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THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR;
OR, MEDITATIONS ON THE LAST DAYS OF
THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST.
BY F. W. KRUMMACHER, D.D.

'We give it preference to everything hitherto produced by the gifted and
devoted author. It is divinity of the most thoroughly evangelical description.
Truth and tenderness have seldom been so successfully combined. Its popularity
with the people of God of every evangelical communion, we are confident, will
grow with time. A book of the heart, to that it appeals in every page, with a
force which it will be difficult to resist' — Christian Wit

'A book which has reached its eighth edition needs no introduction to the
reading public. And yet the very circumstance of its repeated publication
entitles it to popularity. There is a richness in these meditations which wins
and warms the heart.' — Nonconformist.
' The volume is, in truth, a treasure. The meditations are tender and rarely
beautiful. They have been well translated, and form a valuable addition to
our devotional literature.' — Literary Churchman.
' A book of inestimable value.' — John Bull.
' It would perhaps be difficult to mention any single volume in which the last
sufferings of our blessed Lord are more impressively set forth than in the very
interesting work which we now introduce to our readers. Some of the sketches
drawn by the hand of the author are so touching, that we should pity the man
who could read them without tears. The tendency of every page of the work is
to draw poor sinners to the Saviour, and to enhance His matchless excellence to
those who have found rest and peace by surrendering their hearts to His service.'
—Evangelical Magazine.
1 The work bears throughout the stamp of an enlightened intellect, under the
teachmg of the Holy Spirit, and of a profound study of the word of God.'— Record.

T. & T. Clark's Publications.

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Just published, in Two Vols, large crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d. each,
THE YEAR OF SALVATION.
WORDS OF LIFE FOR EVERT DAT.
A BOOK OF HOUSEHOLD DEVOTION.
BY J. J. VAN OOSTERZKE, D.D.,
AUTHOK OF 'MOSES,' ETC.

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' The very best religious exposition for every-day use that has ever fallen in our
way.' — Bell's Weekly Messenger.
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pleasure by many.' — Leeds Mercury.
1 Characterized by evangelical fervour, and by a beautiful spirit of peacefulness.'
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familiar and precious truths.' — Reformed Presbyterian Magazine.
' It is one of the best books of its class, that we know of, for devotional reading.
The meditations are brief and devout, thoroughly evangelical, and frequently
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1 As might have been expected from so clear and vigorous a thinker, every
passage in this book is valuable either as an exposition or a suggestion.' 
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' Every page breathes a spirit of deep piety and earnest faith.' — Scotsman.

MOSES:

A BIBLICAL STUDY.

PRINTED BY MURRAY AND GIBB,
FOR
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH.

LONDON, .
DUBLIN, NEW YORK,

HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.
ROBERTSON AND CO.
SCRIBNER, WELFORD, AND ARMSTRONG.

MOSES:

A BIBLICAL STUDY.

BY

J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D.,
AUTHOR OF 'YEAR OF SALVATION,' ETC.

fatmshtib from % $i»lt|j
BY
JAMES KENNEDY, B.D.

EDINBURGH:
T. AND T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET.
1876.

MS

CONTENTS.

I. Childhood, . ...
II. The Training-Time, .
III. The Call, .
IV. The Journey,
V. The Intercession,
VI. The Festive Time,
VII. The Stumbling, .
VIII. The Retrospect of Life, .
IX. The Cursing Prophet,
X. The Expectation of Salvation,
XI. The Refusal, ....
XII. The Decease,

Ex. ii. i-io,

1

Acts vii. 22-29,

3°

Ex. iii. 4,

58

Ex. xiv. 15,

87

Ex. xxxii. 11,.

116

Ex. xxxiii. 18,

149

Num. xx. 11, .

179

Ps. xa, .

210

Num. xxiv. 3,

242

Deut. xviii. 15,

271

Deut. iii. 26,

302

Deut. xxxiv. 5,

33i

MOSES.

CHAPTER I.
' And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter
of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son : and when she saw
him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when
she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and
daubed it with slime and pitch, and put the child therein ; and she
laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to
wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came
down to wash herself at the river ; and her maidens walked along by the
river's side ; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid
to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child : and, behold,
the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of
the Hebrews' children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall
I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse
it for thee ? And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Go. And the maid
went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto
her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy
wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child
grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her
son. And she called his name Moses : and she said, Because I drew him
out of the water.' — Ex. ii. I-IO.
' MOSES !' Full four and thirty centuries have sped their
flight since that melodious name was first pronounced
by royal lips over an infant head ; but can you mention
any other, after Abraham's, that shines more lustrously
A

2 Moses.
on the historic page of the Old Covenant ? It is within
the truth to say, that one religious system in this world
claims Moses as its founder ; for the members of three
different communions have been striving which could
weave the fairest wreath for Moses' brow. The Jew,
even to this day, with no less pride than that shown by
the Pharisees when Jesus walked this earth, exclaims,
'We are Moses' disciples!'1 The Mohammedan con
siders him as one of the most eminent among those who
preceded and prepared the way for the great prophet he
acknowledges. The Christian, too, most heartily in
scribes, beneath the statue of the lawgiver, the words of
praise first written by a sacred penman : ' He was faithful
in all his house, as a servant.'2 Moses, the great inter
preter, the confidant, the special favourite of God ; Moses,
the master-mind, whose heaven - supported leadership
transformed a most debased race of slaves into a nation
of God's kings and priests ; Moses, whose noble figure
towers as far above those round about who lived in his
own time, as Sinai rears its head above the lower hills
surrounding it : could any one of us remain in this man's
presence without feeling a desire, as Peter did, to build
a tabernacle for the man of God ?3
Well may we say that, as the history of Moses is
among the most remarkable, so is it, too, one of the
most instructive in the Book of books. Even looked at
by itself, it may at once be classed among the best
biographies that ever came from the historic pen. How
strange a life, begun upon the perilous waves, and ended
on the mountain top ; now at the royal court, then in the
shepherd's tent, and later in the deserts of Arabia ; but
almost always one of constant change, of strife internal
or external, full of toil and grief! But specially, when
1 John ix. 28. 2 Heb. iii. 5.
3 Matt. xvii. 4 ; Mark ix. 5 ; Luke ix. 33.

Childhood. 3
we take up a higher, and the only proper standing-
ground, and when we look upon this history as showing
us God's mode of dealing with His friend, we often fail
in finding words with which to praise the love and faith
fulness, the wisdom and the holiness, the majesty and
power of Him who deigned, in an especial manner, to
become the guide of Israel's chosen leader in the wilder
ness. ' Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his
help r'1 such are the words sung by an Israelite of old,
in holy ecstasy. But may we not repeat the words, thus
slightly modified, ' Blessed is he that hath the God of
Moses for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God ! '
Yea, well may we be thankful that, in the first half of
Scripture, there is scarcely any life so much presented in
detail as his ; and we may readily affirm that what was
said of Paul may also be applied, in its own measure, to
this Moses : ' He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my
name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel.'2 Even the sufferings which he, no less than
Paul, endured for God, but serve to raise him all the
more in our esteem. Is it not just the crown of thorns
he wore so long that makes the mediator of the Old
Covenant so much more like the Mediator of the New ?
Of this important history (what designation shall we
give to it ? — a history of miracles ; or part of universal
history ?) the first page lies before us now. Let us
suppose the early part of Moses' life was quite unknown
to us ; do you not think that fiction would have done
her best to make a picture with the brightest colours
possible, by telling us about extraordinary miracles,
appearances of angels, and such other revelations of the
mind of God ? But oh, how far the simple truth sur
passes even the highest flights of poetry ! And when
we read with ordinary care the brief account of Moses'
1 Ps. cxlvi. 5. 2 Acts ix. 15.

4 Moses.
rescue, who could fail to see and feel its truth, so
plainly is it taken from the life ? Although no single
letter of the name of God were written here, — even
though there were as little mention of the name as in
the book called after Esther, which records a like de
liverance, — the finger of the Lord will yet be manifest
even to the simplest child. But possibly that narrative,
so well known to us all from early youth, is far too
insignificant to claim express regard ; our tastes, too,
may be so depraved, that simple beauty fails to charm
and to attract. We hope much better things of you
than that : we rather fancy you will thank us in your
inmost heart, if, in an hour snatched from the bustle
and the toil of daily life,1 we introduce you to a Jewish
family well worthy of your deepest interest. Though
we knew nothing more of his whole history than what
this chapter tells us, we should still have perfect con
fidence in representing Moses as the child of special Pro
vidence. And how could we content ourselves with
standing still in contemplation of this incident, instead
of rising to much higher views, and seeing in the family
of Amram how the God of Providence at all times deals
with those for whom He shows a special care ? Come,
follow us, as we conduct you in this contemplation ;
and while we point out to you what God is towards
those who are His own, we shall, besides, show what
they ought to be to Him. A special explanation of the
well-known history is what you neither need nor ask ;
but what you, no doubt, are most ready to accept will be
a careful re-perusal of the whole, while the attention is
alternately directed to the persons herein named, — espe
cially to God, — and to yourselves. We need but follow
Moses step by step, as he describes the history of his
own early days, to see unrolled successively before our
1 Delivered on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 17, 1857.

Childhood.

5

eyes a picture of (a) his constantly increasing trials, (b)
hidden struggles, (c) wonderful deliverance, (d) careful
training, (e) slow preparation for his great life-work.
When such a child of Providence has spoken thus, to
strengthen us in our most holy faith, he will not leave
us till he has presented to our notice maxims, drawn
even from his earliest experience, to regulate our heart
and life. O God of Moses, Thou who art the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, let none of us depart
without receiving Thine own blessing from above !
1.
We now transport ourselves, in thought, to fertile
Goshen, where the seed of Abraham for some time past
had dwelt. How great a change has taken place since
Jacob first set foot upon that hospitable soil, the
honoured head of seventy souls ! Nay, surely Joseph,
on his deathbed, had not dreamt of such a sad fulfilment
of his latest prophecy, ' God shall surely visit you.'
Where now is Egypt's gratitude for what the Hebrew
regent had unweariedly performed in her behalf?
Though Egypt still retains his dust, his name she has
dropped out of memory, — ungrateful as the butler whose
immediate honour and advancement he foretold in prison.
Could the twelve patriarchs again have raised those
heads on which their father's blessing came, they scarcely
would have recognised their sons. The race of shepherds,
once quite free, seems now to have become a race of
slaves ; the guests seem strangers, enemies — nay, beasts
of burden, too. See how they toil as brickmakers and
bricklayers, doomed every day, as if with their own
hand, to forge another link for their already heavy
chains ! Here rises up the city Raamses, in all its vast
extent ; there, too, the towers of Pithom rear their heads ;

6 Moses.
strong fortresses, not only for restraining foreign enemies,
but also checking mutiny at home, — walls made of brick,
but built with blood and tears! What else is all the
land of Egypt now for Israel but one vast brick-kiln,
burning day and night ? By dear experience they learn
that Joseph's memory is now no longer honoured by the
reigning family ; false policy but silences the voice of
yesterday, to vex itself with fancied dangers of to-day.
The rapid increase of the Israelites,' — quite unexampled
in its way, — by which God's promises to Abraham were
strikingly fulfilled, makes Pharaoh's heart beat with
solicitude. What if those strangers, should a war break
out, join with the enemy ? — or, in a time of peace, when
they grow strong and arrogant, expel those who at
first inhabited the fertile valley of the Nile ? The tree
is now too strongly rooted in the soil to be destroyed,
both root and branch, without great danger every way ;
but it will be enough to stop the growth of new fruit-
bearing branches, and thus let it die, stripped of its
leaves and fruit. The burden laid on Israel increases
every day ; some say that even the pyramids, those
palaces made for the dead, that still continue to excite
the wonder of the living, must in part have been erected
by those Jewish hands. Next is matured the secret
plot, by which the innocents are doomed to cruel death
just at their birth ; and when even that is frustrated,
cold-blooded tyranny is not ashamed even to order pub
licly that all male children shall be cast into the Nile.
If the elders have no heart to carry out the ordinance,
there must be had a multitude of executioners. Hark !
there resounds a voice in Goshen, lamentation, and
weeping, and great mourning ; and the waters, in their
detestation of the horrid cruelty, blush crimson with the
blood of innocence ! And though all this astonishes,
what is the most astonishing of all is, not the cry of

Childhood. 7
hundreds, but the reticence of One, who yet had pro
mised Jacob at Beersheba, ' Fear not to go down into
Egypt ; for I will there make of thee a great nation.'1
Look down, thou sainted patriarch ! see what has here
become of thy posterity, increased now fourteen thousand
fold ; nay, see, Thou God of Abraham, what has become of
Thine inheritance, how they have watched and prayed in
vain ! It actually seems as if Jehovah had become like
one of those divinities, worshipped in Egypt as in other
lands, to which the mocking language well applies, ' Eyes
have they, but they see not ; they have ears, but they
hear not.'2 God speaks no longer unto men ; He does
not now appear to them ; there is no effort made even
to preserve, in downcast souls, the fading knowledge of
the one true God : yes, now or never seems the time to
make the sad complaint, ' The Lord hath forsaken, the
Lord hath forgotten !' And this continues, not for years,
but centuries, each year of which seems in itself a cen
tury ! Just like the fierce Nile crocodile, Pharaoh
devours the seed of Abraham ; and now the promises
and hopes of centuries seem likely to be wholly swallowed
up in that vast watery grave : ' Verily, Thou art a
God that hidest Thyself!'3 Why do we speak so rashly
of the darkness of our path, or why impiously accuse
God, when, far from reaching to our lips, the water
but comes to the knees, or even no farther than the feet ?
With such a scene of sorrow in his view, the most unfor
tunate among us well may cease complaint ; and he who
has to some extent learned to observe God's dealings in
His providence, may have himself already marked how,
in the present case, an old-established law in God's
government is set before us in the form of a most touch
ing incident : the Lord ofttimes makes everything as
dark as they can possibly become, just that thereafter
1 Gen. xlvi. 3. 2 Ps. cxv. 5, 6. 3 Isa. xiv. 15.

8 Moses.
and thereby the light may shine more brilliantly.
Ishmael must faint beneath the shrubs, ere Hagar shall
be told about the well. Joseph must even be left to
sigh, not merely in his slavery, but in imprisonment and
deep oblivion, ere he is raised to his high dignity. The
host of the Assyrians must stand before Jerusalem's
gates, ere they are smitten by the angel of the Lord.
The prophet Jeremiah must be let sink down into the
miry pit, ere he is placed upon a rock. Did not a violent
persecution of the Christians precede the triumph of the
gospel ? In the night of mediaeval times, must not star
after star set ere the Reformation dawn arose ? Yes ; is
not Israel's history in this respect also the history of
God's own people in succeeding times, even in the pre
sent day ? They suffer persecution, are oppressed, ill-
treated, and opposed through a mistaken policy ; all kinds
of force are often used for their restraint under the sacred
name of liberty ; yet still they stand, and take deep root,
and grow, expecting better times will come in spite of
these fierce hurricanes. Nay, verily, the Lord has not
forgotten to be gracious, though He sometimes seems to
hide His face ; nor does He cease to rule the world,
though He delays to interpose. The father watches and
preserves his child amidst the fiercest fires of persecu
tion ; and although the furnace of the trial through
which he comes be heated seven times more than usual,
every degree of heat is counted, measured, regulated
by the Lord Himself. Though He permits injustice,
and even lets it grow to an extraordinary height, He yet
employs it for a purpose that may well command our
adoration and regard, — the purifying and the perfecting
of those who are His own. He lets the wickedness of
men increase for a brief period, that He may suddenly
abase them all the more ; His words of comfort are
withheld, just that, in His own time, He may speak far

Childhood. 9
more forcibly by deeds. While Pharaoh builds his
treasure-cities, he is working his own ruin, though un
consciously: while Israel totters on the margin of a
yawning gulf, Moses is born !

'Moses' — Do you not fancy that you see a brilliant
sunbeam breaking through the pitchy darkness of the
heavens ? Yet think not that, because of this, the last
cloud is about to be dispelled ; when we but cast a glance
upon the hidden struggles mentioned in the narrative, it
seems as if the contrary were true. It is quite easy to
transport ourselves, in thought, into the middle of a
blooming family of one of Levi's sons. Amram and
Jochebed have twice already had bestowed on them the
highest blessing of a married life ; and, for the third time
now, the wife hopes to become a mother soon. Who shall
presume to fathom the deep floods of tears poured forth in
silent hours, when there arose the thought that this pledge
of her love might fall a victim to the cruel mandate of
the king ? Who can declare how earnestly she prayed
her fathers' God that she might bear a daughter rather
than a son ? But the Lord provided something better
with regard to her than such an answer to her prayer, so
eminently natural. The first cry uttered by the new-born
babe sounds in her ears like a death-sentence ; every
smile that shows itself upon the infant countenance pierces
her inmost soul. Poor mother ! why present your breast
thus constantly to lips that soon shall have much more
than they require of water from the Nile ? But no, the
wretched mother cannot but use these tender words :
' Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the son of her womb?'1 The
1 Isa. xlix. 15.

io Moses.
child, too, is so beautiful, — much more so than even
Aaron or Miriam, — it seems to beg to be allowed to live ;
' it is beautiful to God,' as the expression stands in the
original of Stephen's speech, 1 as if it were a more than
earthly, yea, a heavenly beauty that was meant. Is it
not likely that the elders, long familiar with God's ancient
promises to the posterity of those who were His friends,
found in that very beauty of the child what led them to
expect something, of which, nevertheless, they scarce
could give account, even to themselves ? At least, it
well deserves to be remarked, that the concealment of
the child is represented in the Epistle to the Hebrews 2
as an act of faith, from which it is quite evident they did
not fear the king's command. May we believe the testi
mony of Flavius Josephus, that Amram, some months
previously, in answer to his earnest prayer of distress, had
been informed by special revelation that this child was
destined to deliver the oppressed race ? Is it possible
that the recollection of the precise time stated in a
communication made of old to Abraham3 proved so much
the more powerful as an incentive to the presentiment ?
But we need not raise conjectures, just, as if the long
concealment of the child would not admit of explanation
otherwise. What mother could be found that willingly
gave up her suckling into the assassin's hands ? or what
daughter of Israel that could not frame some artifice
against the cruel force that threatened lives of innocents ?
Nay, verily, the fatal truth must be concealed as long
as possible ; more carefully than ever must the joyless
dwelling now be closed against all prying stranger eyes ;
each sound that might arouse suspicion must be stifled
on the mother's breast : meanwhile, all Israel must call
upon their fathers' God, that He may influence the
1 Acts vii. 20. [See the marginal rendering of the English Version.]
* Heb. xi. 23. 3 Gen. xv. 13-16.

Childhood. i i
tyrant's heart. What countless multitudes of sighs must
certainly have ended in such prayers; and with what
terror must the wretched— yet happy — mother have
observed the first few hours, that followed the decisive
point, increase into as many days, the days to weeks, the
weeks to months ! How frequently she must have been
aroused in terror from her dreams by even the slightest
rustling sound; and how the tide of hope regarding Israel's
deliverance must have arisen when the child, as yet
unnamed, was born, but only to descend thereafter to the
lowest point when ninety days had brought no signs of
change ! One would not judge from the appearance of
the anxious Jochebed — when she presents a cheerful
countenance, as far as, possible, to those she meets, and
speaks, perhaps, of the approaching hour when she is
destined to become once more a mother — that so much is
dependent upon her. Nor would one venture to suppose,
of those who have poured ointment on their head and
washed their face, to make a fair show to the world, that
there is frequently contained in their full hearts a world
of pain, and that it is with difficulty they, against hope,
still believe in hope. But how often has this been the
very mode in which God in His providence has dealt
with those for whom He shows especial care, — that He
not merely made for them a cross that might have served
for multitudes besides themselves, but also opened up for
them a special course of life, known only to the angels
up in heaven ! But has not your experience been similar
to what these parents felt ? The Lord bestowed more
blessing, but through this there came more care. One
prayer was heard and answered ; but, as it appeared, just
that the other might be utterly refused. A single star
now shone aloft, and shed a light to comfort weary souls ; .
but soon it showed itself to be no more than a misleading
jack-o'-lanthorn. Yesterday, it seemed that the Destroy-

12 Moses.
ing Angel had withdrawn from a bedside at which we
watched ; but to-day he has returned with his two-handed
sword unsheathed. It seemed as if, at last, there now
would be an end of cares and fears ; but, lo, after the rain
has ceased, new clouds return, and she who had but
recently rejoiced as Hannah did, is suddenly bereaved,
just as Naomi was. Those thirteen anxious weeks in
Amram's family, how many hearts and homes do they
most fully represent ! And who has never known of
hours that dragged their weary length, when we scarce
dared to look before, when naught was to be seen but
darkness, when we could do naught but wait ? What
shall we say when for us too, as for that wretched pair,
without are fightings and within are fears ? Shall we
express our deep astonishment, as if some strange thing
happened us when we are so oppressed ? Surely each
one of us is well aware that the right path which leads
to peace, let it be short or long, has ever passed through
conflicts that are hazardous, and which often must be
fought alone. Jacob does not become an Israel without a
wrestling through the night ; the woman of Canaan does
not obtain the restoration of her daughter ere she strives
in faith and prayer ; Peter does not become the rock on
which theChurch is built before sinking in the deep waters.
Shall we complain, then, when the Lord's way does not
seem to us quite right ? or shall we, in the calmness of
despair, deliberately put our hand within our bosom ?
Nay, like this pious pair, we will keep silence in the
presence of the Lord, so long as we are still unable to
rejoice in our adversity ; and we will patiently await the
advent of deliverance such as we cannot possibly anti
cipate. We will not leave neglected any single means
which heavenly Wisdom has placed within our reach
to comfort us when we are sad ; and we will wrestle on
even to the limits of our strength, although we do not

Childhood. 13
see that we advance a single step. With Amram and
Jochebed, we will not yield, even to the strongest enemy :
only for this are we afraid, lest our own faith should fail.
He that believeth shall not be afraid, and just as little
shall he be put to shame. The safety which the lovely
infant no more finds upon his mother's breast, he finds —
how wonderful, yet true ! — upon the restless bosom of
the Nile.

How must your thoughts anticipate our words, when
we now come to speak about the wonderful deliverance,
which even Moses, in his later years, surely could not
describe without becoming deeply moved ! I shall not
venture to depict the storm that rose within the mother's
heart, when it at last appeared that the concealment of
the child had now become an absolute impossibility :
four lives were constantly in danger on account of one.
I leave it to yourselves to picture the condition and the
frame of mind of that unhappy mother, who in solitude
avails herself of what is now the last, but almost hope
less means of saving that frail life, exposed to dangers
manifold and imminent, as she prepares that wicker ark,
and, when it seems quite safe and dry, besprinkles it
with showers of bitter tears. I follow, but far off, that
loving pair, who, all unseen by human eyes, betake them
selves in haste to yonder river's brink, where, days before,
perhaps, the safest spot has been sought out ; and now,
with trembling hands,— yes, and with trembling hearts,
— they come to lay their precious burden down among
the thick-set reeds that lift their heads above the glassy
stream. Is not the frailest reed far stronger than the
slender thread by which that infant life still hangs?
Oh that they might be let remain and watch— at least,

14 Moses.
be not far off! But no! if Jochebed continued wait
ing at the river's side, suspicion might be speedily
aroused ; Amram, if he remain too long, may have to
fear and feel the lash of the oppressor, and — would there
were nothing worse than that! But what is more, the
safety of the child, already problematical, will be im
possible if it be known wherefore and how the babe lies
here. Is not the God of Abraham also here, — the God
who once restored the promised Isaac, even as from the
dead ? Ye mothers, say, what else can it have been
than strong, unshaken faith, which gave that woman's
hand the strength to push the basket from the shore,
and turn her back on it, leaving her darling there, the
plaything of the flood ? If there was any parallel,
besides the one already pointed out, on which she pon
dered in her solitude, perhaps she thought of Noah's
ark, bearing most precious freight, and safe within the
haven of rest, after the waves had failed to find an
entrance to that place of refuge from the storm. Our
arm is far too short to sound the depths of suffering
within that mother's heart ; and Jochebed may possibly
have learned that silence in the hour of danger is the
greatest power the soul can exercise. But it is youthful
Miriam whom we should most have wished to see, watch
ing with eagle eye lest yon frail craft should float away,
and vanish from her sight. It must needs be that very
princess — whom tradition names Thermuthis, and of
whom it says she had been married, but was childless —
who, attended by her maids, comes down to bathe in some
safe place; but little does she think there is a reason
why she must come to this very spot. It must needs be
that very child, whose cry for help falls on her tender
ear, and who now stretches out his little arms to her, as
if entreating for some other kind of nourishment than
tears and water from the Nile, — who now, too, is restored

Childhood. 15
to life, when she exclaims, ' This is one of the Hebrews'
children ! ' But no ! we cast aside the pencil from our
hands when Moses has assumed the pen ; we know, too,
that you will within your heart commend us, when we
quite refrain from colouring or touching up the picture
of the text, so beautiful and clear, that it appears as if it
had itself been taken from the limpid stream. Now
that we stand, then, by the Nile, surrounded by such
multitudes of reeds, say, was ever stately wood, with
here and there an altar for thank-offerings interspersed,
so beautiful as this ? and does it not appear as if
you here beheld the very footsteps of that God who is
supreme above the great ones of the earth ? Well may
you fancy that you hear the purling waves repeat the
joyful song, ' The Lord is great, and greatly to be
praised ; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from
death ! ' But deeply should we be constrained to pity
you, did you feel hesitation in acknowledging the hoary
past to be a mirror of the present, with its blessings and
its joys, and if it were but with unwillingness that you
could make these words your own, ' The Lord's hand is
not shortened that it cannot save.'1 I grant that we are
not at all times able to perceive such striking interven
tions of a special Providence ; yet who is there that
does not tremble at the simple thought that Pharaoh's
daughter might have come but one hour sooner, or one
hour behind ? Neither do I forget that many a beloved
child is torn from hearts which certainly prayed no
less earnestly than Moses' parents that its life should
be preserved. But may I not as fearlessly affirm, on
the other hand, that those who have been specially
delivered and preserved in tender youth are probably
more numerous, by far, than we believe or know ?
Your parents, probably, have not told you, as Moses'
1 Isa. lix. I.

1 6 Moses.
parents told their son, or else you may have quite for
gotten what great kindness was displayed to you by
God, while you were still too young to comprehend
your danger, and much less to ward it off. But if it were
required to mention here the names of all who must
have perished long before, had He not sent His angel,
that they might not dash their foot against a stone,
surely no ancient monument could be discovered high
or broad enough to bear the list of names, however
closely they might be inscribed. Yes, God saved and
still saves in countless instances, just when our human
wisdom fails, and human aid is vanity. He saves just
at the proper time, — as formerly upon Moriah, when the
sacrificial knife was lifted over Isaac's head ; as later at
Jerusalem, the very night before the sword of Herod
was to end the life of Peter, then asleep. He saves, not
without using means, but by the use of means ; and even
the simplest means that are employed under depend
ence on His aid soon are evidently blessed. You see
there are no miracles performed for even a Moses, when
the ordinary means are quite sufficient to accomplish
Go'd's adorable designs ; but every heart, like that of
Pharaoh's daughter, is quite at his service, and He
guides and drives them where He will, just like the
waters of the Nile. Why do we speak of ' chance ' or
'fate,' when, at such times as this, we see the finite
and the Infinite so closely intertwined ? Let but the
little vessel leak, or let the princess, for some unim
portant reason, and for once, omit her daily bath, and
the whole history of Israel, of Egypt, and perhaps the
world, shall then exhibit quite another character ! Why
do philosophers affirm that it does not become God's
dignity to care for even the smallest thing ? But let
that weeping child be hidden from the eyes of God, and
the means for Israel's deliverance will have escaped His

Childhood. 17
hands. Why does the heart with little faith tremble
even at the thought of danger ? Moses, in helpless in
fancy, has a Protector better far than even the clever
Miriam : He that keeps Israel sleeps not, and slumbers
not. God does not willingly afflict or plague the sons
of men ; and even though affliction's flood may seem to
know no bounds, yet, like the Nile, at God's command
it shall return within its limits, and leave after it a
fertilizing mud. Not even a single word of this great
promise, made to all God's own, has ever fallen to the
ground : ' When thou passest through the waters, I will
be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou
shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon
thee.' * ' Bless the Lord, O my soul, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving-
kindness and tender mercies ! ' 2

'With loving-kindness.' How this was learned ex
perimentally by that same child whose careful training
is now set before us in the narrative ! There stands the
scion of the royal house before us still, surrounded by her
maids, the emblem of a gracious Deity, protecting the
forsaken and oppressed. She does not hesitate to take
an interest in the babe, though she may readily suppose
her cruel father will indeed be wroth, when she thus
sides with the despised, whom one stroke of the pen had
now consigned to death. But first of all, who shall now
give the babe what it most pressingly requires ? As quick
as lightning, through the soul of Miriam there flashed a
thought, for which she must have afterwards thanked
God upon her bended knees : what if she could not only
I sa. xliii. 2. * Ps. ciii. 4.
B

1 8 Moses.
bear the tidings of her brother's safety, but bring back
the half-lost child some other way to its own mother's
heart ? The angels must have listened, when, after
emerging from her hiding-place, she asks in bashful
tones, ' Princess, shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the
Hebrew women, that may nurse the child for thee?'
She did not wait too long for further orders, lest the first
command to go should be rescinded for some other one.
As if on wings of wind she hurried home, called her
astonished mother, and by all that is most sacred prayed
her not to let herself be known. The mother understands
the princess's command, ' Take this child away and nurse
it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.' ' Thy wages ! '
Did it never once occur to you, Thermuthis, that you have
deposited far more than the most precious treasure in the
arms of that poor Israelite, who bows in deep humility,
but finds no words for overwhelming thoughts ? But
Jochebed is even already gone ; and now she is presenting
on her family altar what was certainly the first, the only
pure and unalloyed thank-offering presented to the Lord
within three weary months ; she thinks . . . But what
shall we add further to the simple story, ' And the woman
took the child, and nursed it ; and when it was grown, she
brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her
son ' ? You must already have admired the love of God,
who sent three years of unalloyed maternal joy after
three months of sorrow indescribable ; and then you
must have thought upon the words, ' His anger endureth
but a moment ; in His favour is life : weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' 1
But have you not yet felt, besides, strong admiration
for the Lord's deep wisdom, which the thoughtful mind
of Amram must have speedily perceived, when he dis
covered why the Lord had ordered things just thus, and
1 Ps. xxx. 5.

Childhood. ig
in no other way ? There is a higher destiny for Jochebed
than that she should be merely nurse to her own child,
for she is also to become the early guide of him who
shall be Israel's guide. With His own hand the God of
heaven and earth here fastens, to a single individual,
the threads uniting Moses and the Israelites for life,
—yea, must we not say for eternity ? And though he
soon must needs be trained in the Egyptian schools,
his mother's milk will, to his opening mind, be antidote
enough against the superstition of the heathen land. As
with that mother's milk,— who shall decide how closely
joined the soul and body are in their development ? — he
shall imbibe a love for Israel ; and the first name he
learns to lisp will not be those of Isis and Osiris, but the
name of Him who is his fathers' God. According to the
custom of those days, he would be taken from his nurse
when three years old and brought to court, — a sad fare
well, and yet how much less painful than the former one !
But will the princely foster-mother not most readily
permit the lovely child sometimes to pay a visit to the
nurse, who shall but seek to fan into a flame the spark
of love for true religion and for liberty that smoulders in
his youthful heart ? Nor will he leave her ere the grand
traditions of God's covenant with His friend, of Jacob's
death, and Joseph's last command, of Canaan as the land
destined for Israel, and of the great deliverance that has
been promised for the world, have all been more impressed
upon his mind ; and what he hears within that family
circle fixes, even in his early years, the course of his
own private thoughts. Egyptian science and intoxi
cating wine, instead of his own mother's milk in all its
purity, will offer now to nourish and refresh this soul,
thirsting for truth. Amidst the most refined, most
learned, and most highly trained of nations, Moses must
— if I may so express myself— learn all that is mechanical

20 Moses.
pertaining to the great work of his later years. The
highest wisdom of the earth must first be uttered in his
ears ; its highest glory, too, must pass before his eyes,
that he may afterwards learn by experience that all the
wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, and that all
human glory is but like the brittle reed. But Jochebed
must specially beware lest the young man, through his
Egyptian training, should become in heart and soul a true
Egyptian ; yet it is just the combination of what may be
termed Egyptian and Hebrew elements in Moses' training
which produces, in his later years, that Moses who was
so unique in character. Remove one of these two con
stituents, and you obtain a Moses who is wholly different,
and much less fitted for his work ; the Hebrew household
and the heathen court must both successively become
his training schools. Oh, how adorable is God, viewed
in His providence ! Are you astonished that a Paul, the
Moses of the Second Covenant, could so decidedly affirm
that God 'hath determined the times before appointed,
and the bounds of the habitations of men ' ? 1 And in how
many lives do we perceive like guidance on the part of
God, by which the first steps are distinctly brought into
connection with the latter portion of the course ! The
history of many soldiers of the Lord shows that, like
Moses, they have owed their early training for a great
and noble work to mothers of distinguished excellence ;
and many, too, like him, have been astonished to discover
afterwards that they required to make their preparations
for a future stage just where God willed they should
remain. Who does not here remember David, trained
even at the court of Saul for his own later kingly
life, — the Lord's apostles, well inured by fishing in
the Sea of Galilee to many a privation which they
could not but experience when they went forth to
1 Acts xvii. 26.

Childhood. 21
fish for men,— a Paul, who, at Gamaliel's feet, acquired
that wisdom and that knowledge which he afterwards
employed, as weapons in behalf of Christ, against
these selfsame Jews, — nay, who does not think of him
self, when he takes up the thread of his own life, to
trace its windings through the maze, and looks towards
yon gate by which he entered on this scene ? Or can
we Christians doubt that the relationships of early life
must have conduced to bring us where God's hand has
afterwards conducted us ; that every one of us has his
own special destiny, for which, like Moses, we are
frequently prepared, though all unconsciously, through
out a series of years ; in short, that even our first
impressions, like the later lessons we receive, are all
appointed and arranged by higher wisdom than our own?
Nay, do not shake your head so unbelievingly, and say,
in your complaint, that if this were the case, in your
experience at least, things would not be quite as they
are, and not a little must have been quite otherwise.
You have not reached the end yet, just like Moses at his
tenth or fifteenth year : whoever seeks to guess how any
history, consisting of two portions quite dissimilar, shall
end, when he has scarcely reached the half of the first
part, is in the greatest danger of pronouncing an
opinion that is quite erroneous, and founded on a
superficial view. What else is all this now before us
than the period of youth, wherein we see this infant
grow into a child, a youth, a man ? All that is proper
to the child must pass away, ere we can see the glory of
the Lord in guiding every step of infancy.

' And she called his name Moses ; for she said, I drew
him out of the water.' We will not weary you by

22 MOSES.
setting forth the different opinions formed by learned
men as to this name and what it means ; nor shall we
now defend the brief account given in the text against
the fierce attacks of unbelief. To show how superficial
these last can sometimes be, and how God knows the
way to use all kinds of means in order to uphold the
truth of His own written word, let it suffice to state the
following : — The doubt had frequently been raised, in
something like triumphant tones, whether the Oriental
women were indeed allowed to show themselves in
public, and to bathe, as we are here informed regarding
Pharaoh's daughter ; but there has recently been found,
among the fresco paintings forming part of the remains
of ancient Egypt, one that represents Egyptian women
of the better class, attended by their maids, proceeding
to the Nile to bathe. But rather let us now regard the
almost imperceptible, slow preparation for so much that
was both glorious and great, as we find set before us here.
Yet is it possible that any one could fail to mark how
there is opened here a quite new page in Israel's history,
— in that of true religion, — nay, in a sense, a new page
in the world's history ?
A child has now been drawn out of the water ; and
from this time forward there is opened up a new and
better future for all Israel. How little thinks the tyrant,
while he brandishes the scourge, while wielding, too, the
sceptre, that the chosen instrument of the Almighty's
recompense has now been saved by his own daughter,
and is destined to grow up before his eyes ! ' I shall
destroy, I shall annihilate,' says Pharaoh ; but the Lord
says, * I shall work, and who shall bar my path ? ' And
then God puts the cradle that contains the hope of
Israel, just as it were upon the steps of Pharaoh's
throne. Tremble, proud Memphis, for that youthful
eye shall sparkle soon with indignation when it sees un-

Childhood. 23
righteousness increase ! The1 hands that now, by turns,
embrace Thermuthis and then Jochebed, shall one day
bear the rod that shall compel the waters to divide.
Yes, Israel as a nation shall be able now to date its birth
from that same hour when Moses came upon the scene !
' Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God ! '
A child has just been drawn out of the water ; and
from that hour there opens a new page in the history of
God's revelations. For three whole centuries, as we are
told, Jehovah has been silent ; but He now begins to
speak almost uninterruptedly. Amidst the quietness of
a most humble dwelling, there grows up the soul that is
to fathom God's deep thoughts : upon the breast of
Jochebed there beats the heart that, all through life,
shall burn with deep desire not only for complete de
liverance of Israel, but also for the furtherance of true
religion everywhere. Till now, the Lord has let the
heathen — yea, and in a certain sense even Israel — walk
in the ways they chose ; but now, here He appoints
the man who is to be the great interpreter of all His
special revelations till the fulness of the times. Now
there appears the coming prophet, far surpassing every
one in Israel, — the future lawgiver, who is to state the
fundamental principle of true religion, the indivisible
unity of God, — the great historian, who is to shed the
first trustworthy light on the beginning of creation and
the great Redemption-plan. And here he is, preserved
and trained by that same Egypt against whom he soon
shall rise to vindicate God's majesty. ' How unsearch
able are the judgments of God, and His ways past
finding out ! '
A child has now been drawn out of the water ; and
here there begins a further, more direct, more earnest
preparation for that great time of deliverance, predicted

24 MOSES.
long before in paradise. The sinful world, alas ! has
long ago become like an Egyptian house of bondage,
where vast multitudes of slaves sink down beneath the
leaden weight of misery. But how shall it be possible
even for Almighty God to break that ignominious yoke,
so long as sinners do not feel, themselves, their misery ?
And, on the other hand, Hbw shall the sinner even feel
his misery, so long as conscience has not been aroused
from mortal slumber by the law ? Lo, there God raises
up the man whom we may call ' incarnate law,' as Christ
is named 'incarnate grace ;' and his appearance, so far,
is important for humanity at large. Those lips, still
sealed as yet, shall utter words which rouse the painful
thought, ' By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified.'1 The son of Amram, though apparently
doomed long ago to death, still lives ; but lives to pass
death-sentence, in his turn, on millions of his fellow-
men. No sinner unto whom he speaks shall be allowed
to rest, ere the convicted soul betakes himself to One
whose way he shall prepare. For centuries, to all the
world, Gentile as well as Jew, this man shall testify of
sin, until that day of God has dawned, when naught but
grace shall reign. He shall bear witness unto Jesus, but
Jesus in His turn, too, shall bear witness unto him ; and,
as at Tabor, it will be impossible rightly to look on
Jesus anywhere, without perceiving Moses in the back
ground, — as the shadow He can never want. Nay,
more ; the service which was rendered now by Egypt
unto Israel, though all unconsciously, Israel shall yet
repay with interest, when, in His turn, a Saviour shall
present to all the heathen world, lost in their sins, One
who is more than ever prophet was. How little thought
that noble-minded woman who saved Moses, that his
name would shine so lustrously long after her own
1 Rom. iii. 20.

Childhood. 25
throne had crumbled into dust, and that dust had been
blown away into oblivion ! But we who meditate on it,
and here in quietness observe the preparation of so
much that is most glorious, shout in our raptures of
delight, 'Who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or
who hath been His counsellor ? ' *
Thus much to-day. The first leaf of this Moses'
history has most assuredly shown us the day of small
things. But will it really be needful to point out, in full
detail, the lessons flowing from what we have been con
sidering ? Perhaps I may be speaking to proud-hearted
ones, as well as those cast down in soul. High in your
own esteem, can you not gather from this narrative,
although you may not comprehend it thoroughly, that
all the might of man is powerless against the counsel
of the Lord ? Who has opposed Him and had peace ?
And ye oppressed ones, tossed by the tempest, comfort
less, will you still make complaint, as if you had no
comforter, when you have once more seen that there is
One who hears, and sees, and saves, even in the hour of
the most pressing need ? I am addressing those who
occupy the higher social ranks, and who are well to do ;
but those, too, who have less, and occupy a humbler
place. Children of luxury, shall a heathen princess
shame you, — one who took delight in changing sorrow
into joy ? Will you not rather be induced, by her ex
ample, to be workers with the Lord for others' joy, to
weep with the afflicted ones, and draw near even to the
most despised and indigent ? And you, again, the weak
and little ones, will you still fancy you may well be
quite passed by, when Miriam's case proclaims to you
how needful even the weak link is to join the other links
into one chain, and how God can avail Himself even of
1 Rom. xi. 34.

26 MOSES.
a child deemed insignificant in the promotion of our
human bliss and joy ? I am addressing those who have
been gently dealt with by the Lord, but also those who
have been sorely tried, such as we frequently have found,
by turns, upon this earthly scene. Ye mothers who,
perchance, like Jochebed, have now recovered from the
jaws of death a child most dearly loved, will you strive
less than she to train it up in the fear of God ? Ye
children, too, who must appear a wonder to your parents,
will you not cry to your Creator and Benefactor, ' My
Father, Thou art the guide of my youth ' ? Or you,
again, who are most sorely tried, should you allow
yourselves to be so much cast down in soul, because,
like Amram, you have now been months — or years, per
haps — in darkness, while the light which you desire so
much does not appear ? As if it were not just the self
same God who forms the light and who creates the
darkness, who makes peace and causes evil, but who
forthwith, too, makes evil work for good ! ' Never
despair, even though the earth departed from before
your eyes ! ' — such is the call of God addressed to us
from yon Nile shore. What else does Moses in his
youth proclaim, than just what he still sang when old :
' The Lord is a rock, whose work is perfect : God is
truth ; righteous and just is He ! ' 1
'Righteous and just!' But wherefore is it that these
very words, by which we sought to raise your courage,
threaten instead to break it wholly down ? Do you
feel still unable to rely on God with perfect confidence,
because you do not yet enjoy His friendship and the
favour He bestows ? Do you object, that God's paths
verily are truth and mercy, but for those alone who
keep His covenant and His testimony ; and do you
feel no warrant yet to count yourself as one of these ?
1 Deut. xxxii. 4.

