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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC05033.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Having read how Moses finished his testimony, we are told here how he
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immediately after finished his life. This chapter could not be written
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by Moses himself, but was added by Joshua or Eleazar, or, as bishop
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Patrick conjectures, by Samuel, who was a prophet, and wrote by divine
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authority what he found in the records of Joshua, and his successors
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the judges. We have had an account of his dying words, here we have an
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account of his dying work, and that is work we must all do shortly, and
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it had need be well done. Here is,
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I. The view Moses had of the land of Canaan just before he died,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. His death and burial,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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III. His age,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:7">ver. 7</A>.
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IV. Israel's mourning for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:8">ver. 8</A>.
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V. His successor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:9">ver. 9</A>.
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VI. His character,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:10-12">ver. 10</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="De34_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Moses on Mount Pisgah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain
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of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that <I>is</I> over against Jericho.
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And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
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2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and
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all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
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3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the
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city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
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4 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto him, This <I>is</I> the land which I sware
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unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it
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unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see <I>it</I> with thine eyes,
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but thou shalt not go over thither.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Moses climbing upwards towards heaven, as high as the top of Pisgah,
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there to die; for that was the place appointed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:49,50"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 49, 50</A>.
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Israel lay encamped upon the flat grounds in the plains of Moab, and
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thence he went up, according to order, to the mountain of Nebo, to the
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highest point or ridge of that mountain, which was called
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<I>Pisgah,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Pisgah is an appellative name for all such eminences. It should seem,
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Moses went up alone to the top of Pisgah, <I>alone without help</I>--a
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sign that his natural force was not abated when on the last day of his
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life he could walk up to the top of a high hill without such supporters
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as once he had when his hands were heavy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+17:12">Exod. xvii. 12</A>),
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<I>alone without company.</I> When he had made an end of blessing
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Israel, we may suppose, he solemnly took leave of Joshua, and Eleazar,
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and the rest of his friends, who probably brought him to the foot of
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the hill; but then he gave them such a charge as Abraham gave to his
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servants at the foot of another hill: <I>Tarry you here while I go
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yonder and die:</I> they must not see him die, because they must not
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know of his sepulchre. But, whether this were so or not, he went up to
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the top of Pisgah,
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1. To show that he was willing to die. When he knew the place of his
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death, he was so far from avoiding it that he cheerfully mounted a
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steep hill to come at it. Note, Those that through grace are well
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acquainted with another world, and have been much conversant with it,
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need not be afraid to leave this.
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2. To show that he looked upon death as his ascension. The soul of a
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man, of a good man, when it leaves the body, <I>goes upwards</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:21">Eccl. iii. 21</A>),
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in conformity to which motion of the soul, the body of Moses shall go
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along with it as far upwards as its earth will carry it. When God's
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servants are sent for out of the world, the summons runs thus, <I>Go up
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and die.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Moses looking downward again towards this earth, to see the earthly
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Canaan into which he must never enter, but therein by faith looking
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forwards to the heavenly Canaan into which he should now immediately
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enter. God had threatened that he should not come into the possession
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of Canaan, and the threatening is fulfilled. But he had also promised
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that he should have a prospect of it, and the promise is here
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performed: <I>The Lord showed him</I> all that good land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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1. If he went up alone to the top of Pisgah, yet he <I>was not alone,
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for the Father was with him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:32">John xvi. 32</A>.
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If a man has any friends, he will have them about him when he lies a
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dying. But if, either through God's providence or their unkindness, it
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should so happen that we should then be alone, we need <I>fear no
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evil</I> if the great and good Shepherd be with us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+23:4">Ps. xxiii. 4</A>.
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2. Though his sight was very good, and he had all the advantage of high
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ground that he could desire for the prospect, yet he could not have
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seen what he now saw, all Canaan from end to end (reckoned about fifty
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or sixty miles), if his sight had not been miraculously assisted and
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enlarged, and therefore it is said, <I>The Lord showed it to him.</I>
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Note, All the pleasant prospects we have of the better country we are
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beholden to the grace of God for; it is he that gives the <I>spirit of
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wisdom</I> as well as the <I>spirit of revelation,</I> the eye as well
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as the object. This sight which God here gave Moses of Canaan,
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probably, the devil designed to mimic, and pretended to out-do, when in
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an airy phantom he showed to our Saviour, whom he had placed like Moses
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upon an <I>exceedingly high mountain,</I> all the kingdoms of the world
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and the glory of them, not gradually, as here, first one country and
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then another, but all in a moment of time.
