Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon. They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was very distressed. The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.”
Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.” They put away the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpah. The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16 Or, delivered.
Or, delivered.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Jdg 10:7 And the anger of the LORD was…
Jdg 10:7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
Ver. 7. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines,] i.e., He abandoned them into the power, and left them to the pleasure of those very nations with whom they hoped to ingratiate by serving their gods.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 The one on the west, the other on the…
The one on the west, the other on the east; so they were molested on both sides.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v10 Here is, I. A humble confession which Israel make…
Here is, I. A humble confession which Israel make to God in their distress, Jdg 10:10. Now they own themselves guilty, like a malefactor upon the rack, and promise reformation, like a child under the rod. They not only complain of the distress, but acknowledge it is their own sin that has brought them into the distress; therefore God is righteous, and they have no reason to repine. They confess their omissions, for in them their sin began - "We have forsaken our God," and their commissions - "We have served Baalim, and herein have done foolishly, treacherously, and very wickedly."
II. A humbling message which God thereupon sends to Israel, whether by an angel (as Jdg 2:1) or by a prophet (as Jdg 6:8) is not certain. It was kind that God took notice of their cry, and did not turn a deaf ear to it and send them no answer at all; it was kind likewise that when they began to repent he sent them such a message as was proper to increase their repentance, that they might be qualified and prepared for deliverance. Now in this message, 1. He upbraids them with their great ingratitude, reminds them of the great things he had done for them, delivering them from such and such enemies, the Egyptians first, out of whose land they were rescued, the Amorites whom they conquered and into whose land they entered, and since their settlement there, when the Ammonites had joined with the Moabites to oppress them (Jdg 3:13), when the Philistines were vexatious in the days of Shamgar, and afterwards other enemies had given them trouble, upon their petition God had wrought many a great salvation for them, Jdg 10:11, Jdg 10:12. Of their being oppressed by the Zidonians and the Maonites we read not elsewhere. God had in justice corrected them, and in mercy delivered them, and therefore might reasonably expect that either through fear or through love they would adhere to him and his service. Well therefore might the word cut them to the heart (Jdg 10:13), "Yet you have forsaken me that have brought you out of your troubles and served other gods that brought you into your troubles." Thus did they forsake their own mercies for their own delusions. 2. He shows them how justly he might now abandon them to ruin, by abandoning them to the gods that they had served. To awaken them to a thorough repentance and reformation, he lets them see, (1.) Their folly in serving Baalim. They had been at a vast expense to obtain the favour of such gods as could not help them when they had most need of their help: "Go, and cry unto the gods which you have chosen (Jdg 10:14), try what they can do for you now. You have worshipped them as gods - try if they have now either a divine power or a divine goodness to be employed for you. You paid your homage to them as your kings and lords - try if they will now protect you. You brought your sacrifices of praise to their altars as your benefactors, imagining that they gave you your corn, and wine, and oil, but a friend indeed will be a friend in need; what stead will their favour stand you in now?" Note, It is necessary, in true repentance, that there be a full conviction of the utter insufficiency of all those things to help us and do us any kindness which we have idolized and set upon the throne in our hearts in competition with God. We must be convinced that the pleasures of sense on which we have doted cannot be our satisfaction, nor the wealth of the world which we have coveted be our portion, that we cannot be happy or easy any where but in God. (2.) Their misery and danger in forsaking God. "See what a pass you have brought yourselves to; now you can expect no other than that I should say, I will deliver you no more, and what will become of you then?" Jdg 10:13. This he tells them, not only as what he might do, but as what he would do if they rested in a confession of what they had done amiss, and did not put away their idols and amend for the future.
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III. A humble submission which Israel hereupon made to God's justice, with a humble application to his mercy, Jdg 10:15. The children of Israel met together, probably in a solemn assembly at the door of the tabernacle, received the impressions of the message God had sent them, were not driven by it to despair, though it was very threatening, but resolve to lie at God's feet, and, if they perish, they will perish there. They not only repeat their confession, We have sinned, but, 1. They surrender themselves to God's justice: Do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Hereby they own that they deserved the severest tokens of God's displeasure and were sure he could do them no wrong, whatever he laid upon them; they humbled themselves under his mighty and heavy hand, and accepted of the punishment of their iniquity, which Moses had made the condition of God's return in mercy to them, Lev 26:41. Note, True penitents dare and will refer themselves to God to correct them as he thinks fit, knowing that their sin is highly malignant in its deserts, and that God is not rigorous or extreme in his demands. 2. They supplicate for God's mercy: Deliver us only, we pray thee, this day, from this enemy. They acknowledge what they deserved, yet pray to God not to deal with them according to their deserts. Note, We must submit to God's justice with a hope in his mercy.
