Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock— then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of oil. You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
“ ‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil; and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7, 9 Into the land of Canaan.
Into the land of Canaan.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5 Num 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and…
Num 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,
Ver. 2. When ye be come into the land.] God, who in the midst of judgment remembereth mercy, and suffereth not his whole wrath to arise, seals up his love again to these recent revolters: and although he led them in and out, backward and forward, in that terrible wilderness, as if he had been treading a maze; yet he here gives them new directions what to do, when they, that is their children, came into the land of Canaan. Yea, he further tells them that he will smell a sweet savour of the herd, and of the flock; and is pleased to enlarge and explain some laws formerly delivered, in token of his reconciliation to them. So he renewed his favour to his relapsed spouse, now returning unto him, {Son 5:3; Son 6:4-5, &c.} and to his disciples, that had basely forsaken him, by giving them a new commission to execute the ministerial function. {Joh 20:21}
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 vv2, 3, 4, 6, 8 i.e. Will certainly give you notwithstanding this great provacation,…
i.e. Will certainly give you notwithstanding this great provacation, and my unchangeable commination. And for their better assurance hereof, he repeats and amplifies the laws of sacrifices, whereby through Christ he was or would be reconciled to them and theirs upon their repentance.
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 v1 Here we have,
Here we have,
I. Full instructions given concerning the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, which were appendages to all the sacrifices of animals. The beginning of this law is very encouraging: When you come into the land of your habitation which I give unto you, they you shall do so and so, Num 15:2. This was a plain intimation, not only that God was reconciled to them notwithstanding the sentence he had passed upon them, but that he would secure the promised land to their seed notwithstanding their proneness to rebel against him. They might think some time or other they should be guilty of a misdemeanour that would be fatal to them, and would exclude them for ever, as the last had done for one generation; but this intimates an assurance that they should be kept from provoking God to such a degree as would amount to a forfeiture; for this statute takes it for granted that there were some of them that should in due time come into Canaan. The meat-offerings were of two sorts; some were offered alone, and we have the law concerning those, Lev 2:1, etc. Others were added to the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and constantly attended them, and about these direction is here given. It was requisite, since the sacrifices of acknowledgment (specified in Lev 2:3) were intended as the food of God's table, that there should be a constant provision of bread, oil, and wine, whatever the flesh-meat was. The caterers or purveyors for Solomon's temple provided fine flour, Kg1 4:22. And it was fit that God should keep a good house, that his table should be furnished with bread as well as flesh, and that his cup should run over. In my Father's house there is bread enough. Now the intent of this law is to direct what proportion the meat-offering and drink-offering should bear to several sacrifices to which they were annexed. If the sacrifice was a lamb or a kid, then the meat-offering must be a tenth-deal of flour, that is, an omer, which contained about five pints; this must be mingled with oil, the fourth part of a hin (a hin contained about five quarts), and the drink-offering must be the same quantity of wine, about a quart and half a pint, Num 15:3-5. If it was a ram, the meat-offering was doubled, two tenth-deals of flour, about five quarts, and a third part of a hin of oil (which was to them as butter is to us) mingled with it; and the same quantity of wine for a drink-offering, Num 15:6, Num 15:7. If the sacrifice was a bullock, the meat-offering was to be trebled, three omers, with five pints of oil, and the same quantity of wine for a drink-offering, Num 15:8-10. And thus for each sacrifice, whether offered by a particular person or at the common charge. Note, Our religious services should be governed, as by other rules, so by the rule of proportion.
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II. Natives and strangers are here set upon a level, in this as in other matters (Num 15:13-16): "One law shall be for you and for the stranger that is proselyted to the Jewish religion." Now, 1. This was an invitation to the Gentiles to become proselytes, and to embrace the faith and worship of the true God. In civil things there was a difference between strangers and true-born Israelites, but not in the things of God; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord, for with him there is no respect of persons. See Isa 56:3. 2. This was an obligation upon the Jews to be kind to strangers, and not to oppress them, because they saw them owned and accepted of God. Communion in religion is a great engagement to mutual affection, and should slay all enmities. 3. It was a mortification to the pride of the Jews, who are apt to be puffed up with their birthright privileges. "We are Abraham's seed." God let them know that the sons of the stranger were as welcome to him as the sons of Jacob; no man's birth or parentage shall turn either to his advantage or his prejudice in his acceptance with God. This likewise intimated that, as believing strangers should be accounted Israelites, so unbelieving Israelites should be accounted strangers. 4. It was a happy presage of the calling of the Gentiles, and of their admission into the church. If the law made so little difference between Jew and Gentile, much less would the gospel make, which broke down the partition-wall, and reconciled both to God in one sacrifice, without the observance of the legal ceremonies.
III. A law for the offering of the first of their dough unto the Lord. This, as the former, goes upon the comfortable supposition of their having come into the promised land, Num 15:18. Now that they lived upon manna they needed not such an express acknowledgment of God's title to their daily bread, and their dependence upon him for it, the thing spoke for itself; but in Canaan, where they should eat the fruit of their own industry, God required that he should be owned as their landlord and their great benefactor. They must not only offer him the first-fruits and tenths of the corn in their fields (these had already been reserved); but when they had it in their houses, in their kneading trough, when it was almost ready to be set upon their tables, God must have a further tribute of acknowledgment, part of their dough (the Jews say a fortieth part, at least, of the whole lump) must be heaved or offered up to God (Num 15:20, Num 15:21), and the priest must have it for the use of his family. Thus they must own their dependence upon God for their daily bread, even when they had it in the house with them; they must then wait on God for the comfortable use of it; for we read of that which was brought home, and yet God did blow upon it, and it came to little, Hag 1:9. Christ has taught us to pray not, Give us this year our yearly harvest, but Give us this day our daily bread. God by this law said to the people, as the prophet long afterwards said to the widow of Sarepta (Kg1 17:13), Only make me thereof a little cake first. This offering was expressly kept up by the laws of Ezekiel's visionary temple, and it is a commandment with promise of family-mercies (Eze 44:30): You shall give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thy house; for, when God has had his dues out of our estates, we may expect the comfort of what falls to our share.
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 vv1–10 The Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the murmurings of…
The Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the murmurings of the Israelites by reason of the spies, Num 14:2; and their being threatened with a consumption of them in the wilderness on that account, Num 14:12; and their defeat at Hormah, Num 14:45, and lest their posterity should be discouraged, and despair of ever enjoying the good land:
saying; as follows.
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 vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Laws, concerning meal-offerings and drink offerings, ver. 1- 16.…
Laws, concerning meal-offerings and drink offerings, ver. 1- 16. Concerning dough for heave-offerings, ver. 17-21. Sacrifices for sins of ignorance, ver. 22-29. Concerning presumptuous sinners, ver. 30, 31. An instance in the sabbath-breaker, ver. 32- 36. Concerning fringes on the borders of their garments, ver. 37- 41.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5 Directions concerning the different offerings they should bring
CHAPTER XV
Directions concerning the different offerings they should bring
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unto the Lord when they should come to the land of Canaan, 1-3.
Directions relative to the meat-offering, 4;
to the drink-offering, 5.
Of the burnt-offering, vow-offering, peace-offering,
drink-offering, &c., 6-12.
All born in the country must perform these rites, 13,
and the strangers also, 14-16.
They shall offer unto the Lord a heave-offering of the
first-fruits of the land, 17-21.
Concerning omissions through ignorance, and the sacrifices to be
offered on such occasions, 22-29.
He who sins presumptuously shall be cut off, 30, 31.
History of the person who gathered sticks on the Sabbath, 32.
He is brought to Moses and Aaron, 33.
They put him in confinement till the mind of the Lord should be
known on the case, 34.
The Lord commands him to be stoned, 35.
He is stoned to death, 36.
The Israelites are commanded to make fringes to the borders of
their garments, 37, 38.
The end for which these fringes were to be made, that they might
remember the commandments of the Lord, that they might be holy,
39-41.
NOTES ON CHAP. XV
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 vv1, 3, 4 Num 15:1-2. When the following laws were delivered, is…
Num 15:1-2. When the following laws were delivered, is uncertain. But it would seem, from Num 15:23, to have been toward the end of their peregrinations, and not long before their settlement in Canaan, consequently at a time when part of that mutinous generation, mentioned in the former chapter, were cut off by death. If this remark be just, these laws were enjoined only to the children of the murmurers, who had not forfeited a right to the inheritance in the promised land, as their fathers had done. Le Clerc, however, is of opinion that the laws here recorded were delivered before the rebellion recorded in the former chapter.
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 vv1, 2, 4 The contents of the next five chapters must apparently…
The contents of the next five chapters must apparently be referred to the long period of wandering to which Num 14:33 the people were condemned.
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 vv2, 3, 4, 6 Speak. This law was probably given towards the end…
Speak. This law was probably given towards the end of the 40 years, ver. 23.
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 v1 KADESH (Deu_1:19; Num_20:1; Num_27:14). THE SETTLEMENT IN KADESH AFTER…
THIRD DIVISION
KADESH (Deu_1:19; Num_20:1; Num_27:14). THE SETTLEMENT IN KADESH AFTER THE DEFEAT. THE OBSCURE THIRTY-EIGHT (FORTY) YEARS
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Num_15:1 to Num_20:13
General Remarks on the Sojourn of Israel in Kadesh
Quite in accordance with writing the history of the Theocracy, the account passes over the forty years without giving us any particular account of them, but makes prominent here also only the ingredients that were important to the development of the Theocracy. The first thing of moment is further legislation in reference to sacrifices, in which there plainly crops out an intimation that sacrifices were suspended during the stay in the wilderness. The second is a definite distinction between sins of infirmity and sins of rebellion, an example which led to a severer enforcement of the Sabbath law, and a symbolic enforcement of the legal ordinances in general (Numbers 15). Opposed to the enforcement of legal prescriptions appears the rebellion of spiritualism, the idea of the typical universal priesthood asserting itself in a fanatical way, supported by pretensions of the rights of the first-born and of birth-right (Numbers 16). In spite of the judicial penalty, the mutinous adhesion to the fanatics that had been destroyed continues, as similar instances of idolizing often recur in ancient and modern history (Chiliasm, Popery, Legitimism, Buonapartism, etc.), and only a new judgment, expiated by a mediation of the ordained priesthood, barely restores the consideration of the latter (Num_17:1-13). This restoration is completed by the mysterious history of the blooming of Aaron’s rod (Num_17:10-13). Then follows a new confirmation of the rights of the priesthood, founded on its duties, and a further explanation of the relation between priests and Levites (Numbers 18). The mighty reign of death in these storms of judgment made necessary a new institution of a simple and universal purification from the uncleanness resulting from contact with dead bodies. This is introduced as sprinkling with holy water, made holy by the ashes of the red heifer (Num_19:1-22). The last event of this division no doubt belongs chronologically to the earlier period of the stay in Kadesh, viz., the failure of Moses at the water of strife (Num_20:1-13). But the narrator seems to have put the history in this place because he would connect together the deaths of the elect trio, the two brothers and their sister. Miriam dies at Kadesh (Num_20:1); Moses along with Aaron receives at Kadesh the notification that he must die before the entrance into Canaan (Num_15:12), and Aaron dies a little while after the departure on the new journey (Num_15:24).
Kurtz draws a picture of the condition of Israel in this interim of the thirty-eight years that by no means agrees with the facts communicated here (History of the Old Covenant, II., § 42). He uses the title “The period of the thirty-seven years’ ban.” But it has already been remarked that there can be no propriety in calling this period a thirty-seven years’ ban, seeing that unquestionably the legislation of Jehovah continued on during this interim, and that, moreover, the reproach of idolatry that Amos makes against ancient Israel (Amo_5:25 sqq.) does not suit a period when spiritualism flourished even to fanaticism (see also Amo_2:10-11). Beside, how could a people under a ban be fed with manna from heaven? It is true that Kurtz goes on to restrict the idea of a ban; the rejected generation was only excluded from the possession of the land of Canaan. But on the other hand the polemic of Kurtz [ibid. ii. § 41] is effective against the conjectures of Hitzig and Goethe about Israel’s abode in the wilderness. Kurtz also shows that he thinks there is an excess of literal interpretation by what he says in regard to Deu_8:4; comp. Num_29:5; Neh_9:21 [ibid. § 43]: “A whole series of both Jewish and Christian commentators interpret these passages without the least hesitation as meaning that the clothes and shoes of the Israelitish children grew with their growth, and remained for the whole of the forty years not in the least the worse for the wear.” See that author’s discussions of this monstrous literalness, which was shared by Justin Martyr; and also his comments on Eze_20:10-26; Amo_5:25-27.
FIRST SECTION
An ordinance about the future performance of sacrifices. An indirect promise of Canaan and at the same time an indirect postponement of sacrifice
Num_15:1-31
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, 3And will make an 1offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt-offering, or a sacrifice in 2performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock: 4Then shall he that offereth his 3offering unto the Lord bring a 4meat offering of a tenth deal of flour, mingled with the fourth part of a hin of oil. 5And the fourth part of a hin of wine for 5a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or 66sacrifice, for 7one lamb. Or for da ram, thou shalt prepare for a ameat offering two 7tenth deals of flour, mingled with the third part of a hin of oil. And for da drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of a hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord. 8And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in 1performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord; 9Then shall he bring with da bullock a cmeat offering of three tenth deals of flour, mingled with half a hin of oil. 10And thou shalt bring for da drink offering half a hin of wine, for an aoffering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 11Thus shall it be done for fone bullock, or for fone ram, or for a lamb, or a kid. 12According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. 13All that are 8born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an aoffering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 14And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an aoffering made by 15fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do. 9One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. 16One law and one 10manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
17And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 18Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, 19Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up a heave offering unto the Lord. 20Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. 21Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord a heave offering in your generations.
22And if ye 11have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the 23Lord hath spoken unto Moses, Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 1224Then it shall be, if aught be committed by ignorance 13without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his cmeat offering, and his drink offering, according to the 3manner, and one 14kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it 15 is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, aa sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their 16ignorance: 26And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; 17seeing all the people were in ignorance.
27And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that 18sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth 19by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29Ye shall have one law for him that 20sinneth pthrough ignorance, both for him that is gborn among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
30But the soul that doeth aught 21presumptuously, whether he be 22born in the land, or a stranger, the same 23reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num_15:15. הַקָּהָל is the nominative absolute. “As for the assembly.” Comp. הָאֶזְרָה, Num_15:29. “The LXX. and Sam. connect הקהל with what precedes: ‘as ye do so shall the assembly do,’ on which Rosenmueller properly remarks that it presents a hardly intelligible sense.” Maurer—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Keil remarks with justice in loc. that this modification of the former laws of offerings was designed, in these sad and dreary times, to inspire hope in the new generation which was growing up, and to turn their attention to the promised land. At the same time this modification of the law is plainly a postponement of the developed sacrificial service to the time of the settlement in Canaan. The people could not indeed come by the materials for meat and drink-offerings before they came into the land of Canaan; the heave-offering of the first of the bread pre-supposes a harvest in Canaan. In part the bloody offerings themselves were conditioned by such bloodless adjuncts. Knobel, after his manner, draws the conclusion, that the passage infers, that the entrance into Canaan is now near at hand!
2. First Ordinance. Meat and Drink-offerings, Num_15:3-16. The reference here can only be to the two classes of burnt-offerings and sacrifices or peace-offerings, and not to sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, since these were not amended. In contrast with these, as blood-sacrifices, our two varieties are called fire-offerings. The sacrifices separate into their three sub-divisions: the votive offering or offering in time of need; the free-will offering or offering in time of prosperity; and the festal or praise and thank-offering. The quantity of the meal and drink-offering (see on Exod., p. 124 sq.) is increased according to the value of the victim, a lamb or kid, a ram, or a young bullock; likewise according to the number of the victims. The same law applies to strangers uniting in the offerings, both as regards the offerings and the assembling with the congregation, presupposing that they are theocratic strangers. They must join in the celebration of Pentecost, as well as of Easter. The more general regulations on the meal-offering are given in Leviticus.
3. Second Ordinance. The Offering of the Dough and Groats of the New Bread (Num_15:18-21). A cake of coarse meal is to be brought (v. Eze_44:30; Neh_10:38). Thus too is the harvest-offering a three-fold one: (1) the first sheaf (Lev_23:11); (2) the first dough, made into a cake, according to the present passage; (3) the first bread (Leviticus 23.). No form of harvest blessing shall be enjoyed until a thank-offering has been made from it.
4. Third Ordinance. Of the Sin-Offering (Num_15:22-29). This supplements Lev_4:13-21. In that place, however, it is sins of commission which are considered; here it is sins of omission. The section distinguishes the sins of omission on the part of the whole congregation and those of single individuals. Under the first, cannot be intended apostacies of the whole congregation—that needed to be expiated in an entirely different manner; but the gradually developing distempers of unconscious prostration, or also inflammation, the unconscious falling away from the standard of the Law. The fault is denoted as pardonable by the very circumstance, that, after the beginning of better knowledge, a burnt and meal-offering were to be first presented, and not till then a sin-offering, and that the burnt-offering should consist of a bullock, while the sin-offering was to be only a he-goat. According to Knobel and Keil, indeed, the sin-offering was in this case also to precede. The burnt-offering, says Keil, is as usual mentioned before the chief offering. But this is by no means the case: in Lev_15:15; Lev_15:30, the sin-offering is mentioned first, and then the burnt-offering; in Lev_12:6, on the contrary, the burnt-offering is spoken of first, and afterwards the sin-offering; in Lev_16:25, also the burnt-offering is kindled before the sin-offering. Two classes seem to be distinguished here. Between the uncleanness of a pregnant woman and that of the leper, there was also a difference. It is really at first immediately the burnt-offering which is purified, which the people in their ignorance have brought, and thereby mediately the people also. It was as if e.g. a Christian Church, after thus coming to a better mind, were to appoint a fast day over and above their previous sermons. We cannot in any case accept the notion of Keil, that the sin-offerings must in all cases precede because a separation had occurred between the congregation and the Lord. What then does the Catechism of the New Testament teach of pardonable sins embraced in the universal pardon? With this we commend the above distinction to further investigation. The stranger also is included in the forgiveness which was to be attained, whether he have had a particular part in the error or not. Concerning the relation of these offences to the outward ritual as explained by Maimonides, or their explanation by the conduct of the people under bad kings, that Outram suggests, see Keil, in loc., footnote. Within the limits of the aberrations under consideration, however, unconscious deviations must be distinguished from conscious defection. From a single soul only a she-goat is required for a sin-offering; for the Law does not impose any involuntary burnt-offerings upon individuals, except in the case of reception back into the congregation.
5. Fourth Ordinance. The Conscious Sin of Obstinacy toward Jehovah, or, the Sin with Uplifted Hand (Num_15:30-31). The antithesis to the foregoing section. Only sins from error (בִּשְׁגָגָה) can be expiated by sin-offerings [vid.Lev_4:2); but not the sin (בְּיָד רָמָה) with uplifted hand. Says Keil: “With a high hand, so that he therewith, as it were, lifts up his hand against Jehovah, acts in open rebellion against Him.” The consciously wicked man, as it were, shakes his fist at Heaven, the throne of God. Their iniquity be upon them! That is, they are curse-offerings devoted to death (see Gen_17:14). The succeeding story immediately serves for illustration; and on that account probably it is placed in connection with this ordinance.
