Numbers 11:1
Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
Sermons
A Summary View of Sin and its RemedyE.S. Prout Numbers 11:1, 2
Against MurmuringSpurgeon, Charles HaddonNumbers 11:1-3
Complaining of Providence PunishedJ. Parker, D. D.Numbers 11:1-3
Criticising FavoursH. W. Beecher.Numbers 11:1-3
Finding Fault with GodBp. Hall.Numbers 11:1-3
Israel's SinC. Ness.Numbers 11:1-3
Losing Temper with GodF. W. Faber.Numbers 11:1-3
Murmuring Against GodWatson, ThomasNumbers 11:1-3
Murmuring Hurts not God, But Wounds UsBrookes, ThomasNumbers 11:1-3
MurmuringsW. M. Taylor, D. D.Numbers 11:1-3
Sin and PrayerHomilistNumbers 11:1-3
The Sin of ComplainingG. Wagner.Numbers 11:1-3
The Worst FireW. Seaton.Numbers 11:1-3
Ungrateful DiscontentJ. Spencer.Numbers 11:1-3
Murmuring, Lusting, and LoathingD. Young Numbers 11:1-9














I. A CHAIN OF MORAL SEQUENCES, containing the following links: -

1. The people's sin. The complaints probably various, as may be illustrated from other narratives.

2. Their sin noticed. "The Lord heard it," as he hears every idle word, and reads every sinful thought (see outline on Numbers 12:2).

3. This notice awakens God's anger. By the necessity of his nature, "God is angry with the wicked every day."

4. His anger flamed forth in visible judgments. "The fire of the Lord burned among them," for "our God is a consuming fire," either to purge us from our sins, or to destroy us in our sins.

5. These judgments are fatal, "and consumed them" (Psalm 76:7). For another chain of sequences cf. James 1:14, 15.

II. A CHAIN OF REMEDIAL BLESSINGS.

1. God's mercy tempers judgment. The fire only destroys "those in the utmost part of the camp" (Psalm 102:8-10).

2. The judgments inflicted humble the people, and lead them to appeal to Moses. Such judgments are blessings. Servants of God sought for by sinners, or even despisers, in the day of trouble (cf. Isaiah 70:14).

3. Moses, when appealed to, himself appeals to God. We disclaim all power as saviours, but look and point to the one Saviour (Psalm 60:11; Acts 3:12).

4. God appealed to in acceptable intercession, turns from the fierceness of his wrath (Psalm 99:6). And the High Priest of sinners, by a more costly mediation and a prevailing intercession, still interposes for sinners who "come unto God by him" (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). - P.

The people complained.
I. A DISSATISFIED SPIRIT CAUSES DISPLEASURE TO THE LORD.

1. This we might infer from our own feelings, when dependents, children, servants, or receivers of alms are always grumbling. We grow weary of them, and angry with them.

2. In the case of men towards God it is much worse for them to murmur, since they deserve no good at His hands, but the reverse (Lamentations 3:29; Psalm 103:10).

3. In that case also it is a reflection upon the Lord's goodness, wisdom, truth, and power.

4. The evil lusting which attends the complaining proves its injurious character. We are ready for anything when we quarrel with God (1 Corinthians 10:5-12).

5. God thinks so ill of it that His wrath burns, and chastisement is not long withheld. To set an imaginary value upon that which we have not —

(1)Is foolish, childish, pettish.

(2)Is injurious to ourselves, for it prevents our enjoying what we already have.

(3)Is slanderous towards God, and ungrateful to Him.

(4)Leads to rebellion, falsehood, envy, and all manner of sins.

II. A DISSATISFIED SPIRIT FINDS NO PLEASURE FOR ITSELF EVEN WHEN ITS WISH IS FULFILLED. The Israelites had flesh in superabundance in answer to their foolish prayers, but —

1. It was attended with leanness of soul (Psalm 106:15).

2. It brought satiety (ver. 20).

3. It caused death (Psalm 78:31).

4. It thus led to mourning on all sides.

III. A DISSATISFIED SPIRIT SNOWS THAT THE MIND NEEDS REGULATING. Grace would put our desires in order, and keep our thoughts and affections in their proper places, thus —