IV. A blessed reformation set on foot hereupon. They brought forth fruits meet for repentance (Jdg 10:16): They put away the gods of strangers (as the word is), strange gods, and worshipped by those nations that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and to the covenants of promise, and they served the Lord. Need drove them to him. They knew it was to no purpose to go to the gods whom they had served, and therefore returned to the God whom they had slighted. This is true repentance not only for sin, but from sin.
V. God's gracious return in mercy to them, which is expressed here very tenderly (Jdg 10:16): His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. Not that there is any grief in God (he has infinite joy and happiness in himself, which cannot be broken in upon by either the sins or the miseries of his creatures), nor that there is any change in God: he is in one mind, and who can turn him? But his goodness is his glory. By it he proclaims his name, and magnifies it above all names; and, as he is pleased to put himself into the relation of a father to his people that are in covenant with him, so he is pleased to represent his goodness to them by the compassions of a father towards his children; for, as he is the Father of lights, so he is the Father of mercies. As the disobedience and misery of a child are a grief to a tender father, and make him feel very sensibly from his natural affection, so the provocations of God's people are a grief to him (Psa 95:10), he is broken with their whorish heart (Eze 6:9); their troubles also are a grief to him; so he is pleased to speak when he is pleased to appear for the deliverance of his people, changing his way and method of proceeding, as tender parents when they begin to relent towards their children with whom they have been displeased. Such are the tender mercies of our God, and so far is he from having any pleasure in the death of sinners.
VI. Things are now working towards their deliverance from the Ammonites' oppression, Jdg 10:17, Jdg 10:18. God had said, "I will deliver you no more;" but now they are not what they were, they are other men, they are new men, and now he will deliver them. That threatening was denounced to convince and humble them, and, now that it had taken its desired effect, it is revoked in order to their deliverance. 1. The Ammonites are hardened to their own ruin. They gathered together in one body, that they might be destroyed at one blow, Rev 16:16. 2. The Israelites are animated to their own rescue. They assembled likewise, Jdg 10:17. During their eighteen years' oppression, as in their former servitudes, they were run down by their enemies, because they would not incorporate; each family, city, or tribe, would stand by itself, and act independently, and so they all became an easy prey to the oppressors, for want of a due sense of a common interest to cement them: but, whenever they got together, they did well; so they did here. When God's Israel become as one man to advance a common good and oppose a common enemy what difficulty can stand before them? The people and princes of Gilead, having met, consult first about a general that should command in chief against the Ammonites. Hitherto most of the deliverers of Israel had an extraordinary call to the office, as Ehud, Barak, Gideon; but the next is to be called in a more common way, by a convention of the states, who enquired out a fit man to command their army, found out one admirably well qualified for the purpose, and God owned their choice by putting his Spirit upon him (Jdg 11:29); so that this instance is of use for direction and encouragement in after-ages, when extraordinary calls are no longer to be expected. Let such be impartially chosen to public trust and power as God has qualified, and then God will graciously own those who are thus chosen.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–18 And the anger of the Lord was hot against…
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel,.... His anger burned like fire, he was exceedingly incensed against them, nothing being more provoking to him than idolatry, as after mentioned:
and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon; that is, delivered them into their hands, and they became subject and were in bondage to them, as such are that are sold for "slaves"; part of them, that lay to the west of the land of Israel, fell into the hands of the Philistines; and another part, which lay to the east, were oppressed by the children of Ammon, particularly those that were on the other side Jordan came into the hands of the latter.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Philistines, &c. - The one on the west, the…
Philistines, &c. - The one on the west, the other on the east; so they were molested on both sides.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18 Verse 7. The anger of the Lord was hot]…
Verse 7. The anger of the Lord was hot] This Divine displeasure was manifested in delivering them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. The former dwelt on the western side of Jordan; the latter, on the eastern: and it appears that they joined their forces on this occasion to distress and ruin the Israelites, though the Ammonites were the most active.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 Jdg 10:7-8. He sold them into the hand of…
