16<\/strong>. Only<\/em> ] Heb. ra<\/em>, see on Deu 10:15<\/span>.<\/p>\n he shall not multiply horses<\/em>, etc.] On the horse in Israel, see Jerusalem<\/em> i. 324 f. Horses came from N. to S. in W. Asia, probably from Asia Minor. Brought into Egypt by the Hyksos after 1800 b.c. they were never very common there, but the breed was excellent. (W. M. Mller, E.B.<\/em> ‘Egypt,’ 9.) By 1600 b.c. they were used in Palestine. Solomon seems to have introduced them into Israel; and they and the chariots for which they were first employed became symbolic of the strength of the N. Kingdom (2Ki 2:12<\/span>; 2Ki 13:14<\/span>). The prophets mention horses nearly always with war and foreign subsidies, in which the people were tempted to trust instead of in God. See Amo 4:10<\/span>, Hos 1:7<\/span>; Hos 14:3<\/span>, Isa 2:7<\/span>; Isa 31:1<\/span>; Isa 31:3<\/span>, Eze 17:15<\/span>, of which the last three passages and probably also (because of the parallel) Hos 14:3<\/span>, identify them with Israel’s irreligious confidence in an Egyptian alliance. Hence the clause nor cause the people to return to Egypt<\/em>. This does not mean that individual Hebrews were bartered for Egyptian horses (Steuern.). Like the prophets D is hostile to an Egyptian alliance, of which the clearest token would be subsidies of horses.<\/p>\n the Lord hath said<\/em>, etc.] Not found in Exod. Numb. ‘It is probable that as in other cases (cf. on Deu 1:22<\/span>, Deu 10:1-3<\/span>; Deu 10:9<\/span>, Deu 17:2<\/span>) the actual words were still read in some part of the narrative of JE, extant at the time when Deut. was composed’ (Driver).<\/p>\n The horse was not anciently used in the East for purposes of agriculture or traveling, but ordinarily for war only. He appears constantly in Scripture as the symbol and embodiment of fleshly strength and the might of the creature (compare Psa 20:7<\/span>; Psa 33:16-17<\/span>; Psa 147:10<\/span>; Job 39:19<\/span> ff), and is sometimes significantly spoken of simply as the strong one (compare Jer 8:16<\/span>). The spirit of the prohibition therefore is that the king of Israel must not, like other earthly potentates, put his trust in costly and formidable preparations for war (compare Hos 1:7<\/span>).<\/P> Egypt was the principal source from where the nations of western Asia drew their supplies of this animal (compare Exo 14:5<\/span> ff; 1Ki 10:28-29<\/span>; 2Ki 7:6<\/span>); but contact, traffic, or alliance which would cause the people to return to Egypt would be to reverse that great and beneficent wonderwork of God which inaugurated the Mosaic covenant, the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt; and to bring about of set purpose that which God threatened Deu 28:68<\/span> as the most severe punishment for Israels sin.<\/P> <\/p>\n Deu 17:16<\/span><\/p>\n Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never again<\/strong><\/p>\n Touching and sad is the last look of the emigrant leaving his old home and the white cliffs of his native land. Some partings have in them more than sorrow. Never again! is a mournful utterance. It has in it warning, admonition, and counsel.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The ways of youth are not to be trodden by us again. We are ever entering into new paths. Personality is ever changing, while individual identity remains the same.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The ways of possible improvement in the past cannot be trodden again. The capabilities of the organ are limited by its compass and the number of its stops. But within the necessary limits what marvellous varieties of music can be brought out of it! Our life, with measured capacities, is the instrument, and we the players. In the exercise of responsible will we can bring out heavenly harmonies, or unearthly discords. How the great player wishes the audience could come back and hear what he feels he can do now. But the chance is gone. Nothing can be done with the past.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>If the past cannot be lived over again, it is our duty to make the best of our present. There is much to be done for ourselves and others. (Preacher<\/em>s Monthly.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Once for all<\/strong><\/p>\n If I can pass this way no more, then–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>What thought I of myself?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Did I seek Gods way or my own?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Oaths.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Drunkenness.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Temptations to others to do wrong.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Confessing my past sins.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Repenting of, and forsaking them.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Exercising a cheerful faith.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Doing good to all men as opportunity offers.<\/p>\n Lessons:<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Sad and solemn things are in the past.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Eternal things are before us. (B. Knepper.