, pride, and self-righteousness! How should their hearts have been moved to their very deepest depths by those tremendous words, "Let Me alone, that I may destroy them"! How solemn to reflect upon the fact which these words revealed--their appalling nearness to national ruin and destruction! How ignorant they had been of all that pa.s.sed between Jehovah and Moses on the top of Mount h.o.r.eb! They had been on the very brink of an awful precipice. Another moment might have dashed them over. The intercession of Moses had saved them, the very man whom they had accused of taking too much upon him. Alas! how they had mistaken and misjudged him! How utterly astray they had been in all their thoughts! Why, the very man whom they had accused of self-seeking and desiring to make himself altogether a prince over them, had actually refused a divinely given opportunity of becoming the head of a greater and mightier nation than they! Yes, and this same man had earnestly requested that if they were not to be forgiven and brought into the land, his name might be blotted out of the book.