Jdg 10:7-8. He sold them into the hand of the Philistines, &c. — The one on the west, the other on the east, so that they were molested on both sides. That year they vexed, &c. — Or, that year they had vexed and oppressed the children of Israel eighteen years — This was the eighteenth year from the beginning of that oppression. And these eighteen years are not to be reckoned from Jair’s death, because that would enlarge the time of the judges beyond the just bounds; but from the fourth year of Jair’s reign: so that the greatest part of Jair’s reign was cotemporary with this affliction. This case of Jair and that of Samson seem to be much alike. For as it is said of Samson, that he judged Israel in the days of the tyranny of the Philistines, twenty years, Jdg 15:20; by which it is evident that his judicature and their dominion were cotemporary; the like is to be conceived of Jair, that he began to judge Israel, and endeavoured to reform religion, and purge out all abuses; but being unable to effect this, through the backwardness of the people, God would not enable him to deliver the people, but gave them up to this sad oppression; so that Jair could only determine differences among the Israelites, but could not deliver them from their enemies.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18 The previous mention of the Philistines as oppressors of…
The previous mention of the Philistines as oppressors of Israel Jdg 3:31 seems to be restricted to the south of Judah, when they cooperated with Moab. They appear to have gradually increased in power until they reached their height in the time of Saul. In the present instance they were probably in alliance with the Ammonites, holding the western tribes in check, while the Ammonites subdued those on the east of Jordan.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Ammon. While these infested the eastern parts, the Philistines…
Ammon. While these infested the eastern parts, the Philistines made incursions into the territories of their neighbours. (Haydock) --- This servitude resembled that of Madian. Jephte attacked the Ammonites, and Abesan, with other judges, made head against the Philistines (Calmet) in the west. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v17 Repentance followed by energy, concord, and mutual confidence.
Repentance followed by energy, concord, and mutual confidence.
Jdg_10:17-18.
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17Then [And] the children [sons] of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children [sons] of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh [Mizpah]. 18And the people and princes [the people (namely) the chiefs] of Gilead said one to another, What man is he [Who is the man] that will [doth] begin to fight against the children [sons] of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
The call of Gideon to be a deliverer took place just when the national distress was at its greatest height, and Midian had entered on a new expedition of pillage and plunder. A like coincidence marked the present crisis. The sons of Ammon were just making a new incursion into Gilead, when they met with a new spirit. The signature of apostasy and sin, is discord and weakness, despondency and self-seeking, issuing in failure and disaster, whenever action be undertaken. The sign of conversion and true penitence is concord and confidence, leading, by God’s assistance, to victory.
Jdg_10:17. And the sons of Ammon were gathered together . . . . the sons of Israel also assembled themselves. The phrase “sons of Israel” does not always include all the tribes. The men of any single tribe may be so designated. The narrator uses the expression here, however, in order to intimate that though Gilead alone actually engages in the war it is nevertheless done as Israel, according to the mind and spirit of the whole nation. As soon as Israel repents, the collective national spirit, the consciousness of national unity through the calling of God, reawakes in each of the tribes. The localities at which the respective armies are said to have assembled and prepared for the conflict, will be considered under Jdg_11:29.
Jdg_10:18. And the body of the nobles of Gilead said. The hitherto cowed Israelites assembled themselves; but that was not all: they were moreover united in all they did. The narrative says expressly הָעָם שָׂרֵי גִלְעָד, “the people of the nobles of Gilead,” i. e. all, without exception.7 No envious, self-seeking voice of protest or dissent was heard. In times in which distress is recognized with real repentance, private interests cease to govern. People then begin to honor truth and actual merit. No deference is then paid to personal vanity, family connections, or wealth; but, all by-views and self-seeking being set aside, he is sought after who renders service. The nobles of Gilead could not more clearly indicate their new temper, than by unitedly promising to subordinate themselves to him who begins to render the banners of Israel once more victorious, as their head.
It is to be noted that they say, “whoso beginneth to fight against the sons of Ammon.” In him who first again gains an advantage over the enemy in battle, it will be manifest that God is with him. He, accordingly, is to be, not what Gideon’s legions desired him to become, their מֹשֵׁל, ruler, nor what the sinful people of Shechem made of Abimelech, their מֶלֶךְ, king, but their רֹאשׁ, leader. Him, who conquers with God, they desire to follow unanimously, as a common head.
