7.
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Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt.
Contrast v. 12 — but that did not last.
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But provoked him at... the Red sea. They “were
rebellious” (RV), even before they were out of Egypt: Exod. 14:11,12; cp.
vv. 33,43 here.
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8.
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Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake.
That is, for the sake of His Promises to their fathers (Psa.
105:42).
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9.
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He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up. The
s.w. occurs in Matt. 8:26: “Then he arose, and rebuked the winds
and the sea.” Compare also Psa. 65:7; 89:9; 93:3,4; 107:23-30.
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So he led them through the depths, as through the
wilderness: Isa. 63:13.
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10.
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He... redeemed them. The Hebrew word ga’al
signifies the act of a near-kinsman.
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13.
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They soon forgat his works (Exod. 32:8). Literally,
“they made haste to forget” (AV mg.), that is, they wanted to
forget! After the mighty works of Exod. 14:21 and 15:1 there came (starting only
three days later! — 15:22) the grumblings of 15:24; 16:2; 17:2;
etc.
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“Their problem was forgetting. And forgetting
came because of lack of understanding and of a deep intelligent impression. Day
after day they witnessed the results of God’s mighty power on their
behalf, and therefore lived by sight. But the impression made upon their animal
minds was faint and superficial. They gobbled and grunted when He filled the
trough, and squeaked and squealed when He did not, but they never really knew
Him” (G.A. Gibson).
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They waited not for his counsel. Referring to the
people’s impatience at Moses’ absence:
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And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of
the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto
him, ‘Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses,
the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become
of him’ ” (Exod. 32:1).
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Here “counsel” means not only the Decalogue but
also the other details of the Law which were to govern their lives.
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14.
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But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness. Literally,
“they lusted a lust” (Num. 11:4, s.w.). What a dramatic contrast
there is in Luke 22:15, where the very same word (and Hebrew idiom) is used by
Jesus:
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With desire have I desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer.”
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And tempted God in the wilderness. There is no
contradiction with James 1:13. God cannot be tempted to do evil; rather, His
patience was “tested” (RSV) (cp. Psa. 78:18,41,56; 95:9).
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15.
|
And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into
their soul. Remarkably, the LXX has “fatness” (with reference to
the excess of quails in Num. 11:20,32?). If, however, “leanness” is
correct, the reference is to Num. 11:33:
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And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was
chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote
the people with a very great plague.”
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This was “leanness of soul”, or
“life” — there was no need to send “leanness of
spirit”. That they already had!
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16.
|
They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of
the Lord. The word “saint” (or ‘holy one’, an apt
term for the priest) recalls the ground of complaint against Aaron and Moses:
that they had made themselves the “holy” or elite ones, when in fact
the whole congregation could lay claim to that title (Num. 16:3-5).
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17.
|
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the
company of Abiram (Num. 16:30-34). But what about Korah?...
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18.
|
A fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up
the wicked. This is Num. 16:35 (and cp. 26:10).
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19.
|
They made a calf in Horeb (Acts 7:41), emphasizing that
this happened in the very place where the Ten Commandments were given (Exod.
20:4,5; Deut. 4:16).
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20.
|
Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox
that eats grass. There is a withering contempt in those last three words. In
the Tabernacle the cherubim of glory were probably in the form of oxen (as they
were in Solomon’s Temple: cp. with 1 Kings 7:25,29,44; 2 Chron. 4:3,4,15;
and see H.A. Whittaker, Bible Studies, pp. 170,181). The usual
explanation that the golden calf was an imitation of Egypt’s idol Apis is
a commentator’s fantasy. Furthermore, “These be thy
gods” (Exod. 32:4,5) seems to require more than one ox, which
accords well with the plural figures of the cherubim, but not with the singular
“god” of Egypt.
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|
They changed their glory. This is quoted by Paul in
Rom. 1:23:
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|
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and
creeping things.”
|
|
Ignorant Gentiles cannot change the Glory of God into
any human or animal pattern, for the simple reason that they have never properly
known the Glory of God in the first place. But this statement is literally true
of Israel. This point, and several others, suggest that the common assessment of
Romans 1 — i.e., that it is describing the depravity of the Gentile world
— needs to be rethought (see Psalm 81, Par. 5c; Whittaker, Bible
Studies, pp. 305-308).
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21.
|
They forgat God their Savior. There is a play here on
the name of Moses.
|
22.
|
Wondrous works in the land of Ham: Psa.
105:23,27.
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23.
|
Moses... stood... in the breach (Exod.
32:9-14,30-35).
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|
And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, ‘Oh, this
people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if
thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy
book which thou hast written’ ” (Exod. 32:31,32).
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|
Moses did not seek to disavow the sins of the community over
which God had placed him (cp. v. 6 here), but rather sought to take total
responsibility for those sins. He stood fearlessly at the place where the line
of defense had been broken, as a last protecting barrier for the nation
helplessly at risk because of their sins. This is “the good
shepherd” laying down his life for the sheep (John 10:11,15); it is the
yearning of Paul to save his fellow-Israelites, even at his own expense (Rom.
