23. Therefore he said that he would destroy them. The threatening of destruction came at last. For the first wilderness
sin he chastened them, sending leanness into their soul; for the second he
weeded out the offenders, the flame burned up the wicked; for the third he
threatened to destroy them; for the fourth he lifted up his hand and almost
came to blows (verse 26); for
the fifth he actually smote them, “and the
plague brake in upon them”; and so
the punishment increased with their perseverance in sin. This is worth noting,
and it should serve as a warning to the man who goeth on in his iniquities. God
tries words before he comes to blows—he said that hewould destroy them—but his words are not to be trifled with, for he means
them, and has power to make them good. Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach. Like a bold warrior who defends the wall when there is
an opening for the adversary and destruction is rushing upon the city, Moses
stopped the way of avenging justice with his prayers. Moses had great power
with God. He was an eminent type of our Lord, who is called, as Moses here is
styled, “mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.” As the Elect Redeemer interposed between the Lord and a sinful world,
so did Moses stand between the Lord and his offending people. The story as told
by Moses himself is full of interest and instruction, and tends greatly to
magnify the goodness of the Lord, who thus suffered himself to be turned from
the fierceness of his anger.
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