“Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord” (Exo. 17:1). The expression here translated “the command of the Lord” is, in the Hebrew, “the mouth of the Lord.” Israel traveled by stages according to the “mouth of the Lord.” When a man blasphemed the name of Jehovah in Leviticus 24:11, the nation of Israel did not know what to do. So, they put him into temporary custody so that the “command” (the “mouth,” literally) of the Lord might be made clear to them. They had to learn what would come from the mouth of the Lord; and what came from His mouth was His command.
In Numbers 3, when Moses made a census of the nation of Israel, he did so “according to the word [literally, “mouth”] of the Lord, just as he had been commanded” (3:16). You might want to take some time to note this idea as it is translated in these texts: Numbers 3:39; 4:37, 41, 45, 49; 9:18, 20, 23; 10:13; 13:3; 14:41; 22:18; 24:13; 33:2, 38; 36:5; Deut. 1:26, 43; 8:3; 9:23; 34:5; Joshua 9:14; 15:13; 17:4; 19:50; 21:3; 22:9; 1 Samuel 12:14-15; 15:24; 1 Kings 13:21, 26; 2 Kings 24:3; Isaiah 1:20; 40:5; 58:14; 62:2; Jer. 9:11; 23:16; Micah 4:4; 1 Chronicles 12:24; 2 Chronicles 36:12.
Deuteronomy 8:3 appears to be the only text in the Law, at least in the NASV, which translates the expression literally “mouth of the Lord.” But then we could also translate this verse: “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the command of the Lord.” This highlights one of the fundamental charges of Gospel preachers: Where is your authority for what you do in religion? We must live by His commandments / mouth.
Among that list, you will notice how prevalent the expression is in the book of Numbers, and you will notice what happens when someone does not do what Jehovah spoke. Let me draw your attention to these three texts: 14:41; 22:18; and 22:13. In 14:41, Moses is castigating Israel for wanting to fight the Canaanites when they do not have God’s authority. Moses asks, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord…?” “To transgress” is the verb “to cross” which is used in reference to crossing the Jordan River. It means to go crosswise. So Moses is asking Israel, “Why are you perpendicular to the mouth of Jehovah?” In other words, “you do not have authority from God to do that!” “There is nothing from the mouth of God that allows you to believe you will have success in doing that!”
In 22:18 and in 24:13, we have the incident with Balaam and Balak where Balaam states that he can not do anything “either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God.” To translate it more literally, he says he cannot say anything “either small or great, to cross the mouth of Jehovah my God.” See also 24:13. Balaam understands that he cannot position himself perpendicular to the mouth of Jehovah.
The same expression is found in 1 Samuel 15:24 when Saul confesses his sin to Samuel, stating, “I have indeed crossed the mouth of the Lord.” What Saul did was perpendicular to what Jehovah had commanded. There was no authority for it.
One more text which seems interesting… 2 Chronicles 36:12: Zedekiah did evil in the sight of Jehovah because he did not humble himself before Jeremiah “the prophet of the mouth of Jehovah.”
As Christians, the only way we can know what Jehovah wants is what is found from His mouth, from His commandments, in His Holy Word: book, chapter, verse.
Paul Holland