Footnotes:
[1]a fire sacrifice.
[2]Heb. separating.
[3]oblation.
[4]meal-offering.
[5]the.
[6]for the.
[7]each.
[8]home-born.
[9]As regards the assembly, let there be one statute for you and for the stranger.
[10]Or ordinances.
[11]shall err and not observe.
[12]And.
[13]Heb. from the eyes.
[14]he-goat.
[15]was an error.
[16]error.
[17]for it happened to all the people through error.
[18]erreth.
[19]through error.
[20]Heb. doth.
[21]Heb. with an high hand.
[22]home-born.
[23]blasphemes.
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 vv3, 4, 6 make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a…
make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering--It is evident that a peace offering is referred to because this term is frequently used in such a sense (Exo 18:12; Lev 17:5).
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 vv1, 3, 4, 5, 8 SUPPLEMENTARY ALTAR RITUAL, Num_15:1-29.
SUPPLEMENTARY ALTAR RITUAL, Num_15:1-29.
The chief peculiarity of this supplement is, that it is not to be obligatory in the wilderness, but in the land of your habitations, that is, Canaan. It consists in the association of the meat offering and drink offering with the burnt offering, with a specification of the amount of oil and wine to be used with the various animal sacrifices. It also shows the ground on which rests the previously instituted heave offering of the first ripe fruits.
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Exo_22:29; Exo_23:19; Lev_23:11. Then follows an extension of the sin offering beyond a sin of commission committed inadvertently, to a sin of omission in not observing “all those commandments which Jehovah had spoken through Moses.”
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 vv1, 3, 7 1–16. Meal-offerings and Libations. These are to accompany both…
1–16. Meal-offerings and Libations. These are to accompany both private and public sacrifices, and are arranged according to a fixed scale as follows (ephah = c. 1 bushel; hin = c. 1½ gallon):
Meal.Oil.Wine.With every lamb1/10 ephah.¼ hin.¼ hin.With every ram2/10 ephah⅓ hin.⅓ hin.With every bullock3/10 ephah.½ hin.½ hin.It will be seen that the amount in each case varies according to the size of the animal. Ezekiel, in his ideal arrangements for worship in the restored Jerusalem, has a similar scale (Eze_46:5-7; Eze_46:11; Eze_46:14), but the amounts are larger, they are not graduated so carefully with respect to the size of the animal, and the libation of wine is not included. The present scale appears to be a later modification of Ezekiel’s.
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But while the fixing of definite amounts was probably a late development, the practice of offering meal, oil and wine as an accompaniment of sacrifice was ancient. Men offered to their God the same food which they enjoyed at their own table; cf. Jdg_9:9; Jdg_9:13 (oil and wine), 1Sa_1:24; 1Sa_10:3 (meal and wine), Hos_9:4 (wine), Mic_6:7 (oil). Leviticus 2 (P ) contains regulations for meal-offerings, without fixed amounts, but with the addition of salt and frankincense.
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 vv4, 8 (4) A meat offering of a tenth deal of…
(4) A meat offering of a tenth deal of flour . . . —The meal offering and the drink offering which are here ordered to be brought when a lamb was offered in performance of a vow, or as a free will offering, or at the solemn feasts, are the same as those which were appointed to be offered with the morning and evening lamb. (Exo_29:38-40.) Meal offerings and drink offerings had already been prescribed in connection with the three great feasts. (Lev_23:13; Lev_23:18; Lev_23:37.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 15
Numbers 15
The words with which our chapter opens are peculiarly striking, when taken in connection with the contents of chapter 14. There all seemed dark and hopeless. Moses had to say to the people, "Go not up’, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies." And, again, the Lord had said to them, "as truly as I lire, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness...... Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein..... As for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness."
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Thus much as to chapter 14. But no sooner do we open the section now before us, than, just as though nothing had happened, and though all were as calm, as bright, and as certain as God could make it, we read such words as these, "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you," &c. This is one of the most remarkable passages in the entire of this most wonderful book. Indeed there is not, in the whole compass of the book, a passage more thoroughly characteristic, not only of Numbers, but of the entire volume of God. When we read the solemn sentence, "Ye shall not come into the Land," what is the plain lesson which it reads out to us? The lesson, which we are so slow to learn, of man’s utter worthlessness. "All flesh is grass."
And, on the other hand, when we read such words as these, "When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you," what is the precious lesson which they read out to us? This, assuredly, that salvation is of the Lord. In the one, we learn man’s failure; in the other, God’s faithfulness. If we look at man’s side of the question, the sentence is, "Doubtless ye shall not come into the land.’’ But if we look at God’s side of the question, we can reverse the matter, and say, "Doubtless ye shall."
Thus it stands in the scene now before us; and thus it stands in the whole volume of inspiration, from beginning to end. Man fails; but God is faithful. Man forfeits everything; but God makes good all. "The things which are impossible with man are possible with God." Need we travel through the inspired canon in order to illustrate and prove this? Need we refer the reader to the history of Adam, in paradise? or the history of Noah, after the flood? or the history of Israel, in the wilderness? Israel, in the land? Israel, under the law? Israel, under the Levitical ceremonial? Shall we dwell upon the record of man’s failure in the prophetic, priestly, and kingly office? Shall we point out the failure of the professing church as a responsible vessel on the earth? Has not man failed always and in everything? alas! it is so.
This is one side of the picture - the dark and humbling side. But, blessed be God, there is the bright and encouraging side also. If there is the "Doubtless ye shall not;" there is also the "Doubtless ye shall." and why? Because Christ has entered the scene, and in Him all is infallibly secured for the glory of God and the eternal blessing of man. It is God’s eternal purpose to "Head up all things in Christ." There is not a single thing in which the fist man has failed, that the second Man will not make good. All is set up on a new footing in Christ. He is the Head of the new creation; Heir of all the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, touching the land; Heir of all the promises made to David concerning the throne. the government shall be upon His shoulder. He shall bear the glory. He is the Prophet, Priest, and King. In a word, Christ makes good all that Adam lost, and brings in much more beside than Adam ever had. Hence, when we look at the first Adam and his doings, whenever and However viewed, the sentence is "Doubtless ye shall not." Ye shall not remain in Paradise - ye shall not retain the government - ye shall not inherit the promises - ye shall not enter the land - ye shall not occupy the throne - ye shall not enter the kingdom.
But, on the other hand, when we look at the last Adam and His doings, wherever and However viewed, The entire category must be gloriously reversed; the "not" must be for ever taken from the sentence, for in Christ Jesus "all the promises of God are yea and Amen, to the glory of God by us." There is no "nay" in the matter when Christ is concerned. all is "yea’’ - all is divinely settled and established; and because it is so, God has set His seal to it, even the seal of His Spirit, which all Believers now possess. "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Cor. 1: 19-22.
Thus, then, the opening lines of Numbers 15 must be read in the light of the whole volume of God. It falls in with the entire history of the ways of God with man, in this world. Israel had forfeited all title to the land. They deserved nothing better than that their carcasses should fall in the wilderness. And yet such is the large and precious grace of God, that He could speak to them of their coming into the land, and instruct them as to their ways and works therein.
Nothing can be more blessed or more establishing than all this. God rises above all human failure and sin. It is utterly impossible that a single promise of God can fail of its accomplishment. Could it Be that the conduct of Abraham’s seed in the wilderness should frustrate God’s eternal purpose, or hinder the fulfilment of the absolute and unconditional promise made to the fathers? Impossible; and, therefore, if the generation which came up out of Egypt refused to go into Canaan, Jehovah would, of the very stones, raise up a seed to Whom His promise should be made good. This will help to explain the opening sentence of our chapter, which comes in with such remarkable force and beauty after the humiliating scenes of chapter 14. In this latter, Israel’s sun seems to go down amid dark and angry clouds; But in the former, it rises with serene brightness, revealing and establishing that great truth that "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." God never repents of His call or His gift; and hence, though an unbelieving generation should murmur and rebel ten thousand times over, He will make good all that He has promised.
Here is the divine resting place of faith at all times - the sure and safe haven for the soul amid the wreck of all human schemes and undertakings. Everything goes to pieces in man’s hands; but God in Christ remains. Let man be set up in business again and again, under the most favourable circumstances, and he is sure to become a bankrupt; but God has set up Christ in resurrection, and all who believe in Him are placed on a new footing altogether, they are taken into partnership with the risen and glorified Head, and there they stand for ever. That wondrous partnership can never be dissolved. All is secured on a basis that no power of earth or hell can ever touch.
Reader, say, Dost thou understand the application of all this to thyself? Hast thou discovered, in the light of God’s presence, that thou art, in very deed, a bankrupt; that thou hast made shipwreck of everything; that thou hast not a single plea to urge? Hast thou been led to make a personal application of those two sentences upon which we have been dwelling, namely "Doubtless thou shalt not," and "Doubtless thou shalt’’? Hast thou learnt the force of these words, "Thou hast destroyed thyself; But in me is thy help’’? In one word, hast thou come to Jesus as a lost, guilty self-destroyed sinner, and found redemption, pardon, and peace in Him?
Do pause, dear friend, and seriously consider these things. We can never lose sight of the weighty fact that we have something more to do than to write "Notes on the Book of Numbers." We have to consider the soul of the reader. We have a most solemn responsibility to discharge to him or to her; and therefore it is that, from time to time, we feel constrained to turn, for a moment, from the page on which we are meditating, in order to make an appeal to the heart and conscience of the reader, and entreat him, most earnestly, that if he be as yet unconverted, undecided, he would lay aside this volume, and apply his heart seriously to the great question of his present condition and eternal destiny. In comparison with this, all other questions dwindle into utter insignificance. what are all the schemes and undertakings which begin, continue, and end in time, when compared with eternity and the salvation of your never-dying soul? They are as the small dust of the balance. "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul" If you had the wealth of a Rothschild, the money king - if you stood on the loftiest pinnacle of literary fame or political ambition - if your name were adorned with all the honours which the universities of this world could bestow - if your brow were wreathed with the laurels and your breast covered with the medals of a hundred victories - what would it profit you? You must leave all - you must pass through the narrow arch of time into the boundless ocean of eternity. Men of princely wealth, men of literary fame, men who have ruled by their intellectual power the House of Lords and Commons - men who have held thousands hanging entranced upon their lips - men who have reached the very highest point of naval, military, and forensic distinction - have passed away into eternity; and the awful question as to such is, "Where is the soul?"
Beloved reader, we beseech thee, by the most weighty arguments that can possibly be urged upon the soul of men, not to turn away from this subject until thou hast come to a right conclusion. By God’s great love - by the cross and passion of Christ - by the powerful testimony of God the Holy Ghost - by the awful solemnity of a never-ending eternity - by the unspeakable value of thy immortal soul - by all the joys of heaven - by all the horrors of hell - by these seven weighty arguments, we urge thee, this moment, to come to Jesus. Delay not! Argue not Reason not But come now, just as you are, with all your sins, with all your misery, with your misspent life, with your dreadful record of mercies slighted, advantages abused, opportunities neglected - come to Jesus who stands, with open arms and loving heart, ready to receive you, and points to those wounds which attest the reality of His atoning death upon the cross, and tells you to put your trust in Him, and assures you you will never be confounded. May God’s Spirit carry home this appeal to thy heart, this moment, and give thee no rest until thou art savingly converted to Christ, reconciled to God, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise!
We shall now return, for a moment, to our chapter.
Nothing can be more lovely than the picture here presented. We have vows and freewill offerings, sacrifices of righteousness, and the wine of the Kingdom, all based upon the sovereign grace which shines in the very first verse. It is a fair sample, a beauteous foreshadowing of the future condition of Israel. It reminds us of the marvellous visions which close the book of the prophet Ezekiel. The unbelief, the murmuring, the rebellion, are all over and all forgotten. God retires into His own eternal counsels, and from thence looks forward to the time when His people shall offer an offering in righteousness and pay their vows to Him, and the joy of His kingdom shall fill their hearts for ever. Verses 3-13.
But there is one very striking feature in this chapter, and that is the place which "the stranger" gets. It is most thoroughly characteristic. "And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall The stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you."
What a place for the stranger! What a lesson for Israel! What a standing testimony on the page of their favourite and boasted Moses! The stranger is placed on the very same platform with Israel "As ye are, so shall the stranger be," and this, too, "before the Lord." In Exodus 12: 48 we read, "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it." But in Numbers 15 there is no allusion to circumcision at all. And why? Is it that such a point could ever be waived? No; but we believe the omission here is full of meaning. Israel had forfeited everything. The rebellious generation was to be set aside and cut off; but God’s eternal purpose of grace must stand, and All His promises be fulfilled. All Israel shall be saved; they shall possess the land; they shall offer pure offerings, pay their vows, and taste the joy of the Kingdom. On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on the selfsame ground that "the stranger" shall be brought in; and not only brought in, but" As ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord."
Will the Jew quarrel with this? Let him go and study Numbers 13 and 14. And when he has drunk into his inmost soul the wholesome lesson, then let him meditate on Numbers 15; and we feel assured he will not seek to push "the stranger" off the platform, for he will be ready to confess himself a debtor to mercy alone, and to acknowledge that the same mercy which has reached him can reach the stranger, and he will rejoice to go in company with that stranger to drink of the wells of salvation thrown open by the sovereign grace of the God of Jacob.
Are we not forcibly reminded, by the teaching of this part of our book, of that profound section of dispensational truth presented in Romans 9-11, particularly of its magnificent close? "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye [strangers] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: even so have these also now not believed in your mercy (i.e., Mercy shown to the Gentiles, see Greek), that they also may obtain mercy [i.e., come in on the ground of mercy like the stranger.] For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all [Jews and Gentiles - Israel and the stranger.] O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." Romans 11: 29-36.
In Numbers 15: 22-32, we have instructions as to sins of ignorance and presumptuous sins - a very grave and important distinction. For the former, simple provision is made, in the goodness and mercy of God. The death of Christ is presented, in this portion of the chapter, in its two grand aspects, namely, the burnt offering, and the sin offering; that is, its aspect to Godward, and its aspect to usward; and we have also all the preciousness, fragrance, and joy of His perfect life and service, as a man in this world, as typified by the meat offering and drink offering. In the burnt offering, we see atonement wrought according to the measure of Christ’s devotedness to God, and of God’s delight in Him. In the sin offering, we see atonement wrought according to the measure of the sinner’s necessities and the hatefulness of sin in God’s sight. The two offerings, taken together, present the atoning death of Christ in all its fullness. Then, in the meat offering, we have Christ’s perfect life and the reality of His human nature, as manifested in all the details of His path and service in this world. While the drink offering typifies His complete surrender of Himself to God.
Into the rich and marvellous instruction conveyed in the different classes of sacrifices, presented in this passage, we do not attempt to enter now. The reader who desires to study the subject more fully, is referred to a little volume entitled "Notes on the Book of Leviticus." (Pages 1 - 140.) We merely state here, in the very Briefest manner, what we judge to be the main import of each offering; to go into details would only be to repeat what we have already written.
We would merely add that the claims of God demand that sins of ignorance should be taken cognisance of. We might feel disposed to say, or at least to think, that such sins ought to be passed over. But God does not think so. His holiness must not be reduced to the standard of our intelligence. Grace has made provision for sins of ignorance; but holiness demands that such sins should be judged and confessed. Every true heart will bless God for this. For what would become of us if the provisions of divine grace were not adequate to meet the claims of divine holiness? And adequate they most surely could not be, if they travelled not beyond the range of our intelligence.
And yet, while all this will, generally speaking, be fully admitted, it is often very sorrowful to hear professing Christians making excuses for ignorance, and justifying unfaithfulness and error on the ground of ignorance. But very often, in such cases, the question may, very cogently, be urged, why are we ignorant, in reference to any point of conduct, or the claims of Christ upon us? Suppose a question comes before us, demanding a positive judgement, and calling for a certain line of action; we plead ignorance. Is this right? Will it avail? Will it dispose of our responsibility! Will God allow us to shirk the question after such a fashion? Nay, reader, we may rest assured it will not do. Why are we ignorant? Have we put forth all our energies, have we adopted every available means, have we made every possible effort, to get at the root of the matter and reach a just conclusion? Let us bear in mind that the claims of truth and holiness demand all this of us; nor should we be satisfied with anything less. We cannot but admit that, were it a question involving, in any measure, our own interests, our name, our reputation, our property, we should leave no stone unturned in order to make ourselves fully acquainted with all the facts of the case. We should not long plead ignorance in such matters. If information were to be had, we should have it. We should do our very utmost to know all the ins and outs, the pros and cons of the question, so that we might form a sound judgement in the matter.
Is this not so, reader? Well, then, why should we plead ignorance when the claims of Christ are in question? Does it not prove that while we are quick, earnest, energetic, all alive, when self is concerned, we are indifferent, sluggish, slow-paced, when Christ is concerned? Alas! alas! this is the plain humbling truth. May we be humbled under a sense of it! May the Spirit of God make us more thoroughly in earnest in things which concern our Lord Jesus Christ. May self and its interests sink, and may Christ and His interests rise in our estimation, every day! And may we at least cordially own our holy responsibility to go diligently into every question in the which the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may, even in the most remote degree, be involved, however we may fail practically in our research. Let us not dare to say, or think, or act, as though we thought that anything that concerns Him is a matter of indifference to us. God, in His mercy, forbid! Let us esteem All that merely concerns ourselves to be, comparatively, non-essential; but the claims of Christ to be of paramount authority.
We have said thus much on the subject of ignorance, in the sense of our responsibility, to the truth of God, and to the soul of the reader. We feel its immense practical importance. We believe we very often plead ignorance, when indifference would be the truer term to use. This is very sad. Surely if our God, in His infinite goodness, has made ample provision even for sins of ignorance, that is no reason why we should coolly shelter ourselves behind the plea of ignorance when there is the most abundant information within our reach, had we only the energy to make use of it.
We might not, perhaps, have dwelt at such length upon this point, were it not for the conviction which becomes, each day, more strengthened in the soul, that we have reached a serious moment in our history as Christians. We are not given to croaking. We have no sympathy whatever with it. We believe it is our privilege to be filled with the most joyful confidence, and to have our hearts and minds ever garrisoned by the peace of God that passeth all understanding. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1: 7.
But it is impossible to close our eyes to the startling fact that the claims of Christ - the value of truth - the authority of holy scripture, are being, more and more, set aside, each day, each week, each year. We believe we are approaching a moment in the which there will be toleration for anything and everything save the truth of God. It behoves us therefore to look well to it, that God’s word has its own proper place in the heart; and that the conscience is governed, in all things, by its holy authority. A tender conscience is a most precious treasure to carry about with us, from day to day - a conscience that ever yields a true response to the action of the word of God - that bows down, without a question, to its plain statements. When the conscience is in this fine condition, there is always a regulating power wherewith to act upon one’s practical course and character. Conscience may be compared to the regulator of a watch. It may happen that the hands of the watch get astray; but so long as the regulator has power over the spring, there is always the means of correcting the hands. If that power be gone, the entire watch must be taken to pieces. So with the conscience. So long as it continues true to the touch of scripture, as applied by the Holy Ghost, there is always a safe and sure regulating power; But if it becomes sluggish, hardened, or perverted, if it refuses to yield a true response to "Thus saith the Lord," there is little if any hope. It then becomes a case similar to that referred to in our chapter, "But the soul that doeth anything presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." Verses 30, 31.
