PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers
Rayner Winterbotham [1842-1924] · 425,969 words · 472 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 421
God commanded us to strive against hurtful lusts because they "drown men in per- dition" (1 Tim. vi. 9), and have caused incalculable loss of those who should have had inheritance with us; but we on our part fight against these sins because they dishonour God, and destroy the souls for which Christ died. And both these…
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Consider again, with regard to Balaam' 8 deathr- I. THAT HE Fl!:LL AT LAST WHERE HE HAD NO REASON TO APPREHEND DANGER, Israel had passed by these tribes of Midian, and Balaam no doubt believed that all present danger from them was over. Even so vengeance overtakes the wicked at the moment when he is least afraid, and …
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against Sihon and Og, but now this small force ia enough to crush tho whole of Midian. If Israel had gone forth of its own accord, it would have made the result as sure as possible by taking a far larger force than actually went. But where God is not present he can tum mere numbers into loll!I rather than gain. It was …
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humiliating to humanity. Favoured again and again with light which came to him in different ways, he remained in gross darkness with respect to the character of God as a whole. He saw not the folly, the absurdity, of the path in which he waa treading. Phe conduct of Balaam in the ea,ential principles of it has often be…
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home, also serving God in its own way, and looking after the interests of those who were absent. We must not get into the way of looking at one part of the com- munity as more necessary than another. It was not for the army to any "What would Israel h!ve d?ne in t&king ven~anc? on Midian but for us?" se:ing that Go…
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lands on both sides the Jabbok, from the Ver. 6.-Shall your brethren go to war, Wildy Hesban on the south, to the Yermuk and shall ye sit here 1 Moses had good and lnke of Tiberio.a on the north, now known cause to feel great anxiety about the entry 11s the provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun. into Cana.an proper. Once…
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fied by the reality, although it was excused before the sacro.i symbols of the Lord's pre- by the appearance, of the case. sence (see on eh. x. 21, and Josh. vi. 9), Ver. 15.-:&:e will :yet; again leave them But since the same expressiou (i'1lii1 1;,,1;1~) is in the wilderness. Properly speak:inil, Israel had alrea…
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Yer. 36. - Atroth, Bhophan. Rather, Yer. 39.-The children of :Me.chir. The "Atroth-Shofhe.n," e.nother Ataroth, tho relation of the Beni-Machir to the tribe of site of which 1s unknown. Jaa.zer. See on Manasseh is obscure, because all the Manas· vor. 1, Jogbehah, Now perhaps Jobeiha, sites were descended from Machir. I…
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Gilead, a.ud not on the most friendly terms the towns in tha.t pa.rt of Gilead, and ot mth the rest of the tribe. It is quite pos• Bashan too (see notes on tl111 passages sible that many of the more adventuro1ll! cited). spirit.s amongst the tribe of Judah joined Ver. 42.-liobah. As this chieftain ill tl1emselves to a …
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II, THAT THESE TWO TRIBES WERE UNDOUBTEDLY INTENDED, LIKE THE RBBT 1 TO FIND THEIR INHERITANCE IN CANAAN PROPER. For this and not the land beyond Jordan, was the land which the Lord had sworn to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; this was the land of the seven nations, the promised land, of which the land of Jaazer …
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VIII. THAT THE TWO TRIBES WHICH ASKED, AND TUE BALD' TBIB.U: WHICH llEEMS TO HAYE TAKEN WITHOUT ASKING, OBTAINED TBIUB INBEBITANC.U: WHERE TREY WillHED TO HA ,E IT ; and they were not cast out of the chosen people, nor treated with disdain. Ei-en so a great multitude of Christians remain distinctly and deliberately bel…
1,117 wordsSECTION 432The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 432
Consider again, with respect to the "cities" which the children of Reuben and Gad" built" - 1. THAT AT THE TmE, AS COMPARED WITH THE TENTS AND BOOTHS 011' THE WIL• DERNESS, THEY SEEMED NO DOUBT TO BE IMPORTANT AND PERMANENT BETTLEME1'TS 1 DUT THEY PROVED TO BE VERY TEMPORARY. Even BO there is nothing fixed or abiding …
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the world's view that the place which is good for one's property must be good for oneself, seeing that a man's abundance is in the things he possesses. The thought of the cattle Bo filled the minds of the two tribes that they could give no weight whatever to any other consideration. How hardly shall they that have rich…
