Vers. 19-33.-The unbel.ief in sending and in hearkening to the spies. Moses reminds his andience of the conduct of their fathers nt Kadcsh-barnea, when exhorted to go up and possess the land. Duty was clear. They had been brought up out of Egypt for the very purpose of entering into and possessing the land of Canaan. But instead of courageously following the path of duty, they resolved to send over spies. 'l'he result was an e,·il report and an evil resolution on the people's part not to attempt im·asion. 'l'he bitter end was death in the wilderness and exclusion from the land of promi~e. I. Gou OFFERED CANAAN TO HIS PEOPLE AS A SUITABLE lNHEllITAN0E. It wns the promise of this land which led to the exodus. 'l'he sojourn at Horeb was to orcranize the nation and give it laws. All was read{' for an entrance into the land. It; suit- ability "·as guaranteed in the Divine promise; and if the people had been willing to walk by faith, then the inYasion would have been immediate and successful. (On the suitability of the land, cf. Moorhouse's 'Hulsea.n Lectures,' the last sermon in the volume, on ' The Land and the People.' In Kinglake's ' Invasion of the Crimea,' we have a similar instance in the allies not taking Scbastopol by assault immediately after Almn.) II. THE SUGGESTION ABOUT SPIES WAS REALLY A RESOLVE TO WALK DY SIGHT AND :KOT DY FAITH. Moses at first approved of it, although it never came from him. He thought that anything the spies saw would only confirm them in the resolution to invade the land. But in principle it was Ull belief in God. It was virtually resolving not to follow his advice unless it seemed the best. It was putting clear duty to the trial of prudence. It was a resol vc to V.'alk by appearances and not by faith. And this is the universal tendency of the human heart. Prudence often conflicts with faith and binders wholesome action. Prudence has no voice in the matter after God bas spoken. He may lead us through over-prudence, in absence of express commandment; but when the command is clear, prudence should hide its head and allow fuitl, to obey. III. IT WAS STILL WORSE TO HEARKEN TO THE SPIES WHOSE COUNSEL CONFLIOTEO \TITH THE COMMAND OF GoD. Having embarked on prudential considerations, they must needs follow them out to their unbelieving end. The spies returned, and could not but acknowledge that the land was good. From Eshcol they carried on a staff a bunch of grapes sufficient of itself to vindicate the Divine choice of the land. "But the inhabitants," said ten of the spies, "are gigantic, and the cities walled up to hearnn; and there is no use in thinking of successfully invading it." In vain did Caleb and Joshua counsel courage instead of cowardice, faith instead of fear. The people resolved to take counsel of their fears and unbelief. They would not enter tba land of promise. So is it often in the lives of men. God offers salvation and a good land to all who will believe upon him. But men fear the giants and their castles. 'l'hey imagine that the difficulties of the life of faith are beyond their powers, and so shirk them. But when God points out a path of difficulty, it is not that we may encounter its perils in our own strength, but in his. Faith will carry us through, while sense and sight are sure to fail us.-R. M. E.
Vere. 34-46.-The heirs of promise. We have in this passage the result of un• belief. The dread of the people was lest their little ones should become a prey to their gigantic foea in Canaan, 'l'he Lord now declares that these. little ones shail be ell, II. 1-37,] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 29
tho possessors of the land, whilo they themselves shall be denied an entrance, since they rcfusccl it when olTorcd to them. The only exceptions are to be ,Joshua and Caleb, who made tho good report and gave the good counsel. Even Moses is included in the doom of exclusion. 'l'he subsequent attempt and the subsequent tears had no effect in reversing the deserved sentence. We learn from this passage such practical lessons ns those:- 1. Goo's onACJOUS OFFERS ATIE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH. The promised land lay open to tho Is_rnclites, w~o. had b:cn mercifully gni~ed to i~s gate.~. The all-important "Now" the time for dec1s1vo action had come, and 1t remained with them to determine whcth~r they would go in and receive the blessing, or remain without. They preferred to delay, to trino with the offer, and so the time went past. So sinners are offered pardon and acceptance as an immediate boon (2 Cor. vi. 2), but when the offer is despised and trifled with, it may be withdrawn (Prov. i. 24-33). II. PnESUMPTJON JS A POOR SUBSTITUTE FOR FAJTJJ. When the people saw the mistake they had made, they would go up and fight in a spirit of presumptuous chagrin. They now fow,J1t without commissions. The result was disastrous defeat, and a hurlinn- of them ba~k from the gates of Palestine to the great and terrible wilderness. God ;,as not with them in their presumption, since they would not follow him in humble faith. So may it be with sinners. Despised mercy may be succeeded by deserved defeat. The wild and proud efforts of presumption are in striking contrast to the quiet couracre of fait.J1. 'l'oil and tears may be insufficient to retrieve disaster when once courtetl by unbelief. Jl!. JOSHUA AND CALEB'S GOOD FORTUNE SHOWED WHAT WAS POSSIBLE TO WHOLE- JIEARTED FAITH, These two spies, in wholly following the Lord ancl in counselling coura"e, showed r.n humble faith. They stood alone faithful in face of an unbelievin" majority, and God gave t.bem a corresponding assurance that they should enter int~ the land. They were greatly honoured in being allowed to do so. And they are surely encouragements to believing souls throughout all time. IV. 'l'nE ASSURANCE OF TIIE CHILDREN THAT TIIEY SHOULD BE m:ms OF TIIE L.L'ID VINDICATED Goo's PROCEDURE AND FAITHFULNESS. 'l'he little ones, for whom they feared, are selected as the heirs of promise. But they are to get the bnd after disci- pline and sorrow in the wilderness. God's ways are not ours. Yet wisdom regulates them all. And the Divine grace was magni6ed in this arrangement. The Israelites, as they died in the wilderness, would be cheered by the thought that, though they were justly excluded from the land because of their unbelief, their children woultt receive the inheritance in the exercise of faith. The judgment on the fathers would be sanctified, like the sickness of Hyrnenreus and Alexander (1 Tim. i. 20), and their spirits, let us hope, saved in the day of the Lord Jesus {l Cor. v. 5).-R. M. E.