They met you not, <\/B>as the manner of those times was to wait and provide for strangers and travellers; see Gen 14:17<\/span>; 18:2<\/span>,3<\/span>; 19:1<\/span>,2<\/span>; Jdg 19:17-21<\/span>; which was the more necessary, because in those times and countries there were no such public houses of entertainment, as now there are among us. Their fault then was unmercifulness to strangers and pilgrims, and afflicted persons, which was aggravated both by their relation to the Israelites, as being the children of Lot, and by the special kindness of God and of the Israelites to them, in not fighting against them, as they had just occasion to do, and as they did by others, Deu 2<\/span>. <\/P> Object.<\/B> <\/P> Quest.<\/B> How doth this agree with Deu 2:28<\/span>,29<\/span>, where the Moabites which dwell in Ar<\/I> are said to have sold them meat and drink? <\/P> Answ.<\/B> 1. It is one thing voluntarily to meet them, and kindly to relieve them with bread and water, which they are here denied to have done, and a quite differing thing to sell them bread and water when they are upon their very borders, and their own interest forced them to do so. <\/P> 2. It may seem that it was only those Moabites that dwelt in Ar<\/I> did so, as is said Deu 2:29<\/span>, and that all the rest of the people neglected or refused to do it; and therefore the sin being so general and national, no wonder if the punishment be so too. <\/P> 3. These and the following words, both here and Neh 13:1<\/span>, are to be taken distributively; and this first member of the verse belongs to the Ammonites, who did not <\/P> meet them with bread<\/B>, &c., and the latter part to the Moabites, who, together with the Midianites, but not with the Ammonites, hired Balaam, &c. <\/P> <\/p>\n Because they met you not with bread and with water<\/strong>,…. To supply them therewith, either as a gift, which was a piece of humanity to strangers and travellers, or rather to sell unto them, for on no other terms did the Israelites desire their bread and their water:<\/p>\n in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt<\/strong>; not as soon as they came forth from thence, for it was near forty years after; but it was while they were in the way from thence, as they were journeying to the land of Canaan, and so were travellers, and should have had kindness shown them as such; for though they needed not bread and water, God providing both for them, yet this does not excuse the inhumanity of these people: the words are to be understood by way of distribution; this charge here only belongs to the Ammonites, for it appears that the Moabites did give them bread and water for money, De 2:28<\/span> as what follows belongs peculiarly to the Moabites and not the Ammonites:<\/p>\n and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee<\/strong>; this the Moabites did in conjunction with the Midianites, but the Ammonites had no concern in it; see Nu 22:7<\/span>, it was not therefore because the Moabites and Ammonites were born in incest that they were forbidden entrance into the congregation of the Lord; which might have been thought to have been the reason of it, these instances following upon the former, had not these reasons been assigned.<\/p>\n 4. And because he hired. (306) Although there was a common reason why both nations should not be admitted, yet the number of the verb seems to be changed designedly, because Balac king of Moab hired Balaam; yet, inasmuch as they conspired together, the same crime is justly imputed to the Ammonites. Herein indeed their detestable impiety especially betrayed itself, that by hiring a mercenary man, to launch the thunders of his curse against the people, they sought to overwhelm God by magical incantations. Nor did they err through ignorance, since they obstinately persevered in their madness until Balaam was confounded from heaven. And on this ground it is expressly stated that he was not “hearkend unto,” but that rather his curses and prayers were “turned into a blessing.” Hence it appears how awful is the vengeance which awaits all who of deliberate malice oppose God’s grace and the welfare of the Church. Thus now-a-days no stone is left unturned by the defenders of the Papacy, whereby they may disturb the course of heavenly doctrine, nay, whereby they may altogether silence the Gospel if they could. <\/p>\n Since another reason for this rejection is plainly signified, it is foolish in some to attribute this sentence upon them to their origin, as if the Ammonites and Moabites were excluded from the Church because they sprang from an incestuous connection. <\/p>\n (306) A. V. “They hired.” Malvenda in Poole’s Syn. “ Hebrews et conduxit, nempe Moabita.” Ainsworth’s translation is, “because that they met you, etc., — and he hired, etc.” <\/p>\n (4) Because they met you not with bread and with water.<\/strong>We learn incidentally from this passage how the Moabites and the Ammonites requited the forbearance shown them by the Israelites (Deu. 2:9<\/span>; Deu. 2:19<\/span>; Deu. 2:29<\/span>). No one not acquainted with the details of Israels intercourse with these people on their journey could have written thus.<\/p>\n Because they hired against thee Balaam.