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the answer have been ? "We are ready to take the risk of that." And so he leaves unasked and undetermined the whole question of what Reuben and Gad's own interest might be. That came up again in due time, as it was bound to do (Josh. xxii.), But there was a question bearing on the welfare of Israel which could not b…
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not humour these people they will certainly act according to their desire, whether I consent or not." Some leaders and so-called skilful managers and tacticians would have humoured Reuben and Gad at such a crisis as this, But it was not for Moses to humour anybody, or trifle with men who were trifling with God, And he …
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knew, with difficult conditions, ever tending to incree.se in difficulty. Moses himself would not be with them across the Jordan, and when he had vanished from the scene, who else was to enforce with equal energy and authority the promise he had extorted? Moreover, the promise had been made on behalf of a heterogene…
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me.ny there a.re in the world whom we feel sure to be wrong I We cannot, try as we may, feel anything else; we cannot but believe them to be villa.ins at bee.rt, veneered and varnished up with a show of religion and goodness to impose on the simple- minded. But to give free utterance to our thoughts would be counted…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XXXIII. ally, "were burying (Septuagint, lS-a1rro11) those whom the Lord had smitten among [TINERARY OF TB:B WANDERINGS (vers. them, viz., all the first-born.'' The fa.et tha.t 1-49). Ver. 1.-These are the journeys. the Egyptians were so universally employed The Hebrew word 'l?.l;l~ is rendered…
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as if Rithmah were the station " in the from time to time in one place. Rissah is wilderness of Po.rem" from which the spies variously interpreted "heap of ruins," or went up, and to which they returned-a "dew ; " Shapher means "fair," or "splen- station subsequently known by the name of did;" Haradah, or Charadah, …
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Arabs. The nRme itself would seem to be ever, the march of the Israelites lay fu1·ther Jue to some peculiar rock formation-pro- to the ea.st, inasmuch e.s they scrupulously bably the serrated crest either of e. neigh- abstained from trespassiu~ upon Edom. bouring mountain or of e. half-submerg~d Ver. 44.-0both, , . …
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NOTE ON THE TWO LISTS OF ST ATIONB BETWEEN EGYPT AND THE JORDAN, There can be no question that the chief interest of the Itinerary here given is due to its literary character as a document containing elements at least of extreme and unquestioned antiquity. At the same time it is a matter of some importance to com- pa…
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It ia of course possible that more than one place was known as the " giant's back- bone ; " but, on the other hand, the fact that at Moseroth Israel was near Mount Hor, and that they made five marches thence to Ezion-geber, is quite in accordance with the site usually assigned to it. It must remain, therefore, an unset…
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HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-49.-.The journey home. We have here a brief summary of the stages by which Israel travelled onwards from Egypt to Canaan ; spiritually, there- fore, we have an epitome of the Church's progress, or of the progress of a soul, through this world to the world to come. Hence it follows that all the less…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS .AUTHORS. Vers. 1-49.-The journeyi'll{ls of tM lifraelues. Reading through thie record, which looks, on the first appearance of it, much like a page from a gazetteer, we are made to feel- I. How LI'ITLE WE SHOULD KNOW 01!' THE EXPERIENCES 01!' ISRAEL IN THEIR WAN- DERINGS IF WE HAD BEEN TOLD NO…
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concerning the character of God. From the human point of view the record is indeed a very barren one; but this only helps to show how when man becomes scarcely villfole, unless as n mere wanderer, the glory of God shines brilli1mtly as ever. 111. We have thus tried to imagine this pnBBage as being the sole surviving …
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(from ?P-0 ; cf. Isa. :mi. 16; x1ix. 16 family and the household,. was to i-eceive its with Ezek. iv. l ; :mii. U) on a. wall ; but special inheritanco by lot; no doubt iu such C\'en this belongod to a very different age. a way that the final settlement of the country would correspond with the blood relation• Their…