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3. He saw it at a distance. Such a sight the Old-Testament saints had
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of the kingdom of the Messiah; they <I>saw it afar off.</I> Thus
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Abraham, long before this, saw Christ's day; and, being fully persuaded
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of it, embraced it in the promise, leaving others to embrace it in the
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performance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:13">Heb. xi. 13</A>.
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Such a sight believers now have, through grace, of the bliss and glory
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of their future state. The word and ordinances are to them what Mount
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Pisgah was to Moses; from them they have comfortable prospects of the
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glory to be revealed, and rejoice in hope of it.
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4. He saw it, but must never enjoy it. As God sometimes takes his
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people away from the evil to come, so at other times he takes them away
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from the good to come, that is, the good which shall be enjoyed by the
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church in the present world. Glorious things are spoken of the kingdom
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of Christ in the latter days, its advancement, enlargement, and
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flourishing state; we foresee it, but we are not likely to live to see
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it. Those that shall come after us, we hope will enter that promised
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land, which is a comfort to us when we find our own carcases falling in
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this wilderness. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+7:2">2 Kings vii. 2</A>.
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5. He saw all this just before his death. Sometimes God reserves the
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brightest discoveries of his grace to his people to be the support of
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their dying moments. Canaan was <I>Immanuel's land</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:8">Isa. viii. 8</A>),
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so that in viewing it he had a view of the blessings we enjoy by
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Christ. It was a type of heaven
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:16">Heb. xi. 16</A>),
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which faith is the substance and evidence of. Note, Those may leave
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this world with a great deal of cheerfulness that die in the faith of
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Christ, and in the hope of heaven, and with Canaan in their eye. Having
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thus seen the salvation of God, we may well say, <I>Lord, now let thou
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thy servant depart in peace.</I></P>
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<A NAME="De34_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De34_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Moses.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 So Moses the servant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> died there in the land of
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Moab, according to the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over
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against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this
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day.
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7 And Moses <I>was</I> a hundred and twenty years old when he died:
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his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
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8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of
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Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping <I>and</I> mourning for Moses
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were ended.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The death of Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Moses the servant of the Lord died.</I> God told him he must not go
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over Jordan, and, though at first he prayed earnestly for the reversing
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of the sentence yet God's answer to his prayer sufficed him, and now he
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<I>spoke no more of that matter,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+3:26"><I>ch.</I> iii. 26</A>.
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Thus our blessed Saviour prayed that the cup might pass from him, yet,
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since it might not, he acquiesced with, <I>Father, thy will be
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done.</I> Moses had reason to desire to live a while longer in the
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world. He was old, it is true, but he had not yet <I>attained to the
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years of the life of his fathers;</I> his father Amram lived to be 137;
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his grandfather Kohath 133; his great grandfather Levi 137;
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+6:16-20">Exod. vi. 16-20</A>.
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And why must Moses, whose life was more serviceable than any of theirs,
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die at 120, especially since he felt not the decays of age, but was as
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fit for service as ever? Israel could ill spare him at this time; his
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conduct and his converse with God would be as great a happiness to them
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in the conquest of Canaan as the courage of Joshua. It bore hard upon
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Moses himself, when he had gone through all the fatigues of the
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wilderness, to be prevented from enjoying the pleasures of Canaan; when
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he had borne the burden and heat of the day, to resign the honour of
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finishing the work to another, and that not his son, but his servant,
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who must enter into his labours. We may suppose that this was not
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pleasant to flesh and blood. But <I>the man Moses was very meek;</I>
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God will have it so, and he cheerfully submits.
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1. He is here called <I>the servant of the Lord,</I> not only as a good
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man (all the saints are God's servants), but as a useful man, eminently
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useful, who had served God's counsels in bringing Israel out of Egypt,
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and leading them through the wilderness. It was more his honour to be
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the <I>servant of the Lord.</I> than to be king in Jeshurun.
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2. Yet he dies. Neither his piety nor his usefulness would exempt him
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from the stroke of death. God's servants must die that they may rest
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from their labours, receive their recompense, and make room for others.
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When God's servants are removed, and must serve him no longer on earth,
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they go to serve him better, to serve him <I>day and night in his
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temple.</I>
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3. He dies in the land of Moab, short of Canaan, while as yet he and
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his people were in an unsettled condition and had not entered into
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their rest. In the heavenly Canaan there will be no more death.