<\/strong>See Numbers 22<\/span> and Num. 31:16<\/span>, and Numbers 25<\/span>.<\/p>\n Ver. <\/em><\/strong>4. <\/strong>Because they met you not with bread and water<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> It was a piece of ancient hospitality, to give strangers in their travels refreshment of bread and water; <\/em>that is, of meat and drink. <\/em>The Israelites, therefore, might well expect this civility from the Ammonites and Moabites, not only as fellow-creatures, but as their kindred people; and further still, on account of the respect which they had shewed them. See chap. Deu 2:19<\/span>. <\/p>\n VIII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n BALAAM: HIS IMPORTANT PROPHECIES, HIS CHARACTER, AND HIS BIBLE HISTORY<\/p>\n Numbers 22-24; Num 31:8<\/span><\/strong> ; Num 31:16<\/span><\/strong> ; Deu 23:4-5<\/span><\/strong> ; Jos 13:22<\/span><\/strong> ; Jos 24:9-10<\/span><\/strong> ; Mic 6:5<\/span><\/strong> ; Neh 13:2<\/span><\/strong> ; Jud 1:2<\/span><\/strong> ; 2Pe 2:15<\/span><\/strong> ; Rev 2:14<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n These scriptures give you a clue to both Balaam’s history and character: Numbers 22-24; Num 31:8<\/span> , and especially Num 31:16<\/span> ; Deu 23:4-5<\/span> ; Jos 13:22<\/span> ; Jos 24:9-10<\/span> ; Mic 6:5<\/span> ; Neh 13:2<\/span> ; Jud 1:2<\/span> ; 2Pe 2:15<\/span> ; and, most important of all, Rev 2:14<\/span> . Anybody who attempts to discuss Balaam ought to be familiar with every one of these scriptures.<\/p>\n Who was Balaam? He was a descendant of Abraham, as much as the Israelites were. He was a Midianite and his home was near where the kinsmen of Abraham, Nahor and Laban, lived. They possessed from the days of Abraham a very considerable knowledge of the true God. He was not only a descendant of Abraham and possessed the knowledge of the true God through traditions handed down, as in the case of Job and Melchizedek, but he was a prophet of Jehovah. That is confirmed over and over again. Unfortunately he was also a soothsayer and a diviner, adding that himself to his prophetic office for the purpose of making money. People always approach soothsayers with fees.<\/p>\n His knowledge of the movements of the children of Israel could easily have been obtained and the book of Exodus expressly tells that that knowledge was diffused over the whole country. Such a poem as Jacob’s dying blessing on his children would circulate all over the Semitic tribes, and such an administration as that of Joseph would become known over all the whole world, such displays of power as the miracles in Egypt, the deliverance at the Red Sea and the giving of the law right contiguous to the territory of Balaam’s nation make it possible for him to learn all these mighty particulars. It is a great mistake to say that God held communication only with the descendants of Abraham. We see how he influenced people in Job’s time and how he influenced Melchizedek, and there is one remarkable declaration made in one of the prophets that I have not time to discuss, though I expect to preach a sermon on it some day, in which God claims that he not only brought Israel out of Egypt but the Philistines out of Caphtor and all peoples from the places they occupied (Amo 9:7<\/span> ). We are apt to get a very narrow view of God’s government of the human race when we attempt to confine it to the Jews only.<\/p>\n Next, we want to consider the sin of Balaam. First, it was from start to finish a sin against knowledge. He had great knowledge of Jehovah. It was a sin against revelation and a very vile sin in that it proceeded from his greed for money, loving the wages of unrighteousness. His sin reached its climax after he had failed to move Jehovah by divinations, and it was clear that Jehovah was determined to bless these people, when for a price paid in his hand be vilely suggested a means by which the people could be turned from God and brought to punishment. That was about as iniquitous a thing as the purchase of the ballots in the late prohibition election in Waco, for the wages of unrighteousness. His counsel was (Num 31:16<\/span> ) to seduce the people of Israel by bringing the Moabitish and Midianite evil women to tempt and get them through their lusts to attend idolatrous feasts.<\/p>\n In getting at the character of this man, we have fortunately some exceedingly valuable sermon literature. The greatest preachers of modern times have preached on Balaam, and in the cross lights of their sermons every young preacher ought to inform himself thoroughly on Balaam. The most famous one for quite a while was Bishop Butler’s sermon. When I was a boy, everybody read that sermon, and, as I recall it, the object was to show the self-deception which persuaded Balaam in every case that the sin he committed could be brought within the rules of conscience and revelation, so that he could say something at every point to show that he stood right, while all the time he was going wrong.