This is no sin of ignorance, but a presumptuous, wilful sin, for which nothing remained But the unmitigated judgement of God. "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Sam. 15: 13.) These are weighty words for a moment like the present, when man’s will is developing itself with such extraordinary force. It is deemed manly to assert our will; but scripture teaches the direct opposite. The two grand elements of human perfection - of perfect manhood - are these, namely, dependence and obedience. In proportion as any one departs from these, he departs from the true spirit and attitude of a man. Hence, when we turn our eyes to Him who was the perfect man - the man Christ Jesus, we see these two grand features perfectly adjusted and perfectly developed, from first to last. That blessed One was never, for a single moment, out of the attitude of perfect dependence and absolute obedience. To prove and illustrate this fact would take us through the entire gospel narrative. But take the scene of the temptation, and there you will find a sample of the whole of that blessed life. His one unvarying reply to the tempter was, "It is written." No reasonings, no arguments, no questions. He lived by the word of God. He conquered Satan by holding fast the only true position of a man - dependence and obedience. He could depend upon God; and He would obey Him. What could Satan do in such a case? Absolutely nothing.
Well, then, this is our example. we, as having the life of Christ, are called to live in habitual dependence and obedience. This is walking in the Spirit. This is the safe and happy path of the Christian. Independence and disobedience go together. They are utterly unchristian and unmanly. We find these two things in the first man, as we find the two opposites in the Second. Adam in the garden sought to be independent, He was not content with being a man, and abiding in the only true place and spirit of a man, and he became disobedient. Here lies the secret of fallen humanity - these are the two elements which make up fallen manhood. Trace it where you will - before the flood, after the flood; without law, under the law; Heathen, Pagan, Jew, Turk, or nominal Christian; analyse it as closely as you please - and you will see that it resolves itself into these two component parts - independence and disobedience. And when you reach the close of man’s history in this world, when you view him in that last sad sphere in which he is to figure, how do you see him? in what character does he appear? as "the wilful king," and the "lawless man."
May we have grace to ponder these things aright. Let us cultivate a lowly and an obedient spirit. God has said, "To this man will I look, even to him who is of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word." May these words sink down into our ears and into our hearts; and let the constant breathing of our souls be, "Keep back thy servant, O Lord, from presumptuous sins, and let them not have dominion over him."*
{*We would remind the young Christian reader, especially, that the true safeguard against sins of ignorance is the study of the word; and the true safeguard against presumptuous sins, is subjection to the word. We all need to bear these things in mind; but our younger brethren particularly. There is a strong tendency amongst young Christians to get into the current of this present age, and to drink in its spirit. Hence the independence, the strong will, the impatience of control, the disobedience to parents, the headiness, high-mindedness, and self-confidence, the pretentious style, the assumption, the setting up to be wiser than their elders - all these things so hateful in the sight of God, and so entirely opposed to the spirit of Christianity. We would most earnestly and lovingly entreat all our young friends to guard against these things, and to cultivate a lowly mind. Let them remember that "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the lowly."}
It only remains for us, ere closing this section, to notice the case of the sabbath-breaker and the institution of "the riband of blue."
"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." Verses 32-36.
This surely was a presumptuous sin - it was flying in the face of a most plain and positive commandment of God. It is this that specially marks a presumptuous sin, and leaves it utterly inexcusable. Ignorance cannot be pleaded in the face of a divine command.
But why, it may be asked, had they to put the man in ward? Because, although the commandment was explicit, yet the breach of it had not been anticipated, nor had any penalty been enacted. To speak after the manner of men, Jehovah had not contemplated such folly on man’s part, as the interruption of His rest, and therefore He had not formally provided for such an occurrence. We need not say that God knows the end from the beginning; but in the matter now before us, He purposely left the case unnoticed until occasion required. But alas! occasion did require, for man is capable of anything. He has no heart for God’s rest. To kindle a fire on the sabbath day was not only a positive breach of the law, but it evidenced the most complete alienation from the mind of the Lawgiver, inasmuch as it introduced into the day of rest that which is the apt symbol of judgement. Fire is emblematic of judgement, and as such it was wholly out of keeping with the repose of the sabbath. Nothing therefore remained but to visit the sabbath-breaker with judgement, for "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband of blue. And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes .... that ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God." Verses 37-41.
The God of Israel would keep His people in continual remembrance of His holy commandments. Hence the beautiful institution of "the riband of blue" which was designed to be a heavenly memorial attached to the very borders of their garments, so that the word of God might ever be held fast in the remembrance of the thoughts of their hearts. Whenever an Israelite cast his eyes upon the blue riband, he was to think of Jehovah, and yield a hearty obedience to all His statutes.
Such was the great practical intention of "the riband of blue." But when we turn to Matthew 23: 5, we learn the sad use which man had made of the divine institution: "But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments." Thus the very thing which had been instituted for the purpose of leading them to remember Jehovah, and to yield a lowly obedience to His precious word, was turned into an occasion of self-exaltation and religious pride. Instead of thinking of God, and His word, they thought of themselves, and of the place which they held in the estimation of their fellows. "All their works they do to be seen of men." Not a thought of God. The spirit of the original institution was completely lost, while the outward form was kept up for selfish ends. Can we not see something like this around us and among us? Let us think of it - think deeply and seriously. Let us see to it that we do not turn the heavenly memorial into an earthly badge, and that which ought to lead to lowly obedience into an occasion of self-exaltation.
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 A great break in the story of Israel occurs…
PRELIMINARY NOTE TO CHAPTERS 15-19.
A great break in the story of Israel occurs here. Perhaps in the whole history of the theocracy, from Abraham downwards, there is no such entire submergence of the chosen people to be noted. After the rebellion at Kadesh they disappear from view, and they only reappear at Kadesh again after an interval of thirty-eight years. Only one occurrence of any historical moment can be assigned to this period, (Nu 16) and that is recorded without note of time or place, because its ecclesiastical interest gave it an abiding value for all time. The sacred history of Israel in the wilderness may be compared to one of the streams of that wilderness. From its source it runs, if circumstances be favourable, full and free for a certain distance, and even spreads itself abroad upon the more level ground; here, however, it meets a thirstier soil and more scorching heat; it loses itself suddenly and entirely. If its course be followed with doubt and difficulty, a few small water-holes may be discovered, and perhaps in some exceptionally shaded and sheltered spot a permanent pool; only at the furthest end of the dried-up wady, near the great sea, the stream re-forms itself and flows on without interruption to its goal. The void in the record which thus divides in two the story of the exodus is explained readily and satisfactorily by the one fact that during all these years the history of Israel was actually in abeyance. For that history is the history of a theocracy, and in the higher sense it is the history of God"s dealings with his own people, as he leads them on "from strength to strength," until "every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." Thus all the Old Testament from Ge 12 (in which the history properly so called commences) to the end of Joshua has for its goal the entry into and conquest of the promised land; and thence again to 1Ki 10 and 2Ch 9 it leads up to the firm and full establishment of the temple and of the Lord"s anointed in the place which he had chosen. But during the thirty-eight years this advance was absolutely suspended; the generation that excommunicated itself at Kadesh had thenceforth no part and no heritage in Israel; their lives were spared indeed at the time, but they had to die out and another generation had to take their place before the history of the theocracy could be resumed. Instead, therefore, of the blank causing perplexity or suspicion, it most strikingly corresponds with and confirms the whole tenor and purport of the Pentateuch, and the Old Testament in general. It was at Kadesh that the onward march of Israel, as Israel, was summarily suspended; it was from Kadesh that that march began once more after thirty-eight years; and the sacred narrative conforms itself with the utmost simplicity and naturalness to this fact.
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The condition of the nation during this period of submergence is a matter of considerable interest. In endeavouring to picture it to ourselves, we are left to a few scattered statements, to some probable conclusions, and for the rest to mere conjecture. The most important of these statements are as follows:
1.Num_8:2-6 Num_29:5, Num_29:6. God did not wholly abandon them to themselves. He supplied them every day with manna, and also (no doubt) with water when there was no natural supply. (see on 1Co_10:4) He provided them also with raiment and shoes, so that they had the "food and clothing" which are the actual necessaries of life.
2.Num_5:4-8. It may seem strange that no children were circumcised between Egypt and Canaan, considering the extreme importance assigned to the rite. (see on Exo_4:24-26) If any children were born before the first arrival at Kadesh, (see note on Num_10:28) it is probable that their circumcision was postponed in view of a speedy settlement in the land of promise. After that time the general neglect of religious ordinances and the extreme uncertainty of their movements (Num_9:22) would sufficiently account for the general disuse of the rite. It is only reasonable to conclude that the passover also was omitted during all this period. Even if the material elements for its celebration could have been provided, it is hardly possible that the men who came out of Egypt only to die in that wilderness could have brought themselves to renew the memory, so bitter to them, of that great but fruitless deliverance. And with the passover we may probably conclude that the whole sacrificial system fell into abeyance, save so far as it might be maintained by the zeal of the Levites alone. (see below on Nu 19)
3.Num_20:10-26. This is a strong indictment against Israel in the wilderness, and all the more because the children are reproached in the same strain as the fathers. It is apparently to the former that the difficult verses 25 and 26 refer exclusively. If so, we have two facts of grave moment made known to us through the prophet. 1. That the Lord, by way of punishment, gave them statutes and judgment which were not good. 2. That they systematically offered their first-born to Moloch. It is only necessary here to point out that these statements occur in the course of an impassioned invective, and must therefore be taken as the extreme expression of one side only of a state of things which may have bad other aspects.
4.Num_5:25, 26 Act_7:42, Act_7:43. This again is a strong indictment. It is indeed contended that Amo_5:26 should be read in the present tense, and that St. Stephen was misled by an error of the Septuagint. This, however, introduces a much greater difficulty; and even apart from the quotation in the Acts, the ordinary reading is the more natural and probable. (see note on Num_14:33)
While, therefore, the general impression left upon us by these passages is dark indeed, it is hopeless to look for anything definite or precise as to the moral and religious condition of the people at this time. A similar obscurity hangs over their movements and proceedings. We have nothing to guide us except the probabilities of the case, and a list of stations which really tells us nothing. It is only reasonable to suppose that the matching orders issued at Sinai fell ipso facto into abeyance when the short, swift, decisive march for which they were designed came to an abrupt conclusion. We have no authority for supposing that the host held together during these years of wandering which had no aim but waste of time, and no end but death. The presumption is that they scattered themselves far and wide over the wilderness (itself of no great extent), just as present convenience dictated. Disease, and death, and all those other incidents revived in full force which make the simultaneous march in close array of two million people an impossibility. No doubt the headquarters of the host and nation, Moses and Aaron, and the Levites generally, remained with the ark, and formed, wherever they might be, the visible and representative center of the national life and Worship. It is of the movements of this permanent center, which contained in itself all that was really distinctive and abiding in Israel, that Moses speaks in Nu 33, and elsewhere; and no doubt these movements were made in implicit obedience to the signals of God, given by the cloudy pillar. (Num_9:21, Num_9:22) It is quite possible that while the ark removed from time to time, some portion of the people remained stationary at Kadesh, until the "whole congregation" (see on Num_20:1) was reassembled there once more. If this were the case, the peculiar phraseology of Deu_1:46 as compared with the following verse may be satisfactorily explained.
VARIOUS LAWS OF SACRIFICE (verses Heb_4:3) albeit imperfectly and uncertainly. Many of the counsels of our Lord and his apostles are manifestly out of all harmony with the ordinary lives of ordinary Christians, because they pertain to a state of detachment and self-conquest which we, through perversity or half-heartedness, have not attained. (Mat_5:29, Mat_5:39, Mat_5:40, 48 6:34 16:25 17:20 19:12, 21 20:26, 27 Luk_6:35 Luk_12:33 Rom_14:21 1Co_5:11 1Co_6:4, 7 7:29-31 Php_2:5 1Ti_6:8, &c.); These are indeed addressed to all Christians ("speak unto the children of Israel"), not to a select few; but they are addressed to them on the assumption that they have striven after and attained the higher life of the Spirit ("when ye be come," &c.). And this is the real answer to the mocking or uneasy spirit which reproaches the gospel of Christ with being visionary, and with having failed to realize itself in the actual life of Christendom. It is quite true that, as far as the present is concerned, the mind of Christ is not fulfilled in the great majority even of decent-living Christians, because they have not attained to rest, but are wandering still in the deserts of a divided allegiance, one half to God, the other to the world and self. ; (1Co_2:14 1Co_3:3 Heb_12:5)
II THAT THE VERY GIVING OF THESE LAWS INVOLVED THE ASSURANCE THAT THOSE WHO WERE TO KEEP THEM SHOULD ENTER THE HOLY LAND ("which I give you"). Even so the very fact that so much of the mind of Christ as yet unfulfilled in us has been plainly revealed in the gospel is a pledge to us that God has yet much to do for us and in us, and that he will do it. (2Co_13:9 Php_1:6, 9, 10) If it be true that the majority even of earnest Christian people never attain a thorough mastery over self, or an entire conformity to the will of God in this life, then it is certain that this will be wrought in them in the world of spirits beyond our ken; for only this conformity willingly pursued and embraced is our rest. (cf. Mat_11:28, 29 Heb_4:10)
III THAT IT WAS ORDAINED THAT A MEAT AND DRINK OFFERING SHOULD ALWAYS ACCOMPANY THE VOLUNTARY PRESENTATION OF BURNT OR SLAIN OFFERINGS. NOW the burnt and slain offerings represented Christ in his atonement
(1) as having in our name and stead offered himself in entire self-oblation to the Father, (Heb_9:14 Heb_10:9, Heb_10:10)
(2) as being the means of access to and communion with God to them that are justified; (Joh_6:57 Eph_2:14, Eph_2:18) moreover, the voluntary presentation of these sacrifices out of the ordinary routine signified a more personal and earnest pleading of that one Sacrifice by the faithful, as distinguished from that which is more formal and, as it were, obligatory. Again, the meat and drink offering represented the oblation of human labour and care cooperating with Divine grace, for the flour and the oil and the wine were all prepared from the gifts of nature with more or less of industry and skill. Even so, therefore, is it a part of the higher law of Christ, which many do not seem to attain unto, that the earnest pleading of, and reliance upon, and joy in the atonement of Christ shall be always accompanied with the offering of personal service, of good work done for Christ. This cannot truly take the place of the other, any more than the meat offering could supersede or precede the sacrifice; but yet the other is for ever incomplete without it. The most lively faith and devout worship is not acceptable when unaccompanied by the willing tribute of good works. (Tit_3:8, 14 Jam_2:17, 26 2Pe_1:8)
IV THAT THIS MEAT AND DRINK OFFERING WAS ALWAYS AND IN EVERY WAY TO BE PROPORTIONATE TO THE BURNT AND SLAIN OFFERINGS PRESENTED. Even so the tribute of our industry and zeal dedicated to God should bear a full proportion to our faith and joy in the atonement of Christ, and should still increase with the increase of these. Nothing is more painful than the entire disproportion often visible between a man"s earnest and lively desire to appropriate by faith and devotion the merits of Christ"s sacrifice, and the grudging reluctance with which he offers to God of his own time, means, and labour. (Mat_7:21 Mat_25:44, Mat_25:45, compared with Jam_2:16 2Co_9:6 Heb_13:16)
V THAT IN THIS RESPECT THERE WAS TO BE ONE RULE FOR ALL, WHETHER NATIVE BORN OR STRANGER. Even so in the Church of Christ there is but one law of faith and works. There is indeed no "stranger" where all are brethren, but this very fact means among other things that there is no one having part and lot in the atone-merit of Christ who is relieved by any personal circumstances from the duty of helping together with the rest in the tribute of good works. (Rev_20:12)
VI THAT THE FIRST-FRUITS OF BREAD WERE TO BE OFFERED, AS WELL AS OF CORN, i.e., of food as prepared by human labour, as of food in its natural state (fruits of the earth). Even so everything which belongs to our life is to be sanctified by dedication to God, however much human art and labour have conspired to make it what it is. It is not only that which seems to come direct from the bountiful lap of nature which is to be thus acknowledged, but that also which through any process of industry has been adapted to our actual wants. The art and ingenuity and contrivance of man have gone wildly astray, and led to fearful abuses, just because they have not been dedicated to God and to pious uses. (cf. Luk_11:41 Rom_11:16 Rev_21:24)
VII THAT PROPER SACRIFICES WERE APPOINTED, WITH PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS, FOR THE BREACH OF ANY OF THE COMMANDMENTS BY WAY OF OMISSION, such omission not being presumptuous. Even so it is certain under the gospel
1. That sins of omission are still sins, albeit done through neglect, or carelessness, or in ignorance. In nothing is Christian morality more lax than on this point. The double law of Christian charity requires an instructed and attentive mind, if it is to be fulfilled; the carelessness, therefore, of Christians as to how they discharge their positive duties towards God and man is distinctly sinful.
2. That such sins will find forgiveness. The far-reaching nature of our obligations as laid down in the New Testament, and the unending consequences of our most heedless acts and words, might well terrify us if it were not so. (Mat_12:37 Mat_18:6 Mat_25:27, 45 Jam_3:2 Rev_3:2)
VIII THAT THE WHOLE DIVINE LEGISLATION WAS INCLUDED IN THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE LANGUAGE. Even so there is nothing discretionary, nothing permissive, about the laws of Christian morality. None may be overlooked or ignored from first to last without incurring guilt. (Mat_5:18, 19 Jam_2:10 Rom_2:22)
IX THAT THE SACRIFICE FOR SINS OF OMISSION WAS A SIN OFFERING, BUT ALSO, AND MORE ESPECIALLY, A BURNT OFFERING. Even so sins of neglect of duty, of supineness and indifference, demand indeed to be expiated by the one offering made for sin, but also to be repaired by a fresh and entire self-dedication to the will and service of God. To acknowledge our past neglects without an earnest effort to fulfill our duty in future is a feeble and imperfect thing. (Heb_12:12, 13 1Pe_1:13 Rev_2:5) Note, that the law recognized the distinction between the guilt of the nation and the guilt of the individual, and both had their expiations. It is difficult to say whether there is now any "national" guilt, for Christianity does not recognize nations as such; modern nations correspond to the tribes of Israel, if to anything. But there is of course "collective" guilt, of which each must discharge himself by an individual repentance. The atonement for an individual sin of omission was the same as for one of commission.
X THAT NO PROVISION WAS MADE UNDER THE LAW FOR THE PARDON OF A WILFUL SIN AGAINST GOD A SIN OR DEFIANCE. Thus the law brought no satisfaction to the tender conscience, but rather conviction of sin, and longing for a better covenant. Herein is at once contrast and likeness: contrast, in that the gospel hath forgiveness for all sin and wickedness; (Mar_3:28 Act_13:39 Rom_8:1 1Jn_2:1) likeness, in that a marked distinction is made between sins against the light and other sins. (Mar_3:29 Luk_23:34 Joh_19:11 1Ti_1:13 Heb_6:4 Heb_10:26 1Jn_5:16) It is certain that (e.g.) one deliberate lie spoken deliberately, and of malice aforethought, may do more lasting injury to a soul, as far as we can judge, than a whole life of reckless, thoughtless, heedless vice. Compare the case of the Pharisees, (Mar_3:30) with that of the harlots (Luk_7:37) and publicans, (Luk_19:2) and that of Ananias and Sapphira with that of the sinful Corinthian.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-16. God giving laws for the distant future.
