An exhortation Before CHRIST 1451. b Chap. 11. 18. + Heb. whet, or, sharpen. CHRIST with all thy soul, and with all thy | diligently unto thy children, and Before might. 6 And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them ture and degree is thus specified; "with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength :" and the grounds of it also; "for the Lord, the Lord God, is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, &c. visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children," Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Numb. xiv. 17, 18. The love of God was therefore necessarily accompanied with the fear of God: "For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.""Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave," Deut. x. 17. 20. See also verses 12, 13. The greatness, the majesty, and justice of God, necessarily render Him an object of fear and awe: while his disinterested goodness, and free bounties, naturally tend to excite love and gratitude in the receivers; and both together, a hearty desire and sincere endeavour to obey his will in all things. This "love of God" therefore is made the ruling principle of the "love of our neighbour," or of benevolence to mankind. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, &c. but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I AM THE LORD," Lev. xix. 17, 18. This emphatick conclusion, intimating that they were bound to do so for the Lord's sake. Nor was it confined merely to their neighbour, or to their own countrymen; it was to extend to strangers, Deut. x. 17-19; and even to enemies, Deut. xxiii. 7; nay, to the animal creation, Deut. xxii. 6, 7. 10. Thus the "love of God" was made, throughout the Mosaical law, the basis of the "love of our neighbour," of all mankind, and even of the animal creation for his sake. Accordingly our blessed Saviour declares, that the love of God is the first and great Commandment in the Law;" and that "the second, the love of our neighbour as ourselves," is like it in principle, as being derived from it, and regulated thereby. "On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets;" or the whole religion and morality of the Old Testament, Matt. xxii. 36-40. They evidently coincide therefore with the Evangelical virtue of love, or Christian charity, so well explained by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiii, and which may accordingly be defined, "A divine virtue, by which we love God above all things for his own sake; and our neighbours as ourselves, for the love of God." Dr. Hales. shalt talk of them when thou sit- 1451. test in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest. up. which composed the old institution, and giving it a preeminence to every other. Archdeacon Paley. with all thine heart, &c.] For there being no other God but He alone, none else could have any right to their love and service, but He only, whose nature is so excellent, that it requires the utmost we can do to testify our regard to Him. 66 By the "heart" here may be meant the will, which is the original of all a man's actions, whether good or evil; by the "soul," the affections; to which St. Mark adds the "mind," that is, the understanding or rational faculty; and by "might" or strength" is meant the power of the body for action: which four, all together, make up the whole man. The word "all," added to each of these, does not exclude all other things from any share in our thoughts and affections; but only from an equal interest in them. "The love of God" ought to be superiour, and to direct all our other motions to serve Him. Bp. Patrick. 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,] Under all the Divine dispensations from the beginning, no duty is set higher, or more insisted on, than that of instructing children in the knowledge of religion. "Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." What more or greater can be said of any mere man? Attend to the reason, which immediately follows, "For I know him, that he will command his children after him, &c." See Gen. xviii. 18. Thus again in the passage before us from the Law: "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:" for what purpose, or for whose sake? For the sake of themselves alone? By no means :-"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, &c." Children on their part are supposed to be often asking questions upon these subjects, and so to put their parents, teachers, or friends, upon conversation of this kind. See Exod. xii. 26. Respecting Christian parents, they are most expressly enjoined to "bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" and to the praise of young Timothy, as well as of those relations who had been his instructors, it is said, "that from a child he had known the holy Scriptures, able to make him wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Bp. Horne. and shalt talk of them when thou sittest &c.] As much as to say, they should take all occasions to inculcate this great lesson, at home and abroad, night and day; never ceasing their most earnest endeavours, to persuade their children not to worship any other god; nor to fail to worship the LORD their God with sincere affection. Bp. Patrick. The love of God is the source of every thing which is good in man. I do not mean that it is the only source, or that goodness (in some sense) can proceed from no other; but that of all principles of conduct it is the safest, the best, the truest, the highest. Perhaps it is peculiar to the Jewish and Christian dispensations, and, if it be, it is a peculiar excellency in them, to have formally and solemnly laid down this principle, as a ground of human This injunction of God to the Jews cannot be in less action. I shall not deny, that elevated notions were force among Christians. It does not mean that our entertained of the Deity by some wise and excellent conversation should be of nothing besides religion: but heathens; but even these did not, that I can find, so it must mean, that religion should have a due share in inculcate the love of that Deity, or so propose and state it and doubtless then a peculiar share on the day, it to their followers, as to make it a governing, actuating which God hath hallowed. Employing a part of that principle of life amongst them. This did Moses, or day in giving those about us the obvious proofs of rather God by the mouth of Moses; expressly, formally, Christianity, just notions of the holiness of the Divine solemnly. This did Christ; adopting, repeating, ratify-law, and their need of a Redeemer and a Sanctifier; ining, what the Law had already declared; and not only ratifying, but singling it out from the body of precepts struction in their various duties to God, and man, and themselves; joyful expectations of the rewards of piety; · An exhortation Before CHRIST 1451. DEUTERONOMY. