Take all the heads of the people, &c.— The next verse very fully explains what is meant by this expression; namely, all those who had joined themselves unto Baal-peor: others, however, would interpret it, take unto thee, that is, unto thy assistance, all the heads of the people; that is, all the judges: but the word them in the next clause will, under this interpretation, be very harsh. It is probable, for the reason we shall suggest by and by, that a thousand of the Israelites underwent this punishment.
REFLECTIONS.—Balaam's counsel, before he left Moab, produced a worse effect than his intended curse could have done. The alluring arts of lascivious beauty are the strongest witchcraft of the devil. Observe,
1. The crying sins that Israel committed; whoredom and idolatry. The daughters of Moab, armed with more offensive weapons than Balak's mighty warriors, with eyes full of adultery, which cannot cease from sin, and tongues smoother than oil, yet sharper than drawn swords, beset them, and (shameful to tell!) prevail. Bound in these silken cords of pleasure's lure, they run to those sacrifices which they before abhorred; for the gratification of bestial appetites they deny their God, and sacrifice to the abomination of the Moabites. Blind to the happy land before them, even at Shittim, in full view of it, they prefer a present lust to all the promises of a covenant God. Dreadful and aggravated crime! Note; (1.) They who tempt others to sin, are the most guilty instruments of the devil. (2.) The lures of women are the most dangerous of temptations. (3.) Flight is the only conquest. (4.) If once the heart be ensnared, there are no lengths into which the miserable slave of lust and beauty may not be led. (5.) Nothing more strongly tends to effect the soul's final apostacy from God, than yielding to the solicitation of the flesh.
2. The judgment of God upon them. They will buy pleasure dear, who purchase it at the price of God's displeasure and eternal damnation. Execution is immediately done upon them. They are hung up before the Lord, and a plague consumes the people. Note; (1.) The fire of lust and the flames of hell are inseparable. (2.) The plagues of God will quickly turn the sweets of forbidden pleasure into the gall of asps, and the gnawings of the worm which never dies.