Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc09/v10400

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 7KB | 129 lines

10403
 #7-14 God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted
 themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a
 self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of
 his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a
 departing from the way of duty into a by-path. They soon forgot
 God's works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any
 wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not bear to see
 the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. God
 expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the
 manner of men who would have none to plead for those they resolve
 to be severe with. Nothing but the prayer of Moses could save them
 from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation
 alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads
 God's glory. The glorifying God's name, as it ought to be our
 first petition, and it is so in the Lord's prayer, so it ought
 to be our great plea. And God's promises are to be our pleas in
 prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the
 power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed
 his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed
 determined on their destruction; which change of the outward
 discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.
10411
 #15-20 What a change it is, to come down from the mount of
 communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we
 see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing
 but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol
 is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing
 this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in
 heart should be filled with his own ways.

10417
 #21-29 Never did any wise man make a more frivolous and foolish
 excuse than that of Aaron. We must never be drawn into sin by
 any thing man can say or do to us; for men can but tempt us to
 sin, they cannot force us. The approach of Moses turned the
 dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame by their sin.
 The course Moses took to roll away this reproach, was, not by
 concealing the sin, or putting any false colour upon it, but by
 punishing it. The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this
 wickedness; yet none were executed but those who openly stood
 forth. Those are marked for ruin who persist in sin: those who
 in the morning were shouting and dancing, before night were
 dying. Such sudden changes do the judgments of the Lord
 sometimes make with sinners that are secure and jovial in their
 sin.

10426
 #30-35 Moses calls it a great sin. The work of ministers is to
 show people the greatness of their sins. The great evil of sin
 appears in the price of pardon. Moses pleads with God for mercy;
 he came not to make excuses, but to make atonement. We are not
 to suppose that Moses means that he would be willing to perish
 for ever, for the people's sake. We are to love our neighbour as
 ourselves, and not more than ourselves. But having that mind
 which was in Christ, he was willing to lay down his life in the
 most painful manner, if he might thereby preserve the people.
 Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of God; which shows
 that the law of Moses was not able to reconcile men to God, and
 to perfect our peace with him. In Christ alone, God so pardons
 sin as to remember it no more. From this history we see, that no
 unhumbled, carnal heart, can long endure the holy precepts, the
 humbling truths, and the spiritual worship of God. But a god, a
 priest, a worship, a doctrine, and a sacrifice, suited to the
 carnal mind, will ever meet with abundance of worshippers. The
 very gospel itself may be so perverted as to suit a worldly
 taste. Well is it for us, that the Prophet like unto Moses, but
 who is beyond compare more powerful and merciful, has made
 atonement for our souls, and now intercedes in our behalf. Let
 us rejoice in his grace.
10432
 * The Lord refuses to go with Israel. (1-6) The tabernacle of
 Moses removed without the camp. (7-11) Moses desires to see the
 glory of God. (12-23)

 #1-6 Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin
 deserved. "Let them go forward as they are;" this was very
 expressive of God's displeasure. Though he promises to make good
 his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies
 them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The
 people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and
 consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most,
 God's departure from them. Canaan itself would be no pleasant
 land without the Lord's presence. Those who parted with
 ornaments to maintain sin, could do no less than lay aside
 ornaments, in token of sorrow and shame for it.

10438
 #7-11 Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the
 camp. This seems to have been a temporary building, set up for
 worship, and at which he judged disputes among the people. The
 people looked after him; they were very desirous to be at peace
 with God, and concerned to know what would come to pass. The
 cloudy pillar which had withdrawn from the camp when it was
 polluted with idolatry, now returned. If our hearts go forth
 toward God to meet him, he will graciously come to meet us.

10443
 #12-23 Moses is very earnest with God. Thus, by the intercession
 of Christ, we are not only saved from ruin, but become entitled
 to everlasting happiness. Observe here how he pleads. We find
 grace in God's sight, if we find grace in our hearts to guide
 and quicken us in the way of our duty. Moses speaks as one who
 dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord's
 presence. God's gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should
 not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in
 prayer. Observe how he speeds. See, in a type, Christ's
 intercession, which he ever lives to make for all that come to
 God by him; and that it is not by any thing in those for whom he
 intercedes. Moses then entreats a sight of God's glory, and is
 heard in that also. A full discovery of the glory of God, would
 overwhelm even Moses himself. Man is mean, and unworthy of it;
 weak, and could not bear it; guilty, and could not but dread it.
 The merciful display which is made in Christ Jesus, alone can be
 borne by us. The Lord granted that which would abundantly
 satisfy. God's goodness is his glory; and he will have us to
 know him by the glory of his mercy, more than by the glory of
 his majesty. Upon the rock there was a fit place for Moses to
 view the goodness and glory of God. The rock in Horeb was
 typical of Christ the Rock; the Rock of refuge, salvation, and
 strength. Happy are they who stand upon this Rock. The cleft may
 be an emblem of Christ, as smitten, crucified, wounded, and
 slain. What follows, denotes the imperfect knowledge of God in
 the present state, even as revealed in Christ; for this, when
 compared with the heavenly sight of him, is but like seeing a
 man that is gone by, whose back only is to be seen. God in
 Christ, as he is, even the fullest and brightest displays of his
 glory, grace, and goodness, are reserved to another state.