mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 34.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xxxv" n="xxxv" next="viii" prev="Deu.xxxiv" progress="99.54%" title="Chapter XXXIV">
<h2 id="Deu.xxxv-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xxxv-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xxxv-p1">Having read how Moses finished his testimony, we
are told here how he immediately after finished his life. This
chapter could not be written by Moses himself, but was added by
Joshua or Eleazar, or, as bishop Patrick conjectures, by Samuel,
who was a prophet, and wrote by divine authority what he found in
the records of Joshua, and his successors the judges. We have had
an account of his dying words, here we have an account of his dying
work, and that is work we must all do shortly, and it had need be
well done. Here is, I. The view Moses had of the land of Canaan
just before he died, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.1-Deut.34.4" parsed="|Deut|34|1|34|4" passage="De 34:1-4">ver.
1-4</scripRef>. II. His death and burial, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.5-Deut.34.6" parsed="|Deut|34|5|34|6" passage="De 34:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>. III. His age, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.7" parsed="|Deut|34|7|0|0" passage="De 34:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. IV. Israel's mourning for him,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.8" parsed="|Deut|34|8|0|0" passage="De 34:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. V. His successor,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.9" parsed="|Deut|34|9|0|0" passage="De 34:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. VI. His character,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.10-Deut.34.12" parsed="|Deut|34|10|34|12" passage="De 34:10-12">ver. 10</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxxv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34" parsed="|Deut|34|0|0|0" passage="De 34" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xxxv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.1-Deut.34.4" parsed="|Deut|34|1|34|4" passage="De 34:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.34.1-Deut.34.4">
<h4 id="Deu.xxxv-p1.9">Moses on Mount Pisgah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxxv-p2">1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto
the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that <i>is</i> over
against Jericho. And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p2.1">Lord</span> showed
him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,   2 And all Naphtali,
and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah,
unto the utmost sea,   3 And the south, and the plain of the
valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.   4 And
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p2.2">Lord</span> said unto him, This
<i>is</i> the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to
see <i>it</i> with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over
thither.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p3">Here is, I. Moses climbing upwards towards
heaven, as high as the top of Pisgah, there to die; for that was
the place appointed, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.49-Deut.32.50" parsed="|Deut|32|49|32|50" passage="De 32:49,50"><i>ch.</i>
xxxii. 49, 50</scripRef>. Israel lay encamped upon the flat grounds
in the plains of Moab, and thence he went up, according to order,
to the mountain of Nebo, to the highest point or ridge of that
mountain, which was called <i>Pisgah,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.1" parsed="|Deut|34|1|0|0" passage="De 34:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Pisgah is an appellative name for
all such eminences. It should seem, Moses went up alone to the top
of Pisgah, <i>alone without help</i>—a sign that his natural force
was not abated when on the last day of his life he could walk up to
the top of a high hill without such supporters as once he had when
his hands were heavy (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.17.12" parsed="|Exod|17|12|0|0" passage="Ex 17:12">Exod. xvii.
12</scripRef>), <i>alone without company.</i> When he had made an
end of blessing Israel, we may suppose, he solemnly took leave of
Joshua, and Eleazar, and the rest of his friends, who probably
brought him to the foot of the hill; but then he gave them such a
charge as Abraham gave to his servants at the foot of another hill:
<i>Tarry you here while I go yonder and die:</i> they must not see
him die, because they must not know of his sepulchre. But, whether
this were so or not, he went up to the top of Pisgah, 1. To show
that he was willing to die. When he knew the place of his death, he
was so far from avoiding it that he cheerfully mounted a steep hill
to come at it. Note, Those that through grace are well acquainted
with another world, and have been much conversant with it, need not
be afraid to leave this. 2. To show that he looked upon death as
his ascension. The soul of a man, of a good man, when it leaves the
body, <i>goes upwards</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.21" parsed="|Eccl|3|21|0|0" passage="Ec 3:21">Eccl. iii.
