1These are the wordsH1697 which MosesH4872 spokeH1696 to all IsraelH3478 on the east sideH5676 of JordanH3383 in the wildernessH4057, in the plainH6160 oppositeH4136 ZuphH5489, between ParanH6290, and TophelH8603, and LabanH3837, and HazerothH2698, and DizahabH1774. 2(There are elevenH259 H6240 daysH3117’ journey from HorebH2722 by the wayH1870 of mountH2022 SeirH8165 to KadeshbarneaH6947.) 3And it came to pass in the fortiethH705 yearH8141, in the eleventhH6249 H6240 monthH2320, on the firstH259 day of the monthH2320, that MosesH4872 spokeH1696 to the childrenH1121 of IsraelH3478, according to all that the LORDH3068 had given him in commandmentH6680 to them; 4AfterH310 he had slainH5221 SihonH5511 the kingH4428 of the AmoritesH567, who dweltH3427 in HeshbonH2809, and OgH5747 the kingH4428 of BashanH1316, who dweltH3427 at AstarothH6252 in EdreiH154: 5On the east sideH5676 of JordanH3383, in the landH776 of MoabH4124, beganH2974 MosesH4872 to declareH874 this lawH8451, sayingH559, 6The LORDH3068 our GodH430 spokeH1696 to us in HorebH2722, sayingH559, Ye have dweltH3427 long enoughH7227 in this mountH2022: 7TurnH6437, and take your journeyH5265, and goH935 to the mountH2022 of the AmoritesH567, and to all the places nearH7934 to it, in the plainH6160, on the hillsH2022, and in the valeH8219, and in the southH5045, and by the seaH3220 sideH2348, to the landH776 of the CanaanitesH3669, and to LebanonH3844, to the greatH1419 riverH5104, the riverH5104 EuphratesH6578. 8BeholdH7200, I have setH5414 the landH776 beforeH6440 you: goH935 in and possessH3423 the landH776 which the LORDH3068 sworeH7650 to your fathersH1, AbrahamH85, IsaacH3327, and JacobH3290, to giveH5414 to them and to their seedH2233 afterH310 them. 9And I spokeH559 to you at that timeH6256, sayingH559, I am not ableH3201 to bearH5375 you myself aloneH905: 10The LORDH3068 your GodH430 hath multipliedH7235 you, and, behold, ye are this dayH3117 as the starsH3556 of heavenH8064 for multitudeH7230. 11(The LORDH3068 GodH430 of your fathersH1 make you a thousandH505 timesH6471 so many more asH3254 ye are, and blessH1288 you, as he hath promisedH1696 you!) 12HowH349 can I alone bearH5375 your weightH2960, and your burdenH4853, and your strifeH7379? 13TakeH3051 for yourselves wiseH2450 menH582, and understandingH995, and knownH3045 among your tribesH7626, and I will makeH7760 them rulersH7218 over you. 14And ye answeredH6030 me, and saidH559, The thingH1697 which thou hast spokenH1696 is goodH2896 for us to doH6213. 15So I tookH3947 the headsH7218 of your tribesH7626, wiseH2450 menH582, and knownH3045, and madeH5414 them headsH7218 over you, captainsH8269 over thousandsH505, and captainsH8269 over hundredsH3967, and captainsH8269 over fiftiesH2572, and captainsH8269 over tensH6235, and officersH7860 among your tribesH7626. 16And I chargedH6680 your judgesH8199 at that timeH6256, sayingH559, HearH8085 the causes between your brethrenH251, and judgeH8199 righteouslyH6664 between every manH376 and his brotherH251, and the strangerH1616 that is with him. 17Ye shall not respectH5234 personsH6440 in judgmentH4941; but ye shall hearH8085 the smallH6996 as well as the greatH1419; ye shall not be afraidH1481 of the faceH6440 of manH376; for the judgmentH4941 is God’sH430: and the causeH1697 that is too hardH7185 for you, bringH7126 to me, and I will hearH8085 it. 18And I commandedH6680 you at that timeH6256 all the thingsH1697 which ye should doH6213. 19And when we departedH5265 from HorebH2722, we went throughH3212 all that greatH1419 and terribleH3372 wildernessH4057, which ye sawH7200 by the wayH1870 of the mountainH2022 of the AmoritesH567, as the LORDH3068 our GodH430 commandedH6680 us; and we cameH935 to KadeshbarneaH6947. 