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and awful apprehensions of the consequences of sin; affectionate cautions against the dangers, to which they are exposed; will be a most improving exercise to ourselves, and afford us the most rational prospect of gaining an influence over them to our own comfort, and to their good in this life and the next. Abp. Secker. 8. And thou shalt bind them &c.] See the note on Exod. xiii. 9. 9. And thou shalt write them upon the posts &c.] The Jews give the name "Mezuzoth" to certain pieces of parchment, which they fix on the door-posts of their houses, understanding this precept in a literal sense. They pretend, that to avoid making themselves ridiculous by writing the Commandments of God without their doors, or rather to avoid exposing them to profanation, they ought to write them on parchment, and to inclose it in a piece of cane or other hollow wood. Therefore they write on a square piece of parchment, prepared on purpose, with a particular ink, and a square kind of character, the following texts: Deut. vi. 4-9; then after a little space, Deut. xi. 13-20. They then roll up the parchment, put it into a case, and write on it "Shaddai," which is one of the names of God: they put it at the doors of their houses, and chambers, to the knockers of their doors on the right side; and as often as they pass, they touch this place with their finger, which they afterwards kiss. The Hebrew word "Mezuza" properly signifies the door of a house; but it is also given to this roll of parchment. Calmet. us. This wise and holy lawgiver well knew, how much men's hearts are alienated from goodness, and that it is requisite to work upon them with incessant applications of the word of God, before they can be impressed with a due sense of religion. It is no easy matter to dispossess the vanities of the world and the lusts of the flesh, of that dominion, which they have naturally over A few cold prayers, and unsettled meditations, and formal hearings of the word of God, will never subdue them. But a daily assiduity and constancy in these duties will gradually weaken them and drive them out. For constancy will beget zeal; and zeal will make us delight in drawing nigh to God: and then He will draw nigh to us, and will daily appear to us more good and gracious, more excellent, and more worthy of our love. Whilst by often raising our hearts to heaven, and setting our affections on it, and laying up our treasure in it, our ideas and conceptions of its society, of its enjoyments, of its most noble exercises, and undisturbed peace and tranquillity, will be continually strengthened and enlarged. Reading. 12. Then beware lest thou forget &c.] generally very dangerous to mankind. that they are warned, at such times of Prosperity is Hence it is, plenty and af to obedience. wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of + bondage. 13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. 14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a Before CHRIST 1451. c Chap. 8. 9, 10, &c. Heb. bondmen, or ser ants. d Chap 10. 12, 20. & 13. 4. fluence of worldly things, to "beware." Such things are a great snare, and occasion of pride and haughtiness, and many other vices. Bp. Kidder. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,] There is no perfection in the Divine nature, which is not a proper foundation, and may not suggest motives, for a religious "fear of God." God is most holy, and abhors iniquity as entirely opposite to his pure and undefiled nature. He is every where present, and from Him nothing can be hid. He is all-wise, and cannot be deceived. He is the just governour of the world, and as such He cannot but observe the actions of men, and will certainly "render to every man according to his works:" and though He be good and merciful to all his creatures, yet He must be supposed so to love them as to love justice and righteousness also. He is almighty, and can punish the rebellious many ways, by turning them out of being, or by making that being a pain to them for as long a time as He sees proper. He is also supremely good; and though this of all his perfections may seem the least suited to make us dread Him, yet whosoever judgeth so is much mistaken; for indeed there is not any one quality of the Divine nature so adapted to strike us with an ingenuous fear, with the fear of a child towards a parent, as this, and of such efficacy to deter us from sin, and to make us avoid incurring his just displeasure. Sin against God, as He is almighty, is the excess of madness and folly; but, as He is most kind and merciful, it is the basest ingratitude. The greater his goodness is, the greater is our guilt, if we be undutiful servants; and the greater will be our punishment, and that remorse and horrour, which St. John in so strong and eloquent a manner expresses in the Revelation, when he makes the wicked say to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb." He says not, from the wrath of the lion, though in the same book he calls Christ the Lion of the tribe of Judah; but from the wrath of the lamb; from long-despised patience, and much-injured mercy. Dr. Jortin. There is nothing more terrible than goodness slighted, and patience abused. Dr. Isaac Barrow. and shalt swear by his name.] That is, only by his name. This is the only reasonable interpretation. Swearing could never be lawful, but when it was necessary; and all that the Israelites were obliged to from these words was this, that when they did swear, they should do it by the name of God only, and not by any creature, Matt. v. 34. The words in this verse, thou shalt "serve him," Christ expresses by "him_only shalt thou serve," Matt. iv. 10. The doctrine of Christ is always at harmony with the moral precepts of Moses. Bp. Kidder. An exhortation to obedience. Before CHRIST 1451. e Matt. 4. 