I HE TREATS THE FUTURE AS THE PRESENT. The people had been very near to a land of habitations, and to a time when the requirements of this passage would have been close upon them. That time is now moved into a distant future; but it is equally certain to come, and the requirements are equally practical. The land of promise was Israel"s inheritance, and to become its possession, even though Amalekite and Canaanite had just been victorious. God can speak of things that are not as if they were. And after so much gloom as the previous chapter presents, such a rebellious, unmanageable spirit and ominous outlook, there was need of something bright, such as we find in the state of things which these ordinances of offering imply.
II HE POINTS TO A FUTURE FULL OF SATISFACTION TO THE PEOPLE. It will be approved by them as according with his prediction to Moses: "a good land and a large, a land flowing with milk and honey." They shall have cause for all manner of voluntary offerings over and above the necessary offerings for sin. Fulfilled desires would lead to the fulfillment of vows. The very mention of these sacrifices as possible indicated that Israel would be rich in flocks and herds, in corn and wine and oil. There would be reason for much gratitude in the heart, and consequent gifts of thanksgiving. And thus, in spite of all that may be a cause of despondency in the Christian"s present outlook, there will yet be cause of thanksgiving to him. We must not judge the future from our present humiliation and almost vanished hopes, but from the greatness of God"s power and purposes. He sees the rich, bright future of his people even when they do not.
III HE COUNTS ON THE EXISTENCE OF A THANKFUL SPIRIT. There would be abundant cause for such a spirit, and so it was right to provide for any effects that might appear. In spite of all present murmuring and ingratitude, in spite of all sullen compliance with the compulsion to turn back into the wilderness, there would surely some day be a thankful spirit, a devout recognition of God in the midst of prosperity. Thus we may take it that there is something of prophecy, something of reasonable expectation, as well as of appointed duty in the commands here given. Just as the regulations for the Nazarite (Nu 6) indicated an expectation that there would be much of the feeling leading men to the Nazarite vow, so here there is an expectation of much in the way of free-will offerings.
IV These free-will offerings must be joined with offerings from the corn, the oil, and the wine TO MAKE ALL INTO ONE COMPLETE AND ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE. The desire to do something acceptable to God needs to be directed by a knowledge of what is acceptable. The thankful soul will ever be glad to learn his will. No offering to him is worth anything unless it be a cheerful one; but the most cheerful gifts may be nullified for the want of other needed qualities. Hence there should ever be a careful pondering of God"s will in all our offerings to him, so that they may be good and perfect according to the measure of human ability. When most of all we are free agents, then most of all should we look to be directed by necessary commandments from on high.
V THE PROVISION FOR STRANGLES. The land of promise was to be attractive and beneficent to them as well as to Israel. They also would share in its advantages, and be stirred to a corresponding acknowledgment. Thus ever and anon does God raise his warning against all disposition to exclusiveness. He had the case of the stranger and proselyte ever before him. A word of hope this for Hobab, whose heart may have been cast down within him, when he saw how contemptuously Moses had been treated of late. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 15
OFFERINGS: SABBATH-KEEPING: DRESS
Numbers 15
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THE enactments of this chapter regarding meal offerings and drink offerings, the heave offerings of the first dough, and the atonement for unwitting errors belong to the cultus of Canaan. Nothing generic distinguishes the first and third of these statutes from some that were presumably to be observed in the desert; but the note is explicit, "When ye be come into the land of your habitations which I give unto you," "When ye be come into the land whither I bring you." The whole chapter, with its instance of presumptuous sin introduced by the clause, "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness," marking a return to that time, and its commandment regarding the fringes or tassels of blue to be attached to the dress as remembrances of obligations, may appear at first sight without any reference either to what has preceded or what follows. The compilers, however, have a definite purpose in view. The presumption of Korah and his company, and of Dathan and Abiram, is in contrast to the unwitting faults for which atonement is provided, and it comes under the category of what is "done with a high hand"-a form of blasphemy which is to be punished with death. The case of the Sabbath-breaker is an instance of this unpardonable sin, and sends its light on to the incidents that follow. Even the memorial fringes or tassels, and the prophetic sentences that accompany the command to wear them, seem to be forewarnings of the doom of sacrilegious men.
1. MEAL AND DRINK OFFERINGS
The statute regarding offerings "to make a sweet savour unto Jehovah" is specially occupied with prescribing the proportion of flour and oil and wine to be presented along with the animal brought for a burnt offering or sacrifice. Any one separating himself in terms of a vow, or desiring to express gratitude for some Divine favour, or again on the occasion of a sacred festival when he had special cause of rejoicing before God, might bring a lamb, a ram, or an ox as his oblation; and the meal and drink offerings were to vary with the value of the animal brought for sacrifice. The law does not demand the same offering of every person under similar circumstances. According to Mhi means or his gratitude he may give. But deciding first as to his burnt or slain offering, he must add to it, for a lamb, the tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil, and also a quarter of a hin of wine. For a bullock, the quantities were to be three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, with half a hin of oil, and, as a drink offering, half a hin of wine.
The provision is a singular one, based on some sense of what was becoming which we cannot pretend to revive. But it points to a rule which the Apostle Paul may have recognised in this and other Jewish statutes as belonging to universal morality: "Take thought for things honourable in the sight of all men." To make a show of generosity by giving a bullock, while the flour and oil and wine were withheld, was not seemly. Neither is it seemly for a Christian to be lavish in his gifts to the Church, but withhold the meal offering and drink offering he owes to the poor. Throughout the whole range of use and expenditure, personal and of the family, a proportion is to be found which it is one of the Christian arts to determine, one of the Christian duties to observe. And nothing is right unless all is right. The penny saved here takes away the sweet savour of the pound given there. No man is in this to be a law to himself. Public justice and Divine are to be satisfied.
The presence or absence of oil in an oblation marked its character. The sin offering and the jealousy offering were without oil. The "oil of joy" {Isa_61:3} accompanied festal and peace offerings. All ordinances prescribing the oblation of wine and oil necessarily belonged to the cultus of Canaan, for in the wilderness neither of these elements of the sacrifice could be always had. The idea underlying the peace offerings, with their accompanying meal and drink offerings, was unquestionably that of feasting with Jehovah, enjoying His bounty at His table. Acknowledgment was made that the cattle on the hills were His, that it was He who gave the harvest, the vintage, and the fruit of the olive-grove. Confession of mans indebtedness to Jehovah as Lord of nature was interwoven with the whole sacrificial system.
In connection with this ordinance of meal and drink offerings, and that of atonement for unintentional failures in duty (Num_15:22 ff.), it is very carefully enacted that the law shall be the same for the "homeborn" and the "stranger." "For the assembly there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord." The design is to secure religious unity, and by means of it gradually to incorporate with israel all dwellers in the land. While certain ordinances were intended to make Israel a holy nation separated and consecrated to Jehovah, this admission of strangers to the privileges of the covenant has another design. In the Book of Deuteronomy {Deu_7:2} a statute occurs that entirely excludes from citizenship and incorporation all Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hivites, Girgashites, and Perizzites. There was to be no intermarriage with them, no toleration of them, lest they led Israel away into idolatry. The statute is enforced by the words, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth." With this emphatic assertion of the severance of the Hebrews from other races the strain of Numbers, as well as Exodus and Leviticus, generally agrees. When we endeavour to harmonise with it the admission of strangers to the right and joy of sacrificial festivals, we at once meet the difficulty that no other races were, fitter to be received into religious confraternity than those of Canaan. Neither Babylonians, Syrians, Phoenicians, nor Philistines were free from the taint of idolatry; and however degrading the rites of the Canaanites were, some of the other nations followed practices quite as revolting.
We know that for a long period of Israels history strangers were, according to the statute presently under consideration, admitted to the fellowship of religion, as well as to high office in the state. "We have only to study the Book of Joshua to discover that the Israelites, like the Saxons in Britain, destroyed the cities and not the population of the country, and that the number of cities actually overthrown was not very large. We have only to turn to the list of the mighty men of David to learn how many of them were foreigners, Hittites, Ammonites, Zobahites, and even Philistines of Gath. {2Sa_15:18; 2Sa_16:10}. Nor must it be forgotten that David himself was partly a Moabite by descent." In accordance with this large tolerance we might be disposed to include among the "strangers" admitted to privilege men belonging to races that inhabited Canaan before the conquest. Even Deuteronomy seems in one passage to exclude none but Ammonites and Moabites; and the covenant law of Exodus 23, commands generous treatment of the stranger. In contrast to the "homeborn," strangers may appear to mean those only who had come from other countries. and chosen to identify themselves with the faith and fortunes of Israel; still this passage attempts no such definition, and on the whole we must allow that the Mosaic law in regulating the political and social position of resident non-Israelites showed "a spirit of great liberality." They had, of course, to conform to many laws-those, for instance, of marriage, and those which forbade the eating of blood and the flesh of animals not properly slaughtered. If uncircumcised, they could not keep the Passover; but being circumcised, they had equal rights with the Hebrews. The purpose evidently was to make an open way to the benefits of Israels government and religion.
The heave offering of the first dough is placed (Num_15:20) side by side with the heave offering of the threshing-floor of the first sheaves. In Leviticus {Lev_23:17} a harvest oblation is ordered-two wave-loaves of fine flour baken with leaven. Here the heave offering of a cake made from the first dough is not accompanied with sacrifices of animals, but is of a simple kind, mainly a tribute to the priests. The Deuteronomic statute regarding firstfruits, which were to be put in a basket and set down before the altar, prescribed a formula of dedication beginning, "An Aramean ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt": and the offering of these firstfruits was to be an occasion of joy-"Thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee and unto thine house, thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the midst of thee." There can be no question that the most developed statute regarding these harvest offerings is that given in Leviticus, where the exact time for the presentation of the loaves is fixed, the fiftieth day after the Sabbath, from the day when the sheaf was brought. The feast accompanying the offering of the loaves came to be known as that of Pentecost.
Passing now to the law of atonement for unintentional omissions of duty, we notice that the introductory sentences (Num_15:22-23) have a peculiar retrospective cast. They seem to point back to the time when the Lord gave commandment by the hand of Moses. It would appear that in course of years discovery was made that portions of the law were neglected, and the provisions of this statute were to relieve the nation and individuals of accumulating defilement. "When ye shall err, and not observe all these commandments which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses, even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations; then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation"-so runs the preamble. A series of statutes in Leviticus 4 contemplates offences of a like kind, when something has been done which the Lord commanded not to be done. The enactment of Numbers appears to point to a "complete falling away of the congregation from the whole of the law," an unconscious apostasy. Maimonides understands the provision as relating to guilt incurred by the people in adopting customs and usages of the heathen that seemed to be reconcilable with the law of Jehovah, though they really led to contempt and neglect of His commandments.
For the nation as a whole, under these circumstances, atonement was to be made by the burnt offering of a young bullock with its meal offering and drink offering, and the sin offering of a he-goat. In this purgation all strangers resident with Israel are specially included. When any person discovered that he had neglected a precept, he was to offer a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering. The Israelite and the stranger alike had in this way access to the sanctuary. But in contrast to unintentional omission of duty was set deliberate neglect of it. For this there was no atonement. Whether the high-handed transgressor was homeborn or a stranger, he was to be utterly cut off as a blasphemer; his iniquity rested upon him. The distinction is morally sound; and the punishment of the rebel against authority-apparently nothing less than death, or perhaps, if he has fled the land, out-lawry-is such as the theocratic idea obviously required. It was Jehovah Himself who was defied. A man who, as it were, shook his fist in rebellion against God had no right to live in His world, under the protection of His beneficent laws.
The distinction between unwitting neglect and open rejection runs through the whole range of duty, natural, Hebrew, Christian. What a man knows to be right he has before him as a Divine law of moral conduct. By the highest obligations, under which he lies to the Lord of conscience, to his fellowmen, and to himself, he is bound to obey. Judaism added the authority of revelation-the Mosaic law, the prophetic word. Christianity still further adds the authority of the word spoken by the Son of God, and the obligation imposed by His death as the manifestation of eternal love. In proportion as the Divine will is made clear, and the law enforced by revelation and grace, the sin of rejection becomes greater and more blasphemous. But, on the other hand, the unwitting transgressor, be he heathen or imperfectly instructed Christian, has under the new covenant, in which mercy and justice go hand in hand, no less consideration than the Hebrew who unintentionally erred. There is no law that cuts him off from his people. Wide as this principle may reach, it must be that according to which men are judged. Many, knowing the invisible things of God "through the things that are made," are without excuse. They "hold down the truth in unrighteousness"; they are high-handed transgressors. But others who have no knowledge of the Divine law, and break it unwittingly, have their atonement: God provides it. Nor are we to impeach Divine Providence by judging before the time.
It may be asked, Why, since defiant rejection of Christian law is more blasphemous than high-handed breach of the old Hebrew law, the providence of God does not punish it? If any one with Christ and His cross in view is guilty of injustice, or of hatred which is murder, does he not prove himself unworthy to live in Gods world? And why, then, does he not suffer at once the doom of his rebellion? The theory of some stern moralists has been that human government should administer the justice of Heaven and cut off the unbeliever. In many a notable case this has been done, and has caused a righteous horror which continues to be felt. But although men cannot safely undertake the punishment of such offenders, why does not God? Christ boldly stated that here and now this is not the method of the Divine government, but that men enjoy the Fathers mercy even when they are unjust, unthankful, and evil. Yet He spoke of judgment universal-judgment and retribution that shall not miss a single sinner, a single secret sin. And His view of the theocracy clearly is that meanwhile God by mercy to the defiant desires to train men in mercy, by forbearance towards the unthankful and evil commends to us like patience and endurance. Transgressors are to have their full opportunity of repentance, to which the very goodness of God calls them. But justice which delays is not unobservant. Though He who reigns moves slowly to His end, He will not fail to reach it. "He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness." As for human law, its sphere is fixed. Society must protect itself against crime, and is to do so in the name of God, in conformity with the eternal principles of righteousness. The Hebrew temper may seem to have carried this principle into a range that was perilous to enter, as in the instance immediately to be considered; yet the protection of society was even then the immediate motive, not vain jealousy for the honour of God. For ourselves, we have a duty which must be done without assumption or hypocrisy.
The various subjects of thought suggested here should be followed out. For us, they are complicated on the social as well as the religious side by certain theories that are in vogue. The duty of civil government, for example, is on one side extended beyond its proper range by the attempt to give it authority in the domain of religious truth; on the other hand it is unduly restricted by toleration of what is against the well-being of society. The Christian moralist has much to ponder in relation to popular opinions and the trend of modern legislation.
2. THE SABBATH-BREAKER
If the actual sequence of events is followed in the narrative of Numbers, it must have been after the condemnation of the adult Israelites that judgment of the man who was found infringing the Sabbath law had to be executed; and some who were themselves under reprobation took part in convicting and punishing this offender. There is a difficulty here which on high moral grounds it is impossible to explain away. Disaffection and revolt had brought on the mass of the people the sentence of destruction; and this had only been exchanged on Moses intercession for the forty years of wandering. Should not sins that were visited with this penalty have excluded all who were guilty of them from any judicial act? But the same objection would, if admitted, prevent all of us from taking part in the execution of law. Neither the judge nor the jury, neither those who legislate nor those who administer law, are free from moral fault. The whole system dealing with crime has this defect; and Israel in the wilderness was as much entitled as modern society to take in hand the correction of offenders, the maintenance of public well-being.
The law which had been broken was one specially connected with duty to God. Sabbath-keeping might indeed seem to belong to worship rather than to social morality. The seventh day was the Sabbath of Jehovah. It was to be kept holy to Him, made a delight for His sake. The statute regarding it belonged to the first table of the Decalogue. Still, the commandment had a social as well as a religious side. In good will to men Jehovah required the day to be kept holy to Him. Had one and another like this offender been allowed to set aside the fourth commandment, the interests of the whole congregation would soon have suffered. It was for the good of the race, physically as well as intellectually and spiritually, the Sabbath was to be kept. Those who guarded the sanctity of the Sabbath were guarding not the honour of God alone, though they may have thought that the chief merit of their watchfulness, but the interests of the people, a precious heritage of the nation.
It is not necessary to maintain that judgment was given by Moses solely on the ground that the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was an offender against the public well-being. The thought of Jehovahs "jealousy" was constantly kept before the mind of Israel, for by that idea, better than any other, beneficent legislation was supported in a rude age; and judgment no doubt rested mainly on this. Yet the interference of the people and their share in the execution of punishment are to be justified by the undoubted fact that Israel could not afford to let the Sabbath be lost. Even those who were to a great extent earthly could perceive this. And if the punishment seems disproportionate, we must remember that it was the presumptuous temper of the man rather than his actual fault that was judged criminal. St. James said, no doubt from this point of view, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is become guilty of all." The criminal act was that of breaking down, with daring hand, the safeguard of social and religious prosperity.
And there is a sense in which without Pharisaism those who are concerned for the public well-being may still insist on the strict enforcement of the laws that guard the day of rest. Though all days are alike sacred to spiritually minded persons, yet bodily health and mental soundness are bound-up more than men in general know with the Sabbatic interval between labour and labour. The Puritanism often scoffed at is far more philanthropic than the humanitarianism, so-called, which derides it. And when any one enforces the duty of Sabbath-keeping by insisting on Gods claim to the seventh day, his belief is no superstition. Convict him first of advocating what is against the good of men, irrational, absurd, before venturing to call him superstitious. If what is advanced as a claim of God can be proved to be really for the good of men, it is a virtue to insist that for Gods sake as well as the sake of men it should be rendered. There were persons in our Lords time who made Sabbath-keeping a superstition. Against them He testifieth. But it is in His name. who was the great Friend of men the Sabbath law is now insisted on; and the day of rest has all the higher sanction that it commemorates His resurrection from the dead, His promise of that new life which relief from labour enables us to pursue.
The institution of the Sabbath and the scrupulous observance of it were, for Israel, and are still for all believers in Divine religion, most important means of maintaining unity in the faith. Now that many causes interfere with the simultaneous exhibition of regard for other symbols of Christian belief, the day of rest and worship gives a universal opportunity which it would be fatal to neglect. It has the advantage of beginning to claim men on the ground where religion first appeals to them, that of Gods care for their temporal well-being. Those with whom religious feeling is quite elementary must see that a boon of incalculable value is offered in this recurring refreshment to the wearied body and strained mind. And with progress in religious culture the benefit of the day of rest is found to advance. The opportunities of worship, of religious meditation and service, which it brings, will be esteemed as the value of Christian fellowship, the importance of Christian knowledge, and the duty of Christian endeavour are successively understood. On all these grounds the Sabbath, or Lords Day, is for modern religion, as for that of the old covenant, a great declaration, a means of unity and development which the spiritual will earnestly uphold. Let it fail, and distinction between religious and nonreligious will be without a sign. No doubt the reality is more by far than the symbol. Yet fellowship, for which in many cases the Sabbath alone gives opportunity, is far more than a symbol: and unity requires an outward manifestation. Nothing could be more perilous to the religious life of our people than the tendency, shown by many who profess Christianity and sanctioned by some of its teachers, to make the Sabbath a day of self-pleasing, of mere individualism, and incoherent secularity.
