pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: 7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven;

12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for:

or, living substance which followed them. ↑ was at their feet. c Zech. 14. 18.
seeketh. d1 Kings 9. 3. e ver. 22. c. 6. 17. f c. 10. 12.
g Lev. 26. 4.
Joel 2. 23. Jam. 5. 7.

drowned in the Red sea, to prevent Israel's being re-enslaved! v. 4. Thus did he give Egypt for their ransom, Is. 43. 3. Rather shall that famous kingdom be destroyed, than that Israel shall not be delivered. 2. Upon Dathan and Abiram that embroiled them. Remember what he did in the wilderness, v. 5, by how many necessary chastisements (as they are called, v. 2,) they were kept from ruining themselves. Particularly, when those daring Reubenites defied the authority of Moses, and headed a dangerous rebellion against God himself, which threatened the ruin of a whole nation, and might have ended in that, if the divine power had not immediately crushed the rebellion, by burying the rebels alive, them, and all that was in their possession, v. 6. What was done against them, though misinterpreted by the disaffected party, Num. 16. 41, was really done in mercy to Israel. To be saved from the mischiefs of insurrections at home, is as great a kindness to a people, and therefore lays under as strong obligations, as protection from the invasion of enemies abroad.

V. 8-17. Still he urges the same subject, as loath to conclude till he had gained his point. If thou will enter into life, if thou wilt enter into Canaan, a type of that life, and find it a good land indeed to thee, keep the commandments, keep all the commandments which I command you this day: love God, and serve him with all your heart.

I. Because this was the way to get and keep possession of the promised land. 1. It was the way to get possession, v. 8. That ye may be strong for war, and so go in and possess it. So little did they know either of hardship or hazard in the wars of Canaan, that he does not say they should go in and fight for it; no, they had nothing in effect to do but go in and possess it. He does not go about to teach them the art of war, how to draw the bow, and use the sword, and keep ranks, that they might be strong, and go in and possess the land; no, but let them keep God's commandments, and their religion, while they were true to it, will be their strength, and secure their success. 2. It was the way to keep possession, v. 9, That ye may prolong your days in this land that your eye is upon. Sin tends to the shortening of the days of particular persons, and to the shortening of the days of a people's prosperity; but obedience will be a lengthening out of their tranquillity.

the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul,

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15 And I will sends grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16 Take heed 'to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17 And then the LORD's wrath "be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

18 Therefore shall ye lay up Pthese my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children,

i Ps. 104. 14. Hos. 2. 21, 22. § give. k Joel 2. 19. Josh. 23. 11-16. m c. 29. 18. Jer. 4. 18. n c. 6. 15. o 1 Kings 8. 35. 2 Chr. 7. 13. p c. 6. 6-9. Prov. 5.1. 9 Prov. 3. 3. c. 4. 9, 10.

latter rain, which is called the river of God, (Ps. 65. 9,) perhaps in allusion to, and contempt of, the river of Egypt, which that nation was so proud of. Note, The better God has provided, by our outward condition, for our ease and convenience, the more we should abound in his service: the less we have to do for our bodies, the more we should do for God and our souls. 2. So he directed them to look upward to God, who giveth us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, Acts 14. 17, and promised to be himself as the dew unto Israel, Hos. 14. 5. Note, (1.) Mercies bring with them the greatest comfort and sweetness, when we see them coming from heaven, the immediate gifts of divine providence. (2.) The closer dependence we have upon God, the more cheerful we should be in our obedience to him. See how Moses here magnifies the land of Canaan above all other lands, that the eyes of God were always upon it, that is, they should be so, to see that nothing was wanting, while they kept close to God and duty; its fruitfulness should be, not so much the happy effect of its soil, as the immediate fruit of the divine blessing; this may be inferred from its present state, for it is said to be at this day, now that God is departed from it, as barren a spot of ground as perhaps any under heaven. Call it not Naomi; call it Marah.

