PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy, Volume I
Mackintosh, Charles Henry, 1820-1896 · 121,162 words · 157 reading sections
NOTES
_on the book of_…
4 wordsSECTION 2DEUTERONOMY
_Volume I_…
2 wordsSECTION 3C. H. MACKINTOSH
"_Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven._" "_Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee._"…
26 wordsSECTION 4LOIZEAUX BROTHERS
_Neptune, New Jersey_…
3 wordsSECTION 5LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, INC., PUBLISHERS
_A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work and to the Spread of His Truth_…
15 wordsSECTION 6TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
As several persons in America have, without any authority whatever from me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumes of "Notes," I deem it my duty to inform the reader that I have given full permission to Messrs. LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books in such form as they shall consider most suitable.…
56 wordsSECTION 7C. H. MACKINTOSH.
_6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough, May 1st, 1879._ [1] Now six.…
12 wordsSECTION 8PREFACE
The value and importance of the Word of God cannot be over-estimated at the present moment. Its integrity and authority are being assailed from almost every quarter and in every form of attack. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps. xi. 3.) Infidel thoughts and principles are not limited to…
593 wordsSECTION 9_A. M._
_London, November, 1880._…
4 wordsSECTION 10CONTENTS
_Page._…
2 wordsSECTION 11INTRODUCTION
The character of the book on which we now enter is quite as distinct as that of any of the four preceding sections of the Pentateuch. Were we to judge from the title of the book, we might suppose that it is a mere repetition of what we find in previous books. This would be a very grave mistake. There is no such thing a…
897 wordsSECTION 12Part 12
Let the reader note particularly these words. They speak of two covenants--one at Horeb and one in Moab; and the latter, so far from being a mere repetition of the former, is as distinct from it as any two things can be. Of this we shall have the fullest and clearest evidence in our study of the profound book which now…
888 wordsSECTION 13Part 13
Hence, too, the constant effort to pick holes in God's blessed book. Infidels in every age and of every class have labored hard to find out flaws and contradictions in holy Scripture. The determined enemies of the Word of God are to be found, not only in the ranks of the vulgar, the coarse, and the demoralized, but amo…
693 wordsSECTION 14Part 14
Now, the inspired apostle tells us, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; _neither can he know them_, because they are spiritually discerned." This is conclusive. He speaks of man in his natural state, be he ever …
860 wordsSECTION 15Part 15
The Lord be praised for such words! They assure us that all Scripture is given of God, and that all Scripture is given to us. Precious link between the soul and God! What tongue can tell the value of such a link? God has spoken--spoken to us. His Word is a rock against which all the waves of infidel thought dash themse…
843 wordsSECTION 16Part 16
We freely admit that on this great question a shadow of uncertainty would be positive torture and misery; but who can give us certainty? God alone. If all the men upon earth were to agree in their testimony to the authority of holy Scripture--if all the councils that ever sat, all the doctors that ever taught, all the …
796 wordsSECTION 17Part 17
We do not attempt to offer any apology to the reader for this lengthened introduction to the book of Deuteronomy. Indeed we are only too thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony to the grand truth of the divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures. We feel it to be our sacred duty, as most surely it is…
796 wordsSECTION 18CHAPTER I.
"These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea.)" The inspired writer is careful…
665 wordsSECTION 19Part 19
Reader, is it not so? Are we not constantly prone to forsake the Fountain of living waters, and hew out for ourselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water? And yet we speak of living by faith! We profess to be looking only to the living God for the supply of our need, whatever that need may be, when, in point of fa…
764 wordsSECTION 20Part 20
Far away, and away forever, be the unworthy thought! The life of faith must not be so treated. We cannot allow such a gross dishonor to be offered to it, or such a grievous wrong done to those who are called to live it. What, we would ask, is the meaning of those few but weighty words, "The just shall live by faith"? T…
841 wordsSECTION 21Part 21
And then His love! What rest, what comfort, what joy, to know and remember that the almighty Creator and Upholder of the universe is the everlasting Lover of our souls! that He loves us perfectly; that His eye is ever upon us, His heart ever toward us; that He has charged Himself with all our wants, whatever these want…
900 wordsSECTION 22Part 22
"And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them." (Ver. 3.) These few words contain a volume of weighty instruction for every servant of God--for all who…
769 wordsSECTION 23Part 23
We feel solemnly responsible to commend this grave and important point to the serious consideration of the Church of God. If all the professed ministers of Christ were to follow the example of Moses and Paul, in reference to the matter now before us, we should witness a very different condition of things in the profess…
842 wordsSECTION 24Part 24
Is the Church of God worse off, as regards guidance and authority, than Israel of old? Are Christians left to think and arrange for themselves in the worship and service of God? Are there any questions left open for human discussion? Is the Word of God sufficient, or is it not? Has it left any thing unprovided for? Let…
756 wordsSECTION 25Part 25
Now the question is, how was this most blessed result to be reached? Was it by each one exercising the right of private judgment? Alas! it was this very thing that gave birth to all the division and contention in the assembly at Corinth, and drew forth the sharp rebuke of the Holy Ghost. Those poor Corinthians thought …
763 wordsSECTION 26Part 26
