The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 282

earnestly to consider the sin by which they fell I It is another proof of the hold which sin has on our nature, and of the need that we should walk warily, and look for snares 11.t every step. Consider- I. How THE SIN WAS COMMITTED. 1. It was a sin of iwJ;f,ent:inn,. H there was anything which Moses 11.nd Aaron should have le11rned after forty years of service, it was that God's commandments required constant attention and exact obedience. They had a long experience of One who gave details as well as general instructions. Moreover, it was not the first time Moses had been charged to bring water from the rock. At Rephidim God said to him, "Thou ehalt smite the rock " (Exod. xvii. 6). At Kadeeh he says, "Speak to the rock." The very difference should have been enough to bring the command distinctly before him. Notice then what serious results simple inattention may bring; we know that thousands of lives have been lost by it. Furthermore, how many have failed in the attainment of salvation and spiritual blessedness through nothing more than lack of attention I They have not run greedily in 'the way of sin, but simply gone through a decent, reputable life, neglecting the way of salvation. In the things of God attention is required as a regular habit, not only that we may escape loss, but secure real advantage. '!'.he more attention there is, the more advantage there will be. 2. It was the inattentio1~ of men whose very; experience had made them habitually careful. Whatever Moses and Aaron may have been by nature, they had been trained to faithfulness in little things. It has not perhaps been sufficiently noticed how diligent and exact Moses must have been in his apprehension of all that God revealed to him. When we think how easy misunderstandings are, how easy it is to get wrong impressions anll be confused among details, then we feel how very carefully Moses must have listened. Aaron also in his priestly service was a man of detail. 3. Hence there must have been some e:ctraordinary di,sturbing cause to throw them out of their usual careful- flt88, What this was we can h11rdly make out with certainty, In the murmuring and repining of the people there was nothing new either as to spirit or language. Moses had listened to the same sort of attack before, 11.nd through it all kept his meekness and feeling of personal unworthiness. But as the last straw breaks the camel's b11ck, so even the patience of Moses became nt last exhausted. The weight of years and cares united were telling on him. He was now Moses the aged, and though we are assured that when he died his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, yet we must not so take these words as to free him from every infirmity of age. It was a very hard thing for n man after forty years of service, through all which he hnd kept the consciousness of a heart true to God 11.nd to Israel, to have the people still meet him with the old ingratitude and the old slanders. Thus it was that he went into the presence of God with a mind preoccupied, thinking n great deal more about the rebellious spirit of the people than about the glory of his Master. There is no safety but in keeping God first in our thouglits. We must be like the house founded on the rock, never disconnected from it. The nature of the found11- tion may seem to matter little in calm weather, but the foundation and our connec- tion with it nre everything when the tempest comes. Let n believer wear the whole armour of God, and he is invincible, but let him lny it aside for a single moment, nnd the waiting, watching enemy mny inflict a painful, serious, humiliating wound, even if it be not 11 mortal one. II. IN WTTAT THE SIN CONSISTED. 1. In a want of faitlt. "Because ye believed me not." God says nothing about inattention or irrit11tion, but goes at once to the root of the matter. Moses had failed in faith; not altogether, of course, for the very fact that he took the rod nnd 11.ppronched the rock shows some faith nnd some spirit of obedience; but still faith must h11ve been lacking, nnd to n very serious extent. It hns been suggested th11t, seeing the spirit of the people, Moses wns after nil in doubt whether another long term of wanderings mi~ht not be in store for them. The one clear thing is that God ascribes the sin with its serious consequences to un- belief. Outwardly nothing appears but inattention and irritation; inwardly there is an unbelieving heart. Perhaps even Moses himself mny have been startled to he11r such & charge, and utterly unconscious th11t his faith was seriously imperilled. Had he been charged with inattention, irritation, want of strict obedience, these were only toe plain; but want of faith I Nothing but the clear word of God could make that 268 THE BOOR: OF NUMBERS. [OH. ll'.J:.1-29.