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ita including the trans-Jordanic territories. have recognised both place and name in a In the prophets the word reverts to its proper precipitous roe.d which ascends the northern (etymological) meaning, as the "flat country" cliffs towards the western end of the Wady along the Mediterranean coast (cf. lea. xi.x. Mur…
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the line drawn in these versos, it would d~red by tl1e...Soptuagint. A comparison appear to have held a course somewh&t to \\'Ith Judges m. 3 nnd other pMse.ges will the south of west for &bout hnlf its length, show that "l'bo Chamath" had II definite then to have made a southerly deflection to geographical menning as …
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reasone.bly pfoce the "entrance to He.math" would seem to be to picture an enlarged so often spoken of, and so esce.pe the neces- Canaan extending be)'.ond its utmost his- sity of imagining an e.rtificie.l e.nd imprac- torical limits. Even if it should be thought ~ice.ble frontier for the northern boundary that these p…
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HOMILETICS. Ch. :x:xxiii. 50-miv. 29.-.Tlic Holy Land. In this section we have, spiritually, the promised inheritance of the saints, the kingdom of heaven, with the conditions -::inder which it is to be received and enjoyed. No one can overlook the corre- spondence (which is fundamental and far-reaching) between the…
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Consider again, with respect to Canaan,- !. THAT ISRAEL WAS TO POSSESS IT, BECAUSE Goo HAD GIVEN IT TO THEM; IT WAS BIB, AND HE CHOSE TO DO so ; NO SUCH TITLE WAS EVER GRANTED TO A.NY PEOPLE. Even so we are to take possession (by patient well-doing) of the kingdom of heaven, not because it can be earned, but because G…
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of God hns the duty of posseesing the whole land, "the world" (1 Cor. iii. 22); but to do this they must "dispossess the inhabitnnts," i. e. they must make no compromise with the spirit of the men of the world. Worldliness is a spi;ru rather than a course of outward conduct, We must "use the world as not abusmg it." I…
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necessary for the att~ining of it, We must not leave unexpelled from our life or undestroyed from our circumstances anything that may imperil the inheritance. Walk mth no companion, engage in no business, cultivate no taste or recreation, if there be in them the slightest chance of peril to the inheritance. It is a. gl…
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C&nnanitea unexpelled, nnd the end will be the expulsion of Jara.el. "To him that knoweth to do good, &nd doeth it not, to him it ia sin" (James iv. 17). In the light of this threatening, how clearly it is seen that what made the Canaanitea ao offensive in the sight of God was their idolatry l For centuries they had be…
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thst we are working within the channels and limits that he would choose for our life. Social station makes no difference in this respect. The path of a pious king is just as ~trictly fixed as that of the humblest of his subjects. The farthest planet that circles round the sun has its pRth just as much mRrked out as …
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EXPOSITION. very obscure. Some have held that the CH.APTER XXXV. country for 1000 cubits beyond the walls was THE LEVITIOAL CITIES, AND CITIES 011' reserved for pasture (according to ver. 4), REFUGE, AND LAWS A.S TO HOMICIDE (vers. and for another 1000 cubits for fields and 1-34). Ver. 1.-A.nd the Lord spake. vineya…
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Levites numbered nearly 50,000 souls (see on better opportunity of se Lting forth tho true eh. xxri. 62), so that each Levitical city ideal of what Jewish hfo should be. would have an !f,Verage population of about V'!r: 11.-Ye shall appoint you cities to 1000 to start with. There seems no suffi• be 01 ties of refuge f…
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rested upon the family until blood had been eanctions of religion, and 110 modified them avenged by blood, until " satisfaction " had as to secure the maximum of practical good been done by the death of the manslayer. consistent with the social state and moral He who freed the family from this intolerable feelin~ of th…
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HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-34.-The dwelling of the faithful: the Redeemer: the 1anctit11 of life. There are ill this chapter three things closely connected historically, and therefore closely consecutive in the narrativeJ but distinct in their spiritual application. We have, therefore, separately to consicier-1. THE PROVISIO…