Childhood. 27
Blessed art thou, my fellow-sinner, if thou dost most
truly comprehend and thus apply to thine own case the
soul-disturbing words, which we dare not keep back
even here ! Nay, we must not immediately remove
from you this feeling, painful though it be. God is a
refuge, verily, but only for His own and those who truly
seek to be His own. But would it not have been a dire
mistake if, at that gloomy period, a prophet of the Lord
had given the selfsame consolation both to Amram and
to Pharaoh ? You have as little ground to hope for
peace as that great tyrant had, in stiff-necked opposition
to the will of God ; nay, more, while you thus seem to
be in peace and calmness, there is even now in quiet
preparation God's dread judgment upon sinful men :
soon shall it burst on every worker of unrighteousness,
as then it did on the Egyptians. But this we may
proclaim to every one of you : the strength by which the
parents of this Moses were upheld may, in like manner,
be the stay of your own souls, that otherwise must sink
beneath the load of woe. And do you ask, How can all
this be brought about ? Lo, suddenly my spirit wings
its way from Egypt to the friendly Promised Land ; and
there, after some centuries, I find another Child, threat
ened, like Moses, by an equally ambitious tyrant, and
as evidently saved in that same land which formerly
afforded an asylum to the Hebrew prophet, but long
since raised to greater eminence than that to which this
Moses saw himself advancing at that most luxurious
court. For your sake He has lived on earth in lowly
servant-form, like that in which you here find Israel.
Sinner, stretch out your hands to Him in prayer, that He
may free you wholly from your sin ! And, reconciled to
God through Him, learn to rely upon that God, as on a
Father from whose love nought shall divide. Yea, He
shall free your soul from greater want and death than

28 MOSES.
that by which you saw the house of Israel distressed ;
and just as Moses was drawn from the water as a new
born child, so will He cause you also to experience the
second birth by water and the Spirit, which alone can
truly make of you a freeman in the kingdom of the Lord.
Oh, pray to Him for the salvation of your soul, with
earnestness like that displayed by Jochebed when she
entreated for the safety of her child ! Commit yourself
to Him, that He may keep, establish, train you for a
higher destiny than that to which you have seen Moses
led ! Remember that the world is as unfit to be your
refuge and your strength as that frail basket would have
proved had there been any need that it should keep the
infant long! See that you be so thoroughly renewed
and sanctified by the Spirit of grace, that, like Amram
and Jochebed, you may belong to those who are the
people of the Lord's chosen inheritance ! And then
shall you, too, realize the truth of those most wondrous
words, ' that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to
His purpose.'1
Ye friends of God, who, like this family, must thank
the Lord because He has afflicted you in faithfulness,
have you not felt the truth of this? Only take heed
unto yourselves, and see that ye do not forget His benefits.
Strengthen your heart, as Moses, doubtless, must have
done, by looking back, in after years and days of dark
ness, on the many points in your career which well may
show memorials raised up in honour of God's love and
faithfulness. But do not let yourselves be put to shame
by faith such as these simple Israelites displayed, ye
who desire to follow, as your leader, the great Guide in
faith ; and if the hand of God may happen to lie heavily
on you and yours, then seek, like them, your strength in
1 Rom. viii. 28,

Childhood. 29
secret and continued prayer. Be not surprised when it
appears as if the heavens were shut to your complaints :
as you have heard, the furnaces must needs be raised
to scorching heat before the songs of the deliverance
resound ; there is no dawning of salvation's morn so long
as evening has not deepened into midnight gloom.
More clearly than could Israel, you now behold, even in
the darkest night, a star that never sets, — the promises
of God in His eternal faithfulness ! Oh, gaze thereon
continually, even though a cloud may often intervene.
Follow His counsel unreservedly, wherever and whenever
He may call. And further, bear in mind that the Eternal
has before Him an eternity when He can justify His
mode of government ; wait till you see the end of all
His ways. What was the final issue of the darkest days
of Amram and His wife — glory and majesty — shall
prove, ere long, the end of yours. Verily, ' light is sown
for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.'
' Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I say, Rejoice !'
Amen.

CHAPTER II.
fflbt &xmnin$Mim.
' And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was
mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it
came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing
one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was
oppressed, and smote the Egyptian : for he supposed his brethren would
have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them ; but they
understood not. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they
strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are
brethren ; why do ye wrong one to another ? But he that did his neigh
bour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge
over us ? Wilt thou kill me [also], as thou killedst the Egyptian yester
day? Then Moses fled at this saying, and was a stranger in the land
of Midian, where he begat two sons. ' — Acts vii. 22-29.
' Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
of the knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out!'1 Thus
Paul exclaims, in holy rapture, when he has completed
his description of the Saviour's work ; and who that
ever thought of the extent, the cost, and the design of
God in our salvation, does not heartily repeat the words ?
But it is not alone to the adorable design of God in our
salvation that the praise of the enraptured writer most
directly and immediately applies. For when we further
view the ways of God's eternal providence, we may again
employ the words of Paul, and add, 'For who hath
known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been His
counsellor ?' Nay, more ; if it be true, as has been
1 Rom. xi. 33.

The Training-Time. 31
somewhere said, that even Redemption's mysteries
sometimes appear still less impenetrable than the enig
mas found in the book of Providence, then, certainly, it
is not too presumptuous to say, that the riches of God's
wisdom and His knowledge, here especially, lie frequently
before our eyes, concealed in depths almost beyond our
power of fathoming. In sacred stillness, heavenly wisdom
makes complete the fabric of her grand designs ; but no
child of the dust receives permission to inspect and sit
in judgment on the building-plan itself; and it is the
event which first pronounces sentence between man, who
constantly asks, 'Why?' and his Creator, who" replies,
' My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'1
If even the most ingenious of men were to attempt,
beside the cradle of each infant, to predict what would
be its career in life, you may be sure that the last page
of its life - history, then scarce begun, would almost
always shame him as a prophet of mere lies. Yea,
there is none of us but lives to verify the truth of what
was said of old, ' A man's heart deviseth his way ; but the
Lord directeth his steps.'2 And do not fancy that it
will be otherwise in this respect with those who are
especially selected by the Lord to be His chosen instru
ments for working out His purpose on the earth. The
history of all God's people who have been designed for
something great is sure to turn out very different from
what, had we been told beforehand of their future work,
we would have reasonably thought of and marked out
for them. And further, though the whole of life is but
a time of trial, and a school where we are trained for
something higher still, yet, for each friend of God, there
dawn into that life some special periods, which, more
than others that precede and follow them, deserve these
names just given to life in general. So was it with
' Isa. xlvi. 10. 2 Prov. xvi. 9.

32 Moses.
Abraham during these years when he was vainly wait
ing for the son of promise to be born of Sarah. So
was it with Joseph, when, filled with a presentiment of
something great and glorious, derived from youthful
dreams, he pined within the gloomy prison, utterly for
gotten, as it seemed, by God as well as men. So was
it with David, who, although anointed king of Israel,
was constantly compelled to wander up and down,
' hunted like a partridge on the mountains of Judea.'
And can there possibly be any doubt that the same
principle, seen in God's government, applies to Moses
also, whose great name belongs not merely to his
Israel, but to humanity at large ? If that were true,
there would not have been any need for making known
to us the chapter in his history to which our notice
is directed in that part of Stephen's speech which we
have read.
Moses ! You know that his strange history divides
into three periods, each one consisting of exactly forty
years. But now let us suppose that we knew only the
beginning of the first of these, — his marvellous deliver
ance, — and that we also knew what God determined as
regards the third. Could even the most ingenious
imagine that the second would be so immensely different
from both the other two — nay (what is even more
astonishing), that the unexpected turn, and (as we may
well say) the seeming standstill and reversal that
occurred during the interval between his fortieth and
eightieth year, would be the means for fitting him to be
the lawgiver, the prophet, and the mediator of the Old
Covenant ? Just let us candidly confess that we would
have as little thought of it as Moses had himself at first.
Nevertheless, it is too true that the history of Moses'
life in Midian appears as barren as the sands of the
Arabian desert ; but especially when we compare it with

The Training-Time. 33
its most remarkable commencement, which we have but
lately been considering, and its strange course, which
shall hereafter occupy our thoughts. ' But what is there
that specially concerns us in that murder and its dis
covery, that flight, that sojourn in a land from which we
scarcely hear a single sound ? ' If any one judge thus, his
judgment is as rash as Moses' course of action was. As
sandy deserts have their oases, so this transition-period
too, with all its seeming unimportance, has a deep signi
ficance ; and that which promises but little interest, when
we regard it only on the human side, rises into supreme
importance when we view it in the light of faith, and
as a mirror of God's ways and works. We have been
showing you, till now, Moses regarded as the child of
Providence ; to-day, we bid you look on him as one
trained by the trials he endures. As Stephen, in the two
immediately preceding verses,, gives a summary of what
is mentioned in the old account of Moses' birth, so, in
those now before us, he presents a brief but compre
hensive survey of the training-time to which we have
referred before, — a picture which affords some traits
additional to what we meet with in the old historic
documents. Neglecting the particular design for which
the Jews are here, reminded of these things, let us now
fix our thoughts upon the facts themselves which are
related here. The three great heads which comprehend
all that we mean to bid you notice with regard to Moses'
training-time are, — enigmas, rays of light, and calls from
heaven. O Thou who hast declared that Thou wouldest
dwell in darkness, teach Thou us to fathom those deep
mysteries, to catch those rays of heavenly light, to hear
those calls when Thou dost speak ! And if there be no
more vouchsafed to us than merely to behold the utmost
portions of Thy ways, do Thou Thyself give all of us
the heart in childlike faith to say, ' O God, Thy way
C

34 Moses.
is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our
God?'1 1.
We often find analogies in nature, corresponding to
what meets us in our ordinary life. After a dark and
cloudy night, the sun ascends through an unclouded sky;
but scarcely has it run through a portion of its course
ere a dark cloud obscures it, even before it reaches the
meridian. So is it with the man of God, whose chequered
life we shall to-day trace through a considerable portion
of its course. Is it too much to say that Moses felt the
trial of severe temptation, painful disappointment, and a
long exile in a foreign land ? Take any one you like of
all these trials he endured, you find each one an enigma,
when, even for an instant, you forget the issue that
explains the whole.
' And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.' To
one who only takes a superficial view, these words present
no more than a description of the great good fortune
Moses met with in his infancy and youth. The daughter
of the king was not content with merely rescuing the
babe from death so imminent ; with the faithfulness and
wisdom shown by mothers, she cares also for the right
development and training of the higher life. We have
already learned that, in primeval times, Egypt maintained
the highest place in all the civilised and learned world ;
imagine, then, what an Egyptian education must have
been, paid for with princely gold ! We may be sure that
the most eminent of teachers were entrusted with the
task of caring for the foundling, and conducting him, as
his capacities increased and strengthened, ever deeper
1 Ps. Ixxvii. 13.

The Training-Time. 35
into all the mysteries connected with their sciences. If
we may trust profane tradition, the polishing of this
most precious stone was specially committed to the care
of priests ; and to no single branch of human knowledge
which could possibly be reached, did this young child,
adopted now as one of the Egyptian royal family,
remain an utter stranger. What new worlds revealed
themselves before his opening mind, — what questions
thronged upon his lips, — what answers gave him the
material for ever deeper thought ! Methinks I see the
beauty of the child become the bloom that marks the
boy, the strength of the young man, the earnest striving
of the full-grown man to reach all that is great and good.
But what a gloomy cloud obscures his countenance
when he leaves proud Memphis for the lowly Goshen,
which he often visited ! Alas ! what there meets ear and
eye is too well fitted to throw a sombre covering over
all the splendour which surrounds him daily at the court.
The huge oppression of the Israelites continues still ;
nay, it is even heavier than it has been before. And
these are his own brethren, his own flesh and blood,
whom he sees driven like oxen ; while, if he but choose,
he can lie down upon a bed of roses ! No ; he can
never part with Amram and with Jochebed without
increasingly becoming conscious of the truth that he,
too, is an Hebrew of the Hebrews ; that those who
oppress his countrymen are nothing but a most accursed
race of idolaters ; and that there has been given to
Jacob's, offspring a great promise, in comparison with
which the prospect of a dynasty is naught. Has his
faithful nurse been bringing to his mind the obligation
under which he rests, placed as he is in a position of
great eminence, to show himself the advocate or the
protector of the oppressed ? At least, the young man
feels increasingly that two great forces have been all

36 Moses.
along at work throughout his training-time, and that the
strife between these two is ever deepening, viz. between
that faith he has imbibed from his own mother, and that
knowledge he has gathered from the priestly sanctuary.
More and more clearly he perceives that he is standing
on a crossway, where he is shut up to make a choice ;
but what a choice is this, O God of Abraham, which
Thou art calling the most highly privileged of men to
make ! On one side, Egypt lays down all her treasures
at the feet of this fair nursling of Thermuthis, and
exclaims : ' You have but to express your wish, O mighty
Moses, and a glittering career presents itself. The glory
of successful wars will then attend your name ; science will
add its weight to^ your own influence ; the shadow of the
throne shall be your dwelling-place ; nay, more,, before.
you, like another Joseph, there may sound throughout
the land the loud command, Kneel, kneel ! ' Upon the
other side, Goshen stands beckoning, with its vast race
of slaves that bend beneath the tyrant's rod ; with its
religious worship, shown to One whose very name is
almost wholly lost ; with its deep scorn for every one
who stretches out the hand of fellowship to. Egypt, — the
offscouring of the earth ! How wide the difference
between the palace and the brick-kiln, between the wise
and foolish of the world, between the food of princes and
the bread of tears, between an Amram and a Pharaoh !
We easily can picture Moses, inclining now to this, now
to the other side. An old tradition tells of brilliant
feats of arms performed by him in early life ; but
what are these compared with the harassing struggle
doubtless carried on within his heart through many
weary nights? Yes, Israel approaches him with power
irresistible ; but has not she who rescued him a claim
upon his faithfulness and his obedience too ? Has God
placed him so high, that he may of his own free will

The Training-Time. 37
abase himself? What will the world say, when he sides
with these maltreated ones, whose cause no man has
ever pled before King Pharaoh with impunity? And
what — But we have had enough : I merely ask if it
may not be safely said that Moses, too, was tried, long
tried, tempted in many ways ? And have you never
asked yourselves why Moses should be trained at the
Egyptian court, if that were just the place where lay
the greatest snare for youthful feet like his ?
We are not left in ignorance as to the way in which
the man escaped this snare ; but scarcely have you gone
a single step before you see that this noble choice of his
is followed by most painful disappointment. Forty years
have passed since the babe first raised a cry on the Nile
shore. Perhaps Thermuthis is now dead ; or possibly
her heart has come to be estranged from him who, in
his high estate, could still think of his humble origin.
At least, he can resist no longer the intense desire to
terminate the crying injuries endured by Jacob's sons.
There soon presents itself the opportunity of showing, by
a deed that told more than a hundred words, the plan
that was maturing in his most heroic soul. He has just
seen an Israelite abused by an Egyptian ; there is none
else around to tell that he has interfered ; one moment
more, and the oppressor's life's blood dyes the ground.
Moses imagines he can safely trust the keeping of the
secret to the bosom of the earth and to the heart of him
whom he had saved ; nay, more, so very far is his
own conscience from accusing him of murder now com
mitted, that his heart beats high with hope and joy.
Now he can have no doubt, nor can his brethren fail to
understand, that God is to deliver them through him.
Already he perceives, and that not far away, the hosts
of the oppressed approaching him ; the fetters of the
slaves are broken through ; he finds himself placed at

38 Moses.
the head of those now freed, who march towards the
Promised Land, and, after a brief struggle, dwell in the
inheritance their fathers had been promised. Alas,
how vain a hope, that vanishes almost as soon as
it appears! Next day, he sees two of his brethren
quarrelling : who is so fitted as himself to come between
them, — he whose name is now, no doubt, pronounced
with thankful lips by multitudes? 'Sirs, ye are brethren;
why do you wrong one to another ? ' So he addresses
them in kindly tone. ' Who made thee a ruler and a
judge over us ? Wilt thou kill me also, as thou killedst
the Egyptian yesterday ? ' These words come on him
like a thunderbolt that issues from a cloudless sky ;
nay, pierce his soul like a poisoned dart. The murder,
then, is known, and known to have been perpetrated
by a prince upon a subject of the realm ; nay, what
is more, his secret is betrayed, and this, too, by the
only man who saw the deed committed and was saved
through it, for whose deliverance he stained his hands
in blood drawn from an enemy. So he has broken now
with all the splendour found at Egypt's court ; thus he
has made a willing sacrifice of all his earthly prospects ;
thus he has drawn upon himself the deep displeasure of
the king. Thus, through a single utterance of the most
base ingratitude, the golden dreams of Moses quickly
disappear. He feels his life is now at stake ; it seems
to him as if a thousand suspicious eyes were turned on
him ; he thinks he will be fortunate if he can but escape,
even with disgrace, from this land where he dwells.
How shall we make you understand the pain of
disappointment felt by Moses now ? We must not,
certainly, approve of Moses' conduct in itself ; for even
he forbids us, in that passage where he says : ' Vengeance
is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord.' * But yet, as
1 Deut. xxxii. 35 ; cf. Rom. xii. 19, Heb. x. 30.

The Training-Time. 39
little may we judge of what he did by our ideas and our
practices. His object was as laudable as his great motive-
principle was void of selfishness ; and one must first have
gained a victory over himself as Moses did, seen a foul
deed performed like that done under Moses' eyes, and
felt provoked as Moses did, ere he breaks over one who
has shed blood the rod that utterly condemns and shows
itself implacable. Let us suppose that you, a man of
generous soul, had willingly renounced all prospects of
advancement in this world to follow duty's call ; that
you had risked your life to free a brother in distress ;
that you had even committed a foul crime for the ad
vancement of the other's interest ; that you had suddenly
discovered you had been betrayed by him, the very
man who owed you such a debt of gratitude ; and that
you had completely missed the sole reward you hoped
to gain : would not this be most terrible ? We may
conceive what there must have passed through the mind
and heart of this sad fugitive, as we soon see him sit on
yonderwell,1 — that separating point between two portions
of the world, that epoch in his life where met two periods
so widely different. Deal tenderly, kind Jethro, with
the youth that has become your guest ; his noble heart
has now received a deep and streaming wound !
At last, within that tent, the stranger, veiled in
mystery, finds rest and peace, no longer tracked by
those who seek his life. But surely you do not suppose
that the long exile, into which you now have followed
him in thought, had less of enigma and dark obscurity
than former days and weeks ? I readily allow that, in
comparison with that great danger which once threatened
him, the land of Midian must have been a quiet resting-
place, whence he looked back with thankfulness on
storm's he had endured. The scenes of nature which, in
1 Ex. ii. 15.

40 Moses.
all their grandeur and sublimity, surrounded him by day
and night, were certainly more suited for a mind like
his than all the splendour of a most luxurious court.
Thanks to the hospitality which he receives, he finds
himself prepared to enter for the first time on the
married state, and soon feels, twice, a father's joy. In
peaceful shepherd-life his days glide by, like a smooth,
untroubled stream. Many another man would no doubt
have esteemed himself quite fortunate in such a case ;
but is not Moses well aware that it must cost him
pains to exercise contentment ? Even though he may
have but few trials to endure, how much is there that
he must long be quite content to want ! What an
accumulation, too, there is of ills, — remembered, pre
sently experienced, and looked for, — all these tending
to destroy his heart's repose ! I shall not speak of the
blood-guiltiness, which doubtless weighed his conscience
down, the longer and more loudly he permitted it to
speak ; nor of the deep privations which the shepherd
must have suffered, and of which he never thought
while he was treated as a member of the royal family ;
nor of his life as father and as husband, though the
little that we know about Zipporah does not form a
strong inducement to our wishing Moses joy of his life-
choice. I merely now refer to the deep love he bore
towards his people, which he must have carried with
him here, but which he now feels wholly impotent ; to
the dull and mechanical shepherd-life, so little in accord
ance with a mind and heart like his ; to the enigmatical
character of his whole history, which must have seemed
to him full of confusion, when at any time he took this
standpoint and looked back on it. But why had he
been saved from such great danger when a child ? Why
was there given to him an education and a training
which no single Israelite had ever got before, but which

The Training-Time. 41
now seemed superfluous ? Why was he so endowed
with wisdom, and with powers too good and great to be
now wasted in a hidden corner of the earth ? If it were
really the voice of God within his heart that called him
to deliver the oppressed, why has this very first attempt
of his so miserably failed ? Nay, is it not much more
than possible that he has only (though unintentionally)
made his brethren's case much worse instead of better,
since the vengeance meant for him now falls on them,
the innocent ? Must not his whole life stand before
him as a failure, and a vain attempt, — a life whose
second half sees all the profit of the former half mis
spent ; and would he not have spared himself all this
distress, if he had only listened to the voice of flesh and
blood, and still remained, in life and spirit, an Egyptian?
Thus questions, thoughts, and doubts crowd fast into
his mind ; but neither from above nor from below is
there a voice that gives a satisfactory reply. Of all
those round about him, there is not a heart that under
stands his whole position ; not a single voice comes
down from heaven, as it came sometimes to his pious
ancestors ; so uneventful seems his life — external and
internal — that even tradition has made no attempt* to
fill the blank. Thus one decennium succeeds another
with a varying speed ; but still the sixtieth year finds
him the same as did the fiftieth: he is a shepherd
still, eating the bread of charity; and, judging from
appearances, he is as far, when near his eightieth year,
from reaching the high aim of his first wish, as shortly
after he had seen his fortieth. The uniformity of daily
life with him is like the rigid firmament seen in Elijah's
days, but there is not the smallest speck of cloud to in
dicate a change ; and while the future stands before him
in its joylessness, the past, just like a vision of the night,
sinks ever farther down into obscurity. Do you not

42 Moses.
think that, more than forty times within those forty
years, there must have risen in Moses' mind the thought
thus uttered by the Psalmist, ' Clouds and darkness are
round about Him ' ? x

But are justice and judgment indeed the basis of the
throne of the eternal God ? The selfsame history that
here presents us with such enigmas, affords us also, on
the other side, some rays of light that well may take us
by surprise. If we regard it in the light of faith and of
the great result, we clearly see that Moses' faith was
exercised by strong temptation, that his character was
purified by painful disappointment, that long exile per
fected the training he received.
May we not confidently say that strong temptation
was the very means by which the faith of Moses was
called into exercise ? You need not be surprised that
we speak thus decidedly of Moses' faith ; one of the
sacred writers has already done so long ago. We are
not left in doubt regarding what it was that properly
led Moses to decide, and make a choice which every
Egyptian must certainly have deemed the greatest
foolishness. ' By faith, Moses, when he was come to
years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of
God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ;
esteeming the reproach of Christ ' — think of reproach
like what Christ afterwards endured, reproach for the
kingdom of heaven's sake — ' greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt ; for he had respect unto the recom
pense of the reward.' 2 This is indeed a sublime de
scription ; but how much more sublime is the thing itself
1 Ps. xcvii. 2. 2 Heb. xi. 24-26.

The Training-Time. 43
here pointed out, and which we vainly try in some degree
to estimate as it demands we should ! Lo, there before
you Moses stands once more, the balance oscillating in
his hands ! In the one scale, the left, is everything that
could charm any youthful mind, — wealth, pleasure,
popularity, wide influence, and fame ; while on the
other side, nothing but faith appears, yet, wonderful to
tell, the scale in which this last is sinks, because it is the
heavier ! ' But surely, Moses, you do not suppose that
those down-trodden slaves are God's own people ; you
surely do not look for any glorious future to a race that
plainly sinks but farther down to ruin ; surely you do
not look for a reward better than what this world can
give ?,' Yet this is just what Moses does, and does
without receiving special revelation, — without having
any one to urge him on to such a work, — without sup
port from anything beyond God's ancient promises to
Abraham, which were, no doubt, well known to him.
At a time when life and immortality were far from being
brought to light, he has in view a great reward with
God, compared with which all Egypt's treasures are as
chaff. Though other men esteem it a disgrace to be a
member of that branded, ill-used nation, he considers it
an honour such as he will not resign for any royal
crown ; nay, marvellous to tell, he thinks himself far
richer than a Pharaoh in his glory ! Wondrous power
of faith, that measures things by quite another
standard, looks on them with quite another eye, and
feels with quite another heart than that with which
those measure, see, and feel, who have no other sphere
of life than merely this seen world ! Men once reviled
this Moses, pointing at him their finger in deep
scorn ; but now, how suddenly he has been raised
above all Memphis and its mockery, so little really,
though in its own esteem so great ! But yet how plain,

44 Moses.
too, has it now become, that even this confidence of
faith would never have produced such grand results,
if the fiery trial, spoken of before, had never been en
dured ! If you remove the word ' temptation ' from the
history of Moses, then his name, as one who dared the
worst under the influence of faith, — who staked all that
was precious, though to gain what was more precious
still, — becomes an empty sound. For it is not until the
heavenly Refiner puts the gold — your faith — into the
hottest furnace, that its reality and its amount, its worth
and durability, become quite evident. The Christian's
soul is like a garden of the Lord ; but that the trees
which have been planted there may scatter forth their
perfumes everywhere around, He must from time to
time send storms, to liberate the balmy odour and pre
sent it to the weary traveller. It is not much to choose
the service of the Lord, and range oneself among His
friends, when it is possible, withal, still to retain a hold
of Egypt's treasures, and to suffer no reproach of any
kind for His name's sake. But when, just as in Moses'
case, it is impossible to keep the two at once ; when we
must take some most decided step, for which we know
full well, beforehand, that the world will frown on us ;
when we must sacrifice, upon the altar of a God- devoted
heart, the honour and the favour of our fellow-men, — ¦
then will appear the true amount of our much-boasted
faith, of which, in peaceful days, we could discourse and
sing so fluently ; then will appear the difference be
tween a seeming faith and life with God ; then, when
the sun of persecution has arisen, the seed that has
sprung up in stony ground will wither utterly, and only
that which has been sown in good soil will produce good
fruit. Why should you Christians wonder, then, when
you discover that the tree which tests and tries us men
has been transplanted out of paradise into all regions of

The Training-Time. 45
the world ? or why should you desire to be at once de
livered from all strife ? Without the fiery trial at that
seductive court, Moses would not have been himself;
the Christian, too, is called to show how he can conquer
through his faith, not when out of the world, but in the
world. And now, when God's grand purpose with
regard to Moses has been actually carried out, and when
the man leaves his first training-school, quite destitute
of Egypt's wealth, but rich in faith, has he great reason
to complain ?
' But,' you will say, ' when once the right choice has
been made, and the decisive step is taken, there was
surely no necessity at least for painful disappointment ?'
Say not so* ; for surely it was just in this way that the
character of Moses was refined. It is quite possible
that, at the first, a man may be a true believer, and
remain, alas ! weak, vain, proud, arrogant. Such was
the case with Moses when you see him summoned to
avenge the wrongs of Israel. He has firm faith in God
and in His promises ; his feelings and affections are no
longer bound to Egypt ; and there can be little doubt,
or none, concerning his sincerity : but he is sadly wanting
in humility. Moses is conscious of a special destiny for
something great, but thinks he is the man that can the
least be spared in any case. His is a merely carnal zeal
to save his fellow-Israelites, as is quite evident from the
great failure that befell his first attempt ; for his heart, a
prey to his own folly, is the sport and plaything, now of
pride and arrogance, and now of fear and cowardice. He
will, he can, he shall do just as he thinks right ; but God
is not yet willing. God shall certainly perform His will
through Moses, but not through a Moses such as this.
The darling of the whole Egyptian world still stands too
high ; he must descend a step or two before he can be
used to serve Him who hates lofty looks, be they of

46 Moses.
friends or foes. Moses has made great progress in
Egyptian wisdom ; but he is as yet quite unaware that,
in the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, while he is nothing,
God is everything. Although his heart is right, his will
is not sufficiently subdued ; he still counts far too much
both on his own strength and the gratitude of men ; his
old man yet must needs be slain, as he slew the Egyptian.
Therefore the Lord Himself assails him now, and seems
in this quite as unmerciful as he had been to the
oppressor of his brethren. In the first Israelite to whom
he showed himself as a deliverer, he must be made to
see, as in a glass, the nation's meanness and ingratitude,
that he may learn to do all for the sake of God, but
nothing for the sake of man ; and that he never may
presume to say, ' My hand hath led out Israel.' Even
though the murder he committed seems a pardonable
sin, yet it is just in His own elect that the Holy One of
Israel strictly visits what seems quite excusable ; and
though He deeply humbles Moses now, it is that He
may straightway make him great through the humility.
Moses' first action lets us see what he shall afterwards
be able for, when God's grace shall have wholly filled
and purified his manly soul ; just as the husbandman
perceives, in the strong crop of weeds, the promise of
good harvest, when the ground shall have been cleared
of tares, and sown with wheat. But harrowing and
ploughing, that break down the hardest clods, — such are
the operations specially attended to by Him who is the
heavenly Husbandman, when, in His wisdom, He pro
poses to lay out a field that is particularly fine ; and
disappointment to our dearest and legitimate, perhaps,
indeed, our most praiseworthy plans, forms the deep
furrow drawn across us, that the heavenly seed may
afterwards be sown. Christians ! do not forget that God
is constantly employing such a means for cleansing these

The Training-Time. 47
our hearts from that impurity which brings Him so much
pain, and us so much disgrace. Have you formed fine
ideals of the good that you will do for the promotion of
your neighbour's happiness ? It shall not be, says God ;
you still rely too much on your own strength, expecting
far too little from the Lord, who must do all. Have you
been sketching out a golden future for yourself? God
blows on your designs some time or other, right before
your eyes, that, with a broken but a humbled heart, you
may exclaim, ' I know, O Lord, that the way of man is
not in himself!'1 Have you been really so foolish as,
unthinking, to rely on human love and gratitude ? God,
in some rude and startling way, opens your eyes, that,
fleeing in your terror from the falling idol, you may fall
down at the feet of the true God — nay, sink into your
heavenly Father's arms ! But I must stop ; because the
more I look, so much more clearly do there fall upon me
rays of light, that raise me to an ecstasy, and urge me to
say that there can and must be no other way for you and
me than that of wrestling and temptation, if there is to
come from us what is most truly good, and great, and
worthy of God's kingdom, whether here or up in heaven.
Even the mean-spirited betrayer, in his turn, had his own
share in training Moses for his future work ; and when
the man of God has, by this very means, unlearned what
he must needs unlearn, in order that the courtier might
become a prophet of the Lord, do you not think that
Moses has been in this as free from wickedness as the
Almighty from unrighteousness ?
Now you begin yourselves to see how the long exile —
the last enigma which we have specified — formed the
last step in training Moses for his work. But yet, how
wondrous are the ways of Him who never is so near as
when He seems to have forsaken us! It must be
1 Jer. x. 23.

48 Moses.
Jethro's daughters, and none else, whom Moses shall
first look upon in Midian ; and the small service ren
dered them but paves the way for him into the training-
school which his celestial Guide now opens up to him
under a simple shepherd's tent. You know the Midian-
ites trace a direct descent from Abraham ; and however
much idolatry infects some tribes, there is no ground for
doubting that Jethro was a worshipper and priest of
Him who is the one true God. Do you not find yourself
beginning to imagine how unspeakably important, for a
mind like Moses, must have been his daily intercourse
with such a wise and pious man ? More precious far
than all the treasures of Egyptian wisdom is the know
ledge of antiquity, of human nature, and the truth to
which he now is introduced ; while, just at the arrival of
the proper time, he is at once and utterly removed from
all the evil influences of the idolatry surrounding him.
He must now get accustomed to a desert life ; how else
can he, who has just came from court, be hardened for a
wandering of forty years ? It is in solitude that the
heroic soul must be matured for itsgrand destiny ; God's
friends are always formed in such a way. The lonely
nights spent in the cave are just the seasons when the
most affecting psalms of David were composed ; it is
just in the desert that the son of Zacharias grows to be
the messenger who calls on Israel to repent ; it is just in
the stillness of that same Arabian desert that Paul
ripens into the Moses of the New Covenant, whose it
shall be to lead out Christianity from the hard bondage
of the law ; the cloister-cell at Erfurt hides the pangs of
Luther's second birth ; and it is in the stillness of the
inner chamber, whither you have fled for refuge from the
din and vanity of worldly things, that there grow on your
souls those seraph-wings, with which, when you have
been glorified, you will appear before the Lord. But

The Training-Time. 49
Moses is not destined thus to live and die among a com
pany of shepherds, quite unknown to fame ; he, too,
shall in his time be brought out from obscurity to light.
Nevertheless, this cannot be before God's time arrives ;
and this time does not come so long as the concluding,
the most difficult of all the lessons the believer has to
learn — submissive, patient waiting — still remains un
learned. Moses was given no less than forty weary
years to learn the lesson ; and even after that, he is so
far from being perfected, that, in the last year of his life,
he is again surprised and led away by his impatient soul.
The training-time of Moses is a long one, — just as long
as his life-task. But that which is most excellent, both in
the natural and moral world, is always slowest in attain
ing full maturity. And who can doubt, moreover, that
even long delay in the realization of our hopes receives
alleviation at God's hands in many ways, and compensa
tion too ? But further, it is worth observing how the names
that Moses gave to his two sons express his calm reliance
and unshaken faith. 'The name of the one was Gershom ;
for, he said, " I have been a stranger in a strange land."
And the name of the other was Eliezer ; " For the God of
my father," said he, " hath been my help, and delivered
me from the sword of Pharaoh.'"1 How often Moses
must have been astonished when he found, on looking
back upon his life in Midian, that what he had regarded
as an obstacle must have become the very means for
leading him towards his destined end ! Such is the way
of God with those He calls and chooses for Himself.
As Moses guided Israel out of Egypt, so He leads us out
from the world's house of bondage, just that we may
learn in secret what a blessed thing it is to be with Him.
He makes one star and then another set before our
eyes, that we may gaze uninterruptedly upon the sun of
1 Ex. ii. 22, xviii. 4.
D

So Moses.
His rich promises. It is far more by hunger's pains than
by the comfort of an appetite that has been satisfied ; it
is by weaning, rather than by giving us to drink, that He
both forms and nourishes our inner man. And after our
probation-time has been fulfilled, He calls us, as He
summoned Moses, to the earthly or the heavenly destiny
marked out for us peculiarly, and brings His own out
from their exile on this earth into their Father's home
in heaven. If we are sometimes dazzled by mere rays
on earth, what shall it be when faith gives place to sight ?

Shall we, too, realize that prospect in our own experi
ence ? This will depend upon the question whether
we give ear unto the calls addressed to us, as from
the hoary past, that come from Moses' history in his
probation-time. Respectful silence, careful choice, com
plete obedience, — such are the leading lessons taught by
his experience.
To show a reverential silence, and never to contend
with our Creator: — the inculcation of this lesson must be
almost needless now, after such light as has been thrown
upon mysterious ways. And yet who is so ignorant of
his own heart as not to know how much more hard it is
to see that everything is good which God in sovereignty
performs, than judge that everything is good which God,
in His unspotted holiness, requires ? Some here may
seldom, or even never yet have felt how the whole soul at
times can rise in loud complaint against the course which
God pursues with us. But why should any one com
plain against the Guide of all, when we discover that the
way is quite as plain and pleasant and frequented as we
well could wish, or might expect? Even Moses could have
had no ground for making a complaint about his case,

The Training-Time. 51
when everything was done in Egypt at his nod, and
when he felt quite confident that every one in Goshen
would side with him. But when the Lord now suddenly
restrains this man in his impetuosity, and says, ' Stand
still!' and asks that the unyielding one shall bend,
Moses would not have been a man at all had he then
submitted joyfully. We often have a like experience
ourselves. We have our good intentions, but we find
no opportunity of doing what we would. We feel our
powers have grown, enabling us to work, to fight, to
overcome ; but yet we find ourselves condemned to in
activity. We see that we are placed within a narrow
sphere, where we can never do what we, no doubt, could
well effect if our surroundings were more favourable than
they are. We see injustice triumph, — justice mercilessly
trodden down. It is as if, at certain points, the thread
of our development were being broken off by the celestial
hand that has been spinning it. It seems that we shall
never be what we had hoped and thought ; we find our
selves beginning to despair of our earthly, if not of our
heavenly destiny ; and we sit down, like Moses at the
well, exhausted and dispirited, resting our weary head
upon our hands, while we feel it is hard indeed to keep
from crying out in the deep bitterness of grief. And
when we vainly ask, from day to day, ' Oh, who will
show us any good ? ' x how far we are from asking, on the
other hand, ' Where is God, my Maker, who giveth songs
in the night?'2 'Who giveth songs in the night:' if
you desire to feel the force of these words of Elihu, you
must fancy that you heard, along with Job, the question
of the Lord out of the thunderstorm, ' Is it wise to con
tend with the Almighty?'3 Shall a short-sighted one
contend with the Omniscient, a mortal man with the
Eternal, the transgressor with the Righteous One, be-
1 Ps. iv. 6. 2 Job xxxv. 10. 3 Job xl. 2.

52 Moses.
cause He was not pleased to lead us by the way we
chose, or possibly because He will not give us what we,
groundlessly perhaps, are pleased to say is indispens
able for our best interests ? But is He, who thus will
not give us all we ask, obliged to grant us even the
smallest benefit ? Is it not just ourselves, at least in
part, who are the cause of all that brings us sorrow, even
as Moses, for the murder he committed, suffered banish
ment ? Are we aware how many more degrees the heat
must needs be raised, before the silver of our faith
(supposing that the silver is quite genuine) will be
refined from all the dross ? And do not even the
streams of consolation from the Lord flow on in whispers
through the sands of gloomy Midian ? This hour will
be a blessed one for us if we have learned at least this
much, — never to cherish the desire of being wiser than
the Lord, and reverentially to lay our hand upon our
mouth, even though our eyes should stare themselves
quite blind in darkest night. ' It is the glory of God to
conceal a thing,'1 and to vouchsafe no answer while He
still continues at His work, but only after He has finished
it. What more do we require than the glad certainty
that once made David say exultingly, 'This I know, that
God is for me'?2
But Moses also had experience of this ; do you, too,
wish this consciousness were yours ? Your conscience
has already told you that the wish will never be fulfilled,
so long as Moses' choice has never really been yours.
But is it needful to adduce much proof for showing that
the comfort which arises from this faith is, certainly, for
such as Moses, but not for the Midianites, — for God's own
Israel, but not for the Egypt of this world ? Ah, this is
why, in evil times, your courage sinks so rapidly ! Your
heart gives way, because your conscience is aroused ;
1 Prov. xxv. 2. 2 Ps. Ivi. 9.

The Training-Time. 53
conscience condemns you, since you are not yet at
peace with God ; and you remain without that peace,
because you have not yet true faith in Christ. Poor
man, away from that eternal Son through whom alone
we can approach the Father ! how my heart laments for
you, — even though all Egypt's treasure had been yours,
as well as what Peru affords ! You have but chosen the
reverse of that which Moses chose ; you have preferred
sin's pleasures for a season, rather than endurance of that
shame which still abundantly attends the followers of
Christ. You still refuse to serve the best of Masters, quite
as obstinately as did Moses to be called a son of Pharaoh's
daughter ; but, alas, when you, too, shall begin to look
upon ' the recompense of the reward,' how frightful is
the prospect that awaits you ! The history of Moses
has to-day proclaimed, with solemn emphasis, how
speedily all worldly fame and honour pass away, and
even the highest sink down to the lowest depths. Those
earthly friends, to whom you cling so eagerly, may be
as faithless and deceitful as that Israelite who betrayed
the man that was the instrument of his deliverance.
You know, too, that your highest expectations, even as
his, grow out of one another, like the soap-bubbles that
children make ; and your sins, though they may remain
concealed on earth, will most assuredly be brought to
light, just like that fatal secret Moses vainly sought to
hide beneath the depths of sand. How much more
dreadful will it be, when the great Judge of heaven and
earth, at the decisive hour, ascends His lofty throne,
while deep depression and uneasiness steal over every
sinful soul ! You utterly abominate the blindness and
ingratitude of Israel, who would not look on Moses as
their great deliverer ; of how ' much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy' who hath re
jected the Mediator of the New Covenant, after, not

54 Moses.
one, but countless proofs that He sincerely and most
earnestly desired to save our souls? By your eternal
welfare, we beseech you no more to reject this Lord
who comes from heaven, and who will save you from
destruction far more certain than the miserable death
now threatening the son of Abraham. See that you
realize the greatness of your guilt, which you have been
contracting all too long ; pray for the spirit of that faith
which you see working here in Moses, so that you too
may be able rightly to compare the worth of earth and
heaven, — of that which perishes and of that which shall
endure ! You too, like him, are called to make a choice,
— -not for the first time, certainly, though one day for
the last ; see that you do not make mistake — see that
you do not needlessly delay ! Even though you might
be able to acquire, in serving sin, all Egypt's treasures,
do but think how small their worth will be when the
brief dream of life is past ; and look unto the gracious
recompense of the reward prepared by God for those
who serve Him faithfully ! There must, indeed, be self-
denial and a constant struggle on the part of those who
seek to win that crown ; but how much better is it to
taste suffering with God's own people, than to bathe in
streams of sin's delights ! In the great conflict, then,
see that you range yourselves among — I do not say,
indefinitely, ' pious , men ; ' for when you enter into
dealings with your fellow-men, you will experience as
bitter disappointment as did Moses in his intercourse
with suffering brethren : but be on the side of unfeigned
piety, and lead a life of intercourse with God ! Learn
from Him who is greater than Moses, to fight the good
fight of faith ahd to lay hold upon eternal life, whereunto
ye are also called ! Let no youth here object that he is
still too young, when he perceives how Moses, even in
his earliest years, sought to escape the lusts of youth.

The Training-Time. 55
Even though you should on that account be forced to
suffer shame and deep reproach, yet, if it be indeed re
proach for Christ, you may rejoice with deep and humble
thankfulness. Yea, though you saw that the issue of your
choice, in taking up the cross and following the Lord,
must sometimes be a flowery path, sometimes one full
of stones, nevertheless, the end will show that God
is merciful and most compassionate. All heavenly
Wisdom's ways, whether they lead through desert
Midian, or towards friendly Goshen, are at all times
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace !
Yes, verily, for those who will be taught by her — but
only those. Let me once more insist on this ; and listen
to the call requiring you implicitly to follow, and pro
ceeding from the region of the Nile. Whence came all
the disgrace and injury which you here see poured out
on Moses' head ? Did it not just arise from this, that,
anxious as he was to do God's work, he did it quite in
his own way, instead of letting God decide not merely
what he was to do, but how and when he should begin
the work ? It does not matter much though we declare for
the good cause, if we endeavour to promote its interests
just in the way we like, rather than as the Lord desires ;
and even the confidence of faith may change to culpable
presumption, when a spirit of enduring patience is not
joined with it. Then, Christians, be not envious of the
lot of sinners ; rather continue in the fear of God, because
there is a sure reward, and your hope shall not be cut
off.1 ' Cease from anger, and forsake wrath ; fret not
thyself in any wise to do evil.' 2 Do not be over hasty in
assuming that to be the voice of God which possibly,
as here in Moses' case, is but a voice of flesh and blood ;
and though you say that you can see no wrong, do not
be much astonished when you find that you must suffer
1 Prov. xxiii. 17, 1 8. 2 Ps. xxxvii. 8.

56 Moses.
grievous wrong. Do not in peevishness complain when
well-meant efforts on your part are disesteemed, or
violently opposed ; you have not yet, like Moses, risked
your life in vain for thankless men. Knowledge of
human nature is but rarely gained except through the
hard lessons learned in this world's school ; blessed are
ye when it is ever followed by such knowledge of your
selves as brings humility, — blessed especially when you
can learn, sooner than Moses did, to place reliance less
and less on self and men in general, and more and more
upon your God and Saviour Jesus Christ ! Be silent in
the presence of the Lord when He gives no reply
regarding what He does, and wait until you reach the
end. You have a better fountain than the well whereat
this Moses drank and was refreshed in Midian, — God's
word and promises, which in Jesus are Yea and Amen :
refresh and quicken these your souls by drinking daily
there ! Habituate yourself to see the hand of God in
little things as well as in the great events of life ; the
God of Providence arranged not merely for the meeting
between Moses and the daughter of King Pharaoh, but
for that, too, which took place with Jethro's daughter at
the well. Like him, be generous, compassionate, pacific,
ever ready to serve others in humility ; and though your
life should for the present be, in many points, a cheerless
Midian, rejoice in this especially, that Egypt is behind,
Canaan before. And if your burdens press upon you
heavily, repeat to your own mind what Moses said after
the birth of his first son, ' I am a stranger in a strange
land.' x And when at any time you feel deep longing
to behold your own true country, rather seek, above all
things, that you may not find entrance there before you
have been quite prepared. Well may we, at the close of
such a narrative, depicting Moses' training-time and that
1 Ex. ii. 22.

