The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 178

avenged, to discourage the waverin~, and to provide those that are disaffected with arguments and reasons against a religious life. 9. That Jofluea and Caleb li~ on, s!farin,g tM present _puni,J,,ment, but not desflroyd by it, b&:att.se cheered with certain hOJJe· Even so in an evil age, amidst an unspiritnal people, the faithful few must h,·e sadly, but they live. The Lord knoweth them that are hie, and they shall stand in their lot at the end of days (Jer. :xlv. _5; D~n. xii. 13; Mai. iii. 16, 17; 2 Tim. ii. 1~). And note, that the spies were S_Eec1ally directed to see "whether there be wood "m the holy land, or not; i. e. trees (Septu~t, &v~pa), which did not grow in the wilderness. It is especially told us t~at m the holy cit~ there grows the tree of }_ife (Rev. ii. 7)--yea, many trees of life, such as we vamly seek here (Ezek. :xlvn. 12; Rev. xxii. 2). And note again, that in the bunch of grapes borne upon a sta:ff the ancient com- mentators saw an image of Christ crucified, " Christus est botros qui pependit in ligno '' (' St. Aug. c. Faust.,' xii. 42). The two that bear are the two peoples, Jew and Gentile ; they who go before see not what they carry ; they who come after carry the same, and see what they carry. IV. CoNSIDER AGAIN, IN RESPECT TO THE LAST FRUITLESS APPEAL OF JOSHUA AND CALEB (eh. xiT. 6-9), that they urged very truly- 1. Tlwt the land wcu; e:ueedin,g good. Even so is the land set before us, whether it be the life of holiness and devotion here, or the life of perfection beyond ; it floweth with milk and honey, because all that is most wholesome and pleasant is to be had freely without money and without price. 2. That the Lord to<YUld bri,n,g them in, if he deli.ghted in them-end there could be no doubt of that, after whnt he had done. Even so, if the Lord delight in us, as he has said and proved abundantly, he can surely give us victory and give us possessions, for hie Spirit is able to sustain OW" weakness, and all things are his (Rom. viii. 26, 31, 37; 1 Cor. iii 21, 22). . 3. Tluzt the one thing which C-OUld harm them was rebellion. Even so the only thing which a Christian has to fear, the only thing which can keep him far from rest, out of heaven, is disaffection towards God. If he does not believe God's word ; if he shrinks from really putting it to the test ; if he will not in an actual case g~ forth in faith of hie promised aid to overcome a temptation, to live down an evil habit, to practise a rceognised virtue, then he sine through unbelief, and forfeits grace (Luke xii. 5 ; Heb. iv. 2; x. 23-26, 35, 36; Rev. ii. 5, 16 ; iii. 16). 4. That their foes were not in fact formidable, but rather an advantage, as pro- viding them with sustenance. Even so there is nothing in temptation or in trial, apart from unfaithfulness in us, whieh need seriously stand in our way. Our enemies, natural or supernatural, are powerless against him in us. And when met as they should be, they are our greatest helps to holiness and heaven, for neither can be attained except by "overcoming." No one does so much for us as he who per- secutes us, for he makes ours the eighth and highest beatitude, which we cannot have otherwise. No one helps us so fast to heaven as the devil himself, resisted, withstood, trampled down (Matt. v. 11, 12; Rom. viii. 28 ; 1 Pet. i. 7; iv. 13 ; James i. 2-4, 12). 5. That fear was unreasonahle, since the Lord was with tliem, viz., in hie ark and cloudy pillar. Even so olll" watchword is "Emmanuel," the Lord with us in the incarnation of the eternal Son. nnd in his perpetual presence with all and each of us, and in his assurance of our Father's love, and in his entire adoption of our interests as hi.ii own (Matt. xxviii. 20, b.; Luke xii. 32; John xiv. 1, 2; Heb. xiii. 6; Rev. vi. 2). V. CONSIDER AGAIN, WITH RESPECT TO TBE INTERCESSION OF MOSES AND THE ANSWER OF Goo- 1. That the nn of the per1ple and the wrath they incurred, br{}1/,flht QV,t tM noblest trait in Mosei charact,er. In hie perfect unselfishness, and in his ardour of interces- sion, he reached the true ideal of a mediator. Even so the fall and condemnation of the hwnan race were the conditions (and necessary conditions, as far as we ea~ se~) of the manifestation of redeeming love and power in Christ. And as Israel IS (in the Ion~ rwi) more ennobled by the heroism of Moses than it is disgraced by t~e cowardice o! the people, so did humanity rise more in the righteousness of Clmst than it fell in the vileness of Adam and the rest (Rom. v. 16, 17, 20). CHI, XIII,, XIV,] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS, 159