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never this way again<\/strong><\/p>\n We are told that at one of those splendid pageants in Berlin, not long ago, the wife of the English ambassador unfortunately unfastened the necklace she was wearing, and lost a costly pearl somewhere in the roadway. Perhaps it might have been regained if a serious search had been in order at such a time. But the grand procession must hurry along, and a lost place in the rank was of more account than a lost pearl. They did not return by the same way. We may be in equal peril if an accident should occur in this ceaseless rush of our years. An admonition in it for the close of the year.<\/p>\n The irrevocable past; or, no going back<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The peculiar character of the Gospel is due to the fact that we cannot undo the past. Sin remains. Moral laws are immutable in their foundations, and their penalties are irrepealable. But the Lord Jesus has effected a saving work. He stands between the sinner and the woe that pursues him. He fulfils, honours, and satisfies broken laws, and covers the defenceless head of the contrite, and turns aside the merited destruction which was sweeping towards him.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Since what is done cannot by you be undone, are you to sit down and weep the tears of despair? My message is salvation, but not salvation which you can effect in time that is gone. The great lesson is, Act in the present.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Let the sincere Christian be comforted. The Lord has borne your sins. Your holy life is watched and guarded by His sheltering love. Ponder what you have done. Throw away no lessons which it offers. Be true to your past experience and conviction. But brood not over bygone evil.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Let us be up and doing; for all things pure and beautiful sweep along the upward groove of progress to perfection. The movement of every world and sun and system is onward.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>In a few more breaths thy life may close. The Lord may be saying with the most literal emphasis, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way–no more the way to business, no more the way to the house of thy friend, no more the way to the church, no more the way to thy family and home, no more the way from the grave whither thou thyself shalt have been carried. (H. Batchelor.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The past irrevocable<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 16<\/span>. He shall not multiply horses<\/B><\/I>] As horses<\/I> appear to have been generally furnished by Egypt, God prohibits these,<\/P> 1. Lest there should be such commerce with Egypt as might lead to idolatry.<\/P> 2. Lest the people might depend on a well-appointed cavalry<\/I> as a means of security, and so cease from trusting in the strength and protection of God. And,<\/P> 3. That they might not be tempted to extend their dominion<\/I> by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease, in process of time, to be that distinct and separate people which God intended they should be, and without which the prophecies relative to the Messiah could not be known to have their due and full accomplishment.<\/P> <\/p>\n He shall not multiply horses to himself, <\/B>to wit, excessively, beyond what the state and majesty of his place required. Hereby God would prevent many sins and mischiefs, as, <\/P> 1. Pride of heart, and contempt of his people. <\/P> 2. Oppression and tyranny, and the imposition of unnecessary burdens upon his people. <\/P> 3. Carnal confidence, which by this means would be promoted. See Psa 33:17<\/span>; Pro 21:31<\/span>. <\/P> 4. Much commerce with Egypt, as it here follows, which was famous for horses, as appears from Exo 14:23<\/span>; 1Ki 10:26<\/span>,28<\/span>; 2Ch 1:16<\/span>; 9:28<\/span>; Isa 31:1<\/span>,3<\/span>; Eze 17:15<\/span>. <\/P> Nor cause the people to return to Egypt; <\/B>either for habitation, or for trade. This God forbade to prevent, <\/P> 1. Their unthankfulness for their deliverance out of Egypt. <\/P> 2. Their confederacies with the Egyptians, their trusting to them for aid, which they were very prone to, and their infection by the idolatry and other manifold wickednesses for which Egypt was infamous. <\/P> 3. Their multiplication of horses, as it here follows. The Lord hath said<\/I>: when or where? Answ<\/I>. Either implicitly, when he showed his dislike of their return to Egypt, as Exo 13:17<\/span>; Num 14:3<\/span>,4<\/span>; or expressly at this time, The Lord hath now said it to me, and I in his name, and by his command, declare it to you. That way<\/I>; in the way that leads to that place. <\/P> <\/p>\n 16. he shall not multiply horses tohimself<\/B>The use of these animals was not absolutely prohibited,nor is there any reason to conclude that they might not be employedas part of the state equipage. But the multiplication of horses wouldinevitably lead to many evils, to increased intercourse with foreignnations, especially with Egypt, to the importation of an