The Training-Time. 57
of multitudes, — believers like himself, — say to each other,
in the words of a sweet Christian poet x not forgotten
yet : ' Beloved children ! let the Master train you :
Surely to you He meaneth nothing ill.
His love to you can never know decreasing,
He knoweth what He does, — 'tis wisdom still.
Patience in heavy days of dark distress
Works out for you the heavenly blessedness.
' At last, to enter the eternal glory,
The dross of earth and all life's base alloy
For ever purged by the Divine Refiner, —
Ah, this is bliss ! this is of joys the joy !
God's dearest child is he who, longest tried,
Thus enters in, refined and purified. '
1 Ulysses van Salis. [For the English rendering we are indebted to the
Rev. Dr. Horatius Bonar. — Tr.]

CHAPTER III.
Wc\t Call.
' God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses,
Moses ! And he said, Here am I.' — Ex. iii. 4$.
It was a remarkable message from God that came, at
a critical juncture, to Habakkuk, the prophet of. the
Lord in the kingdom of Judah. Like a watchman on a
lofty tower, the seer is now standing at his lonely post,
waiting an answer from Jehovah to the sorrowful com
plaint which he had just poured forth. There he is
bidden write on tablets, by the wayside, what shall be
declared to him in vision, so that any passer-by ob
serving it may stop to read the sacred writ. It shall,
indeed, be some time yet before the long-expected day
of God's salvation dawns ; faith, deeply though it has
been tried already, has not undergone, as yet, the final
test. Nevertheless, by thus deferring hope, so very far
must Israel's heart be from becoming sick, that, on the
contrary, expectancy must rise to greater heights of joy.
The Lord takes vengeance, even though He may not
actually say He shall ; and hence the man of God has
these words uttered in his ears, from heaven above :
' Although He tarry, wait for Him ; for He shall surely
come, He shall not come behind the proper time.'
' Though He tarry, wait for Him ; for He shall surely
come.' Am I far wrong in saying that this is a message
of most deep significance from God to all His friends,
throughout all history ? Indeed, two brief expressions
58

The Call. 59
here present us with God's way of dealing towards men
throughout all time. ' The Lord tarrieth,'— there is the
one: 'The Lord cometh,' — there is the other. He
tarries, when He lets His people walk in darkness ; and
He comes, when He makes plain, before the face of
heaven and earth, that He can do beyond what we may
ask or think. He tarries, frequently far longer than
we in shortsightedness thought good, or in rash haste
deemed possible ; He conies, and in a manner much
more manifest, and wonderful, and glorious, than our
weak faith had ever thought or asked. He tarries,
just that He may come ; and when He comes, then it
appears that ' light is sown for the righteous, and glad
ness for the upright in heart.'1 How often it has
happened in the history of this same Israel, so pecu
liarly a people in expectancy, but yet a people that
repeatedly beheld their King appear, to' crush oppressors
in their tyranny, and to deliver the oppressed ones that
cried out to Him for help ! Yes, what a minor prophet
thus bears witness to, has been experienced in all its
force by him who was the greatest prophet of the Old
Economy ; and even though we had no other proof, the
call of Moses to be Israel's deliverer remains a per
manent reminder of the truth we never lay sufficiently
to heart, that the God of Israel is One that tarries, —
the God of Israel is One that surely comes !
The call of Moses : — we must readily confess that it
is not without reluctance we have now prepared our
selves to pass from a consideration of his birth and
training-time, and deal with all the rich material before
us here. Already we have been unable to regard the
man of God, first as a child of Providence, and then a
pupil in the school of hard experience, without adoring
God at every turn. But when we, for the first time, bid
1 Ps. xcvii. 11.

60 Moses.
you look on him as called to be Jehovah's prophet,
God's own voice seems, with redoubled force, to sound
within our heart, ' The place whereon ye stand is holy
ground ! ' But the page now open to our eyes must
ever occupy a special and important place in Moses'
history, in that of Israel, and that of all God's kingdom
on the earth. Here we see Moses brought quite to the
turning-point, for which much preparation has most
carefully been made through eighty long and, in so
many ways, most anxious years. At last, high over all
the blazing fires that issue from the brick-kilns, we
perceive the flaming torch that shows to Israel the path
of their deliverance. Here we can see, prepared, an
nounced, and actually begun, the setting-up of the
Theocracy among the most remarkable of all the nations
of antiquity. Now there begins a quite new series of
events, of revelations, and deliverances, shown in a
barren wilderness ; and if you seek an explanation of
the character in which Moses, the man of God, appears,
you find it given as if by light reflected from the burning
bush. The Lord here, for the first time, comes into
close and personal connection with the man, concerning
whom one — not a sacred writer — has inscribed these
words : ' He was as great as any man could have been
before the Gospel ; ' while, on the other hand, a sacred
writer, in the grandeur of simplicity, has said, in language
still more beautiful : ' There arose no prophet since like
Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.' * Even
though we had no more before us now than the account
of a mere passing incident, whose consequences have
extended through long centuries, and in a certain sense
continue to exert their influence even at the present
day, yet we could never tread this hallowed ground till
we had stripped our shoes from off our feet. But we
1 Deut. xxxiv. 10.

The Call. 6i
have not yet marked the point from which this picture
may be seen most advantageously. The call of Moses,
as it has been termed, was a revelation of the glory of
God. If, as our Lord has said, this is eternal life, that
we know Him, the one true God, then here, as in a
mirror, there is shown us who God is, what He would be
to us, and what He may require us to become towards
Himself. Are we not right in saying that we shall
derive most benefit and blessing from consideration of
the call of Moses, when we view it as a picture of the
present, and a training-school for time to come ? Even
after making all allowance for acknowledged differences,
there still remain sufficient points of likeness to support
us in the view we take of it. Setting aside archaeological
and exegetical questions, which are of minor conse
quence for our design, we fix upon the text as being
suitable for introduction to the view presented us, not
merely in the whole of this third chapter of the book
of Exodus, but also at the last part of the second and
the greater portion of the fourth. Come, read for your
own selves, as if by light shed from the burning bush,
how God (i) understands His people's cry, (2) breaks
their bonds, (3) decides upon the mode in which they
shall be called, (4) strengthens their weakness, and (5)
rewards them for obedience to His word.
Lord, Thou hast made known Thy ways unto Moses,
Thine acts unto the children of Israel ; show us also this
day that Thou art merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth ! Amen.
1.
Forty years have passed away since Moses' first
attempt to break the yoke of Israel's slavery. But, alas,
how far the people are from crying out, like Joseph once,

62 Moses.
with joy : ' God hath made me forget all my trouble ! '
The voice of history is silent as to all that passed during
that period ; but what else would have been related
than sad scenes of blood and tears ? At last there
dawns a ray of light ; the king of Egypt now is dead, —
he who has such a reckoning to make of fathers' curses,
mothers' screams, and murders of so many innocents.
' Take courage, ye oppressed ones ! the tyrant now has
bowed his head before the king of terrors ! ' — but, alas !
the respite lasts no longer than the time for which the
princely throne remains unoccupied. The change of
master only brought the slaves still deeper slavery ; and
this they felt all the more painfully, because they had,
for a brief moment, dreamed and wished for better times
— the wish was all they could enjoy. The morning
seemed to have arrived, but the night came on still
darker than before ; yet Israel has at last learned to do
something else than make complaint, for they begin to
pray with importunity unknown before. ' Their cry by
reason of their bondage came up unto God,' so runs
ver. 23 of the preceding chapter. When all hope of
escape had been cut off around them, and no king on
earth gave ear to their complaints, then was their eye,
wearied with shedding tears, turned towards heaven ;
and though they find it thickly covered with dark clouds
all round, yet they perceive that there is still above,
beyond these clouds, one cheering star, — God's covenant
made with His friends. Can there be any doubt that
these grand promises, given of old by God to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, came latterly with an increasing force
before the minds of those at least who were the leaders
of God's Israel, and furnished them with grounds for
humble supplication to the Lord ? Methinks I hear once
more a voice from Goshen, — lamentation and weeping
and great mourning ; and the burden of the lamentation,

The Call. 63
consciously or all unconsciously expressed, is this : ' Oh
that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest
come down, O God of our fathers ! ' * But this they have
been praying for so long already, that it seems as if their
prayer has not been heard. Nay, now they pray no longer
without being heard ; for listen to the touching story :
' And God heard their groaning, and God remembered
His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God
had respect unto them.' How glorious and how adorable
a God is He of whom the Bible speaks ! The philosopher
imagines that he gives the highest honour to his God,
when he portrays Him as a Being quite supreme, un
changeable ; that once made all things, and arranged
them perfectly, so that He now can let them all go on,
guided by their own laws, while there appears no need
for further interference on His part to stop the restless
wheel of this world's history. The wheel revolves on its
own axis, — wounds one, bruises another, and drives aside
a third. 'But cries we utter in distress avail us not;
our prayers are sighs by which we vent our pent-up
griefs and find relief, but have not even the slighest
power with God ; and our complaints but perish on the
winds that daily bear them heavenwards.' Were this
the true conception of what God is towards men, what
better counsel could we give to those in suffering than
that which Job's wife gave to him in his severe afflictions,
— to curse God, and then die in dark despair ? But no ;
the God of Scripture comes before us in a manner far
more human, and, just for that reason, more divine ;
and Pie affords us opportunities of uttering our hearts'
desires. A God that lives, and thinks, and sees, and
hears, and shows more pity than a mother to her weep
ing child, — such is the God of Israel, the God and
1 Isa. lxiv. 1.

64 Moses.
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ! Do you not feel this
more and more intensely, in proportion as you have
imbibed the spirit of these glorious words of Sacred
Writ ? High on His throne rules the Omnipotent,
angels of light surrounding Him ; deep in the dust, a
few degraded slaves beseech Heaven's pity in their
wretched state. No earthly prince esteems them worthy
even of a single look ; but from the heights of heaven an
eye of pity is directed towards the disconsolate, who
ever sink the deeper down into their sea of misery. Do
they deserve to have bestowed on them by God such
thoughts of peace? They scarce retain a single trace
of Abraham's faith and Isaac's gentleness, of Jacob's
courage and of Joseph's fear of God ; and what the
Lord spake later, by Ezekiel, He may even now declare :
' Be it known unto you that I do not these things for
your sakes, O house of Israel ; be ashamed, and blush
for your ways.' 1 But if the Lord's compassion be quite
undeserved, it is, besides, eternal, faithful, plenteous.
Though Israel is now reared in Egypt as if by a step
mother, God still regards them as the heirs of Abraham's
blessing ; and although the altars where His covenant
was entered into now stand desolate, the covenant itself
endures, firm and immoveable as Horeb's rocks. He still
remembers, even when He but seems to forget ; the
welcome words : ' Lo, here am I,' burn, as it were, upon
His lips ; another instant, and the dark cloud breaks,
His mighty arm is raised ! Stand here a moment now,
ye who so often have complained with Jacob, ' My way
is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over
from my God!'2 Once more we are reminded of the
story told us in our youth by pious lips, how, in the days
when French oppression, with its leaden sceptre, lay
upon our native land, and people had even lost all
1 Ezek. xxxvi. 32. 2 Isa. xl, 27.

The Call. 65
courage to complain, consideration of these words :
' And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God
had respect unto them,' revived and comforted God's
people in a way unknown before. What welcome words
to a down-trodden nation, a poor family, or a disciple of
the Lord who thinks he is forsaken utterly ! But who
has not yet learned that he must be of all men the most
wretched, if he could no longer find support from this,
the last and only comfort that remained : ' Thou hast
seen it, for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite
it with Thy hand ? ' 1 Give ear to this, ye children of
the Lord, who may perhaps, like Israel, have toilsome
service to perform on earth, and an increasing struggle
to maintain ! Hear this, ye wicked ones, who often feel
your heart creep when you look on others' sorrow which
you cannot lighten or remove ! There is One over all
from whom no single groan is hid ; and if He has estab
lished with you too, in Christ, an everlasting covenant
of grace and mercy, then, although the hills and
mountains may depart, His word and faithfulness can
never fail. It is with you even as with Israel : your yoke
is made the heavier, that you may learn to pray more
earnestly ; the sigh must rise to a complaint, and the
complaint become a cry that finds an echo in the heart
of God our everlasting Father. ' Forget !' The word is
to be found in your vocabulary only, not in His ; and
there is not a silent tear which falls upon hands clasped
in prayer that is not gathered carefully into the bottle
of the Lord. ' When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I
the Lord will hear them ; I the God of Israel will not
forsake them.' 2
1 Ps. x. 14. 2Isa. xii. 17.

66 Moses. 2.
But do you think these statements are extreme ?
Then do but come and see how God breaks through His
people's chains. From Egypt, our imagination carries us
to Midian, where we no longer feel quite strange. Picture
a lonely mountain range, with rocks and cliffs dispersed
throughout ; to use the language of a modern writer, ' a
dark sea of lava, with huge waves that reach to heaven,
suddenly converted into stone when they are at their
greatest height.' There, through the night, a solitary
shepherd walks about, surrounded only by his peaceful
flock ; how changed he is since we beheld him last ! It
is no longer the proud youth, who drove away the shep
herds in their rudeness, and then gave Zipporah's flocks
to drink. The ardour of his youth has given place to
calmness ; the sapling has become a sturdy cedar ; now
the breath of God begins to play upon its branches,
showing there its power. What strange sight is it he
beholds in the vicinity of yonder Horeb ? A bush that
still retains its fresh, green look amidst the ruddy glow
of fire. What voice is it he hears, when he approaches
calmly to behold the wondrous sight ? The voice of
Him who is the Angel of the Lord, on whom the name
' Jehovah ' stands inscribed, who is adored and reverenced
as God, and in whom believers of all times have
recognised the Son of God, who sometimes showed
Himself to men before He took the human form.
' Moses, Moses! ' sounds from among the flames; Tt is the
Lord,' is the response that issues from the depth of his
soul. How joyful was that moment, when, for the first
time after four centuries had passed, the voice that had
so long been silent was heard yet once more ! And
what a meeting, face to face, between this child formed
of the dust and Him who is the God of heaven and

The Call. 67
earth ! Nay, when the line that separates between the
two is overstepped, then must the dust of earth be
shaken off the feet that press upon the threshold of
God's holy place. But scarce has Moses shown
obedience to the call, ere it appears who this is that
has deigned to show a single ray of His own glory to a
mortal eye. Are you surprised that Jethro's shepherd
hides his face with both his hands while Israel's Shep
herd speaks ? And now, let any one describe to me
the deep astonishment, the joy, the hope that entered
Moses' heart, when, step by step, the Lord leads him
into the secret of His purpose to deliver Israel ! But
what need is there for rehearsing, word for word, the
whole of God's address (vers. 7-10), seeing you would
require to listen with the ear of one like Moses, so that
you might fully comprehend the grandeur of it all ? If
Moses had been able to conceive what riches of compas
sion would be shown him after this great exhibition of
God's majesty, I fancy that he would have listened to the
words from heaven, not standing, but on bended knees,
and with his face bowed to the earth. The Lord assures
him now of what could never have occurred to any
human heart. He is aware of Israel's grief ; He mani
festly has come down from heaven, to which the cry
for help has risen ; He will deliver Israel from the
Egyptians' hands, and lead them to a land that flows
with milk and honey ; already has the place been fixed
upon where the descendants of His friends shall rest
from toil and strife. What pleasant news for Moses !
The dearest wish, then, of his heart is really to be
fulfilled, just when he was afraid he must descend into
the grave with an unanswered prayer. But what a
prospect, too, for Israel ! And yet they little think or
understand how God, just at this very time, is busy
in another portion of the world, engaged in strengthening

68 Moses.
the arm that shall deliver them. Freedom instead of
slavery, plenty instead of want, honey and milk instead
of tears and streams of blood ! And above all, how
grand a revelation of the glory of the Lord ! Possessing
this, we do not need, like Moses, to inquire the name of
Him whose words we hear. But tell me, which do you
regard as the more wonderful, — the mighty power that
breaks the fetters of the slaves as if they were but
straws, and brings to Israel the freedom they had sought
incessantly ; or the great wisdom which allowed distress
to grow to such a height that the deliverance might be
the more astonishing and glorious ? Or yet again, —
the holiness which stops the sinner with the words,
' Draw not nigh hither ;' or the love that condescends
to make one who was born a slave its confidant, by
making known the plan for rescuing a nation from
its slavery ? Or, finally, the majesty which clothes
itself in flames of fire, or the eternal faithfulness shown
in the words, T Am that I Am?' JEHOVAH ! I
venture not to sound the depths that word conceals, not
from the eyes of men alone, but those of angels too.
Nor do I venture to pronounce decisively upon the
question whether this great name had hitherto been quite
unknown to Israel, or whether, as some others hold, it
had been known before, but afterwards was buried
in oblivion. I merely ask whether you know of a more
glorious name borne by the God of mercy, or a more
appropriate occasion upon which He could Himself
reveal and give an explanation of the name ? Well
might this Moses sing in after years : ' Lord, Thou hast
been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the
mountains were brought forth,' — even this Horeb, — ' or
ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God !' 1 Well
' Ps. XC. I, 2.

The Call. 69
might Isaiah testify in later times : ' In all their affliction
He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved
them ; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them ;
and He bare them and carried them all the days of
old.' 1 In flaming characters, there has been here
inscribed for every age : ' Israel's salvation is the work of
God.' ' Happy art thou, O Israel ; who is like unto
thee ?' 2 Who, certainly, if not the many wretched ones
that cried unto the Lord and gained His ear, and who
are now constrained to render thanks unto the Lord,
when they had almost groaned 'Impossible'? Who
more than you and I, if we can thank Him for deliver
ance still greater than that which was here prepared for
Israel — deliverance, too, which, no less than the other,
warrants joyous words like these: 'The Lord looseth
the prisoners' ? s But is it not true, fellow Christians,
that we have groaned beneath a yoke of bondage
heavier by far than Egypt's, and that we were quite as
little able to emancipate ourselves as the posterity of
Jacob were to break their heavy chains ? Nothing had
we to recommend us than our overwhelming misery ;
but that which was impossible with men seemed possible
with Him — the Lord our God. He knew us, just as He
knew Israel, and loved us with an everlasting love ; and
when we could not come to Him, then He broke down
the separating wall and came to us. In Christ, He
chose, called, justified us freely by His grace ; and He
has put to flight, before us, enemies far mightier than
those He scattered from before this Israel ; He has,
besides, revealed to us the prospect of a better Canaan
than that earthly one. He leads us thither, as it were
by His own hand, out of the house of bondage, through
the world into the heavenly home ; nor does He rest
ere the great work of our redemption is completed
1 Isa. lxiii. 9. 2 Deut. xxxiii. 29. 3 Ps. cxlvi. 7.

70 Moses.
there. Well does that work deserve the name ' redemp
tion ;' and yet, even when this great concern has been
for ever settled between God and our own hearts,
how much experience we have, besides, that ever
draws from us again the words, ' Unto God the Lord
belong the issues from death !' 1 We cannot weigh or
measure what these words contain ; but even though
we had no other proof, here they remain, a standing
witness to the truth and force of what received such
confirmation in the heart of Midian, and that, too, in
a way so little likely to be soon forgotten : ' I am the
Lord, I change not ; therefore ye sons of Israel are not
consumed.' 2

What thanksgiving shall we accord Him for all this ?
Another special point, presented by the context, gives
us the reply to what has now been asked. A God who
carefully determines all that is connected with the calling
of His people : such is the third ray of the light shed on
us from the burning bush. We now have reached what
properly was the chief object of this most mysterious
phenomenon. Up till this point, it has been only Israel's
future of which Moses was informed ; now, suddenly,
the enigma of his own life is solved. ' Come, therefore,'
cries the voice (ver. 10), ' and I will send thee unto
Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring my people out of
Egypt.' Nay, it is no mere dream ; he shall himself
become the instrument employed by God to break the
rod of the oppressor. He must even go and gather all
the elders, and then tell them what has now occurred.
He must again, casting aside all fear, enter that palace
where, some fifty years before, he had been so well
1 Ps. lxviii. 20. 2 Mai. iii. 6.

The Call. 71
known, though now he had become unknown ; and
in the name of Israel's God, he must compel His
most rebellious subject on the throne to do his duty, and
obey. Designedly, he must as yet tell Pharaoh only
something of the truth ; if there be a refusal even of the
moderate request to go and offer sacrifice, then will
come out what is within the tyrant's heart, and what the
Lord shall do to humble him. No ; Moses need not
doubt that it is God Himself who gives him this
commission ; for this selfsame mountain (ver. 12), where
he is to offer sacrifices afterwards with God's own
people, forms to him the plainest token of his heavenly
call. His call, — what can we say regarding this which
you have not already thought of long ago ? How
honourable was this errand, — to be sent to Pharaoh
with the full authority of Heaven ; to stand as
mediator between Heaven and earth ; to come forth as
the trusted servant of that God concerning whom the
wisest men in Egypt could but form the merest guess !
All honour to this great ambassador of God ! He is
the first who was endowed with a prophetic ministry,
properly so called, and thus begins the series of those
most venerable men of God, of whom the Lord's fore
runner is to be the greatest and the last. But what an
arduous calling, too, this was, to stand forth, as the
herald of a higher power, before a purpled tyrant ;
to re-inspire, with an elastic faith, a race in whom not
even the slightest spark of hope remained ; to stand
alone before all Egypt, whereas, formerly, he fled before
the shadow of a single Egyptian ! And specially, how
wise and holy was this calling ! For if there be one
single mortal to whom God can well entrust this task,
which angels possibly would covet readily, who is more
fitted for the work than Moses has become ? No, not
before ; but now has come the time to take upon himself

72 Moses.
the leadership of the oppressed, and save, not one, but a
vast multitude — six hundred thousand Israelites ! Till
now, the prince and princess who adopted him were
still alive, and them he could not face without risk
of reproach for base, cruel ingratitude; but now another
king is on the throne, orie towards whom he feels
no obligation, and of whom he is quite indepen
dent. Hitherto, God's Israel had not received sufficient
humbling — had not been harassed and crushed enough
in soul, so as to kiss the hand that came for their
deliverance ; but now, from every mouth and heart
there comes one cry for liberty. Before this time,
though Moses was endowed with many gifts, he had
not been sufficiently matured for his important task ;
but now, he has not merely been at the preparatory
school of Egypt's wisdom, but besides, the higher school
of trial in the land of Midian. That heart, once
as excitable as any sea, has now grown firm, like
Horeb's granite rocks ; that spirit, which in early life
showed such rich blossoms full of promises, now gives
plain indications of a fully ripened crop ; that hand,
which had so long wielded the shepherd's staff, has now
at last attained sufficient steadiness to bear the rod of
God with a becoming dignity. If God had waited
longer still, then Moses' shoulders would have grown too
feeble to receive the burden, almost quite beyond man's
power to bear ; if God had called him earlier, the
instrument would not have been quite strong enough for
all the work ; thus, ' now or never ' is the motto acted
on in Moses' life ! He hears his name called twice, just
as, at later periods, the summons, ' Samuel, Samuel,'
' Simon, Simon,' ' Saul, Saul,' marked those thus named
as chosen vessels of the Lord, even as it was with Moses
now ; and Horeb here becomes the grand dividing line
between the second period of his life and that which

The Call. 73
follows it. Once more : I am quite well aware there
is a difference between this Moses and ourselves ; but
is not Moses' call a type and figure of a calling quite as
glorious, prepared for Christ's redeemed ? Yes, when
we shall have actually been redeemed by Christ, — but
not before,— then we too shall be consecrated prophets
of the Christian faith. We have no more oppressed
ones to lead out, but each one must work zealously for
the promotion of his neighbour's highest joy ; no longer
have we to defy proud princes, but to show unto a hostile
world whose we all are, and whom we wish to serve ;
no longer have we wonders to perform, but we ourselves
are to be real, living wonders of the power of faith and
love : such is the calling, Christian brethren, set before
you by One who is greater far than Moses ever was !
And no less sacred is it than the task here laid on us :
the people of the Lord are destined to become a people
not of kings and priests merely, but of prophets too.
And as it was with Moses, so is it with every one of us ;
God, in His wisdom, fixes the position and the sphere
of all. The word of God came unto us, your ministers,
that we should feed the flock of Christ ; it came to you
who are the heads of families, that each one in his
sphere should show himself a legible epistle to com
mend the gospel unto those around. The word of God
came unto you, rich men, that you should show your
selves good, faithful stewards of the wealth lent you
while here below ; and to you who are indigent, that ye
should work in quietness, and eat the bread of poverty.
The Lord's word came to you, young men, in order that
ye should be strong and overcome the wicked one ; and to
you, parents, that ye should bring up your children in
the instruction and admonition of the Lord. Each one
has his own sphere : Moses had his, and you have yours,
as we have ours, distinct from that of every other man ;

74 Moses.
but all are called to serve one Master. This daily calling
of the Christian may not quite accord with his own
heart's desire ; but Moses is none the less engaged in
working for the Lord when he leads Jethro's sheep, than
when he marches out, the leader of the Israelites. Our
daily calling in this life may change, often quite un
expectedly, and quite apart from any wish of ours :
when Moses was quite willing, God in highest wisdom
was not willing yet ; but as soon as it appears that the
Lord is truly willing, Moses must needs follow Him.
The duties which we must perform in following this
calling may become, instead of lighter, heavier with the
advance of years, but the potter certainly has power
over the clay, to do with it what he may wish ; and
when we have been placed, each at his post, not for
ourselves but for the Lord, whom we can serve in every
sphere, what harm is there though we must strive even
unto blood, if only He is glorified ? ' Faithful is He that
calleth you;'1 and unto all His own He constantly
repeats the words addressed to Moses : ' I shall surely
be with thee!'2 Ye who are called to be His saints,
why do ye hesitate to answer Him with all your heart :
' Speak, Lord ; I too, Thy servant, shall incline mine
ear ' ?

But possibly you put your hand into your bosom,
quite dispirited, while the complaint escapes your lips :
' Who is sufficient for all this ?' You are like Moses, in
your feebleness of faith ! Come, and for your encourage
ment hear, fourthly, how the Lord gives strength unto
His own when they are weak. Might we not have
imagined that the call of Moses should have given him
1 i Thess. v. 24. 2 Ex. iii. 12.

The Call. 75
supreme delight ? So far is this from the reality, that
he even trembles, just as if he were upon the verge of
an abyss. Shall he now go to Pharaoh, and experience
once more the selfsame failure which befell him forty
years before ? One trouble brings another in its train.
' He does not even know in whose name he must speak
to Israel. People will not believe him ; they will say
the Lord hath not appeared to him. He is not eloquent,
but slow of speech and tongue.' And when the diffi
culties have at last been all summed up before Jehovah,
then the timid words, ' I cannot,' are all but withdrawn for
the rebellious words, 'I will not;' so does he beseech
that, as a favour, he shall be now let go free. Do you
exclaim within your heart, 'The disobedient, the re
bellious Moses ' ? I doubt much whether you who say
so ever fairly looked into the soul of that great man of
God, and fully put yourself into his place. Would you
indeed have gone, unhesitatingly, at the first hint ?
Even if you had, the question would remain, whether
you would have done your work so faithfully and well
all through. A thoughtless man will go at once wher
ever a new road presents itself, although it only be to
stumble over obstacles. A thoughtful man will hesitate
and ponder what he does, but only to remain firm and
immoveable after his doubts are overcome. Moses, un
doubtedly, pursued his course of opposition much too far ;
and his concluding words especially, which roused the
anger of the Lord Himself, we neither can excuse nor
yet commend. But quite apart from that, if there were
only something more of Moses' deep humility, we should
not so much miss his strength of faith. Considerations
such as these are just what we might look for in a man
who hesitates to act again as he has done before, until
he has examined what he ought to do ; and let us add,
in passing, that we have in this a striking proof of the

76 Moses.
trustworthiness of the whole history. What forger, who
endeavoured to show off his hero to the best advantage,
would have ever put such words into his mouth ? And
when we read them now, who does not feel that they are
taken from the life ? Moses imagines he has buried in the
sandy desert all his youthful dreams of power and ambi
tion. Who can tell how frequently he must have talked
in confidence with Jethro on the folly of his vain attempt ?
' His best days now are past ; no doubt it is too late.' No,
Moses, not too late, for God's time is assuredly the best !
First, Moses was quite willing, but was not allowed ; now,
he is quite unwilling, but he must, because self-seeking
is extinct, and the gifted servant of the Lord has now,
besides, become a humble one. Hear how, just like
another Abraham, he freely vents his doubts and fears
before the Infinite, and then say whether there can
be anything less like enthusiasm and vain imagination
than what meets us here in so sedate a character. But
mark, too, how the Omnipotent here, as it were, stoops
from His throne of fire, that He may change man's
weakness into strength. First, there is proclamation made
to Moses of a name which forms the pledge of everything ;
and do not fail to mark how that great name is constantly
repeated during the interview, as if God would, with His
own hand, engrave it upon Moses' heart. Then the
future is made known to him in its details, that he may
be even now prepared for the first disappointment and
the glorious issue of the whole. And presently, three
signs are given him, just like credential letters, so that
every doubt, even the most obstinate, may finally give
way. Observe that you have here the first recorded
miracles of sacred history ; and does it not occur to you,
that those first miracles were medicines applied to the
dejected soul of the great prophet of the Old Economy ?
False confidence in his own strength has been destroyed

The Call. yj
in Moses' heart ; but now the real confidence of faith has
yet to be stirred up and strengthened, and to this great
work the Lord here turns, employing types and sacred
symbols to express His promises. Israel has been cast
out as if he were a leper ; but just as the leprous hand
at once becomes quite sound again, so shall the people
who have long been trodden down be raised once more.
The shepherd's staff seems useless for support, but it
will prove a mighty scourge for Pharaoh ; and if Moses
but courageously defies all dangers, they will injure him
as little as the serpent which he seizes, and which is im
mediately turned again to wood. The Nile has been a
blessing unto Egypt ; but just as at Moses' beck the water
turns to blood, so shall he make the righteous curse of
God descend on the oppressors' land. The shepherd thus
becomes a hero of the Lord, the stammerer becomes a
mighty witness for His power and wisdom ; and what
else shall be impossible to him ? If he lack wisdom,
then the Lord will teach him ; if he cannot vent his
thoughts in words, Aaron will stand beside him and be
his interpreter ; nay, what is more, his God will march
at his right hand. Go forth in this thy might, meek
Moses ; multitudes besides thyself shall yet learn by
experience the truth embodied in the words : ' When I
am weak, then am I strong !' x But, brethren, have you
not at times passed through a like experience ? Under
the providence of God, you saw yourself called to a task
which flesh and blood opposed with all their might :
' Lord, ask for anything you will, but not for that !'
Such words as these you prayed within your soul. You
saw a struggle imminent, the very thought of which
caused you to tremble ; then you wished to hide your
self in deep retirement, but the Lord brought you into
the foreground ; no more did you feel the smallest
1 2 Cor. xii. 10.

78 Moses.
pleasure in what was most clearly shown to be your
duty ; but it was a blessed thing for you if, just like
Moses, you cast all your cares upon your God ! For
whereas silence but depresses us, and making moan to
men brings weakness, an outpouring of complaint to God
brings us a share of His almighty strength. Did not He
bear with you ? and did He not Himself remove your
troubles one by one ? Here He directs our eyes to His
eternal faithfulness, as our sure ground of hope ; there
He assures us He has also cleansed us from the leprosy
of sin, and thereby freed us from our greatest load.
Yonder He presents to us, in men we meet, another
prop to give more strength unto our drooping faith ;
and elsewhere He converts the water of our pain, not
into blood, but into wine of heavenly joy. Into the
hands of all His own He puts a staff, which never
breaks, and never fails — the staff of His own word and
promises ; and has it not repeatedly occurred, that,
when we came upon some noxious thing, it was as if the
viper had, for us, quite lost its deadly poison ? Oh, how
little does the world believe what superhuman power
may be inspired into the friends of God, when they have
once felt and acknowledged, to the full, that there is
naught in them but weakness and sheer inability ! But
you who are the followers of Christ have learned and
felt the truth these words contain :
'Tis only when I bend the knee
That I get wings to cleave the skies ;
And I must bend even to the dust,
That I may gain the strength to rise.
And it is only known in heaven how many have been
braced and strengthened, through their intercourse with
God, for fighting, with an almost superhuman power,
against the world and their own hearts. Receive, main
tain, increase that power, through constant drawing from

The Call. 79
the fountain of eternal strength ! Moses is only weak
so long as he leans on his shepherd's staff, instead of
leaning on the Lord his God ; and there is not a
Christian who has not in store for him experiences,
hitherto unknown, of the deep truth contained within
those wondrous words : ' I can do all things, through
Christ which strengthened me.' 1 No, never does the
Lord require us to engage in any work without first
reckoning how much support our weakness needs ;
sooner would Nature change her laws, than God prove
faithless to His word. Blessed, thrice blessed is the
man who only shows a constancy like Moses, as if he
beheld the great Invisible !

Lastly, we here perceive how God rewards obedience in
His people. How could we neglect to cast at least a
single glance at the conclusion of this portion of the
wondrously attractive history ? The loving-kindness
and the terrors of the Lord at last have triumphed over
the persistent, but withal most honest opposition on the
part of Moses. The prophet does not say, in just so
many words, the second time, 'Lo, here am I ;' but he
most plainly shows that henceforth he obeys no other
will than God's. The last remaining trace of his own
will has, as it were, been utterly consumed in the flames of
the burning bush ; now he can go, because he knows with
whom he goes, and where he goes. And now observe
how God rewards all those that seek Him, and how the
first steps upon the path of true obedience have both
light and blessing thrown on them by Him. When
Moses tells his plan, Jethro has not the least objection
to propose ; a further revelation, too, assures him that
1 Phil. iv. 13.

80 Moses.
his enemies are now all dead, and that his life shall be
quite safe. It is remarkable how that consideration had
not once occurred to Moses ; but God takes away even
unseen obstacles, provided He but finds the heart is right
before Him. Presently his brother Aaron comes to meet
him in the desert, as the Lord had promised ; what a
joyful meeting after such long separation, and with such
a work in view ! Again God shows His anger for a
moment on the way ; but even in wrath, our God re
members mercy. What a difference between that head
long flight from Egypt, and that almost unobserved but
most courageous return ; how much less of presumption
there is now, but how much more of the true heroism of
faith ! Who, looking on that little company of travellers,
with their humble beast of burden, would suppose that
all-prevailing power lies in the shepherd's staff of one,
while a momentous message from the God of heaven
rests on the lips of the other traveller ? The elders of
the tribes are not slow in perceiving what a glorious
dawn has chased away the long and dreary night ; and
the objections Moses looked for and suggested, he has
not the least occasion to remove, — another proof that
God, in the most wondrous way, can put to shame our
little faith. Scarce do the leaders of the people see
Moses' credentials, ere they no longer doubt that he is a
divine ambassador. According to the beautiful account
given at the end of chapter fourth, they bow their heads
and worship ; before the call of Moses, they had raised
a cry for help, but now, instead of that, they raise a
shout of thanksgiving. If Moses bowed his head with
others there to worship God, who shalL describe how
that face blushed for shame over his former lack of
faith ; and how, times without number afterwards, he
thanked the Lord because he had been called just then
and there, and thus ? The peace which he already feels

The Call. 8i
before the coming strife is the first-fruit of prompt
obedience ; and when he now puts his hand into his
bosom, he feels his heart beat in anticipation of the
coming victory. Nay, say not that the struggle was but
properly beginning now, and that it was not until further
on that Moses felt complete discouragement and dis
appointment of his dearest hopes. Beyond this point
we cannot pass upon the field of history ; but it is quite
enough for us to know he has had often to complain of
men, but never of his God. Once like a sprout, but now an
oak, each storm had made him send his roots the deeper
down into the Rock of Ages ; and far indeed was he from
ever having wished with all his heart that he had not been
called, and that the shepherd's cot had been his grave.
So true is it that the calling of God is not merely with
out repentance, but fraught with blessing, and that even
on this side the grave there is abundant recompense for
all the sacrifice we make in following the Lord's com
mands. No little trouble — I speak as a man — does it
cost the God of boundless love in making us die wholly
unto self, and bend our wills to His. But who among us
has not, long ere now, both seen and felt that there is
great reward attached to even a feeble but sincere
attempt to do the will of God ? Scarce can we say with
all our heart, ' Lord, Thou art now too strong for me ;
Thou hast quite overcome me,' ere He shows to us, in
every kind of way, that all His paths are faithfulness and
mercy. The feeble steps of children walking in the path
of new obedience are led and steadied by an unseen
hand. Stones of stumbling, such as might obstruct our
path or bring us harm, are carefully removed with far
more than a mother's care. The Lord presents Himself
to us when treading faith's dark path, and greets us
now with kindly word, now with some great, astounding
deed. Bonds that must needs be broken through, He
F

82 Moses.
will Himself both quietly and easily unloose. Mists
that might rise before us He dispels, ere they can hide
the sun from us. Instead of those we leave behind for
His sake, He gives other friends and brethren ; and in
communion with the saints He gives abundant recom
pense for all the friendship of the world we have re
nounced. There falls not to the ground a single word of
all the good which He has promised to bestow on uswhen
entering upon the narrow path ; and actual experience
soon shows that we are strengthened for accomplishing
all that He promises we shall be able to effect, using our
staff of faith. Sometimes He hides His face, and then
we are afraid, as Moses, when upon his journey, was in
danger of His life because his son had not been circum
cised ; but when, again, like Moses, we at once go forth
anew, relying on the strength of God, our ' path is as the
shining light, that shineth more and more unto the per
fect day.'1 And what, again, shall we have to expect
when we arrive among the vast assembly of the Lord's
first-born, written in heaven, and there tell how the Lord
appeared to us too by the way, and meet again with
brethren from whom we have been divided here by
death ? Surely we too shall bow our heads and worship ;
for what Moses saw will be the substance of our history :
when the bush burned, but yet was not consumed by the
fierce flame of persecution, then especially the Lord was
near, although the very brightness of the flame prevented
Him from being seen !
'The bush :' that word conducts us back again to the
great scene of Moses' call. We have already seen the
glory of the Lord ; we have been shown, as in a glass,
how God always reveals Himself unto His own. But
when the past has in this way and in a certain sense
become the present, what is there more natural than
1 Prov. iv. 1 8.

The Call. 83
that, taking our standpoint here, we should again look
back, yea, and look forivard too ?
Would that our hearts condemned us less, when, look
ing back upon the way we have already traversed, we
inquire whether we too, like Moses, have yet given heed
unto the voice of God. We are, of course, aware that
with the Father of Lights there is no variableness or
shadow of turning ; that He now shows Himself to us
in a much more attractive and much softer light than in
the fire at Horeb ; that He has addressed us, not twice
only, but innumerable times, through heart and con
science. And yet, are there not many of us here who
must feel thoroughly ashamed when we are asked, ' Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me?' * Nay, is there any single individual who
can obey the plain command, ' Put thy hand into thy
bosom,' without the previous assurance that it shall be
leprous when he draws it out again ? Thfe bright light
of God's glory has indeed risen over every one of us, but
it has not therefore arisen in our hearts ; and who can tell
me now how many there are here to whom the voice of
God has come already, but who have not yet, like Moses,
answered with a ready ' Here am I ' ? How many souls
there are requiring nothing less than such a season of
retirement and of thorough preparation as this Moses
spent in Midian, — such, too, as Paul, in later times,
spent in Arabia, just after he was called ! Nay, what
vast multitudes there are who never yet have turned
their minds, with half the interest displayed by Moses in
the burning bush, unto God's highest revelation made in
Christ ! How many are there so completely occupied
with earthly cares, that even when they go into God's
kingdom they have not so much as shaken the dust
from off their feet ! How many are there who, on the
1 John xiv. 9.

84 Moses.
most frivolous pretexts, renounce their heavenly calling,
but without acknowledging, like Moses, in all honesty,
that they have hitherto quite failed ! In short, how
many are there that go forth, having before them death,
the grave, eternity, while they have not that staff which
all God's people grasp so eagerly ! Nay, fellow-sinner,
it was not that God has left Himself without a witness
unto any one of you ; but it is you yourselves who are to
blame, because you still remain without a Moses' heart
and ear. Secretly, perhaps, but obstinately, you have
turned from that Holy One who called you to His ser
vice, and to have communion with Himself; take heed
how you shall answer on that day, when He who here
appeared to Moses in the burning bush shall, with de
vouring fire, take vengeance on those who have not
obeyed the gospel of His Son ! Nay, there is no com
munion between light and darkness : ' Draw not nigh
hither!' These are words of God, still, as of old, ad
dressed to every one who rashly ventures to approach
Him with the dust of earth upon his feet. Oh, then,
would that you but allowed yourself to be brought near
unto that Son without whom none can come unto the
Father ; and that you forsook your path of error quite as
readily as Moses did his desert wanderings ! Perhaps, as in
his case, the greater portion of your life has been already
spent ; still there is time, but soon it may for ever be too
late ! In Christ, the unseen God has first come unto you
as He appeared to Moses ; nor does He reveal Himself
in dreadful majesty, but as a Friend : then come to Him,
and let yourself be taught, guided, and consecrated as
God's servant ! You may approach, not with the anxious
fear of Moses, but with childlike faith, and in His coun
tenance behold the glory of the Lord. And then you
also may believe— oh, pray that you may truly learn
what these words mean ! — this God is now my Father in

The Call. 85
Christ ; His will is my eternal safeguard now ; His
grace is all-sufficient, too, for me. Yes, only then, but
then assuredly, the privilege of Moses will be yours ; ye
shall run and not be weary, ye shall walk and not faint !
But are you willing for the future also to continue
walking in the clear light of His countenance ? ' What
need is there for such a question ?' some one may ex
claim ; ' what would life be if that light did not shine
on my dark path ? ' Yes, you have answered rightly ;
only, see to it that deeds do not belie your words.
Nothing of all that has been said in Moses' praise do we
retract. But can we part with him to-day without once
more considering how, through the weakness of his faith
and opposition to God's will, he only aggravated his
own troubles, and was almost on the point of missing
his high calling ? Would that there were no Christians
who, like Moses, we might almost say, delight in heap
ing up objections, and in answering that grand, irrevoc
able 'Yea' of God's word with an everlasting 'But!'
This was forgiven Moses ; but he was, moreover, wholly
cured of it. The Lord will bear with this in you too,
ye who are upright in heart, but not that you may
always be as fickle-minded. You may rather see, in
what is here, that doubt and controversy cannot form a
standing-ground on which we may remain ; they rather
are peculiar to a transition-time. God gives complete
solution of the trifling difficulties and objections which
we raise ; but after that, we must either retreat or else
advance at His appointed time. ' Retreat ? — no, never ! '
Then, in God's name, advance ! from faith to stronger
faith, and straightway, too, from light to greater light,
from strength to strength, from victory to victory, —
still on ! To this one point alone let us give earnest
heed, that when, like Moses, we are asked, 'What is

86 Moses.
there in thine hand ?' we may boldly reply, ' A staff,
— the staff of faith ! ' At every step let us put our
hand in our bosom, that we may feel conscious of
our own uncleanness ; but let it as frequently be laid
in faith upon the sacrifice of Christ, that we may be
cleansed from our leprosy. Let us march bravely on,
although no rest awaits us now ! The flame is quenched,
but still the bush, though scorched, is flourishing ; the
time of trial passes by, — the fruit will ripen in eternity !
However long or short the way may be, our staff shall
never fail ; and though ' that great sight' may vanish
from before our eyes, we ever meet with revelations of
the glory of the Lord, each one more beautiful than that
preceding it. Even in the darkest night, only let that
name shine on you as if it were inscribed with stars, the
name which God here gives Himself, ' I Am that I Am.'
Heaven and earth pass away, even this great Horeb
disappears, but ' I Am that I Am,' saith He who is the
Lord and the Almighty One. ' I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob :' have you not heard, my fellow
Christians, how Jesus, your own Saviour, has explained
these words ? ' God is not the God of the dead, but of
the living ; for all live unto Him.' It is enough for us,
He lives, and He abides ; then, whether it be here on
earth, or up in heaven, we must all live by Him, for
Him, with Him ! Amen !