<\/p>\n Then the great sermon by Cardinal Newman: “The dark shadow cast over a noble course by standing always on the ladder of advancement and by the suspense of a worldly ambition never satisfied.” He saw in Balaam one of the most remarkable men of the world, high up on the ladder and the way to the top perfectly open but shaded by the dark shadow of his sin. Then Dr. Arnold’s sermon on Balaam, as I recall, the substance being the strange combination of the purest form of religious belief with action immeasurably below it. Next the great sermon by Spurgeon with seven texts. He takes the words in the Bible, “I have sinned,” and Balaam is one of the seven men he discusses. Spurgeon preached Balaam as a double-minded man. He could see the right and yet his lower nature turned him constantly away from it, a struggle between the lower and higher nature. These four men were the greatest preachers in the world since Paul. I may modestly call attention to my own sermon on Balaam; that Balaam was not a double-minded man; that from the beginning this man had but one real mind, and that was greed and power, and he simply used the religious light as a stalking horse. No rebuff could stop him long. God might say, “You shall not go,” and he would say, “Lord, hear me again and let me go.” He might start and an angel would meet him and he might hear the rebuke of the dumb brute but he would still seek a way to bring about evil. I never saw a man with a mind more single than Balaam.<\/p>\n I want you to read about him in Keble’s “Christian Year.” Keble conceives of Balaam as standing on the top of a mountain that looked over all those countries he is going to prophesy about and used this language:<\/p>\n O for a sculptor’s hand,<\/p>\n That thou might’st take thy stand<\/p>\n Thy wild hair floating in the eastern breeze,<\/p>\n Thy tranc’d yet open gaze<\/p>\n Fix’d on the desert haze,<\/p>\n As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant aeea.<\/p>\n In outline dim and vast<\/p>\n Their fearful shadows cast<\/p>\n The giant forms of empires on their way<\/p>\n To ruin: one by one<\/p>\n They tower and they are gone,<\/p>\n Yet in the Prophet’s soul the dreams of avarice stay.<\/p>\n That is a grand conception. If he just had the marble image of a man of that kind, before whose eyes, from his lofty mountain pedestal were sweeping the pageants of mighty empires and yet in whose eyes always stayed the dreams of avarice. The following has been sculptured on a rock:<\/p>\n No sun or star so bright<\/p>\n In all the world of light<\/p>\n That they should draw to Heaven his downward eye:<\/p>\n He hears th’ Almighty’s word,<\/p>\n He sees the Angel’s sword,<\/p>\n Yet low upon the earth his heart and treasure lie.<\/p>\n That comes nearer giving a true picture of Balaam. That shows you a man so earth bound in his heart’s desire, looking at low things and grovelling that no sun or star could lift his eye toward heaven. Not even God Almighty’s word could make him look up, without coercion of the human will.<\/p>\n Now, you are to understand that the first two prophecies of Balaam came to him when he was trying to work divinations on God. In those two he obeys as mechanically as a hypnotized person obeys the will of the hypnotist. He simply speaks under the coercive power of God. In these first two prophecies God tells him what to say, as if a mightier hand than his had dipped the pen in ink and moved his hand to write those lines.<\/p>\n At the end of the second one when he saw no divination could possibly avail against those people, the other prophecies came from the fact that the Spirit of the Lord comes on him just like the Spirit came on Saul, the king of Israel, and he prophesied as a really inspired man. In the first prophecy he shows, first, a people that God has blessed and will not curse; second, he is made to say, “Let me die the death of the righteous and let my, last end at death and judgment be like his.” That shows God’s revelation to that people. The second prophecy shows why that is so: “God is not a man that he should repent.” “It is not worth while to work any divination. He has marked out the future of this nation.” Second, why is it that he will not regard iniquity in Jacob? For the purpose he has in view he will not impute their trespasses to them. The prophecy stops with this thought, that when you look at what this people have done and will do, you are not to say, “What Moses did, nor Joshua did, nor David,” but you are to say, “What God hath wrought!”<\/p>\n The first time I ever heard Dr. Burleson address young preachers, and I was not even a Christian myself, he took that for his text. He commenced by saying, “That is a great theme for a preacher. Evidently these Jews had not accomplished all those things. They were continually rebelling and wanting to go back, and yet you see them come out of Egypt, cross the Sea, come to Sinai, organized, fed, clothed, the sun kept off by day and darkness by night, marvellous victories accomplished and you are to say, ‘What God hath wrought!’ “<\/p>\n When the spiritual power comes on him he begins to look beyond anything he has ever done yet, to messianic days. There are few prophecies in the Bible more far-reaching than this last prophecy of Balaam. When he says of the Messiah, “I shall see him but not now,” it is a long way off. “My case is gone, but verily a star” the symbol of the star and sceptre carried out the thought of the power of the Messiah. So much did that prophecy impress the world that those Wise Men who came right from Balaam’s country when Jesus was born, remember this prophecy: “We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.”