301 'And it hath been, when all these things come upon thee, the blessing and the reviling, which I have set before thee, and thou hast brought 'them' back unto thy heart, among all the nations whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee away, 2 and hast turned back unto Jehovah thy God, and hearkened to His voice, according to all that I am commanding thee to-day, thou and thy sons, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul— 3 then hath Jehovah thy God turned back 'to' thy captivity, and pitied thee, yea, He hath turned back and gathered thee out of all the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee. 4 'If thine outcast is in the extremity of the heavens, thence doth Jehovah thy God gather thee, and thence He doth take thee; 5 and Jehovah thy God hath brought thee in unto the land which thy fathers have possessed, and thou hast inherited it, and He hath done thee good, and multiplied thee above thy fathers. 6 'And Jehovah thy God hath circumcised thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, for the sake of thy life; 7 and Jehovah thy God hath put all this oath on thine enemies, and on those hating thee, who have pursued thee. 8 'And thou dost turn back, and hast hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and hast done all His commands which I am commanding thee to-day; 9 and Jehovah thy God hath made thee abundant in every work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good; for Jehovah turneth back to rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers, 10 for thou dost hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep His commands, and His statutes, which are written in the book of this law, for thou turnest back unto Jehovah thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
11 'For this command which I am commanding thee to-day, it is not too wonderful for thee, nor 'is' it far off. 12 It is not in the heavens,—saying, Who doth go up for us into the heavens, and doth take it for us, and doth cause us to hear it—that we may do it. 13 And it 'is' not beyond the sea,—saying, Who doth pass over for us beyond the sea, and doth take it for us, and doth cause us to hear it—that we may do it? 14 For very near unto thee is the word, in thy mouth, and in thy heart—to do it.
15 'See, I have set before thee to-day life and good, and death and evil, 16 in that I am commanding thee to-day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments; and thou hast lived and multiplied, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in the land whither thou art going in to possess it. 17 'And if thy heart doth turn, and thou dost not hearken, and hast been driven away, and hast bowed thyself to other gods, and served them, 18 I have declared to you this day, that ye do certainly perish, ye do not prolong days on the ground which thou art passing over the Jordan to go in thither to possess it. 19 'I have caused to testify against you to-day the heavens and the earth; life and death I have set before thee, the blessing and the reviling; and thou hast fixed on life, so that thou dost live, thou and thy seed, 20 to love Jehovah thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave to Him (for He 'is' thy life, and the length of thy days), to dwell on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.'
311 And Moses goeth and speaketh these words unto all Israel, 2 and he saith unto them, 'A son of a hundred and twenty years 'am' I to-day; I am not able any more to go out and to come in, and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou dost not pass over this Jordan, 3 'Jehovah thy God He is passing over before thee, He doth destroy these nations from before thee, and thou hast possessed them; Joshua—he is passing over before thee as Jehovah hath spoken, 4 and Jehovah hath done to them as he hath done to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorite, and to their land, whom He destroyed. 5 And Jehovah hath given them before your face, and ye have done to them according to all the command which I have commanded you; 6 be strong and courageous, fear not, nor be terrified because of them, for Jehovah thy God 'is' He who is going with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee.' 7 And Moses calleth for Joshua, and saith unto him before the eyes of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for thou—thou dost go in with this people unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn to their fathers to give to them, and thou—thou dost cause them to inherit it; 8 and Jehovah 'is' He who is going before thee, He himself is with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.'
9 And Moses writeth this law, and giveth it unto the priests (sons of Levi, those bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah), and unto all the elders of Israel, 10 and Moses commandeth them, saying, 'At the end of seven years, in the appointed time, the year of release, in the feast of booths, 11 in the coming in of all Israel to see the face of Jehovah in the place which He chooseth, thou dost proclaim this law before all Israel, in their ears. 12 'Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the infants, and thy sojourner who 'is' within thy gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn, and have feared Jehovah your God, and observed to do all the words of this law; 13 and their sons, who have not known, do hear, and have learned to fear Jehovah your God all the days which ye are living on the ground whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it.'
14 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, thy days have drawn near to die; call Joshua, and station yourselves in the tent of meeting, and I charge him;' and Moses goeth—Joshua also—and they station themselves in the tent of meeting, 15 and Jehovah is seen in the tent, in a pillar of a cloud; and the pillar of the cloud standeth at the opening of the tent. 16 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it; 17 and Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them, and it hath been for consumption, and many evils and distresses have found it, and it hath said in that day, Is it not because that my God is not in my midst—these evils have found me? 18 and I certainly hide My face in that day for all the evil which it hath done, for it hath turned unto other gods. 19 'And now, write for you this song, and teach it the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song is to Me for a witness against the sons of Israel, 20 and I bring them in unto the ground which I have sworn to their fathers—flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten, and been satisfied, and been fat, and have turned unto other gods, and they have served them, and despised Me, and broken My covenant. 21 'And it hath been, when many evils and distresses do meet it, that this song hath testified to its face for a witness; for it is not forgotten out of the mouth of its seed, for I have known its imagining which it is doing to-day, before I bring them in unto the land of which I have sworn.'
22 And Moses writeth this song on that day, and doth teach it the sons of Israel, 23 and He commandeth Joshua son of Nun, and saith, 'Be strong and courageous, for thou dost bring in the sons of Israel unto the land which I have sworn to them, and I—I am with thee.'