CHAPTER IV.
Wfyz Sourneg,
' Wherefore criest thou unto me ? speak unto the children of Israel, that
they go forward. ' — Ex. xiv. 1 5.
It was a remarkable message that the Lord once sent
by Micah the prophet to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,
' Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your rest.' 1 That
message was intended as a loud forewarning of the evils
then so imminent, dangers from which, perhaps, there
still remained sufficient time to flee ; and what the words
referred to soon became quite evident, when both the
city and the temple were devoured by fire. We thank
God that we are not called upon, especially on such a
day as this,2 to come before you in the character of one
who has but evil tidings to announce. And yet, are
you aware of any single sentence which — except, per
haps, the apostolic greeting — we could now employ as
more appropriate to this occasion than what has just
been expressed ? And is it not as if the sounds of
New Year's morn united to proclaim these words to
man, the mortal and the Christian, ' Arise ye, and de
part, for this is not your rest'? 'Rest!'- — we have
never yet found it on earth, at least not in ourselves
or men ; and when does it seem to elude us more
1 Mic. ii. 10.
2 This sermon was preached January 1, 1858.
87

88 Moses.
than just at the beginning of the year ? As if the world
were quite ashamed for having spent the few hours
yesterday in meditation at the grave of the old year, she
hastens, with exceeding joy, to greet the new-born year.
Outside are crowds of those who wish men all pro
sperity, in words too often thoughtlessly expressed, and
as mechanically listened to ; and even the Christian
feels it difficult to keep himself from being carried off
into the whirlpool that roars around. Who can this day
— at least, with the success he seeks for — say unto the
sun of his own life, ' Thou sun, stand still ' ? Or who
has power to stop the restless flight of time, and
make him bind his wings a while ? But ' Forward ! ' is
the universal cry, raised yet more loudly when the
morning rays first break through night's dark clouds ;
nay, let me say, it seems as if, each year, the sand-grains
in the hour-glass of our lives fall faster than before.
' Forward ! ' It is the same whether we still have to
ascend the summit of life's mountain, or now leave it
quite behind, and have begun, slowly at first, but with
increasing pace, to make descent. ' Forward ! ' What
could be more appropriate than this, to form the burden
of our first address on this New Year ? So rarely does
it happen that the selfsame motto is presented by the
world and by religion, that, when this occurs even once,
we cannot let the fact pass unobserved. You have
done well in visiting the Lord's house now, on the first
morning of this year. How very much does our success
depend upon a well-considered start ! Where could we
hope to find more light regarding an uncertain future
than before the face of Him who is assuredly the hearer
of our prayer ? ' I am a stranger in the earth ; hide not
Thy commandments from me ! ' But, risen from the
presentation of this prayer, do you now ask what God
the Lord requires of you this day ? Do you ask this at

The Journey. 89
us, your ministers ? If we inquire at Him together, it is
just as if we heard this answer,
' Speak unto the Children of Israel, that
they go forward.'
You will remember that, once and again in week
day services, we have already treated of some leading
passages in Moses' life. So little reason had we, even
for this hour, to set aside material so rich in its attrac
tions, that, on the contrary, whatever other passages of
Sacred Writ occurred to us as suitable for this occasion,
we were always, as if by an unseen hand, led back to
this. Was it to satisfy the wish of our own heart in
marching forward on the path of life marked out to us ?
Was it because the Lord well knew that this or that
one would be present, who might this day wish just for
some words like these, rather than anything besides,
because he feels his need of them ? However that may
be, we could not hurriedly pass over this, because,
familiar though it be to all, comfort and light abound
in it. If we have come together to consult with one
another and with God, making His word our guide, as
to the proper mode of setting out in this life's journey,
let us fancy that we heard addressed again, to every one
of us, the voice of God which spake in former times to
Israel at a crisis in their history.
We only need a few words to connect the view here
given with what has formerly been said. We left the
prophet of Jehovah on the frontiers of Midian, in com
pany with Aaron, his brother, ready to present to
Pharaoh the credentials of his heavenly commission.
But what a great deal has occurred during the interval
between his entry and his leaving Egypt for the second
time ; and what fell blows have been inflicted on the
stubborn tyrant by that rod used in the working of the

90 Moses.
miracles, but now transformed into a scourge ! The
brief impressions made, at nine successive times, have
always given way to insolent hard-heartedness ; but
now at last, it would appear, at this tenth time, his heart
has melted through intensity of pain, though it is not
yet broken by a true repentance. What a dreadful
night was that on which Egypt, through all its length
and breadth, became like one sad charnel-house ; while,
in the land of Goshen, cries of deep distress gave place
to songs of the deliverance ! The Passover is instituted,
and the lamb is slain ; the feast is kept with grateful
heart : a few hours more, and Israel, freed from slavery,
are on their way to the Red Sea, laden with Egypt's
spoils. But does it not appear as if the sun of liberty
had only risen above the low horizon to conceal itself at
once behind dark clouds ? At God's command, Israel
has encamped between Migdol and the sea-shore ; and
scarce does Pharaoh hear of it, than it appears that his
hostility towards Jehovah and His people is incurable.
In hot haste the warriors are gathered, horses harnessed,
chariots put in readiness : the Egyptians be upon thee,
Israel, and with them they bring death — not merely
slavery ! Is it surprising that the groans excited by
the love of life rise louder than the voice of gratitude in
those who scarce are freed from slavery, and that they
curse the hour which brought them to this fatal pass ?
Complaint is made to Moses, who in turn brings it, in
silence, unto Him who is the only helper in this time of
need. And — mark how well He understands complaints
made by His people, even when these have not been
expressed — the Lord does not confound with shame
His servant, who has cried so loudly to the people to be
calm and wait for the deliverance, but who has also
called in silence on his God, seeking deliverance from
Him. ' Why criest thou to me ? ' So speaks the voice

The Journey. 91
of Him who sits as King upon the flood : ' Speak unto
the children of Israel, that they go forward ! '
Oh, what a moment that was ! — one of the most
sublime and memorable in the annals of God's special
providence, — one of the most critical in Moses' life!
We cannot think of making even a remote comparison
of what then happened with like instances, and of
exalting what was but a special case into a universal
law. Many of you, whose life flows on in smooth and
noiseless stream, can scarce conceive what then was
passing through the minds of that vast multitude. But
' whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning ; ' l and however different our circum
stances are from those of Moses and of Israel, in this
at least we are at one with them, — we must advance,
whether we will or not. But does not that advance
possess sufficient interest and importance to invite a
special study of the case, for once at least ? Methinks that
every one who takes the smallest pains to think, must ask
himself such questions as the following : Whence must I
start ? what path ought I to choose ? how shall I find
that path ? how can I walk in it ? and where, after my
course is run, — be that course long or short, — shall
I be found ? The history of bygone times is there to
give you a reply. It points out, with sufficient clear
ness, the best mode of journeying through life. ' Go
forward' (1) from that point to which God has con
ducted us ; (2) along the path God bids us take ; (3) by
the light which God affords ; (4) with the staff which
God provides ; and (5) to the land which God prepares.
Such is the sketch of what we shall present for your
consideration ; further, we shall seek, in closing, to im
press the whole upon your minds. Give us a patient
hearing ; but especially, apply the truth to your own
1 Rom. xv. 4.

92 Moses.
case. As for ourselves, we lift our eyes unto the hills,
whence all our help shall come. Our help is from the
Lord, who made the heaven and earth. Amen.

1.
You are, then, willing to go forward ? But whether
you will or not, you must. What better starting-point
can you discover than that from which Israel began,
— the point to which God has brought you now ?
'That is self-evident,' this one and that one will
reply ; ' what point can we set out from, if not that
which we have just attained i ' Stop for a moment, my
impatient fellow-traveller ; we are not speaking of the
point to which you have now brought yourself, but of
that to which God has conducted you ; and you must
very soon, I think, feel that there may be an important
difference between these two. For bear in mind that
Israel had not been advancing to the land of liberty
and rest, but they had been rebellious towards God and
Moses ; they had turned their face to Egypt, choosing
there to wear their chains as slaves ; and they had
thereby brought themselves to such a depth of trouble
and anxiety as made their prospect terrible : do you
believe that, in this case, the voice of God would have
been heard, ' Let Israel advance ' ? ' Impossible ! ' you
will exclaim ; ' God may, indeed, command us to go
forward from the point to which He has Himself con
ducted us, but not by any means to make advance on
that wrong path which we have chosen through our own
folly and our sin. In such a case, God must have
rather asked, ' Why do you cry to me ? You are your
selves the cause of your distress and misery ; there is no
safety on this road, but only death and horror ; speak
unto the Israelites that they return immediately ! ' But

The Journey. 93
now, because the Lord Himself has pointed out the
place where they were to encamp, between Pi-hahiroth
and Baal-Zephon, they are in the position which He
bade them occupy ; they how are standing in the place
where He would have them be : nov/ we may speak of
going on. Do you not see already what is our design ?
and are you not applying it to your own case ? ' Ad
vance ! ' — it is a glorious word ; and that which it
denotes deserves the application of our noblest powers.
Who does not look with pleasure and with admiration
upon him who strives to reach the mountain-top, who
does not count the difficulties he has overcome, because
he longs to find still greater things beneath him, and
who, with unwearied feet, still rises, till he sees the
whole beneath ? But, in advancing, the main question
is, — not whether we are rising rapidly enough, but
simply whether we are really on the right track, and
keeping the great end in view. When those who lived
in Noah's time had urged each other forward in the
sense in which that word was understood by most of
them, the path they trod brought them at last into
the waters of the flood ; and when, in later times, the
Israelites urged one another forward on the path of dis
obedience, then they were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Yes; ' Forward ' is still a glorious word, but not the first,
scarcely the second that we should employ ; and you
will be in a position to apply it with advantage to your
selves only when, like these ransomed ones, you have
an Egypt at your back, and a Canaan before. But
what think you ? Here is a man who, during all the
year now past, has served the world with his whole heart,
and been in love with sin ; it would have been a great
deal had even the last days and hours disposed him to
more earnestness and modesty ; then instantly there
rises up once more the difficulty, — may our first, our

94 Moses.
sole word be, ' Advance ' ? But yonder is another man,
who, through great thoughtlessness, has fallen into
trouble, and is on the track which he himself chose,
in his utter selfishness ; but now his feet are ever more
and more entangled in a snare which he constructed for
himself. Would it not be to tempt the Lord, if, in the
name of God, we promised him deliverance, instead of
earnestly inquiring, ' Is the path you tread indeed the
right one ? ' It is easy to sing words like these, —
' Come, let us boldly march along ;'
but it were better, first of all, to ask the question, 'Am I
really in the position which God has appointed me, or is
it through mere human influence that I have come into
this path ?' We are not, in our natural estate, like Israel
by the sea-shore, but like Israel in Egypt. For we bend
before the power of sin, unable to defend or save our
selves : the constant prey of death, we have no other
prospect than to suffer ever deeper misery, unless God
grant us, from above, deliverance and life. Are you, too,
still sold unto sin, and quite as far from God at the be
ginning of this year as you have been at the commence
ment of so many hitherto ? Then we shall not, to such
as you, speak of advancing, but of humiliation and of
instantaneous return. ' Thus saith the Lord,' we cry to
you, in words first uttered by another man of God,
' stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
find rest for your souls.'1 O man of sin, the path you
now pursue leads down to death ; repentance is the only
way to life, — regeneration of the soul the first, although
perhaps the least felt requisite for entering on the new
period. Nay, no advance ere you have first stood still,
made full confession of your guilt, sought for deliver-
1 Jer. vi. 1 6.

The Journey. 95
ance from worse than Egypt's bondage, and cried for
blood more precious than the blood of even the spotless
Paschal lamb, to hide your sins ! Whoever you may
be, do not advance another step till you have asked
yourself, in the Lord's name, the vital question, ' Was
the path that I have hitherto been treading the broad
way down to ruin, or the narrow path to heaven ?
Am I, in thoughtlessness, but treading in the footsteps
of the multitude, or listening to the voice of truth ?'
God does not speak to us of going forward till He has
first taken us by the hand to speak with us of our salva
tion. And He promises to fight upon our side only when
we no longer fight against Himself. To Egypt His
command is not, ' Go forward,' but, ' Back, for your life,
if you wish to escape swift death!' It is God's people
only who can hear, on New Year's morn, like Israel, the
call, ' Fear not ; stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord which He will show to you to-day.' And when we
meet Him with the question, ' Lord, how shall this be ? '
the absolute command sounds in our ears, ' Advance

' Advance !' The order may be given easily, but is it
quite as speedily performed ? Then listen, in the second
place, to what is further given in the summons : advance
along the way which God commands. ' Which God
commands.' This, in a certain aspect, makes the thing
much easier, but in another much more difficult. You
will at once perceive this when you place yourself again
in the position of the Israelites. Moses need not, in
deep anxiety, inquire, ' Whither ?' for there is but one
path, and not another given him to choose. There is
the most peremptory command not to go back ; nor
would good come of turning to the right or left ; more-

96 Moses.
over, there are mountains rising up to heaven, and rocks,
which shut the people in, as if within a fortress. For
ward, then ! But there is a huge watery grave that
threatens any one who dares advance one step ; there is
no vessel waiting by which even a single individual may
cross ; there is no course left open, for the utmost bounds
of all hope of deliverance have now been reached.
' Wherefore criest thou unto me ? Go forward,' says
Jehovah ; ' I have commanded the sea to make a way
for you.' How Moses must have felt on actually taking
the first step among the waves, and entering upon that
path which never had been trodden hitherto ! And how
must Israel have felt when called to follow him, with all
that they held dear around them, — driven onward as by
a resistless power, in order to escape, if possible, from
Pharaoh, but with death before them did not God pre
vent ! Well might the sacred poet of a later period
declare, ' O God, Thy way was in the sea, and Thy path
in the great waters, and Thy footsteps were not known I'1
But well may we, also, in spite of not a little difference,
find a resemblance to the path on which the Lord once
more calls you and me to make advance. That way
itself is, in its leading features, quite as plain, as difficult,
and yet withal as safe, as that for which the Israelites
now looked. If we are Christians, there is only one
way possible for our understanding, our faith, our con
science ; and that is the way God bids us go. ' Have I
not commanded you ?' asks God of every one of us, as
He asked Joshua, and points us, as with outstretched
finger, to the path He chose for us. The course of
circumstances marks it out, and His unerring word
makes it even still more plain. Backward we cannot,
dare not go, nor do we wish ; at least, to seek that
would be quite as sinful as the hankering of Israel for
1 Ps. Ixxvii. 20.

The Journey. 97
Egypt's fleshpots. What lies behind us in the past must
there be left in deep oblivion, — the world with its attrac
tions, sin with its seductions, youth with its lovely but
deceitful dreams ! Around, there is as little to afford us
a safe prospect as the rocks that stood in Israel's way.
Before us lies the path on which the Lord is leading us,
— the path of self-denial, toil, and conflict, with as little
to attract poor flesh and blood as Israel's watery path.
Oh, how much need there is for saying, from the bottom
of the heart, and unreservedly, ' Lord, I will follow Thee
whithersoever Thou goest ! Speak but one word, and I
shall go, even where I see no path, but only clouds and
mists.' There you are sitting, my dear sister, with the
precious memories of what is past full in your view, but
from which you cannot turn your eyes away : hark !
how there sounds your Leader's voice, ' Advance ! '
There you are standing, my dear brother, with a future
all before you, — one on which you cannot ponder with
out covering your face behind your hands, in terror
at the dreadful visions you see rising not far off ; and
yet you must abide that future ! Nay, not merely wait
for it, but go to meet it, and that by a path in which
we feel the stones as sharp as Israel found the waves
untrustworthy ; or it is in the company of those with
whom we find as little ease and comfort as did Moses
when surrounded by a wicked race ; or it is through a
dry and weary land, as thirsty as the desert of Arabia,
after the Red Sea had been left behind. What shall we
say to you but this ? See that the path before you is
indeed the way appointed by the Lord ; and do not
venture on a single step before you bow the knee to Him
in deep humility. But if it be quite evident that just this,
• and no other, is the road which God deems best for you,
then act as if you heard His voice from heaven saying,
' Why do you cry to me ? Surely you know that I

98 Moses.
am not a God who says, " Go forward," without giving
strength wherewith to go.' The great, the all-important
question is, — not whether you see light, but whether you
are truly willing to go whither the Father of Lights is
guiding you ; not whether the way is .through the sea or
through the sand, but whether it is really God's way.
If so, then what He promises on this New Year to all
His people is, ' Fear not, for I am with thee ; be thou
not dismayed, for I am thy God ; I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness.' x How many striking
instances you have, how much light from your own past
history, to prove that when the first decisive step was
only taken with an eye turned towards God, He opened
paths through tangled thickets, made your difficulties
disappear, as did the waves from Moses' presence, and
then brought to pass events as wonderful as the destruc
tion of His people's enemies ! Nay, verily, God has
not changed, so that He now should call His people to
advance into the sea, and leave them there to perish
in the flood. As we see here, even that which seems
impossible to which He calls His people, must just for
that very reason be quite possible ; nay, more, the issue
plainly proves it was the very best — indeed, the only
safe course to pursue. Suppose the Israelites, alarmed
at the idea of advancing through the waves, had taken
time to think, and then attempted to retreat ; or sought,
amidst the mountains on each side, an opening by which
they might escape approaching death : according to the
judgment of the natural man, they would have acted
with the utmost prudence, yet they would have but been
hastening into the yawning grave. The passage through
the sea turns out to be much safer than the path along
the quiet shore, as soon as it appears that God is with us ;
! Isa. xii. 10

The Journey. 99
for — and let it be inscribed on all your hearts, so as to be
remembered through the year — safety does not depend
upon the road, but on the guide we choose. It is pre
cisely when the prophet Jonah seeks to flee from Nineveh,
and find a safe retreat in Tarshish, that such mortal
danger comes so close on him ; and, on the other hand,
when Paul, led by the Lord to Rome, courageously defies
Euroclydon and every storm, his life is saved, although
the ship is lost. Far better is it to pursue what seems a
hopeless track, with God upon our side, than, without
God, or quite against His will, to tread a path, however
smooth, that flesh and blood has opened up to us. There
is no danger if His mighty hand preserves us ; thousands
may perish on our right, and tens of thousands on our left,
whilst we remain unharmed. Our life is ever free from
danger when we risk it in the service of the Lord ;
because, as has been truly said, we are immortal while
God needs us here. Not a single hair of Israel is hurt,
although they now seem thoroughly entangled in a snare
from which no power of men or angels can deliver them ;
while Pharaoh, in the midst of all his hosts, already
totters on the verge of the abyss ! Why should we, then,
retreat a single inch-breadth, even on a road beset with
every kind of difficulty, when the God who calls is also
faithful, and does far above what we can ask or think ?

' But what avails it me, even though I know the way,
so long as, in short-sightedness, I still must grope about
under dark clouds-?' You are quite right ; but you too,
just like Israel, are this day summoned to advance under
the light that God affords. You can imagine that you
now behold the mysterious fiery pillar, scattering its
golden rays upon the silvery waters in the darkness of

100 Moses.
the night, and straightway turning its fierce lightnings
on the host of the Egyptians. You see that, while the
waters seem raised up, as if they were a wall on either
side, the myriads advance quite fearlessly, because their
eye is turned towards that emblem of Jehovah's presence
moving slowly on. You will remember, too, how that
mysterious cloud gave ever afterwards the signal for a
halt and for advance again ; and how Jehovah always
showed His will to Moses out of that same cloudy pillar.
However much of enigma remains connected with this
subject, you can easily perceive that to go forward would
have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, had not
the Lord Himself, in such a way as this, prepared one
object to which all Israel might turn their eyes ; and in
your own mind you will have already been extolling the
good fortune of the chosen race in having such a Guide.
But say, has not God, in His written word, sent light from
heaven sufficient in amount and clear enough to brighten,
with its friendly rays, many a gloomy night and many a
cloudy day ? And have you ever been kept waiting
long without an answer, when, with the earnest question,
' What will the Lord have me to do ? ' you took your
precious Bible up, in silent solitude, not to consult it,
like so many, just as if it were a kind of heathen oracle, —
examining the first page that might open up to you, —
but earnestly endeavouring to find out what the Lord
desires ? If you then looked upon your Lord as if He
were before your eyes, and placed yourself, in spirit, at
His feet, that you might know what is His good and
perfect will ; and if, as in His presence, you inquired,
' What will be most conducive to the Father's honour,
to the joy of heaven, the highest good of all the brethren,
and the benefit of my own soul ?' — we pity you indeed,
if yours was never the experience of Moses at those
blessed seasons when the Lord removed for him the

The Journey. ioi
veil of mystery, and spake with him as man holds con
verse with a friend ! But is it not the case that we are
just like that rebellious Israel, — constantly inclined to
choose their own way rather than simply pursue the path
to which the cloudy pillar guided them ? And even
after we have been already taught, on numberless occa
sions, through the shame and injury that have befallen
us, we still direct our eyes continually to the ignis fatuus
of human wisdom, when we rather should fear God, and
give attention to His word. We all have naturally
something of those whom Isaiah, in a certain place,
describes as lighting torches for themselves in darkness,
and encompassing themselves with sparks ; but pre
sently they fall, covered with burns, which their own
kindling has produced.1 During the year now closed,
many miscalculations have been made, because God was
excluded from the reckoning ; on New Year's morning
there are many clouds on many hearts, even of those
who meet you with a free and merry air, because they do
not lay to heart or credit the advice, ' To the law and to
the testimony : if they speak not according to this word,
no light shall dawn on them.'2 Would that they only
knew what mischief they were doing who desire, at any
cost, to rob us of our childlike faith in God and His
unerring word ! If we gave ear to them, we would be
now advancing in as much uncertainty and insecurity as
Israel on that gloomy night, had not the fiery pillar
shone high overhead. Would that all those who gradu
ally have forgotten to employ the Bible as their safest
chart in journeying through this world's wilderness,
would but consider what must be the consequence if
they will still allow themselves to be misled by guides
who neither know nor can point out the way, and if
they listen readily to every voice but that of God's
1 Isa. I. n. 2 Isa. viii. 20 [Dutch trans., and Eng. marg. rendering].

102 MOSES.
unerring word ! Had conscience much on this score to
accuse you also on the closing evening of the year ? and
had you to confess it as a sin before the Lord, that you
allowed yourself to be misled by the prevailing spirit of
the age, and failed in paying honour to the word of God ?
Consider, and your conscience but confirms the truth of
what we say ; think of the want of constancy and joy
which now depresses you, as if it were a righteous judg
ment sent by Him who will not let His light be dis
regarded with impunity, — a loud and earnest call, too,
that you should, like Israel of old, say, ' I shall go and
return, for then it was better with me than now.'1 Yes,
to return to God and to His word, and to become like
little children, instead of foolishly and proudly fancying
we have outgrown the word : such is the only way of
having realized, in our experience, the lovely prospect
given in the words, ' Ye shall go out with joy and be led
forth with peace.' 2 But whoso follows Jesus, the great
central figure of the Old and New Testament Scriptures,
shall not walk in darkness ; and not until we once more
make resolve, ' I will hear what God the Lord will speak
to me,' shall we also experience the truth of which the
Psalmist sings, ' He shall speak peace to His people and
to His saints.' 3 And what should hinder you from
choosing that same word of God to be a lamp unto your
feet, a light unto your path ? Should the obscurities
and enigmas that here present themselves to you prove
such a barrier ? Even the fiery pillar had for Israel its
impenetrable and mysterious side ; but this much they
perceived quite well, that it afforded them more light
than a thousand other lights. And there is something
-wondrous in the fact that this great light illumines
everything, although you know not where it has its seat ;
nor can you find in anything besides a proper sub-
1 Hos. ii. 7. 2 Isa. Iv. 12. 3 Ps. Ixxxv. 8.

The Journey. 103
stitute when it has been removed. Or — just acknow
ledge it — are you offended at the vehemence with which
the word of God denounces sin ? Yes, verily, the cloudy
pillar sent forth dreadful thunderbolts, but they were
only aimed at hardened ones like Pharaoh ; and that
same light of God's unspotted holiness, which is so
terrible to sinners, is the consolation of all those who
make His mercy the foundation of their hopes. Or has
that light no longer an attraction for you, inasmuch as
it has lost the splendour of most novelties ? Surely the
fiery pillar was quite as invaluable in the fortieth year
that followed Israel's Exodus, as in the first night when
they were redeemed ? And should you not be rather
cheered by the consideration that, when everything
to-day announces instability and change, the word of
God endures for aye ? So, too, the fiery pillar shone as
gloriously over the heads of those who grew up in the
desert as before the eyes of those who had beforetime
dwelt in Egypt ; and when Moses had attained his
hundredth year, he saw another generation round him,
but God's light in heaven still shone on him as friendly
as before. Oh, look on it, rejoice in it, and walk by it, ye
who have hitherto been out of Christ, sitting in darkness
and the shadow of death ! Yes, now, now there is light
to guide us on our way, because the Sun of Righteousness
gives forth its cheering beams !
4.
But do you make complaint — not against God, but
rather against yourself? And do you fear your strength
will fail ? We could not urge you to advance, did we
not also, in the fourth place, indicate the staff which
God bestows on us. Once more turn to the Red Sea.
How stately and how strong appears the form of Moses

104 MOSES.
when contrasted with the trembling hosts who even
already fancy their last hour has come ! But what is
there, too, in his hands ? A staff, which seems to have
the power of driving out the waters from their bed. Lo,
there they flee, as if some mighty arm pursued them !
Hark ! there sounds the voice of God once more :
' Stretch out thy rod, and let the waves close over
Pharaoh's chariots, his horsemen, and his horse !' At
once, after the song of gratitude has sounded forth, they
journey on to Elim and to Rephidim, to Massah and to
Meribah, to Horeb and to Nebo ; but whatever Moses
leaves behind at any spot where they encamp, he takes
good care always to bring his staff with him. Each
morning sees him take it up anew before Jehovah's face ;
encouraged, comforted, with it he ascends and descends
the mountain where he sees his brother die ; he does not
set it down till he has taken the concluding step in his
laborious career ; and when at last this prop falls from
his hands, lo, there he is before the Lord, who gave
this staff to him ! Do not your thoughts anticipate my
words already, — in esteeming it a precious privilege that
God does not refuse a staff like this to any one of us ?
To every one of His own people, at their setting out on
the great journey of this life, He gives the promise : ' I
will instruct thee, and teach thee concerning the way
which thou shalt go ; I will counsel thee ; mine eye shall
be upon thee.' x And as soon as, by the operation of the
Holy Ghost, He has produced and strengthened in our
hearts a living faith, then, too, He puts a staff into our
trembling hands ; and our experience is given in the
prophet's wondrous words : ' They that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up
with wings as eagles.' 2 The staff of faith, the only, but,
1 Ps. xxxii. 8 [Dutch trans., and English marg. rendering].
3 Isa. xl. 31.

The Journey. 105
besides, the adequate support upon the changing path
through life : you know, of course, what we refer to now ?
We do not mean that faith which men may have, to some
extent, even apart from Christ, — the belief that there
exists a God who orders everything for good, — that all
the evils which befall us will assuredly conduct to some
thing good, — that when this life is ended, there will be
another where all tears are wiped away. Verily, verily, we
say unto you, there have been thousands in the year now
past who never doubted this, and whom, nevertheless,
their so-called faith did not prevent from sinking down
into despair, and wringing their hands in deep perplexity !
But this trust, founded on the everlasting word of Him
who is Himself the Truth, — God in Christ, my Father, —
all His promises yea and amen in Christ, for my eternal
blessedness^ — God on my side, so that whatever works
against me is of no avail ; — oh, I have yet to see the man
in whom such faith has been begun, maintained, re
covered after wrestling on his knees, and who has then
sunk down again, because he could not take another
step ! Without this faith, as we must carefully point
out, there is no sadder morn, for any one who has not
yet lost every spark of earnestness, than that which has
now dawned upon our sight. The path which lies
before you still remains, indeed, as much concealed from
you, as much beset with dangers, and as much beyond
our powers of calculation, as the path made through the
desert of Arabia. On one side we are threatened by
our spiritual foes, who are as irreconcilably opposed to us
as Amalek was towards Israel. Upon another side are
found some feeble friends, who, just as Jethro did to
Moses, come up with us at a later period, and who can
give us good advice, but afterwards go far enough away
from us again. And yonder — But why should we thus
pursue, into minute detail, such a comparison between

106 Moses.
the path of Israel and the path of faith ? Let it suffice
to state that, without living faith working within the
heart, it is as hopeless to set out upon life's journey as
it would have been impossible to march through the
Red Sea without the all-prevailing, wonder-working rod.
Poor man, you rise up, but you know not whence ;
you wander here and there, but do not know how long ;
you ask for strength, yet know not whence it may be
gained ! The Lord's words are most true : ' Cursed is
the man that maketh flesh his arm. . . . Blessed is the
man that trusteth in the Lord.' x But have you never
found, too, in the year gone by, that all things are
possible to him that believeth, and that even mountains
of difficulties seemed to dwindle away into molehills
when touched by this wonder-working staff ? But such a
remembrance of the past is likewise a prediction of what
the new era will bring ; and may it be with you to-day
as if you also heard the word of the Lord : ' If ye could
believe !' The time will often come when you shall stand
before a task for which your own unaided wisdom will
be quite unequal ; but the prayer of faith works wonders,
and strength comes down from above into the heart
which owns, in deep humility, that it is naught but weak
ness when apart from God. The days may be at hand
when you, like Israel contending against Amalek, will
have to wage a spiritual warfare of intense severity ; but
if the hand of faith can then be merely raised to heaven,
like the rod of Moses when upheld by Aaron and Hur,
the result will be a victory, in view of which you too can
build an altar, and inscribe on it the words, ' The Lord
is my banner.' 2 The years, as they flow by, will show
if God wills that your life shall be as dull, monotonous,
and joyless as the eight and thirty years for which the
Israelites were forced to wander in the wilderness ; but
1 Jer. xvii. 5, 7. 2 Ex. xvii. 15.

The Journey. 107
if you only see to it that nobody deprives you of your
staff, it will be with you also, in the inner man, as
has been said of Moses : ' His eye was not dim, nor his
natural force abated.' * Scarce will you touch the ever
lasting promises of God with that believer's staff, ere
the refreshing streams from heaven will flow to you, just
as the water issued from the rocks ; and as the rod of
Moses swallowed up the rods of all the Egyptian sor
cerers, so does the power of faith enable us to triumph
over every obstacle. Oh, do take up this staff of God
before you venture on another step ! On this first
morning of the year, see whether you have still a reed,
or now have something better far on which to lean ; and
ask whether your rod is genuine, cut from the green
wood of the Tree of Life. But see to it that you know well
what and in whom you trust ; and do not let your heart
be troubled, even though you saw the last ray of the
sun of your joy grow dim. Thus speaks the Rock,
whose work is now complete : ' Thy sun shall no more
go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself ; for the
Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy
glory!'2

' An everlasting light !' — when could we better feel the
value of a prospect such as this, than on a New Year's
morn ? Verily, we spend the days of the years of our
pilgrimage like thoughts ; and afterwards, — yes, after
that ! Here, unbelief stands still ; here, scepticism turns
quite away ; but faith views calmly the decisive words
that stand upon the book of life abruptly closed,—' The
End.' The Lord arouses us to march on to the land
which He prepares for us. You are aware that Israel
1 Deut. xxxiv. 7. 2 Isa. Ix. 20.

108 Moses.
was called not merely to forsake the land of Egypt, nor
even to spend a desert life in peace and liberty, but to
march on into a land which God, ages before, had pro
mised to bestow on the posterity of those who were His
friends. Not one of all those multitudes who passed
through the Red Sea had ever seen that promised land.
Upon the ground of credible authority, they were con
strained to the belief that it was a reality awaiting them
beyond the flood. Not even the wisest of them all was
free to choose the mode of access to that land which
flowed with milk and honey. At one time they were
forced to move, even after they had been encamped at
oases with water and palm-trees ; while at another time
they were compelled to stay, sometimes for months and
years, around one spot, though it had nothing to attract.
But their great Leader ever held Himself responsible for
the result, although the moment when the earthly para
dise was to unfold its gates was still kept in deep secrecy.
On one occasion only did He let them actually see and
taste the pleasures and refreshment it contained, of in
finitely greater value than what Egypt, with its treasures,
could afford.1 And had they not themselves, — how sad
the thought ! — through their impenitence and unbelief,
rejected that precious inheritance, they would have
marched into Canaan a few months only after they left
Egypt. Nor are we called to wander aimlessly, and to
march on without exactly knowing where we are to go.
The Lord from heaven has appeared on this vile earth
that we, exiles from Eden, might have an eternal dwell
ing-place ; and though no messenger has come back
from the habitations where He has prepared us room,
we know, as surely as we live, that what no eye hath
seen, what ear hath never heard, what hath not entered
into any human heart, is hid with Christ in God for all
1 Num. xiii. 23.

The Journey. 109
who know and love Him. Whoever will draw back unto
perdition may perceive, in Israel's case, that while God
presses upon sinful men His heavenly gift, He will by no
means let Himself be mocked. Sentence of death has
been pronounced upon the soul of him who will have
Egypt rather than Canaan ; how many do we see, just
for this reason, falling in the wilderness from year to
year ! This makes the words come up before our minds :
' So I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into my
rest' x But if we run with patience and in faith the race
before us, blessed are we ; for we may not only say,
through our sighs, this day, ' A few more years (if even
years !), and then I go whence I shall not return ;'2 but we
may also add with joy, ' I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that He is able to keep that which I have
committed to Him till that day.' 3 Many more storms,
indeed, may rise and burst over our heads ere we,
through grace, obtain the crown of life. But it is well
that we are not aware of all that is contained within the
bosom of a year, perhaps even of its early weeks or
months. If Moses had been able to count up before
hand all those whom he was to see cut down and
buried in the desert's sand ere reaching Pisgah's height,
and how many thousand paces still remained to take
between the Red Sea and the Jordan, he would surely
have entreated that that burden might be taken from
his back. But full well do we know that, though the
heaven and earth may pass away, the promise itself of
our inheritance remains. The way that leads to it may
not, perhaps, be quite the shortest (and those who, like
Israel, are slow to learn require a longer training-time),
still less is it the most agreeable, but most assuredly it
is the best. And the inheritance itself will only seem
more beautiful if we, like Moses, are obliged to wait a
1 Ps. xcv. 11 ; Heb. iii. II. 2 Job xvi. 22. 3 2 Tim. i. 12.

no Moses.
long time on God that we may get possession of the
whole. Here is a joyful consolation for all you who, on
this New Year's morn, perhaps behold some seats now
empty, but which, last New Year, proved centres of
attraction : if your friends have fallen asleep in faith,
they have already crossed the Jordan, just as Israel
crossed the gloomy sea, and the celestial city of palm
trees has now received them all within its walls. How
blessed such a prospect is for us, when we begin to feel,
as we do sometimes, that the outward man is perishing,
and that our strength no longer lets us execute that
which the will would gladly carry out : it must be even
so, — the tabernacle will break down to make way for a
habitation in the heavens ! Then speed thee on in
cessantly, thou night of life, with thine uneasy dreams ;
the morn draws nigh that shall awake us, not to time, but
to an eternity of bliss ! Who are among us here, friends
of the Lord, for whom there is reserved in God's fair
heaven an inheritance which cannot fade ? What matters
it although the solemn tones of the church clock have
now been ringing in for you the year of death, if we can
write at once upon your grave, ' Gone home,' or even,
' He has obtained his dearest wish '? There is no reason
to lament the death of those who fall asleep in such a
hope ; but those for whom we sorrow are the living who
have still no prospect of such joy. Do you know any
prospect more inspiriting than that of one day having
done entirely with that daily dying which we now call
' life ;' of our at last, some time or other, breathing with
a pleasure and a freedom we have never yet felt here,
where every day brought us more than enough of its
own ills ; of once more hearing there, too, the command,
'Forward!' and then advancing through the spacious
fields of heaven, but finding nowhere near us any foe,
nor seeing any wilderness before ? Surely, even though

The Journey. hi
it cost us other forty anxious years, as it cost Israel the
Promised Land, what one of us would think the price of
such a calling far too dear ? But why do I say ' years,'
when our appointed days are but one span ? ' Yet a
little while,' says New Year's morn, ' and He that shall
come will come, and will not tarry.' x There is He, even
already, He who opens up for us the heavenly Canaan.
Christians ! which one of you will be the first to enter
after Him ?
That word itself conducts me to the close of my
address. We have been holding consultation as to the
best mode of setting out on the great journey of this
life ; and we may promise him who gives intelligent
attention to these words, that he shall there find good.
But now, in closing, let us ask, to what should we be
led by all that we have been considering ?
It seems to me that, first of all, we should be brought
to ask the decisive question of the New Year, Am I
among the Israel of God to whom this ' Forward '
comes ? Be not astonished that, considering the vast
importance of this point, we cannot close without once
more regarding it ; so utterly deceitful is the heart,
which we have brought with us out of the old into the
new year, and so readily inclined to seek for comfort in
the gospel promises, while seeking to release itself from
gospel claims. Just as, at the Red Sea, not only Moses,
in full confidence of faith, but also Pharaoh, in his blind
temerity, ventured to cross, so there may also be
among us now a multitude who are quite willing to
advance, but in the path of their own wisdom, — as they
choose, in their own strength ; and they are ready, even
after they have sinned against so many calls from
heaven, to heap up new transgressions on the old.
1 Heb. x. 37.

112 MOSES.
Need we remind you here of Moses' words, when Israel
afterwards, in their self-will, with weapons in their
hands, went up the mountain, — ' It shall not prosper ' ? 1
Your own conscience has been already telling you that
you are pressing forward on a way that leads to death;
and — ' the face of the Lord is against them that work
iniquity!' Even though you were as strong as Pharaoh,
you are as impotent before God as he was ; it is not his
sceptre, but the rod of Moses only that you need.
Astounding thought, — that there should be a single one
on earth who, spared through undeserved forbearance
on the part of God, forthwith becomes, in the midst of
his sins, a monument to show how much God's justice
has been provoked, and sinks into a depth where
no eye can endure to look ! Sinner ! you have seen
greater tokens of God's power and grace than did that
heathen king : your end shall be more terrible ! Oh, if
you can still tremble at the thought, thank God your
heart is not yet wholly hardened ; and consider now,
in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace !
Like Pharaoh at the sea, perhaps you are already by
the side of the grave that is awaiting you. Perhaps
your name heads this year's death-list ; flee from the
wrath to come, — betake yourself to Christ ! Pray
earnestly that, in you also, old things now may pass
away, and all things become new. Soon will no choice
be left to you ; you will be forced to take what you
have chosen here, even though it were the curse and not
the blessing you preferred. But blessed will you be if
you can this day break with all that one must needs
forsake to enter on the way to heaven : that would be a
New Year's Day such as you have never seen !
But though our face be turned towards the promised
land, we can ourselves do much in rendering the path
1 Num. xiv. 41.

The Journey. 113
we take more difficult or easy for ourselves. The New
Year's counsel which, in all earnestness, we tender you
in the Lord's name, will serve to make your path more
smooth. Perhaps this year may sometimes bring you
days when you will feel, like Moses, in perplexity you
cannot hide : ' here, all my wisdom and my power com
pletely fail.' It may be with you, as with him, that
while you keep a bold and brave appearance in the eyes
of men, your whole soul goes out in one cry of pain
and anguish ; then learn this truth at once, that secret
prayer to God gives us our real power. Your circum
stances may themselves remain unchanged in answer to
your prayer, just as in this case here ; but there will be
a calm within your heart, while all around you foams
and seethes, as in a boiling sea. And in your progress,
carefully avoid two rocks, — faint-heartedness on one
side, and presumption on the other hand. Let 'For
ward ' be the watchword for the day : be not like
children, squandering in play the time that should be
spent in marching on ; still less be sluggards, sleeping
though the sun has risen high ; and least of all be like
weak-hearted ones, who blindly gaze upon the sand
found in the desert, but who never seek to cheer them
selves by looking at the mountains of their native land !
Commit your way, without reserve, to the great Guide
who counts the steps of every single day ; not seeking
active work when He commands us to sit still, nor yet,
upon the other hand, desiring a continuance of rest
when He is beckoning on us to mount the hill, — such is
the patience and the perseverance of the saints ! Let it
but be your constant aim to make advance ; and if your
company be not quite suited to your taste, remember
that, while one is travelling, he takes to what he would
in no case choose at home. Bear one another's burdens;
and if you perceive a fellow-traveller stumbling, do not
H

114 Moses.
deem it but a loss of time to offer him a helping hand.
But if you stand alone, then learn, like Moses, to cling
more closely to the unseen One, just in proportion as
you find less satisfaction with that which is seen ; and
look more longingly to heaven, the less you find on
earth — whether around you or before — that promises
but little good. Thank God — although it may not
be without much tears — for everything that makes
you hang more loosely to this earth ; and pray that,
whatsoever else may disappear, faith may not fail, — that
patience, too, may have her perfect work. And, as a
rule, do not depict to your own mind a future that is
either far too pleasant or the opposite ; above all, never
let your peace and comfort hang on the fulfilment of a
single wish, or look for something quite unusual, when
life goes smoothly onwards in its wonted course, mono
tonous and slow. Judge of your progress less by any
joy which you experience, than by the fruit you bear ;
and let your next great test be, whether these two
things grow daily dearer to your heart, — the cross which
God appoints you on this earth, the crown which He
reserves for you in heaven !
And now, to close : what else should be the substance
of our fervent New Year's prayer, than just that all this
may be mightily increased ? Indeed, on this point, our
desires and prayers become simplicity itself. As for
ourselves, our New Year's prayer is fully comprehended
in the Psalmist's words : ' And now, Lord, what wait I
for ? my hope is in Thee : deliver me from all my trans
gressions.' And if this last petition be presented in all
earnestness, there is no need for adding, ' Make me not
the reproach of the foolish :n the Lord in faithfulness
will carefully attend to that. From you, we only ask
increase of prayer on our behalf, and undiminished love,
1 Ps. xxxix. 7, 8.

The Journey. 115
that we may terminate our course with strength and joy.
But over you we now lift up our hands to bless, and
may it be with Moses' faith and Aaron's spirit, — ' The
Lord bless thee and keep thee : the Lord lift up His
countenance upon thee, and give thee pea,ce ! ' If one
may further ask for you those benefits which time can
give or take, much more does it become the minister of
Christ. We do not pray that you may have experience of
unmixed good, but merely that even ills, which certainly
shall come in their own time, may work together for
your good. And above all, we pray that this year may
be one of happiness for all those who are still far
off, a year of mighty increase unto those who have
drawn nigh ; that everything God sends or suffers may
but serve to bring us truly nearer our eternal destiny ;
and finally, that, through the preaching of the cross, our
faith may gain more light, our love more strength, our
hope more stedfastness, our piety more fruit. Then
shall this year become, perhaps not one of those in
which we have experienced most comforts, but assuredly
a very blessed time ; and should swift death come on us
unexpectedly in the ' Advance,' the last breath here
below shall join with the first Hallelujah up in heaven.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that worketh in us, — unto Him be glory in the Church,
by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end !
Amen.