III. Because God would certainly bless them with an abundance of all good things if they would love him and serve him, v. 13-15, I will give you the rain of your land in due season, so that they should neither want it when the ground called for it, nor have it in excess; but they should have the former rain, which fell at seedtime, and the latter rain which fell before the harvest, Am. 4. 7. This represented all the seasonable blessings which God would bestow upon them, especially spiritual comforts, which should come as the latter and former rain, Hos. 6. 3. And the earth, thus watered, produced, 1. Fruits for the service of man: corn, and wine, and oil, Ps. 104, 13—15. 2. Grass for the cattle, that they also might be serviceable to man: that he might eat of them and be full, v. 15. Godliness hath here the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil will.

IV. Because their revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin, v. 16, 17, Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All that forsake God to set their affection upon, or pay their devotion to, any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived to their own destruction; and this will aggravate it, that it was purely for want of taking heed. A little care would have prevented their being imposed upon by the great deceiver. To awaken them to take heed, Moses here tells them plainly, that if they should turn aside to other gods, 1. They would provoke the wrath of God against them; and who knows the power of that anger? 2. Good things would be turned away from them; the heaven would withhold its rain, and then of course the earth would not yield its fruit. 3. Evil things would come upon them, they would perish quickly from off this good land. And the better the land was, the more grievous it would be to perish from it. The goodness of the land would not be their security, when the badness of the inhabitants had made them ripe for ruin. V. 18-25. Here,

II. Because the land of Canaan, into which they were going, had a more sensible dependence upon the blessing of heaven, than the land of Egypt had, v. 10-12. Egypt was a country fruitful enough, but it was all flat, and was watered not, as other countries, with rain, (it is said of Egypt, Zech. 14. 18, that it has no rain,) but by the overflowing of the river Nile at a certain season of the year; to the improving of which there was necessary a great deal of the art and labour of the husbandman; so that in Egypt a man must bestow as much cost and pains upon a field, as upon a garden of herbs. And this made them the more apt to imagine that the power of their own hands got them this wealth. But the land of Canaan was an uneven country, a land of hills and valleys, which not only gave a more pleasing prospect to the eye, but yielded a greater variety of soils for the several purposes of the husbandman. It was a land that had no great rivers in it, except Jordan, but drank water of the rain of heaven. And so, 1. Saved them a great deal of 1. He repeats the directions he had given for their guidance labour. While the Egyptians were ditching and guttering in and assistance in their obedience, and for the keeping up of the fields up to the knees in mud, to bring water to their land, religion among them, v. 18-20, which is much to the same which otherwise would soon become like the heath in the wil-purport with what we had before, ch. 6. 6, &c. Let us all be derness, the Israelites could sit in their houses, warm and easy, directed by the three rules here given. 1. Let our hearts be and leave it to God to water their land with the former and the filled with the word of God. Lay up these words in your heart

speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, | God hath brought thee in unto the land whither and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the down, and when thou risest up. blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door-mount Ebal. posts of thine house, and upon thy gates;

21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them; to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave "unto him;

23 Then will the LORD drive "out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

31 For ye shall pass over Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. CHAPTER XII.

24 Every place whereon "the soles of your feet Moses at this chapter comes to the particular statutes which he had to give in shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your coast be.

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you; for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day; 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside 'out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy

8 Prov. 4. 10. 9. 11. t Ps. 89.29. u c. 10. 20. 30.20. v c. 9. 5. P. 78. 55. Josh. 1.3. Gen. 15. 18. Num. 34. 3. y c. 7. 24. z Josh. 2. 9, 21. a Ex. 23. 27. bc. 30. 1, 15, 19

charge to Israel, and he begins with those which relate to the worship of God;
and particularly those which explain the second commandment, about which God
is in a special manner jealous. I. They must utterly destroy all relics and re-
mains of idolatry, v. 1-3. II. They must keep close to the tabernacle, v. 4, 5.
The former precept was intended to prevent all false worship; the bitter, to pre-
serve the worship God had instituted. By this latter law, 1. They are com-
manded to bring all their offerings to the altar of God, and all their holy things to
the place which he should choose, v. 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 26–28. 2. They are
forbidden, in general, to do as they now did in the wilderness, (v. 8-11,) and as
the Canaanites had done, (v. 29-32;) and, in particular, to eat the ballowed
things at their own houses, (v. 13, 17, 18;) or, to forsake the instituted ministry,
v. 19.
3. They are permitted to eat flesh as common food at their own houses,
provided they did not eat the blood, v. 15, 16. And again, v. 20-26.