animal towhich the character of the country was not suited, to theestablishment of an Oriental military despotism, to proud and pompousparade in peace, to a dependence upon Egypt in time of war, and aconsequent withdrawal of trust and confidence in God. (2Sa 8:4<\/span>;1Ki 10:26<\/span>; 2Ch 1:16<\/span>;2Ch 9:28<\/span>; Isa 31:3<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n But he shall not multiply horses to himself<\/strong>,…. That he might not put his trust and confidence in outward things, as some are apt to trust in horses and chariots; and that he might not tyrannise over and distress his subjects by keeping a number of horses and chariots as a standing army, and chiefly for a reason that follows; he was to have no more than for his own chariot, so Jarchi, and so the Misnah g and Maimonides h; the Targum of Jonathan restrains it to two:<\/p>\n nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses<\/strong>; which was a country that abounded with them, and therefore he was not to encourage, and much less oblige his subjects to travel thither or trade with that people for the sake of increasing his stock of horses, Isa 31:1<\/span><\/p>\n forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way<\/strong>; not that going into Egypt on any account whatsoever was forbidden, as for trade and merchandise in other things, or for shelter and safety, for which some good men fled thither; but for outward help and assistance against enemies, and for horses on that account, and particularly in order to dwell there, from which the Jews in the times of Jeremiah were dissuaded by him, and threatened by the Lord with destruction, in case they should, Jer 42:15<\/span>. When the Lord said this is not certain; it may be when they proposed to make a captain, and return unto Egypt; or he said this in his providence, this was the language of it ever since they came out of it, or however this he now said; see De 28:68<\/span>.<\/p>\n g Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 4. h Hilchot Melachim, c. 3. sect. 3.<\/p>\n 16 But he shall not multiply horses. The royal power is here circumscribed within certain limits, lest it should exalt itself too much in reliance on the glory of its dignity, (70) For we know how insatiable are the desires of kings, inasmuch as they imagine that all things are lawful to them. Therefore, although the royal dignity may be splendid, God would not have it to be the pretext of unrestrained power, but restricts and limits it to legal bounds. (71) רק, rak, is an adversative particle which some construe only; almost with the same meaning, because this exception was added to restrain the passions of their kings. The first prohibition is, that he should not collect for himself a multitude of horses; but, since it is twice repeated, we must consider why it is so. Many thus translate it, “He shall not multiply horses, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to multiply horses;” but this manner of speaking is harsh and obscure. Now, since the particle למען lemagnan, signifies “for the sake of ( propter), it may be properly translated to the letter, “for the sake of multiplying horses, ” ( propter multiplicare, vel propter ad multiplicandum.) I have no doubt, then, but that God condemns an immoderate number of horses from the consequences which might ensue; because it might excite the minds of the kings rashly to undertake expeditions against the Egyptians. This, therefore, I consider to be the genuine meaning, that the king should not provide himself with horses in too great numbers, lest, when he was in possession of many horses, he should lead his army into Egypt. Thus, amongst other evils which might arise from a multitude of horses, Moses mentions this, that the king’s mind will be puffed up with pride, so as to invade Egypt with an army of horse. Now, the question is, why God forbade His people to return by that way? Some explain it, that the horses would be brought contrary to God’s command, who had forbidden them to trade (with that people;) (72) but this does not seem appropriate. Others think that the people were prohibited from passing the desert, lest in their curiosity they should be ungrateful to God; but this, too, is far-farfetched. To me it seems probable, that this journey was prohibited them, in order that, being mindful of their deliverance, they should be content with their own boundaries. They had been rescued from a thousand deaths: if they had voluntarily gone thither to provoke an adversary, their confidence would have been a sign of their despising and forgetting God’s grace. Therefore, in order that the recollection of their redemption should be deeply impressed upon their minds, God would have the honor put upon His miracles, that they should avoid those regions like the abysses of death. Unless perhaps this reason may be preferred, that a handle for those wicked alliances was cut off, which we see were audaciously contracted, because the kings of Israel gloried in the abundance of their cavalry. But the former explanation is most suitable. This law, however, was not obeyed by their best kings; and hence it appears that the wilfulness and pride of their kings could