CHAPTER V.
Elje EttUrces0iotiL
' But Moses besought the Lord his God.' — Ex. xxxii. II.
Is there a single science to be found, in which, after
whole ages of research, incessantly pursued, less progress
has been made than in the knowledge of the human
heart? Such a phenomenon is most remarkable, and
yet one that may be explained : while every other science
is incessantly enlarging its domain, our knowledge of
humanity is less advanced than that of generations
long since dead. It has been well and truly stated by
the philosophical poet, ' The best study for mankind is
man ; ' but, alas ! why should we have to add im
mediately upon the back of this, that there is no branch
of study which is paid so poorly, and which furnishes
less satisfactory results ? Though we have had our
earliest lessons in the school of self-knowledge, we
remain but little else than strangers in the school where
there is taught the deeper knowledge of mankind ; and
even though man, as such, may have been made the
object of our study all through life, yet individual men
present themselves to us at every turn as just so many
enigmas. At one time, we may represent them to our
selves too favourably, at another time, quite the reverse ;
and while the thread which runs all through this maze is
constantly escaping us, our lips take up the prophet's sad
lis

The Intercession. 117
complaint, ' The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked : who can know it ? ' x And it is no
wonder, verily, that we feel thus constrained anew to
make complaint at every turn ; our arm is far too short,
our eye too dim for us to fathom the whole depths ot
that small world in even one mortal man. We see men
round about us as they outwardly appear, not as they
are in their hidden reality. What we behold are isolated
acts ; but all the wheels and springs by which the clock
is made to move in this or that particular direction still
remain concealed from sight. If we would form a judg
ment truly fair regarding any man we may observe, we
would require to be in a position to lift up the veil of
secrecy that hides his inner nature from our eyes. We
would require to follow him whenever he forsakes the
bustle of the world, and is alone with God and with him
self. We would require the power to cross the threshold
of the inner chamber, the door of which is scrupulously
closed, in which all that conceals what is disgraceful is
quite cast aside, and where, in short, a man has not the
smallest interest in making it appear that he is some
thing different from what he really is. Each one of us
is truly what he there appears to be ; and ' the hidden
man of the heart,' as an apostle 2 calls it, is the real man
before the eye of God. 'But,' I hear some one ask,
* where can we get to know the man in this way, stripped
of what is merely on, but not most truly in him, and not
ornamented with the tinsel of an outside show that easily
misleads ? ' Not in our daily life, as you well know, not
even in the sphere of common history, but rather in the
field of sacred history. Truly, the Bible has well merited
this name, — the book of the history of the human heart.
This is the very feature in these old historical accounts
which drew us to them, even in childhood's days ; not
1 Jer. xvii. 9. '' 1 Pet. iii. 4.

118 Moses.
merely do they let us linger in the outer fore-court, but
they also let us penetrate into the inmost sanctuary ;
they picture man not merely as he stands related out
wardly to other men, but specially in his relation per
sonally towards God. But does this statement seem too
strong ? and does the difference we make between pro
fane and sacred history require to be explained still
further and confirmed ? Let Moses' name suffice for
proof. Even writers whom we call profane know how
to speak about his deeds, his laws, and his deserts ; but
where, outside of sacred Writ, do you find out the story
of his hidden life before the eye of God ?
Then do not be surprised that, when we now resume
the golden thread of Moses' history,1 we cast a reve
rential glance into the sanctuary of his solitude. The
deliverance, the probation-time, the call, the march of
Moses at the head of the children of Israel, were cer
tainly important pages in his wondrous history. But all
these things had reference more to his outward than his
inner life ; they pointed more to what it was incumbent
on him to become and do for Israel, — less to what he
himself was, as before the face of God in all His holi
ness. And yet attention must be specially directed to
that point, if we would have the picture given of him
set in its proper frame of circumstances, and if he him
self is to maintain his honourable place within the cloud
of witnesses that now surround us on the Christian
course. We must find out the key which shall unfold to
us the secret of that greatness so peculiar to himself, of
that placidity so imperturbable, and of that meekness
which knew not a bound. The key lies hid behind a cloud
upon the summit of the hill which we see him ascending
more than once to seek the face of God. We thus invite
you, then, to-day, to make a pilgrimage to the majestic
1 This sermon was preached November 7, 1858.

The Intercession. 119
Sinai — yet not there to be witnesses of the revelation of
the law in its sublimity, but that you may behold the
lawgiver himself, soon after that law was revealed, in
secret intercourse with God. The words of the text
present a stand-point from which we may carefully sur
vey, in its entirety, the history this chapter contains ;
while we assume that you will not deny to us the right
of briefly pointing out to you, in passing, other such like
scenes occurring in the life of this great man of God.
Let us go on, then, to consider Moses' intercession
pointed out in these few words, that we may come to
know him as the mediator under the Old Covenant, the
generous and noble friend of his people, but especially
the confidant of God. ' Moses in prayer : ' does not this
statement of our subject of discourse immediately entice
you to give ear ? May these our meditations serve to
lead us all, either at the beginning, or as we proceed, to
such a life of prayer, in faith and love, as only really
deserves the name of ' life.' That we may fully see the
nature, worth, and blessedness of such a life, we only
need to look at Moses as he is presented in the context.
We find him in succession, (1) highly privileged, (2)
deeply grieved, (3) raised to a holy frame of mind, (4)
visibly answered, (5) abundantly strengthened.
Lord ! send down Thy light and Thy truth, that they
may lead us, and bring us to Thy holy hill and to Thy
dwelling-place. Amen. 1.
Many events have taken place since Moses, at the
Lord's command, drove back the waters of the Red Sea,
and the song of the deliverance voiced forth from heart
and mouth of many myriads. The first shower of the
manna has come down, and the first stream of water

120 Moses.
issued from the rocks of Meribah ; the earliest victory
has been obtained over the treacherous Amalekites,
and the first foundations laid of the covenant between
Jehovah and His people. Amidst the sound of thunder
and of trumpets, Heaven has already spoken to the earth,
and Israel's camp has now for weeks been gathered
round Mount Sinai, waiting patiently till Moses shall
return. ' Return ! ' Where is he, then, you ask, and
where can Amram's son remain with more advantage
than amidst the people, who, as is already fully evident,
cannot remain without his help and guidance for another
single day ? ' Where ? ' as if Moses could have been
himself had he been always living in the abject sphere in
which this Israel moved ; as if a man to whom the Lord
Almighty has vouchsafed a look into celestial mysteries
should hasten back to earth again ! ' Come up hither,'
were Jehovah's words ; and the voice drew forth from
Moses' heart the answer, ' Here am I ! ' Although the
people have been strictly warned to keep outside the
barrier placed round the holy mountain, yet the barrier
that separates the child of dust from God, in His
unspotted holiness, is now removed for Moses to come
near. Higher, still higher — yea, so high that earth has
disappeared from sight, and nothing is around him
but the heavens — he ascends at God's command, and
breathes the breath of life in a far higher realm of the
creation than what now we see. ' The people,' as we
elsewhere read, ' stood afar off; but Moses drew near to
the thick darkness where God was.' x For near six
weeks on end, the days go swiftly by as if they had been
hours; and while deep silence is imposed upon his
bodily desires, he too can, in his way, declare that he has
other meat than the manna with which, each morn, the
wilderness is strewn. What mortal man shall venture to
1 Ex. xx. 21.

The Intercession. 121
set forth, in earthly speech, all that then passed between
him and his Lord, whose messenger' he was ? The
story of those forty days is written in heaven's register ;
and if Moses were himself still here to give his witness
as to what occurred, perhaps he would repeat the words
of Paul regarding the most blessed hour of his experi
ence, ' Whether it took place in the body, or out of the
body, I cannot tell, — God knoweth.' J It is enough for
us that he receives the law there through the medium of
angels ; that at this time he may have had withdrawn
for him the cloud, which hitherto had quite concealed
from human eyes God's counsel in its grand develop
ment, as now revealed in these last times ; that there is
now made known to him, not merely the grand prin
ciples of law to regulate the Jewish commonwealth, but
God's express appointments as to everything relating to
the life, both civil and religious, of the chosen nation,
even to minute details ; that he is now allowed (and
this, the greatest privilege of all, I mention last) to pray
in such a way that he most truly lives in close com
munion with the Infinite. Oh, happy Moses ! who shall
tell in what a stream of deep enjoyment you must then
have bathed ; how much refreshment your soul must
have drawn from the full cup of God's delights ; and how
oblivious you must have now become of all the troubles
which so often, like a leaden weight, oppressed your soul
on earth ? How high stands this great man of God
above the carnal Israelites, who long for nothing so
incessantly as for Egyptian flesh ! Give to a Moses even
the greatest dainty in all Pharaoh's court, and surely he
will die with hunger, since it is but in communion with
his God that he can find both rest and pleasure, life and
blessedness. See how the world around him everywhere,
except this little Israel, is still asleep in heathen night ;
1 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3.

122 Moses.
even Israel as yet honours Jehovah only as the chief and
the most mighty God ; and only Moses knows Jehovah
— that is, in so far as He could be made known to any
human being under the Old Economy. But what is
more, Moses may speak to God as man speaks to his
friend. He looks upon the brightness of God's holiness,
but his eye is nothing dazzled by the sight ; he knows
the power of God's wrath, yet his spirit is not perturbed
thereby ; and he receives the tables of God's testimony,
yet is his hand not thereby withered up. Among those
born of women, there has not been one, belonging to the
days of the Old Covenant, that stood in such an inti
mate relation to Jehovah, except, it may be, Abraham
alone : in this respect, again, we look on Moses as a
happy man. But why should you be ready to regard
him with an envious eye ? I know, indeed, that his high
rank, as the prime minister of Israel's King, has been
bestowed on none of us ; no voice from heaven has
summoned us to make approach into the inmost sanc
tuary, wherein God shows His glory. But the greatest
privilege which Moses had at Sinai — confidential inter
course with God — is granted to each one of us who
know Him in His Son. Nay, Christians need no longer
stand far off in fear, like Israel at the foot of Horeb,
there entreating that He may no longer speak to them,
and with the secret fear within their heart that he who
has seen God shall die. We have already seen God in
the face of His beloved Son, yet our life is preserved ;
and the voice of God, and not of man, is ever calling us,
like Moses, to draw near to Him. No tables made of
stone are put into our hands, but God is still establishing
His covenant with us and with our seed for ever more ;
and His law is written by the Holy Ghost upon the mind
when its regeneration is begun. No barrier prevents
approach to His high throne ; in Christ we may draw

The Intercession. 123
near with confidence, by faith in Him. No longer is
there any palpable Mount Sinai marked out as the place
where we must worship God ; the hour is come, and now
is, when men are neither at Gerizim nor on Horeb to kneel
down in prayer; for God is a Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
In every Christian sanctuary, in the days of the New
Covenant, God's promise made to Israel is fulfilled : ' In
all places where I record my name, I will come unto
thee, and I will bless thee.'1 Nay, more, the blessed
ness of fellowship with God is not attached solely to
places such as these, however sacred, and however dear
to us. Wherever there is any supplication made, the
Father in Christ is there, as near His children as He was
to Moses while he prayed : yea, more, wherever in your
heart you seek the face of the Infinite, be it in midst
of toil and weariness, or on the bed of rest, — in midst
of nature's calm repose, or in the busy whirl of worldly
things, — in every place, the Lord will open up a spring
of living water for all those who thirst for fellowship
with Him. You do not need to climb up Sinai's heights,
nor to descend into deep clefts of rocks ; for the Eternal
One Himself is nearer you than your own shadow,
ready to address kind words of comfort to your soul.
All true believers, priests ; and every priest called to
draw near with as much confidence as Moses did : such
is the joyful message which the gospel brings. As if our
Maker thought the distance between Him and the
posterity of Adam, in their helplessness, too great even
for Himself, He has been the first to span it, and has come
far nearer us in Christ. And when, in later ages, human
wisdom had obscured this foolishness of God, and placed
the universal priesthood of believers almost wholly in the
shade, that human mediators might again be brought
1 Ex. xx. 24.

124 Moses.
between God and the creatures He has made, then (as we
have been thinking lately) He raised up the Reformation
champion, who longed to have one of the trumpets used
at Jericho, that he might raze the walls of the great Jericho
of error, and once more proclaim, even to the weakest of
believers, ' Ye are a royal priesthood ! ' Raised to be
priests in Christ, we stand to God in a relation even far
more blessed than did Moses; and we may address Him,
whose unutterable name he scarcely durst take up into
his lips, with the sacred name of ' Father.' What blessed
times are these, when, in our solitude, each separating
wall that intervenes between the children's and the
Father's hearts seems to fall down before our face ! Our
pleasures then are better far than what the world affords
in the most choice of sense enjoyments ; and even hours
(alas ! why are they still so few ?) may hasten by like
dreams, while we are thus allowed to breathe the vital
air belonging to a higher world. Strangers on earth,
although your portion were vexation and such toil as
Moses had, even the least privileged among you has still
one privilege ; and happy are ye when ye value it above
all else : ye can, ye may — nay, ye must pray !
2.
Yet do not think that such a privilege exempts you
from a multitude of struggles on this earth ; rather,
when you but look at Moses' case, and find how deeply
grieved he was, the contrary seems true. He is still
standing in God's holy presence, raised above the dust
of earth, when suddenly he hears the words addressed
to him, ' Go, get thee down ; for thy people, which thou
broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted
themselves.' ' Thy people : ' these are bitter, cutting
words. Is it not just as if Jehovah meant to say, ' A

The Intercession. 125
people such as this can no more be accounted mine ? '
What has occurred to rouse the Holy One to wrath ?
You know quite well already, though you willingly hear
it repeated now, because you would not otherwise be fit
to sound the depths of pain in Moses' soul. The absence
of the lawgiver has proved a snare to Israel ; and Horeb's
thunders scarce have died away ere fear has vanished
from their hearts. Their inclination soon is seen to be
no longer now after Egyptian meats, but rather after the
Egyptian calf-worship ; Aaron, in weakness, shamefully
sides with the people's wickedness ; even self-interest
and love of show keep silence now, to give full scope
to the desire of sense-enjoyment, though prohibited.
Loudly and blasphemously sounds the voice of their
rejoicing through the stillness of the desert and of
Sinai's rocks : ' These be thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'1 O wretched
nation, thus, when not much more than called to liberty,
to stretch their hands out for the fetters of unrighteous
ness, and, as it were, before the eye of that Jehovah who
touched yonder mountain-top and made it tremble, thus
so quickly to transgress the first requirement of His holy
laws ! Oh, what a cruel insult cast on Him who bore
that nation through the ocean's waves, like as the eagle
carries all her young ones through the desert, now to see
the cords of love, with which He had by this time almost
bound them to His service, torn asunder, just like cob
webs, by the hands of the rebellious ones themselves !
But we may also readily imagine what unutterable grief
it was to Moses in particular, that even while in the
immediate presence of his God, a dark cloud rises on
His face. Is this, then, the reward for all the faith
fulness with which he has devoted his whole energies to
such an arduous work as Israel's deliverance ? Is this
1 Ex. xxii. 4.

126 Moses.
the seal confirming what the people, scarcely forty days
before, declared, ' All that the Lord hath spoken we will
do ' .?1 Is this the highest pleasure of a people that but
lately fled in terror from the presence of the only true
God, but were unable to restrain their ecstasy when they
beheld a lifeless lump of gold ? Where are the songs of
thanksgiving that echoed all along the shores of the
Red Sea ? They now are changed into the shouts of a
rebellious mob. Where is the spoil that the dismayed
Egyptians gave up ? It has been spent on the adorning
of an idol. Where is the prospect now of national
prosperity to be enjoyed if men observed the ordinances
of the Lord ? It is as dark as that black cloud which
caps the mountain where the law was given ; for, hark !
the ill-foreboding words sound loud in Moses' ears : ' I
have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked
people ; now, therefore, let me alone, that my wrath
may wax hot against them, and that I may consume
them.' ' Let me alone ! ' how well we recognise, in
these few words, the living God, who glories in omnipo
tence combined with faithfulness, and who will not even
let His anger burn without forewarning this, His faithful
servant, of the dreadful work He is about to do. But
we may also easily perceive that words like these to
Moses must have come upon him like a thunderbolt,
more terrible by far than all the thunders of that
morning when the law was given. It is but one con
demning sentence that is passed, but it concerns the
lives of many thousands who are truly guilty, and that,
too, of deep offence against the majesty of God. Nor
have they sinned far from the presence of the Lord, but
under Sinai's shadow ; nor is it merely through their
own self-will and waywardness, but also through the
weakness shown by Moses' own brother, that the people
1 Deut. v. 27.

The Intercession. 127
have transgressed. Then surely Moses must have felt
as if the granite underneath his feet began to open up
and to give way. On more than one occasion after this
did he see Israel upon the verge of swift destruction ;
but now, more than at any other time, was he involved
in danger with the rest. Now for the first time, almost
three months since the Exodus, quite unexpectedly, and
in a way incomprehensible, with one accord the people
have rebelled against their lawful King; and the existence
of the nation hangs by but a single thread, that trembles
in the hands of a most righteous Judge. But ye should
be in something like a proper state to understand the
depth of this man's sorrow, — ye who had saved your
dearest child from certain death, and who, just at the
very moment when you fancied all was safe, beheld the
one whom you had rescued rushing wilfully into the jaws
of death. But wherefore should I speak of sorrowful
experiences like these, as if they were the only ones
through which God's faithful servant was to pass on
earth ? Well do we know that every man, but specially
the Christian, must in this world engage in anxious
strife ; and every day bears witness to the truth, that
there is not a single spot in any heart which may not
unexpectedly be pierced with poignant grief. But which
of us, my fellow Christians, has not at some time had
experience like Moses' in that memorable hour ? We
may have deemed ourselves blest in our fellowship with
God, when suddenly the harsh, discordant sound of sin
was heard, — the clash of weapons in the struggle of this
life. For the disciple always finds even yet, as did his
Lord of old, that the desert where he undergoes tempta
tion immediately adjoins the Jordan of self-dedication ;
yea, just in proportion as, like Moses, we are placed
in higher station, and more privileged than other men,
we often find our trials too are heavier : the lightning

128 Moses.
spares the lowly bush, but scorches the proud oak in its
broad and leafy crown. Like Moses, too, we often see
our noblest efforts for the good of men in general re
warded with most base ingratitude ; or, in a few brief
hours, what we have raised by dint of sweat and toil,
continued through successive years and months, is broken
down through careless weakness on another's part. In
utter disappointment, we pour out our grief before the
ruins of the edifice we reared so carefully ; and when
we would continue to rejoice in hope that God will yet
fulfil His promises, it seems as if God hid His face from
us, and we are terrified. We stand, like Moses, all
alone, with little understanding of our case, while it
appears that all — yes, everything — is quite against us.
The voice of conscience lets itself be heard more loudly
than the voice of faith and felt experience ; and trem
blingly we see that there is only too much ground to
fear the worst if He will enter into judgment with us
men. Past joy seems irrecoverably lost ; the present is
a night through which there gleams not even a single
ray of light ; and the future — oh ! must we not often
strive to think as little of our own future as Moses did
concerning Israel's ? The wilderness has kept the secret
of its own unutterable griefs ; nevertheless, if all the
inner chambers could but open, and if every heart that
had experience of disappointed hopes, of hidden griefs,
and of unutterable woe, could then pour everything into
those inner chambers, do you not think that the whole
book of Moses' law would be too small for the long list
of those who had a like experience with him ? Truly,
although the trial of our faith is much more precious
than of gold, the fiery trial sometimes lasts even longer
than the trial of the gold ; and just as surely as the
Lord liveth and thy soul liveth, sooner or later you shall
fail when you, like Moses, cease to pray !

The Intercession. 129
3.
Would that we all were but of such a holy frame of
mind as was the servant of the Lord, whose utter dis
appointment you have hitherto been witnessing. Does
not the simple fact that Moses, at a moment such as this,
betakes himself to prayer, say very much for him ? But
which of us, that suddenly perceives what deeply grieves
us, is at once inclined to pray, and not, instead, disposed
to cry out in despair, but most of all disposed to silence
and to utter inactivity ? Moses (it is his highest praise)
at once betakes himself unto the Lord with his grief,
and there must needs address Him out of the abundance
of his sorrows and his thoughts. Now it is well for him
that he still lingers at the top, not at the foot of Sinai,
for he is near that God to whom he never called in vain.
Moses pours out his supplications in the quiet solitude
— for whom ? Is it for himself, that God may give him
strength to bear the burden of such oft rejection by the
people ? But wherefore should he think about himself,
when his heart is quite filled with the thought of Israel's
salvation ? Why should he think of men in their rejec
tion of himself, when they so shamefully provoked the
Lord ? Nay, here the lawgiver becomes a mediator,
interceding for his people in their sins, with but his
prayers for an offering ; words fail me in attempting to
describe his true nobility of soul, which comes out in his
prayers and pleadings here. Read for yourselves, in
this and other passages, the words by which he seeks to
influence Jehovah to withdraw the dread death-sentence ;
and then tell me if there has at any time been offered,
upon this vile earth, a prayer more beautiful and touch
ing than this is.1 Does it not seem as if love were
exhausting all its energies in trying to find out, not
1 Ex. xxxii. 11-13, 3'> 32> xxxm- l3~l6 i Num- xiv. 13-19. xvi. 22.
I

1 30 Moses.
some slight palliations of the shameful conduct which
must be pronounced quite inexcusable, but some good
grounds for not requiring, in this case, full satisfaction
for the vast amount of guilt incurred ? Now he reminds
Jehovah of the great deliverance He has already wrought
for Israel, and asks Him if He really intends to bring
destruction upon His own handiwork. Then he points
out to Him what the Egyptians and the other nations
well might say, when they would learn that the object
of their hatred was destroyed. Again, he lays before
Jehovah His own promise made to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob ; and he asks what must become of that, if
He do not turn from His wrath in time. And finally,
he earnestly entreats the Lord, if it must even be so, to
take away his life, if Israel's life, now forfeited, cannot
be bought at any other price ; he far prefers to die with
than to live without a nation, whose connection with
himself has brought him, — shall we say, so much of joy
and pleasure ? — nay, scarce anything but constant pain
and grief. Have ever praying lips poured forth more
touching words than these : ' Forgive their sin ; and if
not, then blot my name out of Thy book ' ? 1 To be
blotted out of God's book ! — surely one would require to
be a Moses thoroughly to know the dreadful meaning of
that thought. In his own way, Paul gave expression to
a sentiment of kindred import when he wrote that, for
his brethren's sake, he could wish that he were accursed
of Christ.2 Nay, rather let him undergo the worst, if
need be, than let him see Israel removed from the high
rank among the nations of the world to which it had
been destined : what is life to him if he live not with,
and among, and for the stiff-necked Israel ? ' But,
Moses, think of this : the Lord must needs have a
peculiar people ; have you never heard that He desires
1 Ex. xxxii. 32, 2 Rom. ix. 3.

The Intercession. 131
to make of you a great nation, instead of them ; yea, as
is elsewhere said, a nation greater still and stronger than
even this ? But let the vial of vengeance, which you
now restrain by these your prayers, pour forth its con
tents, and your fame shall rise out of the ruins of Israel's
greatness ; and the greatest benefit of which an Oriental
dreams — a vast posterity — will then be yours, according
to the promise God has made.' What a temptation lay
for Moses here ! But do you ask if it was not almost
too strong ? Mark, then, that in his prayer he speaks
as if Jehovah had not used these words at all ; he
scarcely pays regard to them ; he makes no use of them
in his own interest ; he is far more concerned about the
honour of Jehovah than for a numerous posterity. By
all means, then, destroy his trunk, stripped as it is
already of its leaves, provided that the forest trees of
Israel be not cut down ; for he already sees the axe laid
to their roots. In the full strength of interceding love
he can be quite oblivious of everything except the sinful
Israel ; nor does he leave the mountain-top till he brings
down with him the promise that the sentence, merited
even though it is, shall be delayed at least, if not repealed.
Does not a holy rapture seize you when you listen to
a prayer like this? Here, we deliberately say, there
is one greater even than Abraham, when pleading in
behalf of guilty Sodom ; for those wicked men had not
rejected Abraham, at least in person, and the patriarch
did not express his readiness to give his own life as an
offering for sin. One prayer like this would be sufficient
to secure a name and fame for Moses through all time ;
yet this one prayer is but the first of hundreds more ; or
rather, let us say, it is the key-note of a life of faith, and
prayer, and love on Moses' part through forty years, — a
life that dies, not, even when he gives up the ghost.
' Now, therefore, forgive their sins ; ' how frequently,

132 Moses.
and in how many ways, the man of God presented this
same prayer ! Now, when the spies sent out to search
Canaan have returned, and the people stubbornly refuse
to march still on, Moses — pardon the words — holds up
before the face of God the shield of His long-suffering,
that so the arrows of His righteous recompense may not
bring injury to Israel. Then, when at the rebellion of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the voice of God sounds
forth, ' Separate yourselves from among this congrega
tion, that I may consume them in a moment,' 1 Moses
and Aaron fall upon their faces, pleading for the life of
Israel. Soon after that, again, when fiery serpents glided
round the tents of the rebellious ones, the prayer of
Moses brought about what no snake-charmer could
effect. But what need is there for adducing further
instances ? I would require to follow Israel with you
step by step, in all their wanderings, to show you Moses
in his constancy of prayer. ' They fell upon their faces : '
these are words, applied to him and Aaron, which we
meet at every turn ; and who can tell how frequently
this selfsame prayer for pardon was repeated in their
friendly intercourse with Israel's God and King ? It is
this very perseverance in entreaty for the good of Israel
— when, almost at every moment, they have turned anew
to corrupt practices — that gives to Moses' intercession
something of the unselfish, the pathetic, the sublime ;
and thus, just like the man himself, we find it standing
in the books of the Old Testament almost alone, un
paralleled. But it is also just this feature in the prayer
pf Moses that shows us professing Christians how we
should conduct ourselves in secret intercourse with God.
Come hither, ye who seek to understand what true
prayer is, — what kind of prayer it is that pleases God ;
behold that man, who wrestles like another Jacob, not for
1 Num. xvi. 21.

The Intercession. 133
his own life, but for Israel's, and who, like Israel, earned
for himself the meed of praise that as a prince he had
power with God ? Who does not feel that prayer like
this truly deserves the name ; while, on the other hand,
so much of what bears that fair name is little more than
a mere mumbling over of some forms, and that, too, in
a way the most mechanical, — if it be not, indeed, but
covert sin ? Nay, it is not enough that you should cry
to God for help whenever your own want and misery
oppress your soul ; Moses calls loudly, ' Pray for others
too,' — and the more earnestly for them, as they are more
unfortunate, more sinful than yourselves, and more un
thankful and unkind to you ! Neither is it enough that
you present to Him your own and others' miseries ; for
Moses says again, ' God's honour must be made the one
great object in your prayer ; ' woe to the man whose
prayer is but self-seeking, who does not endeavour to
extol God's majesty ! Nor yet, again, is it enough that
you should raise your heart at special times in prayer,
but soon abate your zeal ; Moses cries out to every one
who strives on earth, ' Continue, persevere in prayer ;
the faithful friends of God are the best friends of men ! '
Happy, thrice happy, is the nation, church, or family
that counts among its members those who strive like
•Moses in their prayers. Eternity shall one day show
how much earth owes to those who have thus learned to
live in constant intercourse with Heaven !
4.
But does not this still further and more plainly show
itself when you perceive how Moses was heard in prayer?
There is (may I express it so?) something beyond descrip
tion, human or divine, in these words found in ver. 14 :
'Then the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to

134 Moses.
do unto His people.' Nay, what man could expect by
prayer to make God alter His decree ? what godly man
could wish to have such power? God has determined at all
times to show His grace to sinful men, but He is gracious
only to the humble prayer ; and now, when Israel them
selves neglect to pray that He may take away impending
judgments, Moses puts himself in the position of the
sinners ; and no sooner does he venture on his inter
cession than he obtains God's pardon for them all. Say
not that Moses' prayer was, nevertheless, not fully heard,
because Jehovah will not promise any more than that
He shall send forth His angel to become their guide
(ver. 34), and further threatens them, with evident un
willingness, ' that He shall assuredly visit their sins at
the appointed time.' For much had been already gained,
and, in a certain sense, the whole has been obtained.
Full pardon was what the most Holy One could not by
any means bestow, so long as it did not appear that
Israel repented in sincerity. Yea, so thoroughly does
even Moses feel their punishment is just, that next
day he will not go any farther in assuring Israel than
this : ' Peradventure I shall make an atonement for your
sin.' l Yet even here, too, it appears the Lord cannot
cast off for ever, so as to become a gracious God no
more. For an appointed time the people must sit down
in sackcloth and in ashes, at a becoming distance from
the mountain where God's glory is revealed, that they
may be led back again, through deep humiliation, to the
highest honour God can give. But oh, the unutterable
riches of His grace ! to that dread height it is impossible
to rise, unless Jehovah be Himself the guide. Do not
object, in answer to all this, that many thousands fall
because of this same sin ; that the most fearful judgments
of the Lord continually make the wilderness a place of
1 Ex. xxxii. 30.

The Intercession. 135
burial for all the dead, a place of torment for those left
alive ; that a whole generation must ere long become
extinct before the land of promise shall be reached.
Moses has prayed for grace, but grace does not in every
case mean quite the same thing as impunity ; and Moses
himself is fully conscious that the nation must atone for
its own sins, even when it is not visited according to its
sins. ' Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though
Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.' 1 These
words, penned by the Psalmist, form the motto of God's
dealings with Israel. When God exterminates some
hundreds, He acts like the surgeon, sparing not the knife
though it inflicts much pain, nor hesitating to remove
most precious, yea, important members, that the body
may itself be saved from otherwise inevitable death.
Thousands must sometimes perish in the midst of their
unrighteousness ; but that whole myriads, as guilty, still
are spared, must be attributed to nothing else than
Moses' persevering prayer in their behalf. That genera
tion sinks into the grave, but Israel itself remains, an
everlasting people, born as it were again upon the verge
of ruin, by the breath of this same prayer, to an undying
life ; and though Moses also is himself soon gathered
to his fathers, yet the fruits arising from his intercession
still remain while he himself has gone from earth. That
the desert did not swallow them all up, just as one man,
is certainly the gift of grace, but it is quite as certainly
the blessing that has come through Moses' intercession
in behalf of Israel. Nay, more ; if that same race, the
most remarkable of all the nations of the world, has
never yet irrevocably disappeared from off this earth,
do you not think that Moses, looking down from heaven,
would count this, too, among the fruits arising from his
humble pleading, that was answered by the Lord in
1 Ps. xcix. 8.

136 Moses.
measure far beyond what he even asked or thought ?
But what a stream of blessing is it we behold arising
from the fountain of a single intercessory prayer ! and
what inestimable gain has Moses brought his nation,
when he seemed to have been doing nothing for these
forty days ! Yet what is it that prayer cannot do, —
humble, believing, fervent, persevering prayer ? It opens
up the treasures hid in God's paternal heart, and shuts
the flood-gates of His penal judgments ; it brings bless
ings down upon the head already laden with the curse of
sin ; nor has it lost its power, although the mouth of him
who offered it is long since silent in the dust of death !
I know, indeed, that we must not in every case expect
such palpable and such immediate answers to our prayers,
if we are to avoid the risk of tempting Him who is the
Lord our God. The same God who so constantly gave
ear unto the prayers of Moses, offered up for others than
himself, at least on one occasion most decidedly refused
to answer his request when it concerned himself. But I
am also well aware that the fulfilment of the promise,
' He that seeketh findeth,' is delayed and hindered by
the weakness of our faith far more than anything besides ;
and that a quite distinctive blessing is attached unto the
loving prayer of intercession made for others, — a blessing,
too, whose full amount can only be conjectured, at the
best. Does it not seem as if this selfsame Israel were
borne upon the wings of prayer, by all the most illus
trious men of God, over successive abysses ? Thus,
Samuel goes before the people in the breach, and the
thunderstorm that threatens to destroy their fields passes
away over their heads.1 Then Hezekiah and Isaiah
hold out each his clasped hands against the whole army
of Sennacherib, and the presence of the spirit of true
prayer becomes the signal for the coming down of the
1 1 Sam. xii. 17 ff.

The Intercession. 137
destroying angel, whose it is to slay the multitudes of
the Assyrians.1 So Daniel seeks the face of God for his
people and the holy city, and immediately he is in
formed through Gabriel that, even in the beginning of
his prayer, there has gone forth a message from the
Lord announcing better times.2 We need not wonder,
then, that God does not permit prayer to be made to
Him when, for a time, He will no longer spare His
people ; and no stronger words of threatening are to be
found than these : ' Though Moses and Samuel stood
before me, yet my mind could not be towards this
people.' 3 And is the history of the Israel of the New
Covenant less rich in illustrations of the truth, that God
desires to have entreaty made to Him not merely by
but also for His people, so that He may pity them? Run
over, then, yourselves, the annals of Christ's reign, and
ponder specially the record made of your own history.
What keeps the sword from Peter's head when that of
James already is removed ? The Church sends up in
his behalf a constant prayer, that keeps the rock from
falling down. What has the Christian Church to thank
for her great teacher, Augustine ? The prayer of
Monica ; because a child for whom so many tears were
shed could not by any possibility be lost. What is it
that brings back Melanchthon from the gates of death ?
Luther at once betakes himself to heaven's gate, and
there pours forth a stream of prayers and tears, declaring,
in the full assurance of his faith, that he shall keep him,
and his hope shall not be put to shame. What saves
the Reformation when its greatest crisis had been
reached ? Not the protection it received from any
prince, not the support of wise and learned men, not any
influence wielded by noblemen ; but that same Luther,
who, when he imagines there is no one listening, prays
1 2 Chron. xxxii. 20, 21. 2 Dan. ix. 22, 23. 3 Jer. xv. 1.

138 Moses.
thus : ' I know of a surety that Thou art our God and
Father, and that Thou shalt put our persecutors to
shame. If Thou dost not, the danger is as great for
Thee as for ourselves. The whole is most assuredly
Thy work ; we have but been constrained to enter into
it ; and truly Thou shalt care for it ! ' Yes, after such
wrestling in the dust, we feel that we can venture boldly
on, quite confident that we shall win the day, when, in
the fiercest fight, we make our motto that expression of
heroic faith, ' I shall not die, but live, and declare the
works of the Lord.'1 What man can tell how many, who,
in secret, cherish sin, are sitting here, and from whose
guilty heads the sword is still averted through a father's
or a mother's prayer, while they have never made return
for all that love ; who would, moreover, keep us from
acknowledging that, deeply sensible of our own weakness,
we pour out our soul in secret for the much prayer made
in our behalf ? Delightful thought, that even the poorest,
by his prayers, may thus become a benefactor of his
fellow-men, as Moses was of Israel ; and that the clouds
of prayer that rise from earth to heaven return again
from heaven to earth in gentle showers of blessing for us
men ! Christians ! if you most truly seek your brother's
and your own salvation, persevere in prayer !
5.
' Your own salvation ' — yes ; it is just here that our
own interest, which we so fully understand, combines
most beautifully with our brother's too. Come, look at
Moses, in the last place, fully strengthened after prayer.
Let us once more look to the sequel of the history.
When you behold the man of more than eighty years
descending from the mountain of the Lord with all the
1 Ps. cxviii. 17.

The Intercession. 139
fire of youth still full in him, do you not recognise in
that the power of fellowship with God in heaven ? What
calmness in his eye, what firmness in his gait, what firm
decision in his actions, and what strength combined with
moderation, as this very page can testify ! There may
be error on the part of Joshua, but not on his ; Aaron
may make excuse, — he knows exactly what the value is
of the apology ; the Levites may slay thousands with the
sword, — hundreds of thousands have their fate decided
by the sword of Moses' mouth. Surely you do not
disapprove of what he did, when, in a boiling rage, he
cast away the tables' made of stone, so breaking them,
and strewed the dust obtained by pounding down the
golden calf upon the water used to quench the thirst of
Israel ? ' See my zeal for the Lord !' So Moses might
have said with better right than Jehu did in later times j1
for his was anger without sin. And we confess that we
would scarce have looked on him as Moses — yea, would
almost have despised him — had he not, on this occasion,
cast a single glance of deepest anger upon the abomi
nation now committed by the Israelites. What would
have been the meaning of such intercession for a race of
sinners, if the intercessor had esteemed the sin itself as
trivial ? Nay, verily, there must be no occasion given
for any one to say that Moses is most powerful in prayer,
but weak when courage, energy, and promptitude in
punishment should be displayed ; then let him who has
been before the face of God show that he does not fear
the face of man ! Not merely is the order given to
single out the guiltiest, he does not spare the strongest,
nor the weakest, nor the dearest, when he has to wield
the fierce chastising rod ; and wading through a sea of
blood, he can at once appear with confidence before
Jehovah, and there show that he esteems sin not more
1 2 Kings x. 16.

140 Moses.
lightly than the Holy One of Israel Himself, even though
he has made intercession in behalf of those who sinned.
Do you not recognise, in that one trait, Moses just as
he was, — of tender sympathies, but never weak before
the sinful Israelites, — pleading, indeed, with God to
show His grace, but never asking that He should re
nounce His sacred right ? Now he descends from Sinai's
height. But what a life is this that, properly, takes its
beginning here ! He marches on, deeper and deeper
still into the wilderness with those who are so frequently
chastised, but never bettered by the chastisement ! No
less than forty years, from day to day, he has, as prophet,
to explain the will of God ; as God's lawgiver, to uphold
His claims ; as mediator, to stand up between a sinful
creature and a holy Heaven, and to do this unweariedly,
uninterruptedly, almost without support, — not reckoning
the feeble Aaron and the seventy elders : — how was it
possible ? And had this man received some superhuman
power to do what we can scarce conceive ? Nay, it is not
astonishing that even he could feel, at least sometimes,
dispirited. Just hear how touchingly he speaks on one
occasion, and see from this that he was really a man
moved by like passions with ourselves : ' Wherefore have
I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the
burden of all this people on me ? Have I conceived all
this people ? Have I begotten them, that Thou shouldest
say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-
father beareth the sucking child P'1 But who, that knows
what a refreshing stream there ever flowed for Moses
through the sultry desert's sands, can fail to understand
that those hours of dejection gave immediate place to
years of strength ? The prayer of Moses was the power
before which more than Amalek was forced to yield ;
for the inscription on the altar built by Moses, ' The
1 Num. xi. 11-15.

The Intercession. 141
Lord is my banner,' becomes the watchword of his in
ward and his outward life. Prayer proves his stay and
strength when such as Miriam rise against him, and
when such as Aaron leave his side ; how little can he
need who finds all in his God ! Sometimes, indeed, the
day is hot and sultry ; but when, at the eventide, he
turns again into his tent, and the cloudy pillar shuts
him in, then is he all alone with God ; and the people,
as they stand far off in reverence, scarce can imagine
what is uttered there. But Moses reappears, as if he
had been born anew, and girded by an unseen arm for
all his work, feeling quite equal to the task awaiting
him. Whatever storms may play around his head, they
can at most destroy the branches of the tree — never its
roots ; and even his death scarce can deserve the name,
for what was his last breath but pious prayer? How
could we ever think of instituting even a remote com
parison between life's struggle, fought by one who lives
among ourselves, and Moses' life ? Still, Israel's journey
through the wilderness remains the emblem of our life
on earth ; and every Christian finds himself, while here
below, like Moses, placed in a position where, each day,
there is but strife without and often fear within. How
wretched, then, must be the man who knows no other
strength than that of mortal flesh and blood ! And
how should not the burden, that even Moses now and
then felt almost far too much for him, appear to such a
one wholly unbearable ? But if, at every point in our
career, we see our inner chamber open, as he saw the
Tabernacle of Witness, and if it is a good thing for us
to be near to God, then certainly, though much may
happen, this shall be impossible, — that we should be
compelled to ask, like Israel, ' Is the Lord among us or
not ?' At every turn we find new proofs in our experi
ence that His strength is perfected in our weakness ;

142 Moses.
and what human nature cannot do is taught us through
His grace. Then, even though the world be all opposed
to us, the Lord, in His eternal faithfulness, remains upon
our side ; though even our dearest friends may fall, the
Friend who cannot die still watches us ; although the
head may bend through weariness, the heart that still
can pray renews its youth. Behold in this the explana
tion of the mystery, why two men, both engaged in
the selfsame life-struggle, may yet fight in ways so
utterly dissimilar, that while the one sinks under wounds
he has received, the other issues from the fight victori
ous ; the one required to carry on the war at his own
charges, while the other had Omnipotence itself upon his
side. Have you never met with them, — those fortunate
unfortunates, whom one could never look upon without
remembering the well-known words : ' As chastened, but
not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things '.?1 Rise up again
before our eyes, ye countless hosts in heaven and on the
earth, who serve, like Moses, as examples of the power
of prayer and faith ! Grow on, even in our midst ; bear
witness in the face of the great world of unbelief unto
the truth that the Lord's arm is not shortened yet !
And Christians, if you wish for proof which no man can
refute, that the prayer of faith gives strength for every
thing, — yes, even overcomes the world, — see specially
that it be not awanting where it can least of all
be missed, — in your heart, in your mouth, in your
life !
We have been looking upon Moses while engaged in
prayer. But how could we conclude without bestowing a
sad look on all those we perceive so far beneath the place
which Moses occupied ? And how, again, could we
1 2 Cor. vi. 9, io.

