It is blasphemy to deny that Jahveh was so passionate (God is without passions, Art. I.), and so vain that he could only be restrained from smiting his people by the appeal of Moses to his vanity: "Then the Egyptians shall hear it.... and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.... the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying: Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness" (Numbers xiv., 12-16). This suggestion, most ingeniously introduced by Moses - who "managed" Jahveh with admirable tact - proved successful, and "the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word" (v. 20). Yet it is blasphemy to say that god changes his purpose.
Furthermore, although it is blasphemy to deny that u he is faithful that promised" (Heb. x., 23), yet we must believe that Jahveh declared to the Israelites, "ye shall know my breach of promise" (Numbers xiv., 34).
It is blasphemy to deny that Jahveh commanded that a man who "gathered sticks upon the sabbath day" (xv., 32-36) should be stoned to death. Yet is it equally blasphemy to deny that Jesus, the representative and first-begotten of Jahveh, condemned the Pharisees who declared that his disciples did "that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day" (Matt, xii., 2), when they gathered corn.
The poor Pharisees tried to obey the law as given by Jahveh; their reward was to be condemned by his son. Yet it is blasphemy to deny that "I and my Father are one" (John x., 30).
It is blasphemy to deny that Jahveh commanded the Israelites to "make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband of blue: and it shall be unto you for a fringe" (Numbers xv., 38, 39). It is hard to believe, though it is blasphemy to deny, that the "Eternal Spirit" troubled himself about "a fringe."
It is blasphemy to deny that there is a "pit," within the earth, into which people may fall alive, when the earth opens her mouth and swallows them up; further, that Korah, Dathan and Abiram, their wives, their sons and their little children, were so swallowed up, and "went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them" (Numb, xvi., 27-33).
It is blasphemy to deny that a plague so fierce that it slew 14,700 people in a few hours could be stopped by a man with a censer full of incense who "stood between the dead and the living" (xvi., 46-49). One can only suppose that the plague advanced steadily across the camp, like a fog, killing every person it covered. Thus only could a man stand between the living and the dead. Yet no such advancing destruction is known to history.
It is blasphemy to deny that a dry old rod belonging to Aaron blossomed miraculously when eleven other dry old rods behaved in the normal fashion (xvii., 2-9). And not only did Aaron's rod bud and blossom, but it also yielded almonds, and this all in the course of one night. It is blasphemy to suggest that Moses, Aaron's brother, who took the rods and who hid them "before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness," quietly substituted a blooming and fruiting branch in the place of his brother's rod, and yet this would be the explanation which would be at once suggested if a similar trick were played now-a-days. But in those easy-going and credulous times very little skill was needed to impose upon a crowd ready to be deceived.
It is interesting to note, in passing, the admirable provision made by Jahveh-through the mouth of his servant, Moses -for Aaron and his family. "All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine" (Numb, xviii., 12, 13). This claim on the part of the priesthood has never been regarded as part of that ceremonial law which has been "done away in Christ."
The story of Balaam is one of the tests to which true faith must be submitted. We learn in this that when Balak sent to ask Balaam to go to him that he might curse Israel, god at first commanded him not to go (Numbers xxii., 12), but a little later commanded him to go (20). God, as we know, never changes. When Balaam obeyed god's command and went, "god's anger was kindled against him because he went" (22), that is because Balaam did what god told him to do, and "the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him." Balaam was riding on a donkey, and the donkey saw the angel, though no one else did, "and the ass turned aside out of the way." Again the angel placed himself in front of the donkey, and the donkey squeezed past him, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall. For the third time the angel confronted the donkey, and on this occasion in a narrow place, "where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left." Then the donkey tumbled down. Balaam was, not unnaturally, disturbed at his donkey's extraordinary behavior, and he had struck her each time that she had, as he thought, misbehaved. And now occurred a wonderful thing. "The Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in my hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay." Sensible persons are expected to believe this absurd story of a conversation between a man and a donkey. Peter speaks of it without any expression of doubt, saying: "the dumb ass, speaking with man's voice, forbad the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter ii., 16). It is blasphemy to deny it; it is madness to believe it. Balaam's ass stands on a level with Mahomet's, and only the credulous and superstitious can yield credence to the stories of either.