3. THE MEMORIAL TASSELS
The unique sumptuary law with which the chapter closes may be regarded as a sequence of the Sabbath-breakers conviction. That Israelites might never be without a reminder of their duty, and of the Divine laws they were scrupulously to observe, these tassels with a band of blue were to be constantly worn. It appears to us singular that men should be expected to pay heed to such mementoes as these. We are apt to say, If the laws of God were not in their hearts, the zizith would scarcely make them more attentive; and if they had the laws in their hearts, they would need no memorials of obligation. But the ornament was something more than a reminder of duty. It was a badge of honour, and became more so as the Israelites understood their high position among the peoples. The zizith would be like an order, a mark of rank; or like the uniform of his regiment, which to the good soldier recalls its history. The Hebrew would have to live up to his duty as signified by these attachments of his dress.
And Israelites were to be distinguished by the zizith from those who were of other races, not under law to Jehovah. Every man who wore this badge would be able to count on the sympathy of every other Israelite. The symbol became a means of rousing the esprit of the nation, and binding it together in a zealous fraternity. The nature of the badge appears to us peculiar; but the value of it cannot be denied. The modern peoples, far as they have travelled from the old ways of the Hebrews, retain the use of symbolic dress, the liking for ornaments, by which a mans life may be known.
The name zizith is derived from a word meaning blossom. The tassel was formed of twisted threads bound by a cord or ribbon of blue to the garment. It was the blossom of the robe, so to speak, hanging by a blue stem. The ornament is again mentioned in Deu_22:12, where it has another name, gedilim, enlargements. With extraordinary pride the Jews of our own time still wear the talith, which is a fantastical development of the zizith of Numbers. "The rabbins observe that each string consisted of eight threads, which, with the number of knots and the numerical value of the letters in the word, make 613, which, according to them, is the exact number of the precepts in the law." The Pharisees in Christs time enlarged their phylacteries, displaying superfluously the proofs of their Hebrew orthodoxy and zeal. It is the danger of all symbols. In the youth of a people they have meaning; they express fact, they give honour. The Israelite, wearing his, felt himself reminded, put on his honour, not to go about "according to his own heart and his own eyes by which he used to go a-whoring." But afterwards the zeal became that of pride, the symbol a mere amulet or a token of self-sufficiency. The Jew of today is partly kept separate by his talith, and because he wears it, feels himself in touch with the fathers and heroes and prophets of his people. But he also feels, what is not always good, his remoteness from heathen and Christian "dogs."
And Christian symbols, the few sanctioned by Scripture, the others that have crept into use in the course of history, bring with their use a similar danger. In many cases they are signs of privilege rather than memorials of duty. They minister to pride, rather than stimulate zeal in the service of God and men. The crucifix itself, with consummate superstition, is worn and kissed as a talisman.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 In this and the next four chapters we have…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
In this and the next four chapters we have a narrative of certain occurrences and enactments during the penal wandering in the desert, which lasted for nearly thirty-eight years. The relation of these chapters to the history is well expressed by Keil and Del. in this note: “After the unhappy issue of the attempt to penetrate into Canaan, in opposition to the will of God and the advice of Moses, the Israelites remained ‘many days’ in Kadesh, as the Lord did not hearken to their lamentations concerning the defeat which they had suffered at the hands of the Canaanites and Amalekites. Then they turned, and took their journey, as the Lord had commanded (Num_14:25), into the wilderness, in the direction towards the Red Sea (Deu_1:45; Deu_2:1); and in the first month of the fortieth year they came again into the desert of Zin, to Kadesh (Num_20:1). All that we know respecting this journeying from Kadesh into the wilderness in the direction towards the Red Sea, and up to the time of their return to the desert of Zin, is limited to a number of names of places of encampment given in the list of journeying stages in Num_33:19-30, out of which, as the situation of the majority of them is altogether unknown, or at all events has not yet been determined, no connected account of the journeys of Israel during this interval of thirty-seven years can possibly be drawn. The most important event related in connection with this period is the rebellion of the company of Korah against Moses and Aaron, and the re-establishment of the Aaronic priesthood and confirmation of their rights, which this occasioned (chaps. 16–18). The rebellion probably occurred in the first portion of the period in question. In addition to this there are only a few laws recorded, which were issued during this long time of punishment, and furnished a practical proof of the continuance of the covenant which the Lord had made with the nation of Israel at Sinai. There was nothing more to record in connection with these thirty-seven years, which formed the second stage in the guidance of Israel through the desert. For, as Baumgarten has well observed, the fighting men of Israel had fallen under the judgment of Jehovah, and the sacred history, therefore, was no longer concerned with them; whilst the youth, in whom the life and hope of Israel were preserved, had as yet no history at all.”
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In this chapter certain regulations concerning certain offerings and observances are laid down.
Num_15:4. On the meat offering comp. Leviticus 2
Num_15:14. A stranger. “There were two sorts of strangers among the Israelites; some that entirely embraced and professed the Jewish religion, into which they were admitted by circumcision, &c. others that lived among them by permission, having renounced all idolatry, but did not submit to their whole religion. The former sort are understood to be meant here.—Bp. Patrick.
Num_15:15. One ordinance, &c. Keil and Del. translate: “ ‘As for the assembly, there shall be one law for the Israelite and the stranger, … an eternal ordinance.… before Jehovah.’ הַקָּהָל, which is construed absolutely, refers to the assembling of the nation before Jehovah, or to the congregation viewed in its attitude with regard to God.”
As ye are, so shall the stranger be, &c. “The meaning is, ‘as with you, so shall it be with the stranger,’ &c.”—Speaker’s Comm.
Num_15:17-21. The ordinances here prescribed are based upon the general principle stated in Exo_22:29; Exo_23:19.
Num_15:20. Dough. עֲרִיסת, is only used in Neh_10:37; Eze_44:30, and in both places the reference is to this ordinance. Keil and Del. say that the word “signifies most probably groats, or meal coarsely bruised.” Fuerst, however, regards the old interpretation, dough or mixed dough, as the more probable.
Num_15:24. By ignorance without the knowledge, &c. Lit., as in margin, “By ignorance from the eyes of,” &c. Keil and Del.: “If it occur away from the eyes of the congregation through error.”
According to the manner. Margin: “According to the ordinance.” H. E. J. Howard: “According to the appointment.”
Num_15:26. Seeing all the people were in ignorance. Keil and Del.: “ ‘For’ (so it has happened) ‘to the whole nation in mistake.’ ” Howard: “For to all the people (it was) unintentional.”
Num_15:30. Presumptuously. Margin: “With an high hand.” Fuerst: “With a raised hand;” raised “as a sign of presumption.”
Reproacheth the Lord. Translate, “Blasphemeth the Lord.” Keil and Del.: “Whoever committeth a sin ‘with a high hand,’—i.e., so that he raised his hand, as it were, against Jehovah, or acted in open rebellion against Him,—blasphemed God, and was to be cut off (see Gen_17:14); for he had despised the word of Jehovah, and broken His commandment, and was to atone for it with his life.”
Num_15:31. His iniquity shall be upon him. Howard: “Its sin (is) in it.” Keil and Del.: “ ‘Its crime upon it;’ i.e., it shall come upon such a soul in the punishment which it shall endure.”
Num_15:34. Because it was not declared? &c. It had already been determined that Sabbath-breaking should be punished by death (Exo_31:14-15); but the mode of death was not declared.
Num_15:35. The man shall be surely put to death. “For as no fire was to be made throughout their habitations on a Sabbath day (Exo_35:2-3), gathering sticks for such a purpose was a work that was a violation of the Sabbath, punishable with death.”—Dr. Gill.
Num_15:38. The outer garment of the Hebrews was a quadrangular piece of cloth. They are here commanded to wear fringes or tassels at the corners of this garment, and to fasten the tassels to the edge of the garment by a riband or thread of a deep blue colour. This riband or thread of blue was designed to remind them of the commandments of the Lord, and of their obligation to keep them.
Num_15:39. That ye seek not. Speaker’s Comm.: “That ye wander not.” Keil and Del.: “And ye shall not stray after,” &c.
PROPRIETY IN WORSHIP
(Num_15:1-16)
In this paragraph we have certain instructions as to the offering of sacrifices, when the people had entered into the Promised Land. These instructions are supplementary to the laws concerning sacrifices which had already been promulgated. Let us consider—
I. The gracious intimation.
“When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you.”
We know not at what time during their long wanderings, these directions were given unto them; but the place which they occupy in the history is significant and suggestive. Immediately after the record of the sentence of death in the wilderness, which was passed upon the generation of rebels, these instructions are inserted which graciously intimate that another generation should possess the good land. This intimation was eminently calculated to promote their—
1. Encouragement. It assures them that, notwithstanding the sin of the parents, their children should not be disinherited; and this assurance would be to them a pledge of the renewal of the favour of God to them. These would animate and cheer them in their tedious wanderings in the desert.
2. Instruction. Here they are taught that, notwithstanding all the unfaithfulness and rebellion of man, God “abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” We may by our sin exclude ourselves from the enjoyment of the privileges promised to the people of God; but we cannot prevent the fulfilment of those promises, or frustrate the Divine purposes. “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.”
II. The directions concerning the worship of God. (Num_15:3-12).
1. The perpetual obligation of worship is here implied. These instructions concerning worship are spoken of as “an ordinance for ever in your generations.”
(1) Man’s need of worship is permanent. Human nature can never outgrow its need of worship. The higher man rises in the scale of being, the more reverently he adores the Holy One.
(2) God’s worthiness to receive worship is permanent. He is eternally and unchangeably the Supremely and Infinitely Perfect, the Supremely and Infinitely Beautiful. Hence the perpetual obligation of worship.
2. That man must approach God through sacrifice is also implied in the text. Man’s consciousness of sin is the reason of this need. Feeling our guiltiness, we are afraid to approach unto the Being of perfect holiness against whom we have sinned. We draw near to God through the mediation of Jesus Christ, the great Sin Offering (Joh_14:6). He removes our suspicious concerning God, and banishes our guilty fears, and brings us near to Him. “God hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ,” &c. (2Co_5:18-19). But the chief teaching of these directions is this—
3. In the offerings which we present to God, proper proportions should be observed. These proportions are stated in the text. “If the sacrifice was a lamb or a kid, then the meat offering must be a tenth-deal of flour, that is an omer, which contained about five pints; this must be mingled with oil, the fourth part of a hin (a hin contained about five quarts), and the drink offering must be the same quantity of wine, about a quart and half a pint,” (Num_15:3-5). If it was a ram, the meat offering was doubled, two tenth-deals of flour, about five quarts, and a third part of a hin of oil (which was to them as butter is to us) mingled with it; and the same quantity of wine for a drink offering (Num_15:6-7.) If the sacrifice was a bullock, the meat-offering was to be trebled, three omers, with five pints of oil, and the same quantity of wine for a drink-offering (Num_15:8-10). And thus for each sacrifice, whether offered by a particular person or at the common charge.” The principle seems to be this, that there should be order and congruity in the services which we offer to God; everything connected with the worship of God should be appropriate and harmonious. This principle may be applied to
(1) The edifices for Divine worship, (a).
(2) The exercises of Divine worship, (b).
(3) The great sacrifice for us and our offerings to God. “God gave His only begotten Son.” “He spared not His Own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” Then we should give ourselves unreservedly to Him. Comp. Rom_12:1.
III. The pleasure of God in the worship of His people.
Five times in this paragraph we meet with the words, “A sweet savour unto the Lord” (Num_15:3; Num_15:7; Num_15:10; Num_15:13-14). The words express the pleasure which God takes in the true worship of His people. For what reasons does God delight in His people’s worship?
1. Because the feelings which find expression in true worship are good and beautiful. The sin-offering was designed to express the penitence, the meat-offering the gratitude, and the burnt-offering the self-consecration of the worshippers; and penitence, gratitude, and consecration of self to God are good and becoming in us, beneficial to us, and well-pleasing to God.
2. Because worship is essential to the education and progress of His creatures. Without worship the noblest capacities and faculties of our nature remain undeveloped. Gratitude, humility, admiration, adoration, aspiration, these are worship; and without these our spirits cannot grow, cannot even live in any worthy sense. True worship transforms the worshipper into the image of the object worshipped. Hence the worship of the Lord God exalts, purifies, enriches, strengthens the worshipper. “It is good to give thanks unto the Lord,” &c. (c)
3. Because these sacrifices were types of the perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The sacrifices offered under the ceremonial law pointed onward to Christ Jesus, and found their consummation in His glorious self-sacrifice. In the sublime self-devotion of that sacrifice, in the unspeakable love which it so eloquently expresses, and in the hearty obedience even unto death, we have the highest worship. As Thomas Carlyle says, “O brother, if this is not ‘worship,’ then I say, the more pity for worship; for this is the noblest thing yet discovered under God’s sky.” For these reasons the offerings of His people are “a sweet savour unto the Lord,” and in their worship He takes delight.
IV. The directions concerning the stranger sojourning with the Israelites.
“All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner,” &c. (Num_15:13-16). Before the Lord and in the exercises of worship, the Israelite had no advantage over the stranger; there was one law for both, and one ordinance. This arrangement would tend—
1. To check exclusiveness and pride among the Israelites. It was eminently calculated to suppress the risings of spiritual pride and pride of race to which they were so prone (Joh_8:33; Joh_8:39).
2. To encourage the Israelites in the humane treatment of foreigners. They are here taught that if the foreigner were willing to adopt their religion, they were to receive him with kindness, &c.
3. To encourage the Gentiles to unite in the worship and service of the Lord God.
4. To foreshadow the universality of the Christian Church. Comp. Joh_3:14-17; Act_10:34-35; Act_17:26-28; Gal_3:7-9; Gal_3:14; Gal_3:22; Gal_3:26-29; Rev_22:17.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Excess of material circumstance in spiritual worship, whether of architectural adornment, ritual ceremony, musical elaboration, or even intellectual fastidiousness, is as injurious to it as is over-cumbrous machinery in manufacture, excess of ceremonial in social life, superfluous raiment to personal activity, or gaudy ornamentation to personal grace. It is both injurious to life and offensive to taste. But equally so, on the other hand, is penuriousness and nakedness. If we may not overlay spiritual life, neither may we denude it. The true law of life is that its energies be developed in all the force and with all the beauty of which they are capable, and that it worship with such cultured adornment as in the highest degree may appeal to and express its own spiritual emotions. This is the simple law and the sufficient test of all artistic appliances. Is any particular culture conducive to the worshipping heart of the congregation? If not, and still more if it be injurious to it, then no matter how beautiful in itself it may be—how conducive to the profit and joy of other congregations—however sanctioned by history and contemporary use—let it be rejected, and, if needful, let it be dealt with as the serpent of brass which Hezekiah destroyed and pronounced to be “Nehushtan.”—H. Allon, D.D.
(b) In the Temple service there was not only the Holy Sacrifice and the fragrant incense, but the golden altar, and the richly-robed priest—not only the holy song, but the rich poetry of David’s psalms, and the cultured music of the sons of Asaph and Korah. In every allusion of the psalmists, as well as in every record of the historian, we feel the implications of an earnest reverential manner. What special spirituality can there be in the pious doggrel of hymns, or in the rude incongruities of tunes? Why should it be necessary to abjure all culture and excruciate all taste, in order that piety may have its supreme enjoyment? It is true that worship does not consist in artistic song, but neither does it in inharmonious doggrel. While the essence of all worship must ever lie in the true and fervent expression of spiritual feeling, the reverence which constitutes the perfection of such feeling demands that worship be clothed with every beauty that can adorn, with every appliance that can enhance it, so that in God’s sanctuary there may be beauty as well as strength; for beauty is the comely costume of strength. Strength bedizened is not beauty, neither is strength denuded, but strength clothed in rich but yet unobtrusive garments. It is surely a careless if not a scornful disparagement of the service of the Church, to be contented with rude, inharmonious song in it, while we bestow upon our drawing-room song and our music-hall concerts our highest artistic culture and care. No genuine piety can excuse negligence; by its very negligence it will testify to its own defects. Everything pertaining to worship should surely indicate a reverent solicitude to bring to God the best that we can proffer—an offering perfect in every appliance that can give emphasis to its adoration; intensify its rapture, or beautify its love. Hence the devoutest worshippers will provide for their praise hymns of the highest poetry, and music of the richest harmony.—Ibid.
(c) He who worships the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, must, in all the qualities of his soul, in all the relations of his life, be a better man than the atheist, than the man who denios the existence of God. The man who worships a stone is a better man than he who worships nothing. The man who falls down before carven wood, or worships the beasts of the field, is a grander nature than he who never bows his head in prayer, and never lifts up his heart in aspiration and religious desire. The tendency of worship is to elevate our nature. He who worships sincerely, however ignorantly, is the better for his worship; he is enlarged in his nature, his outlook upon things is widened, he is led away from self-trust, and is taught to depend upon a power, not lower, but higher, and in his estimation better, than his own.—Joseph Parker, D.D.
The worship of praise is the supreme act of intercourse between God and the creature. We gather into it all the elements of our complex nature, our intellect, conscience, religious emotion and physical faculty,—and engage them in a great religious service; and thus we realize the noblest fellowship with the Creator that is possible to a creature. In other ways also we have fellowship with God: in prayer, when we come to Him to ask the supply of our need; in meditation, when we muse upon His excellencies, or rest in the quiet assurance of His love; and in service, when we enter into His purposes, and as “workers together with God” consecrate ourselves to the accomplishment of them; but in praise, our fellowship with God is far higher than in any other; the personal want that prompts prayer is forgotten; the anxious thought that ponders Divine mysteries is banished; the strenuous toil that wearies even the consecrated hand is suspended; and we lift up the face of our worship to the light and glory of God’s great love. Absorbed and blessed in the sense of His Divine excellencies, we stand before Him as the angels do; our reverence and love are quickened into adoring rapture, and we utter our reverent estimate of what He is, in the largest and most rapturous words that we can find? Such worship God graciously accepts; all natures that love crave love, and the loving God supremely craves the lore of His creatures. Else would our worship be chilled and driven back into our own hearts. We speak to Him our admiration and praise because He graciously listens to it and joyously accepts it. We look up with gladness into the face of our Father in Heaven, because He responds to our loving rapture with His,—His Divine heart answers the love of our poor human hearts,—“God is love,” and He seeketh loving souls to worship Him,—H. Allon, D.D.
AIMS AT PERFECTION
(Num_15:12)
Here we have the doctrine enforced, that what is done should be well done.
I. Attention to the greater does not excuse neglect of the less (Mat_23:23; Luk_11:42).
II. Obedience in the greater matters tested, as to sincerity, by obedience in the lesser details of ceremonial observance (Mat_25:21; Luk_16:10.)
III. The offering up of the great sacrifice for sin does not liberate us from the duty of offering, on our part, the lesser sacrifice of faith, &c. (2Co_5:15; Rom_12:1.)
IV. The offering of the less manifests our appreciation of the greater.—Biblical Museum.
THE OFFERING OF THE FIRST OF THE DOUGH
(Num_15:17-21)
We have here an application of the law of the firstfruits, which is laid down in Exo_22:29; Exo_23:19. Other applications of the law we find in Lev_2:12-14; Lev_23:10-11; Lev_23:14; Lev_23:17. At a later period other directions were given concerning the observance of this law (Deu_26:1-11).