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4. He dies <I>according to the word of the Lord. At the mouth of the
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Lord;</I> so the word is. The Jews say, "with a kiss from the mouth of
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God." No doubt, he died very easily (it was an
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<B><I>euthanasia</I></B>--<I>a delightful death</I>), there were no
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bands in his death; and he had in his death a most pleasing taste of
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the love of God to him: but that he <I>died at the mouth of the
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Lord</I> means no more but that he died in compliance with the will of
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God. Note, The servants of the Lord, when they have done all their
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other work, must die at last, in obedience to their Master, and be
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freely willing to go home whenever he sends for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:13">Acts xxi. 13</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. His burial,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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It is a groundless conceit of some of the Jews that Moses was
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translated to heaven as Elijah was, for it is expressly said that he
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<I>died and was buried;</I> yet probably he was raised to meet Elias,
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to grace the solemnity of Christ's transfiguration.
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1. God himself buried him, namely, by the ministry of angels, which
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made this funeral, though very private, yet very magnificent. Note, God
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takes care of the dead bodies of his servants; as their death is
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precious, so is their dust, not a grain of it shall be lost, but the
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covenant with it shall be remembered. When Moses was dead, God buried
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him; when Christ was dead, God raised him, for the law of Moses was to
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have an end, but not the gospel of Christ. Believers are dead to the
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law that they might be married to another, even <I>to him who is raised
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from the dead,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+7:4">Rom. vii. 4</A>.
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It should seem Michael, that is, Christ (as some think), had the
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burying of Moses, for by him the Mosaical ordinances were abolished and
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taken out of the way, <I>nailed to his cross,</I> and buried in his
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grave,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+2:14">Col. ii. 14</A>.
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2. He was buried in a valley <I>over against Beth-peor.</I> How easily
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could the angels that buried him have conveyed him over Jordan and
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buried him with the patriarchs in the cave of Machpelah! But we must
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learn not be over-solicitous about the place of our burial. If the soul
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be at rest with God, the matter is not great where the body rests. One
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of the Chaldee paraphrasts says, "He was buried over against Beth-peor,
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that, whenever Baal-peor boasted of the Israelites being joined to him,
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the grave of Moses over against his temple might be a check to him."
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3. The particular place was not known, lest the children of Israel,
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who were so very prone to idolatry, should have enshrined and
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worshipped the dead body of Moses, that great founder and benefactor of
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their nation. It is true that we read not, among all the instances of
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their idolatry, that they worshipped relics, the reason of which
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perhaps was because they were thus prevented from worshipping Moses,
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and so could not for shame worship any other. Some of the Jewish
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writers say that the body of Moses was concealed, that necromancers,
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who enquired of the dead, might not disquiet him, as the witch of Endor
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did Samuel, to <I>bring him up.</I> God would not have the name and
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memory of his servant Moses thus abused. Many think this was the
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contest between Michael and the devil about the body of Moses,
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mentioned
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:9">Jude 9</A>.
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The devil would make the place known that it might be a snare to the
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people, and Michael would not let him. Those therefore who are for
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giving divine honours to the relics of departed saints side with the
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devil against Michael our prince.</P>
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<P>
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III. His age,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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His life was prolonged,
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1. To old age. He was 120 years old, which, though far short of the
|
|
years of the patriarchs, yet much exceeded the years of most of his
|
|
contemporaries, for the ordinary age of man had been lately reduced to
|
|
seventy,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:10">Ps. xc. 10</A>.
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The years of the life of Moses were three forties. The first forty he
|
|
lived a courtier, at ease and in honour in Pharaoh's court; the second
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forty he lived a poor desolate shepherd in Midian; the third forty he
|
|
lived a king in Jeshurun, in honour and power, but encumbered with a
|
|
great deal of care and toil: so changeable is the world we live in, and
|
|
alloyed with such mixtures; but the world before us is unmixed and
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|
unchangeable.