1. Content with such things as we have (Hebrews 13:5).

2. Towards other things moderate in desire (Proverbs 30:8).

3. Concerning earthly things which may be lacking, fully resigned (Matthew 26:39).

4. First, and most eagerly, desiring God (Psalm 42:2).

5. Next coveting earnestly the best gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31)

6. Following ever in love the more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31).

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

1. Those who are merely hangers-on to a Church are usually the beginners of mischief among its members. So in the community, the men who have no stake in its welfare are always the most dangerous element of the population. They have nothing to lose in any event, and it is just possible that, in the confusion, they may gain a little. Thus they are always ready for either riot or emeute. The "mixed multitude" in our cities represents what others call the dangerous classes; and in proportion as their existence is ignored by the respectable portion of the people, and nothing is done for their education or elevation, the danger is aggravated.

2. Murmuring is invariably one-sided. These discontented Egyptians and Israelites did nothing but look back on Egypt; and even when they did that, they saw only the lights, and not the shadows. Again, in their depreciation of their present lot, they were equally one-sided. They could see in it nothing but the one fact that they had no flesh to eat. They took no notice of the manna, save to despise it; they said nothing of the water which God had provided for them; they never spoke of the daily miracle that their clothes waxed not old; they made no reference to the constance guidance and presence of Jehovah with them. Now this was flagrantly unjust; and yet in condemning that it is to be feared that we are passing judgment upon ourselves, for if we were fully to reckon up both sides of the account would there ever be any murmuring among us at all?

3. God is always considerate of His faithful servants. See how tender He was to Moses here. He saw that he needed human sympathy and support, as well as Divine, and therefore He hastened to provide him with a cordon of kindred spirits, who might act as a breakwater, and keep the waves of trouble and discontent that rose in the camp from dashing upon him. One cannot read of this without being impressed by the tenderness of God; and it is a suggestive fact that on almost every occasion on which we are told of His judgment falling upon sinners, we have in the near vicinity some manifestation of gentleness to His friends.

4. The truly great man is never envious of others. Here is a lesson for all, and especially for ministers of the gospel. How hard it is to rejoice in the excellence of another, especially if he be in the same line with ourselves l And yet the disparagement of the gifts of another is really an indication of our consciousness of the weakness of our own. The highest and the hardest cliff to climb on the mountain of holiness is humility.

5. We can set no limits to the resources of God (ver. 23).

6. It is not good for us to get everything we desire (Psalm 105:15). Prayers horn out of murmuring are always dangerous.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Homilist.
I. A SADLY COMMON SIN. Murmuring. Discontent is the spirit of this wicked world.

II. A TERRIBLY SOLEMN FACT. God recognises and retributes sin.

III. A GENERAL SOCIAL TENDENCY. The wicked ever seek the good in their terror and distress.

IV. A STRIKING RESULT OF PRAYER. The breath of Moses' prayer extinguished the flame.

(Homilist.)

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? 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. Read the Book of Exodus, notably the fourteenth and following chapters up to the time of the giving of the law, and you will find complaint following complaint; and what was the Divine answer in that succession of reproaches? Was there fire? Did the Lord shake down the clouds upon the people and utterly overwhelm them with tokens of indignation? No. The Lord is full of tenderness and compassion — yea, infinite in piteousness and love is He; but there is a point when His Spirit can no longer strive with us, and when He must displace the persuasions of love by the anger and the judgment of fire. But this is not the whole case. The people were not complaining only. The word complaint may he so construed as to have everything taken out of it except the feeblest protest and the feeblest utterance of some personal desire. But this is not the historical meaning of the word complaint as it is found here. What happened between the instances we have quoted and the instance which is immediately before us? Until that question is answered the whole case is not before the mind for opinion or criticism. What, then, had taken place? The most momentous of all incidents. God had said through Moses to the people of Israel — Will you obey the law? And they stood to their feet, as it were, and answered in one unanimous voice — We will. So the people were wedded to their Lord at that great mountain altar: words of fealty and kinship and Godhood had been exchanged, and now these people that had oft complained and had then promised obedience, and had then sworn that they would have none other gods beside Jehovah, complained — went back to their evil ways; and the Lord, who takes out His sword last and only calls upon His fire in extremity, smote them — burned them. And this will He do to us if we trifle with our oaths, if we practise bad faith towards the altar, if we are guilty of malfeasance in the very sanctuary of God. Were the people content with complaining? They passed from complaining to lusting, saying, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt," &c. There is a philosophy here. You cannot stop short with complaining. Wickedness never plays a negative game. The man who first complains will next erect his appetite as a hostile force against the will of God. A marvellous thing is this, to recollect our lives through the medium of our appetites, to have old relishes return to the mouth, to have the palate stimulated by remembered sensations. The devil has many ways into the soul. The recollection of evil may prompt a desire for its repetition.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