The Intercession. 143
depart from this without a look of hope and joy at Him
who stands so far above f
Have we no reason to affirm that many, — that the
most of us, — that (let me say) we all remain far in the
rear of Moses with regard to faith and prayer ? But
what a painful feeling seizes us, whenever, from that
mount of prayer, we cast our eyes down on that vast
assembly, — nay, into our own heart especially ! I am
not even speaking now of those who carry with them,
not a Moses', but a Pharaoh's hardened heart ; I wish to
believe that you know better, by experience, what prayer
is than I have been describing it to-day. And yet do
you not feel, just like myself, that when you look at
Moses in the exercise of prayer, you are constrained to
cast your eyes upon the ground in shame ? Prayer is
to him the sweetest pleasure of his solitude : say can
didly and honestly — if an account were written of your
solitary hours, would it not show some traits quite diffe
rent from this ? The prayer of Moses rises for all Israel,
for sinners, even for those who have offended him ; say
candidly, how many of your dearest relatives there are
whom you have seldom or never remembered in your
prayers ; and have you many enemies for whose forgive
ness and conversion you have earnestly besought the
Lord ? This Moses, in the light shed by the Old Economy,
prays of his own free will ; why, in the light shed by the New
Economy, do you so often stand far off in such timidity ?
Moses does not desist from prayer before he gets an
answer from the Lord ; why does the least delay in the
fulfilment of your hopes make you abate your earnest
ness in prayer ? But why should we continue the com
parison, each point in which reveals new ground of blame
for us ? Who, in this whole assembly, will be bold enough
unblushingly to place himself alongside Moses while
engaged in prayer? Alas! although I seek for men

144 Moses.
who pray like Moses, I can find, at best, men weak as
Aaron was, — with good intentions, certainly, so long as
there is nothing hazardous to be attempted, but who
speedily are borne away, like reeds, by every stream
that brings temptation, when they rather should have
remained as firm as rocks ! What did I say ? ' I seek ;'
nay, it is God that seeks for men who pray like Moses,
'for the Father seeketh such to worship Him ;' and He
finds thousands like apostate Israel, not on the top, but
at the foot of Horeb. But is it not quite undeniable
that the same dividing line seen in this case is also to be
drawn among ourselves ; and that, of those who will not
let themselves be brought out from among the mass of
the apostate Israelites, by fostering a prayerful spirit such
as Moses showed, the number is from time to time on
the increase ? Only five verses back, before the words
found in the text, I find a wholly different account : ' The
people sat down to eat and drink, and then rose up to
play ; ' say candidly, is that not rather your own history ?
Does not the spirit of the times drive hosts of thought
less people into dissipation and a careless mode of life ?
Are you, too, not aware of any idols towards which the
heart is drawn far rather than to Him whose promises
are so attractive, — yes, but whose requirements, too, are
strict to a degree elsewhere unknown ? Have not you
also precious offerings, — as Israel had its gold, — ready
to give when there shall but be need of them to gratify
your heart's desire ? Do not you also feel an inclination
to unite, like Aaron, what never possibly can be com
bined, — the worship of the one true God and that of
idols ? You who can tell of a deliverance greater than
that of Israel from Egyptian bondage, who know of
better manna, and who hear the messages of God as
clearly as the Israelites, — can you, too, be at heart as
faithless, unimpressible, ungrateful, and as fickle as were

The Intercession. 145
they ? Then your prayer may possibly be like the
prayer of Israel, of whom we read, ' when He slew them,
then they sought Him,'1 but certainly not like the prayer
of Moses, who derived from it his chief delight ; then,
too, that sentence which God uttered to that praying
one applies to you, ' Whosoever sinneth against me, him
will I blot out of my book !'2 Moses, if thou didst well
in being wroth, and casting from thine hands the tables
of the testimony, when thou sawest Israel in all their
sin, how wouldst thou look upon so many now who
boast they have a better covenant, but yet despise it
through a like insensibility ? Oh that the contemplation
of this prayerful man of God had but inflamed a multi
tude of hearts with holy zeal, that they might seek in
some degree to be like him ! Why should we seek this
any longer in a world which can as little satisfy the
deepest wants of human hearts, as the golden idol could
have heard the prayers of Israel ? Why are we stand
ing still before it, ever weak as Aaron was, whereas a
prayerful Moses has been showing us how we may be
always courageous, always strong, and always full of
hope ? Rather let us bewail in briny tears our grievous
folly, in that we could possibly continue for so long a time
seeking the living water, not at the only fountain, but at
a troubled stream ! Let it be with each one of us this
day as if, like Moses, we perceived the Lord's voice
calling us to the ascent, — to seek the face of God with
all our troubles and our cares, but first with all our sins ;
nor let us rest till we are sure the Lord can also say to
us, as unto Moses, ' I know thee by name, and thou hast
also found grace in my sight.'3 Let us regard each dis
appointment, though most saddening, as being possibly
prepared for us even as for Moses, that it may become a
means in God's hands of improving us in prayer ; and
1 Ps. Ixxviii. 34. 2 Ex. xxxii. 33. 3 Ex. xxxiii. 12,
K

146 Moses.
let us deem each loss a gain, as making us less bound to
earth, and more prepared for fellowship with Him. Our
life is valueless, our future dark, our death devoid of
hope, so long as it cannot be said of us, as it was said of
Moses, that the Lord is become our God !
And how does He, the Holy One, become the God of
such unworthy sinners as ourselves ? Here my eye rests
upon a scene, in view of which all Sinai's glory pales,
and the angels that gave out the law but veil their faces
in deep reverence. Fifteen long centuries have passed
since Moses bowed in prayer, and now the mountains of
the Promised Land behold another One who prays dur
ing the quiet hours of night ; the solitudes hear this
Man speak with God, as if a child addressed the father
whom he loved. Moses has been our theme till now ;
but how could we here end with him, when we know One
who is the Mediator of another and far better covenant ?
On Sinai, Moses prays for a rebellious nation ; on Gol
gotha, you hear Jesus pleading for His executioners when
He was being crucified. Moses invokes God for His
grace towards Israel only ; Jesus, for that same grace to
sinners of all tribes and tongues, peoples and nations, —
yea, even towards you and me, in all our guilt. Moses
but offers to make his own life a sacrifice for sin, while
Jesus actually gives His life as a ransom for many.
Moses obtains for Israel no more than mitigation of the
penalty, not full forgiveness ; Jesus can bestow a full
salvation on all those who come to God by Him.
Moses expires when he has watched and prayed for
forty years, seeking the good of Israel ; but Jesus ever
lives, appearing in God's presence for our interest. Nay,
Israel, we do not envy you of this your prayerful
mediator ; we thank God that we look unto a higher One.
While other men rank Moses high among the saints, and

The Intercession. 147
earnestly desire that he may pray for sinners, this is our
sole wish, — that we may have an intercessor with our
God in Him whose way even Moses has prepared. And
we have blessed comfort in the certainty that He shall
intercede if we but come to Him as sinners. Nay, Jesus
does not say, like Moses, ' Peradventure I shall make an
atonement for your sin.' Even though your sins were
red as scarlet, only believe ; then, through His interces
sion, they shall all be covered, blotted out. But if you
have indeed found peace in Him, then see to it, ye Chris
tians, that no praying Moses put you to shame henceforth
as heretofore ! Moses must lead you unto Christ, but
Christ bestows on you the Holy Ghost, who gives you
power to become, not merely such as Moses was, —
though even that were much, — but even more than he.
Disciples of the Lord, go then to Him, and ask that He
Himself may teach you by His word and Spirit how
to pray aright ! Ye soldiers of the cross, members of
the Church militant on earth, kneel daily ere ye gird
your weapons on ; so shall ye surely be much more than
conquerors ! Ye who are faithful to your native land
and to the Church, pray, even as Moses, the more
earnestly the more you see decline around ; were but
the spirit of true prayer more fully asked for and be
stowed, then there would be less reason, but less inclina
tion also, to complain. Ye whom the world misunder
stands and wrongs, learn, like the prayerful Moses, —
nay, like Jesus in His sufferings, — to bless them that
curse you, and to pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you. Ye fellow-travellers to the same
celestial Canaan ! the path is steep, the time remaining
may be short, your best strength may be spent ; then
let us promise to each other and the Lord, that we shall
pray more earnestly for one another, and that we shall
thus complete what is, alas ! still wanting in our mutual

148 Moses.
love. Ye children of the dust ! a few more moments,
and our footmarks here on earth shall disappear, even
as Israel's in yonder wilderness. But yet, what matters
that, if so be that the story of our inner life, like that of
Moses on this earth, can be comprised in words like
these, recorded in Heaven's chronicle: 'He was a man of
prayer and faith'? As Moses ascended to meet with
God, so let us also quickly shake earth's dust from off
our wings, and through eternity enjoy the blessedness of
which he had refreshing foretaste in those forty days.
To none of His own chosen ones shall God say on that
holy mount, ' Go, get thee down !'
Amen.

CHAPTER VI.
Cfje jFesti&e ®ime.
'Then said he, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.' — Ex. xxxiii. 18.
' As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth
my soul after Thee, O God.' 1 Thousands of years have
now gone by since these words first were heard ; and
they may possibly have been employed hundreds of
times by your lips and mine. But whence is it that
they never fail to find a deep response within the inmost
sanctuary of a longing soul, — yea, that not only in our
own esteem, but that of others too, among the Psalms,
that of the panting hart forms the great ornament and
crown of all? To such a simple question there is but one
answer possible : the want, for which the sacred writer
found expression so felicitous, is the deepest need, not
only of the Hebrew, or the Christian, but, when we care
fully consider it, of every human heart. A Christian
philosopher 2 has well said : ' It is not only fear or terror,
bearing us along as on the wings of wind, or in the
rattling of the thunderstorm, which has shown man
that there is a God ; nor has he first read God's great
name inscribed among the stars. Deep, strong as the
instinctive influence through which the new-born babe
longs for the mother's breast, which it has not yet
known ; loud as the cry raised by young ravens for the
food, whose taste they never yet have felt ; strong, and
1 Ps. xiii. I. 2 Schubert.

150 Moses.
yet silent, as the attraction for the light, not yet per
ceived, felt by the scarce developed plant, and the, as
yet, unopened eye, — the inward thirsting for the ever
lasting Source of all that breathes and lives makes itself
deeply felt within us all.' Were we to take the wings of
dawn, that we might fly unto the utmost bounds of space ;
did we descend into the depths where every trace of life
and joy quite disappear, — even there we should discover
that we were alone with God. Nowhere, in all this world
which we behold, is there a spot where heart and soul
can find a lasting resting-place : ' Lord, Thou hast made
us for Thyself ; therefore our heart is ill at ease in us,
until we find our rest in Thee ! ' The sinner, certainly,
well understands the fatal secret how to stifle conscience
when it speaks ; but the secret of becoming truly happy
without God, thanks be to Him, no son of Adam ever
has found out. 'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again : ' such is the sentence constantly repeated
at the last, as well as at the first, draught taken from the
cup of sensual delight ; and even when we have enjoyed
the Lord's best gifts unto the full, the heart continues
poor and empty still, so long as it does not come into
personal communion with the Lord Himself, who gives.
Nay, more ; the man who never felt a strong thirst after
God is, most emphatically, dead in soul ; and only when
he can, with his whole heart, repeat the Psalmist's words,
' I stretch forth my hands unto Thee ; my soul thirsteth
after Thee, as a thirsty land,' 1 then- only has a spark of
spiritual life been kindled in his heart We need not be
astonished that no one can understand the psalm of the
panting hart more fully than the Christian, who has
been first conducted by the Lord unto living fountains
of waters. He is not satisfied when he has but begun to
know the Lord ; he seeks to make advance, in that new
1 Ps. cxliii. 6.

The Festive Time. 151
path, from light to light, from strength to strength, from
one stage to another in true blessedness. The more he
knows about the Infinite, the more he seeks to know ;
the more he has enjoyed, at first, of fellowship with Him,
the more he longs to taste of it ; the more God con
descends to him, the higher does he seek to rise to God.
And though, amidst life's toils and pains, this feeling is
too frequently asleep, yet he knows, if not days, at least
hours and moments, when his confession too was that
made by the Psalmist in the words, ' My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my heart
and my flesh crieth out for the living God ! ' J
Do you know what it is to long in soul for personal
communion with the Lord ? The question is at all times
a momentous one ; and yet, perhaps, it never is of such
great moment as just in connection with the subject now
presented to your minds. Even when you have some
understanding of the nature of that want, the page from
Moses' history, before us now, has its own dark, mysteri
ous side ; but if that disposition of the soul be something
wholly strange, unknown to you, we must despair of lead
ing you to feel, and to appreciate aright, its excellence ;
for here, too, as in other instances, the words of the apostle
hold quite true, 'The natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God.'2 It is no easy thing to speak, in
some degree as we would need, about the revelation made
to Moses by the Lord ; but who could hear with profit,
had he not an eye to look on Moses' heart, or had he not
himself a heart by which he could appreciate, at least
in some degree, the honour and the great good fortune
Moses had ? But if that eye and heart are not things
strange to you, you may now hear the words once heard
upon Mount Tabor sounding in your ears, when you
are, in the spirit, building tabernacles on Mount Sinai,
1 Ps. Ixxxiv. 2. ' 1 Cor. ii. 14.

152 Moses.'
— 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.' The festive time
in Moses' life is what you shall this day behold, and
celebrate with him.
Does it not sound most strange and enigmatical, to
hear about the festive season of the man to whose
prayer, made for others, you have only recently been
listening? I grant that few have felt more fully by
experience than he, the truth of his own words, — that
grief and toil abound on earth. Were we allowed to
name no more than one of all the human race, to
whom, after the Son of man, we could especially apply
the words, ' a man of sorrows,' we should not hesitate
in writing them beneath the statue of Moses. But yet,
God is not so unjust, or so unfaithful, as to permit His
servant to be tried beyond what he is able to endure, or
work incessantly without a rest. Rest and refreshing
even Moses now and then enjoyed, not merely for the
body, when his daily task was done, or when the Sab
bath sun had set, — -not only for the soul, as when, with
Jethro, he sat down to eat the sacrificial meal, — not
merely for the spirit, as when God so often gave him
light upon his path, bestowed His comfort, heard him
as He did no other man ; but also, and especially, in
that ever memorable hour, when, in the fullest meaning
of the word, he felt on earth a foretaste of the joys of
heaven. Even were it but for Moses' sake alone, we
should rejoice over the revelation, the account of which
is given at the end of this, and the beginning of the
chapter following. But how shall we, besides, make
you sufficiently alive to the importance of this revela
tion for all later times, — yea, for each one of our own
selves ? One of the grandest pages in the history of the
Old Covenant lies open now before our eyes, and we
scarce know to which point first, and specially, we shall
direct your thoughts. If we look back in thought, we

The Festive Time. 153
here perceive a dim past lighted up by rays of heavenly
light. If we look round about, we feel ourselves, in
many ways, as highly privileged as Moses was, — nay,
even more highly privileged. If we look forward, even
the dark future is visibly illumined by the brightness
of the light that streams from Sinai's height. If we de
scend into our hearts, we there hear sounds and voices
which repeat, confirm, and send forth their replies to
God's words from the cloud. But we must stop ; for you
have long been wishing yet once more, in thought, to place
yourself upon the lonely mountain-top, and see the Lord
pass by before our eyes. May we but be permitted,
with a Moses' heart, to tarry there. Come, and behold
in this communication, asked for and obtained by Moses,
(1) the crown of the Old Covenant, (2) the mirror of the
New, (3) the promise and prediction that God's glory,
in its fulness, would in future be revealed.
Lord ! our soul cleaveth unto the dust ; quicken us
according to Thy word ! Lord ! our eye is blinded by
reason of sin ; open it by Thy grace, that we may behold
Thy glory ! 1.
The festive shouts, that Israel raised in honour of the
idol they first made, are silent now ; and the avenging
sword, at Moses' prayer, is now averted from the nation's
head. Only three thousand sinners have endured the
righteous punishment deserved by many more, — by
nearly all. But how has there been brought about
a re-establishment of the relation which obtained be
tween Jehovah and His people, broken through so
recklessly by Israel ? He has, indeed, engaged to
send His angel to conduct them to Canaan ; but what
is even the guardianship of angels for Moses' heart,
that will be satisfied with nothing short of God Him-

154 Moses.
self? It was, we know, the special and peculiar privilege
bestowed on Israel, above all other nations, that the one
true God Himself should dwell with them ; and the
fairest crown had fallen from their head when the
tables of the law had been destroyed. Well may
that nation sit in sackcloth and in ashes ; yea, and
Moses well may pitch the tabernacle of the congrega
tion outside the camp : still, there remains the widest
difference between a Judge who does not punish men
according to their merits, and a Father who forgives with
all his heart ! Thus hours and days, and possibly even
weeks and months, pass slowly on in sad uncertainty,
and yet no outward change is brought about in the
condition of affairs. But Moses feels himself, at last,
no longer able to restrain his wish for further light :
He prays the Lord to show whom He will send, and
what He means to do with a nation that is still His
own. And when Jehovah gives a distant glimmer of
the possibility that his most earnest wish shall be ful
filled ; when Moses further states, most positively, that
he would prefer to go no farther, than remain without
the guidance of the Lord Himself; then, filled with joy
and with astonishment, the man of God essays to take
one further step, and gives expression to his heart's
wish in the prayer, ' Show me now Thy glory.'
Who shall determine what it was that Moses under
stood, and felt, and wished, when he employed these
words ? We know, of course, that ere this time he had
seen much more of God's glory than all other men. The
bush that burned, and yet was not consumed ; the Red
Sea moved out from its bed ; the manna rained down
from above ; the arid rock changed to a source of living
streams ! Alone, upon the top of Sinai, and amidst
most dreadful signs, he had received the law of God ;
moreover, with the elders of the Israelites, he had beheld

The Festive Time. 155
the pavement which the King of Israel laid for the palace
where- He sits enthroned, — what seemed transparent sap
phire-stone.1 What more is it that this insatiable, this
high-minded servant of the Lord desires ? The Lord
Himself gives answer to the question, when He (ver. 20)
in so many words declares, ' My face cannot be seen.'
That is to say, Moses has hitherto but heard the voice
of Him that spake out of the cloud ; now, he beseeches
that the veil of mystery shall be removed, and that he
may be shown the face of God, beaming with heavenly
light. Say not that this request comes from a narrow
mind ; above all, do not say that it is unbecoming and
irreverent. Even Moses, as this prayer of his sufficiently
makes plain, had not yet got beyond all sense-concep
tions of the Supreme Being ; and if the question unin
tentionally indicates the limitation of his views, we must
especially remember that he pleads out of the fulness
of a warm and loving heart. I know full well from
whose hearts such a prayer could never possibly arise ;
but I question whether they would find so much of grace
as Moses in the sight of God. It was the very multitude
of promises which he had just received that gave him all
the greater boldness to ask more, and to express a bold
desire that long had slumbered in his pious soul. When,
through a lengthened period, we have received a multi
tude of loving tokens from a friend residing in a distant
land, many kind letters, many kindly gifts, we can no
longer curb the strong desire to see and speak with him.
Even so this Moses asks the Lord, who had already
shown him so much of His ways and works, that He
would now at last reveal to him His proper nature in
its full magnificence. Up till this time the angels had
been called to mediate between him and the Lord ; but
now he would approach the Lord directly and immedi-
1 Ex. xxiv. 9, 10.

156 Moses.
ately. One aspect of that nature Moses has already
looked upon, when he received the law ; but he thinks
there are still other aspects, hitherto concealed from
him, and his spirit cannot rest till he has also looked
on these. Do you not think, too, that the man of God
would be quite startled at the boldness of his own
request, immediately on having uttered it ?
Nevertheless, the Holy One of Israel is not wroth,
when the child of dust puts forth his hand presumptu
ously to draw aside the curtain of His dwelling-place.
He rather seeks to show (as we must understand the
second half of ver. 19) that He is truly gracious unto
those to whom He will be gracious, while towards the
man to whom He will show mercy He will be truly
merciful. It certainly may be impossible to gratify the
wish of Moses to the full. What mortal would be able
to behold the face of God, and yet not be immediately
consumed by the intensity of glory there revealed?
Nevertheless, as far as possible, at least the spirit of
this pious prayer shall be observed, though Moses shall
not find it literally fulfilled. With the full revelation
of His kindness (a lovely word, which we would not
exchange for any other one), the Lord shall cause His
glory to pass by, proclaiming to the listening ear of
Moses His all-glorious name. Near Him, upon the
holy mount (ver. 21), there is a spot whither the man
of God is to betake himself ere morning dawn. When
the decisive moment comes, Jehovah, as it were, shall
shield the man against Himself, and lay His hand upon
His servant's face to cover it. Then, when He has
passed by, the hand shall be removed from off his
eyes ; and what he shall behold will be, not the Invi
sible Himself, but only the last portion of His royal
robe, the mere extremity of His celestial dress : such
is what Moses shall behold.

The Festive Time. 157
How grand these promises ! Can it be possible to
find a statement anything more excellent than this, —
that God is a Spirit, dwelling in light that cannot be
approached, and whom no human eye hath seen, neither
can see ? Not God's face in itself, but only the last fold
seen in His royal mantle, — such is the most, the only
thing that He can show to any creature upon whom
He will confer the highest privilege ! Thus there is
pointed out once more, not merely the unlawfulness,
but also the absurdity of the idolatry of which the
Israelites had just been guilty. But the command to
bring with him two new stone tables, upon which a
heavenly finger shall once more inscribe the words of
the law, reveals, besides, the most delightful prospect.
The Lord Himself, by His free grace, seeks to restore
the broken covenant, and to reveal Himself towards the
mediator of the Old Covenant not merely as the Great
Invisible, but as a God in whom compassion flows.
Imagine the emotion of the man of God, and how he
must have watched throughout the sleepless night for
the expected hour! Must there not have been heard
a voice, speaking within his heart, and saying, in the
words which he himself addressed to the rebellious
Israelites the day before the manna came, ' To-morrow
thou shalt see the glory of the Lord ' ? And let us
further picture to ourselves Moses, prepared to meet
the Lord his God, before the sun has yet arisen. How
different was the ascent from that upon the morning
when the law was given ! There are no thunders now,
no shout of trumpets, nor is there even Joshua to lead ;
alone, he makes his way up the ascent, while nothing
but the sound of his own footsteps, and the beating
of his heart, quite audible, breaks in upon the stillness
of the scene. At last, with thankful heart, he gains the
summit of the mountain he had left, but a few weeks

158 Moses.
before, with prayers and sighs ; the cleft made in the
rock has now been reached ; nothing here intervenes
between him and his God but just the body, — that light
covering of dust. Earth has now sunk beneath his feet ;
heaven shall disclose itself before his eyes ; he shall
behold the glory of the Lord. And now, while he
stands there, trembling with sacred awe, and waits and
worships, he beholds the cloud of testimony coming
from afar ; and there breaks in upon his life a moment,
in describing which the pen falls from the hand of every
one except Moses himself. Suddenly he feels an unseen
hand laid on his dazzled eyes ; and, lovely as the sound
of angel-harps, he hears these words proclaimed, amidst
the stillness all around, ' The Lord, the Lord God, merci
ful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in good
ness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty ; visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and to the fourth gene
ration.' 1 And when the heavenly voice has ceased in
silence, there is granted him a moment's view ; and a
stream of light that flows towards him from the cloud
as it slowly passes by — . . . But nay, we must not
think of giving a description here, when Moses scarcely
ventured even to cast a single look. With head
inclined, he casts himself upon his glowing face, and
Horeb becomes, for him who is the confidant of God,
a Bethel, a true gate of heaven.
We have refrained from all attempts to give a natural
explanation of what here occurred ; but he who takes
offence at the miraculous in sacred history will here find
plenty of material. Perhaps he may feel most inclined
to think of some great striking natural phenomenon, — a
purple morning-cloud, for instance, or some other sight,
1 Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7.

The Festive Time. 159
whereon a voice from God proclaimed in Moses' heart,
i.e. whereon Moses said lo himself, that the Lord is the
merciful and gracious One. How utterly opposed such
an explanation is, both to the letter and the spirit of
this narrative, you certainly need not be told. Why
should it have been far too wonderful and great that the
living God should make an audible voice proceed from
heaven to Moses' ear and heart ? In our opinion, all this
revelation, both in form and contents, bears indubitable
marks of true sublimity, while it is also worthy of our God.
Jehovah mostly showed Himself to Israel and to Moses,
more especially in later times, simply in the light of
His offended justice ; here, on the other hand, it is pro
claimed that holy love is the grand aim and the centre
of the divine nature. On Sinai, at the bush, Moses
was taught to view Jehovah as the Infinite ; at the
giving of the law, as the God of spotless holiness ; but ,
here, moreover, as the God of everlasting mercy. This
revelation forms the bond by which God joins Himself
once more to Israel ; and unto Moses, as a compensation
for the fact that his most earnest prayer has not been
answered to the letter, there is promised the fulfilment
of his earlier request, — that the Lord Himself will go
with the nation. And let it carefully be noted, that the
revelation of the glory of God's nature is, for Moses, here
connected with a statement which, although he is a pro
phet, highly gifted and enlightened, he must but accept
in humble faith, even as a little child. Moses desires to
see ; but God desires, above all things, to make him hear
and follow Him. But what he now hears is the grandest
revelation ever made by God under the Old Economy ;
the only scene we can compare with that before us now,
viz. the revelation granted to Elijah on this very Horeb,
only showed that man of God, in sacred symbols, the
same truths here audibly proclaimed to Moses by the

160 Moses.
voice of God. Truly, there is no wonder, then, that
Moses tarries other forty days upon the mountain-top
in heavenly ecstasy ; and that his countenance beams
forth with heavenly glory, when, bearing in his handsj
two tables made of stone, the pledge of the renewal
of God's promises, he leaves the consecrated ground.
Even Aaron scarce durst look on him, for, at first sight,
he seems less an inhabitant of earth than heaven. But
we, who have accompanied him all along in spirit, can
not help exclaiming, when we call to mind the story
of the festive hour of all his life, ' Happy Moses, unto
whom, at least on one occasion, it was granted, even on
this side of the grave, to contemplate to such a large
extent the glory of the Lord ! '

' Happy Moses : ' are these words found on your lips
too ? Then surely you will joy when you remember
that the privilege, accorded in those days to him, is
equally attainable by every Christian now. Come, give
us your attention still, while, in the revelation, viewed
already as the crown and glory of the Old Economy,
we also let you see the mirror of the blessings of the
New. The glory of the Lord is shown us in another
way, but with no less of clearness than before. Is this
too strong a statement ? Only look to the person of the
Redeemer, the work of redemption, the guidance of the
redeemed ; and then see whether you have any ground
for feeling envy towards Moses in his privilege.
'Show me Thy glory!' It was more than a mere
personal want to which Moses gave expression in this
prayer. It was the wish that lived, consciously or uncon
sciously, within the heart of multitudes, in whose eyes this
whole earth, with all its glory, was too poor and small to

The Festive Time. 161
satisfy the deepest wish felt by the longing heart. Men
felt that God — yes, God Himself — must needs appear
on earth, if earth were to become a gate of heaven. ' Oh
that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst
come down, that the mountains might flow at Thy pre
sence ! ' — such was the strong expression of the feeling
in the prophet's heart.1 And lo ! the heavens did open
when the fulness of the time had come : ' The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us ; and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the Only -begotten of the Father.' 2
Is it not as if the fulfilment of Moses' wish, now made,
had only been deferred, in order that it might be fully
gratified when fifteen centuries had passed ? ' Without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.'3 He
who is very God was manifested in our human flesh : but
what is here shown to Moses, viz. that God is a Spirit,
God is Light, God is Love, — how plainly may we read this
in the gospel, as if written there in heavenly characters,
when we look to the revelation of God's glory in the Son
of His love ! Ye who, like Philip, will not take instruc
tion that is offered you, why do ye any longer ask,
' Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us ' ? * Assuredly,
he that hath seen Him hath seen the Father ; and to
the Christian there is given, in the beloved person of his
Saviour, a far grander revelation of God's glory than the
works of nature and of providence present. For us also
the words' still hold, ' No man shall see me and live.' 5
' God is a Spirit ; ' the secret here announced to Moses
is uttered by our Lord, in three words, to a woman of
Samaria. Nevertheless, what may be known concerning
God has been made manifest in Christ ; and every com
parison between the Old and the New Covenants draws
John's words from our lips : ' No man hath seen God at
1 Isa. lxiv. I. 5 John i. 14. 6 1 Tim. iii. 16.
* John xiv. 8. 5 Ex. xxxiii. 20.
L

1 62 Moses.
any time : the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath declared Him.'1 How God's
unspotted holiness beams towards you, in Him who
well can ask at friend and foe, 'Which of you con
vinceth me of sin?'2 who always sees the Father, just
because He ever does what is well-pleasing in His
eyes ; who prays without ceasing, but in no case for
the forgiveness of His own sins ; and who awaits His
being glorified, not as a favour, but an undisputed right !
And the love of God : — but where shall I find words with
which I may describe the love of Christ, divine in origin
and splendour, but a splendour which is tempered by its
covering, — a lowly, human form ? Behold Him as He
traverses the land, comforting the sorrowful, raising the
fallen, strengthening the weak, healing the broken
hearted ones, enduring even the worst because of His
great love, while not a single murmur of complaint
escapes His lips ; and now, behold that love, which died
not when He died, which He has carried with Him to the
throne from which He rules the universe, that He might
intercede for sinners there ! Well might He ask, as He did
once, before performing one of His most splendid miracles,
' Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou
shouldst see the glory of God ? ' 3 But that glory does
not shine forth from His works alone, nor does it merely
manifest itself in what He says ; it beams upon us from
the splendour seen in His whole mien. And that ap
pearance, too, exhibits as calm majesty as God does when
He shows Himself to Moses here : He does not cry, nor
raise His voice, nor cause it to be heard in the streets ;
but when we look on Him, we feel like Moses when the
cloud passed by before his eyes ; surely we see in Him
more than the hinder portion of the royal train — we see
God's greatness in the face of Him who was God of God
1 John i. 18. 2 John viii. 46. 3 John xi. 40,

The Festive Time. 163
and Light of Light, whereunto no man can approach, but
who has yet come near and lived in humble servant-
guise. If here the revelation given by God is made
to Moses only, it is now, in Christ, bestowed upon the
poorest whom the Holy Ghost has taught to see the
Father in the Son. If here, through Moses, God reveals
His nature to one single people, now the light arises
over all the nations that but sat in darkness heretofore ;
for here, 'there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision
nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and in all.' ] Oh, hadst thou seen
Him, Moses, highly honoured and exalted as thou wert
in Israel, how wouldst thou have made haste to bow
profoundly at His feet ! For us, who are permitted
to behold what kings and prophets have not seen, God's
special revelation is complete in the appearance of the
Christ ; and the voice out of the cloud receives its ex
planation in the gospel of God's Son.
And how much more impressively that voice sounds
when we venture on a second step, and meditate on
God's redeeming work! What is the sin which, in God's
eyes, polluted Israel, compared with the abominable sins
which stand against a whole lost world, — against you
and me, — before the God of unspotted holiness ? We
all deserved that God should turn away His friendly
countenance from us, as from that people ; and that He
should not guide us by an angel, but, instead, give us the
portion of the fallen ones. But have ye not known,
have ye not heard, hath it not been told you from the
beginning, ' God so loved the world that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life'?2 ' God so
loved :' — in order to appreciate these words aright, one
must have stood first on a height like that of Sinai, then
1 Col. iii. II. 2 John iii. 16.

1 64 Moses.
looked down into a depth like that of our own misery.
Here is a God so glorious and high that the greatest of
the prophets can hear something, but can scarce see
anything of Him, because His majesty fills heaven and
earth ; a God who is so holy that He visits sin, not
merely on the sinner who himself has sinned, but also
on his son and his son's son ; and who must needs Him
self employ extraordinary means to spare His chosen
creatures, whom He may even once admit to His imme
diate presence. If even a Moses cannot look on Him,
then how shall Israel dwell in the presence of this de
vouring fire ? If the righteous scarcely be saved, where
shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Hear, O
heavens, and give ear, O earth ! — a God like this is well-
disposed towards such sinners ! He, the Holy One,
loves sinners, loves them specially, loves them so well
that He gives up His Son for them. The Supreme, the
Absolute, the ever-blessed One, has thoughts of life and
peace towards a little dust and ashes, of whose praise
He has no need, and who are in revolt against His
government ; in Christ He gives them, not another law,
as He gave the two stones to Moses, but full pardon,
grace, salvation. Nay, do not fancy that you now have
seen the highest revelation of God's glory upon Sinai ;
to behold it in full splendour, you must tarry on a moun
tain wholly different, — the bloody Golgotha, — but with
the spirit of the publican. When you behold that cross,
encompassed with thick clouds during the three hours'
darkness, then examine Horeb as it now peers through the
gloom ; and when you have, to some extent, attained an
understanding of those grand words, ' who loved me and
gave Himself for me,'1 can you help being overwhelmed
bymultitudes of thoughts? are not your eyes suffused with
tears ? must not the lips of the most eloquent be seized
1 Gal. ii. 20.

The Festive Time. 165
with stammering ? ' Holy, holy, holy is the Lord :' nay,
even Sinai's thunders do not proclaim that truth so loudly
as the cry that comes from the expiring Son, who feels
Himself forsaken by His Father, when, laden with the
curse of Horeb, He was made sin for us sinful men.
And yet, what is even the assurance of God's pity and
His grace that Moses learned, when we compare it with
the matchless fact that the Beloved of the Father dies
for His worst enemies, and that God in Him not merely
shows us heaven opened, but unlocks to us the heaven
we forfeited ? It is just here especially that we, no less
than Moses, fail in finding words with which we can
express our thoughts ; but this we feel, that, louder far
than anywhere besides on earth, the voice out of the
cloud is found re-echoed from the cross.
Now let us take one other look at the guidance of the
redeemed, who, like Moses, found favour in the sight of
God. Does it need much to show that, in this too, the
glory of the Lord is seen almost at every step ? ' Merci
ful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in good
ness : ' the experience of even the most debased among
us bears strong witness to these words of God ; for what
would have become of you if the Lord had ever dealt
with you according to your sins ? But ye who are the
Lord's redeemed have an experience that speaks more
strongly still ; for not merely do ye live by His long-
suffering, but ye continue in His favour and in fellowship
with Him ; and ye learn by experience, like Moses, that
He never puts to shame or pours contempt upon the
humble prayer of faith. And surely you, too, know full
many a spot, as Moses did the crevice in the rock, where
you sit gladly down, there to review the way by which
the Lord, in His eternal faithfulness, has thus far been
conducting you ? I hear you say already that the sum
of your inquiries is comprised in this : the voice out of

166 Moses.
the cloud has been the voice addressed to me through
all my life on earth ! God's way, indeed, was often dark
and deep ; and to a creature, in his nothingness, it is as
little given to understand God's plan of guidance as to
see His face. God's ways were often otherwise ; but how
frequently, besides, have they seemed higher than our
ways ; and how often could we afterwards find ground
for thankfulness in what, at first, seemed but material for
deep and just complaint ! And we have found, too, that
God's holiness is certainly a thing not to be mocked ; it
testifies that there are thorns set for our feet, growing
beside the roses of sin ; wounds in our conscience, too,
which our own hands have made ! Nevertheless, that
love of God, proclaimed so loudly now from heaven : —
oh, even though every other voice were hushed, surely
each follower of Christ must sing aloud, repeating from
the bottom of his heart the words, ' Merciful, gracious,
long-suffering !' How well has God dealt with each one
of us, — ineffably beyond what we can ask or think !
There is no heart without its bitter sore, but neither is
there any sore without its heavenly cure. There is no
life without its doubts and its unanswered questionings,
but neither is there any doubt that does not sometime
yield to grateful astonishment. Like Moses, we must
often work and strive, but at each turn the Lord surprises
us with proofs that He is not forgetting us, but still
bears us in mind. And when, as in this case, He gives
no answer even to earnest prayers that we have uttered
in our thoughtless haste, He frequently bestows, instead,
what is far better, — yes, and always just what we can
bear, and what we specially require. The God of ever
lasting mercy ever finds out ways of showing His com
passion for us men. The God of boundless patience
bears with imperfection in His servants, who are often
little better than rebellious enemies at heart. And God's

The Festive Time. 167
beneficence : — ye stones of Horeb, even though ye were
raised up as altars for thankofferings, ye would be all too
few to mark the spots where we should feel constrained
to kneel and cry, ' Ebenezer ; hitherto hath the Lord
helped us!'1 Of how great moment does this frail
existence show itself ; how clear becomes the dark life-
path, when, with a Moses' eye, we everywhere behold the
rays fall from the revelation of God's glory, and, with
a Moses' ear, hear from each dark, impenetrable cloud
above our path the voice from heaven repeated con
stantly, 'Merciful, gracious, abundant in goodness!'
And yet this is the privilege, not of a single individual,
but of millions of redeemed ones ; the sum and sub
stance of your history is that of countless generations
who preceded you, and multitudes who yet shall live :
this revelation of God's holy love is destined to be ever
going on, ever becoming clearer, and never adequately
praised. What matters it, my fellow Christian, although
you do not in the body stand next Moses on Mount
Sinai ? Is not the voice out of the cloud sealed by the
voice from your heart ? 3.
Like Moses on that morn, we have ascended higher
by degrees, but still we have not reached the highest
point. No wonder, for we also ever tarry here below.
But would it not be possible, looking into a mirror such
as this, to see there something higher than the earth ?
Our thoughts speed on, away beyond the past and
present, to discover something different and much more
beautiful ; and the festive time of Moses' life becomes,
lastly, to us a prophecy of the future revelation of God's
eternal glory. When you, like Moses, must depart, you
1 I Sam. vii. 12.

1 68 Moses.
should not fail in making the acknowledgment that you
have seen, at least in some degree, the glory of the Lord.
But that something, though we had the power to mul
tiply it even a thousand fold, what is it when compared
with the far greater, the entire amount of what believing
hearts desire ? Our deepest need, our highest blessed
ness, is, not to hear the voice of God, but to behold the
Lord Himself; but that is just the very wish denied us
here on earth, even as in Moses' case. Nay, more ; we
do not even stand, like Moses, on the top ; we dwell, like
Israel, scattered in tents at the foot of the mount of
God's glory. ' We walk by faith, not by sight :' such is
the motto of the New as well as of the Old Economy ;
and it is well for us that this grand principle is never
modified. How should we ever be prepared for heaven,
if, in this life, the school of faith were now already closed ?
And what surprise of pleasure could the future bring us,
if this day or yesterday beheld each enigma sufficiently
explained ? ' How very little after all is it that I have
seen !' must Moses frequently have said when he looked
back upon that morning. And, that almost nothing has
been reached must be acknowledged, not by those alone
who make a hasty search, but also those who have even
specially devoted a long life to the investigation of God's
character and things divine. Sit down, ye pensive Chris
tians, in solitude, like the prophet in the quiet cleft of
the rock ; by the hearing of your ears you hear the voice
of God, but ' now mine eye seeth Thee ' — nay, these
words we can never utter here below without great
limitation. We hope for the salvation of the Lord, but
how wide the difference between the living hope and the
desired enjoyment ! We watch for the morning of the
future, but it ever glimmers far off in the Orient ; the
full-orbed sun still hides itself beneath the far horizon of
our view. Is our experience not often that of Moses ?

The Festive Time. 169
We have moments of presentiment, of spiritual inter
course, of (I might almost say) immediate contact be
tween the Eternal Spirit and our own ; and at such times
a voice comes whispering, ' Thus shalt thou see hereafter.'
Yet something always intervenes between this heart of
ours and God ; He lays a covering hand upon the eyes
of His most faithful worshippers, that they may not yet
fully see the truth ; nevertheless, they make their own
conjectures with regard to it, they constantly draw nearer
it, and almost seem to grasp it with their hands while
they engage in prayer. So is it here ; so must it be on
earth ; but so it will not always be. With God's hand
laid upon our eyes, we grope along for days or years in
deepest gloom until we reach death's vale, . . . then the
Lord passes by before us, while the chilly breath of him
who is the King of Terrors blows upon our face. ' Show
me now Thy glory : ' thus faith entreats with almost
faltering lips ; and never, God be thanked, did Heaven
continue silent at the last prayer breathed on earth. The
Lord, as it were, makes all His goodness pass once more
before His dying friends, since ' He is truly gracious
towards those to whom He is gracious.' He leads them
through the gloom as if by His own hand ; He plants
their feet, like those of Moses, on a stable rock ; and draws
near as a friend, clothed in the light of an eternal morn.
Now He reveals Himself once more, but far more clearly
and far better than He here appears, not on an earthly
Sinai, but within the heavenly Sion. More closely than
at any time before does He approach, while He pro
claims His name before us, . . . then He lifts His cover
ing hand from off our eyes, and lo, we see ! It is no
longer but another view presented in a mirror, through
dark speech ; it is a sight from face to face ; there is not
now seen but the hinder portion of the royal train, but
the full riches of paternal love ; it is not now a sight for

170 Moses.
moments merely, as when Moses looked, but for undying
ages, for eternity. How shall the words then sound out
from the clouds of heaven into the hearts of the re
deemed from angel-harps, ' The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth!' Oh, how shall it be then, when
every cloud is swept away, and that which was believed
in, though in spite of many doubts, shall be made plain
in noon-day light : God, only light, — God, everlasting
love ! Christians ! if Moses longed impatiently for the
appearance of that morn on Horeb, tell me, does not
your soul, too, long vehemently in prayer for that morn
when God shall make the full and final revelation of His
glory, and — of all His sons ?
'And all His children!' These words at once con
duct us back from heaven's heights down to the depths
of our own heart. Why should the eye, that has so long
been pointed upwards, not be now turned inwards with
redoubled earnestness ? Come, follow me a little longer,
while, in closing, we address three questions to your
heart and conscience.
The first question is, have you, too, ever yet desired what
Moses sought so eagerly ? ' How could I do that ?' some
one perhaps will silently reply. ' Does not this history
itself give evidence that this desire was prompted by
narrow ideas of the Supreme Being, and that, from the
nature of the case, it was of no avail ?' Narrow concep
tions. Oh, how I could wish, for many of you here, some
thing of those contracted notions, — if, that is, the frame
of mind, which is the great consideration here, could
not be otherwise attained ! We do not ask, of course,
whether you have already given as clear expression to
those very words, ' Show me Thy glory ; ' but whether
there be really within your heart the want which forms

The Festive Time. 171
the ground of the desire, — whether you curb that sense
of want instead of letting it have unrestrained expression,
— whether, specially, you have already sought and found
that way through which the satisfaction of this want may
be attained by every one of us. Must I ask other ques
tions still, to raise the blush of shame on many a face ?
Ah ! if each one of you were plainly asked, What is your
chief desire ? how many, nay, how few, Lord, could lay
their hand upon their heart and say, I desire nothing
more earnestly than living, personal communion with
God ! Perhaps, indeed, an evanescent wish for some
thing higher, better, may not be unknown to many
here, especially when earthly things bring disappoint
ment, and the future is concealed from sight. Never
theless, that deep, that dominant, that earnest longing
after God which does not rest content till it has found
Himself, and in Him perfect peace and spiritual life, —
are we unjust in fearing that the string here touched
upon is out of tune in many a heart, if not indeed quite
broken now ? But how many eyes there are which have
a longing to see everything, except God and the Lord ;
how many hearts that take delight in this world's glory,
but feel not the glory of the gospel ; and how many lips
that long to drink the stupefying cup of sensual enjoy
ment, but thirst not for the living streams ! Among the
ancient Romans, there was often heard the cry raised by
the common people, 'Bread and plays!' and with these
they were satisfied. But are there no professing Christians
quite as content if only earthly bread is gained, and the
play of earthly joys is played ? And when sometimes —
although, of course, we are unwilling to believe this true
of every one of you — the soul's necessities assert them
selves, and that soul has begun to cry for God, oh, what
a constant tendency there is to seek peace where it
cannot possibly be found ; how every kind of artifice is

172 Moses.
tried to smother heart and conscience when they cry ;
how frequently, like Israel at the foot of Sinai, we sit
down smitten, chastised, and stripped of all that formerly
adorned us, but without true penitence, without true long
ing after God ! Poor man, thus to be ever going through
the same old dreary round of useless efforts, cares, and
sins (who knows how long all this has been ?), and still not
to be wearied with each new beginning ! When shall
your eye at last be turned towards that heaven where
you now behold but sky and clouds ? And when shall
Asaph's testimony ever issue from your lips, — ' Whom
have I in heaven but Thee ; and there is none upon the
earth that I desire besides Thee' .?1 Oh that this day's
consideration of the majesty, but specially the love of
God, may kindle in your soul that sense of need which
has so long been slumbering ! What more has the world
for you than the desert had for Israel, so long as you
remain as far removed from God as they, and feel that
you are not a sharer in His friendship ? Even here, as
you have heard, the Lord by no means looks upon the
guilty as if he were innocent ; what shall it be when
once this world, with its attractiveness, has passed away,
and you shall be obliged to look on and accept, as Judge,
that God whom you have failed to honour as a Father
in this present life? Nay, verily, His love, to which the
voice that issued from the cloud gave witness, and which
even now still calls on you, is no unholy weakness.
Even the glory seen by Moses here is nothing when
compared with the fierce ardour which, when God ap
pears, shall cause the heart of the impenitent to quake.
Then shall the Lord pass by before you, but not to
return once more, making a revelation of His grace ; and
if a voice be heard at all, it shall be that of threatening
and despair: ' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
? Ps. lxxiii. 25.

The Festive Time. 173
of the living God.'1 ' Pass by you :' — not yet has the
Lord passed by for ever from before you, ye apostate
children ! The compassionate, long-suffering One still
cries to you, ' Return unto me, and I will heal your
backsliding.' Do not despise the riches of His goodness
and forbearance ; say from the bottom of your hearts,
' Lo, we are here ; we come to Thee, for Thou art the
Lord our God !' Go where you found Moses, into the still
solitude, there to engage in strict examination of your
heart, and pray that the ineffable compassion of the
Lord may also be displayed to you. Rest not content
until you know that the God upon whose grace you may
not only calmly hope, but reckon with most perfect
certainty, has now become your God and Father. And
inasmuch as we may come unto the Father only through
the Son, accept the testimony God has given of His Son ;
believe in Christ the Lord, that, ere you come to die, you
may behold the glory of the Lord !
This brings me to the second question : have you, too,
already seen what Moses saw ? There is no doubt of
that, if you have really, by faith, beheld the Christ of
God ; but, on the other hand, how many are there here
at whom the Lord can ask, as once at Philip, ' Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me ? ' Or are there not those who are carried off by a
most fatal spirit of the times, and who will not believe what
they do not first understand ? And yet, a single glance
at such a picture as is here presented us is quite enough
to show how pitiable is the pride that seeks to penetrate
into the hidden things of God, and to apply the measure
of our finite understanding to the Infinite. Ye fools, who
still display so proud a spirit, when a Moses, feeling
giddy, bowed his head, conscious that, even while he
was looking on, he had seen almost nothing thoroughly !
1 Heb. x. 31.

