The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 207

anew, from a consideraUon of the deep meaning of the events which their own eyes have aeon, to learn to be faithful and obedient. We by no means un<lerstand Moses a~ intending to say that the children are not before him to hear his words, but rather that the argument he is now using is specially for the sires rather than the sons. It is in effect this: "You, the seniors among the people now, have seen all these thin"B. God has spoken in them directly to you: therefore, it is in cum bent upon you to assi~n to these events their true meaning, and to give them their rightful power over yo;;__,, Whence we get the topic named above for our Homily: " The voice of God in passing events to be heeded, understood, and obeyed." I. HERE ARE STIRRING EVENTS WHICH HAD OCCURRED UNDER ISRAEL'S OWN EYES. Three of them are specially named. 1. The plagues brought on Pharaoh and the land of Egypt. 2. The overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. 3. The over- throw of Korab, Dathan, and Abiram. (For remarks on these, see Exposition, and Homilies in Zoe. For much light on the second, see Brugsch's 'Egypt.') II. HERE IS A SPECIFIC MEA:tIING GIVEN TO THESE EVENTS. They are all called "chastisement" (ver. 2). They are not only referred to as works of greatness, deeds of power and of terror, but their moral meaning (which is infinitely more important) is given in the word" chastisement." It is of very much more consequence to understand the rneani11g of an event, than to merely.have the event stored up in memory as a. piece of history. In fact, it may fairly be questioned whether the latter is of a.ny value at all. Of what value is it to a student to know that King John signed Magna Cba.rta, unless he knows the meaning thereof, as related to the rise and growth of the British Constitution? Even so it is not of the slightest service to know of Red Sea wonders, nor of the plagues in Egypt, unless their place and meaning in history are known. This is the case likewise with events of much greater moment. Not even the wonders of Gethsemane and Calvary are exempted. If regarded only as incidents in history, apart from their spiritual, redemptive meaning, they will serve us nothing. "As the bo<ly without the spirit is dead," so facts without their significance are dead also. Hence it is that the attention of Israel is recalled to these olden wonders as" chastisements" from the Lord their God. III. 'l'HESE EVENTS MAY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES; in e:M:h class a like principle is illustrated, though in a different form. 1. The first two were the chastisement of Egypt on behalf of God's oppressed people, showing them the strength of his arm and the value of his covenant love. 2. 'l'he third was the chastisement of the chosen people themselves, when they rebelled against the divinely appointed order with reference to the priesthood. In the former cases, God's jealous love on behalf of his people wa.s proven; in the latter case, God's jealousy for his own honour, in maintaining his appointed order a.nd ordinances unimpaired. In the former, that jealousy chastised Egypt for Israel's sake; in the latter, Israel for Jehovah's sake. 'l'hus Israel would have before them the lesson that, as God in bis love would snap the fetters that bound them, so in his purity he would remove the stains that disfigured them; that as they rejoiceu in the love of God which was round them as a mighty guard, so they might also cherish a. holy fear of that purity whioh would mark its displeasure at their wayward- ness and sins. IV. SUCH EVENTS, BO FULL OF MEANING, SHOULD HAVE A CONSTANT EFFECT IN IMPELLING TO ODEDIENCE, AND IN QUICKEXING AND SUSTATh'ING A REVERENT FEAR AND LOVE. God meant much in bringing them to pass, and they should mean much in the use they made of them (vers. 8, 9). If they la.id them to heart, and acted out the lessons they were designed to teach, they would continue in the land wbic h God ha.d 11ssigned to them. 'l'he reference in the phrase, "that ye may prolong your days in the land," is rather to Israel's continuance as a nation, than to the long life of the individual. National continuance dependent on national obedience, is the one truth most frequently named in the exhortations of Israel's lawgiver. V. ALL THIS HAS A PRESENT-DAY APPLICATION TO THE PEOPLE OF Goo NOW. Forms change; but principles never. There are few passages, even in the grand old Book, that open up a wider scope or n sublimer field for the preacher's efforts than the one before us. The followin"0 enumeration of the successive links of thought may be helpful. Our pages give no space for more. 1. At the background of the Christian dispensa- tion there are solid and substantial historical facts on which we can iai,er fall back. 198 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [en. s.1. 1-32.