20And I saidH559 to you, Ye have comeH935 to the mountainH2022 of the AmoritesH567, which the LORDH3068 our GodH430 doth giveH5414 to us. 21BeholdH7200, the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 hath setH5414 the landH776 beforeH6440 thee: go upH5927 and possessH3423 it, as the LORDH3068 GodH430 of thy fathersH1 hath saidH1696 to thee; fearH3372 not, neither be discouragedH2865. 22And ye came nearH7126 to me each one of you, and saidH559, We will sendH7971 menH582 beforeH6440 us, and they shall search us outH2658 the landH776 for us, and bringH7725 us wordH1697 againH7725 by what wayH1870 we must go upH5927, and into what citiesH5892 we shall comeH935. 23And the sayingH1697 pleased me wellH3190 H5869: and I tookH3947 twelveH8147 H6240 menH582 of you, oneH259 of a tribeH376 H7626: 24And they turnedH6437 and went upH5927 to the mountainH2022, and cameH935 to the valleyH5158 of EshcolH812, and searched it outH7270. 25And they tookH3947 of the fruitH6529 of the landH776 in their handsH3027, and brought it downH3381 to us, and broughtH7725 us wordH1697 againH7725, and saidH559, It is a goodH2896 landH776 which the LORDH3068 our GodH430 doth giveH5414 us. 26However ye wouldH14 not go upH5927, but rebelledH4784 against the commandmentH6310 of the LORDH3068 your GodH430: 27And ye murmuredH7279 in your tentsH168, and saidH559, Because the LORDH3068 hatedH8135 us, he hath brought us forthH3318 from the landH776 of EgyptH4714, to deliverH5414 us into the handH3027 of the AmoritesH567, to destroyH8045 us. 28Where can we go upH5927? our brethrenH251 have discouragedH4549 our heartH3824, sayingH559, The peopleH5971 are greaterH1419 and tallerH7311 than we; the citiesH5892 are greatH1419 and walled upH1219 to heavenH8064; and moreover we have seenH7200 the sonsH1121 of the AnakimsH6062 there. 29Then I saidH559 to you, DreadH6206 not, neither be afraidH3372 of them. 30The LORDH3068 your GodH430 who goethH1980 beforeH6440 you, he shall fightH3898 for you, according to all that he didH6213 for you in EgyptH4714 before your eyesH5869; 31And in the wildernessH4057, where thou hast seenH7200 how the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 boreH5375 thee, as a manH376 doth bearH5375 his sonH1121, in all the wayH1870 that ye wentH1980, until ye cameH935 into this placeH4725. 32Yet in this thingH1697 ye did not believeH539 the LORDH3068 your GodH430, 33Who wentH1980 in the wayH1870 beforeH6440 you, to search outH8446 for you a placeH4725 to pitch your tentsH2583 in, in fireH784 by nightH3915, to showH7200 you by what wayH1870 ye should goH3212, and in a cloudH6051 by dayH3119. 34And the LORDH3068 heardH8085 the voiceH6963 of your wordsH1697, and was angryH7107, and sworeH7650, sayingH559, 35Surely there shall not oneH376 of these menH582 of this evilH7451 generationH1755 seeH7200 that goodH2896 landH776, which I sworeH7650 to giveH5414 to your fathersH1, 36ExceptH2108 CalebH3612 the sonH1121 of JephunnehH3312; he shall seeH7200 it, and to him will I giveH5414 the landH776 thatH834 he hath walked uponH1869, and to his childrenH1121, because he hath whollyH4390 followedH310 the LORDH3068. 37Also the LORDH3068 was angryH599 with me for your sakesH1558, sayingH559, Thou also shalt not goH935 in thereH8033. 38But JoshuaH3091 the sonH1121 of NunH5126, who standethH5975 beforeH6440 thee, he shall go inH935 there: encourageH2388 him: for he shall cause IsraelH3478 to inheritH5157 it. 39Moreover your little onesH2945, which ye saidH559 should be a preyH957, and your childrenH1121, which in that dayH3117 had no knowledgeH3045 between goodH2896 and evilH7451, they shall go inH935 there, and to them will I giveH5414 it, and they shall possessH3423 it. 40But as for you, turnH6437, and take your journeyH5265 into the wildernessH4057 by the wayH1870 of the RedH5488 seaH3220. 41Then ye answeredH6030 and saidH559 to me, We have sinnedH2398 against the LORDH3068, we will go upH5927 and fightH3898, according to all that the LORDH3068 our GodH430 commandedH6680 us. And when ye had girdedH2296 on every manH376 his weaponsH3627 of warH4421, ye were readyH1951 to go upH5927 to the hillH2022. 