The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 279

bliglited through one sin of haste or disobedience in word or act. The fovour ot God brings with it great privileges, but imposes on us grave responsibilities (cf. Amos iii. 2; Luke xii. 47; 1 Pet. iv. 17). What need for the confession and the prayer, Ps. :rix. 12-141-P. Ver. 28.-The ikatli, of ./.aron,:-" Mercy and juilgment." This chapter begins ~th thE: death of Miriam 11nd ends with Aaron's decease. No chapter of any length rn the. history e:'en of .a godly family without death in it. In every believer's death there 1s a blendmg of 3udgment and mercy. In this case we see- I. JrrDGMENT •. A~ron's death was-:-1. A chastisement (ver. 24; Rom. v. 12; viii. 10). 2. A deprivation (ver. 26). His garments were taken off because his priest• hood was taken away. So with the most sacred and honourable office of the Christian (Heb. vii. 23 ; 2 Pet. i. 13-15). 8. A severance. The aged Moses loses the last companion of his early days. 4. A grief to many (ver. 29). IL MERCY; indica.ted in Aaron's death by such facts as these. It was, 1. A calm departure, not a sudden judgment. He was not" cut off from," but" gathered unto, his people." 2. A release from the toils of life in the wilderness and the contra- diction of sinners. 8. A gentle dismission from the responsibilities of office. 4. A transference of his duties and honours to a beloved son. He saw the robes and the office of the priesthood intrusted to Elea.zar. 5. A promotion to the higher service of a sinless world; from the mount of communion to the heavenly Mount Zion.-P. Ver. 1.-The abidin,g in Kade.sh and the ikath of Miriam. 1. The a'fnding in Kadeik. Thi'! was a return to the district occupied at the time when God pronounced the doom of wandering for forty years on the people (eh. xiii. 26). We know also that the return took place as this long period was drawing to a close. There had been, so to speak, a profitless and melancholy wandering in a circle. We have but little information concerning this period, and what we have seems to have been given for the purpose of showing now rigorously God carried out the sentence. Ch. x:x:xiii. tells us of the various halting-places, as if to impress U.I! with the fact that Israel bad not been allowed to go out of the wilderness. We are told of the rebellion of Korab and the giving of certain laws, but there is nothing to indicate progress. Probably, as has been eug~ested, there was more or less of dispersion during the forty years. God was waiting for an obstacle to be taken out of the way. In the Scriptures we do not find anything recorded unless as it bears on the advancem,int of the kingdom of God. Much of what the world calls history is after all mere trifling, and it is our wisdom and profit to notice not only what God has revealed, but also what he has concealed. This generation of the Israelites was thus a type of the m'\Ily profitless lives that are lived in every generation. After a period of wandering and toil they come back to where they !!tarted from. There is nothing to show for all the years of weary work. Sadder still, there are many who come to be looked on as obstacles; their life stands in the way of human improvement and advance, and little or nothing can be done till they go. The return to Kadesh was like some great sign that a long and rigorous winter is drawing to its close. 2. The deatlt of Miriam. There is a certain fitness in following up the regulations of eh. xix. with a record of death and burial. Death had dogged these Israelites all through their wanderings. There was perhaps no halting-place but what might have had this sentence joined with it: "Such a one died there and was buried ther<1." Why then is the death of Miriam singled out for special mention? In the firat place, i;he was a. person of distinction by her office as prophetess, particularly as she was not only a prophetess, but sister to the two chief men in Israel. Then, being so, it is very noticeable that none of the three, so eminent in their life, were allowed to enter the promised land. There is mystery in their calling, mystery in the services they are called to render, and mystery in the seeming thwarting of all their hopes. One feels the hand of God is in all this. Man proposes, and reckons with something like certainty, but God disposes in a. very ?ifferent fashion. ~riam had sinned a great sin (eh. xii.), but was it not a long while a.go? She has lived on through all these wanderings, having seen many younger than herself falling on every hand.- May she not then hope to live a little longer, and see the promised land before ehe dies? Perhaps 9uch thoughte were in tlie aged woman's (JIJ, X::,:, 1-29.J 'THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 263