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2. To a good old age: <I>His eye was not dim</I> (as Isaac's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:1">Gen. xxvii. 1</A>,
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and Jacob's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+48:10">Gen. xlviii. 10</A>),
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<I>nor was his natural force abated;</I> there was no decay either of
|
|
the strength of his body or of the vigour and activity of his mind, but
|
|
he could still speak, and write, and walk as well as ever. His
|
|
understanding was as clear, and his memory as strong, as ever. "His
|
|
visage was not wrinkled," say some of the Jewish writers; "he had lost
|
|
never a tooth," say others; and many of them expound it of the shining
|
|
of his face
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|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:30">Exod. xxxiv. 30</A>),
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|
|
|
that that continued to the last. This was the general reward of his
|
|
services; and it was in particular the effect of his extraordinary
|
|
meekness, for that is a grace which is, as much as any other, <I>health
|
|
to the navel and marrow to the bones.</I> Of the moral law which was
|
|
given by Moses, though the condemning power be vacated to true
|
|
believers, yet the commands are still binding, and will be to the end
|
|
of the world; the eye of them is not waxen dim, for they shall discern
|
|
the thoughts and intents of the heart, nor is their natural force or
|
|
obligation abated but still we are <I>under the law to Christ.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The solemn mourning that there was for him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a debt owing to the surviving honour of deceased worthies to
|
|
follow them with our tears, as those who loved and valued them, are
|
|
sensible of our loss of them, and are truly humbled for those sins
|
|
which have provoked God to deprive us of them; for penitential tears
|
|
very fitly mix with these. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Who the mourners were: <I>The children of Israel.</I> They all
|
|
conformed to the ceremony, whatever it was, though some of them
|
|
perhaps, who were ill-affected to his government, were but
|
|
mock-mourners; yet we may suppose there were those among them who had
|
|
formerly quarrelled with him and his government, and perhaps had been
|
|
of those who spoke of stoning him, who now were sensible of their loss,
|
|
and heartily lamented him when he was removed from them, though they
|
|
knew not how to value him when he was with them. Thus those who had
|
|
murmured were made to learn doctrine,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:24">Isa. xxix. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The loss of good men, especially good governors, is to be much
|
|
lamented and laid to heart: those are stupid who do not consider it.
|
|
|
|
2. How long they mourned: <I>Thirty days.</I> So long the formality
|
|
lasted, and we may suppose there were some in whom the mourning
|
|
continued much longer. Yet the <I>ending of the days of weeping and
|
|
mourning</I> for Moses is an intimation that, how great soever our
|
|
losses have been, we must not abandon ourselves to perpetual grief; we
|
|
must suffer the wound at least to heal up in time. If we hope to go to
|
|
heaven rejoicing, why should we resolve to go to the grave mourning?
|
|
The ceremonial law of Moses is dead and buried in the grave of Christ;
|
|
but the Jews have not yet ended the days of their mourning for it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="De34_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De34_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De34_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="De34_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Character of Moses.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom;
|
|
for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel
|
|
hearkened unto him, and did as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded Moses.
|
|
10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto
|
|
Moses, whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> knew face to face,
|
|
11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sent him to
|
|
do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and
|
|
to all his land,
|
|
12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror
|
|
which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here a very honourable encomium passed both on Moses and
|
|
Joshua; each has his praise, and should have. It is ungrateful so to
|
|
magnify our living friends as to forget the merits of those that are
|
|
gone, to whose memories there is a debt of honour due: all the respect
|
|
must not be paid to the rising sun; and, on the other hand, it is
|
|
unjust so to cry up the merits of those that are gone as to despise the
|
|
benefit we have in those that survive and succeed them. Let God be
|
|
glorified in both, as here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Joshua is praised as a man admirably qualified for the work to which
|
|
he was called,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Moses brought Israel to the borders of Canaan and then died and left
|
|
them, to signify that <I>the law made nothing perfect,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:19">Heb. vii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
It brings men into a wilderness of conviction, but not into the Canaan
|
|
of rest and settled peace. It is an honour reserved for Joshua (our
|
|
Lord Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type) to do that for us which <I>the
|
|
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:3">Rom. viii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Through him we enter into rest, the spiritual rest of conscience and
|
|
eternal rest in heaven. Three things concurred to clear Joshua's call
|
|
to this great undertaking:--
|
|
|
|
1. God fitted him for it: <I>He was full of the spirit of wisdom;</I>
|
|
and so he had need who had such a peevish people to rule, and such a
|
|
politic people to conquer. Conduct is as requisite in a general as
|
|
courage. Herein Joshua was a type of Christ, in whom are hidden the
|
|
treasures of wisdom.
