The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 434

the answer have been ? "We are ready to take the risk of that." And so he leaves unasked and undetermined the whole question of what Reuben and Gad's own interest might be. That came up again in due time, as it was bound to do (Josh. xxii.), But there was a question bearing on the welfare of Israel which could not be post- pone~, and Moses sets it before the two tribes in a very direct way, neither repress- ing_ h1s_just indignation nor softening his lang·uag·e. If men persist in taking a course which 1s hurtful to the real welfare of others, they must be whipped out of it by the readiest available means. There are only too many in the world who will do anything they can get others submissively to tolerate. Seemingly having no conscience of their own to speak of, they are dependent on the indignant, unsparing remonstrancee of others. These remonstrances have to supply the place of conscience as best they can. II. HE POINTS OUT A PROBABLE PERIL TO THE NATION. When an army is ad- vancing to the attack, it is a serious thing if a sixth part of the whole shows signs of desertion and of want of interest in the desired victory. From patriots Reuben and Gad had sunk all at once into mere mercenaries. They had gone with the nation only as long as it seemed their interest to go. They could, without the slightest compunction, leave a great gap in the order of the camp round the tabernacle. They did not stop to consider how their desertion would affect the arrangements of the whole camp. Lukewarm, unspiritual, and self-indulgent Christians-if the name may be allowed where such qualities prevail-little think of the continual hindrances and discouragements they bring to struggling brethren. The Christian life is hard enough when there is the outside world to contend with, but how peculiar and how difficult to surmount are the perils that come from false brethren I Note how Moses bases his fear of this peril on an actual experience. If the words of the ten craven-hearted spies drove the whole of Israel into rebellion, and doomed a whole generation to die in the wilderness, then how great a danger was to be feared from the desertion of tw·o whole tribes I III. HE PLAINLY FIXES THE RISK OF THIS PERIL AND THE RESPONSIBILITY Fon rr uroN RE!raEN AND GAD. It was not open to them to say, "All these gloomy chances that you foreshadow depend on tlrn other tribes. They need not be discouraged. Canaan is just as attractive now as it was before. Our staying here can really make no difference." It is both cowardly and unavailing to try and escape responsibility by insisting on the persona! responsibility of others. It is of no use to say that we do not wish others to look on us as leaders. We know that men will do it whether we wish it or not, and the very fact of this knowledge fixes on us a responsibility which we cannot escape. God makes use of this very disposition to follow which is found in human nature for his own gracious purposes. Jesus says, "Follow me." And those who follow him find that some at least become followers of them. If the way in which we are going is a way into which others may be drawn to their ruin, then the way is at once condemned. No amount of individual prosperity, pleasure, and ease can compensate the destruction of others who have perished in a path which they ne-ver would have entered but for us. Offences must needs come, but the caution and the appeal remain: "Woe be to him through whom the offence comes," Better for every beast in the herds to perish in Jordan than for the obscurest in all Israel to be prevented from getting into Canaan.-Y. Vere. 16-32.-Thefinal arrangement. I. RE!raEN AND GAD DO NOT RESENT THE LANGUAGE OF MosEB. This is all the more noticeable because the language is so strong and humiliating. They seem to admit that his reproaches, his warnings, and his predictions had been only too clearly justified by their conduct. Learn from this that when there is occasion to express righteous anger, one must not begin to take counsel with the shallow maxims of worldly prudence. There is need in the service of God for great common sense, for far more of it than usually finds exercise, but there is no common sense where courage, straightforwardness, and the manly asser- tion of all Christian principles are absent. It is a very foolish thing to use strong language just by way of liberating the effervescence of the soul. But when strong language is deserved and the occasion demands the utterance of it, then do not spare. Moses mill'l,t have said to himself, "This is a very ticklish state of pffeirs; if I do en. XXXII. 1-42.] THE DOOK OF NUMBERS. 423