The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 180

not devotion. And on the other hrmd, let us take care not to fall into the opposite error. "Ah," say some, "see what comes of religious excitement. It is time there was II protest 11gninst it I" But we make no protest whatever against excitement, h1Lt 11 aninst mere excitement, which is a very di/Terent thing. Because a blaze cannot be k~pt up without fuel, that is no reason why, with plenty of fuel constantly supplied, a firo should not be kept ablaze! It is true that if there is nought but emotir,n, it must die out 11nd be followed by II collapse; but that is no reason for letting real life be attended with so little emotion, that others see scarcely any signs of the life at all. Ah! what we 1111 want, and always want (and, thank God, what we may always have), is a fulness of life, direct from him, which only he can give, and which, through tho cross, and by the power of the Spirit, can alone be maintained, perfected, an<l glorified I Vers. 13-21, 25- 29.-True greatness manifested in a great emergency, by self- sacrifice and intercession. As were marked in the previous Homily, these incidents can only be rightly arranged by a preacher, for the purpose of preaching thereon, so far as the entire narrative is before his view. Hence a junction of this paragraph with Exocl. xxxii. is imperative, and will here be taken for granted. There would seem to have been a compilation of several documents. It is not easy to gather therefrom, with exact :precision, the order of events, though there is no difficulty in setting the whole with 1mfficient consecutiveness for all the purposes of practical teaching. Note- I. HERE IS A GREAT CRISIS. Israel was making a feast unto Jehovah, letting the calf represent. to them the God who had brought them out of Egypt. The people were observing the customs of the very nation from which they had been redeemed-dancing before the idol, polluting themselves with unclean and unhallowed rites, and making the hills to re-echo with their boisterous revelry and song! And all this beneath that very mount where they had sworn, "All that the Lord bath spoken we will do!" 1. In the first instance, the lamentable defection of the people was made known to :Moses, either by a silent suggestion from the Great Invisible, with whom he was in adoring fellowship, or by one of the angel bands with whom he was surrounded (Exod. xxxii. i, 8). 2. God bi<ls Moses" go down "-not merely, as might at first seem," go down and see," but "Continue the fellowship no more; leave me alone; I will make of thee a great nation. Let my wrath wax hot against them, that I may consume them! " Awful words (vers. 13, 14) ! 'Tis a terrible crisis in the great leader's experience. With agonizing heart, he comes down to see-not without pleading with God for Israel (see below)-and he reaches Joshua, where, though even yet too far off to see, he is near enough to hear the shouts wil<lly ringing through the air. 3. At length Moses gets near enough to see (vcr. 16). There they are !-the calf, the dancing, the impure orgies as of a heathen feast I Oh, how bitter must have been the anguish of Moses at s_uch a sight! 4. And what an alarming po~sibility he had to face-even that of the entire rupture of the whole covenant between the people and Jehovah! Hear how the Voice on the mount spake, '"Thy people have broken the covenant; let me alone," etc. In what stronger way, ah! in what other way, could the people at such a time have been taught that, as they were now actually breaking the very covenant God was confirming with Moses for them, if God now dealt with them after their sins, he would have cast them off completely? They were not necessary to the fulfilment of the covenant made with their fathers. Moses was of Abraham's seed, and God might have begun afresh with him, and have made of him a nation greater, mightier, more loyal thnn they! Was there ever such a crisis? With all the respon- Bibility Moses had resting on him, he must have been crushed had be not been divinely &ustained. But great crises bring ont the greatness of great men. Moses was a man "slow of speech," and probably slow to act, but he had strong convictions of truth arnl duty, and when wrought up t~ a white heat, he woul<l show the true nobility of bi8 character. • JI. '!'1rn GREATNESS OF THE CRISIS OCCASIONS A RE.MARKABLE SERIES OF ACTS ON THE PART OF MosEs. 1. He is angry (Exod. xxxii. 19). This was a holy anger ; tho sight roused the meekest of men, nnd well it might. It would have been wicked iu Mo~cs if he had not been angry ! '!'here is a wide difference between a passionate feel mg of personal resentment, and indignation at witnessing an oulr"-"e on right. The 170 TllE BOOK OF DEU'l'ERONOMY. [ CII, llt, 1-29,