The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 443

HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-49.-.The journey home. We have here a brief summary of the stages by which Israel travelled onwards from Egypt to Canaan ; spiritually, there- fore, we have an epitome of the Church's progress, or of the progress of a soul, through this world to the world to come. Hence it follows that all the lessons, en- couragements, and warnings which belong to these forty years weave themselves about this Itinerary, which might to the careless eye seem a bare list of names. "Per has (mansiones) currit verus Hebraius, qui de terr4 transire festinat ad ccelum,'' says Jerome. And in this connection it can hardly be an accident that as there are forty-two stations in this list, so there are forty-two generations in the first Gospel from Abraham (the starting-point of the faithful) to Christ (in whom they find rest). And, again, it may be more than a coincidence that the woman in the Apocalypse who represents the Church militant (Rev. xii.) was in the wilderness forty-two months. In all three cases (as certainly in the last) it is likely that the number forty- two was designedly chosen because it is 12 X 3½, and 3½, or the half of 7, is the number which expresses trial, probation, and imperfection. Consider, therefore- I. THAT THIS ITINERARY WAS WRITTEN II BY THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD," NO DOUllT AS A MEMORIAL UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OF THEIR TRIALS AND OF HIS FAITHFULNESS. Even so it is the will of God that every Church and every soul should keep in memory the stages of its own spiritual progress, for these are full of holy memories and needful lessons, all being eloquent of our own insufficiency and of his goodness. No one, being in plenty and at rest, should ever forget the strait- ness and the trial through which the good hand of God hath led him. II. THAT THE TWO ENDS OF THIS ITINERARY ARE PLAINLY FIXED, THE ONE IN THJI GLORIOUS DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT II AFTER THE PASSOVER," THE OTHER ON THE VERGE OF JORDAN IN FULL VIEW OF CANAAN. Even so all spiritual life histories begin with the redemption from bondage through the blood of the Lamb, and end with the sure hope of immortality on the verge of the river of death. Ill. THAT THE INTERMEDIATE STAGES ARE ·ro A GREAT EXTENT UNCERTAIN, SOME QUITE UNKNOWN, AND OTHERS MATTER OF DISPUTE, Even so, while we know whence all Christian progress leads men at the first, and whither it brings men at the last, yet the intermediate course (sometimes a very long one) is for the most part strangely indiscernible, its points of contact with the outer world having little meaning or interest save for the travellers themselves. Just as maps help us little to follow the forty-two stages, so do religious theories give us small assistance in tracing the actual course of a soul through the trials and perplexities of real life. IV. THAT WITH EXCEP'l'ION OF THE BEGINNING AND THE END 1 THE ONLY FIXED POINTS IN 'fHE ITINERARY ARE SINAI, KADESH, AND Hon-WHERE THE LAW WAS GIVEN, WHERE PROGRESS WAS RESUMED AFTER LONG DRIFTING TO AND FRO, WHERE AARON DIED. Even so there are in the history of most souls these three conspicuous epochs to be noted : (1) where the obligation to obey the higher law of God's will came upon them; (2) where after much drawing back and consequent failure a new call to advance was heard; (3) where the old outward associations, upon which they had all along leaned, failed them, and yet left them none the weaker. V. THAT THE FEW NOTES OF EVENTS APPENDED TO CERTAIN NAMES OF PLACES (EL1ilf 1 REPHIDIM, Hon) SEEM TO BE SELECTED ARBITRARILY. Some other places certainly hn<l, and many others probably had, more interesting associations for the Israelites. Even so it is not only or chiefly those passoges which attract attention and secure comment in the history of a Church or of e. soul which e.re of deep interest and profound importance to itself; names e.nd facts which he.ve no associations for others may for it be full of the deepest meaning. And note that all the stations named in this list have their own significe.tion in the Hebrew, but the spiritual teaching founded on such signifi.oe.tion is too arbitrary cmd fanciful to be seriously dee.It with.  THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. [oH. xxxm. 1--49,