Here is the point. Let us mark it well. It is _Christ's_ voice. It is not the voice of this good man or that good man; it is not the voice of the church, the voice of the fathers, the voice of general councils, but the voice of our own beloved Lord and Master. It is the individual conscience in direct, living contact w…
836 wordsSECTION 27Part 27
"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, 'Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea-side, to the land of the Canaanites, and…
845 wordsSECTION 28Part 28
What, then, we may ask, remained for them to do? What was their plain and simple duty? Just to obey. It was their high and holy privilege to rest in the love and obey the commandments of Jehovah, their covenant God. Here lay the blessed secret of their peace, their happiness, and their moral security. They had no need …
886 wordsSECTION 29Part 29
No doubt, our Lord may and does, at times, intimate His mind and indicate our path by His providence; but we must be sufficiently near to Him to be able to interpret the providence aright, else we may find that what is called "an opening of Providence" may actually prove an opening by which we slip off the holy path of…
860 wordsSECTION 30Part 30
True, he did say to the king of Israel, "Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day." But where was the use of this, when he had already pledged himself to a certain line of action? What folly for any one to make up his mind and then go and ask for counsel! Had he been in a right state of soul, he never would…
930 wordsSECTION 31Part 31
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole …
922 wordsSECTION 32Part 32
In the remainder of our chapter, Moses rehearses in the ears of the people, in language of touching simplicity, the facts connected with the appointment of the judges, and the mission of the spies. The appointment of the judges, Moses here attributes to his own suggestion: the mission of the spies was the suggestion of…
782 wordsSECTION 33Part 33
But it is needless to multiply examples. Every age of the church's history illustrates and proves the truth of our statement that self and its odious workings are the producing cause of strife, contention, and division, always. Turn where you will--from the days of the apostles down to the days in which our lot is cast…
880 wordsSECTION 34Part 34
"If any man will be wise, let him become a fool." Here lies the grand moral secret of the matter. Man must get to the end of his own wisdom, as well as of his own righteousness. He must be brought to confess himself a fool ere he can taste the sweetness of divine wisdom. It is not within the range of the most gigantic …
697 wordsSECTION 35Part 35
But further, we must never be guided in judgment by an _ex parte_ statement. Every one is liable, even with the best intentions, to give a color to his statement of a case. It is not that he would intentionally make a false statement, or tell a deliberate lie; but through inaccuracy of memory, or one cause or another, …
852 wordsSECTION 36Part 36
"And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that _great and terrible wilderness_, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. And I said unto you, 'Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto …
900 wordsSECTION 37Part 37
It was not in keeping with God's original institution, or according to His heart, that a man should put away his wife; but, in consequence of the hardness of the human heart, divorce was permitted by the lawgiver. Is there any difficulty in this? Surely not; unless the heart is bent on making one. Neither is there any …
855 wordsSECTION 38Part 38
This would have been the language of Faith; but, alas! it was not the language of Israel on the occasion before us. God was not sufficient for them. They were not prepared to go up, leaning on His arm alone: they were not satisfied with His report of the land; they would send spies. Any thing for the poor human heart b…
773 wordsSECTION 39Part 39
"And ye murmured in your tents, and said, 'Because the Lord hated us'--a terrible lie on the very face of it!--'He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.'" What a strange proof of hatred! How utterly absurd are the arguments of unbelief! Surely, had H…
920 wordsSECTION 40Part 40
What moral force, what touching sweetness in this appeal! How clearly we can see here, as indeed on every page of the book, that Deuteronomy is not a barren repetition of facts, but a most powerful commentary on those facts. It is well that the reader should be thoroughly clear as to this. If in the book of Exodus or N…
860 wordsSECTION 41Part 41
No doubt, our divisions have much to do with it; our worldliness, our carnality, our self-indulgence, our love of ease. But what is the remedy for all these evils? How are our hearts to be drawn out in genuine love to all our brethren? By faith, that precious principle "that worketh by love." Thus the blessed apostle s…
732 wordsSECTION 42Part 42
How refreshing are the utterances of an artless faith! How edifying! how truly encouraging! How vividly they contrast with the gloomy, depressing, withering accents of dark, God-dishonoring unbelief! "And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the…
841 wordsSECTION 43Part 43
It will be well for us all to ponder deeply, as in the immediate presence of God, this great practical truth. We may rest assured that the more truly we enter into the knowledge of grace, the more we shall feel the solemnity of government, and entirely justify its enactments. Of this we are most fully persuaded. But th…
531 wordsSECTION 44Part 44
This looked like contrition and self-judgment; but it was hollow and false. It is a very easy thing to _say_, "We have sinned." Saul said it in his day; but he said it without heart, without any genuine sense of what he was saying. We may easily gather the force and value of the words "I have sinned" from the fact that…
909 wordsSECTION 45Part 45
Blessed be His name, He can meet us in the very depths of our weakness and failure, provided there be the genuine and hearty confession of our true condition; but to assume that we have the Lord with us while we are doing our own will and walking in palpable unrighteousness, is nothing but wickedness and hardness of he…
874 wordsSECTION 46Part 46
God deals in moral realities. He desires truth in the inward parts; and if men will presume to hold the truth in unrighteousness, they must look out for His righteous judgment. It is the thought of all this that makes us feel the awful condition of the professing church. The solemn passage which we have just culled fro…
430 wordsSECTION 47CHAPTER II.