21</scripRef>), in conformity to which motion of the soul, the body
of Moses shall go along with it as far upwards as its earth will
carry it. When God's servants are sent for out of the world, the
summons runs thus, <i>Go up and die.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p4">II. Moses looking downward again towards
this earth, to see the earthly Canaan into which he must never
enter, but therein by faith looking forwards to the heavenly Canaan
into which he should now immediately enter. God had threatened that
he should not come into the possession of Canaan, and the
threatening is fulfilled. But he had also promised that he should
have a prospect of it, and the promise is here performed: <i>The
Lord showed him</i> all that good land, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.1" parsed="|Deut|34|1|0|0" passage="De 34:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. 1. If he went up alone to the top
of Pisgah, yet he <i>was not alone, for the Father was with
him,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:John.16.32" parsed="|John|16|32|0|0" passage="Joh 16:32">John xvi. 32</scripRef>. If
a man has any friends, he will have them about him when he lies a
dying. But if, either through God's providence or their unkindness,
it should so happen that we should then be alone, we need <i>fear
no evil</i> if the great and good Shepherd be with us, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.23.4" parsed="|Ps|23|4|0|0" passage="Ps 23:4">Ps. xxiii. 4</scripRef>. 2. Though his sight was
very good, and he had all the advantage of high ground that he
could desire for the prospect, yet he could not have seen what he
now saw, all Canaan from end to end (reckoned about fifty or sixty
miles), if his sight had not been miraculously assisted and
enlarged, and therefore it is said, <i>The Lord showed it to
him.</i> Note, All the pleasant prospects we have of the better
country we are beholden to the grace of God for; it is he that
gives the <i>spirit of wisdom</i> as well as the <i>spirit of
revelation,</i> the eye as well as the object. This sight which God
here gave Moses of Canaan, probably, the devil designed to mimic,
and pretended to out-do, when in an airy phantom he showed to our
Saviour, whom he had placed like Moses upon an <i>exceedingly high
mountain,</i> all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,
not gradually, as here, first one country and then another, but all
in a moment of time. 3. He saw it at a distance. Such a sight the
Old-Testament saints had of the kingdom of the Messiah; they <i>saw
it afar off.</i> Thus Abraham, long before this, saw Christ's day;
and, being fully persuaded of it, embraced it in the promise,
leaving others to embrace it in the performance, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.13" parsed="|Heb|11|13|0|0" passage="Heb 11:13">Heb. xi. 13</scripRef>. Such a sight believers now
have, through grace, of the bliss and glory of their future state.
The word and ordinances are to them what Mount Pisgah was to Moses;
from them they have comfortable prospects of the glory to be
revealed, and rejoice in hope of it. 4. He saw it, but must never
enjoy it. As God sometimes takes his people away from the evil to
come, so at other times he takes them away from the good to come,
that is, the good which shall be enjoyed by the church in the
present world. Glorious things are spoken of the kingdom of Christ
in the latter days, its advancement, enlargement, and flourishing
state; we foresee it, but we are not likely to live to see it.
Those that shall come after us, we hope will enter that promised
land, which is a comfort to us when we find our own carcases
falling in this wilderness. See <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.7.2" parsed="|2Kgs|7|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 7:2">2 Kings
vii. 2</scripRef>. 5. He saw all this just before his death.
Sometimes God reserves the brightest discoveries of his grace to
his people to be the support of their dying moments. Canaan was
<i>Immanuel's land</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.8" parsed="|Isa|8|8|0|0" passage="Isa 8:8">Isa. viii.
8</scripRef>), so that in viewing it he had a view of the blessings
we enjoy by Christ. It was a type of heaven (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.16" parsed="|Heb|11|16|0|0" passage="Heb 11:16">Heb. xi. 16</scripRef>), which faith is the substance
and evidence of. Note, Those may leave this world with a great deal
of cheerfulness that die in the faith of Christ, and in the hope of
heaven, and with Canaan in their eye. Having thus seen the
salvation of God, we may well say, <i>Lord, now let thou thy
servant depart in peace.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxxv-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.5-Deut.34.8" parsed="|Deut|34|5|34|8" passage="De 34:5-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.34.5-Deut.34.8">
<h4 id="Deu.xxxv-p4.9">The Death of Moses. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p4.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxxv-p5">5 So Moses the servant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p5.1">Lord</span> died there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p5.2">Lord</span>.   6
And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against
Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
  7 And Moses <i>was</i> a hundred and twenty years old when
he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.  