174 Moses.
Are there no others who go constantly astray, finding
their compass for life's voyage in their feelings, which
are changeable and overstrained, when they should let
themselves be guided in the path of simple faith ? Yet
here the Lord has plainly pointed out to Moses that his
faith must not be founded on impression, contemplation,
or experience, but, above all, on His own word. — And
do we merely meet with individuals so wholly steeped
in earthly things that, as it were, they have no organ
whatsoever for perceiving higher and eternal things ?
But wherefore should we wonder any longer that there
are so few, comparatively, over whose dust, if they should
die to-day, the testimony could be borne, 'They have
seen the glory of the Lord ' ? If you indeed desire
that such a witness shall apply at least to you, do not
forget that you, like Moses, must especially concern
yourself with these three things, — a clear eye, a pure
heart, and constant prayer. The eye of faith is the
organ of the soul, by which we see the glory of the
Lord in Christ ; and He Himself must open that for
us. But even though that eye has been already opened,
there are evils that beset it, as some others do the eye of
flesh, and against these you cannot watch and guard
yourself too carefully. One little speck of dust may
cause such floods of tears as to conceal the sun from
you ; the dust of earth but hurts the eye that would
behold the glory of the Lord ! Then give good heed
lest you be drawn aside and carried off by worldly
matters in all their attractiveness ; and when abund
ance of this earth's good things has been bestowed
on you, watch the more carefully, lest you should set
your heart on them. Stand still, that you may clearly
and distinctly see how God in Christ is glorified in your
salvation also, through the riches of His grace and faith
fulness ; and seek the communion of the Holy Ghost,

The Festive Time. 175
who gives you the desire and strength through which
you may destroy the works of the flesh ! Wherefore
was Moses much more capable than Israel of seeing
the glory of the Lord ? Because his heart, even from
the first, had been more purged from sin than theirs :
' Blessed are the pure in heart ; they, they alone, shall
see God ! ' The impure can and will not see Him as
He is in His own nature, ways, and works ; the godly
man beholds God's glory everywhere, — in nature, in the
realm of grace, and in that God who is his faithful
Father in Christ. Oh, how much of the carnal still
remains in us to be destroyed, in order that the spirit
may be truly fit for even the least amount of living
fellowship with God ! Pray without ceasing ; if the eye
of faith is to see much, the body's eye must frequently
be closed. Think not that such a life of prayer is dull
and cheerless : who toiled more and felt more joy than
Moses, — but who, too, prayed more than he ? Be ever
making ready, even as he, to meet your God ; and let
all your prayers more and more resolve themselves into
this one prayer of the text. Ye who are much concerned
about your sins, pray, ' Show me Thy glory ! ' until the
Lord shall make you also understand that everything is
finished that concerns your good. Ye who are feeble in
the fight of faith, repeat each day the prayer, ' Show me
Thy glory! ' that ye may be strengthened with all power
after the inner man. Ye who are bent beneath the weight
of this life's cross, let all your various desires rise more
and more, to culminate in this as the supreme, — general,
yet not indefinite, — that God may show His glory unto
you, whether by the removal of the burden which you
bear, or its continuance, or, if it must be so, by even
increasing it. Along that path of secret prayer, you,
too, as long as you remain on this side of the grave,
will look upon the hours as days, when you have been

176 Moses.
as near unto the Lord, as closely joined with Him, as
Moses was ; and you will feel as much resigned unto
His holy will as Moses was upon that hallowed morn.
Have you this day — this day, perhaps, as never hitherto
— beheld the glory of the Lord ; and has He also met
you with His peace ? Like Moses, keep that festive
season of your inner life in constant memory ; and if
heaven hears your thanksgiving, let earth enjoy its
fruits !
We have still another question as a final one : have
you already done what Moses did? The sequel of the
history informs you of the earlier, but also of the later
influence of what was now revealed. Bowing in deepest
reverence, and well assured that he has found grace in the
sight of God, the mediator of the Old Covenant repeats
the prayer, ' Let the Lord, I beseech thee, go among us,
for this is a stiff-necked people ; and pardon our iniquity
and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.' x Oh, what
a glorious, but also blessed calling, to be like the man of
God in this point too ! Does it not strike you how, in
pleading here for Israel, he does not speak of their sins,
but of ours, and puts himself upon a level with those
rebels ? When we look at such a revelation of God's
holiness and love, even the best and greatest feels his
vileness, his unworthiness, his insignificance. If we, like
Moses, have indeed beheld the glory of the Lord, we too
shall feel that it is not a duty merely, but a deep require
ment also of the heart, to walk clothed with the garments
of humility. We pray, then, even as he, not merely for
ourselves, but also (and do not hesitate to take it as a
proof of the reality and strength of your life of faith) for
those who still are unacquainted with the glory of the
Lord as seen in Christ, because, alas ! the god of this
world has blinded their minds. We, then, commit the
1 Ex. xxxiv. 9.

The Festive Time. 177
future unreservedly to Him who has reserved unto Him
self the right to choose, but who requires of us that we
should follow Him ; and finally, we have but this desire,
— to be most truly His, and so remain for evermore !
But this desire, as we have seen, is not poured out in vain
before the face of Him who is eternally the faithful One,
even though we have anew proved faithless towards Him.
The Covenant, broken by Israel, God, of His own free
grace, once more establishes ; the guidance which had
been disdained by Israel, God mercifully promises now to
renew. Why, then, are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith ?
Faith's pathway may become more steep, our times of
blessed contemplation may for us remain as brief and
interrupted as before : — how many joyless years was
Moses forced to spend under the glimmering, though
friendly light shed by this hour! But the Lord has
twice proclaimed the selfsame thing : ' Merciful, graci
ous, long-suffering,': — such is His name and glory still !
Even barren deserts and bare mountains, such as Sinai,
He turns into scenes for the display of His eternal love ;
and ye who feel quite solitary, surely you must confess
that such a solitude as this of Moses, far from the world,
but near to God, is one that well may be endured. Here
there remains for us, even as for him, the termination of
all sight and knowledge, — faith ; the life on earth stands
in the same relation to the heavenly life as the Old
Testament does to the New. It is a preparation, a fore
shadowing, a prophecy of doubtful interpretation ; never
theless, praise be to God, we, even as Moses, have our
mountain-heights to which we may ascend, that we may
have a wider view ; yea, even this very day we might
climb one of these ! Now, it is true, we must, like him,
descend the mount and enter the dark vale ; but what is
it that we can need, if but we have the Lord with us, and
our whole nature, like His shining face, gives evidence
M

178 Moses.
of our close, friendly intercourse with God ? Even as
He veiled that strange, mysterious lustre from the eyes
of Israel, we too must often hide, from an unholy world,
the blessed mystery of our own inner life ; but when we
go into the solitude, and there approach God's throne of
grace, how priceless is this privilege, that we believers
may, like Moses, cast off every covering, and then find
our refreshing in His kindly light ! 'We all, with open
face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by
the Spirit of the Lord.' The blaze of light on Moses'
face was destined soon to disappear ; see that the change
which you experience be one that ever makes increase.
Your true life still is hid with Christ in God, and it has
not yet been revealed what God's redeemed children
shall be. But, as I need scarcely say, you know your
Saviour's prayer, 'The glory which Thou gavest me,
I have given them.' And already do I hear a voice,
like that which came to Moses, nearer, clearer every
day, ' Be ready against the morrow ! '
' Arise,' my soul, ' and shine, for thy light is come, and
the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ! '
Amen.

CHAPTER VII.
tEfje Stumfjling.
' And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice.'
— Num. xx. n.
It was a revelation from the Lord fraught with the
deepest meaning to which Eliphaz the Temanite gave
utterance, when, in his turn, he felt he must begin and
give some answer to the passionate complaint of Job
in his distress. Thus, in mysterious tones, he tells his
story to his friend : ' A thing was secretly brought to
me, and mine ear received a little thereof. In thoughts
from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on
men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made
all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my
face ; the hair of my flesh stood up : it stood still, but I
could not discern the form thereof ; an image was before
mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice saying,
Shall mortal man be more just than God ? shall a man
be more pure than his Maker? Behold, He put no trust
in His servants, and His angels He charged with folly ;
how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed
before the moth ? They are destroyed from morning
to evening ; they perish for ever, without any regard
ing it. Doth not their excellency depart with them ?
They die. but know it not ! ' x
1 Job iv. 12-21.

1 80 Moses.
A little thought will soon enable you to understand
exactly the idea here presented so poetically by the sage
from the far East. No creature (he means to say) — not
even angels, and much less man — is wholly pure before
the eyes of God. There is no child of Adam that can ever
hope to be acquitted, if his Maker takes a strict account
with him. Even the most exalted virtue shown by one
who dwells in the dust is like a garment that is only fit
to be cast off, in the eyes of Him who weighs the spirits
of men in His just balances. With me, you must admire
the beauty of the form employed by Eliphaz to give ex
pression to this thought. But would there really be need
for further revelation being made to any one of us, in
order to afford immediate assurance of its truth ? Alas,
even though the voice of God in Holy Writ were silent
on this point, our own experience and that of others daily
affords most ample ground for constant repetition of
the said lament, ' In many things we all offend.' x We
do not now refer to those who still are wholly carnal,
sold to sin. But even when, with Paul, we can testify
that we delight in the law of God after the inward man,
what one of us must not, like him, confess with deepest
shame, ' The good that I would, I do not ; but the evil
which I would not, that I do'?2 Surely the sigh of that
heathen philosopher who seriously doubted whether he
had not two souls — the one absolutely inclined to good,
the other incorrigibly inclined to evil — finds a response
within the hearts of all who ever cast more than a super
ficial glance into the labyrinth of their own souls. Yes,
even the best of us (but is not this the death-blow to that
sense of one's own worth and power which swells the
bosoms of such multitudes ?) affords a standing proof that
man, on this side of the grave, never entirely ceases to
serve sin. Just as. in even the clearest winter night, the
2 Rom. vii. 19.

The Stumbling. 181
moon is never seen so free from clouds but that a single
speck must, here or there, reveal itself upon the disc ; so,
on a close inspection, we behold, even upon the most
beautiful and venerable face, the traces of a spot that
witnesses to a connection with the first transgressor.
Well mightest thou doubt, O thoughtful Eliphaz, whether
a man is righteous in the eyes of God, — one who has^
been accused before his Judge ! What one of us can
dream of standing, when he sees even a Moses fall ?
The stumbling of Moses : — are we the only ones who
cast a look of sadness upon this page of his history ?
How wide the difference between the festive season,
which we scarce could celebrate with him, and the false
step we contemplate to-day ! Then, he was crowned
before the eyes of all,— -now, he is marked as publicly
with deep disgrace ; then, he was almost brought within
immediate sight of God, — now, he is disinclined to trust
God's word ; then, he was honoured with the highest
favour of the God who sent him forth, — now, threatened
with the revelation of His holy wrath ; then, he seemed
superhuman, — now (yes, that proud word must be re
jected here), suddenly he has become most vacillating,
weak ! Were we to read that the immoveable foundations
of Mount Sinai had been changed, we scarce could feel
more deep astonishment than now, when — nay, it is no
dream — we see the crown reel on the head of the great
lawgiver, who, on Mount Sinai, entered the mysterious
cloud. We could desire to blot this page entirely from
the history of the man of God, or cast a veil over the sad
event ; rather would we conduct you to the heights of
Nebo, than bid you stand and view the streams at Meri-
bah : but we have had enough. ' Whatever any one may
be, his name has been already given ; and it is known
that he is a man! x These words of the wise Preacher
1 Eccles. vi. 10 [Dutch rendering].

1 82 Moses.
will apply to Moses also ; and it may be well to mark
the greatest men of Scripture history in their weak
moments, that we may the better see how, on the earth,
they were not master-builders, but frail instruments, and
that the strength they had was not their own, but God's.
If all that has been written formerly was written for our
learning, the remark applies emphatically to a history
which offers us a ready introduction to the treatment of
a subject that is difficult and delicate, yet one of most
extreme importance, — the sin of those who fear God, and
their guilt before His eyes. If there are any who regard
such sjns as trivial, we wish to bring them to a more
exact consideration of the case ; if there be any who
condemn these sins unmercifully, we desire to bring such
to a more kindly judgment. It will not be in vain that
we have this day stopped at Kadesh, if, impressed more
vividly than ever with a sense of our own deep corrup
tion, we can learn to judge ourselves as rigidly as we so
frequently judge others, and to be as tolerant towards
them as we are, mostly, to ourselves. But I am now
anticipating what will naturally find its proper place in
the course of my address, while I have not yet told you
of the path on which I wish to guide your thoughts to
day. Let Meribah, then, for the present, form the central
point for meditation ; and let us, in the first place, speak
especially of Moses, — in the second, of ourselves. For
two questions you may well expect a satisfactory
reply : —
i . To what conclusion must we come regarding Moses'
stumbling ?
2. How should we improve the stumbling of Moses f
If the answers to these questions do not lead us to
such great sublimity of thought as did our pilgrimage to
Sinai, they at least will make us search to greater depths
in our own hearts. Lord, who can understand his errors ?

The Stumbling. 183
Cleanse Thou us, even from secret faults. And let the
words of our mouth, with the meditations of our hearts,
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and
our Redeemer. Amen.

No one who knows our human nature will be ready to
allow that we are naturally prone to be too tender in the
judgments which we form as^toour fellow-men. But,
supposing that we had not been precisely told why
Moses was denied admission to the Promised Land, and
that we had been left to form conjectures as regards the
misdemeanour that had merited so hard a punishment,
not one of us would have imagined it was such a slip as
that of which the sacred documents inform us. Involun
tarily we would have bethought ourselves of something
extraordinary, something astonishing, something terrible,
— of a deep fall like that of David or of Solomon ; and
if, at last, we were informed of what it actually was
that brought him such sad consequences in its train,
we would have almost perfect confidence in saying that
most people, if not every one, would exclaim, ' Is that
all ? I was afraid of something much worse ! ' 'Is that
all ? ' It is well worth while to give ourselves a definite
account of an extremely moderate impression such as
this, that we may see which of these two is right, — our
feeling that would make out Moses to be almost perfect ;
or our faith, that needs must bow before God's judg
ment. We take the balance in our hand, then, that we
may, in justice and in honesty, place on the one side all
that can be adduced in Moses' favour. But neither must
we keep back, from the other scale, all that decides and
aggravates his guilt, however much of trouble this may
cost. It seems, indeed, as if it were not little that could

184 Moses.
here be urged on Moses' side. But, on the other hand,
there is no lip that loudly testifies against him. Our
attention must first be directed to each of these sepa
rately, if we are to obtain sufficient light for coming to
a judgment as regards his stumbling.
We say, it seems that there is not a little to be pleaded
in behalf of Moses here. But say yourselves, what is the
nature of the misdemeanour here condemned ? When
was that misdemeanour committed ? and through whom
was it occasioned ?
What is the character of the misconduct here con
demned ? To give an answer to that question, we must
place ourselves, in thought, back in the fearful-looking
wilderness, which has already received the dust of
thousands of the rebels into its barren womb, and has
just seen Miriam, Moses' sister, laid in her final resting-
place. The Israelites once more are brought to the most
pressing want ; for neither at Kadesh nor in its vicinity
can water in sufficient quantity be found for man and
beast. The eye turns to the heavens, but not a speck of
cloud appears upon the whole expanse,— and to the earth,
but there is not a single drop of the refreshment found at
Rephidim. Even brackish water, which had been refused
at Marah, cannot here be got for gold ; and the Jordan,
long though men have heard of it, seems still far off.
Then out there bursts the storm of loud complaints
over the heads of Moses and his brother, who are but
regarded as the proper cause of so much misery. Com
pared with such a life as Israel now leads, the fate of
those who have already perished in the various judg
ments sent by God seems enviable. ' Have we left
Egypt only to be overwhelmed beneath a flood of want
and misery?' Such a reproach, that issues from the
mouths of myriads, pierces the soul of Moses like a dart.
Whither shall he betake himself for refuge from this

The Stumbling. 185
terrible display of overwhelming force, conscious as he is
of his utter helplessness, — whither, but to the only One
who is far more than all ? With Aaron, he prostrates
himself in prayer before the door of the tabernacle ;
and anew they press for answer to the old and rousing
question, 'Is the hand of the Lord shortened?' The
tokens of Jehovah's personal presence in the midst of the
nation reveal themselves. Moses and Aaron are com
manded to take up the well-known rod, to assemble the
congregation, and, before them all, to bid the rock at
once give forth its water. Such is the wonderful com
mand, — one, too, which would be quite incomprehensible,
did we not bear in mind the almighty power of Him
who is creation's Lord ; who often has concealed the
sources of the most refreshing streams behind the granite
walls of rocks almost quite inaccessible ; and who can,
with a single nod, bid hidden waters break forth from
their prison-house of stone. But what could be too
much for the faith of one like Moses, who has already
found so often that the God of Israel is a God that
worketh wonders ? He raises no objection, — there is not
even any indication of astonishment ; but Moses forth
with takes the rod that lay before the Lord (ver. 9), — not,
as it seems to some expositors, the almond-rod of Aaron
that had blossomed, and that had been laid up in the
holy place for an everlasting witness, but that rod of
God which he received at the commencement of his
great life-task, and which was also laid up in the taber
nacle of the Lord. What grand and precious memories
that staff alone awakes within the heart of him who
bears and looks on it ! And verily it seems that it has
not yet lost its former power. Scarce has the rock been
struck with it, ere there run down, in broad and silvery
streams, the heaven-sent waters on the thirsty ground ;
in copious draughts, both man and beast imbibe health,

1 86 Moses.
life, and reinvigorating power, and countless hearts
press forward to thank God and Moses. . . . What should
keep us too from greeting him, in spirit, as a good and
faithful servant of the Lord ? A little matter, it is
true, has, contrary to Moses' usual, been wanting in the
strict performance of the mandate given. Jehovah has
commanded that the rock should be but spoken to ;
the rod in Moses' hand, we scarce need say, was not
intended as an instrument by which to smite, but merely
as an emblem of authority which could be seen, so that
the people might be roused to look for their relief to this
great miracle about to be performed. But Moses, on
the contrary, has — yes — smitten the rock ; but, speak or
strike, — smite once, or twice, or even thrice, — does that
make an essential difference ? Indeed, the nature of
the sin — if that harsh word be not here out of place —
has nothing which, at least at first sight, could bring
even one sleepless night upon the man of God, who was
now evidently discomposed.
But, furthermore, — when was that sin committed ?
Here we must cast a single glance backward and forward,
that we may quite understand the cause of Moses' wrath
— yea, we might almost say, to see how laudable his
anger was. No more than a few pages intervene be
tween this and the thirteenth chapter, where (ver. 26)
we are told, as here, that Israel had encamped at Kadesh ;
but between these points there is an interval at least of
seven and thirty years. You know the reason of that .
lengthened stay of Israel in the desert of Arabia. The
Lord had sworn that the rebellious generation who,
through foolish fear, would not march to Canaan, should
not enjoy His rest. Then there succeeds a time of
silence in the history of the wandering nation ; the rod
that wrought such wonders is at rest ; the road becomes,
for a time, a dwelling-place ; that generation must be

The Stumbling. 187
rooted out before Jehovah shall again speak more
familiarly to the folk of His inheritance. From day to
day the grave receives its prey ; at last, the time of
•punishment has reached its end. There still remain but
few of those who left the land of Egypt after they had
reached their twentieth year ; and these may well feel
sure they shall not see another year. Joy now to you,
O Moses, who, in your innocence, have been condemned
so long to wander with this guilty race ; the last year of
the wandering has dawned ! See how, once more, there
is a gathering from far and near towards one central
point, where, for so many years before, there has re
sounded the dread sentence from the Lord ; a few
months more, and then the foot shall tread on Canaan's
soil ! What else can Moses look for than that the people,
after so much chastisement, after so much disgrace and
suffering, shall, in some small degree at least, be wiser
now ? that the younger generation, risen from the dust
of those who had been doomed, shall show a vast
improvement on the older one ? and that, in short, he
now will enter and subdue Canaan, leading God's Israel,
renewed and born again not merely as regards the
flesh, but likewise in their minds ? A pleasant dream,
but one that lasts no longer than a few brief hours !
The people, high and low alike, again plunge shamelessly
into wild mutiny': it seems that they have not forgotten
anything — above all, they have not learned anything ;
the old complaint, which he had thought was buried in
oblivion, is raised again : ' Why hast thou brought us
out of Egypt ? ' Thus has the thought of Egypt once
more risen in those stubborn hearts, and that, too, just
when Moses is expecting that, louder than ever, they
will seek to be led on into Canaan. Thus even God's
heaviest judgment is in vain ; and in the first experience
of want, the Guide and Saviour through so many years

1 88 Moses.
till now is once more quite forgotten. What is it that
Moses possibly can do with such a race ? Must not his
courage fail, when he but thinks of praying for them any
more ? Oh, let us not forget the words, ' Woe unto them
that call evil good, and good evil ! ' 1 But who among
us — if he saw that grey-haired man, with trembling
hands, lift up the wonder-working rod to smite the hard
rock twice — would have sufficient courage to reprove
him when he cries, in anger unmistakeable, ' Hear now,
ye rebels ; must we fetch you water out of this rock ? ' 2
Verily, Israel merits something worse ; yet living water
is presented them, while Moses is presented with God's
cup of wrath !
' To Moses there is given God's cup of wrath.' But
who occasioned the commission of this misdemeanour,
against which, like a thunderbolt sent from a cloudless
sky, the stern condemning sentence falls, ' Ye shall not
bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them ' ? We must not deify our fellow-men ; yet every
one must feel constrained to overlook this one trans
gression, and to think upon those very many points that
make us almost look on Moses, like the God who sent
him, as beyond all praise from lips defiled by sin. How
long a road he has traversed ere he has reached this
fatal Kadesh, and how exemplary has he been through
out! How much he has endured already from the
fathers of these sulking sons, without becoming wearied
or embittered by it all ! Israel was often like a rock,
but he has never struck that rock ; for ' the man Moses
was very meek, above all the men which were upon the
face of the earth.' 3 Through all those years, his life was
but a daily sacrifice of faith and true obedience, — a daily
prayer for his people's good ; must, then, all this be held
of no account whatever, when the sum of Moses' short-
1 Isa. v. 20. 2 Num. xx. 10. 3 Num. xii. 3.

The Stumbling. 189
coming is reckoned up before the strict, unerring Judge ?
Even an earthly judge must not pass sentence on a crime
viewed in itself, but he must ask about the former life
of the accused, to see whether this tells against or for
him, and the sentence must be modified accordingly.
Shall heaven's great Lawgiver do less, — the God con
cerning whom, even under the Old Covenant, the well-
known words were sung, ' He knoweth our frame, He
remembereth that we are dust ' ? And Moses, if he
then was wrong, has certainly not sinned designedly, but
in his haste ; and when is weakness visited with such
severity as wantonness ? Moses is old ; he is already six-
score years, save one ; he has grown grey in serving
Israel's King ; may not the old man be forgiven what,
in the younger, well deserved the most severe reproof ?
And Moses will not but grow hard, like Israel, when
God reproves him for . perversity, but he will make
amends — if need be, publicly : is there not, even with
God, for such a one as this, full pardon to be had ?
Then, O Thou Judge of all the earth, at least forgive us
this presumptuous question, when we see a sentence such
as this passed upon such a man. Is this a confirmation
of the words, ' Justice and judgment are the supports of
His throne ; mercy and truth shall go before His face' ? 1
Yes, here too these words hold quite true ; and we
have possibly been seeking far too long for some excuse
of what even God, with His own finger, points out in His
chosen servant as a great defect. We have been hitherto
conceding all to Moses that he could, with show of
justice, claim ; but now we turn the leaf, and give God
what is His. And certainly, not less strong is the
testimony borne against the man of God. To show the
righteousness of our Creator, we have only to take up
once more the same three questions, though now to view
1 Ps. Ixxxix. 14.

190 Moses.
the subject in the light of faith, in the light of God's
unerring word.
First, then, we ask again, What is the nature of the
sin God here condemns ? And we at once remark, that
however insignificant it seems, it exactly answers to the
just description which is given of sin by an apostle of
the Lord. 'Sin,' says John, 'is unrighteousness,' or,
literally, ' lawlessness,' — the disowning of a holy, abso
lutely inviolable law.1 At which of you, who feel the
greatest sympathy with Moses, must I ask, in the name
of the Lord, if Moses' conduct does not manifest the
same essential character as the repeated insubordina
tions of the Israelites ? As you are well aware, the Lord
desires him to address the rock, but Moses speaks to
Israel. God wishes him to speak a word to the inanimate
stone, and Moses strikes it twice. God still is willing that
the people shall remain as His inheritance, but Moses
evidently treats them with ill-will and much offensive-
ness. And even the writer of the 106th Psalm, although
he praises him repeatedly at other times, cannot disguise
the fact that Moses' spirit was embittered, so that he
spake unadvisedly with his lips.2 And to crown all, the
Lord Himself elsewhere employs, in reference to this sin,
the strong word rebellion ; s and that hard word is surely
not too hard. There is no distinction more arbitrary
than that which we are wont to make between greater
and less sins ; between transgressions which we scarcely
could forgive ourselves, and others with regard to which
we do not much disturb ourselves. In judging thus of
moral evil, we must less regard the accidental form and
the outward setting of the action, than its inward and
essential principle ; and very much that we have set
down in our list of sins as trivial, is pronounced before
the bar of God as worthy of the very highest punish-
1 1 John iii. 4. 2 Ps. cvi. 33. a Num. xxvii. 14.

The Stumbling. 191
ment. Is not one inconsiderate partaking of an apple,
in its way, as unimportant as the repeated smiting of a
stone ? Yet, on the first, there rests the loss of Eden to
our father Adam, while the other brought on Moses his
exclusion from Canaan ; for Moses, who smites when he
should speak, rebels as much against the Lord as Israel
did when they would not march forward, but preferred
to go back to Egypt. The aged Moses, who smites the
rock with his wonder-working rod, and the young Moses
who slays the Egyptian with the sword, both let them
selves be guided by the selfsame principle, — strong self-
regard : ' The minding of the flesh is enmity against
God ; ' 1 and it is quite the same whether it is obeyed in
greater or in less degree. Moses cannot say he did not
understand the will of God ; the oracle spoke unambigu
ously enough. As little is it true that so much passion
was required to bring about what was desired ; the ex
perience of the past reads us a lesson wholly different.
And least of all can he allege that he was urged to such
a course by love, either to God or to His people ; for his
conscience loudly testifies the contrary. Thus, then,
the lawgiver has truly broken the commandments of
both tables, in their spirit : but what caused this sin ?
Listen to the judgment of that God who knows the
hearts of men unerringly, before whose eyes the deepest
folds of Moses' soul lie plain and open : ' Because ye
believed me not.' Thus God perceived, in Moses' actions,
that which Israel possibly had not once seen, — what
none of us would, on our own authority, make bold to
charge against the man of God ; and the bitter root, from
which the fruit of disobedience sprung, was unbelief.
Any conclusion we may come to as regards this unbelief,
viewed in relation to God's dealing here, may, in a certain
sense, be quite a matter of indifference : it is sufficient
1 Rom. viii. 7 [Dutch version and English marginal rendering].

192 Moses.
for us now to mark that here is unbelief, when God
has spoken ! Do you know of any sin which throws a
greater insult on the Lord Most High than this, by
which the poor, frail creature man reproves the God
of truth, full in His face, as if He uttered lies ? But
what was it, if not this very unbelief in God's word,
that induced our mother Eve to lend an ear to the first
tempter, and made Israel turn their backs upon the
Promised Land ? Nay, sins of unbelief are, in the eyes
of the Great Judge of all, something quite different
indeed from trifles that are scarce worth mentioning,
especially (and do not fail to mark this) where they
are succeeded by such consequences as now actually
followed in the train of this false step on Moses' part.
Hear what the Lord still further adds : ' Because ye (for
Aaron, too, has sinned in silence, just as Moses by his
speech) believed me not, to sanctify me (i.e. to glorify
me) in the eyes of the children of Israel.' — ' I will be
sanctified in them that come nigh me,' 1 were the words
of God to Aaron at a moment which he never could
forget ; and who had a more special call thus to give
glory to the Lord, than Moses and himself? But now,
when God is here robbed of His glory in the eyes of
a whole nation, that especially regards these leaders
... do you not think the balance that decides re
garding Moses' guilt or innocence begins to veer towards
the left ?
We ask the second question for the second time :
When was that misdeed done f We saw that, after tedious
years of inactivity, there now has dawned another epoch
in God's dealings with the Israelites. The Lord begins
once more to turn His face, in favour, to the sons ;
while from the fathers He had turned away in holy
wrath. Jehovah looked upon the people's murmuring
1 Lev. x. 3.

The Stumbling. 193
with remarkable forbearance ; when their discontent
arose from bodily necessity, God's judgments were con
siderably lighter than when a haughty, disobedient
spirit urged them on to raise the standard of revolt.
He wishes to relieve, and give refreshing to the people
in their thirst, and Moses is selected to co-operate with
Him in all such joy ; but mark how, on this very day,
a deep discord between God's inclination and the mind
of Moses shows itself. God is inclined to grant forgive
ness, — Moses inclines to punishment : before, the very
opposite seemed rather to prevail. God is forbearing, —
Moses, filled with bitterness ; God seeks to glorify His
grace, — with Moses, self, not God, comes into promi
nence. 'Must we,' — not, 'must the Lord,' — but, 'must
we fetch you water out of this rock ? ' We see now, in
this prophet, strong at other times, the first plain in
dications of decay and weariness. He has grown tired
(and truly, it should not seem strange, for which of
us could have sustained a struggle such as his for half
the time ?) of carrying these stubborn children any
¦longer now. This man, so truly great, has never for
an instant hitherto forgotten his own dignity in presence
of all Israel ; but now, he is no longer master of himself.
His sin is, if you please to call it such, not so much a
personal as an official one ; but it is one which, at a
juncture such as this, becomes invested with twofold
significance. At this juncture, I repeat ; and mark
attentively the great importance of this moment. The
time for waiting has gone by, the time for action come.
Now, there must be no more delay in making ready
for the fight, in which the Land of Promise is the prize ;
now, more than ever, there is needed an unswerving
faith, and unconditional obedience to the Lord. All
efforts hitherto required are, in a sense, as nothing in
comparison with what shall now be asked for ; no
N

194 Moses.
slackening of energy can be allowed, but there must
rather be much more intensity displayed, if this, the last,
and the decisive year of Israel's wandering, is -really to
be most blessed in result. This slip of Moses, under
less important, ordinary circumstances, might have been
attended with less evil consequences ; but now, just at
the very time when more exertion was required than
ever previously, Moses, as he had never done before,
falls far below his great, high destiny ! His heart, which
beat at other times so much in sympathy with those for
whom he mediates, now plainly shows a coldness towards
them ; wormwood is on his lips, while water streams
forth at his beck ; you are inclined yourselves to think
this cannot, may not, must not be the case. . . . Alas !
is not the scale upon the left beginning to sink deeper
down ?
And now we ask the final question yet once more :
By whom was this misdeed committed '? From all that
has been said in Moses' praise, we take back nothing,
but we add these words, ' Unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required ; to whom men
have committed much, of him they will ask the more.'1
Who is to maintain Jehovah's honour in the eyes of
Israel, if this Moses does not ; and what sentence will
hereafter be allowed by the transgressors as quite fair
and just, if the Lord makes a particular exception for
His favourite with reference to the awful words, that He
' will not justify the wicked ' ?2 And now this very man
has acted utterly unlike himself, and sunk down to the
level of the people, in whose presence, and above whom,
he should have always stood at an unattainable height !
This doubting Moses, — is it really the same who has
already wrought so many miracles of a like nature, with
this very rod ? This Moses in such violent passion, — is
1 Luke xii. 48. 2 Ex. xxiii. 7.

The Stumbling. 195
it he who once prayed for the leprous Miriam after her
disavowal of his high authority ? who, when Eldad and
Medad prophesied, asked, ' Grievest thou for my sake ?'1
Is it the same who, in the only other instance besides
this on which we find him wroth, — when Korah and
Dathan rose, — can ask no more than this, ' Respect not
thou their offering ; I have not taken one ass from them,
neither have I hurt one of them'?2 How clearly do we
here perceive the working of that very flesh and blood
which, nine and seventy years before, sought, through its
own inherent strength, to bring deliverance to Israel, and
murdered the oppressor, an Egyptian ! The old man, even
in Moses, has been overcome by the new man, — yes, but
he has not yet been quite cast out ! Am I mistaken in
believing that the wavering began within before this,
when, instead of making a bold stand against the muti
neers, he silently betook himself unto the tent of witness ?
Perhaps the mind is more or less affected by the bodily
decay; or has his zeal diminished through his resting
here and there for eight and thirty years? All this,
indeed, is not unnatural, and may be in a way explained.
But, on the other hand, who could be less excused than
one who saw so much of the glory of the Lord, and who
even now would have been able to exert a large amount
of beneficial influence, if he had but gone forth in the
midst of that younger generation in all his dignity, as
one sent from a higher world to show, even without
speaking, that the God of their fathers is the living God ?
But now, instead of that, though everything is done that
was to be performed (for the miracle is wrought), yet the
desired impression is but weakly made ; the revelation of
the power of God is not, indeed, quite negatived, but un
deniably diminished in its influence ; and he who does all
this is Moses, one from whom even Israel — not to say God
1 Num. xi. 29. 2 Num. xvi. 15.

196 Moses.
Himself — might well expect much better things. What
sorry conduct in a hoary-headed man, who, in the school
of faith and true obedience, far surpassed almost all other
men ! Do not attempt to palliate the guilt by bringing
forward what must rather tend to aggravate it, — namely,
the fact that it is Moses to whom all is due. Men may
seek to lull themselves and others into peace, by cherish
ing the pleasant notion that God sees no evil in His
chosen ones ; the Bible teaches otherwise, for it declares
that God will not permit a single stain upon His elect.
It is just their sins (and this is necessary for their sanc
tification) that are so often punished, not more lightly, but
more heavily than those committed by God's enemies.
Other men may, in multitudes of instances, be passed by,
it would seem, unpunished ; but if Abraham even once
tells only half the truth, he will incur great incon
venience. God, in His mercy and long-suffering, may
spare and bless atrocious sinners ; but when, in an un
guarded moment, the man according to His own heart
becomes both an adulterer and murderer, death takes
away Bathsheba's child, and the sword departs not from
his house, because he has caused the enemies of the Lord
to blaspheme. Crowned slaves of sin may bathe in the
streams of luxury, while their power goes on increasing ;
but when wise Solomon, in later years, becomes so foolish
as to let himself be led away by his strange wives into
idolatry, his kingdom shall no longer be established, just
because he is the Jedidiah, 'the beloved of the Lord.'
He who knew the Lord's will and did not perform it, shall
be visited, not with less, but double punishment ; and it
will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, on the
great day, than for Capernaum, that saw the Saviour's
mighty works. When a poor slave of sin continues
marching on the road that leads to death, God's angels
weep ; but when God's children stumble in the narrow

The Stumbling. 197
way to heaven, then Satan grins for joy. The grace of
God reveals itself when it averts the sword of justice
from above the sinner's head, where it had been sus
pended by a thin, a single thread. But God's unspotted
holiness shines out more clearly in the fact, that He is
least inclined to tolerate the sins of those whom He has
favoured most; for (we repeat) God says, ' I will be sanc
tified in them that come nigh me.' When we judge
Moses, then, above all other men, according to this rule,
does not the scale upon the left side — that of guilt —
press down upon the earth, while that upon the right
swings light and high ?

However, it is not our business to pass an irrevocable
judgment on the man of God, who has long since been
raised above the blame of men ; but we are rather called
to think what real profit we can gain from that which
was so palpably his loss. This brings us to the second
part of our address, in which we draw the general appli
cation from the special case that we have been consider
ing. The sin of godly people is the mournful subject
which we once more seek to place before your thoughts.
We have to guard against misapplication, and be careful
as regards the proper use of what is given here.
A threefold misapplication is made of such narratives
as that which we have been considering: first, a mis
application made by unbelief ; next, a misapplication
made by enmity ; and, lastly, a misapplication made by
carnal security and indolence : permit us to address you a
few words on each of these.
Hear what is said by unbelief: ' Fine men of God these
are, forsooth, set forth before our eyes in Scripture as
the bearers and interpreters of special revelations made

198 Moses.
by God ! A man who cannot even guide himself must
be placed at the head of millions, — and by God Himself!
A messenger of God, whose heart is stained with sin,
is to behold the Truth without an intervening cloud,
and utter it infallibly ! Truly, it would appear that, after
all, such highly-lauded prophets were but men of like
passions with ourselves ; yet, on the word of fellow
sinners with such failings, am I to accept that which my
common sense quite fails to understand ? and is a history
exhibiting such a large number of soiled pages to receive
the honourable title of an extraordinary revelation ?'
And wherefore dost thou think, O unbeliever, that God
must needs make holy angels of the men whom He
has destined to be prophets or apostles, and that thou
shouldst be expected to receive the word of God as
God's own word, only when it is brought to thee through
lips quite undefiled by sin ? Are the treasures of the
kingdom lessened in their worth because they are con
tained in mere earthen vessels ? and is the message from
above less true because thou seest more of earth's dust
than thou wouldst wish, clinging to the feet of the mes
senger ? Nay ; rather let me show thee, in those very
features of the sacred history, the clearest proof that it
is true and credible. ' Moses must have been an im
postor:' but would an impostor have been anxious to
commit to writing, for all later generations, an account of
his own faults and sins ? ' The evangelists must have
composed cunningly devised fables :' but why, then, did
they not keep silence as regards Judas' betrayal of his
Lord, Peter's denial, the contention that arose among
the twelve for the pre-eminence, in all of which they
but expose their weaknesses and sins ? Does not such
candour form an argument for the reliability of the
whole history? When it appears from such accounts
that the greatest saints had their defects, is it not a'bso-

The Stumbling. 199
lutely inconceivable that a few fishermen and publicans
should have been able to invent the perfect picture of
the Son of man, in His unspotted holiness ? Did they
not rather copy from a living model too sublime for
human power to conceive ? Truly, it is just scenes like
these, which we have been contemplating to-day, that
unequivocally proclaim to us that the history of God's
revelation, as recorded in the Scriptures, is most true.
But if the history be true, so also is the revelation itself,
for the two are indissolubly conjoined. And if the word
of God be thus faithful and true, what fate canst thou
expect, thou unbelieving one, for stubbornly refusing
to receive the truth ?
Hear what is said by etimity : ' There are pious folks
for you ! A shining cloud of witnesses surrounding you
as you pursue the Christian race ! A Noah, who was
guilty of deep drunkenness ; a Jacob, who allowed him
self to do such tricks as every honest man must feel
ashamed of having done ; a Moses, who, even in his
hoary age, forgets himself, and sins ; a Peter, who dis
plays such cowardice before a single servant maid ! It
is by traits like these alone that we can properly discern
who they are that assume the designation of God's
friends and chosen ones ! They are all hypocrites, who
would give out that they are better than the rest of men !'
But, do be somewhat less severe, child of this world, in
this thy virtuous indignation against the failings of God's
servants ; try, if only for a moment, to be reasonable, if
not also moderate. Didst thou, then, really suppose that
sinners, when they are redeemed, cease to be feeble men ?
and that those who have forsaken the broad road in which
you walk, to tread this narrow one, cease to be pilgrims
to the city of the Lord, whenever they have made their
first false step ? Cannot a man be righteous in the eyes
of God, even though he may seem far from perfect ? and

200 Moses.
does he alone, in your esteem, deserve the Christian
name to whom no single sin still cleaves ? But we can
easily perceive that you have no experience — not even
a faint idea — of the struggle which so often and so
intimately is associated with the life of faith. It is
indeed deserving of remark, that the world is, in some
instances, all toleration to her own. The youth who
leads a dissipated life, of course, is ' but a youth ; ' the
man who follows with the multitude in doing evil is a
man who ' understands full well the times in which he
lives ;' the hoary-headed man who, with one foot already
in the grave, still takes delight in sensual pleasures, is
described as ' an exceedingly agreeable man, even in old
age :' the world has never been afraid of any sinful deed,
but merely for the name and the disgrace attached to
it. But when a man who is not of the world but thinks
about the hundredth part of what they do in all their
shamelessness, then see how every finger is directed to
that single spot on that one face ; and mark how little
tenderness is shown by those who, at all other times,
allege, almost to weariness, that true religion but consists
in charity and toleration. Is it not as if one slip, made
by a Christian, gives the world a right to plunge into a
thousand mad excesses, and to finish off by casting one
more stone against the brother who has made the slip ?
Is it not as if Job were no longer to be looked on as the
pattern of patience under suffering, because he, on one
instance, cursed his day ; as if Paul were now less at
liberty to call himself a follower of Christ, because he
once exclaimed in bitterness, ' God shall smite thee, thou
whited wall j'1 as if Moses no more merited the admira
tion of the world, because this Meribah became the rock
on which his faith and his obedience suffered shipwreck ?
Nay ; God may condemn Moses, but Israel must stand
1 Acts xxiii. 3.

The Stumbling. 201
dumb before him ; the Lord may punish those who are His
own, but this the world may never do, — the world, which
only sees the weakness and the stumblings, not the tears
of repentance, — the world, that understands as little of
the Christian as of Christ Himself! And if, in spite of
this, she still in arrogance assumes the place and func
tions of a judge, and sets down all who differ from her
as mere hypocrites, simply because they have not yet
attained perfection, we must bear up under it. But mark
what we should answer : rather a ' hypocrite,' like Moses,
than a rebel, such as Israel ; rather a stumbler on the
narrow way, than one who firmly treads the broad way ;
rather despised by you, than idolized when, with your
selves, we bow before the vain god of this present world !
At every deviation from the path of rectitude we may,
perhaps, fall deeply into guilt ; but you shall hear
the prophet's words again addressed to you, ' Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy ! For, when I fall, I
shall rise again ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall
be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the
Lord, because I have sinned against Him ; but He shall
plead my cause, and execute judgment for me. Then
she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall
cover her.'1
'When I fall, I shall rise again.' Here we have
reached the confines of the third misapplication of the
subject we have been considering. Hear now how, in
its turn, cartial security and sloth lifts up its voice : 'Then,
it would seem, from Moses' case, perfection never can be
reached on this side of the grave ; why should I seek
it any longer here ? The unbelief to which even such
an highly privileged one as Moses fell away shall cer
tainly not be attributed to me ; neither need I disturb
myself about a sin like that from which even David was
1 Mic. vii. 8-10.

202 Moses.
not free. If I have fallen like these men, surely I shall
rise up again like them ; God's people, certainly, may fall,
but they cannot fall away for ever ; the flesh, correctly
speaking, does not sin, provided that the spirit is turned
to God. It is even not a good thing to be speaking too
much of sanctification, — some of the old leaven of self-
righteousness so readily insinuates itself beneath all this ;
and God alone, of course, must have the honour of preserv
ing those who are His own, that what is written may hold
true, " It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that run
neth, but of God that showeth mercy." ' x Enough ! If
Satan, transformed into an angel of light, were himself this
moment to appear before our eyes, could he address us with
more power to deceive ? How much more sad becomes
the slip which Moses made, when it not only costs himself
incalculable evil, but, even after all these ages past, still
offers any one fig-leaves with which to hide his wretched
nakedness ! Well might Paul give unfeigned expression
to his detestation of those persons, who declare they will
go on in sin that grace may more abound, and who thus
bring down Christ Himself to be the minister of sin !
The fiercest enemies of Jesus cannot do such damage
to His cause as friends like these ; and no sevenfold
woe is too great punishment for those who thus deceive
themselves with false reflections, and would turn the
grace of God into lasciviousness. But is there not a
voice which, from the streams at Meribah, proclaims
to you that God is light in which there is no darkness
at all ; that the soul which has sinned shall die ; that
if even the righteous man forsakes his righteousness, it
is impossible that he can live ? And if Israel was the
apple of God's eye, and Moses like the white spot there —
if, further, God designed to make that man a model of
His own pure righteousness, do you imagine He will
1 Rom. ix. 1 6.