ings, which are the great sanctions of the law, taking hold of hope and fear, those two handles of the soul, by which it is caught, held, and managed. These two, the blessing and the curse, he set before them, that is, 1. He explained them, that they might know them; he enumerated the particulars contained both in the blessing and in the curse, that they might see the more fully how desirable the blessing was, and how dreadful the curse. 2. He confirmed them, that they might believe them; made it evident to them, by the proofs he produced of his own commission, that the blessing was not a fool's paradise, nor the curse a bugbear, but that both were real declarations of the purpose of God concerning them. 3. He charged them to choose which of these they would have. So fairly does he deal with them, and so far is he from putting out the eyes of these men, as he was charged, Num. 16. 14. They and we are plainly told on what terms we stand with Almighty God. (1.) If we be obedient to his laws, we may be sure of a sure of a curse, v. 28. Say ye to the righteous, (for God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it,) that it shall be well with them: But wo to the wicked, it shall be ill with them.

and in your soul. The heart must be the treasury or storehouse in which the word of God must be laid up to be used upon all occasions. We cannot expect good practices in the conversation, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God. "Bind these words for a sign upon your hand, which is always in view, (Is. 49. 16,) and as frontlets between your eyes, which you cannot avoid the sight of; let them be as ready and familiar to you, and have your eye as constantly upon them, as if they were written upon your door-posts, and could not be overlooked either when you go out or when you come in." Thus we must lay God's judgments before us, having a constant regard to them, as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, Ps. 119. 30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Let it be the subject of our familiar discourse, wherever we are; especially with our children, who must be taught the service of God, as the one thing needful, much more needful than either the rules of decency, or the call-blessing, v. 27. But, (2.) If we be disobedient, we may be as ing they must live by in this world. Great care and pains must be taken to acquaint children betimes, and to affect them with the word of God and the wondrous things of his law. Nor will any thing contribute more to the prosperity and perpetuity of religion in a nation, than the good education of children: if the seed be holy, it is the substance of a land.

II. He repeats the assurances he had before given them, in God's name, of prosperity and success, if they were obedient: 1. They should have a happy settlement, v. 21. Their days should be multiplied; and when they were fulfilled, the days of their children likewise should be many, as the days of heaven, that is, Canaan should be sure to them and their heirs for ever, as long as the world stands, if they did not by their own sin throw themselves out of it. 2. It should not be in the power of their enemies to give them any disturbance, or make them upon any account uneasy. "If ye will keep God's commandments, and be careful to do your duty, v. 22, God will not only crown the labours of the husbandmen with plenty of the fruits of the earth, but he will own and succeed the more glorious undertakings of the men of war; victory shall attend your arms; which way soever they turn: God will drive out these nations, and put you in possession of their land," v. 23, 24. Their territories should be enlarged to the utmost extent of the promise, Gen. 15, 18, and all their neighbours should stand in awe of them, v. 25. Nothing contributes more to the making of a nation considerable abroad, valuable to its friends, and formidable to its enemies, than religion reigning in it; for who can be against those that have God for them? And he is certainly for those that are sincerely for him, Prov. 14, 34.

V. 26-32. Here Moses concludes his general exhortation to obedience; and his management is very affecting, and such as, one would think, should have engaged them for ever to God, and should have left impressions upon them, never to be worn

out.