42And the LORDH3068 saidH559 to me, SayH559 to them, Go not upH5927, neither fightH3898; for I am not amongH7130 you; lest ye be smittenH5062 beforeH6440 your enemiesH341. 43So I spokeH1696 to you; and ye would not hearH8085, but rebelledH4784 against the commandmentH6310 of the LORDH3068, and wentH5927 presumptuouslyH2102 upH5927 to the hillH2022. 44And the AmoritesH567, who dweltH3427 on that mountainH2022, came outH3318 againstH7125 you, and chasedH7291 you, as beesH1682 doH6213, and destroyedH3807 you in SeirH8165, even to HormahH2767. 45And ye returnedH7725 and weptH1058 beforeH6440 the LORDH3068; but the LORDH3068 would not hearkenH8085 to your voiceH6963, nor give earH238 to you. 46So ye abodeH3427 in KadeshH6946 manyH7227 daysH3117, according to the daysH3117 that ye abodeH3427 there.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 We have here, I. The date of this sermon which Moses preached to the people of Israel. A great auditory, no question, he had, as many as could crowd within hearing, and particularly all the elders and officers, the representatives of the people; and, probably, it was on the sabbath day that he delivered this to them. 1. The place were they were now encamped was
in the plain, in the land of Moab (
Deut 1:1,
Deut 1:5), where they were just ready to enter Canaan, and engage in a war with the Canaanites. Yet he discourses not to them concerning military affairs, the arts and stratagems of war, but concerning their duty to God; for, if they kept themselves in his fear and favour, he would secure to them the conquest of the land: their religion would be their best policy. 2. The time was near the end of the fortieth year since they came out of Egypt. So long God had
borne their manners, and they had
borne their own iniquity (
Num 14:34), and now that a new and more pleasant scene was to be introduced, as a token for good, Moses repeats the law to them. Thus, after God's controversy with them on account of the golden calf, the first and surest sign of God's being reconciled to them was the
renewing of the tables. There is no better evidence and earnest of God's favour than his putting his law in our hearts,
Pss 147:19,
Pss 147:20.
II. The discourse itself. In general, Moses spoke unto them
all that the Lord had given him in commandment (
Deut 1:3), which intimates, not only that what he now delivered was for substance the same with what had formerly been commanded, but that it was what God now commanded him to repeat. He gave them this rehearsal and exhortation purely by divine direction; God appointed him to leave this legacy to the church. He begins his narrative with their removal from Mount Sinai (
Deut 1:6), and relates here, 1. The orders which God gave them to decamp, and proceed in their march (
Deut 1:6,
Deut 1:7):
You have dwelt long enough in this mount. This was the mount
that burned with fire (
Hebre 12:18), and
gendered to bandage, Galat 4:24. Thither God brought them to humble them, and by the terrors of the law to prepare them for the land of promise. There he kept them about a year, and then told them they had
dwelt long enough there, they must go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and affliction, into spiritual trouble and affliction of mind, he knows when they have dwelt long enough in it, and will certainly find a time, the fittest time, to advance them from the terrors of the spirit of adoption. See
Roma 8:15. 2. The prospect which he gave them of a happy and early settlement in Canaan:
Go to the land of the Canaanites (
Deut 1:7); enter and take possession, it is all your own.
Behold I have set the land before you, Deut 1:8. When God commands us to go forward in our Christian course he sets the heavenly Canaan before us for our encouragement.