<\/p>\n He then looks all around and there are the nations before him from that mountain top, and he prophesies about Moab and Amalek and passes on beyond, approaching even to look to nations yet unborn. He looks to the Grecian Empire arising far away in the future, further than anybody but Daniel. He sees the ships of the Grecians coming and the destruction of Asshur and the destruction of Eber, his own people. Then we come to the antitypical references later.<\/p>\n If you want a comparison of this man, take Simon Magus who wanted to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit so as to make money. That is even better than Judas, though Judas comes in. Judas had knowledge, was inspired, worked miracles, and yet Judas never saw the true kingdom of God in the spirit of holiness, and because he could not bring about the kingdom of which he would be treasurer for fifteen dollars he sold the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the principal thoughts I wanted to add.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n QUESTIONS<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Who was Balaam?<\/p>\n \n 2. How did he obtain his knowledge of God?<\/p>\n \n 3. What was the sin of Balaam?<\/p>\n \n 4. What was the climax of his sin?<\/p>\n \n 5. What five sermons on Balaam are referred to? Give the line of thought in each.<\/p>\n \n 6. Give Keble’s conception of Balaam.<\/p>\n \n 7. What was the testimony sculptured on a rock?<\/p>\n \n 8. Now give your own estimate of the character of Balaam.<\/p>\n \n 9. How do you account for the first two prophecies?<\/p>\n \n 10. How do you account for the other two?<\/p>\n \n 11. In the first prophecy what does he show, what is he made to say and what does that show?<\/p>\n \n 12. Give a brief analysis of the second prophecy.<\/p>\n \n 13. Of what does the third prophecy consist?<\/p>\n \n 14. Give the items of the fourth prophecy.<\/p>\n \n 15. How did his messianic prophecy impress the world?<\/p>\n \n 16. When was this prophecy concerning Amalek fulfilled? Ana. In the days of Saul. (1Sa 15<\/span> ).<\/p>\n \n 17. Who was Asshur and what was his relation to the Kenites?<\/p>\n \n 18. What reference here to the Grecians?<\/p>\n \n 19. Who was Eber?<\/p>\n \n 20. With what two New Testament characters may we compare?<\/p>\n \n Deu 23:4 Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.<\/p>\n Ver. 4. Because they met you not.<\/strong> ] As God takes notice of the least courtesy showed to his people, even to a cup of cold water, to requite it, so he doth of the least discourtesy, even to a frown or a frump See Trapp on “<\/em> Gen 4:6 “<\/em> to revenge it. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And because they hired, &c.<\/strong> ] See Trapp on “<\/em> Num 22:3 “<\/em> See Trapp on “<\/em> Num 22:6 “<\/em> <\/p>\n they hired. Compare Num 22:5. Jud 1:11. <\/p>\n Mesopotamia. Hebrew = Aram-Naharaim, i.e. “Syria of the two rivers”. <\/p>\n Because they met: Deu 2:28, Deu 2:29, Gen 14:17, Gen 14:18, 1Sa 25:11, 1Ki 18:4, Isa 63:9, Zec 2:8, Mat 25:40, Act 9:4 <\/p>\n because they hired: Num 22:5, Num 22:7, Num 22:17, Neh 13:2 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 24:10 – Mesopotamia Num 22:6 – curse me Num 22:32 – thy way Num 23:7 – Aram Num 24:10 – I called Deu 23:3 – Ammonite Jos 24:9 – General Jdg 8:5 – loaves Jdg 11:25 – Balak Pro 26:2 – so Amo 1:13 – and for Amo 2:1 – For three Mic 6:5 – Balak Act 2:9 – Mesopotamia 1Ti 6:10 – the love 2Pe 2:15 – who<\/p>\n Deu 23:4. They met you not with bread and water That is, meat and drink; as the manner of those times and countries was, with respect to strangers and travellers, which was the more necessary because there were no public-houses of entertainment. Their fault, then, was unmercifulness to strangers and afflicted persons, which was aggravated both by their relation to the Israelites, as being the children of Lot, and by the special kindness of God and of the Israelites to them, in not fighting against them. Because they hired against thee Balaam As the foregoing passage peculiarly refers to the Ammonites, so this doth to the Moabites, Num 22:5-7.<\/p>\n 23:4 Because they {c} met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.<\/p>\n (c) By this he condemns all who do not aid the children of God in their calling.<\/p>\n Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. They met you not, as the manner of those times was to wait and provide for strangers … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 23:4”<\/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-5513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5513","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=5513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/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: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/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":"