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him. For the LORD thy GOD bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil-olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy GOD for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy GOD, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.

Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy GOD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage:

Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water ; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint? who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end! and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy GoD: for it is he that giveth the power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD

thy

thy GoD, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish: as the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your Gov.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

It appears at first sight very barbarous in Moses to desire the Israelites to treat the seven nations with so much severity: but we must remember, that they were wicked idolaters, and the Israelites were in this case instruments of punishment to them: had they been merely enemies to themselves, it would have been wrong to proceed against them with so much rigour; but God best knew what these nations deserved, and the Israelites were bound to obey his commands. Had any of them been preserved alive, most likely the people would have married amongst them, as the descendants of Seth did with the posterity of Cain, which was the means of corrupting the worship of GOD, and introducing the utmost disorder.

It was necessary, in order to maintain the honour of the LORD that the idolatrous kings should be put to death, and graven images, with every thing used in the worship of false gods, destroyed.

It is a great instance of a particular Providence ordering all things for the best, that the heathen nations were extirpated by degrees; for many of their fields and cities would have been desolate, and even filled with wild beasts, before the Israelites, who were, in compa rison, few in number, would have been able to furnish them with inhabitants.

Whether the raiment of the Israelites, literally speak

ing, never waxed old, is a difficult matter to determine. If they had no means of procuring new ones, there is no reason to doubt that Gop miraculously prevented their decay; but as they carried plenty of things out of Egypt, and had some manufactures among them, it is most probable this was not the case: and the expression, thy raiment waxed not old, neither did thy foot swell these forty years, may only mean, that the Israelites were never reduced to the necessity of wearing tattered clothes, or going bare foot for want of shoes.

.

We have before observed, that Moses' exhortations to the Israelites are in many respects applicable to Christians; several parts of this section are particularly

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It was not for our own merit, that the LORD redeemed us, and took us into covenant with Himself; but because he is a faithful GOD, and sheweth mercy from generation to generation.

We must not presume on God's mercy, and think that, because we are taken into covenant, we shall be finally saved by it, without any thing done on our part; for those that hate and disobey GOD, He will certainly punish.

The afflictions we meet with, we are taught, by this section, to consider as chastisements designed to humble us, and to prove us. If we take them patiently, and amend our lives in consequence of them: if we make the commandments of GoD the rules of our actions, the LORD will conduct us safely through all the perils and dangers of this life, and bring us at last to that place of rest which is prepared for the faithful in Heaven.

In the day of prosperity, it behoves us to keep a strict guard on our hearts; for it is too often the case, that riches occasion people to forget GOD, and to ascribe

their success in worldly affairs to their own wisdom or abilities, not considering that they are indebted to the goodness of GOD for the very bread they eat from day to day, as much as the Israelites were for the manna; and that, unless preserved by His power and goodness, they cannot be sure that their lives will be continued a single moment.

SECTION XXVIII.

MOSES' EXHORTATION CONTINUED.

From Deut. Chap. x.

And Moses said, Now Israel, what doth the LORD thy. GOD. require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy GOD, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD and his statutes which I command thee this day for thy good?

Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

Correct your hearts, therefore, and be no more stiffnecked.

For the LORD your God is GOD of Gods, and LORD of Lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward; He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and rai..

ment.

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G. 5

Love

Love ye

therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Thou shalt fear the LORD thy GOD; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his

name.

He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things which thine eyes have scen.

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Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments alway.

And know ye this day for I speak not with your children, which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm. Bnt your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did, therefore obey Him.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

It is worthy of observation, that Moses appeals to the knowledge of the very people to whom he addressed his discourse, for the truth of his assertions, which he certainly would not have done, if they had been false; we may therefore depend upon the history he gave of the various occurrences that came under his observation, as authentic matters of fact: had they been otherwise, he would soon have been proved an impostor for however their descendants might have listened to fabulous tales, those whom he referred to as eye-witnesses, could not have been persuaded to believe that they really had beheld, what they had never seen ;

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