9 Moses here reminds them of the happy constitution of their government, which was such as might make them all safe and easy if it was not their own fault. When good laws were given them good men were entrusted with the execution of them, which, as it was an instance of God's goodness to them, so it was of the care of Moses concerning them; and, it should seem, he mentions it here to recommend himself to them as a man that sincerely sought their welfare, and so to make way for what he was about to say to them, wherein he aimed at nothing but their good. In this part of his narrative he insinuates to them,
I. That he greatly rejoiced in the increase of their numbers. He owns the accomplishment of God's promise to Abraham (
Deut 1:10):
You are as the stars of heaven for multitude; and prays for the further accomplishment of it (
Deut 1:11):
God make you a thousand times more. This prayer comes in in a parenthesis, and a good prayer prudently put in cannot be impertinent in any discourse of divine things, nor will a pious ejaculation break the coherence, but rather strengthen and adorn it. But how greatly are his desires enlarged when he prays that they might be made a thousand times more than they were! We are not straitened in the power and goodness of God, why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope, which ought to be as large as the promise? larger they need not be. It is from the promise that Moses here takes the measures of his prayer:
The Lord bless you as he hath promised you. And why might he not hope that they might become a thousand times more than they were now when they were now ten thousand times more than they were when they went down into Egypt, about 250 years ago? Observe, When they were under the government of Pharaoh the increase of their numbers was envied, and complained of as a grievance (
Exod 1:9); but now, under the government of Moses, it was rejoiced in, and prayed for as a blessing. The consideration of this might give them occasion to reflect with shame upon their own folly when they had talked of making a captain and returning to Egypt.
II. That he was not ambitious of monopolizing the honour of the government, and ruling them himself alone, as an absolute monarch,
Deut 1:9. Though he was a man as well worthy of that honour, and as well qualified for the business, as ever any man was, yet he was desirous that others might be taken in as assistants to him in the business and consequently sharers with him in the honour:
I cannot myself alone bear the burden, Deut 1:12. Magistracy is a burden. Moses himself, though eminently gifted for it, found it lay heavily on his shoulders; nay, the best magistrates complain most of the burden, and are most desirous of help, and most afraid of undertaking more than they can perform.
III. That he was not desirous to prefer his own creatures, or such as should underhand have a dependence upon him; for he leaves it to the people to choose their own judges, to whom he would grant commissions, not
durant bene placito -
to be turned out when he pleased; but
quam diu se bene gesserint -
to continue so long as they approved themselves faithful. Take you wise men, that are known to be so among your tribes, and I will make them rulers, Deut 1:13. Thus the apostles directed the multitude to choose overseers of the poor, and then they ordained them,.
Acts 6:3,
Acts 6:6. He directs them to
take wise men and understanding, whose personal merit would recommend them. The rise and origin of this nation were so late that none of them could pretend to antiquity of race, and nobility of birth, above their brethren; and, having all lately come out of slavery in Egypt, it is probable that one family was not much richer than another; so that their choice must be directed purely by the qualifications of wisdom, experience, and integrity. Choose those, says Moses, whose praise is in your tribes, and with all my heart
I will make them rulers. We must not grudge that God's work be done by other hands than ours, provided it be done by good hands.
IV. That he was in this matter very willing to please the people; and, though he did not in any thing aim at their applause, yet in a thing of this nature he would not act without their approbation. And they agreed to the proposal:
The thing which thou hast spoken is good, Deut 1:14. This he mentions to aggravate the sin of their mutinies and discontents after this, that the government they quarrelled with was what they themselves had consented to; Moses would have pleased them if they would have been pleased.
V. That he aimed to edify them as well as to gratify them; for,
1. He appointed men of good characters (
Deut 1:15),
wise men and men known, men that would be faithful to their trust and to the public interest.
2. He gave them a good charge,
Deut 1:16,
Deut 1:17. Those that are advanced to honour must know that they are charged with business, and must give account another day of their charge. (1.) He charges them to be diligent and patient:
Hear the causes. Hear both sides, hear them fully, hear them carefully; for nature has provided us with two ears, and
he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame to him. The ear of the learner is necessary to the tongue of the learned,
Isa 50:4. (2.) To be just and impartial:
Judge righteously. Judgment must be given according to the merits of the cause, without regard to the quality of the parties. The natives must not be suffered to abuse the strangers any more that the strangers to insult the natives or to encroach upon them; the great must not be suffered to oppress the small, nor to crush them, any more than the small, to rob the great, or to affront them. No faces must be known in judgment, but unbribed unbiased equity must always pass sentence. (3.) To be resolute and courageous:
You shall not be afraid of the face of man; be not overawed to do an ill thing, either by the clamours of the crowd or by the menaces of those that have power in their hands. And he gave them a good reason to enforce this charge:
For the judgment is God's. You are God's viceregents, you act for him, and therefore must act like him; you are his representatives, but if you judge unrighteously, you misrepresent him. The judgment is his, and therefore he will protect you in doing right, and will certainly call you to account if you do wrong.
