The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 527

requires (.o C'naNe him to fulfil his high an<l. holy destiny; 'let his hands be sufficient fPr him;' and (3) when the enemy would endeavour to overthrO\v him, let thine nlmighly aitl be ne1u; 'be thou n Help to him from his enemies.'" Thnt this prophC'tic hlcssing and prayer i~, in the highest meaning thereof, Messianic, seems to admit of no question. Its complete fultilment will be realized in the ultimate triumph of him who is at once "the Lion of the tribe of Judnh," and yet" the Lnmb that was slain." He will be brought "unto his people;" his hands have been and will be "'sufficient for him;" and power no less than that of the eternal Father will ensure the defeat of the enemy and the enthronement of the Son, that "in all thinas he may become the pre-eminent One." J<'or this believers have prayed implicitly" over since the days of Moses; for this they ha1'e prayed explicitly ever since the day of Pentecost. But there is another bearing of this blessing of Judah, perhaps less obvious, though not less real than the one already named; while it equally suggests a topic fo1· pulpit teaching of no small interest and value, viz. Divine help needed/or man, that he may realize his trtu destiny. The following line of thought may serve to prP,ss home this ~uili:- • I. The life of man has a noble destiny before it. II. Accordi?g to the great~~s~ of des~iny must be the !D~asure of responsibility. III. According to respons1b1hty, so 1s the need of D1vme help to give unity and directness to life. We need (1) strength: "let his bands be sufficient for him•" (2) protection : "be thou a help to him from his enemies." ' IV. That such Divine help may be granted may well be made matter of earnest prayer: (1) of pastors for people ; (2) of parents for children; (3) of friend for friend. V. It is a great stimulus to prayer, when the one prayed for is known to pray for himself. Moses was not prayiug for a prayerlP.:1s tribe. "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah." YI. When prayer ho.s great promises to fall back upon, we may be absolutely sure of its success. The prayer, "Bring him unto his people," was based on the promise, "'l'o him shall the gathering of the people be." It is equivalent to," Lord, fulfil thine own promise." The great Messianic promise was made through Judah, and through him and in him was it fulfilled. Vers. 8-11.-The blessing of Le11i; or, entire devotion to God a necessary qualifi- cation/or ministerial service. Moses and .Aaron were themselves of the tribe of Levi. Consequently, Moses is here speaking of his own tribe; he forecasts its future; he seems in a remarkable manner to revoke the harsh sentence of the patriarch Jacob upon it. Nor is this altogether unaccounted for. 'l'he tribe bad manifested a genuine repentance by a remarkable zeal for God's honour on several .occasions. It was the tribe, moreover, which God had selected from the rest, to minister in holy things; and tLes3 facts, blending themselves with a painful reminiscence of his own breakdown at Meribab, give the character to the blessing of Moses. The points therein which furnish a basis for historic and homiletic teaching are these : 1. Hero is an office divinely appointed and assigned to a particular tribe-" thy holy one" (ver. 8). 2. Here is a history, in some sort chequered and sad, connected with the tribe (ver. 8) -" MassaL,'' "Meribah" (Numb. xx. 1-13). There had been a grievous failure on .Aaron's part too, as well as on that of Moses (Exod. xxxii., xxxiii.). Still, as a whole, the tribe had been marked by great zeal for God, great concern for his honour, and great devotion to his service (ver. 9; cf. Numb. viii. 14-26; xxv. 1-15; Exod. xx.x.ii. 26-28). The honour of God was deemed by this tribe paramount to all personal and family considerations. 3. Here is a commission fcx the discharge of varied duties resting on the tribe (ver. 10)-teaching, incense, sacrifice (see eh. x. 8; Mai. ii. 4-7). The duties of the priesthood were more varied than is generally supposed (cf. Dean Stanley on the Jewish Church, vol. ii. lcct. x.xxvi.). Whatever a man could be or do to help his people in prayer, work, war, worship, knowledge, or life,-all this was charged upon the priest. 4. Here i.s a danger espied to which the tribe would be liable (ver. 11) -" them that rise against him;" " them that hate him." '!'his hatred bad alrendy manifested itself in jealousy (Numb. xvi. 3, et seq.). It is very suggestive that we find &11:1e of the Reubenites, a tribe which /1ad lo,t ite bidltri9!tt, concerned ill that conspiracy, CII. XXXlll, 1-29.] THE TIOOK OF DEUTEilO~OMY. 613