1. Israel had many impediments in their march to the Land of Promise, not only from without (Pharaoh pursuing, Amalek intercepting, &c.), but also from within, among themselves by their manifold murmurings (1 Peter 4:18).

2. God writes our sin upon our punishment. These murmurers here sinned against the "fiery law" (Deuteronomy 33:2); therefore were they punished by fire out of the pillar of fire from whence the fiery law was given and published. Their perdition is our caution (1 Corinthians 10:5, 11).

3. Evil company is infectious and catching as the plague (1 Corinthians 15:33).

4. Wherever there is sinning again on man's part, there will be punishing again on God's part (John 5:14). Here Israel sinned again with a double sin —(1) In desiring flesh which they wanted;(2) In disdaining manna which they enjoyed. The vehemence of their concupiscence was the more inflamed by remembering their former Egyptian diet, yet forgetting withal their Egyptian drudgery.

5. The people's profane deploring their penury (when they had little cause to do so, while fed with the food of angels) doth not only make God angry with them (ver. 10), but also putteth meek Moses into a pang of passion and impatience (vers. 11-15).

6. The Divine remedy to all this human malady; both as to Moses' impatience, and as to Israel's intemperance.(1) Moses must not bear the burden alone, but shall be assisted with the Sanhedrin, or great council of the Jews, consisting of seventy seniors (answerable to the seventy souls that descended with Jacob into Egypt) whereof Moses sat president, all endowed with the gifts of the spirit of Moses, who was as a candle that lighteth others, yet hath not less either heat or light than it had before (vers. 16, 17, 24, 25, 30).(2) As to the people's intemperance, as God promised and performed plenty of flesh to those fleshly-minded multitude, so He punished their impiety with a horrible plague at the close thereof (vers. 18, 19, 20, 31, 32, 33, 34).

(C. Ness.)

Observe that it does not say that the people "murmured," but "complained," or, as it is in the margin, "were as it were complainers"; by which it is evidently meant that there was a feeling in their minds of scarcely expressed dissatisfaction. There was no sudden outbreak of murmuring, but the whispers and looks of discontent. There is no special mention of any particular reason for it. It does not say that their manna failed, or that any hostile army was arrayed against them. Doubtless the journeying was always wearisome, and on its fatigues they suffered their minds to dwell, forgetful of all the mercies vouchsafed them, and "complained." Now, we must all feel that right-down murmuring is very sinful, and in its worst forms most Christians overcome it; but not so complaining, for this seems to many to be scarcely wrong, and it often grows on them so gradually that they are seldom conscious of it. The causes of complaint are manifold. Little difficulties in our circumstances — little acts of selfishness in our neighbours; but complaining is most of all a danger with persons who have weak health — for weakness of body often produces depression of spirits — and this is the soil in which a complaining spirit takes deepest root. Then, too, it often grows into a habit; a tinge of discontent settles on the countenance, and the voice assumes a tone of complaint. And though this, like most habits soon becomes unconscious, yet it is not the less mischievous on that account. It is mischievous to our own souls, for it damps the work of the Spirit of God in our hearts, and enfeebles the spiritual life. It is mischievous in its effects upon others; for when Christians complain it gives the world altogether wrong impressions of the strength and consolation which the love of Christ affords, and it frequently generates the same spirit; one complains, and another, having the same or other causes of complaint, sees no reason why he should not complain too. And this was probably its history in Israel. It is scarcely likely that all began to complain at the same moment. Doubtless there were some who set the sad example, and then the hearts of all being predisposed, it spread like an epidemic. We should settle it well in our hearts that complaining, no less than murmuring, is a fruit of the flesh. David complained in Psalm 77:3, "I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed"; but he soon felt that the root of the evil was in himself. "This," he adds (ver. 10), "is my infirmity." But no part of Scripture proves more strikingly than the events at Taberah, how displeasing to God, and how dangerous in its results, a complaining spirit is. The punishment which followed, and which gave the name to the place, proves the first point. Patient and long-suffering as God ever was with Israel, we are told (Numbers 11:1) that "His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." The severity of the punishment shows that this was no little sin, encompassed as they were with mercy, and guided by Jehovah Himself through the wilderness. It was no less dangerous in its result, for the subsequent history shows how "complaining" ripened into "murmuring," and murmuring was at last the cause of Israel's final fall. Let us endeavour, then, to watch against a "complaining spirit." In heavy and stunning afflictions we glorify God, when, like Aaron, we are enabled to "hold our peace." Like David, we can say, "I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it"; or, as in Psalm 131:2. Still more if we can, through grace, rise to the elevation of the afflicted Job, and say, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord"; or, if anything, to the still higher elevation of the Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:11-13). In the lesser and more ordinary trials of daily life, its difficulties and its duties, we glorify Him by Christian Cheerfulness; and how can we maintain this spirit but by tracing the hand of a Father in them all, carrying them all to God in prayer, and, most of all, by looking above present things to the "everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure"? For the things which are seen, our difficulties and our trials, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, our strength and our crown, are eternal.