And this one soon appeared.
Footnotes:
[7][Dr. Cassel evidently takes הָעָם as stat. const. Scarcely correct. First, because of the article (cf. Ges. Gram. 110, 2); and, secondly, because עַם never stands for the mere notion of totality. It is better to take גִלְעָד שָׁרֵי as standing in apposition to הָעָם; “the people (namely) the chiefs of Gilead,” i. e. the people through their chiefs, as represented by them.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17 Philistines, and . . . the children of Ammon--The…
Philistines, and . . . the children of Ammon--The predatory incursions of these two hostile neighbors were made naturally on the parts of the land respectively contiguous to them. But the Ammonites, animated with the spirit of conquest, carried their arms across the Jordan; so that the central and southern provinces of Canaan were extensively desolated.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 7. Anger of the Lord — Note, Jdg_2:14.
7. Anger of the Lord — Note, Jdg_2:14.
Philistines… Ammon — They had felt the oppression of these foes before, but had been graciously delivered. See on Jdg_3:31.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–18 7. sold them … Philistines] As the history stands,…
7. sold them … Philistines] As the history stands, this did not happen till after the Ammonite oppression, Jdg_13:1. The reference to the Philistines may be due to the editorial process which aimed at making the present introduction cover both oppressions. See above.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 (7) The anger of the Lord.—For the phrases in…
(7) The anger of the Lord.—For the phrases in this verse see Jdg_2:14-20; Jdg_3:8; comp. 1Sa_12:9.
Of the Philistines.—Jdg_3:31.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 The anger of the Lord, etc. See Jud_1:2:13, 14.…
The anger of the Lord, etc. See Jud_1:2:13, 14. Into the hands of the Philistines. Probably the same Philistine domination as is described more fully in the history of the judgeship of Samson (chs. 13-16.). But now the writer confines his attention first to the oppression of the Ammonites.
Vers. 7-10. Immediate and effectual retribution.
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I IN THE PUNISHMENT INFLICTED THE CALAMITY WAS CLEARLY CONNECTED WITH THE SIN.
1. The sin committed is at once followed by penalty.
2. The punishment lasts whilst the transgression is unrepented of.
3. The seducers become the instruments of punishment.
II THE UNHELPFULNESS OF IDOLATRY WAS EXPOSED. The Ammonites, whose unholy practices they had copied, take advantage of their weakness, and pitilessly despoil and harass them. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Of all the gods they had served, Baal, Molech, Astarte, etc., not one could deliver them. Only Jehovah can hear, and to him they are at last driven. Even Gilead the heroic land is rendered helpless before the despised Ammon, as if to show that real bravery is a moral quality. And the old "fear of Israel" which kept the heathen nations back was gone. The Ammonites wax bold, and cross the Jordan even into Judah. M.
Vers. 10-14. God answering hardened transgressors.
He seems to deny the petition. Is this capricious? There is surely not only cause for it, but a purpose working through it.
I THE AIM OF THE SEVERITY IS TO AWAKEN TRUE REPENTANCE. Inconvenience, discomfort, distress, humiliation may all be felt without true repentance. The latter arises from sorrow for and haired of sin as sin.
II THIS IS SECURED by
1. An appeal to memory of manifold deliverances and mercies.
2. Holding the sinner under the yoke of his own choosing when he no longer chooses it.
3. The temporary horror and despair of rejection. "I will deliver you no more. M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 Cry unto the gods which ye have chosen.
Jdg_10:14
Cry unto the gods which ye have chosen.
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Man in trouble crying to his god
I. Every sinner is destined to meet with trouble. Personal afflictions; social bereavements; death.
II. in great trouble he instinctively cries to his god.
1. Every man has a god.
2. Every mans god ought to be able to help him when help is needed.
III. No god can help him in trouble but the true one. (Homilist.)
No help in trouble save from God
Travellers tell us that they who are at the top of the Alps can see great showers of rain fall under them, but not a drop of it falls on them. They who have God for their portion are in a high tower, and thereby safe from all troubles and showers. A drift rain of evil will beat in at the creatures windows, be they never so well pointed: all the garments this world can make up cannot keep them that travel in such weather from being wet to the skin. No creature is able to bear the weight of its fellow-creature, but as reeds break under, and as thorns run into the sides that lean on them. The bow drawn beyond its compass breaks in sunder, and the string wound above its strength snaps in pieces. Such are outward helps to all that trust to them in hardships. (G. Swinnock.)