8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab
thirty days: so the days of weeping <i>and</i> mourning for Moses
were ended.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p6">Here is, I. The death of Moses (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.5" parsed="|Deut|34|5|0|0" passage="De 34:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>Moses the servant of
the Lord died.</i> God told him he must not go over Jordan, and,
though at first he prayed earnestly for the reversing of the
sentence yet God's answer to his prayer sufficed him, and now he
<i>spoke no more of that matter,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.26" parsed="|Deut|3|26|0|0" passage="De 3:26"><i>ch.</i> iii. 26</scripRef>. Thus our blessed Saviour
prayed that the cup might pass from him, yet, since it might not,
he acquiesced with, <i>Father, thy will be done.</i> Moses had
reason to desire to live a while longer in the world. He was old,
it is true, but he had not yet <i>attained to the years of the life
of his fathers;</i> his father Amram lived to be 137; his
grandfather Kohath 133; his great grandfather Levi 137; <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.6.16-Exod.6.20" parsed="|Exod|6|16|6|20" passage="Ex 6:16-20">Exod. vi. 16-20</scripRef>. And why must
Moses, whose life was more serviceable than any of theirs, die at
120, especially since he felt not the decays of age, but was as fit
for service as ever? Israel could ill spare him at this time; his
conduct and his converse with God would be as great a happiness to
them in the conquest of Canaan as the courage of Joshua. It bore
hard upon Moses himself, when he had gone through all the fatigues
of the wilderness, to be prevented from enjoying the pleasures of
Canaan; when he had borne the burden and heat of the day, to resign
the honour of finishing the work to another, and that not his son,
but his servant, who must enter into his labours. We may suppose
that this was not pleasant to flesh and blood. But <i>the man Moses
was very meek;</i> God will have it so, and he cheerfully submits.
1. He is here called <i>the servant of the Lord,</i> not only as a
good man (all the saints are God's servants), but as a useful man,
eminently useful, who had served God's counsels in bringing Israel
out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness. It was more
his honour to be the <i>servant of the Lord</i> than to be king in
Jeshurun. 2. Yet he dies. Neither his piety nor his usefulness
would exempt him from the stroke of death. God's servants must die
that they may rest from their labours, receive their recompense,
and make room for others. When God's servants are removed, and must
serve him no longer on earth, they go to serve him better, to serve
him <i>day and night in his temple.</i> 3. He dies in the land of
Moab, short of Canaan, while as yet he and his people were in an
unsettled condition and had not entered into their rest. In the
heavenly Canaan there will be no more death. 4. He dies
<i>according to the word of the Lord. At the mouth of the Lord;</i>
so the word is. The Jews say, "with a kiss from the mouth of God."
No doubt, he died very easily (it was an
<b><i>euthanasia</i></b>—<i>a delightful death</i>), there were no
bands in his death; and he had in his death a most pleasing taste
of the love of God to him: but that he <i>died at the mouth of the
Lord</i> means no more but that he died in compliance with the will
of God. Note, The servants of the Lord, when they have done all
their other work, must die at last, in obedience to their Master,
and be freely willing to go home whenever he sends for them,
<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.21.13" parsed="|Acts|21|13|0|0" passage="Ac 21:13">Acts xxi. 13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p7">II. His burial, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.6" parsed="|Deut|34|6|0|0" passage="De 34:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. It is a groundless conceit of
some of the Jews that Moses was translated to heaven as Elijah was,
for it is expressly said that he <i>died and was buried;</i> yet
probably he was raised to meet Elias, to grace the solemnity of
Christ's transfiguration. 1. God himself buried him, namely, by the
ministry of angels, which made this funeral, though very private,
yet very magnificent. Note, God takes care of the dead bodies of
his servants; as their death is precious, so is their dust, not a
grain of it shall be lost, but the covenant with it shall be
remembered. When Moses was dead, God buried him; when Christ was
dead, God raised him, for the law of Moses was to have an end, but
not the gospel of Christ. Believers are dead to the law that they
might be married to another, even <i>to him who is raised from the
dead,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.4" parsed="|Rom|7|4|0|0" passage="Ro 7:4">Rom. vii. 4</scripRef>. It
should seem Michael, that is, Christ (as some think), had the
burying of Moses, for by him the Mosaical ordinances were abolished
and taken out of the way, <i>nailed to his cross,</i> and buried in
his grave, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.14" parsed="|Col|2|14|0|0" passage="Col 2:14">Col. ii. 14</scripRef>. 2.