(G. Wagner.)

We would think that beggar intolerably impudent, that coming to our doors to ask an alms, and when we have bestowed on him some bracken bread and meat, yet (like those impudent persons the Psalmist speaks of, that grudge and grumble if they be not satisfied, if they have not their own will, and their own fill) he should not hold himself contented, unless he might have one of our best dishes from the table. But this is the case of very many amongst us. We come all as so many beggars to God's mercy-seat, and God gives us abundance of many good things, as life, liberty, health of body, &c., yet we cannot be quiet, nor think ourselves well, unless we be clothed in purple, and fare deliciously every day as such and such do, not considering in the meantime many that are below us, and above us too, wanting those things which we comfortably enjoy.

(J. Spencer.)

There are many persons who receive favours and criticise them. They make it a ground and reason of fault-finding; as in the case of the man who found a Spanish coin worth eighteen and three-quarter cents, and turned it over in his hand and said, "Well, that is just my luck. If it had been anybody else that found it, it would have been a twenty-five cent piece." He had no thanks for what it was, but grumbled because it was not more. So it is with many men in the world. They are perpetually analysing and criticising the kindnesses that are done to them. They are not right in measure, or kind, or method; they are not right somehow; and they shut off the sense of obligation and refuse to be grateful.

(H. W. Beecher.)

Murmuring is a quarrelling with God, and inveighing against Him (Numbers 21:5). The murmurer saith interpretatively that God hath not dealt well with him, and that he hath deserved better from Him. The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy, of a murmuring spirit: God might have been a wiser and a better God. The murmurer is a mutineer. The Israelites are called in the same text "murmurers" and "rebels" (Numbers 17:10); and is not rebellion as the sin of witchcraft? (1 Samuel 15:23). Thou that art a murmurer art in the account of God as a witch, a sorcerer, as one that deals with the devil. This is a sin of the first magnitude. Murmuring often ends in cursing: Micah's mother fell to cursing when the talents of silver were taken away (Judges 17:2). So doth the murmurer when a part of his estate is taken away. Our murmuring is the devil's music; this is that sin which God cannot bear (chap. Numbers 14:27). It is a sin which whets the sword against a people; it is a land-destroying sin (1 Corinthians 10:10).

( T. Watson.)

God hath much ado with us. Either we lack health, or quietness, or children, or wealth, or company, or ourselves in all these. It is a wonder the Israelites found not fault with the want of sauce to their quails, or with their old clothes, or their solitary way. Nature is moderate in her desires; but conceit is insatiable.

(Bp. Hall.)

Losing our temper with God is a more common thing in the spiritual life than many suppose.

(F. W. Faber.)

