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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJohn Calvin Complete Commentary - Numbers 20:6 - 20:6
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6.And Moses and Aaron went from the presence. It is probable that they fled in fear, inasmuch as the tabernacle was a kind of refuge for them from the violence of the people. Still, we may conjecture from other passages that they had consideration not only for themselves, but for the wretched people, howsoever unworthy of it they might be so also, when they throw themselves upon their faces, I understand that they did so, not so much (to pray) that God would protect them from the wrath of their enemies, but also that He would calm these madmen by some appropriate remedy. Still their agitation appears to have been such as to deprive them of their ordinary self-restraint. Neither, indeed, does God try their faith and patience, as He often did on other occasions; perhaps because He saw that they were too much overwhelmed to be able to persevere inflexibly in pious zeal, patience, and care for the public good. Consequently the appearance to them of God’ glory was a support for their weakness, as in a case of extremity.
This example shows us how earnestly God should be entreated constantly to support us with new supplies of His grace, since otherwise the boldest of us all would fail at every moment. The invincible resolution of Moses had so often overcome every obstacle, that there seemed to be no fear of his being in danger of falling; yet the conqueror in so many struggles at length stumbles in a single act. Hence we should more carefully bear in mind the exhortation of Paul: Because
“ is God which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure,” we should “ out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phi_2:12.)