Idolatry prohibited,

A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451.

time to teach you statutes and

An. Ex. Isr. 40. judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over

Sebat.

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

19 And lest thou a lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even ball the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole

heaven.

a

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V Joshua xxiii. 11. Isa. xl. 18.- Exodus xxxii, 7. y Exodus xx. 4. 5; ver. 23; chap. v. 8.- Rom. .i. 23. Chap. xvii. 3; Job xxxi. 26, 27.- b Gen. ii, 1; 2 Kings xvii. 16; xxi. 3. Le Rom. i. 25. d Or, imparted.- e 1 Kings viii. 51; Jer. xi. 4.- -Exod. xix. 5; chap. ix. 29; xxxii. 9.

state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. See the note at the conclusion of Gen. xviii.; and that at the end of Gen. xix., and the note on chap. vi. 7. Verse 15. Ye saw no manner of similitude] Howsoever. God chose to appear or manifest himself, he took care never to assume any describable form. He would have no image worship, because he is a SPIRIT, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. These outward things tend to draw the mind out of itself, and diffuse it on sensible, if not sensual, objects; and thus spiritual worship is prevented, and the Holy Ghost grieved. Persons acting in this way can never know much of the religion of the heart, Verse 16. The likeness of male or female] Such as Baal-peor and the Roman Priapus, Ashtaroth or As tarte, and the Greek and Roman Venus; after whom. most nations of the world literally went a whoring.

Verse 17. The likeness of any beast, &c.] Such as the Egyptian god Apis, who was worshipped under the form of a white bull; the ibis and hawk, among the FOWLS, had also Divine honours paid to them; serpents and the crocodile among REPTILES; besides monkeys, dogs, cats, the scarabæus, leeks, and onions! See this explained at large, Exod. xx. 4.

Verse 19. When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars] The worship of the heavenly bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had

с

and obedience enjoined.

A. M. 2553,
B. C. 1451.

An. Ex. Isr. 40.

Sebat.

20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, f to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

22 Buth I must die in this land, i I must not go over Jordan :-but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

not the knowledge of the true God were led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only selfexisting, but the authors of all the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to destroy this superstition; and very little of it 'remains now in the world, except among a few Christian and Mohammedan astrologers; those miserable sinners who endeavour, as much as possible, to revive the old idolatry, while vainly professing to believe in the true God! Nor is it to be doubted that God will proceed with them as he has done of old with the worshippers of the host of heaven. Sound philosophy is next in importance to sound divinity; and next to the study of the work of grace is that of the operations of God in nature; for these visible things make known his eternal power and Godhead.

Verse 20. Out of the iron furnace] From this mention of the word iron furnace there can be little doubt-. that the Israelites were employed in Egypt in the most laborious works of metallurgy. Digging, smelting, and forging of iron, ín so hot a climate must have been oppressive works indeed.

Verse 21. The Lord was angry with me] And if with me, so as to debar me from entering into the promised land, can you think to escape if guilty of greater provocations?

Verse 24. Thy God is a consuming fire] They had seen him on the mount as an unconsuming fire, while

The disobedient are threatened,

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Sebat.

shall

likeness of any thing, and An. Ex. Isr. 40. do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth. to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

and the penitent encouraged.

seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul..

X

W

A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. Sebat.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

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31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

32 For a ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask

from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33-Did ever people hear the voice of God

appearing to Moses, and giving the law; and they had seen him as a consuming fire in the case of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their company. They had, therefore, every good to expect from his approbation, and every evil to dread from his displeasure.

Verse 26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you] A most solemn method of adjuration, in use among all nations in the world. So Virgil, Æn., lib. xii., ver. 176, &c.

Tum pius Eneas stricto sic ense precatur: Esto nunc Sol testis et hæc mihi terra vocantiFontesque fluviosque voco, quæque ætheris alti Relligio, et quæ cæruleo sunt numina ponto, &c. "Then the great Trojan prince unsheathed his sword, And thus, with lifted hands, the gods adored: Thou land for which I wage this war, and thou Great source of day, be witness to my vow!— Almighty king of heaven and queen of air,: Propitious now and reconciled by prayer,— Ye springs, ye floods, ye various powers who lie ·Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky,HEAR and ATTEST!"

PITT.

God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there was any flaw or insincerity, it might be detected; and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. Such appeals to God, for such purposes, show at once both the origin and use of oaths. See the note on chap. vi. 13., Verse 27. The Lord shall scatter you among the nations] This was amply verified in their different captivities and dispersions.

Verse 28. There ye shall serve gods-wood and stone] This was also true of the Israelites, not only in their captivities, but also in their own land. And it may now be literally the case with the ten tribes

who were carried away captive by the Assyrians, and of whose residence no man at present knows any thing with certainty. That they still exist there can be no doubt; but they are now, most probably, so completely incorporated with the idolaters among whom they dwell, as to be no longer distinguishable yet God can gather them.