I have read of Caesar, that, having prepared a great feast for his nobles and friends, it fell out that the day appointed was so extremely foul that nothing could be done to the honour of their meeting; whereupon he was so displeased and enraged that he commanded all them that had bows to shoot up their arrows at Jupiter, their chief god, as in defiance of him for that rainy weather; which, when they did, their arrows fell short of heaven, and fell upon their own heads, so that many of them were very sorely wounded. So all our mutterings and murmurings, which are so many arrows shot at God Himself, will return upon our own pates, or hearts; they reach not Him, but they will hit us; they hurt not Him, but they will wound us; therefore it is better to be mute than to murmur; it is dangerous to contend with one who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

( Thomas Brooks..)

The fire of
Nothing but mercies had come upon the back of their complainings before. They had had water, and they had had bread; but now the Lord would send them fire. It should be the fire of the Lord, holy fire; yet not as that, which, descending from heaven upon the altar, burnt continually before the Lord in His temple, acceptable in sacrifice; but a consuming fire; the burning of His wrath. It is bad to "be saved so as by fire," to have all consumed, but ourselves, to be burnt out of house and home; yet far worse is it to be burnt out of the world. Still this might be the way to heaven for some, carried thither as in a chariot of fire. We know it was the way, the common way that martyrs went. The fire was kindled by their enemies; but it was not as the burning of Taberah; there was no ingredient of the wrath of the Almighty in the flame: but "one like unto the Son of Man" was there, to make it as the purest vestment of the soul, the involving element of love. Oh, there is a fire worse than all others, the burning of the Lord, a fire that descends to the bottomless pit, and the smoke of which has been seen. Behold it kindling in the camp of Israel. It had indignation in it; it was a consuming fire, lighted up in the righteous displeasure of heaven, its fuel the bodies of transgressors themselves. "Tile people complained." What then? "It displeased the Lord; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them in the uttermost parts of the camp." There was no flying from it, it was a city in flames from its utmost extremities. Who can run from the presence of the Lord? How affecting this? It may be conceived, kindled by lightning from the cloud that had guided them, darting in angry form, and with the voice of the Almighty, in thunders impatient to be gone. Who can stand before the indignation of the Lord? who can abide His anger when the gathering storm of His displeasure breaks forth? His favour, what man that regards his life would not entreat? His wrath, what man that fears His power would not deprecate? He is to us, as what we are to Him — sinners or saints. This judgment had in it everything awful — cut off from all share in the promises, slain by the power that had kept them alive, and left heaps of wrath in the very way to life.

(W. Seaton.)

People
Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, Nun
Places
Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, Taberah
Topics
Adversity, Anger, Angry, Aroused, Burned, Burneth, Burning, Burnt, Camp, Complain, Complained, Complaining, Consumed, Consumeth, Devoured, Displeased, Ears, Evil, Extremity, Fire, Habitually, Hardships, Heareth, Hearing, Kindled, Misfortunes, Murmured, Murmurers, Outer, Outlying, Outskirts, Pass, Saying, Sighing, Speaking, Tent-circle, Uttermost
Outline
1. The burning at Taberah quenched by Moses' prayer
4. The people crave meat, and loathe manna
10. Moses complains of his charge
16. God promises to divide his burden unto seventy elders,
18. and to give the people meat for a month
21. Moses' faith is staggered
31. Quails are given in wrath at Kibroth Hattaavah

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Numbers 11:1

     1025   God, anger of
     1403   God, revelation
     4826   fire
     5159   hearing
     5265   complaints
     5928   resentment, against God
     6218   provoking God
     8723   doubt, results of
     8765   grudge

Numbers 11:1-2

     5790   anger, divine

Numbers 11:1-3

     5484   punishment, by God

Numbers 11:1-6

     7135   Israel, people of God

Library
April 12. "They were as it Were, Complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
"They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1). There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence. In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally,
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Deaf Stammerer Healed and Four Thousand Fed.
^A Matt. XV. 30-39; ^B Mark VII. 32-VIII. 9. ^b 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but verse 35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Baptist's Testimony.
"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.... John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. For of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified."--John vii. 39. We have come to the most difficult part in the discussion of the work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the tenth day after the ascension. In the treatment of this subject it is not our aim to create a new interest in the celebration of Pentecost. We consider this almost impossible. Man's nature is too unspiritual for this. But we shall reverently endeavor to give a clearer insight
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others,
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2.
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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