3. He allowed them to bring all difficult cases to him, and he would always be ready to hear and determine, and to make both the judges and the people easy.
Happy art thou. O Israel! in such praise as Moses was.
19 Moses here makes a large rehearsal of the fatal turn which was given to their affairs by their own sins, and God's wrath, when, from the very borders of Canaan, the honour of conquering it, and the pleasure of possessing it, the whole generation was hurried back into the wilderness, and their carcases fell there. It was a memorable story; we read it Num. 13 and 14, but divers circumstances are found here which are not related there.
I. He reminds them of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea (
Deut 1:19), through
that great and terrible wilderness. This he takes notice of, 1. To make them sensible of the great goodness of God to them, in guiding them through so great a wilderness, and protecting them from the mischiefs they were surrounded with in such a terrible wilderness. The remembrance of our dangers should make us thankful for our deliverances. 2. To aggravate the folly of those who, in their discontent, would have gone back to Egypt through the wilderness, though they had forfeited, and had no reason to expect, the divine guidance, in such a retrograde motion.
II. He shows them how fair they stood for Canaan at that time,
Deut 1:20,
Deut 1:21. He told them with triumph, the land is
set before you, go up and possess it. He lets them see how near they were to a happy settlement when they put a bar in their own door, that their sin might appear the more exceedingly sinful. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites that they were
not far from the kingdom of God and yet came short,
Mark 12:34.
III. He lays the blame of sending the spies upon them, which did not appear in Numbers, there it is said (
Deut 13:1,
Deut 13:2) that the Lord directed the sending of them, but here we find that the people first desired it, and God, in permitting it, gave them up to their counsels:
You said, We will send men before us, Deut 1:22. Moses had given them God's word (
Deut 1:20,
Deut 1:21), but they could not find in their hearts to rely upon that: human policy goes further with them than divine wisdom, and they will needs light a candle to the sun. As if it were not enough that they were sure of a God before them, they must send men before them.
IV. He repeats the report which the spies brought of the goodness of the land which they were sent to survey,
Deut 1:24,
Deut 1:25. The blessings which God has promised are truly valuable and desirable, even the unbelievers themselves being judges: never any looked into the holy land, but they must own it a good land. Yet they represented the difficulties of conquering it as insuperable (
Deut 1:28); as if it were in vain to think of attacking them either by battle, for the people are taller than we, or by siege, for the cities are walled up to heaven, an hyperbole which they made use of to serve their ill purpose, which was to dishearten the people, and perhaps they intended to reflect on the God of heaven himself, as if they were able to defy him, like the Babel-builders, the top of whose tower must reach to heaven,
Gen 11:4. Those places only are walled up to heaven that are compassed with God's favour as with a shield.
