Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 15:41
I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD your God.
Num 15:41
I am the Lord your God.
Everlasting relationship
Can anything be more blessed to Gods people than the assurance of the everlasting relationship existing between Himself and them? This everlasting relationship is a hiding-place, refuge, and defence in this desert land; a safe retreat, where the soul may obtain repose, satisfaction, in trying moments.
I. To say that eternal relationship leads to licentiousness, and induces a disregard to all moral and social duties, is the same as to say, that to bring any individual into the clear, bright light of the sun will cause a pebble to become a stumbling-block unto him. Here is a threefold assertion of relationship in my text, which relationship now is but rarely understood, still less enjoyed, and often reviled. But, now, notice the nature of this relationship. It is a relationship of a father, a Brother, a Comforter, a Guide, a Preceptor. It is a relationship of King and subject, Parent and child, Husband and wife, Friend and friend.
II. The deliverance effected as a proof of this relationship. The proof is that He brought His people out of Egypt. Oh! says one timid soul, but I do not belong to Him. I do not think the Lord speaks to me. Well, I do not desire you to make the assertion, unless God has brought you from Egypt. But mock not His love, deny not His grace, insult not His Spirit by questioning the relationship if He has rescued you from the bondage of sin, Satan, and self, the world, and the devil. He has delivered you on purpose to be your God, openly and avowedly.
III. The claim of God is upon us, for devotedness to His glory and activity in His cause. He has brought you out for His own use; and He has a right to all the ardour of your spirit, all the activity of your life, all the affections of your soul. Remember, you are not your own, but bought with a price; therefore glorify God with your body and spirit, which are His. Oh! what ties bind us to devotedness to His name–ties of blood, ties of love, ties of grace. As a King, He created me His subject; as a Deliverer, He brought me to liberty; as my God, He allied me to Himself in everlasting relationship. And if all these ties fail to produce the effect of consecration of heart, and soul, and life to Him, I have one more tie left–namely, the constraint of love. (J. Irons.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Though I am justly displeased with you, for your frequent and horrid rebellions, for which also I will keep you forty years in the wilderness, yet I will not utterly cast you off, but will continue to be your God, to preserve and provide for you there, and after that time to bring you into Canaan.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
41. I am the Lord your GodTheimport of this solemn conclusion is, that though He was displeasedwith them for their frequent rebellions, for which they would bedoomed to forty years’ wanderings, He would not abandon them butcontinue His divine protection and care of them till they werebrought into the land of promise.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I [am] the Lord your God,…. Their Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, their Lord and Sovereign, their covenant God and Father:
which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; to make it appear that he was their God in a special relation, and that he took the special care and government of them; and which was manifest by the system of laws he gave them to observe, as well as by his provision for them on all accounts, and by his protection of them:
I [am] the Lord your God; who had a right to enact laws, and enjoin the observance of them, as he was the Lord Jehovah; and they were under obligation to regard them, as he was not only their Creator but their covenant God and Father, who had bestowed his favours liberally on them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
41 I am the Lord your God. Having at the end of the last verse commanded them to be holy unto their God, he now confirms this command by a reason, viz., that it was for this end that God redeemed them, that he might be their God, i.e., that He might be solemnly honored. He asserts God’s right, then, as founded upon the blessing of their deliverance, which would have been misplaced unless they devoted themselves to His service. The repetition at the conclusion is intended for confirmation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Num 15 REFLECTIONS
MY soul! in the view of the many things appointed in this Chapter to the church of GOD, when they were to come to the promised land; let me contemplate the vast privileges of that better country, which theirs only typified; and by faith anticipate what offerings I shall have then to offer, what presentations there to make, and what heave offerings of acknowledgment, both for the stranger and the new born soul in JESUS redeemed by his blood, all the happy multitude will have continually to bring before the throne of GOD and the LAMB. Oh! the vast, the inconceivable glory which will then break in upon the soul when we come to receive the end of our faith. Neither sins of ignorance nor sins of presumption, neither a corrupt world, a deceiving heart, nor all the powers of darkness will any longer interrupt or defile the soul: but one continued day in one uninterrupted enjoyment of felicity, will then employ the mind to all eternity. Blessed GOD! in the full prospect of these unspeakable joys given to thy people by the FATHER’S everlasting love, purchased by the Redeemer’s grace, and made ours by the precious application of the HOLY GHOST; may my soul live and my body die, until faith shall be swallowed up in fruition, and my GOD shall be openly revealed to all the sons of light. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD your God. Figure of speech Epanadiplosis. App-6. The word “Jehovah” beginning and ending the verse, to emphasize it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 22:33, Lev 25:38, Psa 105:45, Jer 31:31-33, Jer 32:37-41, Eze 36:25-27, Heb 11:16, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10
Reciprocal: Hos 12:9 – I that