scarcely be repressed by any restraints. <\/p>\n (70) Addition in Fr, “ Et face du cheval eschappe;” and act like a runaway horse <\/p>\n (71) “ Le mot que nous avons translate au reste ” In the Latin, verum ; A. V., but. <\/p>\n (72) Addition from Fr. <\/p>\n 16<\/strong>. <\/strong> He shall not multiply horses to himself <\/strong> Horses were chiefly used in the East in ancient times for military purposes. In many passages the horse is mentioned in connexion with warlike operations. The reasons for the prohibition are apparent. Their king should not make those preparations for war and conquest which were so generally made by Eastern despots. <\/p>\n Nor cause the people to return to Egypt <\/strong> Egypt was the principal source of supply for horses to the nations of western Asia. The gathering of large supplies of horses would necessitate great commercial intercourse with Egypt. Moses saw in the corruptions of Egyptian life the danger there was to the people in a close connexion with that country.<\/p>\n Ver. <\/em><\/strong>16. <\/strong>He shall not multiply horses to himself<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The injunction here laid being to prevent all commerce with Egypt, we must conclude that Egypt supplied other nations with horses; but it may give light to the sacred text, to inquire more particularly into the reasons of this prohibition, which we shall find so weighty and various, as to appear worthy of its author, and accommodated only to a law of divine origin. The first <\/em>reason, which was expressly delivered with the law, is, properly, religious. <\/em>Now this is, that the king should not establish a body of cavalry, because that could not be effected without sending into Egypt, with which people the Lord had forbidden any communication. When Solomon had violated this law, and multiplied horses, <\/em>it was soon attended with those fatal consequences which the law foretold. Isaiah, with his usual majesty, denounces the mischiefs of this traffic, and foretels, that one of the good effects of leaving it would be the forsaking of their idolatries. Isa 4:6<\/span>; Isa 4:6<\/span>. The second <\/em>reason against multiplying horses, <\/em>may have been, properly, political. <\/em>The Israelites, separated by God for his peculiar people, under his government as king, must necessarily have been designed for one certain country: accordingly, the land of Canaan was marked out for their proper inheritance: within those limits they were to be confined, it being foreign to the nature of their institution to make conquests, or to extend their dominion; but the expulsion of the seven nations being to be effected by the extraordinary assistance of their king <\/em>JEHOVAH, their successes must of course be full and rapid. But nothing is so impatient of bounds as a multitude flushed with victories: the projects of such a people are always going on from conquest to conquest. Now, to defeat this so natural a disposition in a nation not designed for empire, a law is given against multiplying horses, <\/em>than which nothing can be conceived more effectual. The country which confined them was rocky and mountainous, and therefore unfit for the breed and support of horses: besides, when they had once gotten possession of these mountains, they had little need of horse to preserve their conquest. The Israelites, therefore, if they had been either wise or pious, would soon have found that their true strength, as well political as religious, lay in infantry. The observation made by Benhadad, 1Ki 20:23<\/span>; 1Ki 20:43<\/span> supports what has been advanced. But this want of horse would effectually prevent any attempt at extending their dominions either into the lesser Asia, Mesopotamia, or Egypt; all of which, being stretched out into large and extended plains, could not be safely invaded without a numerous cavalry: in this view, therefore, the wisdom of the law can never be sufficiently admired. But the third <\/em>reason of the prohibition was evidently to be a lasting manifestation of <\/em>that extraordinary providence, <\/em>by which the Israelites were conducted into the land of Canaan. When once settled, they might very well defend <\/em>their possession without the help of cavalry; but to conquer <\/em>it without cavalry, and from a warlike people abounding in horse, was more than a raw, unpractised infantry could ever have performed alone. For, first, in the invasion of a country, the invaded can choose their ground: and as it is their interest to avoid coming to a decisive action; so, being amidst their own native stores and provisions, they have it in their power to decline it: on the contrary, the invader must attack his enemies wherever he finds them posted. Secondly, we may observe, that the possessors of mountainous regions may so dispose their cities and fortresses, with which they cover their country, as to make an invader’s cavalry absolutely useless; and consequently to have no occasion for one of their own. But the invaders of such a place, where cavalry is in use, and consequently the defences disposed in a contrary manner, so as best to favour the operations of horse; <\/em>the invaders, I say, go to