The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 160

with Mary, the mother of Jesus: the one all chafed and swelling within, who thinks the people should attend her as much as her brother; the other having the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, humbly submissive to Go.briel's word nothing doubting yet prostrate in amazement that she should have been chosen' as the mother of ?l!es~iah,. sending forth ~er Magnijicat. like a lark soaring from its humble bed, smging its song, and stra1ghtway returnmg to the earth o.gain. Or contrast her with Paul, saying, because he truly felt, that he was less than the least of all so.ints an earthen vessel, the chief of sinners. Amid our gTeatest privileges we o.re still in'the greatest danger if without a sense, habitually cherished, of our natural unworthiness. The more God sees fit to make of us, the more we should wonder that he is able to make so much out of so little.-Y. Ver. 3.-.A d-istinguished e:i:ample of meekness. This quality of meekness, for which Moses is here so much praised, is not without its si~s earlier in the narrative of his connection with the Israelites; and as we look ho.ck m the light of this express declaration, the quality is very easily seen. Such a declaration was evidently needed here, and we may trace it.a insertion by some hand soon after as much to the control of ~spiration ~ we trace_ tpe original _narrative. The me.ekness of l~oses is not only a foil to the pnde of Mmam, but evidently had somethmg to do with exciting her pride. She would not have gone so far with a different sort of man. She )mew intuitively how far she could go with him, and that it was a very long way indeed. Therefore, to bring out all the significance of the occasion, it was needful to make special mention of the meekness of Moses. Notice the emphatw wag in, which it is set f ortk. " Meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." We talk of Moses as the meekest of men and Solomon as the wisest of men to indicate that the one was very meek indeed and the other very wise. Let us look then in the life ll.Dd character of Moses to see how that eminent virtue was shown which ought also to be in all of us. I. The meekness included A CONSCIOUSNESS 011' NATUBAL UNFITNESS ll'OB THE WORK To WHICH Gon ll.AJJ CALLED HIM. A consciousness we may well believe to have been profound, abiding, and often times oppressive. God meant it to be so. We know not what Moses was physically. He was a goodly child (E:xod. ii. 2), but a mother's partiality may have had something to do with this judgment. In after years that may have been true of Moses which Paul pathetically observes was the opinion of some concerning himself-that in bodily presence he was weak and in speech contemptible. It ruay have been a wonder to many, as well as to himself, that God had chosen him. In that memorable interview with God at Horeb (Exod. iii.), the first word of Moses is, " Here am I ; " but the second, "Who am I, . • . . . that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? " There was no jumping at eminence, no vainglorioua gTasping at the cha.nee of fame. He had to be constrained along the path of God's appointment, not because of a disobedient spirit, but because of a low estimate of himself. He abounded in patriotism and sympathy for bis oppressed brethren, but the work of deliverance seemed one for stronger hands than his. Perhaps there is nothiDg in the natural ma.n more precious in the sight of God for the possibilities that come out of it than this consciousness of weakness. The work to be done is so great, and the man who is called to do it, even when he has stretched himself to his fullest extent, looks so small. JL THIS SENSE 011' WEAKNESS WOULD APPEAR IN ALL HIS lNTEBCOUBSE WITH HEN, He was exposed continually to the risk of insult and reproach. The people vented their spleen and carnal irritation upon him, yet be did not make their words a matter of perso!lal insult, as s?me leaders would undoubtedly have don~. He f~lt only too keenly hl8 own insufficiency, and how far short he fell of the h1gh requirements of God. Although the particular hard things which men said about him might not be just1 yet he felt that many hard things might justly be said, and so there was no inclination to fume and fret and stand upon bis dignity when fault-finders_ began to speak. Even when 'Miriam joins the traducing herd he seems to bear it m silence. The dying Cmsar said," Et tu, Brute;" but Moses, in this hour of his loneliness, when even his kindred forsake him, does not say, "And thou, Mirio.m." Each succeeding revelation of God no.de him humbler in hie own spirit, and seemed to increase tb& OB. XI:.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 141