Verse 29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord] God is longsuffering, and of tender mercy ; and waits, ever ready, to receive a backsliding soul when it returns to him. Is not this promise left on record for the encouragement and salvation of lost Israel?

Verse 30. When thou art in tribulation—in the latter days] Are not these the times spoken of?. And is there not still hope for Israel? Could we see them become zealous for their own law and religious observances could we see them humble themselves before the God of Jacob-could we see them conduct their public worship with any tolerable decency and decorum could we see them zealous. to avoid every moral evil, inquiring the road to Zion, with their faces thitherward; then might we hope that the redemption of Israel was at hand: but alas! there is not the most distant evidence of any thing of the kind, except in a very few solitary instances. They are, perhaps, in the present day, more lost to every sacred principle of their own institutions than they have ever been since their return from the Babylonish captivity. By whom shall Jacob arise? for in this sense he is small-deeply fallen, and greatly degraded.

Verse 33. Did ever people hear the voice of God] It seems to have been a general belief that if God appeared to men, it was for the purpose of destroying them; and indeed most of the extraordinary manifestations of God were in the way of judgment; but

Sebat.

live?

e

34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, d by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, hand by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes ?

35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God i there is none else beside him.

d Chap. vii. 19; Exod. vi. 6.

. 39; 1 Sam. ii. 2;

xxix. 3.-e Exod. vii. 3.

Chap. xxvi. 8; xxxiv. 12.

Exod. xiii. 3. Chap. xxxii.

Isa. xlv. 5, 18, 22; Mark xii. 29, 32.

here it was different; God did appear in a sovereign and extraordinary manner; but it was for the deliverance and support of the people. 1. They heard his voice speaking with them in a distinct, articulate manner. 2. They saw the fire, the symbol of his presence, the appearances of which demonstrated it to be supernatural. 3. Notwithstanding God appeared so terrible, yet no person was destroyed, for he came, not to destroy, but to save,

Verse 34. From the midst of another nation] This was a most extraordinary thing, that a whole people, consisting of upwards of 600,000 effective men, besides women and children, should, without striking a blow, be brought out of the midst of a very powerful nation, to the political welfare of which their services were so essential; that they should be brought out in so open and public a manner; that the sea itself should be supernaturally divided to afford this mighty host a passage; and that, in a desert utterly unfriendly to human life, they should be sustained for forty years. These were such instances of the almighty power and goodness of God as never could be forgotten.

In this verse Moses enumerates seven different means used by the Almighty in effecting Israel's deliverance. 1. TEMPTATIONS, ND massoth, from, D nasah, to try or prove; the miracles which God wrought to try the faith and prove the obedience of the children of Israel.

2. SIGNS, лn othoth, from an athah, to come near; such signs as God gave them of his continual presence and especial providence, particularly the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, keeping near to them night and day, and always directing their journeys, showing them when and where to pitch their tents, &c., &c..

of the Israelites.

thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

m

A. M. 2553.

B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40 Sébat.

37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight, with his mighty power, out of Egypt; 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. ..

39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

40 P Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee

* Exod. xix. 9, 19; xx. 18, 22; xxiv. 16; Heb. xii. 18. Chap. . 15.- m Exod. xiii. 3, 9, 14.- - Chap. vii. 1; ix. 1, 4, 5. Ver. 35; Josh. ii. 11.- -P Lev. xxii. 31.

is used, Zech. iii. 8., companions were

Joshua, the high priest, and his i anshey mopheth, typical men, raised up by God as types of Christ, and proofs that God would bring his servant THE BRANCH. -All the dealings of God with this people, and even the people themselves, were types-present significators of distant facts and future occurrences..

4. WAR, non milchamah, hostile engagements; such as those with the Amalekites, the Amorites, and the Bashanites, in which the hand of God was seen, rather than the hand of man.

5. A MIGHTY HAND, pinyad chazakah; one that is strong to deal its blows, irresistible in its operations, and grasps its enemies hard, so that they cannot escape, and protects its friends so powerfully that they cannot be injured. Neither stratagem nor policy was used in this business, but the openly displayed power of God.

6. A STRETCHED-OUT ARM, 10] YI zeroa netuyah; a series of almighty operations, following each other in quick and astonishing succession. Let it be noted that in the Scriptures, I. The finger of God denotes any manifestation of the Divine power, where effects are produced beyond the power of art or nature. 2. The hand of God signifies the same power, but put forth in a more signal manner. 3. The arm of God, the Divine omnipotence manifested in the most stupendous miracles. 4. The arm of God stretched out, this same omnipotence exerted in a continuation of stupendous miracles, both in the way of judgment and mercy. In this latter sense it appears to be taken in the text: the judgments were poured out on the Egyptians; the mercies wrought in favour of the Israelites.

spired penman here alludes: or, as the Septuagint has it, ev opauaoi peyahois, with great or portentous sights; such as that when God looked out of the cloud upon the Egyptians, and their chariot wheels