I. He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse, v. 26, that is, the rewards and the punishments, as they stand in the promises and the threaten

II. He appoints a public and solemn proclamation to be made of the blessing and curse which he had set before them upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, v. 29, 30. We have more particular directions for this solemnity, ch. 27. 11, &c. and an account of the performance of it, Josh. 8. 33, &c. It was to be done, and was done immediately upon their coming into Canaan, that when they first took possession of that land, they might know upon what terms they stood. The place where this was to be done, is particularly described by Moses, though he never saw it, which is one circumstance among many, that evidences his divine instructions. It is said to be near the plain, or oaks, or meadows of Morch, which was one of the first places that Abraham came to in Canaan; so that in sending them thither to hear the blessing and the curse, God reminded them of the promise he made to Abraham in that very place, Gen. 12. 6, 7. The mention of this appointment here, serves, 1. For the encouragement of their faith in the promise of God, that they should be masters of Canaan quickly. Do it (says Moses) on the other side Jordan, v. 30, for you may be confident you shall pass over Jordan, v. 31. The institution of this service to be done in Canaan, was an assurance to them, that they should be brought into possession of it, and a token, like that which God gave to Moses, Ex. 3. 12, Ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And, 2. It serves for an engagement upon them to be obedient, that they might escape that curse, and obtain that blessing, which, beside what they had already heard, they must shortly be witnesses to the solemn publication of, v. 32, Ye shall observe to do the statutes and judgments, that ye may not in that solemnity be witnesses against yourselves."

NOTES TO CHAPTER XII.

V. 1-4. From those great original truths, That there is a God, and, That there is but one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to be worshipped, and he only,

3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves 'with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. 5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy

6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt-offer-burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest: ings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heaveofferings of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in 'all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.

8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9 For ye are not "as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth

you.

10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; 11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you;

break down. e Num. 33. 52. Judg. 2. 2. 2 ver. 31. A ver. 11. 2 Chr. 7. 12. Ps. 78. 68. [ ver. 12, 18. Lev. 23. 40. c. 16. 11-15. 26. 11.

Chr. 31. 1. f 1 Kings 15. 13.
i Lev. 17. 3, 4. k c. 14. 22-26.
m Judg. 17. 6. 21. 25. n Heb.

14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there' thou shalt offer thy burntofferings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy "soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the "unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy free-will offerings, or heave-offering of thine hand:

18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite

4.9. o Josh. 3. 17.

p Josh. 18. 1. 1 Kings 8. 29. † the choice of your vows. q ver. 7. r c. 14. 29. Lev. 17.2-5. t ver. 11. u c. 14. 26. v ver. 22. c. 15. 22. 10 Gen. 9. 4. Lev. 7. 26. ver. 11, 12. c. 14. 23.

together, nor can there be any communion between Christ and Belial.