He was buried in a valley <i>over against Beth-peor.</i> How easily
could the angels that buried him have conveyed him over Jordan and
buried him with the patriarchs in the cave of Machpelah! But we
must learn not be over-solicitous about the place of our burial. If
the soul be at rest with God, the matter is not great where the
body rests. One of the Chaldee paraphrasts says, "He was buried
over against Beth-peor, that, whenever Baal-peor boasted of the
Israelites being joined to him, the grave of Moses over against his
temple might be a check to him." 3. The particular place was not
known, lest the children of Israel, who were so very prone to
idolatry, should have enshrined and worshipped the dead body of
Moses, that great founder and benefactor of their nation. It is
true that we read not, among all the instances of their idolatry,
that they worshipped relics, the reason of which perhaps was
because they were thus prevented from worshipping Moses, and so
could not for shame worship any other. Some of the Jewish writers
say that the body of Moses was concealed, that necromancers, who
enquired of the dead, might not disquiet him, as the witch of Endor
did Samuel, to <i>bring him up.</i> God would not have the name and
memory of his servant Moses thus abused. Many think this was the
contest between Michael and the devil about the body of Moses,
mentioned <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.9" parsed="|Jude|1|9|0|0" passage="Jude 1:9">Jude 9</scripRef>. The devil
would make the place known that it might be a snare to the people,
and Michael would not let him. Those therefore who are for giving
divine honours to the relics of departed saints side with the devil
against Michael our prince.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p8">III. His age, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.7" parsed="|Deut|34|7|0|0" passage="De 34:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. His life was prolonged, 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.90.10" parsed="|Ps|90|10|0|0" passage="Ps 90:10">Ps. xc. 10</scripRef>. 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 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 unchangeable. 2. To a good old age: <i>His
eye was not dim</i> (as Isaac's, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.27.1" parsed="|Gen|27|1|0|0" passage="Ge 27:1">Gen.
xxvii. 1</scripRef>, and Jacob's, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.48.10" parsed="|Gen|48|10|0|0" passage="Ge 48:10">Gen.
xlviii. 10</scripRef>), <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
(<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.34.30" parsed="|Exod|34|30|0|0" passage="Ex 34:30">Exod. xxxiv. 30</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p9">IV. The solemn mourning that there was for
him, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.8" parsed="|Deut|34|8|0|0" passage="De 34:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.24" parsed="|Isa|29|24|0|0" passage="Isa 29:24">Isa. xxix.
24</scripRef>. 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>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xxxv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.9-Deut.34.12" parsed="|Deut|34|9|34|12" passage="De 34:9-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.34.9-Deut.34.12">
<h4 id="Deu.xxxv-p9.4">The Character of Moses. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p9.5">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xxxv-p10">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p10.1">Lord</span> commanded Moses.   10 And there arose
not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p10.2">Lord</span> knew face to face,   11 In all
the signs and the wonders, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xxxv-p10.3">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p11">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 class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p12">I. Joshua is praised as a man admirably
qualified for the work to which he was called, <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.9" parsed="|Deut|34|9|0|0" passage="De 34:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Moses brought Israel to the
borders of Canaan and then died and left them, to signify that
<i>the law made nothing perfect,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.7.19" parsed="|Heb|7|19|0|0" passage="Heb 7:19">Heb. vii. 19</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.3" parsed="|Rom|8|3|0|0" passage="Ro 8:3">Rom. viii. 3</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p13">II. Moses is praised (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.34.10-Deut.34.12" parsed="|Deut|34|10|34|12" passage="De 34:10-12"><i>v.</i> 10-12</scripRef>), and with good
reason.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p14">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
<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.12.8" parsed="|Num|12|8|0|0" passage="Nu 12:8">Num. xii. 8</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.10.7" parsed="|Dan|10|7|0|0" passage="Da 10:7">Dan. x. 7</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Deu.xxxv-p15">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> <scripRef id="Deu.xxxv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.4" parsed="|Mal|4|4|0|0" passage="Mal 4:4">Mal. iv.
4</scripRef>. 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>
</div></div2>