The command here is that of the first dough made of the first corn that was threshed, winnowed, and ground, they were to take to the priest a cake as a heave-offering unto the Lord. The size of the cake is not specified, but was left to the generosity of the offerer. In this offering we have—
I. An expression of gratitude.
In presenting the firstfruits to the Lord the Israelites acknowledged that they owed everything to Him. Very clearly this is brought out in the confession of the offerer of the basket of firstfruits (Deu_26:1-11). The offering was an expression of gratitude to Him for His bounty and beneficence. All the good that we possess we have received from Him. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,” &c. We have received countless and priceless benefits from Him. Seeing that all good comes from God two conclusions are irresistible:
1. That all good should be accepted and enjoyed gratefully. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” Very great should be our gratitude to Him. (a)
2. That all good should be employed in accordance with His holy will. We must guard against the abuse of any of His gifts; for He will require of us an account of them. Gratitude for our blessings urges us to use them in such a way as shall please Him—to use them for His glory.
II. An acknowledgment of dependence.
In offering the first of their dough after they entered the Promised Land they confessed their continued dependence upon Him. Very clearly and impressively Moses enjoined upon the Israelites that they should reverently remember the Lord their God, and humbly acknowledge their dependence upon Him after they entered the good Land (Deu_8:10-20). We too are constantly dependent upon God for all things. He is the one great Fountain of all physical, mental, and spiritual good. “All our springs are in Him.” (b) Seeing that we are thus absolutely dependent, it becometh us to be—
1. Humble. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” &c. “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?” &c. (c)
2. Prayerful. Surely it behoves us to acknowledge our dependence, and seek support “Give us this day our daily bread;” “Uphold me with Thy free Spirit;” Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation;”—such petitions are ever appropriate on the lips of dependent creatures.
III. A consecration of common things.
To the offerer of the basket of first-fruits all his goods were sacred; all were blessed to him (Deu_26:11; and comp. Eze_44:30; 1Ti_4:4-5). Blessings are most enjoyed by us when we receive them with gratitude, and with practical acknowledgment of our obligation to God for them. The practical recognition of God’s goodness to us in the mercies of every-day life, by heartily contributing to the cause of God amongst men, sanctifies all our mercies. So St. Paul affirms in the Epistle to the Romans (Num_11:16), referring to this offering of the first dough, “If the firstfruit be holy, so also is the lump.” After the cake of the first of their dough was offered unto the Lord the whole mass was consecrated to the use of man. (d)
IV. A provision for the maintenance of the ministry and of the worship of God.
This offering of the first of the dough, being an heave-offering, was the perquisite of the priests. Comp. Num_21:24; Neh_10:37. The meat offerings were designed by the Lord to be means of maintaining His service and His servants.
(For remarks and illustrations on this topic see pp. 84–86).
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) A gentleman of very considerable fortune, but a stranger to both personal and family religion, one evening took a solitary walk through part of his grounds. He happened to come near a mean hut, where a poor man lived with a numerous family, who earned their bread by daily labour. He heard a continued and pretty loud voice. Not knowing what it was, curiosity prompted him to listen. The man, who was piously disposed, happened to be at prayer with his family. So soon as he could distinguish the words, he heard him giving thanks, with great affection, to God, for the goodness of His providence, in giving them food to eat and raiment to put on, and in supplying them with what was necessary and comfortable in the present life. He was immediately struck with astonishment and confusion and said to himself, “Does this poor man, who has nothing but the meanest fare, and that purchased by severe labour, give thanks to God for His goodness to himself and family; and I, who enjoy ease and honour, and everything that is pleasant and desirable, have hardly ever bent my knee, or made any acknowledgment to my Maker and Preserver!” It pleased God to make this providential occurrence the means of bringing him to a real and lasting sense of religion.—The Sunday School Teachers’ Treasury.
(b) We stand to God is the relation of dependents. That is our actual position in life. “What hast thou that thou hast not received?” Let a man begin his studies there, and he will become correspondingly reverent. Have you genius? Who lighted the lamp? Have you health? Who gave you your constitution? Do you find the earth productive? “Yes.” Who made it productive? “I did. I till it, I supply all the elements of nourishment needful; I did.” Did you? Can you make it rain? Can you make the sun shine? Come, I will set you a little task, mighty man, potentate! This: Change the quarter of the wind! Now, come, that is a very little thing for a great man like you. “Well,” you say, “that is the sort of thing that I really cannot do.” Then, clear a fog off the hill. You can do that. Look what a port you have, and what infinite impudence. Come, clear a fog! Where would your tilling, and your manuring, and your subsoiling, and your harrowing and rolling all be, and what would they come to, if God were to say to the wind, “Never leave the east;” if God were to say to the clouds, “Stand still;” if God were to say to the sun, “Don’t shew thyself for a year”? All these things shew us that we are, notwithstanding our resources, which are undoubtedly numerous and great, dependents.—Joseph Parker, D.D.
(c) How often have we aimed at building for ourselves tabernacles of remembrance and of rest, and we have gazed joyfully as it progressed to completion, and then the breath of the Lord has blown upon it, and it has been scattered, and we have been turned adrift and shelterless; and, lo! dwellings already provided for us, of firmer materials and of more excellent beauty, upon which we bestowed no labour nor thought. And so it is with all the matters of human glory. The strong man rejoiceth in his strength, and magnifieth himself in the might of his arms, but the Lord hath made him strong; the wise man glorieth himself in his intellect, but the clear perception, and the brilliant fancy, and the fluent utterance, these are God’s gifts; the rich man rejoiceth in his riches, but the prudence to plan, and the sagacity to foresee, and the industry to gather, these are the bestowments of God.
Ah! why will men sacrifice to their own net, and burn incense to their own drag, when they have absolutely nothing which they have not received; and when every gift “cometh from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”? And in the realm of morals, and in the spiritual life, our feebleness is the same. A conscience void of offence, a good report of those that are without, a heavenly purpose or a holy resolve, the inner purification or the comely outgrowth of a beneficent life—we are poor to compass them. We acquire them only by our dependence upon God. Have you learned this lesson, this deep hard lesson of humility? Forty years’ sins you have committed! have they humbled you in the presence of God? Forty years’ chastenings have corrected you! have they humbled your pride or fretted you into greater audacity of rebellion? Forty years’ mercies have blessed you! have they excited your gratitude or inflated your vanity? Brethren, we must be humbled if we would be happy. It was in the valley of Humiliation you remember, that the lad that had the herb heart’s-ease in his bosom kept his serene and his rejoicing home.—W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
(d) Between the element of evil and the Christian elements there can be but one relation—that of war and struggle. They are antagonistic—the strength of the one is the weakness of the other. The evil must be wrestled with and overcome and exterminated, if it is to be well with the religious life. There is no such opposition between the Christian and the non-Christian elements of our existence. They become assimilated; the Christian absorbs the non-Christian elements of good. The ordinary duties of life—the every day virtues which form so large a portion of our being—have thus a Christian direction given them; they are elevated to a higher region than that which they naturally occupy. They become idealized; for just as the poetical spirit elevates and idealizes the most ordinary scenes, so does the religious spirit elevate and idealize the most ordinary ongoings of life. Religion is like poetry, an elevation and consecration of common things. You have seen a landscape which, while under the shadow, looked cold and bleak and forbidding, burst forth into life and beauty when the sun’s rays fell upon it; so are the most ordinary affairs—the weary plodding, the dreary sameness, the dull routine—of our daily existence irradiated with a Divine glory by the light which comes from God.—C. K. Watt, M.A.
SINS OF OMISSION AND IGNORANCE
(Num_15:22-29)
This paragraph suggests the following observations:—
I. Omissions of duty are accounted sinful by God.
“If ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,” &c. We sin not only when we break the commandments of God, but also when we fail to keep any of them. How many are our sins of omission! We are conscious of very many. And how many are there which have eluded our observation, and are known only to God! “Sins of commission,” says Bulwer Lytton, “may not, perhaps, shock the retrospect of conscience. Large and obtrusive to view, we have confessed, mourned, repented, possibly atoned them. Sins of omission, so veiled amidst our hourly emotions—blent, confused, unseen in the conventional routine of existence;—Alas! could these suddenly emerge from their shadow, group together in serried mass and accusing order, would not the best of us then start in dismay, and would not the proudest humble himself at the Throne of Mercy!” (a)
II. Omissions of duty, even when arising from ignorance, are accounted sinful by God.
“If ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation,” &c. (Num_15:24). “And if any soul sin through ignorance,” &c. (Num_15:27). So David prays, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” The reference is to unintentional sins; to sins not only unobserved by men, but not even known to the person himself at the time; unintentional sins of omission. (b) But let it be noticed in this Connection, that—
1. Ignorance of the Divine requirements is itself sinful in the case of most persons. If a person can ascertain the will of God concerning him, he is bound to do so. That will is revealed to us in Nature and in the Bible: it is proclaimed and expounded regularly and freely and frequently by Christian teachers and preachers. We may know it if we will; we ought to know it. Spiritual ignorance is frequently not a misfortune, but a sin; not to be pitied, but to be condemned. (c)
2. It is to be feared that in many cases where ignorance is urged as an excuse for sin, the real cause is indifference. When men make no effort to know the will of God, and are but little concerned to do it, it is not ingenuous on their part to plead ignorance as an excuse for their sins.
III. A whole nation may be guilty of sins of omission and ignorance as well as an individual.
The legislation laid down in Num_15:22-26, is with a view to the whole nation being guilty of such sins. “This ‘not doing all the commandments of Jehovah,’ of which the congregation is supposed to incur the guilt without perceiving it, might consist either in the fact that, in particular instances, whether from oversight or negligence, the whole congregation omitted to fulfil the commandments of God, i.e. certain precepts of the law, sc. in the fact that they neglected the true and proper fulfilment of the whole law, either, as Outram supposes, ‘by retaining to a certain extent the national rites, and following the worship of the true God, and yet at the same time acting unconsciously in opposition to the law, through having been led astray by some common errors,’ or by allowing the evil example of godless rulers to seduce them to neglect their religious duties, or to adopt and join in certain customs and usages of the heathen, which appeared to be reconcilable with the law of Jehovah, though they really led to contempt and neglect of the commandments of the Lord.”—Keil and Del. As illustrations of the sins here legislated, for Outram refers to the apostate kings, “when the people neglected their hereditary rites, and, forgetting the sacred laws, fell by a common sin into the observance of the religious rites of other nations.” This view is confirmed by the offerings which Hezekiah made as an atonement for the sins of his father’s reign (2Ch_29:21-36); and by the offerings made by the Israelites upon their return from their captivity (Ezr_8:35).
It is, alas! not difficult to discover sins which may be truly called national even in our own enlightened country and age; but it would be difficult honestly to allege that they are sins of ignorance. Is not drunkenness a national sin? Are we as a nation guiltless in relation to the opium traffic? Are there not other sins of which this British nation is greatly guilty?
IV. Sins of omission and ignorance may be forgiven.
There is a sin for which there is no forgiveness; but sins of ignorance and omission may be forgiven upon certain conditions. Our Lord pleaded that His crucifiers might be forgiven because of their ignorance of the true character of their deed (Luk_23:34). And St. Paul writes, “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”
1. In every case sacrifice was a condition of forgiveness. When the congregation or the individual became aware of the sinfulness of their omissions, they were to offer a sin-offering as an acknowledgment of guilt and a condition of forgiveness. Whether the case were that of the whole congregation, or one member of the congregation; whether the individual were an Israelite, or a foreigner, sacrifice must be offered when the sin became known. The great truth here set forth is that the sinner needs atonement. Every sin tends to estrange the sinner from God. We are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which strikingly exhibits the heinousness of sin, God’s abhorrence of it also, and His infinite love for the sinner (d). Our need of the merit of the Saviour’s sacrifice, and the aid of His intercession, is continual.
2. The extent of the sacrifice required varied in different cases. When the sin was national, “all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt-offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his meat-offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering;” but when the sin was personal, “then he shall bring a she-goat of the first year for a sin-offering.” The law of proportion is observed in the sacrifices which God demands. His requirements are ever “reasonable.” Comp. Rom_12:1.
Conclusion.
1. Let us heartily loathe sin, whether of omission or commission (Jer_44:4).
2. Let us faithfully examine ourselves in the light of God’s holy Word. Let no sin hide itself from our view, if we can prevent it (2Co_13:5).
3. Let us earnestly seek forgiveness for all sins through the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord (Eph_1:7; 1Jn_1:9).
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Omissions cannot be trivial, if we only reflect what an influence they would have upon an ordinary commonwealth, if they were perpetrated there as they are in God’s commonwealth. Think a minute, if one person has a right to omit his duty, another has, and all have. Then the watchman would omit to guard the house, the policeman would omit to arrest the thief, the judge would omit to sentence the offender, the sheriff would omit to punish the culprit, the government would omit to carry out its laws; then every occupation would cease, and the world would die of stagnation; the merchant would omit to attend to his calling, the husbandman would omit to plough the land: where would the commonwealth be? The kingdom would be out of joint; the machine would break down, for no cog of the wheels would act upon its fellow. How would societies of men exist at all? And surely if this is not to be tolerated in a society of men, much less in that great commonwealth of which God is the King, in which angels and glorified spirits are the peers, and all creatures citizens! How can the Lord tolerate that here there should be an omission, and there an omission, in defiance of His authority? As the Judge of all the earth, He must bring down His strong right band upon these omissions, and crush out for ever the spirit that would thus revolt against His will.—C. H. Spurgeon.
(b) The perfection and spirituality of God’s law render it almost impossible for a fallen son of Adam ever to know all the innumerable instances of his transgressing it. Add to which, that false principles and inveterate prejudices make us regard many things as innocent, and some things as laudable, which, in the eye of Heaven, are far otherwise. Self-examination is a duty which few practise as they ought to do: and he who practises it best will always have reason to conclude his particular confession with this general petition, “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.”—George Horns.
Many books have a few lines of errata at the end, but our errata might well be as large as the volume if we could but have sense enough to see them. Augustine wrote in his older days a series of Retractations; ours might make a library if we had enough grace to be convinced of our mistakes, and to confess them. If we had eyes like those of God we should think very differently of ourselves. The transgressions which we see and confess are but like the farmer’s small samples which he brings to market, when he has left his granary full at home.—C. H. Spurgeon.
(c) The things revealed belong to us and our children to do them; and to be ignorant of any of these is a sin in the sight of God. We have the light of the truth shining in our faces, but we shut our eyes against it, lest it should shine in our hearts. We have the Word, we may read it, or hear it read, we have it preached, and other means of knowledge offered to us, therefore all such are left without excuse. It shall not excuse a subject when he hath broken some penal statute, to say, “Alas! I knew not the law, I was utterly ignorant of it, I never heard in all my life of any such matter.” For the law is passed, printed, and published, and thou must take knowledge of it. Every man at his own peril must look to it, and if he run in danger of it, it is his own fault: so we may say of the law of God. He hath set it forth to the view of all, and all must make inquiry after it at their uttermost peril,—Attersoll.
(d) Sinners are saved not simply because so much pain and grief have been endured in their stead, but because Christ has performed a great spiritual work on their behalf, and has performed it in the full foresight of all the suffering that would be inseparable from His so doing. It is monstrous to suppose that the Deity could be pleased with mere suffering. It is the spiritual essence in the Atonement that makes it to be what it is to us. It may be accepted as certain, that in the gift of the Son of God we have the brightest manifestation of the love of the Father; and that in the willing humiliation and grief of the Redeemer we have the tenderest revelation of pity towards the evil and unthankful, and at the same time the noblest act of worship ever rendered to the good and the holy. In this sense, it is truly by the sorrows, the death, the cross of Christ that we have salvation. It has been His will to become thus acquainted with grief, and to die—to die the death of the cross—that we might he saved.—Robert Vaughan, D.D.
THE NATURE AND PUNISHMENT OF PRESUMPTUOUS SINS
(Num_15:30-31)
A very marked difference is recognised between sins of omission and ignorance and sins of presumption; the heinousness of the latter is much greater than of the former. “All unrighteousness is sin;” and all sin is essentially evil; but all sins are not alike evil; the evil of some sins is greater than the evil of others. Moreover the guilt of the same sin may differ greatly when committed by different persons under different circumstances and influences, and with different motives. Attersoll says truly, “There is great difference in the manner of sinning; some sin ignorantly, some willingly (Psa_19:12-13; 1Ti_1:13). Some are principal and ringleaders in the sin, others are only accessories; some are only in thought, others in deed; some offend of malice, some offend of weakness; some commit sin, others, besides this, have pleasure in them that do them (Rom_1:32).” (a) We have now to consider the worst of sins. Notice:—
I. The nature of presumptuous sins.
“But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously,” &c. The marginal rendering, which is correct, gives us an insight into the nature of these sins. “The soul that doeth with an high hand.” To sin “with a high hand” is to sin in a daring spirit and defying manner. Comp. Job_15:25. Presumptuous sins are here represented as involving—
1. Positive breach of the law of God. “He hath broken His commandment.” Very great is the difference between sins of omission unwittingly committed, and sins of commission wilfully committed. The guilt of the latter is very dark.
2. Contempt of the word of God. “He hath despised the word of the Lord.” He despised God’s word of command by disregarding its authority; His word of promise by disregarding its encouragements to obedience; and His word of threatening by setting at nought its design and power to deter from sin.
3. Blasphemy against God Himself. “The same reproacheth” (revileth, or blasphemeth) “the Lord.” “Yes, reproacheth Him: reproacheth His omniscience as if He did not know; reproacheth His holiness as if He did not care; reproacheth His truth as if, having spoken, yet He would not do it; reproacheth His power as if His arm were shortened, and He could not strike! Are we prepared for this cluster of impieties? ‘Lord, keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins.’ ” (b)
II. The punishment of presumptuous sins.
1. Death. “That soul shall be cut off from among his people; … that soul shall utterly be cut off.” We conclude that these words point to the punishment of death, and not simply to exclusion from the political and religious privileges of the nation, because of—
(1) The solemn force and emphasis of the words themselves; and
(2) The illustration of the operation of the law given in the next paragraph (Num_15:32-36). Presumptuous sinners were put to death, in some instances by public execution, and in others by the immediate judgment of God. Persistence in sin leads to worse than bodily death. “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (c)
2. Confirmed sinfulness. “His iniquity shall be upon him.” The natural tendency of wilful and daring sin is to harden the heart in its rebellion against God beyond all hope of repentance. Comp. Heb_10:26-29. (d)
Conclusion.
1. As the guilt of sin differs so also does the punishment. Comp. Mat_11:22-24; Mat_23:14; Luk_12:47-48; Heb_10:28-29.
2. Let those who have already advanced far in sin turn from their evil ways ere it be too late. You cannot remain stationary. You must either turn from sin to the Saviour, or go on in sin until you become a daring and defiant and hopeless rebel against God. Be warned in time.