and that therefore we are to have no other God before him: this is the first commandment, and the second is a guard upon it, or a hedge about it. To prevent a revolt to false gods, we II. They are charged not to translate the rites and usages of are forbidden to worship the true God in such a way and man-idolaters into the worship of God; no, not under colour of beautiner as the false gods were worshipped in; and are commanded fying and improving it, v. 4, Ye shall not do so to the Lord your to observe the instituted ordinances of worship; that we may God, that is, "you must not think to do honour to him, by adhere to the proper Object of worship. For this reason, offering sacrifices on mountains and hills, erecting pillars, plantMoses is very large in his exposition of the second command- ing groves, and setting up images; no, you must not indulge ment. What is contained in this, and the four following chap-a luxurious fancy in your worship, nor think that whatever ters, mostly refers to that. These are statutes and judgments pleases that will please God: he is above all gods, and will which they must observe to do, v. 1. 1. In the days of their not be worshipped as other gods are." rest and prosperity, when they should be masters of Ca- V.5-32. There is not any one particular precept (as I rememnaan. We must not think that our religion is instituted onlyber) in all the law of Moses, so largely pressed and inculcated to be our work in the years of our servitude, our entertainment as this, by which they are all tied to bring their sacrifices to in the places of our solitude, and our consolation in affliction; that one altar which was set up in the court of the tabernacle, no, when we come to possess a good land, still we must keep and there to perform all the rituals of their religion; for as to up the worship of God in Canaan, as well as in a wilderness; moral services, then, no doubt, as now, men might pray every when we are grown up, as well as when we are children; where, as they did in their synagogues. The command to do when we are full of business, as well as when we have nothing this, and the prohibition of the contrary, are here repeated else to do. 2. All the days, as long as ye live upon the earth. again and again, as we teach children: and yet we are sure While we are here in our state of trial, we must continue in that there is in scripture no vain repetition: but all this stress our obedience, even to the end, and never leave our duty, nor is laid upon it, 1. Because of the strange proneness there was grow weary of well doing, in the hearts of the people to idolatry and superstition, and the danger of their being seduced by the many temptations which they would be surrounded with. 2. Because of the great use which the observance of this appointment would be of to them, both to prevent the introducing of corrupt customs into their worship, and to preserve among them unity and brotherly love; that meeting all in one place, they might continue both of one way and of one heart. 3. Because of the significancy of this appointment. They must keep to one place, in token of their belief of those two great truths, which we find together, 1 Tim. 2. 5, That there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man. It not only served to keep up the notion of the unity of the Godhead, but was an intimation to them (though they could not steadfastly discern it) of the one only way of approach to God, and communion with him, in and by the Messiah.

Now, I. They are here charged to abolish and extirpate all those things that the Canaanites had served their idol gods with, v. 2, 3. Here is no mention of idol temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever was made for religious uses; and that from it temples took their rise. But the places that had been used and were now to be levelled, were enclosures for their worship, on mountains and hills, (as if the height of the ground would give advantage to the ascent of their devotions) and under green trees, either because pleasant, or because awful; whatever makes the mind easy and reverent, contracts and composes it, was thought to befriend devotion. The solemn shade and silence of a grove are still admired by those that are disposed to contemplation. But the advantages which these retirements gave to the Gentiles in the worship of their idols, was, that they concealed those works of darkness which could not bear the light: and therefore they must all be destroyed, with the altars, pillars, and images, that had been used by the natives in the worship of their gods, so as that the very names of them might be buried in oblivion; and not only not be remembered with respect, but not remembered at all. They must thus consult, 1. The reputation of their land; let it never be said of this holy land, that it had been thus polluted, but let all these dunghills be carried away as things they were ashamed of. 2. The safety of their religion; let none he left remaining, lest profane unthinking people, es-struction as we are, concerning the appointed place. 2. God pecially in degenerate ages, should make use of them in the service of the God of Israel. Let these pest-houses be demolished, as things they were afraid of. He begins the statutes that relate to divine worship with this, because there must first be an abhorrence of that which is evil, before there can be a steady adherence to that which is good, Rom. 12. 9. The kingdom of God must be set up, both in persons and places, upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom; for they cannot stand

Let us now reduce this long charge to its proper heads. I. It is here promised, that when they were settled in Canaan, when they had rest from their enemies, and dwelt in safety, God would choose a certain place, which he would appoint to be the centre of their unity, to which they should bring all their offerings, v. 10, 11. Observe, 1. If they must be tied to one place, they should not be left in doubt concerning it, but should certainly know what place it was. Had Christ intended, under the Gospel, to make any one place such a seat of power, as Rome pretends to be, we should not have been left so destitute of indoes not leave it to them to choose the place, lest the tribes should have quarrelled about it, each striving, for their secular advantage, to have it among them; but he reserves the choice to himself, as he does the designation of the Redeemer, and the institution of holy ordinances. 3. He does not appoint the place now, as he had appointed mounts Gerizim and Ebal, for the pronouncing of the blessings and curses, ch. 11. 29, but reserves the doing of it till hereafter, that hereby they might bọ

their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31 Thou "shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

CHAPTER XIII.