certain destruction, without a body of horse to support their infantry. This then being the very situation of affairs when the Israelites invaded Canaan, and conquered it, I conclude that they must have been miraculously <\/em>assisted. See Div. Leg. book 4: sect. 4. “The law given to the kings of Israel,” says Bishop Sherlock, “considered together with the history of that nation, seems a very strong presumption for the divine original of the law of Moses. For, supposing Moses to be a mere human legislator, like Solon or Lycurgus, what could tempt him to forbid the princes of his country the use of horses and chariots for their defence? Should such a law be proposed for France or Germany at this day, what would the world think of it?Or, supposing this law to be his own contrivance, how comes it to pass that the event and success of things, through many ages, doth so exactly correspond to the law? That the princes prospered, and extended their dominion over great countries, when they had neither chariots nor horses, and were ruined and undone when they were strong in these forces? Can it be supposed, that the history of many ages, and which relates to the affairs not only of the princes of Israel, but of other contemporary kings, is all forged, and that merely to shew an agreement between the history and this particular law? Or, how shall we account for the conduct of the prophets, who saw the people ruined, and, instead of reproaching them with cowardice, and a neglect of their necessary defence, reproach them with having been too strong, too powerful in horses and horsemen?” <\/p>\n JESUS chose the humblest of animals when he rode triumphant to the temple. Mat 21:5<\/span> .<\/p>\n Deu 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.<\/p>\n Ver. 16. He shall not multiply horses.<\/strong> ] Lest he be held as our Henry III was, Regni dilapidator,<\/em> the royal spendthrift. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Lord hath said.<\/strong> ] Not in so many words, but by consequence, when he showed his displeasure against such as would have made them a captain to go back to Egypt. Num 14:4<\/span> ; <\/em> Num 14:11 <\/p>\n multiply horses: Multiplying horses for chariots of war and cavalry, or for luxury, would increase the splendour of a monarch, and form a ground of confidence distinct from a proper confidence in God, and inconsistent with it, and with considering him as the glory of Israel. Egypt abounded in horses; and the desire of multiplying these would induce the prince to encourage a trade with that kingdom; and this might make way for the Israelites being again subjugated by the Egyptians, or at least corrupted by their idolatries and vices. Whereas, it was the command of God that they should no more return thither, but be totally detached from them. Besides, they might be tempted to extend their dominion by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease to be that distinct, separate people, which God intended they should be. 1Sa 8:11, 2Sa 8:4, 1Ki 1:5, 1Ki 4:26, 1Ki 10:26-28, 2Ch 9:25, Psa 20:7, Isa 36:8, Isa 36:9, Hos 14:3 <\/p>\n cause: Isa 31:1-3, Jer 42:14, Eze 17:15 <\/p>\n Ye shall henceforth: Deu 28:68, Exo 13:17, Exo 14:13, Num 14:3, Num 14:4, Jer 42:15, Jer 42:16, Hos 11:5 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 2Sa 15:1 – Absalom 1Ki 10:28 – horses brought 2Ki 18:24 – thy trust 1Ch 18:4 – David 2Ch 1:14 – Solomon 2Ch 9:28 – brought Isa 2:7 – land Isa 30:6 – into the land Jer 17:25 – riding Jer 42:19 – Go Mat 21:5 – sitting Joh 12:15 – sitting<\/p>\n Deu 17:16. He shall not multiply horses Though he might have horses for his own use, yet he was not to have many horses for his officers and guard, much less for war, lest he should trust in them. The multiplying horses is also forbidden, lest it should raise too great a correspondence with Egypt, which furnished Canaan with them. The Lord hath said The Lord hath now said to me, and I, by his command, declare it to you. Ye shall no more return that way Into Egypt, lest ye be again infected with her idolatries.<\/p>\n 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to {k} Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.<\/p>\n (k) To avenge their injuries and to take their best horses from them; 1Ki 10:28.<\/p>\n But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 16. Only ] Heb. ra, see on Deu 10:15. he shall not multiply horses, etc.] … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 17:16”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>I cannot do what I then missed doing.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>I cannot undo what I have done. What manner of tracks did I leave in the way?<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>In view of this, how should i walk?<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>It is now a most significant time for the taking of spiritual stock. Most religious people would be glad to know just where they are, and how the balance stands. It is well to have a clearing out, even if one is afraid he may be suffocated with the lifted dust.