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hop~ is _that we have not ~!fully and deliberately preferred sin as such (Acts iii. 17; 1 Tim. 1. 13). 3. That it presupposed that the avenger was on, foot to take the life of the manslayer. Even so the gospel testifies by its very offers of mercy that tf1e Divine justice is surely gone forth with the edict of death…
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with Rev. vii. 17, &c.). And this change, whereby the Avenger will be wholly swallowed up in the Kinsman and Redeemer, seems to be symbolised by the death of the high priest (see above). III. The laws of manHlaughter here declared have rather a moral than a spiritual value. The one thing which they uphold as a princip…
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have had them located where they would have been within easy reach of the sanctuary? In the ideal arrangement sketched in Ezekiel's vision, the Levitical families are seen locatoo in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The circumstance that the law ordained an arrangement so different was meant, I cannot doubt, to suggest to…
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11liehed in the following way :-1. Certain citiea were made ,anct'll,<1,ry cities (Exod. xxi. 13). The avenger of blood might pursue the manelayer to the gate of the city of refuge; might kill him, if he could, before reaching the gate; bat at the gate 'he had to halt and sheathe hie sword. 2. Although the gate of the…
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u <:ondemned the murderer to death solemnly reajfirmed (ver. 30; compare with vers. 16-21 and Gen. ix. 6). To be sure, the extreme penalty ought not to be executed' without extreme circumspection. The unsupported testimony of one witness is not to be held sufficient to sustain a charge of murder. Nevertheless, if there…
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II. AK EDUCATION BY MEANS 011' THE CUSTOMS 011' THE PAST. God tolerated the old cnstom, but· riot in its entirety. He modified it, and thus carried on the education of the nation. On the one hand, the cities of refuge were not like the asJJla of the Greeks and Romane, for wilful murderers were led forth from them to ju…
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mingled glory and shame of the nation'u career, and the lessons to be learnt from considering the men who had been conspicuous in that career (2 Chron. ::axv. 8). But these opportunities of instruction only came because God had sufficiently dis- tributed the instructors throughout the land. If a house is to be fully …
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to be regarded as a family duty, because no o:te else would concern himself with it. And in the course of time what had begun in necessity ended in a conventional sense of honour, and of the obligations of kinship, which there was no way of escaping. Private revenge, whatever its abuses, whatever the dark instigations …
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aocount, sufficient cause will appear for the frequency with which God had recourse- to violent death in the carrying out of his punitive purposes. Then, with respect to- murder, it wa.s the feeling of the time that a murderer must not be suffered to live, Putting the murderer to death was the only effectual way in …
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fidently assamed that the Machirites, who land mnst then determine, the Jnbile wauld had received an extensive and remote terri- seem to effect the traDllfer of which it com. tory beyond Jordan, had nothing whatever pelled the recognition. It is, however, none to do with this application. It was the the less atrange…
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Ver. 13.-The commandments. ri\'ll!ptl, it may include the laws or cha. :aviii.-x:n:. This is one of the words which recur so con- For a simil&r reason we cannot say that the tinue.Uy in Deuteronomy and in Ps. cxiL It use of this concluding formula excludes the is found four times in eh. xv., a.nd in a few possibilit…
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TIIIDd Olli.PTER L - PAOR Tffnta CHAPTER V. ••o• The Numbering of-God's People 2 The Necessity of putting away Sin 83 The Numbering of the People 2 The Expulsion and Restoration of the God commands a Cerums ... 4 Unclean ... 33 The Men of Renown who Dl.lUlaged the The Public Exclusion of the Unclean 35 Census…
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-~i'TER XV. CH.APTER .iJX. THBll& P~O■ TBJC1f~ PAO~ .Qrdine.nces of Sacrifire 183 The Remedy of Death .,. 24Z Presumptuous Sins e.n,1 Sins of lgnor• Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be e.nce ... 185 Clean ... 246 The Impartialit, of God · 186 Defilement by Contact with the Dead 247 Presumptuous Sins 186 The Water…
1,052 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.