3. If we would keep clear of presumptuous sins let us guard against sins of every kind and degree. “Cultivate a holy shrinking from sin in its most unobserved beginnings, and in its least degrees. Sensitiveness to the smallest degree of offending is the true and only security of the Christian. Sin shall never have dominion over him who resists the first putting on of its chains.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Two persons may commit the same identical crime, yet the guilt may be inconceivably greater in the one case than the other. The one may have had no instruction—no benefit from parental culture—no faithful warnings and admonitions—no holy example to direct and regulate—no warning to restrain—no encouragement to animate in the right path. The other may have been surrounded by all the helps and inducements to right consideration—to holy fear—to correct conduct; and therefore his sin is marked with a far higher degree of aggravation than the other; and thus, in the sight of God, the judge on the bench often may be far more guilty than the criminal at the bar.—Joseph Fletcher, D D.
(b) The final stage of presumptuous sinning is reached when, to the clearest knowledge of the greatness of our sin, and to the most elaborate and carefully-contrived schemes for effecting it, there is added the resoluteness of obstinacy—a dogged and persevering stubbornness in getting our own way, even though, in addition to all the remonstrances of conscience and the Holy Spirit of God, all the aspects of God’s Providence are against us—frowning us back every step we take. A striking illustration of this form of presumption we have in the history of Balaam. We see there a man intent on a scheme for his own aggrandisement. God opposed that scheme. The man keeps tampering with his conscience to get leave to do a wrong thing, till at last God in anger gives him leave. But no sooner does this bad man set out than the frown of God meets him. A mysterious power drives him back. His foot is crushed. His ass falls. Before his opened eyes stands the angel of God, telling him his way is a perverse way, and yet, after a few hollow professions of contrition, he determines to go on. So it is that the transgressor “holdeth fast his iniquity,” and will not let it go. He would break a lance even with an angel in the path of the vineyards. Oh! how often does God make it difficult for us to find opportunities for our besetting sin. The farther we go the more we find our way hedged up with thorns. The difficulties grow upon us like a waking nightmare. And yet with a madness that knows no control, and a hardihood that braves all consequences, we rush upon the thick bosses of the Almighty, and, in an attitude of defiant presumption, stretch out our hands against God.—Daniel Moore, M.A.
(c) The tale of the goblet which the genius of a heathen fashioned was true, and taught a moral of which many a death-bed furnishes the melancholy illustration. Having made the model of a serpent, he fixed it in the bottom of the cup. Coiled for the spring, a pair of gleaming eyes in its head, and in its open mouth fangs raised to strike, it lay beneath the ruby wine. Nor did he who raised the golden cup to quench his thirst, and quaff the delicious draught, suspect what lay below, till, as he reached the dregs, that dreadful head rose up, and glistened before his eyes. So, when life’s cup is nearly emptied, and sin’s last pleasure quaffed, and unwilling lips are draining the bitter dregs, shall rise the ghastly terrors of remorse and death and judgment upon the despairing soul. Be assured, a serpent lurks at the bottom of guilt’s sweetest pleasure.—Thomas Guthrie, D.D.
(d) There is a gravitating power about sins of presumption from which the soul rarely ever rises. Every wilful sin hardens the heart and renders it less accessible to converting influences than it was before. One conquest over the conscience makes way for another, and that for a third, till at length this inward monitor becomes “seared as with a hot iron,” It has neither voice to speak, nor authority to restrain, nor sensibility to feel. Sceptreless, deaf, stifled, gagged, it dies and makes no sign. Thus evil men and wilful sinners wax worse and worse; because the habit of presumptuous sinning, of tampering with conscience, and resisting the Holy Ghost, forecloses against them all the means of their ever getting better.… From transgression to transgression, from lower depth to lower depth, neither heaven nor earth, neither angels nor men have it in charge to interfere—“Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone.”—Daniel Moore, M.A.
SINS DANGEROUS AND SINS DEADLY
(Num_15:27; Num_15:30)
In the text God seeks to impress on all that no sin can be trifled with, because every sin must be atoned for, and then to warn that constant trifling with sin must harden the soul and place it beyond the limits of pardon. The text suggests two thoughts—
I. That there are degrees in sin.
The Lord distinguishes here between sins of ignorance, which might be atoned for, and sins of presumption, for which there could be no atonement. There are degrees in guilt. The same act of sin in two different persons, or in the same person at different times, varies as to guilt. Take any sin—the mere deed is the same in the professing Christian and the man that has been brought up in ignorance and vice, but the degrees of guilt are very different. Guilt is not to be measured by the mere act of the sin; but by the mind that gives birth to it, by the circumstances under which it is done, by the results which follow, &c.
Sins of ignorance are those which are not intentional and deliberate; those resulting from human frailty and thoughtlessness, from lack of watchfulness or courage, &c.
Presumptuous sins are those committed “with a high hand,” deliberately, daringly, against light and conviction and the known commands of God.
Between these two God made a distinction. He did not and could not deal with them alike. He weighs actions; He estimates conduct. His knowledge, wisdom and justice are such that He cannot err, and that no one shall be wronged. There are then degrees in sin; and it is of the utmost importance for all to know and realise this. It will act as a great check on sin. People sometimes say, as an excuse for their sin, that as they have gone wrong they might as well suffer for much as for little. No! it is false. With every sin the man gets worse; sinfulness increases. Sin grows; there is development in it. Every step in sin is a step into greater danger, and leaves less hope of reclamation. Sins of ignorance through trifling and neglect may grow to be those of presumption.
II. That while all sins are dangerous some are deadly.
The text shows that all sin is dangerous by the fact that an atonement had to be made for sins of ignorance; none could be forgiven without. In sinning we trifle with our best interests, and expose ourselves to the greatest danger. While ignorance may excuse, nothing can justify any sin. The text further tells us of sins for which the doer was cut off from among the people. These sins were murder, adultery, swearing, Sabbath breaking, et al. For these there was no pardon. Why? Not because God was not merciful enough to forgive; but because the sinner knew these things to be wrong, and did them in defiance of God. The text gives the reason, “The same reproacheth the Lord,” treats Him with contempt and scorn, and despises His law. And when man gets into that state penitence is impossible, and that being so God will not and cannot forgive. The New Testament teaches the same. We find there that sin was so dangerous as to need the sacrifice of Christ, and it tells us of “a sin which is unto death,” and of “the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven unto men.” We think that this is not any one sin so much as a state of mind that opposes God,—a malicious contempt and wilful rejection of the Gospel. For such the Bible tells us there is no hope; that the “day of grace has closed with them before the day of life.” How is this? Not because God is not ready to pardon, or the sin too great to be forgiven. There is no sin beyond the merits of Christ’s atonement. His blood “cleanseth from all sin.” Why, then? The reason is in the man himself. God forgives only the penitent; it would be neither right nor safe to forgive without penitence. But this man is impenitent; he resists and hates God; he “reproacheth the Lord.” To such a man pardon becomes impossible because penitence has become impossible. God leaves him! What a doom! Let hearers of the Gospel think of it. This doom is possible; and it is possible only in Christian lands, &c. Learn:—
1. That God is merciful. He sent His Son to die that He might put away sin, and restore us unto Himself.
2. That there is a limit to His mercy. What cost Him so much He will let no one despise. Let the sinning one take care. The door of mercy will be closed, and it may be against him.
Are you afraid that you have committed the “sin unto death”? The fear proves that, so far, you have not. If there is pain in the injured limb, it is certain that mortification has not set in; &c. Hasten to Christ at once, while there is hope. Out of Him man is ever in danger.—David Lloyd.
PRESUMPTION
(Num_15:30)
We desire to warn you against presumption. The Psalmist prays to be cleansed from secret faults, and kept back from presumptuous sins. Our text and the context indicate the heinousness and fearful consequences of this kind of evil. Yet we fear that sins of this kind are awfully prevalent. Let us notice—
I. What presumption includes. It signifies—
1. Boldness in evil. Sinning without fear. Hardihood, daring, recklessness.
2. Arrogance in evil. Setting ourselves up against God. Pride of heart and spirit and tongue. Psa_73:6; Psa_9:2; Act_2:18.
3. Irreverence towards God. All profanity. Blasphemies of the Divine name, &c. All cursing and defying God. As in the case of Pharaoh:—“Who is the Lord?” &c.
4. Confidence of escape from the threatenings of God. This is one of the chief elements of presumption. Not dreading nor caring for consequences, &c.
II. The chief causes of presumption.
1. Spiritual ignorance. Blindness of mind, &c. Ignorance of self and God. It is the offspring of darkness.
2. Recklessness and inconsideration.
Do not reflect. Do not consider the claims of God or man. The grandeur of Jehovah, and the guilty worm. The holy law, and man’s criminality.
3. Confirmed unbelief, giving no credit to the Word. Its revelations, of threatenings, &c.
4. Hardness of heart. This is both a cause and a result. It makes men presumptuous. Presumption increases it.
III. The terrible results of presumptuousness.
1. God, defied, will vindicate His authority. He cannot let it pass. His majesty and law concerned, &c.
2. Threatening despised, He will terribly execute. Not one jot fail. There may be delay, waiting, longsuffering, but the execution of vengeance is certain.
3. Mercy despised will involve in fearful retribution. Hear God,—Pro_1:24; Psa_2:4, &c. The instances of this, how numerous! The old world, Pharaoh, Sodom, &c., nations of Canaan, Jerusalem. (See Luk_19:41-44).
Application.
1. How needful is consideration.
2. Repentance, how imperative!
3. To seek mercy. The Gospel publishes it in Christ, and offers it to every sinner.—Jabez Burns, D.D.
THE SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF THE SABBATH-BREAKER
(Num_15:32-36)
This event is recorded here as an illustration of presumptuous sin and its punishment. Notice:—
I. The sin committed.
This man violated the law of the Sabbath (Exo_20:8-11) by gathering sticks on that day. Looking at the mere act it seems a very small sin indeed, and the punishment seems utterly disproportioned to the sin; but in estimating the moral quality of an action much has to be taken into account in addition to the mere act. Thus in the present case, in order to form a correct judgment it is necessary to consider—
1. The solemn urgency with which the violated command is enforced in the Sacred Scriptures. See Exo_16:22-30; Exo_20:8-11; Exo_31:13-17; Exo_35:1-3; Lev_23:3; Lev_26:2; Deu_5:12-15. The first incontrovertible institution of the Sabbath amongst the Israelites is recorded in Exo_16:23-29. Shortly afterwards, at the giving of the Law, “it was re-enacted in the Fourth Commandment, which,” as Mr. Garden points out, “gave it a rank above that of an ordinary law, making it one of the signs of the Covenant. As such it remained together with the Passover, the two forming the most solemn and distinctive features of Hebrew religious life. Its neglect or profanation ranked foremost among national sins; the renewed observance of it was sure to accompany national reformation.” The importance attached to the keeping of the Sabbath in subsequent times appears from Isa_58:13-14; Jer_17:21-27; Eze_20:12-24; Neh_10:31; Neh_13:15-22.
2. The relation of the violated command to the Lord God.
(1) The day was consecrated to God; it was dedicated to His honour; its violation, therefore, involved reproach to Him. “The holy Sabbath unto the Lord;” “the Sabbath of rest holy to the Lord;” “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” thus the observance of the day is bound up with His honour.
(2) The day was a memorial of their emancipation from Egypt; its violation, therefore, involved ingratitude to God, their Emancipator (Deu_5:15). So that he who wilfully broke the Sabbath reproached the Lord.
3. The beneficence of the violated command. The beneficent character of the institution is unmistakably clear in the version of it given in Deu_5:12-15. Its design and tendency are to promote human well-being, by securing to man a regularly recurring season of bodily rest and opportunity of spiritual culture. The day of rest has been well compared to “the green oasis, the little grassy meadow in the wilderness, where after the week-days’ journey the pilgrim halts for refreshment and repose; where he rests beneath the shade of the lofty palm trees, and dips his vessel in the waters of the calm, clear stream, and recovers his strength to go forth again upon his pilgrimage in the desert with renewed vigour and cheerfulness.”
4. The wilfulness of the violation of the command. This man certainly knew the law; the manner in which the manna was bestowed was a regular reminder of it; he could not have been ignorant of the penalty of breaking the law (Exo_31:14-15); yet he breaks it. He sins knowingly, wilfully, “with a high hand;” and in accordance with the law which he had broken, he is put to death for his sin. So we see that his sin was not a small or slight one, but one of great heinousness.
II. The punishment inflicted upon the sinner.
He was stoned to death. Three points deserve notice:—
1. The case was dealt with in an orderly and becoming manner. The man was taken in the very act of gathering sticks, he was then brought before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation, i.e., “the college of elders, as the judicial authorities of the congregation” (Exo_18:25-26). Death had been assigned as the penalty of the transgression (Exo_31:14-15; Exo_35:2); but it had not been determined by what mode the transgressor should be put to death; he was therefore kept in custody until the next day, in order that Moses might consult the Lord on that point. Comp. Lev_24:12. There was nothing rash or disorderly in the procedure in the case.
2. The punishment was ordered by God. “And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death;” &c. Both the penalty itself and the mode of inflicting it were declared by the Lord to Moses.
3. The punishment was calculated to deter others from the sin. This was probably the design in calling upon the people to stone him: “All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him,” &c. This would be likely to impress them deeply with the enormity of the sin and the severity of the punishment, and to awaken within them a wholesome fear of the offence.
Conclusion.
1. Here is solemn warning to those who attend to moral duties, but neglect religion. There are some who strive to obey the commands of the second table of the Law, but disregard those of the first. The violations of the commands of the first table are directly against God Himself, and they will not go unpunished. The man who neglects worship dwarfs and degrades his own soul, &c.
2. The essential element in the law of the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation. Several non-essentials have been altered, or have passed away; e.g., instead of observing the seventh, we observe the first day of the week; instead of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset, we reckon it from midnight to midnight; and many things as to the mode of its observance have passed away. But the spirit and substance of the law is as binding now as ever it was. Worship for the soul and rest for the body are two of the deepest needs of man. The institution of the Sabbath is designed to meet these needs. “The Sabbath was made for man,” and man cannot do without it. “Eternal as the constitution of the soul of man, is the necessity for the existence of a day of rest.” The proportion also, one day in seven, is of perpetual obligation. “One day in ten, prescribed by revolutionary France, was actually pronounced by physiologists insufficient.” No man can set at nought this ordinance of God without inflicting upon himself sore loss and injury.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Whatever Divine commands Moses gave the Israelites, he communicated to them their grounds. When he gave them the law of the Jewish Sabbath he gave them along with it its basis, that is, the revelation of God’s Sabbath. At the time of the Israelitish captivity in Egypt we find not a trace of the Sabbath. It was a new thing when Moses gave it by God’s command as a law unto the Israelites; and he made it the seal of a covenant which marked them out from other nations. On what did it rest? It rested upon something greater than mere human will, or even Divine will, and that something was an eternal necessity of man’s nature, derived from a similar necessity in the nature of his Maker. And this is the only ground on which our obligation to keep the Sabbath day can rest. We cannot place it on the ground of the Mosaic law.
We have abrogated almost all that belonged to the Sabbath day. We have taken away “every manner of work.” We have changed many other important particulars. From sunset to sunset we have altered to from midnight to midnight. And then instead of “the seventh day,” we have left only this “one day in seven;” and the sceptical mind requires some proof of the moral obligation of keeping one day without work when we have admitted all the rest of the covenant to be ceremonial. We must take higher ground, and tell the doubter that there is an eternal necessity for the recurring Sabbath. It is just on this, only on this perpetual necessity of a Sabbath, that our observance of the Sabbath must be founded, in this requirement of physical rest by our nature, in the fact also that it is only by means of these stated returns of particular seasons that man can, in rest from temporal concerns, fix his attention on his Maker.
There is a further necessity for a similar outward form in the mode of worship on the Sabbath, which illustrates the primal necessity of having a day set apart. Thoughtful men have often asked why they cannot go out and have their worship in the great temple of the universe. The man who argues so knows not his own nature. There is a temple of God’s universe, and those who deny it forget a grand spiritual truth; but the feeling gained in this temple of God is one thing, that gained in the church of God is another. We may in like manner worship God all the week, but the emotion of worship on the Sabbath when we lay aside work is different from the emotions felt towards God in the midst of work.—F. W. Robertson, M.A.
Although I think that the whole law is done away with, so far as it is the law given on Mount Sinai, yet as far as it is the law of the Spirit I hold it to be all binding; and believing that our need of a Lord’s-day is as great as ever it was, and that, therefore, its observance is God’s will, and is likely as far as we can see, to be so to the end of time, I should think it mischievous to weaken the respect paid to it.—Dr. Arnold.
Religion has been the basis, the mother, the nurse of the English day of rest. It has sprung out of deep convictions of the sacredness of life, the holiness of law, the certainty of judgment, and the prospect of heaven.… The English Sunday will not be preserved without the continued operation of this religious principle. The love of money will be stronger than the love of rest. Competition can wage successful battles with anything short of conscience; God knows that it often avails to conquer this. But religious convictions are stronger, more widely spread, more deeply penetrating than any notion of conventional right, than any laws of a shallow expediency. If you try, if the nation tries, if a few noisy talkers try, to found the sanctity of the Sabbath on the advantage of recreation,—rational or irrational,—there will be very soon an end of its sacredness altogether. Let Sunday become the day on which ordinary travelling for recreation takes place,—and it will occupy tens of thousands of hands, who will find that day, as many do on the continent of Europe, the hardest and most laborious of the seven. Let recreation and amusement be the main reasons upon which you ask for the preservation of this day of rest, and you will have it invaded at every point. Let us be distinctly forewarned, that if the great use of a Sunday is a holiday; if we have no deeper reason than the relaxation of our physical energies; no other attraction than that which music, or fresh air, or public amusement may afford; we are destroying the great safeguard of the day, we are running in danger of being robbed altogether of a sacred and invaluable right. To reduce our English Sunday to the level of a Continental or pleasure-taking Sunday, would be to deprive the people of England of their birthright, to hand labour, more than ever, into the power of capital, and to open the door along which all kinds of toil must, as in other countries, infallibly follow.…
In the name of your own rights, by reason of your own need, out of regard to the obvious necessities of the case, and in view of the experience of all Europe, beware how you trifle with the conscience, the religious spirit, the Christian consecration, the holy safeguards, of what, even in spite of yourselves, is blessing you.—H. R. Reynolds, D.D.
Experience tells us, after a trial, that those Sundays are the happiest, the purest, the most rich in blessing, in which the spiritual part has been most attended to;—those in which the business letter was put aside till evening, and the profane literature not opened, and the ordinary occupations entirely suspended;—those in which as in the temple of Solomon, the sound of the earthly hammer has not been heard in the temple of the soul: for this is, in fact, the very distinction between the spirit of the Jewish Sabbath and the spirit of the Christian Lord’s-day. The one is chiefly for the body—“Thou shalt do no manner of work.” The other is principally for the soul—“I was in the spirit on the Lord’s-day.”—F. W. Robertson, M.A.
THE SABBATH-BREAKER AND HIS DOOM
(Num_15:32-36)
Here is another arrangement for the exposition of this paragraph:—
I. The sin.
1. The transgression of a moral law, which was enforced by the most solemn commands and by the severest penalty.
2. The transgression of this law wilfully.
II. The arrest.
The offender was seized in the act of transgression, and taken before the judicial authorities.
III. The consultation.
The direction of the Lord is sought as to the mode by which the sentence of death is to be executed upon him.
