CHAPTER XV.
THE words with which our chapter opens are peculiarly striking, when taken in connection with the contents of chapter xiv. 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 live, 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.”
Thus much as to chapter xiv. 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_,’” etc. 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 every thing, 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 every thing? 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 first 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 shoulders. 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 forever elided 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. i. 19-22.)
Thus, then, the opening lines of Numbers xv. 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 fulfillment of the absolute and unconditional promise made to the fathers? Impossible. And therefore, if the generation which came 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 xiv. 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. Every thing 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 favorable 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 forever. 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 every thing? 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 honors 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 man, 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.
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We shall now return, for a moment, to our chapter.
Nothing can be more lovely than the picture here presented. We have vows, and free-will 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 marvelous 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 forever. (Ver. 3-13.)
But there is a 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 savor 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 forever_ 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 favorite 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 xii. 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 xv. 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 every thing. 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.”
Will the Jew quarrel with this? Let him go and study Numbers xiii. and