Deuteronomy 1:41-46

b. BECAUSE OF PRESUMPTION (Deuteronomy 1:41-46)

Deuteronomy 1:41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country. 42 and Jehovah said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies, 43 So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country. 44 And the Amorites, that dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah, 45 And ye returned and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you. 46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:41-46

27.

There is a vast difference between remorse and repentance; discuss that difference as indicated in these verses.

28.

What is involved in the sin of presumption?

29.

Why didn-'t the Lord pity these people and forgive them?

30.

How could they abide in Kadesh and yet wander for thirty eight years in the wilderness?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 1:41-46

41 Then you said to me, We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us. And you girded on every man his battle weapons and thought it a simple matter to go up into the hill country.
42 And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not among you; lest you be dangerously hurt by your enemies.
43 So I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and were presumptuous and went up into the hill country.
44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
45 And you returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not heed your voice or listen to you.
46 So you remained in Kadesh; many days you remained there.

COMMENT 1:41-46

Here we have the second failure of Israel at Kadeshand in some ways this is more pitiable than the first. Trapped now by the curse of the Lordhe who had before promised to fight for and with them in all their battlesthey suddenly decided to put on a show of repentance and courage!

THEN YE ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO ME, WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST JEHOVAH, WE WILL GO UP AND FIGHT, ACCORDING TO ALL THAT JEHOVAH OUR GOD COMMANDED US (Deuteronomy 1:41)How useless! God was not with them. Except Jehovah build the house, They labor in vain that build it: Except Jehovah keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain (Psalms 127:1). How can we ever hope to accomplish the Lord's will and purpose in life, without the Lord's blessing? I can do all things in him that strengthened me (Philippians 4:13). And we will find it hard, as Saul did, to kick against the goadsespecially the goads of God! No, Israel could not fight the very enemies of God without his blessing and oversightnor can we! It was quite impossible for Jehovah to accompany them along the path of self-will and rebellion; and, most assuredly, Israel, without the divine presence, could be no match for the Amorites. If God be for us and with us, all must be victory; but we cannot count on God if we are not treading the path of obedience. It is simply the height of folly to imagine that we have God with us if our ways are not right. -The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.-' But if we are not walking in practical righteousness, it is wicked presumption to talk of having the Lord as our strong tower.Mackintosh

SAY UNTO THEM, GO NOT UP, NEITHER FIGHT: FOR I AM NOT AMONG YOU; LEST YE BE SMITTEN BEFORE YOUR ENEMIES (Deuteronomy 1:42)Now proud, haughty, and rebellious, the advice was summarily rejected, and matters were taken into their own hands. This always means disasterit cannot be otherwise, in that age or this! To go contrary to the Lord's appointed purpose is, in essence, to be found fighting against God (Acts 5:39). No one fights against our Maker and wins!

YE HEARKENED NOT: BUT YE REBELLED AGAINST THE COMMANDMENT OF JEHOVAH, AND WERE PRESUMPTUOUS, AND WENT UP INTO THE HILL COUNTRY (Deuteronomy 1:43)The Hebrew word for presumptuous (Zud or Zid) is from a root meaning to boil, to boil over (speaking of water). It is onomatopetic, as the English to seethe, the Greek Zeo, the German sieden. Gesenius states, Like the Gr. Zeo and Lat. ferveo, it is transferred to the violence or fierceness of a passionate mind. and thus to insolence and wickedness, giving the meaning here as to act insolently, fiercely, wickedly, especially in speaking of those who sin knowingly and purposely against the precepts of God.

Acting upon such a rebellious impulse, the will of God was cast aside: the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God (James 1:20).

AND THE AMORITES, THAT DWELT IN THE HILL-COUNTRY, CAME OUT AGAINST YOU, AS BEES DO, AND BEAT YOU DOWN IN SEIR, EVEN UNTO HORMAH (Deuteronomy 1:44)the inevitable result of their rebellion and presumption, See Numbers 14:40-45, The Ark of God, the symbol of his presence, did not leave the camp. These men were strictly on their ownwithout the endorsement, encouragement, or blessing of God, All such enterprises must fail! Israel was God's chosen nation and his beloved people, but they could not accomplish his grand purpose for them without resting their all upon his divine authority. And though they confessed their guilt in their first rebellion (we have sinned, Deuteronomy 1:41, cf. Numbers 14:40), they only sinned again by supposing they could assault the Amorites without divine direction. Mere confession of guilt does not relieve one of his responsibilities toward God! Even when they wept before Jehovah (Deuteronomy 1:45) their curse was not retracted. Again and again God had endured their murmurings and rebellion. But though he was longsuffering, Israel continued to disobey, ... all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice (Numbers 14:22), Besides, their confession and weeping seems to be much more of an emotional outburst from those who were totally unqualified to carry out God's purposes, than true repentance. Such people are rejected not because God is unmoved by pity but because they can never successfully fight his battles.Francisco

SO YE ABODE IN KADESH MANY DAYS (Deuteronomy 1:46)See also our comments under Deuteronomy 1:19. If we understand and we came to Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:19) to refer to Israel's first arrival at that place, and the present statement to be a general one (including the many days spent there after the return from the approximate thirty-eight years in the wilderness, we have no trouble taking up in chapter two in the fortieth year after Israel's exodus from Egypt, (Note carefully our comments and the quote from McGarvey under Deuteronomy 2:1 of the next lesson, where the problem of harmonizing the chronology of Numbers and Deuteronomy is more fully discussed).

From Numbers 20:1 we learn that Israel did not begin its circuit of Mt. Seir until after their second visit to that place. They came into the wildernes of Zin in the first month: [of the fortieth year, as the consequent context will show] and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. Before Israel leaves Kadesh he requests and is refused passage through Edom (Numbers 20:20). Then, they journeyed from Kadesh (Numbers 20:22). The vast period of time between being repulsed by the Amorites (Deuteronomy 1:44-45) and the journey around Edom (Deuteronomy 2:1) is not surprising when we remember two things: (1) Very little is said about this nearly thirty-eight year period between visits at Kadesh in any of the accounts; and (2) it simply was not important to Moses-' present purposes of exhortation. We know that from the first visit to Kadesh until their arrival at the brook Zered at the southeast corner of the Dead Sea, was thirty-eight years (Deuteronomy 2:14).