9:3). And it is David’s desire to be punished for the sins of the nation
(2 Sam. 24:17). But all of these — stirring examples though they be
— are but inadequate previews or echoes of the one and only great
sacrifice, by which the Man Christ Jesus stood in the breach (cp. Ezek. 22:30),
and redeemed all his sinful brethren (Psa. 49:7; Isa. 59:16,17; Mark 10:45;
Matt. 20:28; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:12,15; 1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:18,19).
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24.
|
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his
word. They relinquished all desire for the Land of Promise, by ignoring the
reports of Joshua and Caleb (Num. 14:31).
|
25.
|
But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the
voice of the Lord. This verse quotes Deut. 1:27, where to the one sin of
grumbling is added the other of blasphemy.
|
26.
|
Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow
them in the wilderness. The Almighty takes an oath: cp. Num. 14:28,30; but
also — thank God! — Num. 14:21.
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27.
|
To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to
scatter them in the lands. This language — “the
nations”... “the lands” — clearly calls for a much wider
application than that which ensued after Num. 14. In fact, it appears to be
quoting Moses’ own warning of later days: Lev. 26:33-38; Deut. 28:64-68.
And so it is quoted later by Ezekiel:
|
|
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I
would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the
countries” (20:23).
|
28.
|
They joined (literally, “yoked”, as RSV)
themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead (Num.
25). The word “yoked” suggests the sin fornication (cp. Paul in 1
Cor. 6:16-18 and 2 Cor. 6:14-17). The reference to “the dead” is
either to the worship of dead idols, called “No-gods”, or to the
worship of departed spirits and the belief in the immortality of the soul (v.
37, notes; Deut. 32:17; cp. 1 Cor. 8:4,5; Isa. 8:19; Deut. 18:9-11).
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30.
|
Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment. Or, as
the LXX: ‘made atonement’, that is, by “sacrifice” of
the offending “worshipers” (Num. 25:7-11).
|
31.
|
And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all
generations for evermore. Such exceptional statements are made of only two
men — Abraham is the other (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3,9,22; James 2:23). And it
is of course true also of all those who are “in Abraham” (Rom.
4:24,25).
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33.
|
They provoked his spirit. This should probably be read
as “God’s Spirit”, with reference to the Angel of the Lord
(cp. Isa. 63:9,10).
|
|
So that he [Moses] spake unadvisedly with his lips.
There is no implication of reprobation behind the word translated
“unadvisedly”; rather it means ‘emphatically’. The
reprobation is in the phrase: “with his lips”, in the sense
of ‘his own lips’ instead of ‘with God’s
guidance’: “Hear now, ye rebels, must we [Moses and Aaron
— not Moses and God] fetch you water out of the rock?” (Num.
20:10).
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34.
|
They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord
commanded them. Judges 1:27-29 and 2:14-22 is an extended commentary on this
and the next nine verses.
|
37.
|
Devils is a bad translation of shedim
(which occurs elsewhere only in Deut. 32:17). Instead, it should be
“destroyers”, a play on the name of the Almighty —
Shaddai. Instead of God-blessed fruitfulness, they chose what was
a gross parody — the Canaanite fertility cults — and what would
bring their spiritual destruction.
|
|
Both occurrences of shedim in the LXX are
translated by daimonion in the New Testament — referring of
course to idols and not to any disembodied “spirits”, whether good
or evil. It is in this sense that the New Testament occasionally uses
daimonion (1 Cor. 10:20,21; Rev. 9:20; 1 Tim. 4:1) (A.H. Nicholls,
The Evangelical Revival, pp. 71-78).
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45.
|
And he remembered for them his covenant. What a moving
contrast with vv. 13,21! “Yea, they may forget, yet will I
not forget thee” (Isa. 48:15).
|
|
And repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
But of course God does not “repent” in the literal sense of the
term. He is not a man that He should repent (1 Sam. 15:29). Then why does
Scripture use this kind of language so often about Him? The only alternative to
asserting, time and again, that the words of the Bible do not mean what they
say, is to accept that God uses this kind of terminology because He wants
His people to think of Him in this way. This is what is best for them. (For
fuller details on this theme, see H.A. Whittaker’s Revelation: A
Biblical Approach, pp. 271, 272.)
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47.
|
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the
heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.
The whole of this verse invites comparison with 1 Kings 8:49,50:
|
|
Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven
thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have
sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed
against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive,
that they may have compassion on them.”
|
|
One fulfillment of this desired deliverance from captivity was
in Ezra and Nehemiah; but such Scriptures as Isa. 49:8-26 indicate that the
massive captivity rounded up by Sennacherib (as described in the Taylor Prism)
had an early and happy release, thanks to the unquenchable faith of Hezekiah
(see references, Psa. 81, Par. 4).
|
|
Thy holy name alludes to Isa. 6:3.
|
48.
|
Blessed by the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to
everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord. This
“doxology” concludes Book 4 of the Psalms (see Psalms Studies,
Book 1, Introduction, Part 2).
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