II.  Suppose blotting out of God’s book to mean annihilation, and his answer to the prayer stands thus—­I will destroy this people, and blot them from among my works—­THEREFORE go lead them to the place of which I have spoken unto thee!

III.  Suppose with Mr. Henry, and Doct.  Hunter, that it is to be understood of destruction in the wilderness, and the answer stands thus—­My wrath shall wax hot against Israel and consume them—­they shall all die in the wilderness, THEREFORE, now go lead them to Canaan!

The whole people, save Moses and Joshua, seem to have participated in the revolt.  We have no account of another exception; and whosoever had sinned, God would blot out of his book.  Surely had either of these been the meaning of blotting out of God’s book, it would not have been given as the reason for Moses’ resuming his march and carrying up the tribes to the land of promise.  Common sense revolts at the idea.

But if we understand blotting out of God’s book in the sense we have put upon it, we see at once the propriety of the order given to Moses, founded on this act of grace.  God’s having “repented of the evil which he thought to do unto them.”  If this is the meaning of the words, the answer to Moses’ prayer amounts to this—­“I have heard and hearkened to your prayer, and pardoned the sin of this people, proceed therefore in your march, and lead them to the place of which I have spoken unto thee.”  The therefore go now, doth not surprize us.  We see the order rise out of the divine purpose; but on any of the other constructions of the text, thwarts and contradicts it; or cannot surely be assigned as the reason of it.  SEVERAL other considerations illustrate the subject, and confirm our construction of it.

When Moses returned to intercede for Israel, he certainly asked of God to pardon their sin. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold—­Yet now, if than wilt forgive their sin —­That he was heard and obtained his request appears not only from the history contained in our context, but from Moses’ rehearsal of it just before his death.  He recounted the dealings of God with Israel, when taking his leave of them on the plains of Moab—­In that valedictory discourse he reminded them of their sin on this occasion—­of God’s anger against them—­his threatening to destroy them, and how he pleaded with God in their behalf, and the success which attended his intercessions for them—­“I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth with you, to destroy you, but the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also.” *

* Deuteronomy ix. 19.