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Then, again, this is a good time for us to give over lackadaisical complainings about short chances in the past. You will not have to take the same chances again. Ye shall henceforth return no more by that way of youth. But does anybody really want to do that? Victor Hugo confessed to his close friends that the most disagreeable advance in age to him had been that from thirty-nine to forty. But, said his companion, I should think it a great deal brighter to be forty than fifty. Not at all, replied Hugo, gaily; forty years is the old age of youth, while fifty is the youth of old age. Ah, just think how many fine chances yet wait for a brave heart in the beautiful future which we hope to enter on after next New Years day!<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>It is best for us now, also, to keep a clear look out for what is still ahead. Almost all of us have some past worth looking over. But the glory of every true life is in the time to come. God has not yet exhausted Himself in apocalypses of splendid radiance to His waiting people. There certainly is, in the distance, that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. And wise men, while the years chime on, might well think of readiness to make the great journey and meet the revelations.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Once more; by this time we ought to learn to estimate results and forget processes. We do really respect hills that we have climbed painfully over; but it awakes no emotion in others when we keep rehearsing the steps which we took, and the snows we met, and the winds that we resisted. Wiser is it always to let the dead past bury its dead out of sight. Ye shall henceforth return no more that way; and to some the past year has been a year of conflict; and who wants to go over all that again? Please remember, moments of success are not always moments of happiness; much depends on what the success has cost. Ye shall henceforth return no more that way; to some the past year has been one of self-discipline. How much it costs just to make a slender progress in Divine things!<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>Finally, this is the time in which to inquire after work yet left unfinished. We should bring our unfulfilled resolutions to God, and ask Him to grant us time to complete them. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, to undo evil. It matters not how black may have been your deed, nor how terrible soever its burden, it must stand. It cannot be undone. It is mans dread prerogative to do; but he cannot undo. In the drift of a far-off period in the geological ages, long before Adam was created, we find the feet marks of gigantic fowls. The mud, once soft, hardened into rock, and became the permanent record of life and activity now extinct from the globe. The effects of human action are as unchangeable. This it is that makes sin so terrible: when it has gone forth we cannot recall it. Sin is a monument of everlasting shame. A single careless miner, by a momentary act of folly, can do what can never be undone, and in an instant fill a land with sorrow, and hundreds of homes with the tears of widows and orphans. The shocking gap in human life and relationship nothing can repair. Reparation may be effected only within narrow limits; and then the wrong done cannot in the most trivial instance be wholly undone.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, to make imperfect good better. The merchant who has been slothful, inattentive, cannot live over again the months that are gone. The transactions and figures in his books are unalterable. He cannot transport industry into past idleness, nor introduce a single item of gain into past losses. Not a stroke of work is possible in time that is over, not a sixpence of profit can be added to the accounts which are closed. It is the same thing with the student. When his examinations are over, if his session has been indolent, unsuccessful, he cannot improve the work which has been unsatisfactorily performed. He may be grieved and ashamed that his time has been so little devoted to his vocation. But the insufficiency of the past is beyond his reach. The culture of the field and the vineyard exhibits the same law. If there has been neglect or inadequate tillage, when harvest time arrives there is no going back to re-sow or re-tend. There must be scanty crops, dwindled grain and fruit, and only half-filled ears and half-laden boughs. These laws have their fulfilment in the domain of spiritual life. In the day of reckoning you cannot number profits where there have been no gains, nor number victories, if no achievements have been won. The popular proverb says, It is never too late to mend. True, it is never too late to mend in the present, but always too late to mend in the past. The path of time gone by is closed.