IV. The sentence.
This was determined by the Lord. The transgressor must be put to death (Exo_31:14-15); he must be put to death by stoning (Num_15:35).
V. The execution.
“And all the congregation brought him without,” &c. (Num_15:36). The people were the executioners. This would increase the force of the warning which the event gave to the nation.
Conclusion.
1. The moral element in the Law of the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation. We still need rest for body and mind; we still need worship for the spirit.
2. The neglecters of religious duties and privileges will do well to take warning. If any man fails to observe religiously the Lord’s day, he does so at his own loss and peril.
THE ORDINANCE OF THE FRINGES: GRACIOUS REMINDERS OR DIVINE COMMANDS
(Num_15:37; Num_15:41)
In previous paragraphs we have had legislation concerning sins of ignorance and of presumption; in this paragraph we have an institution designed to prevent sins of ignorance—sins committed unwittingly—by keeping before the eyes of the people reminders of the commands of God, and of their duty in relation to them. The Israelites are commanded to wear fringes or tassels, &c. (See Explanatory Notes on Num_15:38). This institution is not binding upon us, but it contains important instruction for us. Consider—
I. The proneness of man to forget “the commandments of the Lord.”
This is clearly implied in this ordinance. The counteraction of this proneness is the design of the ordinance. This tendency to lose sight of the commands of God arises from—
1. The sinfulness of human nature. Unless we are renewed by the Spirit of God we naturally “wander after our own heart and our own eyes.” The commandments of the Lord are opposed to many of the desires and purposes of the human heart; and we are not anxious to bear in mind that which clashes with our wishes, and rebukes us for much of our life and conduct. Men do not remember the commands of God because they do not want to remember them. Comp. Psa_77:10-11; Psa_106:13; Rom_1:28.
2. The wordly spirit which so largely prevails in human society. In the conduct of trade, as a rule we fear, men do not ask if their practices accord with the laws of God, but if they accord with the usages of trade or profession. In social relations to a very large extent men are not governed by the commands of God, but by the requirements of the society in which they move. The first and the supreme inquiry is not. Is this right? but, Is this expedient? or, popular? or, Will it pay?
In this way “the commandments of the Lord” are overlooked, or cast aside. “Our memories,” says Trapp, “are like strainers, nets, grates, that let the pure water run away, but retain mud, trash, &c. It is with us as with those in Psa_106:13, ‘they soon forgat His works,’ &c., and therefore we have need of all good helps.”
II. The arrangements which God has made to remind man of His commandments.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes,” &c. These fringes “were not appointed for the trimming and adorning of their clothes, but to ‘stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance’ (2Pe_3:1), that they might look upon the fringe and remember the commandments.… If they were tempted to sin, the fringe would be a monitor to them not to break God’s commandments; if a duty was forgotten to be done in its season, the fringe would remind them of it.” Notice—
1. The means which God employs to remind us of His commandments.
(1) The Bible. In this He not only reveals His will concerning us, but illustrates and enforces it in various ways so that we might not forget it.
(2) The Holy Spirit. He influences our spirits; speaks in us by means of conscience, &c.
(3) Holy examples. In these the will of God is “drawn out in living characters.”
(4) Warning examples of the evil consequences of overlooking His commands. These witness to us that it is perilous to forget the Divine will, and admonish us against doing so. (a)
2. The design of God in reminding us of His commandments. “That ye wander not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring; that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.” Recollection of the will of God must be followed by obedience to that will, or it will be worse than useless. The grand end of God’s dealings with us is that we may be holy unto Him. He seeks to bind us to Himself in hearty loyalty. (b)
III. The grounds upon which God requires from us this recollection of, and obedience to His commands.
“I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.” Here are two reasons for His claims upon us:
1. His personal relation to us. He is the Lord our God. He alone is the rightful Sovereign of our being. He is our Creator, the Supremely Great, the Supremely Good, and His claim upon our loyal obedience is incontrovertible.
2. His gracious doings for us. “I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God.” What has He not done for us? He has redeemed us from a captivity immeasurably worse than that of Israel in Egypt; and that at an immense cost (1Pe_1:18-19). He sustains us in being, enriches our life with many blessings, and opens out to us the most inviting and inspiring prospects. We cannot overlook His claims upon us without base ingratitude.
Be it ours with diligence and prayerfulness to endeavour to do all God’s commandments, and to be holy unto Him. (c)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) The gracious provisions of the Christian dispensation do not encourage, but discourage sinning.… We often sin through ignorance—the Christian dispensation enlightens us as to sin; shows us what God thinks of our transgressions; what God feels about them; what an evil and a bitter thing it is to sin against God. We sin through carelessness—the Christian dispensation makes us serious concerning sin. Who can look at the cross of Christ, and believe that He who is suspended on that cross is dying there on account of sin, and not be serious about sin? We sin through moral deadness—the Christian dispensation inspires us with life. It is a ministration by which the living God seeks to restore life to us. We sin on sometimes through despair—the Christian dispensation fills us with hope. Men say sometimes, when they have soak very low, It is of no use trying to rise up out of this horrible pit, and to extricate myself from this miry clay. But, looking at redemption, we see that no man need ever sin through despair; on the contrary the Christian dispensation fills us with hope. We sin often through feverishness and through restlessness of spirit—the Christian dispensation imparts peace, restores quiet to our distracted nature, and keeps the heart and mind in that holy quiet. We sin through weakness—the Christian dispensation imparts power. We sin by the force of evil motives—the Christian dispensation changes our motives; so that if any man be in Christ he is a now creature; out things have passed away, and all things have become new. The Christian dispensation does not encourage sin, but discourages it.—Samuel Martin.
(b) Throughout the Old Testament the holiness of God is made a sufficient, yea, the highest reason, why those who recognised this fact and this perfection of His nature should be holy too. God had revealed His holiness to Israel; and He wished them to consider it the “beauty” of His nature.… We have the sublime, the supernatural spectacle of an obscure tribe of men, who recognised no other God than their “Holy One,” who were distinguished from all other nations by being separated from sin, and who felt that nothing short of holiness befitted “the house of their God.” “The High and Lofty One who inhabited eternity” bore in their creed a mighty name: it was no other than this, “Holy;” and no worship could be acceptable in His sight, no rites could lift the soul heavenwards, which were not holy. As their God was distinguished from all other gods by the dazzling holiness of His nature, so they were to be distinguished from all other people by their purity, their moral excellence, their resemblance to Him. The new relation in which they found that they were standing to the Holy God, the obligations under which He had placed them, the gratitude that He could claim from their hearts, the attraction of His love, the human cords, the loving hands by which He drew them to Himself, all insisted upon their holiness; and so we find it written in the Law of Moses, “I am the Lord your God; therefore shall ye sanctify yourselves;” and, “Ye shall be holy, for I am holy;” “I am the Lord your God, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” And again, “Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God, and ye shall keep My statutes and do them; I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Again we find it written, “Ye shall be holy unto Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” Israel was taught to “Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness,” to “Glory in His holy name, to exalt the Lord God, and worship at His holy hill,” because “The Lord God was holy.” The Psalmist and the prophets, like the pillars in the temple of their God, all palpitate with the light of His holiness, and are moved with the voice of the seraphs’ song; they are dark with this excessive brightness, and by the holy service that they rendered shed on mankind the luminous principle, that the holiness of God is the chief reason for the holiness of man.—H. R. Reynolds, D.D.
(c) Much of the beauty of holiness lies in little things. Microscopic holiness is the perfection of excellence: if a life will bear examination in each hour of it, it is pure indeed. Those who are not careful about their words, and even their thoughts, will soon grow careless concerning their more notable actions. Those who tolerate sin in what they think to be little things, will soon indulge it in greater matters. To live by the day and to watch each step, is the true pilgrimage method. More lies in the careful noting of every single act than careless minds can well imagine. Be this then your prayer: “Lord, direct my morning thoughts, that the step out of my chamber into the world may be taken in Thy fear. At my table keep me in Thy presence; behind my counter, or in my field, or wherever else I may be, suffer me not to grieve Thy Spirit by any evil; and when I come to lie down at night, let the action (which seemeth so indifferent) of casting myself upon my pillow, be performed with a heart that loveth Thee; so that I shall be prepared to be with Thee, if wakeful during the night.” This brief prayer, “Order my steps,” teaches us attention to the minutiæ of life; may we have grace to learn the lesson.—C. H. Spurgeon.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Laws regarding various Offerings
Laws regarding various Offerings
1-16. Meal and Drink Offerings. The offerings here referred to are those presented along with other sacrifices (see on the Meal Offering, Leviticus 2), and an enactment is made regulating the proportion of meal, oil, and wine to be used along with a lamb (Num_15:4-5), a ram (Num_15:6-7), and a bullock (Num_15:8-10) respectively. These laws seem to have been given at Kadesh during the long sojourn there.
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4. Tenth deal] i.e. the tenth part of an ephah, which is about a bushel. A hin is about a gallon and a half: see Exo_16:16; Exo_29:40.
14. Stranger] see on Exo_9:14.
17-21. The Offering of the First Fruits.
20. Your dough] Probably a coarse kind of meal: cp. Eze_44:30.
22-31. Additional Laws regarding Sin Offerings (1) for the congregation (Num_15:22-26) and (2) for the individual (Num_15:27-31).
30. Presumptuously] lit. 'with a high hand, 'wilfully: seeon Lev_4:2. Reproacheth the Lord] bringeth a reproach upon the Lord: i.e. causeth His name to be dishonoured.
32-36. The Punishment of the Sabbath Breaker.
This incident is designed to illustrate Num_15:30, Num_15:31. It tells how the man who reproached the Lord, by breaking the sabbath commandment, was utterly cut off, i.e. put to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.
38. Fringes in the borders of their garments] RM 'twisted threads.' The original form of these is uncertain. Judging from later times, they would be, not ornamental festoons running along the edge of the garment, but tassels attached to each of its four corners by a thread of blue. A religious importance was attached to the wearing of these tassels. They were a visible reminder to the Jews of their obligation to keep the commandments of Jehovah (Num_15:39). In all probability what we have here is the hallowing of an ancient custom, as these tassels seem to have been worn by the early Persians, among others. The Jews attached an ever-increasing importance to these symbolical ornaments of dress: cp. Mat_14:36; Mat_9:20; Mat_23:5. The modern survivai is the Jewish tallith, or prayer-cloth, consisting of a strip of cloth with fringes on its border, which is thrown over the shoulders during the service in the synagogue.
39. All the commandments] The Rabbis enumerated 613 commandments in the Law. It so happens that the numerical value of the letters in the Hebrew word for fringe (zisith) is exactly 600. To make this number up to 613 the tassel was made of eight threads with five knots. In this way each tassel represented the 613 commandments, and the wearing of it was said to be of equal merit with the keeping of the whole law. This is a good example of Rabbinical interpretation and of external scrupulosity. Go a whoring] see on Exo_34:15.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The wilderness was part of the necessary discipline of…
wandering
The wilderness was part of the necessary discipline of the redeemed people, but not the years of wandering. The latter were due wholly to the unbelief of the people at Kadesh-barnea. The Red Sea, Marah, Elim, Sinai, were God’s ways, in development and discipline, and have, of necessity, their counterpart in Christian experience. The Red Sea speaks of the cross as that which--death to Christ but life for us--separates us from Egypt, the world Gal 6:14 Marah of God’s power to turn untoward things into blessings; Elim of God’s power to give rest and refreshment by the way; Sinai of God’s holiness and our deep inherent evil, the experience of Rom 7:7-24 So far the path was and is of God. But from Kadesh-barnea to Jordan all save the grace of God toward an unbelieving people, is for warning, not imitation; 1Co 10:1-11; Heb 3:17-19. There is a present rest of God, of which the Sabbath and Canaan were types, into which believers may, and therefore should, enter by faith Heb 3:1 to Heb 4:16.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 5. Various Laws, the Sabbath-Breaker, and the Tassels on…
5. Various Laws, the Sabbath-Breaker, and the Tassels on the Garments
CHAPTER 15
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1. Concerning offerings in the land (Num 15:1-16)
2. The second communication concerning offerings (Num 15:17-31)
3. The Sabbath-breaker (Num 15:32-36)
4. The tassels on the garments (Num 15:37-41)
The historical account is here interrupted. What the critics have to say about this chapter speaking of it as an evidence of the patchwork of different persons, we care not to follow. Our space is too valuable for that. The chapter is beautifully in order at this point. God gave two communications to Moses (verses 1 and 17). In the foreground of these communications stand the comforting assurance, “When ye come into the land.” Jehovah assured them that in spite of all their failure He would give them the land and that He would bring them there. While the great mass died in the wilderness they received nevertheless the assurance that the rest would reach that land. And then they would bring the sacrifices and offerings. God’s faithfulness stands here in contrast with man’s failure. We cannot enter into the details of this chapter. The offerings speak of Christ as they always do. The stranger is also mentioned (verses 14-16). There was to be one law and one custom for Israel and for the stranger among them. The stranger is placed upon the same level with the Jew. While in Exo 12:48 the circumcision of the stranger who would keep Passover is commanded, nothing is said here of this rite as touching the stranger. And this is not without meaning.
“Israel had forfeited everything. The rebellious generation was to be set aside and cut off; but God’s eternal purpose of grace must stand, and all His promises be fulfilled. All Israel shall be saved; they shall possess the land; they shall offer pure offerings, pay their vows, and taste the joy of the kingdom. On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on the self same ground that ‘the stranger’ shall be brought in; and not only brought in, but ‘as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord’“ (C.H. Mackintosh).
All will find its final great fulfillment in the day when wandering Israel is restored to the land. And that day seems no longer far off. God will keep His promises, for His gifts and calling are without repentance. The annotations in Leviticus will help in understanding verses 22-31. The burnt offering and the sin offering typify the atoning death of our Lord. The presumptuous sin mentioned in verses 30-31 is illustrated by the case of the Sabbath-breaker. And there is a deeper lesson connected with it. Rest is procured through the finished work of Christ. The sinner who refuses this offered rest and passes it by, substituting for it his own works, acts presumptuously and will be cut off. He has despised the word and the work of Jehovah. It is the “anathema” of the Epistle to the Galatians.
The tassels of blue, the heavenly color, (in Hebrew ‘Tsitsith’; still worn by orthodox Jews in literal fulfillment of the command) were to remind them of the commandments so that they would do them and not go after strange things. It was a help to a separated, a holy life. May we be constantly reminded by the Word of God of an holy and heavenly calling and be delivered from worldliness.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Ordinances Concerning Various Offerings
Ordinances Concerning Various Offerings
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations which I give unto you, when they would live under normal conditions, to which they were all looking forward,
v. 3. and will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, whereby the gift was separated from the rest of the worshiper’s goods, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savor unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock,
v. 4. then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat-offering of a tenth deal of flour (about two and one-half quarts) mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil (about one quart). This was the regular meal- or meat-offering which was intended to accompany the bloody sacrifices. Cf Leviticus 2.
v. 5. And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink-offering shalt thou prepare with the "burnt offering or sacrifice for one lamb, the libation varying with the value of the victims.
v. 6. Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat-offering two-tenth deals of flour (a little more than five quarts) mingled with the third part of an hin of oil (about one-third of a gallon).
v. 7. And for a drink-offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine for a sweet savor unto the Lord.
v. 8. And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace-offerings unto the Lord,
v. 9. then shall he (the worshiper) bring with a bullock a meat-offering of three-tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.
v. 10. And thou shalt bring for a drink-offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. And not only was the quantity of the meal and the drink-offering increased according to the value of the victims, but also according to the number of victims brought at one time, in one sacrifice.
v. 11. Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.
v. 12. According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. This law, moreover, as most of those concerning worship, applied to strangers that were received into the congregation of the Lord as well as to the native Israelites.
v. 13. All that are born of the country, the native Jews, shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.
v. 14. And it a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, having been accepted into the Jewish Church in the customary manner, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord, as ye do, so he shall do.
v. 15. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, members of the Jewish Church by birth, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations; as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
v. 16. One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. Under New Testament conditions this holds true with double importance; we ought to reach the point without further parley or delay when we accord to those who join us in more mature years the same cordial welcome which we give to our children, who enter into communicant membership almost automatically, by confirmation. There is a fine hint here for mission-work.
v. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 18. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, this being not a remote possibility, but a definite certainty,
v. 19. then it shall be that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave-offering unto the Lord, a part of the blessing lifted off and presented to the Lord.
v. 20. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough, of the first coarse meal that was ground from the grain, for an heave-offering; as ye do the heave-offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye heave it, the reference being to the firstlings of the harvest, which were consecrated to the Lord. Like all offerings of first-fruits this sacrificial cake was given to the priests.
v. 21. of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave-offering in your generations.
v. 22. And if ye have erred and not observed all these commandments which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,
v. 23. even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations, for the sins of omission are just as bad as the sins of commission, Lev 4:13-21,
v. 24. then it shall be, if aught be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, because they were not aware of certain precepts and regulations, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, with his meat-offering, and his drink-offering, according to the manner, as it was prescribed by the ordinance, and one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, the offering of the rulers thus being included with that of the people as a whole, Lev 4:23.
v. 25. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, their relationship to God would be restored through the sacrifice; for it is ignorance, and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin-offering before the Lord, for their ignorance;
v. 26. and it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them, seeing all the people were in ignorance. The Lord permitted a distinction to be made, but the sin of ignorance brought guilt upon the people just the same.
v. 27. And if any soul, one of the ordinary members of the congregation, sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she-goat of the first year for a sin-offering, Lev 4:27-28.
v. 28. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Lev 4:35.
v. 29. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
v. 30. But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, in a high-handed manner, in spite of better knowledge, with deliberate wickedness, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord, for every deliberate, willful wickedness is blasphemy in the face of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people, he was to suffer the death penalty.
v. 31. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken His commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. Translated into terms of the New Testament, this rule reminds us of the fact that the open, rebellious, unrepentant sinner, in whose case all brotherly admonitions have no effect, must be excluded from the Christian congregation by the act known as excommunication.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8 General Information:
General Information:
Numbers 15:1-32 tells what God told Moses to tell the people of Israel.
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to produce a pleasing aroma for Yahweh from the herd or the flock
"to produce from the herd or flock a smell that pleases Yahweh." The Lord's pleasure with the aroma represents his pleasure with the person who burns the offering. AT: "to please Yahweh by burning a sacrifice from the herd or the flock" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
people group
Israel
life
sacrifice
fire
burnt offering
vow
freewill offering
feast
flocks
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 15:1-41 Chapters 1–14 took place in a relatively short…
15:1-41 Chapters 1–14 took place in a relatively short period of time, but ch 15 describes the beginning of a long period—the bulk of the forty years in the wilderness—about which relatively little is known, though there are references to events that took place during the wilderness wanderings (e.g., Deut 8:2-6; 29:5-6; Josh 5:4-8; Ezek 20:10-26; Amos 5:25-26; Acts 7:42-43). During this period, Moses continued to deliver legislation to govern Israelite society, especially for that day when survivors of the wilderness would finally enter the Promised Land. This chapter deals with three categories of legal matters. Presented in the middle of stories about a stubborn and disobedient Israel, Num 15 raises hope that the Promised Land still awaited Israel’s descendants.
15:1-3 The implication of these instructions is that the Israelites would someday settle in the Promised Land (14:31; 15:18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.