The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 176

~l1ey forfeit the rest prepared for them, nnd doom themselves to n frnitless wandering lil dr:r places. . 9. Th~ tM firs~ fruit of tM!, refusal to advanc8 tM&. mourning, tlte second •murmuring, the third flat rebellwn. Even eo when we, hem~ called, ehrink from going on unto_ perfe<:_tion, the first consequence is that unhappmees which is both a symptom of disaffection to God and a part of it; the second is a complaining spirit as though we had been ill-treated, and a readiness to put the blame on others; pe:h~ps our best "friends; the third is a desperat~ intention t? throw off the yoke of rchg1on altogether, and to return to the old licence of sin from which we had escaped. 10. Thal, tke proposal to return to .Egvpt u,as as infeasible as it wa.9 wiilced. Had it been possible to get there, it is certain that even the poor luxuries of their former slavery would never have been given back to them. Even so the faint.hearted and faithlells Christian can yet never be as the heathen, or even as the ungodly, again: for one thing, he knows enough of true happiness and freedom to find the yoke of open sin intolerable; for another, the pleasures of sin are departed for him: he may sin, and recklessly, but it will not have the zest it once had, when it was in a llla.nner natural to him. The ungodly do enjoy the plellSures of sin, such as they are ; the half.converted who draw back are of all men most miserable: they will not have Canaan, and they cannot have Egypt, and there is nothing for them but the wilderness (cf. Heh. :x. 38, 39, in the true version). 11. Thal, the punishment which God inflicted upon tke rebels 'IIJ(U perpet'lWl e:.cile j1·om tlte land which they would not enter. Thus he simply took them at their own word (eh.xiv. 28); for though they had imagined the alternative of return to Egypt, that WM impossible. Even so the sentence which Christ passes upon them that will not cvme to him is simply," Depart from me" (Matt. :xxv. 41). If men will not labour to t:nter into rest (Heh. iv. 11), there is no alternative before them but perpetual 'llnrest, lasting as long as they last ; and this is itself "the fire prepared for the devil and his angels," for this is the natural state of evil spirits apart from artificial and temporary disguises (Matt. xii. 43; cf. Isa. lvii. 20, 21). And note that the avvcpo• r61roi and the lu,a2ra11e1,, of Matt. xii. 43 exactly correspond to the wilderness of Paran on the one hand, and to Canaan on the other ( cf. Matt. xi. 29). And note again, ,l'ith re~ard to the punishment inflicted-I. That all who were numbered (and none other) were counted worthy of punishment, as havin,r been enrolled for the military service of the Lord, but having mutinied. So will our sentence (i.f we incur it) be one passed not on aliens, or enemies, but on servants who have betrayed their trust, on soldiers who have disobeyed their orders and turned their backs upon their Captain (1 Cor. vii. 22; Col. iii. 24; 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4). 2. That only the adult generation, who were strong and able, were excluded; their little ones, whom they counted so helpless, and of whom they said they would be a prey, inherited the land. Even so in the kingdom of hie grace the wise and prudent are left out, and the proud are scattered in the imagination of their hearts, whilst unto babes mysteries are revealed (cf. Matt. xviii. 3; xix. 14 i 1 Cor. i. 26-28; 2 Cor. xii 10). 3. That the years of exile were reckoned in exact accordance with the days of i;earcLing. So must there be a perfect correspondence between ein and its punieh- roent-a correspondence which is not merely ~m the surfa~e (as in their caee), b?t lies deep down m the nature of man, eo that em works out 1!!! own revenges both m kind and in measure (cf. Luke :xii. 47). II. CONSIDER AGAlN, IN RESPECT 0"11 THE VAIN ATTEMPT TO CONQUER CANAAN FOR TliEMSEL VES- 1. That tJie propl_e added to their /<Yrml)?' sin an opposite sin-deg;airing first, and presuming after. EYen so do many think to atone for the unbehef and sloth and disobedience of the past by a presumptuous relie.nce upon their own strength of character and of will for the future. So when one is compelled to e.cknowledge hie irreligion and sin, ho sets up to mend bis life himself, saying,"/ will," and"/ ha!e made up my mind," and "I am determined " being governed as much by eelf-w11l in running the way of God's commandment~ as before in refusing to run. 2. they T/UJJ, to jmtify sought attempt a hasty tlu>ir b g a c k M w l e i l g m e n t o f t h e i l  -OHS. Xlll, 1 XIV.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 157