Moses is still upon that necessary subject, concerning the peril of idolatry. In the arise from their predecessors the Canaanites. In this chapter, he cautions them

close of the foregoing chapter, he had cautioned them against the peril that might against the rise of idolatry from among theinselves; they must take heed lest any should draw them to idolatry, I. By the pretence of prophecy, v. 1-5. 11. By the pretence of friendship and relation, v. 6-11. III. By the pretence of numbera, v. 12-18. But in all these cases the temptation must be resolutely resisted,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And "that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded IF there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer thee to walk in: So shalt thou put the evil away

and the tempters punished and cut off.

"of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, from the midst of thee.

Ex. 23. 2. ⚫ of. o Lev. 18. 21. Jer. 32. 35. Ez. 20. 31. 23. 37. Mic. 6. 7. p Josh. 1.7. 9 Rev. 22, 18. a Zech. 10. 2. Matt. 24. 24. 2 Thes. 2. 9. Rev. 13. 14.

allowance is very express, and repeated, lest Satan should take occasion from that law which forbade the eating of their sacrifices at their own houses, to suggest to them, as he did to our first parents, hard thoughts of God, as if he grudged them the enjoyment of what he had given them; Thou mayest eat what soever thy soul lusteth after. There is a natural regular appetite, which it is lawful to gratify with temperance and sobriety, not taking too great a pleasure in the gratification, nor being uneasy if it be crossed. The unclean, who might not eat of the holy things, yet might eat of the same sort of flesh when it was only used as common food. The distinction between clean persons and unclean was sacred, and designed for the preserving of the honour of their holy feasts, and therefore must not be brought into their ordinary meals.

This permission has a double restriction.

1. They must eat according to the blessing which God had given them, v. 15. Note, It is not only our wisdom, but our duty, to live according to our estates, and not to spend above what we have. As it is unjust on the one hand to hoard what should be laid out; so it is much more unjust to lay out more than we have; for what is not our own must needs be another's, who is thereby robbed and defrauded. And this, I say, is much more unjust, because it is easier afterward to distribute what has been unduly spared, and so to make a sort of restitution for the wrong, than it is to repay to wife, and children, and creditors, what has been unduly spent. Between these two extremes let wisdom find the mean, and then let watchfulness and resolution keep it. 2. They must not eat blood, v. 16; and again, v. 23, Only be sure that thou eat not the blood; v. 24, Thou shalt not eat it; and v. 25, Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee. When they could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out there before the Lord, as belonging to him, they must pour it out upon the earth, as not belonging to them, because it was the life, and therefore, as an acknowledgment, belonged to him who gives life, and, as an atonement, belonged to him to whom life is forfeited. Bishop Patrick thinks one reason why they were forbidden thus strictly the eating of blood, was, to prevent the superstitions of the old idolaters about the blood of their sacrifices, which they thought their demons delighted in, and by eating of which they imagined that they had communion with them. VI. They are forbidden to keep up either their own corrupt usages in the wilderness, or the corrupt usages of their predecessors in the land of Canaan.

1. They must not keep up those improper customs which they had got into in the wilderness, and which were connived at in consideration of the present unsettledness of their condition, v. 8, 9. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day. Never was there a better governor than Moses, and one would think never a better opportunity of keeping up good order and discipline than now among the people of Israel, when they lay so closely encamped under the eye of their governor; and yet it seems there was much amiss, and that many irregularities had crept in among them. We must never expect to see any society perfectly pure and right, and as it should be, till we come to the heavenly Canaan. They had sacrifices and religious worship, courts of justice, and civil government, and by the stoning of the man that gathered sticks on the sabbath day, it appears there was great strictness used in guarding the most weighty matters of the law; but being frequently upon the remove, and always at uncertainty, (1.) They could none of them observe the solemn feasts, and the rites of cleansing, with the exactness that the law required: And, (2.) Those among them that were disposed to do amiss, had opportunity given them to do it unobserved, by the frequent interruptions which their removes gave to the administration of justice. But (says Moses) when ye come to Canaan, ye shall not do as we do here, Note, When the people of God are in an unsettled condition, that may be tolerated and dispensed with, which would by no means be allowed at another time. Cases of necessity are to be considered while the necessity continues; but that must not be done in Canaan, which was indulged in the wilderness.

cc. 18. 22. Jer. 28. 9. Matt. 7. 22.
23. g c. 10. 20. h Zech. 13. 3.