The closing lines of chapter i. show us the people weeping before the Lord.--"And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there." There was no more reality in their tears than in th…
851 wordsSECTION 48Part 48
Then, again, who can calculate how much we lose, through our unbelief, in the matter of the Lord's work in our midst? We read in the gospel of a certain place in which our blessed Lord could not do many mighty works, because of their unbelief. Has this no voice for us? Do we too hinder Him by unbelief? We shall perhaps…
812 wordsSECTION 49Part 49
"Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spake unto me; and we compassed Mount Seir many days." There is great moral beauty in the little word "_we_." Moses links himself thoroughly with the people. He and Joshua and Caleb had all to turn back into the wilderness,…
902 wordsSECTION 50Part 50
Here lies the deep and precious secret of rest of heart, as opposed to restlessness. It is the simple ability to thank God for every thing, be it ever so contrary to our own will and utterly subversive of our own plans. It is not a mere assent to the truth that "all things work together for good to them that love God, …
917 wordsSECTION 51Part 51
Nothing can be more precious to a child of God, if only the heart be in a right condition, than to be guided, in all his movements, by the divine command. It saves a world of anxiety and perplexity. In Israel's case, called as they were to journey through a great and terrible wilderness, where there was no way, it was …
887 wordsSECTION 52Part 52
Thus it is, in all the details of our daily life. It would answer a thousand questions, and solve a thousand difficulties, if we did but wait for divine guidance, and never attempt to move without it. If I have not gotten light to move, it is my plain duty to be still. We should never move in uncertainty. It often happ…
904 wordsSECTION 53Part 53
This is a very magnificent fact to keep before the mind. The great majority of men think but little of it. Emperors, kings, princes, governors, statesmen, take little account of it. They forget that God interests Himself in the affairs of nations--that He bestows kingdoms, provinces, and lands as He sees fit. They act,…
781 wordsSECTION 54Part 54
Here we have a most solemn and weighty truth, to which men of all ranks and conditions would do well to take heed. God is the Sovereign Ruler of the world. He giveth no account of any of His matters. He puts down one and sets up another. Kingdoms, thrones, governments, are all at His disposal. He acts according to His …
752 wordsSECTION 55CHAPTER III.
"Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord said unto me, 'Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amo…
868 wordsSECTION 56Part 56
This, we may rest assured, reader, is the only true way in which to meet such questions. If man is to sit in judgment upon the actings of God in government--if he can take upon himself to decide as to what is and what is not worthy of God to do, then, verily, we have lost the true sense of God altogether. And this is j…
791 wordsSECTION 57Part 57
Now, the question is, Upon what principle, or by what authority, can any one mark off these seven passages and say that in them the word αἰωνιος does not mean "everlasting," while in the other sixty-three it does? We consider the statement utterly baseless, and unworthy the attention of any sober mind. We fully admit t…
849 wordsSECTION 58Part 58
Do we fully take in the meaning of these words? Alas! it is to be feared they are but little understood. There are not wanting men who would fain persuade us that science has gone far beyond the Bible.[6] Alas! for the science, and for all those who give heed to it. If it has gone beyond the Bible, whither has it gone?…
779 wordsSECTION 59Part 59
Nothing can exceed the power and blessedness of all this. There is no darkness here, no uncertainty. "The darkness is past and the true light now shineth." Yes; it shineth in the face of Jesus Christ. We can gaze, by faith, on that blessed One; we can trace His marvelous path on the earth; see Him going about doing goo…
888 wordsSECTION 60Part 60
Here are the words: "And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, _gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites_. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, _gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh_; all the…
517 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.