V. He tells them what pains he took with them to encourage them, when their brethren had said so much to discourage them (
Deut 1:29):
Then I said unto you, Dread not. Moses suggested enough to have stilled the tumult, and to have kept them with their faces towards Canaan. He assured them that God was present with them, and president among them, and would certainly
fight for them, Deut 1:30. And for proof of his power over their enemies he refers them to what they had seen done in Egypt, where their enemies had all possible advantages against them and yet were humbled and forced to yield,
Deut 1:30. And for proof of God's goodwill to them, and the real kindness which he intended them, he refers them to what
they had seen in the wilderness (
Deut 1:31,
Deut 1:33), through which they had been guided by the eye of divine wisdom in a pillar of cloud and fire (which guided both their motions and their rests), and had been carried in the arms of divine grace with as much care and tenderness as were ever shown to any child borne in the arms of a nursing father. And was there any room left to distrust this God? Or were they not the most ungrateful people in the world, who, after such sensible proofs of the divine goodness,
hardened their hearts in the day of temptation? Moses had complained once that God had charged him to carry this people
as a nursing father doth the sucking child (
Num 11:12); but here he owns that it was God that so carried them, and perhaps this is alluded to (
Acts 13:18), where he is said to
bear them, or to
suffer their manners. VI. He charges them with the sin which they were guilty of upon this occasion. Though those to whom he was now speaking were a new generation, yet he lays it upon them:
You rebelled, and you murmured; for many of these were then in being, though under twenty years old, and perhaps were engaged in the riot; and the rest inherited their fathers' vices, and smarted for them. Observe what he lays to their charge. 1. Disobedience and rebellion against God's law:
You would not go up, but rebelled, Deut 1:26. The rejecting of God's favours is really a rebelling against his authority. 2. Invidious reflections upon God's goodness. They basely suggested:
Because the Lord hated us, he brought us out of Egypt, Deut 1:27. What could have been more absurd, more disingenuous, and more reproachful to God? 3. An unbelieving heart at the bottom of all this:
You did not believe the Lord your God, Deut 1:32. All your disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from a disbelief of his word. A sad pass it has come to with us when the God of eternal truth cannot be believed.
VII. He repeats the sentence passed upon them for this sin, which now they had seen the execution of. 1. They were all condemned to die in the wilderness, and none of them must be suffered to enter Canaan except Caleb and Joshua,
Deut 1:34-
Deut 1:38. So long they must continue in their wanderings in the wilderness that most of them would drop off of course, and the youngest of them should be cut off. Thus
they could not enter in because of unbelief. It was not the breach of any of the commands of the law that shut them out of Canaan, no, not the golden calf, but their disbelief of that promise which was typical of gospel grace, to signify that no sin will ruin us but unbelief, which is a sin against the remedy. 2. Moses himself afterwards fell under God's displeasure for a hasty word which they provoked him to speak:
The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, Deut 1:37. Because all the old stock must go off, Moses himself must not stay behind. Their unbelief let death into the camp, and, having entered, even Moses falls within his commission. 3. Yet here is mercy mixed with wrath. (1.) That, though Moses might not bring them into Canaan, Joshua should (v. 38):
Encourage him; for he would be discouraged from taking up a government which he saw Moses himself fall under the weight of; but let him be assured that he shall accomplish that for which he is raised up:
He shall cause Israel to inherit it. Thus
what the law could not do, in that it was weak, Jesus, our Joshua, does by bringing in the better hope. (2.) That, though this generation should not enter into Canaan, the next should,
Deut 1:39. As they had been chosen for their fathers' sakes, so their children might justly have been rejected for their sakes. But
mercy rejoiceth against judgement. VIII. He reminds them of their foolish and fruitless attempt to get this sentence reversed when it was too late. 1. They tried it by their reformation in this particular; whereas they had refused to go up against the Canaanites, now they would go up, aye, that they would, in all haste, and they girded on their weapons of war for that purpose,
Deut 1:41. Thus, when the door is shut, and the day of grace is over, there will be found those that stand without and knock. But this, which looked like a reformation, proved but a further rebellion. God, by Moses, prohibited the attempt (
Deut 1:42):
yet they went presumptuously up to the hill (
Deut 1:43), acting now in contempt of the threatening, as before in contempt of the promise, as if they were governed by a spirit of contradiction; and it sped accordingly (
Deut 1:44): they were chased and destroyed; and, by this defeat which they suffered when they provoked God to leave them, they were taught what success they might have had if they had kept themselves in his love. 2. They tried by their prayers and tears to get the sentence reversed:
They returned and wept before the Lord, Deut 1:45. While they were fretting and quarrelling, it is said (
Num 14:1):
They wept that night; those were tears of rebellion
against God, these were tears of repentance and humiliation
before God. Note, Tears of discontent must be wept over again; the sorrow of the world worketh death, and is to be repented of; it is not so with godly sorrow,
that will end in joy. But their weeping was all to no purpose.
The Lord would not harken to your voice, because you would not harken to his; the decree had gone forth, and, like Esau, they found no place of repentance, though they sought it carefully with tears.