24 And it cometh to pass, when Moses finisheth to write the words of this law on a book till their completion, 25 that Moses commandeth the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying, 26 'Take this Book of the Law, and thou hast set it on the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and it hath been there against thee for a witness; 27 for I—I have known thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; lo, in my being yet alive with you to-day, rebellious ye have been with Jehovah, and also surely after my death. 28 'Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify against them the heavens and the earth, 29 for I have known that after my death ye do very corruptly, and have turned aside out of the way which I commanded you, and evil hath met you in the latter end of the days, because ye do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to make Him angry with the work of your hands.'
30 And Moses speaketh in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, till their completion:—
151 And immediately, in the morning, the chief priests having made a consultation, with the elders, and scribes, and the whole sanhedrim, having bound Jesus, did lead away, and delivered 'him' to Pilate; 2 and Pilate questioned him, 'Art thou the king of the Jews?' and he answering said to him, 'Thou dost say 'it'.' 3 And the chief priests were accusing him of many things, 'but he answered nothing.' 4 And Pilate again questioned him, saying, 'Thou dost not answer anything! lo, how many things they do testify against thee!' 5 and Jesus did no more answer anything, so that Pilate wondered.
6 And at every feast he was releasing to them one prisoner, whomsoever they were asking; 7 and there was 'one' named Barabbas, bound with those making insurrection with him, who had in the insurrection committed murder. 8 And the multitude having cried out, began to ask for themselves as he was always doing to them, 9 and Pilate answered them, saying, 'Will ye 'that' I shall release to you the king of the Jews?' 10 for he knew that because of envy the chief priests had delivered him up; 11 and the chief priests did move the multitude, that he might rather release Barabbas to them. 12 And Pilate answering, again said to them, 'What, then, will ye 'that' I shall do to him whom ye call king of the Jews?' 13 and they again cried out, 'Crucify him.' 14 And Pilate said to them, 'Why—what evil did he?' and they cried out the more vehemently, 'Crucify him;'
15 and Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus—having scourged 'him'—that he might be crucified. 16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, which is Praetorium, and call together the whole band, 17 and clothe him with purple, and having plaited a crown of thorns, they put 'it' on him, 18 and began to salute him, 'Hail, King of the Jews.' 19 And they were smiting him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and having bent the knee, were bowing to him, 20 and when they 'had' mocked him, they took the purple from off him, and clothed him in his own garments, and they led him forth, that they may crucify him.
21 And they impress a certain one passing by—Simon, a Cyrenian, coming from the field, the father of Alexander and Rufus—that he may bear his cross,
22 and they bring him to the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, 'Place of a skull;' 23 and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive. 24 And having crucified him, they were dividing his garments, casting a lot upon them, what each may take; 25 and it was the third hour, and they crucified him;
(Read Mark 15:1-14)
They bound Christ. It is good for us often to remember the bonds of the Lord Jesus, as bound with him who was bound for us. By delivering up the King, they, in effect, delivered up the kingdom of God, which was, therefore, as by their own consent, taken from them, and given to another nation. Christ gave Pilate a direct answer, but would not answer the witnesses, because the things they alleged were known to be false, even Pilate himself was convinced they were so. Pilate thought that he might appeal from the priests to the people, and that they would deliver Jesus out of the priests' hands. But they were more and more urged by the priests, and cried, Crucify him! Crucify him! Let us judge of persons and things by their merits, and the standard of God's word, and not by common report. The thought that no one ever was so shamefully treated, as the only perfectly wise, holy, and excellent Person that ever appeared on earth, leads the serious mind to strong views of man's wickedness and enmity to God. Let us more and more abhor the evil dispositions which marked the conduct of these persecutors.
(Read Mark 15:15-21)
Christ met death in its greatest terror. It was the death of the vilest malefactors. Thus the cross and the shame are put together. God having been dishonoured by the sin of man, Christ made satisfaction by submitting to the greatest disgrace human nature could be loaded with. It was a cursed death; thus it was branded by the Jewish law, Deuteronomy 21:23. The Roman soldiers mocked our Lord Jesus as a King; thus in the high priest's hall the servants had mocked him as a Prophet and Saviour. Shall a purple or scarlet robe be matter of pride to a Christian, which was matter of reproach and shame to Christ? He wore the crown of thorns which we deserved, that we might wear the crown of glory which he merited. We were by sin liable to everlasting shame and contempt; to deliver us, our Lord Jesus submitted to shame and contempt. He was led forth with the workers of iniquity, though he did no sin. The sufferings of the meek and holy Redeemer, are ever a source of instruction to the believer, of which, in his best hours, he cannot be weary. Did Jesus thus suffer, and shall I, a vile sinner, fret or repine? Shall I indulge anger, or utter reproaches and threats because of troubles and injuries?
(Read Mark 15:22-32)
The place where our Lord Jesus was crucified, was called the place of a scull; it was the common place of execution; for he was in all respects numbered with the transgressors. Whenever we look unto Christ crucified, we must remember what was written over his head; he is a King, and we must give up ourselves to be his subjects, as Israelites indeed. They crucified two thieves with him, and him in the midst; they thereby intended him great dishonour. But it was foretold that he should be numbered with the transgressors, because he was made sin for us. Even those who passed by railed at him. They told him to come down from the cross, and they would believe; but they did not believe, though he gave them a more convincing sign when he came up from the grave. With what earnestness will the man who firmly believes the truth, as made known by the sufferings of Christ, seek for salvation! With what gratitude will he receive the dawning hope of forgiveness and eternal life, as purchased for him by the sufferings and death of the Son of God! and with what godly sorrow will he mourn over the sins which crucified the Lord of glory!