5. 13.

d 1 Cor. 11. 19. e 2 Chr. 34. 31. f Jer. 7. ⚫ revolt against the Lord. i c. 17. 7. 1 Cor.

While a house is in the building, a great deal of dirt and rub-
bish is suffered to lie by it, which must all be taken away when
the house is built. Moses was now about to lay down his life
and government, and it is a comfort to him to foresee that Israel
would be better in the next reign than they had been in his.
2. They must not worship the Lord by any of those rites or
ceremonies which the nations of Canaan had made use of in
the service of their gods, v. 29-32. They must not so much
as inquire into the modes and forms of idolatrous worship.
What good would it do to them to know those depths of Satan?
Rev. 2. 24. It is best to be ignorant of that which there is
danger of being infected by. They must not introduce the
customs of idolaters, (1.) Because it would be absurd to make
those their patterns, whom God had made their slaves and cap-
tives, cut off, and destroyed from before them. The Canaanites
had not flourished and prospered so much in the service of their
gods, as that the Israelites should be invited to take up their
customs. Those are wretchedly besotted indeed, who will walk
in the way of sinners, after they have seen their end. (2.) Be-
cause some of their customs were most barbarous and inhuman,
and such as trampled not only upon the light and law of nature,
but upon natural affection itself, as burning their sons and their
daughters in the fire to their gods, v. 31, the very mention of
which is sufficient to make it odious, and possess us with a
horror of it. (3.) Because their idolatrous customs were an
abomination to the Lord, and the translating of them into his
worship, would make even that an abomination, and an affront
to him, by which they should give him honour, and by which
they hoped to obtain his favour. The case is bad indeed, when
the sacrifice itself is become an abomination, Prov. 15. 8. He
therefore concludes, v. 32, with the same caution concerning the
worship of God, which he had before given concerning the word
of God, ch. 4. 2, "Ye shall not add thereto any inventions of
your own, under pretence of making the ordinance either more
significant or more magnificent ; nor diminish from it, under pre-
tence of making it more easy and practicable, or of setting aside
that which may be spared; but observe to do all that, and
that only, which God has commanded." We may then hope
in our religious worship to obtain the divine acceptance, when
we observe the divine appointment. God will have his own
work done in his own way.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XIII.
V. 1-5. Here is,

I. A very strange supposition, v. 1, 2. 1. It is strange that there should arise any among themselves, especially any pretending to vision and prophecy, who should move them to go and serve other gods. Was it possible that any who had so much knowledge of the methods of divine revelation, as to be able to personate a prophet, should yet have so little knowledge of the divine nature and will, as to go himself, and entice his neighbours after other gods? Could an Israelite ever be guilty of such impiety? Could a man of sense ever be guilty of such absurdity? We see it in our own day, and therefore may think it the less strange: multitudes that profess both learning and religion, yet exciting both themselves and others, not only to worship God by images, but to give divine honour to saints and angels, which is no better than going after other gods to serve them; such is the power of strong delusions. 2. It is yet more strange that the sign or wonder given for the confirmation of this false doctrine, should come to pass. Can it be thought that God himself should give any countenance to such a vile motion? Did ever a false prophet work a true miracle? It is only supposed here, for two reasons, (1.) To strengthen the caution here given against hearkening to such a one. " Though it were possible that he should work a true miracle, yet you must not believe him if he tells you you must serve other gods, for the divine law against that is certainly perpetual and unalterable." The supposition is like that, Gal. 1. 8, If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel to you; which does not prove it possible that an angel should preach another Gospel, but strongly expresses the certainty and perpetuity of