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, to use neglected opportunity. Christian, thou hast had thine opportunities. Perhaps, when thou wert blind–blinded by thy tears–thy opportunities were the nearest to thee. The Lord, it may be, laid Himself out with parental tenderness to purify thee by disappointment, crosses, and suffering. Yet thou sawest no bright avenues crossing the path of thy shade, and conducting to beauty and peace. Has seed been put into thy hand, and hast thou not sown it? Has fruit hung within thy reach, and hast thou not plucked it? Has blessing been committed to thy solemn trust, and hast thou not scattered it? To all neglecters, opportunity is a narrowing path, which at length vanishes in trackless wilds; to the obedient, it is an ever-expanding, ascending, and illumined career, and into it all courses run which lead to glory, honour, and immortality. Every precious opportunity of each departed year is now dead to thee, dead to thine effort and industry.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Ye shall henceforth return no more that way, to encounter past trial, guilt, and suffering. Do manifold imperfection and unworthiness bow thee down? Have they cost thee tears? Are they the burden of thy prayers? Dost thou daily struggle for the mastery of self, and sin, and Satan; and yet do thy besetments discourage thee? In the years now behind thee, has the firmament of thy soul often been dull and sunless, and even louring and tempestuous? Thou wilt never tread that path any more. New ground is before thee, and every step is towards the light. Conclusion:<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>I can conceive that to some of us there may be relief and even comfort in this assurance. The experiences through which we have come may have been such that we cannot wish for their renewal. The path over which we have passed may have been so rough and steep and dangerous that we cannot contemplate traversing it again without a shudder. When I was in Chamounix, last summer, a friend who had crossed the glacier and come down by the Mauvais Pas, on which the iron railing put for the safety of travellers had parted from its fastenings in his grasp, assured me that be would not go through that experience again for all that earth could give. And there may be not a few among us who feel just in the same way concerning some chapters in our last years life. We are, perhaps, thankful to be through them, but we do not wish to repeat them. We feel regarding them as one does who has come safely out of a terrible railway accident, or who sets his foot on land after a dangerous and tempestuous voyage. We are glad that we have escaped, but, even although we should escape another time, we do not desire to be again in the same peril. Some, too, may have had such a time of labour and anxiety that they are glad to think that it is now behind them and not to be renewed. And some there are who have had such a fierce fight with temptation, and have come out of it, victorious indeed, yet with such exhaustion that they cannot but rejoice in the thought that now it is all behind them in the irrevocable past. They are glad for the result, but they would not willingly go back into the agony of the conflict. So this text, taken as an assurance, that we cannot re-live our lives, or go again through the experiences of the past, has in it an element of comfort. It is a relief to know that some things are over and done with.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>But there is another side to the subject, and that is full of solemnity, not unattended with sorrow, For in the past there are many things which now we wish had been otherwise. Our afterthought has shown us much to which our forethought was blind; but we cannot alter anything now. The past is always seen more correctly after it has become the past than it was when it was present. Lost opportunities cannot be recalled, and no cement of human device can mend a broken vow. Ah! what a sad reflection have we here! You cannot recall the profane word; you cannot wipe out the impure act; you cannot undo the sins you have committed. What then? What is to be done with it? I answer, that if we cannot cancel it, we can confess the evil that is in it, and seek through Jesus Christ forgiveness for that. If we please, we can obtain, through the great atonement, acceptance with God notwithstanding our sins. The sting of our guilt may be extracted, and the past may cease to be a clog upon our spiritual progress.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>And then, turning the thought which the words of my text express, we may make it full of admonition to ourselves for the future. We are about to enter upon a path in which there will be no possibility of retracing our steps; let us be very careful, therefore, where we plant our feet. We have only once to live; therefore let us live to purpose. The day that dawned this morning will never dawn again. So let us seize every moment as it comes, and use it as we shall wish we had done when we look back upon it from eternity. Remember, the year does not come to you all at once, in twelve months at a time, nor even in twelve distinct installments of a month each; no, nor yet in three hundred and sixty-five separate portions of a day apiece: but in individual moments. Do not, therefore, lose the moments in thinking that you will secure the year; but consider that the year is to be redeemed by the consecration of each moment to the Lord Jesus. Fill every day with His service. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"