Bible Commentaries

Complaining of Providence

Numbers 11:1-3

The people complained—and the Lord set fire to them! That seems rough judgment, for what is man's speech as set against the divine fire? We must all agree that this was harsh—utterly and unwarrantably severe, out of all proportion to the temper and intention of the people. The people complained: they were in pain, in distress, in weariness—and the Lord burned them! Who can defend the procedure? Who can so subordinate his reason and his sense of right as to commend the justice of this tremendous punishment? So they might say who begin their Bible reading at the eleventh chapter of Numbers. There is only one place at which to begin the reading of the Bible, and that is at the first chapter of Genesis and the first verse; and there is only one place at which the reading of the Bible can be completed, and that is the last verse of the last chapter of the last book. The difficulty of the Christian argument is that people will begin to read the Bible wherever they please. The Bible has but one beginning and one ending, and only they are qualified to pronounce judgment upon it who read the book from end to end, omitting nothing, setting everything in its right place, and causing the whole to assume its proper perspective and colour. It is easily conceivable that many a Numbers 11:23

The question which will bring all other inquiries into right relation.—The inquiry is based on history. The history of the world is the history of the divine hand.—The question points to the fact that the Lord's hand has hitherto always been equal to the occasion.—If the hand of the Lord could wax short the throne of God would be destroyed by that very fact.—Providence continues only so long as Godhead continues; to be God is to be Almighty; to be other than Almighty is to be less than God.—The person making the inquiry is supposed to have had personal experience of the power of the divine hand.—Let every devout man put this inquiry to himself in all the varying circumstances of life; in perplexity, in extremity, in the agony of doubt, in the experience of bereavement, and, in short, at every point in the circle of life.

To be strong theologically, that is to say, to have a clear conception of God's presence and action in life, is to be strong morally and socially.—The inquiry certainly suggests that some circumstances wear the appearance which justifies the very solemn and awful fear.—We gain nothing by ignoring such circumstances.—The wicked are often highly exalted and invested with disastrous influence; the righteous often seem to be left to themselves, and made to feel that their godliness is the reason of their poverty or pain.—The bad man may put this inquiry in a tone of mocking and contempt, and may have some justification for his tone.—Take the case of Jesus Christ himself when he suffered upon the cross: bad men challenged God to appear on behalf of their victim, and no response was made from the darkening heavens.—From this great case of agony lessons may be drawn suitable to every form of unhappy experience.—"Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself."

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Enviest thou for my sake?"— Numbers 11:29

We often justify our worst actions by pleading that they are one on account of others.—The thief may say that he steals in order to save life with the money.—We may claim to be so jealous for the Lord of hosts as utterly to misrepresent his Spirit.—We may be so anxious to honour the institutions of Christianity as to violate all its charities and benedictions.—Infidelity may be opposed in an unchristian spirit.—The great leaders of the Church never feared what is termed competition, simply because their power is not merely official, but is personal and ennobling.—Instead of desiring that the voices of prophesying should be silent Moses expressed a desire that all the Lord's people were prophets.—Greatness does not depend upon surrounding littleness where moral influence is in question.—Mont Blanc may be the greater because of the depressions which surround it, but this can afford no analogy in the estimate of moral majesty.—When other people become prophets they will more appreciate the prophetic dignity of Moses.—Envy of the kind which is deprecated is a subtle expression of selfishness.—The men who burned with this envy wished their leader to suffer no loss of official supremacy, not knowing that Moses was part only of the great commonwealth, and that the prophetic power of others illustrated and confirmed the prophetic energy which had marked the great legislator.—It is indeed part of the function of a great prophet to make prophets of other people.—Not only was Christ the Light of the world, he invested his disciples with the same character.—Instead of deprecating any possible increase of their light he called upon them to let that light shine before men, and demanded that no light, even though but the glimmer of a candle should be hidden under a bushel.—It is right to protect the authority of great men, but this is best done by excluding every hurtful passion.—Make great men standards of measurement, not discouragements to holy ambition.—Christ, we may reverently say, may put the same inquiry to his Church when men arise with proposals to help the world.—They may call themselves philosophers, reformers, rationalists, or what they please, Jesus Christ is willing that they should work out all their purposes and that they should be tested by the results of their action.—The Church should be generous to all competitors.—Let every man do what he can and he will find in the long run that experience is his best teacher.—There are of course ameliorations which teach the service of influence and which are on no account to be undervalued; in so far as they are helpful Christ will accept the service, and in the degree in which they are genuine they will point to influences beyond themselves.—Call down fire upon no man who does not walk with you.—Instead of envying on account of God's supremacy, acknowledge the good that is in every man and exhort him to increase it.—Moses would not be an idol to be superstitiously regarded; he would be a leader to be followed, a teacher to be obeyed, an example to be imitated; let us be careful lest our religion amounts to no more than an expression of official envy; when new lights arise let us give them scope; when new voices are heard speaking good things let us listen attentively; our duty is to try the spirits whether they be of God.