|
|
|
|
2. Moses, by the divine appointment, had ordained him to it: <I>He had
|
|
laid his hands upon him,</I> so substituting him to be his successor,
|
|
and praying to God to qualify him for the service to which he had
|
|
called him; and this comes in as a reason why God gave him a more than
|
|
ordinary <I>spirit of wisdom,</I> because his designation to the
|
|
government was God's own act (those whom God employs he will in some
|
|
measure make fit for the employment) and because this was the thing
|
|
that Moses had asked of God for him when he laid his hands on him. When
|
|
the bodily presence of Christ withdrew from his church, he prayed the
|
|
Father to send another Comforter, and obtained what he prayed for.
|
|
|
|
3. The people cheerfully owned him and submitted to him. Note, An
|
|
interest in the affections of people is a great advantage, and a great
|
|
encouragement to those that are called to public trusts of what kind
|
|
soever. It was also a great mercy to the people that when Moses was
|
|
dead they were not as sheep having no shepherd, but had one ready among
|
|
them in whom they did unanimously, and might with the highest
|
|
satisfaction, acquiesce.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Moses is praised
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:10-12"><I>v.</I> 10-12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and with good reason.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He was indeed a very great man, especially upon two accounts:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) His intimacy with the God of nature: <I>God knew him face to
|
|
face,</I> and so he knew God. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+12:8">Num. xii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He saw more of the glory of God than any (at least of the Old-Testament
|
|
saints) ever did. He had more free and frequent access to God, and was
|
|
spoken to not in dreams, and visions, and slumberings on the bed, but
|
|
when he was awake and standing before the cherubim. Other prophets,
|
|
when God appeared and spoke to them, were struck with terror
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+10:7">Dan. x. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
but Moses, whenever he received a divine revelation, preserved his
|
|
tranquillity.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His interest and power in the kingdom of nature. The miracles of
|
|
judgment he wrought in Egypt before Pharaoh, and the miracles of mercy
|
|
he wrought in the wilderness before Israel, served to demonstrate that
|
|
he was a particular favourite of Heaven, and had an extra-ordinary
|
|
commission to act as he did on this earth. Never was there any man whom
|
|
Israel had more reason to love, or whom the enemies of Israel had more
|
|
reason to fear. Observe, The historian calls the miracles Moses wrought
|
|
<I>signs and wonders,</I> done with <I>a mighty hand and great
|
|
terror,</I> which may refer to the terrors of Mount Sinai, by which God
|
|
fully ratified Moses's commission and demonstrated it beyond exception
|
|
to be divine, and this <I>in the sight of all Israel.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He was greater than any other of the prophets of the Old Testament.
|
|
Though they were men of great interest in heaven and great influence
|
|
upon earth, yet they were none of them to be compared with this great
|
|
man; none of them either so evidenced or executed a commission from
|
|
heaven as Moses did. This encomium of Moses seems to have been written
|
|
long after his death, yet then there had not arisen any prophet <I>like
|
|
unto Moses,</I> nor did there arise any such between that period and
|
|
the <I>sealing up of the vision and prophecy.</I> by Moses God gave the
|
|
law, and moulded and formed the Jewish church; by the other prophets he
|
|
only sent particular reproofs, directions, and predictions. The last of
|
|
the prophets concludes with a charge <I>to remember the law of
|
|
Moses,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+4:4">Mal. iv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ himself often appealed to the writings of Moses, and vouched him
|
|
for a witness, as one that <I>saw his day</I> at a distance <I>and
|
|
spoke of him.</I> But, as far as the other prophets came short of him,
|
|
our Lord Jesus went beyond him. His doctrine was more excellent, his
|
|
miracles were more illustrious, and his communion with his Father was
|
|
more intimate, for he <I>had lain in his bosom from eternity,</I> and
|
|
by him God does now in these last days speak to us. Moses was faithful
|
|
as a servant, but Christ as a Son. The history of Moses leaves him
|
|
buried in the plains of Moab, and concludes with the period of his
|
|
government; but the history of our Saviour leaves him sitting <I>at the
|
|
right hand of the Majesty on high,</I> and we are assured that <I>of
|
|
the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.</I> The
|
|
apostle, in his epistle to the Hebrews, largely proves the pre-eminence
|
|
of Christ above Moses, as a good reason why we that are Christians
|
|
should be obedient, faithful, and constant, to that holy religion which
|
|
we make profession of. God, by his grace, make us all so!</P>
|
|
|
|
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