The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 346

and true God finds germs of faithfulness and truth in man, there he will abide and never depart. 3. There i,s strength for all r~ired servi~ and toil. "He bath as it were the strength of the unicorn ( or buffalo). " Much increase is by the strength of the ox" (Prov. xiv. 4), but an animal stronger even than the ordinary ox is needed to set forth the extent of Israel's advantages. We may take it that the figure here is intended to set forth strength pure and simple. Isrnel will have power to do what- ever the course of events may bring to be done. It is strong to do Gocfa work as long as it is left to the peaceful pursuit of that work, and it is also strong to make a complete tUjence whenever it may be attacked. "Rouse Israel by your attacks and the force that has hitherto been used for internal progress will become a wall against you; and not only so, but you may be swept away in the rush of the roused and maddened unicorn." There is thus a warning to Balak not to provoke. It is when the Church has been provoked by persecution thnt her true strength has been shown to the world. What a mockery of this world's boasted resources, when all its per- suasions, cajoleries, threats, and torments have failed to shake the faith of humble belie,·e~ I It can burn, but it cannot convert. It is marvellous, the strength, energy, and pa?ence .":hich God has ~est~wed on some of his servants. Paul toiling on among mfirm1ties and persecutions 1s a proverb ; but, to come nearer home consider John Wesley, hardly ever out of the saddle except when he was in the pulpit, amply furnished for all the weariness of travel and the work of incessant preaching till long past his eightieth year ; and in matters of defence so wonderfully strengthened with the strength of the unicorn that he passed unharmed tl1rough all physical perils and social opposition. It is one of the most remarkable of all his remarkable experiences that be could say in his seventy-fourth year, "I have travelled all roads by day and by night these forty years, and never was interrupted yet. 11 4. God gives hi,s people certain, autlwruative, regular knowledge as to hu wilt and favour. He does not leave them to auguries and divination. These things indeed were not only UBeless, but forbidden (Levit. xix. 26). Whatever he has to say he says through appointed and recognised channels, and confirms and illustrates it by suitable ac1:8. There was place and need for lawgivers, prophets, and priests in Israel, but no room for men like Balaam, augurs, magicians, and priestcraft in general. Enchantments and divination had been the mainstay of Balak's hope, and though Balaam's experience may have prevented him from trusting so fully in them, he nevertheless considered them a very important element in propitiating Jehovah. Man's ways of reaching God are all vanuy. God himself has to come down and lay a way very clearly marked and strictly prescribed. In that way, and in that alone, there is certainty and sufficiency of knowledge, safety, and blessedness of life. "The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide 11 (Ps. xxxvii. 31). IIJ. THE PROPHECY CLOSES BY INDICATING HOW THERE WILL DE IN lsRAEL THE SPIRIT OF DESTRUCTION AND TBE STRENGTH TO DEBTBOY. Israel has not only the strength of the buffalo, but the spirit and propensities of the lion. This is the first intimation of threatening. The prophecy closes with, as it were, a growl and menace from the lion of the tribe of Judah. Uf to this time God has told Balak to go round about Zion and tell the towers thereo , and mark well her bulwarks (Ps. xlviii. 12, 13), that he might see how God's ideal people are invulnerable to all enemies. But now the defensive is suddenly turned into the offensive. Israel is a lion. We know from the frequent references to the lion in the Old Testament that this figure must have been a very impressive one to Balak. In Isaiah's prophecy concerning Moab we find these words: "I will bring lions upon him that escapeth of Moab" (Isa. xv. 9). The roar, the spring, the resistless attack, the sudden and complete collapse of the victim, all rise to our minds the moment this majestic animal ie mentioned. The idea of defence scarcely enters into our minds in connection with the lion. His resources CJ.re those of attack. What shall Balak do if he has to meet a foe whose strength is that of the unicorn, and whose ardour is that of the lion? The figure, remember, is suit.able to the occasion. There is a time to compare the J'eople of God to the sheep whom the shepherd leads out and in, and gathers withm the protecting fold, bu* there is also a time to compare them to the restless lion, seeking for his prey, and no, lying down till he drinks its blood. The Church of Christ is a tUStroying inatitution, and this part of its work must not be concealed e.nd softened down to suit the preju• ea. xxn. 41-xxiv.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 333