Helpless gods
It is a most grievous casting them in the teeth, by an ironical mocking of them with their idolatry, as if he should say, Now ye prove and see what your gods can do. As Elias did the like to the prophets of Baal. Therefore by thus speaking, and bidding them go seek help at their idols hands, they having shaken off the Lord, he teacheth us that they whom we have served, and committed ourselves to, must pay us our wages, and to them the Lord justly doth and will send us to their patronage in our greatest need, even to our horror, yea, destruction, if He take us not, as He did these here, to His mercy. They therefore that have trusted, and still do in man, and have made flesh their arm, shall know by experience one day that they have trusted to a bruised reed. Briefly to conclude this doctrine with some other uses thereof, we see secondly by this that God doth import no less than that (by the law of like equity, and by virtue of a far stronger covenant) if this people had persisted faithful in His service He could not have denied their suit for help and defence against their enemies. Thirdly, these words note out this, that it is wisdom for a man to bestow his chief cost there whence he looks for best recompense and acknowledgment in the time of most need. A man is not ashamed of that labour which hath brought him in plentiful gain, but of that which answers not his cost and hope. Men that have run themselves out of breath all their life, groping after a blind happiness, in their unprofitable, superstitious, profane course, at length, seeing themselves deceived, wish they had served a Master who might have saved them and received them into everlasting habitations. Thus the Lord is fain to upbraid men (though not by word, saying, Go to your idols, yet in effect, in that He leaveth them shiftless), or else who should persuade one of a hundred that he soweth among thorns, or loseth his labour and cost, when he casteth it and himself away upon idols? (R. Rogers.)
The misery of forsaking God
I know not how anything can be imagined more sublime, more edifying, or more truly affecting than the delineations of the moral character of the Almighty Governor of the universe, afforded us by Scripture. Immensity of power, combined with the most unrestricted condescension to the wants of the meanest of His creatures; and purity, which charges the very heavens with comparative uncleanness, united with plenitude of compassion. Perhaps, however, there is no passage in the book of the Old Testament more completely to this purpose than the text. Now, be it remembered, that a correct theory of the Divine Being, and sound views of practical morality, are as closely connected with each other as cause and effect. All real morality being the adaptation of our actions to some authentic first rule, and that rule being the presumed will of the great Being who has an undisputed claim to our obedience, it follows as a matter of course that, in order that our standard of morals should be high, our notions of Him to whose approbation that standard is referable should be high in a like proportion. We might as well expect the subsequent course of a stream to be more elevated than its fountain as imagine holy and perfect actions to proceed from belief in an imperfect or impure deity. This con- sideration will at once show us that spiritual debasement is a necessary result of false worship; and will point out the fallaciousness of that favourite assertion of the unbeliever, that accuracy of our abstract notions respecting the Deity is of no consequence provided our practical theory of morality be correct, And now, then, by this infallible test let us try the Christian revelation, comparing it with all that the most plausible surmises of pagan philosophy, or of modern infidelity, have at any time suggested in opposition or rivalry to it. The more substantial theories of paganism on this subject lie in very small compass. It is true that the better disposed heathens in all ages have, from an instinctive feeling of religion, been ready to admit the occasional intervention of Providence with the affairs of mankind, and something like a general system of rewards and punishments, having reference to the morality of human actions. These opinions, however, so far as they went, were, I believe, on all such occasions, rather the spontaneous suggestion of the moral feeling within them, acting against theory, than the result of any deliberate assent of the understanding, founded upon rational inquiry. In fact, I know only of two views of the great question, What is God? or, What is the great moral sanction for the guidance of mans actions? as taken up after mature deliberation by the philosophers of antiquity, which can lay claim to the character of a regular system; the one is that adopted by the Stoics, which pronounces virtue to be so intrinsically lovely in itself as, under all external circumstances, to prove its own reward; the other, that which, though not formally avowed, would, if strictly reasoned out, necessarily result from the principles of the Peripatetics, which, considering the Creator of the universe as the summit of all possible perfection, would represent Him as eternally wrapt up in the contemplation of His own transcendental nature, and consequently indifferent to the vicissitudes which may befall inferior