7. CHAP. VI, VII. Communion with the nations forbidden. jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt the f Exod. 17.2. LORD your God, 'as ye tempted him in Massah. + Heb. tomorrow. 17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. 18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, 19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. 20 And when thy son asketh thee + in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? 21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22 And the LORD shewed signs + Heb. evil. and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his houshold, before our eyes: 23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to Chap. VII. ver. 1.—the Hittites, &c.] In Abraham's days the land was occupied by ten nations: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, eastwards of Jordan; and westwards, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites, Gen. xv. 18-21. These latter in the days of Moses were called by the same names; the Hivites being substituted for the Rephaims. These seven nations were thus distributed: "The Hittites," or sons of Heth, "the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwelt in the mountains," or in the hill country of Judea, southwards: "the Canaanites" dwelt in the midland," by the sea," westwards, and "by the coast of Jordan," eastwards; and "the Girgashites," or Gergesenes, along the eastern side of the sea of Galilee; and "the Hivites" in mount Lebanon, under Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh, or Gilead, northwards. Compare Numb. xiii, 29; Josh. xi. 3; Judg. iii. 3; and Matt. viii. 28. Dr. Hales. give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. CHAP. VII. All communion with the nations is forbidden, 4 for fear of idolatry, 6 for the holiness of the people, 9 for the nature of God in his mercy and justice, 17 for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them. Before CHRIST 1451. WHEN the LORD thy God a Chap. 31. 3. shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no cove- b Exod. 23, nant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his 2. 32. & 34. 12. utterly destroy them;] One of the reasons which made this destruction more necessary and more general, than it would have otherwise been, was the consideration, that if any of the old inhabitants were left, they would prove a snare to those who succeeded them in the country; would draw and seduce them by degrees into the vices and corruptions which prevailed among themselves. Vices of all kinds, but vices especially of the licentious kind, are astonishingly infectious. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." A small number of persons addicted to them, and allowed to practise them with impunity or encouragement, will spread them through the whole mass. This reason is formally and expressly assigned, not simply for the punishment, but for the extent to which it was carried, namely, extermination. "Thou shalt utterly destroy them; that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods," chap. xx. 17, 18. Archdeacon Paley. 3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them;] The true reason of providing against a too familiar conversation between the Hebrews and their idolatrous neighbours, was not ill-will towards them but it was a measure of self-preservation from a very great evil; no less than a loss of the true religion, and therewith of their happiness, in the favour of Jehovah, as their God. "For they will turn away thy son, &c." see the 4th verse. Communion with the nations Before CHRIST 1451. + Heb. statues, or, pillars. & 26. 19. 1. Pet. 2. 9. DEUTERONOMY. forbidden for fear of idolatry. daughter shalt thou take unto thy | thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy son. 4 For they will turn away thy son with them that love him and keep 10 And repayeth them that hate c Chap. 14. 2. 6 For thou art an holy people 7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD All care to prevent idolatry would probably have been useless, without prohibiting intermarriages; and putting a stop to such intercourse and entertainments, as would have proved an occasion either of intermarriages, or of familiarities no less dangerous. Lowman. 7.- for ye were the fewest of all people :] When God first declared his love to Abraham and his posterity, he had no child, Gen. xii. 1-3; xv. 1, 2. And when he had, his family continued so small, after there were twelve heirs of the promise, that in the space of 200 years there were but seventy persons, Gen. xlvi. 27. Nor do we read of any great increase of them, till after the death of Joseph, which was near eighty years more, Exod. i. 7,8. So St. Stephen observes, Acts vii. 17, "When the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.' Bp. Patrick. face. 11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Before CHRIST 1451. because. 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, + if ye hearken to these judg- + Heb. ments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: 13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. e 14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or e Exod. 23. female barren among you, or among your cattle. 26, &c. terity of the true Israelites, in the regeneration, will flourish till the end of the world. How infinitely does the goodness transcend the severity of God! Dr. Hales. 12.—if ye hearken to these judgments,] As God hath made us rational creatures, so He treats us in the same reasonable way, in which we deal with one another. The relative duties of superiours and subjects among men must be performed on both sides, otherwise there is an end of unity, peace, and truth, and consequently of all social and good government. If children and servants rebel against their parents and masters, they are so far from deserving to be provided for and maintained on the score of such relation, that they deserve to be punished most severely, as acting an unnatural part. No more reason have we to hope for any blessing of God, on account of our being his children and servants, if we re9.-to a thousand generations;] The fundamental fuse Him our obedience. This is what He hath insisted laws of the Jewish theocracy were sanctioned with upon, from the first production of our race upon earth. powerful national sanctions of punishment and reward, From Adam to the present generation, He has always to be administered by God Himself, as their King and said to men the same thing which He says by Moses to their Judge. The "haters of God," or the disobedient, the Israelites; "If ye hearken to these judgments, and were threatened with temporal calamities, extending keep, and do them," that is, if ye will honour and obey "to the third or fourth generation of their children:" me as your God; then, and no otherwise, "the Lord but the "lovers of God," or the obedient, who should thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the keep these his Commandments, were encouraged by mercy which he sware unto thy fathers;" in other the promise, that God would shew mercy unto their words, I will own and bless you, as my children and children to the thousandth generation, or to the remotest people. From this, and from the whole of Scripture, it ages. Thus the idolatries of the Jewish nation drew down is plain, that God deals with us according to a positive on themselves and on their children, the Babylonish cap-relation, contracted between us by a covenant and agreetivity of seventy years, including the third and fourth ment, that He will be our God and Saviour, provided generation of the offenders: while the righteous pos- we hearken to his voice, and do his will. Reading. g Exod. 23. 33. 16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. 17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? 18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; 19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy god brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art of whom thou art 20 h Moreover the LORD thy God h Exod. 23. afraid. 28. Josh. 24. 12. 15. the evil diseases of Egypt,] The Egyptians seem to have been liable to many distempers, some of which were epidemical; as we find them to be at this day. In the time of Moses we read of a particular distemper, called "the botch of Egypt," chap. xxviii. 27, and the diseases of the country are mentioned in more places than one of Scripture, chap. xxviii. 60, &c. Bryant. 22. - lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.] It is supposed in the Old Testament, that if Judea should be thinly peopled, the wild beasts would so multiply as to render it dangerous to the inhabitants. The country is now not very populous; and accordingly wild beasts are so numerous there as to be terrifying to strangers. Haynes says, "The country about Cana of Galilee swarms with wild beasts, such as tigers, leopards, jackals, &c., whose cries and howling, I doubt not, would strike the boldest traveller, who had not been frequently in the like situation, with the deepest sense of horrour." Harmer. 24. and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven:] The depraved state of morals of the Canaanites is too notorious to require any proof. They were a wicked people in the time of Abraham; and they, even then, were devoted by God to destruction: but "their iniquity was not then full." In the time of Moses they were idolaters; sacrificers of their own infants; devourers of human flesh; addicted to unnatural lust; immersed in the filthiness of all manner of vice. It was agreeable to God's moral justice to exterminate so wicked a people. He made the Israelites the executors of his vengeance; and, in doing this, He gave such an evident and terrible proof of his abomination of vice, as could not fail to strike the surrounding nations with astonishment and terrour, and to impress on the minds of the Israelites what they were to expect, if they followed VOL. I. of obedience. will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. 21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. Before CHRIST 1451. 22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee + Heb. pluck by little and little: thou mayest not f consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. 23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall + Heb. before destroy them with a mighty destruc- thy face. tion, until they be destroyed. 24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. the example of the nations, whom He commanded them to cut off. See Lev. xxviii. 26. 28. That God should thus, by an express act of his providence, destroy a wicked nation, is not in any degree repugnant to reason. I am fond of considering the goodness of God as the leading principle of his conduct towards mankind; of considering his justice as subservient to his mercy. He punishes individuals and nations with the rod of his wrath: but I am persuaded that all his punishments originate in his abhorrence of sin; are calculated to lessen its influence; and are proofs of his goodness: inasmuch as it may not be possible for Omnipotence itself to communicate supreme happiness to the human race, whilst they continue servants of sin. The destruction of the Canaanites exhibits to all nations, in all ages, a signal proof of God's displeasure against sin: it has been to others, and it is to ourselves, a benevolent warning. The conduct of Moses towards the Canaanites would have been open to severe animadversion, had he acted by his own authority alone: but it were as reasonable to attribute cruelty and murder to the judge of the land in condemning criminals to death, as to condemn the conduct of Moses in executing the command of God. Bp. Watson. 25. it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.] Whatsoever had been employed in idolatrous worship, was so detestable to the Divine Majesty, that He would not have it converted to any ordinary use, but utterly destroyed. And therefore Moses commanded them, not to bring any of the silver and gold, which had belonged to idols, which he calls "an abomination," into their houses, to be employed for any private use whatsoever. If a man did, he became "an accursed thing," that is, was devoted to destruction, as the thing itself was. This appeared afterwards in the example of Achan, Josh. vii, who took a wedge of gold and a Babylonish 2 D |