beings. Now it is obvious that both these views, either if entertained as physically true, as affording a substantial first principle of religious morality, are quite unsatisfactory and inoperative. Strange, then, as the proposition may sound in the ears of those who have not been accustomed to consider the doctrines of paganism in all their strictness and in all their consequences, it is undoubtedly true that the belief in a Being at once all perfect in His own nature, and yet at the same time watchfully attentive to all that passes in the creation beneath Him, is the result of revelation only. Our natural reason not only never could have arrived at such a conclusion, but in fact, at the first blush of the question, it absolutely recoils from it. Can God really regard, not merely perishable man, but even the very worms that creep at our feet? Our first impulse, when we consider the presumed impassiveness of its nature, is to say, Certainly not. How can He be at once complete in His own perfection and happiness and accessible to prayer; or, in other words, liable to be influenced by causes external to Himself? Our natural reason is quite unequal to the solution of this difficulty. It is only, I repeat, when we reflect how entirely the whole sum and substance of religion, the elevation of our souls, the establishment of all morality, and the consequent entire welfare of society turn upon this very doctrine, that we learn how much more complete is the revealed wisdom which is from heaven than that which it is given to unassisted man to find out. The question is, not what God might have done, but what He actually has done. The infidel may try to get rid of the difficulty by turning the whole discussion into ridicule, and attempting to show that human life, and all connected with it, is merely like a feverish dream or an ill-told tale without object or connection. The worldly man may assert that, after all that may be said against it, life is still a state of tolerable ease and comfort, and contented with living like the brutes, may think it unnecessary to inquire further; or the more stern philosopher, arguing upon the principles of the ancient Stoics, may assert, contrary to self-evident fact, that life in reality possesses no evil for the truly wise, and that the theory of a future state is not necessary for the vindication of the ways of Providence. But meanwhile the really painful circumstances of our existence will make themselves felt, whether we will or not; and, if we would explain them in a manner satisfactory to our highest notions of Gods goodness, we must have recourse to our Bible. I do not, indeed, say that even in our Bibles we shall find all our difficulties removed. Very far from it; but I do say, that the Bible presupposes the existence of all these very difficulties; that the theory of the Bible would be false did we not find the world precisely what we do find it; and that the great object of the Bible is to show how this very state of things (the great stumbling-block of every other form of religious belief) is part and parcel of the Divine arrangements for the accomplishment of Gods wise and beneficent purposes. Let us pass on to the inferences resulting from these momentous facts. Consider, then, in what a new position, with respect to everything around us, we are all of us placed by this circumstance of the intimate, and almost social, connection which revelation thus declares to exist between ourselves arid our Maker. What a vast interest is communicated to the whole tenor of our existence when we recollect that we are not, as heathen speculation would teach us, placed as in a dreary moral solitude, withdrawn from the superintendence of the Divine mind, who has other and better occupations than to trouble Himself with the details of our sorrows or of our pleasures, of our good or of our bad actions; but that we subsist day and night under His all-searching eye; that not a thought passes through our breasts, not a word escapes our lips, but is pregnant with the consequences of our future weal or woe; that every apparent blessing, every seeming evil with which we are visited, has its peculiar errand and object, viz., the disciplining of our hearts, and the preparing us for immortality! (Bp. Shuttleworth.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 10, 13, 15, 17 crushed and oppressed
crushed and oppressed
These two words basically mean the same and emphasize how much the Israelites suffered. AT: "terribly oppressed" (See: Doublet)
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eighteen years
"18 years" (See: Numbers)
who were beyond the Jordan
This means on the east side of the Jordan River.
which is in Gilead
"this region is also called Gilead"
Judah ... Benjamin
"Judah" and "Benjamin" refer to the people belonging to those tribes. AT: "the people of the tribe of Judah ... the people of the tribe of Benjamin" (See: Metonymy)
house of Ephraim
The "house" refers to the people of the tribe of Ephraim. AT: "the people of the tribe of Ephraim" (See: Metonymy)
so that Israel was greatly distressed
"Israel" refers to the people of Israel. AT: "so that the people of Israel suffered much" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
oppress
Israel
year
Jordan River
Amorite
Gilead
Ammon
Judah
Benjamin
house
Ephraim
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.