The Stumbling. 203
spare you, who appeal to that exemplar as a reason why
you may defile a life of far less faithfulness with far greater
guilt ? It is, indeed, quite true that God's own people
cannot know defection from the Covenant of Grace ; but it
is impossible that those who dare to turn aside can truly
be God's own. We grant that Christians, no less than the
unregenerate, still sin ; but it by no means follows that
the sins of both are viewed alike. There are some sins
which it is morally impossible that the true servant of
the Lord can do : could Moses utter hard words towards
Israel without cursing the Lord Himself thereby ? You
are not yet a genuine disciple of the best of Masters, if
— I will not say your transient wish, — but, your prevail
ing choice and heart's desire be not to live, not merely
in accordance with some, but according to all the com
mandments of God. Although sin ever lives in you (but
surely to your own deep grief?), the life in sin is not
therefore a lawful course for you ; and though the flesh
lusts constantly against the spirit, if the spirit does not
on the other hand, strive against the flesh, and ever gain
more power over it, you certainly may have a name to
live, but you are spiritually dead. The writ of pardon
for the greatest sinner has been signed in Jesus' blood,
and is presented in the gospel ; but licence to commit
the smallest sin is what the thrice Holy One can never
give ! And if, in spite of this, you still desire such
licence, all unlawful though it be, and point even to a
fallen Moses in support of your demand, not merely
Moses will accuse you, but that Christ whose name,
through you, has been blasphemed, and who, on that
great day, shall say to you, ' I never knew you ; depart
from me, ye that work iniquity ! '
Oh, dreadful thought ! Do you indeed wish to escape
that sentence, so much heavier than that which fell on
Moses ? Then look once more into the mirror which

304 Moses.
the text holds up to you. The proper application which
we must make of this portion of God's word admits of
being briefly pointed out.
First of all, we may well be deeply humbled on review
ing all that we have been considering. Here is a man,
so great and so highly gifted that, even after many ages
have elapsed, we still grow giddy when we look upon
the picture of his greatness. A Moses ! — never take
that name into your mouth except with sacred rever
ence, nor, on the other hand, without deep, heartfelt
pity ; for he also slipped and fell ! Oh, what is human
virtue at the best, and what are the noblest intentions,
even of a heart that has been sanctified from birth ?
Here is the fruit of nine and thirty years, all passed in
toil and conflict, spent in one fatal hour ; and the sen
tence passed at Sinai upon those who disobey the law
of God, is unexpectedly incurred by the very man who
has delivered it to Israel ! To fall and rise again, as has
been truly said, and anew to fall and rise once more, is
but the sum of each day's entries in the record of our
conduct here. And how the blush of shame spreads
on our brow, when we compare the special case in which
we find that he gave way, with our own attitude and
disposition at such times ! Truly, good Moses, they
are few and far between that could be bold enough to
measure out your guilt as long and broad as possible ; for
which of us could dare boast that our stumbling, like
your own, would be comparatively slight and rare, and
happen only late in life ? We have been looking at his
history ; but when we now peruse the record of our own,
are we the only ones who bear a multitude of traces of
the same perversity which only once disfigured him ?
Ah, let the Lord but bring our faith and our obedience
to one special test, and then see for yourselves how, in
so many instances, we merit the reproof which brings

The Stumbling. 205
us shame : ' Ye believed me not, neither sanctified my
name ! ' Even though the fruits and branches of the
poison-plant of unbelief are all removed, how deeply
are its roots still sunk within the consecrated heart ;
and how many days there are, in all our lives, on which
the best of us, even as Belshazzar, well may have the
sentence passed on us, ' The God in whose hand thy
breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not
glorified ! n Why are we so earnest in upholding our
own honour, when we see how Moses was so easily en
raged because the Israelites did not give honour to the
Lord ? And when we think we have been wronged, in
some way, by our fellow-men, what one of us would not
give utterance to far more harsh and bitter words than
the most violent that are recorded here to the dishonour
of this meek and gentle soul ? Or if, like Aaron, we
keep silence, how much passes through our heart that
proves our guilt before the eye of the Omniscient !
And how many points there are upon our path of
faith where there may well be raised against us still
more loud complaints than those here made against
these two ! Nay, more, what is a Moses, who on only
one occasion hallows not the name of God, compared
with a whole multitude of Christians, the best of whom
must ever bow his head at the rebuke of One far greater
than this prophet, 'O ye of little faith, why did ye doubt?'
Truly, if any man has this day, in his heart, complained
of Moses, much more reason have we to complain of you,
if ye depart from Meribah without the prayer, uttered
from the bottom of your heart, ' Enter not into judgment
with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no living man
be justified.' 2
If your heart is disposed to utter such a prayer, you will
be glad when, to the foregoing remarks upon humility,
1 Dan. v. 23. 2 Ps. cxliii. 2.

206 Moses.
we add some words of earnest warning. And whom
should this more concern than you, who, never yet have
been in a position to commit a sin like that of Moses,
just because you have not yet been in like circum
stances ? Of course, the stumbling about which we
have been speaking presupposes that the stumbler has
already turned to the good way ; and we can speak of
weak faith, such as we perceive in Moses, only in the
case of those in whom the work of faith already has
begun. Oh, sinner, sinner, that will be a dreadful
moment, when the same Judge, whom you now see
passing so severe a sentence for one perverse deed of
His own friend, shall one day set forth all the secret
sins committed by His enemies, before His face, and
cast you from His presence, because ye have not be
lieved, neither hallowed His name ! ' If — we may well
repeat to-day with increased emphasis — 'if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear ? And if judgment begin at the house of God,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel
of God ? ' 1 Would that this question, in all its import
ance, roused you thoroughly, and the thought that you
have naught with which you can appear before a holy
God like this made you to feel the need of grace, and
being reconciled to Him ! For you, too, if you truly
thirst for it, there has been opened in the gospel an
abundance of refreshing streams ; and deep though
your unworthiness may be, the God who bore with
Israel in their murmurings will also still spare you,
refresh you, gladden you. When that strong rock, His
word, has but been touched by the strong staff of faith,
the living water comes to you in copious streams : ' Ho,
all ye that thirst, come ye to the waters ! ' God has
brought you here, into the wilderness of life, not that
1 i Pet. iv. 17, 18.

The Stumbling. 207
you should die, but that you should live ; the way of
peace and rest lies — not behind, away towards the
Egypt of your sins — but forward, towards the celestial
Canaan, which has been opened up for you, as well as
others, through God's grace. But if you wish to march
along that way better than Israel did by Moses' side, and
to be led by the great Guide of all, then harden not your
heart against the voice that calls to you so loudly from
this most pathetic incident found in his history. ' See
that ye walk circumspectly j'1 and again, 'Be not high-
minded, but fear, for thou standest by faith.' 2 It is but
once that we see Moses fail ; oh, ye who know so well
the weak side of that heart which is so easily misled,
watch and pray earnestly, that this ' but once ' may not
be realized in your experience ! We scarcely can forbear
exclaiming here, ' How sad ! ' Oh, ye who have received
much from your God, and have done something, or, per
haps, even much in your Lord's cause, watch carefully
for your own souls, that there may never come a moment
when it shall be said of you, ' How sad ! ' One dead fly
can make the most precious ointment of the apothecary
stink ; one bosom-sin, that has not been resisted, may de
stroy all rest and peace within your heart, and thoroughly
eradicate all virtue from your life ! Say not that you
are far too old and wise to fall into a snare ; for even
old age, no less than youth, has its peculiar dangers :
you perceive how Moses failed in his old age, after
enduring the severest tests. Still less say that you
have as little power as he to keep yourself at all times
under strict command : it would be sad indeed if this
your weakness has become so terrible a power ! But,
least of all must you affirm that you shall venture but
one step upon the path of unbelief and wilfulness : has
Moses not yet shown to what a first, a single step may
] Eph. v. 15. 2 Rom. xi. 20.

208 Moses.
lead? Christians! something more than an earthly
Canaan is at stake; it is an eternal inheritance that
may be lost, if we neglect to watch and pray. He that
endureth to the end — he, and he only — may hope to be
saved !
But, to conclude, if you require a few words of direc
tion, to match with those of warning and humiliation
given already, lay these well to heart. Go, when life's
combat rises, to the place where you saw Moses
and his brother Aaron go, the quiet house of prayer ;
but reckon not too much upon the frame of mind that
may be wrought or strengthened in you there : it was a
few steps only from that place where Moses slipped.
Let his history especially impress on you the absolute
necessity of cherishing and strengthening a life of faith ;
and never say, ' Lord, I believe,' without praying from the
bottom of your heart, ' Help mine unbelief ! ' Strengthen
your faith by constant meditation on the way in which
the Lord, till now, has dealt with you : would Moses not
have done far better than he did at Meribah, if he, at this
time, had bethought himself of Rephidim ? Let not your
staff of faith remain too long unused, nor grumble when
you find each morning that the combat is renewed ; you
see, in Moses' case, that too long rest rarely brings real
benefit. Beware of the first rise of bitterness and passion
in your heart, and ponder well the wise man's words, 'He
that ruleth his spirit is stronger than he that taketh a
city.'1 But be not less careful to avoid provoking others
unto wrath and sin. To-day we have been speaking but
of Moses' sin ; but do you think that Israel, who made
him sin, can be considered innocent? 'Brethren,' we
say to you, with Paul, ' if any man be overtaken in a
fault, ye who are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be
1 Prov. xvi. 32.

The Stumbling. 209
tempted.' Although the world at once rejoices when it
sees one single stain upon the Christian, — a single speck
of rust upon the highly polished steel, — seek rather to be
guided by a charitable spirit, which 'rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, which beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth
all things.' And even though your love be as imper
fect as the faith and piety of Moses, still, my fellow
Christians, raise your heads aloft and view the heavenly
Canaan, whose gates will not be shut against you for
your daily stumbling, if you but confess your falls each
day, before the Lord, in all sincerity of heart. Within
God's heavenly city, stumbling is a thing unknown ; and
sin has been for ever banished from the living waters
that stream out from the throne of the Lamb. Blest
is the man who is admitted to that holy place, and
on whose priestly robe no stain thereafter falls ! ' Now
unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy ; to the only wise God our Saviour,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and for ever ! '
Amen.

CHAPTER VIII.
&fje Retrospect of 3Life.
A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD.
' Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Thou turnest
man to destruction ; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand
years are in Thy sight but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch by night.
Thou earnest them away as with a flood ; they are as a sleep : in the morn
ing they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it fiourisheth,
and groweth up ; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For we are
consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast
set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath ; we spend our years as a
tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten ; and
if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour
and sorrow : for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the
power of Thine anger? even according to Thy fear, so is Thy wrath. So
teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Return, O Lord, — how long ? and let it repent Thee concerning Thy ser
vants. O satisfy us early with Thy mercy ; that we may be glad and rejoice
all our 'days. Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast
afflicted us, and the days wherein we have seen evil. Let Thy work
appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children. And let the
beauty of the Lord our God be upon us : and establish Thou the work of
our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.' — Ps. xc.
In the late evening of his life, the highly-privileged Jacob
sees a brilliant distinction prepared for him. Leaning
upon the arm of Joseph, his beloved son, he is admitted
to the court of Egypt, and into Pharaoh's presence.
There, face to face, are found the two crowned heads,

The Retrospect of Life. 211
each venerable in his way, — Jacob, on whose head rests
the silver crown of hoary age, while Pharaoh wears the
shining crown of royalty. Struck with the whole appear
ance of the aged patriarch, the king asks, in a kindly
way, how many years he has already seen. Who would
not think, that if, in answer to the question, Jacob were
to state something besides the number asked, he would
express his gratitude and his delight? His highest wish,
as we all know, has been attained, his deepest sorrow
healed : the past, with its disasters, is forgotten now ;
the present shines more clearly over him ; the future
throws on him her kindest smile. Cannot the patriarch
speak of his sixscore years and ten, and yet refrain from
adding these sad words, ' Few and evil have been the
days of the years of my life, and have not attained unto
the days of the ye'ars of the life of my fathers, in the
days of their pilgrimage ' ? x
'Few and evil have been the days of my pilgrimage.'
Surely you do not charge the man who spoke thus with
exaggeration, or ascribe his gloominess to melancholy ?
Let it be observed that the confession of Jacob is the
oldest of its kind mentioned in Scripture ; why must we
at once add, on the back of this, that it gives excellent
expression to the sum and substance of by far the most,
or rather the whole of our experience in life ? We need
not wonder that, in these sacred pages, there is ever the
same view given, and the same estimate made, of human
life ; and it is precisely on the lips of the most prominent
men that all this recurs. Think of Abraham, who, in
presence of the children of Heth, calls himself a stranger
in Canaan ; in what sense he meant this has been ex
plained in the Epistle to the Hebrews.2 Think, too, of
Job's touching lamentation, so well known, ' Man, that is
born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble ; he
1 Gen. xlvii. 9.

212 MOSES.
cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down ; he fleeth also
as a shadow, and continueth not ! ' J Think of David
also, who, when he was at the full height of his royal
splendour, uttered this sorrowful testimony, 'We are
strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as were all our
fathers ; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and
there is none abiding.'2 But why need we cite any other
names ? You have, ere this, been sometimes meditating
upon Moses' prayer ; for what else is that prayer in the
wilderness but an audible echo of the striking confession
uttered by Jacob in Egypt ?
' A prayer of Moses, the man of God,' as the compilers
of the sacred collection of Psalms have most appropri
ately called him, though he would never have assumed
the title himself: no one, of course, will be surprised
that we stand for a little at this point in the series of
contemplations. You must already have observed, that
everything which really deserves our notice in the history
of this servant of the Lord, is confined to a very few
years, — at most, five or six, — and these in different
periods of his life. You know what happened in his
first year, and his fortieth ; what took place in his
eightieth year, and that immediately succeeding it ;
and, lastly, what occurred when he had lived for six-
score years, and in the last few months preceding that ;
but all besides is almost quite unknown. There are two
gaps, particularly large, found in this history, — the space
of nearly forty years in Midian, and the eight and thirty
years spent in the wilderness. Regarding both of these
two periods, we know next to nothing ; but, from the
last of them, there is at least one voice that reaches us.
We mean, of course, the oldest Psalm, as it is rightly
termed. We know, indeed, that not a few expositors
feel hesitation in considering this poem as a genuine
1 Job xiv. I, 2. 2 I Chron. xxix. 15.

The Retrospect of Life. 213
production of the famous man of God ; and we are far
from saying their objections are but trivial. Neverthe
less, on taking everything into consideration, we believe
that the internal proofs of the credibility of the title,
which mentions Moses as the author, are stronger and
more conclusive than those in favour of any other opinion.
It cannot appear strange to any one of us that Moses
was a poet : all great minds have passed through their
poetic period ; and his latest Psalm, Deut. xxxii., tends,
we may say, even more than this, to prove how high
his poetic faculty could soar, even at the close of life.
In this poetic prayer it is as impossible to mistake the
earnest spirit of the lawgiver as the faithful spirit of
the mediator ; and though there are particular expres
sions here and there which would be quite as suitable for
other lips, and equally appropriate to other circumstances,
yet the whole poem, which is quite inimitable, and in
which there is a touching interchange of complaint and
questioning, could, we believe, have arisen only in a
heart like that of Moses, and in such a period as has
been named. Here, as it were, we breathe the atmo
sphere of the desert ; we feel, with the sinner, the still
remaining bitterness found in the deadly fruits of sin ;
but we feel, too, the foretaste of God's mercy, shown
anew to Israel ; we feel the proofs in favour of the
justice of the view here given, in that countless host
of guilty ones, ' whose carcases fell in the wilderness.'
But enough ; this Psalm, which some one, not impro
perly, has called ' a Psalm for every age,' and of which
another testified that it is 'a wonderful, a striking poem,
dating from the oldest part of Israel's history, per
vaded by a deep and startling earnestness, stately
and slow, but free from everything that savours of
despair,'1 — this is a Psalm which well might bear the
' Herder.

214 Moses.
name of Moses, and engage us to a special study of the
whole. Before we enter further into Moses' history during the
last year of his life, he offers us an unexpected oppor
tunity of going back a little, and of filling up, as much
as possible, the blank already indicated in his history
by means of such a retrospect. What lies before us here
is nothing less than the expression of a good old man's
experience, — one who was raised to an exalted station,
and possesses high intelligence ; who has both seen and
been engaged in much; who has made large observations
and thought deeply ; who has suffered much, and has,
especially, been much engaged in prayer : thus he is one
to whom we well may give more heed than to many others,
when he once more introduces, in the Psalm, the oft-
repeated question, What is life ? And though his words
may well arouse our interest at any time, they do so
more particularly now, when we have once more en
tered on the last month of the year, and may look on
Nature's winter-sleep as emblematical of death.1 Our
Christmas and old year's festivities will certainly not
bring us less of joy, when we allow ourselves to be
pervaded by the spirit here expressed in this grand
Psalm ; and even for this prayer alone, Moses would
well deserve to be called the teacher and the guide of
even the latest generations. But you may think, per
haps, that such praise is extravagant, and deem — at
least upon a first slight look — that this review of life
is pretty common-place ? If so, then you deceive your
self : the retrospect here taken, on the contrary, is most
remarkable. Or, perhaps, you think it very one-sided ?
Here you are wrong once more, for the description is
most true. But still, you urge again, it is disheartening
and gloomy in its tone. Once more you are mistaken ;
1 This sermon was delivered Dec. 5, 1858,

The Retrospect of Life. 215
for, when rightly viewed, it fully satisfies the cravings
of the soul. Or, lastly, do you think it is of small im
portance, and scarce worth the pains bestowed on the
development of thought in it ? This fourth mistake is
worse by far than all the other three ; for it is evident
that we have here a school, whose heavenly teachings
cannot be neglected with impunity by any one of us.
Come, listen to the voice that calls to you out from the
rocks of Araby ! We have already pointed out to you
the course we shall pursue in this address. The retro
spect which Moses takes of life we shall successively
present to you as one that is remarkable, then faithfully
correct, then satisfactory, and, lastly, profitable in the
lessons it presents. Shall we accomplish this task also
with complete success ? Shall it be crowned with bless
ing ? That lies in the power of Him in whose hands is
the breath of him that speaks, and who can make a way
into the hearers' hearts. Eternal Father, who dost still
preserve us by Thy grace, grant that, when Thou dost
speak to us in love, our hearts may not be hardened into
unbelief! Amen. 1.
Does it not seem, at first, as if we would require to
gather everything together if we wished to make the
view of life, presented in this Psalm, as remarkable as
possible in our esteem ? Even the occasion which, most
probably, called forth the poem, proves its right to such
a designation. Nay; Moses never thought, when he
beheld the spies return laden with Eshcol's grapes, that
there would still be such a distance between the fruit
and the lips. But Israel is pusillanimous enough to
credit the report of the weak-hearted ten, than what is
told them by the God of. truth Himself. They wilfully

216 Moses.
refuse to have the Promised Land, and now they feel the
bitterness of what was threatened them. Through Moses'
prayer, indeed, the sudden sentence threatening them all
with death is turned aside. But the dread oath, that
none above the age of twenty years, who had left Egypt,
should enter and enjoy the promised rest, soon shows its
fearful influence. Now falls the curtain on the scene of
history, for there is a cessation, dissolution, destruction ;
in short, now comes a rest, but not a Sabbath rest ; it is
the rest found in the grave. The people scatter here
and there through the wide wilderness, ever in search of
some convenient place where they may rest and tend
their flocks. God's government is not destroyed, but
for a time suspended ; for, to that generation, God has
nothing more to say. The heavens are silent, and the
earth is sad ; the grave makes wide its mouth at every
step : who knows the various forms in which death
haunts the living, doomed to be its certain prey ? But
who, again, can fathom what passed through the mind
of Moses in those years, so weary and monotonous ?
The sentence has not yet been passed upon himself;
neither his name nor Aaron's has been singled out ; yet,
on whole families, sentence of death is being carried out
under his eyes. Of all the elders whom he had con
vened on his return from Midian, that he might place on
them his burden in the government of Israel, — of all the
seventy who, with him and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
beheld the glory of the Lord,1 — he sees the final traces
disappear. The death-knell sounds for one here, and
another there, throughout the wilderness ; and every of
death-gasp, drawn through tears, forms the prediction
of another to succeed. How different is desert-life to
Moses now from what it was, when, in oblivion, he tended
Jethro's flocks ! Here is material for quite another song
1 Ex. iv. 29, xxiv. 9, 10.

The Retrospect of Life. 217
than what he sang at the Red Sea.1 Then, the Egyp
tians were swallowed up, and in a watery grave ; now,
Israel's sons find their graves in the wilderness : O Thou
who art our fathers' God, why so much guilt and misery ?
But the great mass of Israelites display no such concern,
— ask nothing at the Lord ; rather, as Amos intimates,
they worship idols and the hosts of heaven.2 But Moses,
God be praised, knows where to find a better refuge
than his lonely tent could give. Morning and evening
come and go each day for thirty years, and during that
long period we scarcely hear his voice. He may not
ask that the great sentence be annulled ; he cannot hope
that the allotted time of punishment may be cut short.
But now (see at ver. 15) the years of wrath begin to
hasten to a close ; and as the borders of the Promised
Land appear in view, so do the boundaries of Israel's
misery ; the pain, indeed, of the inflicted wounds is still
felt in full force, but now the prospect of relief is bright
ening, while even the heart weighed down with years
feels young again when it obtains a look of Canaan,
now no longer closed. The prayer of Moses issues in
poetic form ; will ye not listen — nay, will ye not also
pray ?
But, doubtless, even when you were considering the
remarkable occasion that called forth the Psalm, your
attention was attracted by the elegance of form in which,
as you perceive, Moses has cast the view he takes of
human life. It well deserves remark, that what we meet
with here is, life viewed by the hoary man of God in
prayerful frame ; for, if it be correct that we are never
nearer to the truth than just when we view earthly in
the light of heavenly things, this very fact affords us a
presumption favouring the justice of the view he takes.
We wish we could convey to you something approach-
1 Ex. xv. 2 Amos v. 25, 26.

218 Moses.
ing to an adequate conception of the force and beauty
of his Psalm. You will at once perceive, that the spirit
of the writer does not merely rise to the Invisible, but
turns, as far as possible, back to the past. There comes
before his fancy's eye the time — so finely portrayed in his
own account of the Creation — when the mountains rose,
and the valleys sank into the places marked for them by
the Creator's word. He looks, in thought, on those
colossal piles as they first reared their stately forms out
from the bed of mist and cloud ; he sees the whole earth
clothed in bridal dress on the first morning of primeval
spring ; he looks upon the universe, existing long before,
but now brought into full, clear view when there goes
forth a single intimation from Omnipotence. But in the
long eternity before that moment, when the morning
stars sang cheerfully, and all God's children shouted loud
for joy, he sees the throne of the Eternal, who had no
beginning, and shall live when all that perishes has gone.
Him he addresses as a 'refuge' (ver. i)1 — properly, a
'place of refuge' — 'from generation to generation,'
wherein God's own peculiar people see a sure, safe
hiding-place prepared for them. And then, this Being,
who knew no beginning, He contrasts with man in all his
nothingness ; while, with a richness and a power found
for the most part but in poets less advanced in years, he
piles up a huge mass of striking images. The language
he derives now from surrounding nature, now from the
history of recent years. We can but give the merest
hints; attend, with book in hand, while we present a
few of these. Mark what a striking contrast is at once
set forth (ver. 3) between the bitter fate imposed by God
on men, — to return to the dust, — and the tender but
decided words placed on His lips. ' Return, ye children
of men !' It is not the return of the spirit to God who
1 Such is the rendering of the Dutch version. — Tr.

The Retrospect of Life. 219
gave it, nor yet is it the ceaseless change of human
generations, but simply the return of the dust to the
earth that is referred to here. He who sends forth the
mandate is Himself supremely raised above the influence
of time, so that the longest period is, in His eyes, of quite
as little moment as the briefest interval.' ' A thousand
years are in Thy sight ' — not ' like to-day,' which some
times seems as if it would not end — but ' as yesterday
when it is past,' — in which case it seems always short
and fleeting, — ' and as a watch in the night.' The watch
referred to is the night-watch then kept in the desert,
and extending over three or four hours. The life of a
Methuselah is thus, in God's eyes, of as little moment in
its length as that of any insect in our eyes, which enters
life at morning-tide to die at even. The poet sees whole
generations carried off, sometimes at once, ' as with a
flood ' (ver. 5) : is he not thinking of the Deluge, or per
haps the scene at the Red Sea ? And they who are
thus carried off will scarcely notice it themselves ; for,
as he puts it touchingly, ' they are like a sleep.' A state
of semi-consciousness, in which one scarcely marks the
flight of time, — of which, too, on awakening, one scarcely
can remember anything, — such seems their life. The
sleeper, just awake, goes forth without his tent at early
morn ; he sees the grass around unfold its leaves ;
alas ! its flowers, so fragrant and so blooming, but pro
claim anew the fleeting character of everything ! ' In
the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up ; in the
evening it is cut down, and withereth' (ver. 6). It
does not need the deadly simoom of the desert to
blow over every herb ; the sun at noonday scorches
what the dew at morn had watered and refreshed ; at
even, no trace can be discovered of what shone with
brilliance in the morning light. And all this is the
just reward of stubbornness, — the punishment, not

220 Moses.
merely of acknowledged sins, but also secret sins,
which Moses mentions here with no less emphasis than
David in another place.1 The joyless days of the con
demned pass on incessantly ; God's judgment is un
changeable. ' We spend our years,' sighs Moses (ver. 9),
' as a thought' — a single breath. The breath itself that,
sometimes visibly, at other times invisibly, escapes our
lips, is not more fleeting than the life to which it is so
indispensable. Already, Moses makes considerable short
ening in human life. Though he himself and a few
others seem to form exceptions to a rule which ever
shows itself more general, the strongest see no more
than seventy, or at the utmost eighty years ; ' but yet
the best of those years,' of which they boast and show
themselves so vain, ' is trouble and sorrow.' Most people
drag along a weary life, as if it were a heavy chain ;
nevertheless, the chain soon seems as frail and brittle as a
thread ; ' it is soon cut off, and we fly away ' more swiftly
than a bird. Surely a thought like this should influence
even the most careless to repentance ; and yet, how few
there are that ever reach this end God has in view when
He chastises us ! ' Who knows,' the poet asks in deep
complaint, — who has a right and lively apprehension of
'the greatness of Thine anger and Thy wrath when
Thou art to be feared?' Therefore he prays the more
earnestly for himself and all those of a better mind, that
they may rightly learn at least to ' count the many days '
already past, and the few which yet remain, ' that they
may apply their heart to wisdom.' And Moses, in his
latest Psalm, tells us himself what was for him true
wisdom. After mentioning God's blessings and His
judgments, he exclaims, 'Oh that they were wise, then
would they understand this, and consider their end!'2
May not he who has first asked for spiritual gifts have
' Ver. 8 ; cf. Ps. xix. 13. s Deut. xxxii. 29, Dutch translation. — Tr.

The Retrospect of Life. 221
perfect liberty to ask also for temporal benefits ? ' Re
turn, O Lord, — how long ? and let it repent Thee con
cerning Thy servants.' There is here a reference to the
historic statement, ' Then the Lord repented of the evil
which He thought to do unto the people ; ' and to the
prayer of Moses, ' Consider . that this nation is Thy
people!'1 In the utterance of the request (ver. 14)
to be ' satisfied ' every morning with the favour of God,
the allusion to the daily gift of manna is as unmistake
able as it is beautiful. The wish for further joy (ver. 15)
is seen to be especially appropriate, when we remember
that the greater part of the appointed years had now
gone by ; the mention, too, of children (ver. 16) is the
more striking, since the younger generation was to see
the mighty works of God instead of the older genera
tion, now almost destroyed. We scarcely can refer ' the
beauty' or friendliness "of the Lord our God' (ver. 17) to
anything but the renewed experience of His gracious
presence ; and as to ' the work of our hands,' which the
Psalmist desires to be ' established,' what else could have
been intended than the conquest of Canaan, which Moses
little knew, as yet, was to devolve on other hands than
his ?
And what, now, do you think, after all this, about the
spirit which pervades this view of life, the occasion and
the form of which we have been pointing out to you ?
It is, we repeat, a remarkable Psalm which we have read
together. It is, indeed, quite true that, even in heathen
poets, you find beautiful reflections made upon the
transitory nature and the brevity of life ; but where else
do you meet with such close blending of complaint and
prayer, and what psalm ever formed more really a portion
of the poet's inmost life ? How much more highly than
the hero, who may possibly perform a single grand ex-
1 Ex. xxxii. 14, xxxiii. 13.

222 Moses.
ploit under what plainly shows itself to be extraordinary
effort, must we rank ' the man of God,' who, after pass
ing eight and thirty tedious years of pain and disappoint
ment, can still feel and speak as he does here ? But is
it not remarkable that you do not perceive a single
murmur of complaint regarding the ingratitude of those
who, as the younger generation, have by slow degrees
grown strange to him, though as a nation they are always
dear ? Is it not strange, too, that you do not find a
single trace of discontent with the divine appointment,
which condemned this Moses, in his innocence, to wander
through the wilderness with guilty Israel ? And are you
not astonished, when you see the greatest of the prophets
place himself on the same level with the meanest of the
Israelites, as a man, as a sinner, as a mortal ? Well may
that be called a truly humble and yet elevating view of
life, in which the eye turns from the finite to the Infinite,
and the spirit looks already on Canaan, while the foot
must still tread on. the desert's sand. O worthy Moses, we
can think we see you all alone with God, in the stillness
of the night, while Israel sleeps around, and the starry
heaven is spread out overhead ! The bosom, heavily
oppressed, relieves itself with mournful sighs ; but sighs
change into songs, and these ascend on high, an evening
sacrifice presented in the boundless sanctuary of creation
overhead. When Moses uttered that first word, 'Jehovah,'
did it possibly recall to him God's revelation at the bush,
when, for the first time, he could realize the power of that
all-glorious Name ? Truly, not only there, but here also
is holy ground. A Psalm like this may well be called a
sanctuary of itself ; even after such a lapse of ages, it is
worthy to be taken up again into the lips of many later
generations.

The Retrospect of Life. 223
2.
' But,' some one will reply, * surely you do not mean
that such a Psalm as this, composed under extraordinary
circumstances, could still serve as a standard for attaining
a just estimate of life?' We are, indeed, quite of that
mind ; and what is more, we think we can establish this
position, Nay, further, we are anxious to make our con
viction yours. Come, and give heed once more, while
we enable you to estimate the picture here presented
in the text as a true view of life. But which of its
three leading features could you honestly pronounce
one-sided — overdrawn ? Is it the first, viz. the duration
of life, its brevity and its uncertainty ? Or is it the
second — the burden of life, as heavy and oppressive ?
Or the third — the lesson of life, how seldom it is under
stood and learned ? Test the truth of Moses' words by
the experience of daily life, and judge between us and
yourselves. The duration of life, — how short and uncertain ! Yes,
it held fully and emphatically true of Israel ; but do not
we, too, find our picture briefly given in the words, ' They
are like a sleep ; in the morning they are like grass which
groweth up ' ? There are some of those truths which
the preacher is almost afraid of bringing to the pulpit,
because he knows that no one disputes them. But when
did it become unnecessary to remember the transitory
nature of life because the fact is universally acknow
ledged ? That life is truly brief, may possibly be
recognised by one advanced in years, who sees the sun
of life close on the western horizon. But the man, who,
still in the full bloom of health and strength, perceives
his earthly future constantly expand ; the youth, who
looks on months as an eternity, when these months inter
vene between his wishes and the object he desires ; the

224 Moses.
child, who looks in envy upon one who may be called
full-grown : — do they quite understand the force of words
like these, — a 'watch in the night,' 'a flower of the
field,' ' a vapour ' ? How good is it that God Himself
comes in between, and, by the plainest facts, proclaims
in most emphatic terms what we may understand in
words, but scarcely seem inclined to comprehend ! Then
comes His angel, who invades a family, and carries off an
aged one ; or possibly he spares a feeble one, but seizes
on a blooming youth, a strong man in the prime of life,
and cuts him off within a few brief hours, while those
who hear of it exclaim, ' O God, how frail is man ! Who
would have thought this possible ? ' But is this really
what you did not expect ? So much the worse for your
own selves ! Surely, if individual instances, which show
how frail the life of others is, so much astonish you, it
may be doubted whether you have yet thought earnestly
upon the frailty of your own ! For, if you see what he
was who has been cut off so suddenly, you never would
be anything but ' vanity,' though you were stronger
than all else ; and as regards the question we so often
ask about our absent friends, 'if he is still alive,' as
Joseph asked regarding Jacob, what else is it than the
expression of our inmost consciousness that death is far
more certain than even life itself? Such is the real state
of matters ; and I hardly know what point in Moses' song
should first be taken up, in order deeply to impress
upon your minds the truth, that we on earth can properly
count upon nothing than that we shall surely die. Shall
I, with Moses, liken death to a destroying flood ? It is
immediately to add, that this stream carries off with it,
not merely brittle reeds, but also deeply-rooted trunks of
trees, in its destructive course. Or shall I liken life itself
unto a sleep ? It is in order to predict that, after a brief
period, you will be able to exclaim, referring to your

The Retrospect of Life. 225
deepest sorrow or your highest joy, no more than this,
Why did I give myself so much annoyance ? or, why did
I think myself so happy as I did ? Or shall I compare
your days to grass, which flourishes, but withers speedily ?
It is that I may speak about the sentence passed on you,
ye youthful flowers, perhaps still covered with the bloom
of spring, but soon attacked by poison-worms, which
prey on your best strength. Or shall we compare our
years on earth to passing thoughts ? It is but with the
view of adding that our life not only is as fleeting, but as
changeable, and speedily will disappear, becoming pre
sently as imperceptible as any series of images that ever
crowd upon our brain. Yea, as it is with every individual,
so is it always with whole generations of mankind. They
are as waves that break upon a vast sea-coast ; but only
to be driven back by other waves, which, in their turn,
are no less destined to rise up in foam, and break. What
does this grand prophetic Psalm proclaim, if not just
this, — that all things change, and pass away ? Yesterday,
it was they ; to-day, it may be we ; to-morrow, — if we
live till then, — sooner or later, you !
And now, would that this short, uncertain life were
only one of unmixed joy ! But I should be astonished
at the boldness of the man who for an instant dared to
doubt if Moses had good ground for his lament : life's
burden, — how oppressive and severe it is ! ' Labour and
sorrow,' the abundant harvest of a seventieth or an
eightieth year ; — nay, we must not calumniate Thy love,
Father of Lights, who in this wilderness dost give us
more than manna for our food ; nor must we say again,
complainingly, ' Our days are passed away in Thy wrath,'
till we have stammered out, ' Praise Him, who crowneth
thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies ! ' But
must we only in the deserts of Arabia seek for the
shoulders that are bent, not to say broken, under the
P

226 Moses.
intolerable weight of life's great burden ? and must we
not rather call the world deceitful, when it promises to
give us roses without thorns, or thorns that do not
wound ? I know, indeed, that there are careless hearts
and tearless eyes, that, in their inmost soul, call Moses,
and all those of kindred mind, gloomy, austere. But
surely, hearts that know not care, and eyes that shed no
tears, are far from competent to give right explanation
of the problems of this life ? Ye who are inexperienced,
come not to speak with us of life, until your head,
anointed with the oil of joy, shall have received its
baptism of suffering, and your stout heart, now strongly
harnessed, shall have felt the sword-thrust made in it.
And meanwhile, ye — I shall not say, unfortunates, but —
ye among us who are fortune's greatest favourites, when
ye regard life earnestly, but only in the light of right ex
perience, say whether your account, when it is closed,
shall show more profit than appeared when Moses'
reckoning was closed. But do not, in your folly, think
of urging, as a counter-argument with him, the pleasure
of your youthful days, which you now look at through a
magnifying glass, but then shall have enjoyed only in the
desires which you have secretly been cherishing. Rather
review the past, and think, with strict impartiality, of all
you hoped for, and — what you have really experienced ;
think, too, of what you have attempted, and — with what
a small result ; consider, too, what you have sowed, and
honestly confess how little you have reaped. What
an amount of trouble spent on nothing but in bringing
grief upon ourselves ; how much of grief have we ex
perienced through trouble caused by others ! What a
multitude of opportunities have been presented us ! But
as regards the future, grief may possibly await us where
we hoped to find our highest joy ; and with the suffering,
well known to all, regarding which our friends express

The Retrospect of Life. 227
their sympathy, there may come presently a deeper,
keener, secret sorrow, torturing the soul. How many
lives, like those of Israel in the wilderness, are poisoned
by the curse of sins confessed or unconfessed ! Here, one
in his maturity limps on through life, maimed through the
secret sins of younger days ; there, one has lost, through
injured pride, the peace he felt before ; yonder, another
feels a deep, sharp sting within his soul, when conscience
whispers in his ear, ' You are yourself to blame, and it
is now too late ; ' and there, again, another waits in fear
and trembling for the great decisive hour, when God shall
openly reveal our secret sins, and judge, and recompense.
Thus conscience adds a new and crushing burden to the
mighty load already on our heart ; and when we have
deducted from the seventy or eighty years, — first, those
in which we knew not what was joy and happiness ; then,
those years when we hoped for and pursued a something
yet to come ; and, finally, those years in which we wept
and sorrowed for departed joys, what then remains with
which to challenge Moses' words ? At last there comes,
perhaps, a time when we imagine that no trouble shall
attend us any more, and sorrows shall depart. Then
welcome, sunny days ! Blest be ye, plenteous years ! —
But what is this that comes ? Death knocks at the rich
fool's door the very night when his last barn is filled.
The life departs from that with which it seemed eternally
combined ; and the disappointed heart receives a shock,
from which it never will recover while it does not cease
to beat. Enough ! But is it then so difficult to tell why
a late poet1 has declared, that, of all things in this world,
' life is itself the hardest ? ' and that one of the greatest
men belonging to last century 2 could never think upon
the frailty and the vanity of life without finding his eyes
suffused with bitter tears ?
1 Bilderdijk. 2 Herder.

228 Moses.
This disposition, I am well aware, is far from being that
of the majority ; and I will add at once, neither is it by
any means the most exalted frame in which our minds
can be. But now consider, on the other side, the darkest
feature in the picture here presented us by Moses : the
lesson of life, — how seldom it is understood and learned.
When man is all uncertain whether he shall live to see
another moment ; when the sinner, laden with such heavy
burdens, finds himself upon his way to stand before the
Judge, into whose hands it shall indeed be a most fearful
thing to fall, — would you not at least expect that such
an one would give God and himself no rest, even for a
moment, till he had attained the object of this life, and
were assured of hope hereafter too ? ' Surely I see
one, threatened by the all-destroying flood, betake him
self to the strong rock ; I see another, bowed beneath the
dreadful load, embrace the feet of his great Judge : ' —
vain dream of multitudes, vain as the dream of life itself !
' Who knoweth the power of Thine anger ? Even accord
ing to Thy fear, so is Thy wrath.' Nay, venerable Moses,
truly thou wouldest have no reason to retract these words
didst thou appear among us now. ' God's wrath,' — but
surely the very word sounds unmelodious and harsh ;
' God's anger,' — but does not the thought belong ex
clusively to the Old Testament ? Indeed, if, after all that
has been said, there still was something that could bring
us to a sadder frame of mind, would it not be a glance
at the excessive readiness with which this brief, uncertain
life, so full of toil, is dreamed away and wantonly mis
spent by turns ? Must not even such an one as Moses
still seek to be circumspect, that he may wisely count
his days and hours, and find he is not even a single
second short ? And where are they among you, wise
hearts, that are also truly praying hearts ? How many
pupils are there in the school of life that leave it without

The Retrospect of Life. 229
learning the most necessary of the lessons taught us here,
— to die ? Yes, when the Great Pursuer, Death, that
never rests, and never lags more than a single step behind
us men, has made a precious life near us his prey, we
shudder when we hear his steps. But scarcely have his
footprints disappeared, ere terror for his arrows vanishes,
though we are still within an easy reach, and the necessity
for some relief from terror that has come on us induces
us to seek new sleeping-draughts through which we may
dispel anxiety. ' It was an accident, — quite, unforeseen ;
a most peculiar accident ; a fatal omission ; an unex
pected circumstance ;' — always something that we should
have taken care in time to guard against. The ranks of
those still living open up but for an instant, that the dead,
whose end roused consternation for the time, may be re
moved ; but presently the ranks close up again, as if no
change had ever been ; the morrow finds his place filled
up, and next day sees remembrance of the man effaced ;
insensibility soon sports upon the lonely grave, but lately
hollowed by the hand of love. Is there anything of which
we have more positive assurance, and of which, neverthe
less, we are less mindful, than these soul-disturbing words :
— ' To die, to die once, to be condemned ' ? Does not ex
perience continually show, that those who are most accus
tomed to see others die frequently think least about the
dreadful certainty and meaning of their own mortality ?
Yea, we ourselves, who speak of your death-sentence
and our own, are we sufficiently imbued with this dread
thought, — that, in this very hour, we may be summoned
hence ? Alas, the youngest of us here has had more
than sufficient time to learn true wisdom ; and the oldest
is, perhaps, upon this very point, as hard of hearing and
as foolish as the rest ! At every turn called lustily to
break our slumbers, most of us are like the sleepers who,
half-dozing, say, ' I did not know it was so late,' and then

230 Moses.
turn round to sleep once more. Bowed down sometimes
beneath the load of our old sins, sometimes beneath the
weight of our old cares, we often miss, for years on end,
the highest object of our life ; and ere we are aware of
it, the boundary is reached before we take the great,
decisive step. ' They are as a sleep : ' unto how many,
even of us, may these words be most suitably applied in
quite another sense ! The vapour passes by, and men
scarce heed it as it goes ; the stream speeds on, and we
regard it dreamily ; school-time draws to a close, yet the
dull pupil still remains the same. The flower of the
grass holds up its fragile head, as free from care as if it
wished to say, ' See, I am far too beautiful to break ; '
and the night-watch is spent as if it would endure
eternally. Oh, Life, Life ! — is there anything more fleet
ing, dismal, restless, and monotonous, or of less intrinsic
worth than thou ?

3.
'Anything of less intrinsic worth than life ?' Thanks
be to God, we have something to bring forward as a
counterpoise to this ; for, observe, we have been hitherto
regarding life almost solely in the light of experience ;
but now we turn the other side, and view it in the light
of faith. May we not, think you, venture to affirm
that it is a satisfactory view of life which this writer has
already taken before us ? Only, look once more at his
words, his example, and especially at the gospel of
grace. In view of and in contrast with what we have
mentioned, let us consider faith as an eternal source of
life, a joy of life, a hope of life.
It was, indeed, a gloomy picture on which we have
been looking to-day. But why art thou cast down, O
my soul ? And why art thou disquieted in me ? Knowest

The Retrospect of Life. 231
thou not the everlasting fountain of life, to which Moses
points us, even at the very commencement of his prayer?
' Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, from generation to
generation ! ' Truly, it would require Moses himself to
tell what he felt in his heart when uttering these words ;¦
but it requires a Christian to understand why we also
address the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
with this honourable name. It is a touching thought,
that, reckoning three generations to each century, a
hundred generations now have gone down to the grave
since the servant of the Lord sang these words ; but,
whatever else has changed upon this changing world,
the refuge has been standing open, from generation to
generation, for all living and dying ones. Nay, child of
Adam, do not say that everything which you behold
within and round you is but transient ! High over all the
clouds of heaven, there stands the royal throne of Him
who is from everlasting to everlasting God. When the
last sepulchral mound shall have received the last of its
own dust from man, He shall not be a single night-watch
older than He was when the first mountain was brought
forth ; and He, the Everlasting One, is, and remains for
all His own, a God of perfect blessedness. Nay, it is
not through any accident that He has marked so many
trees, so fair and promising, to be cut down throughout
the forest of our race, while the unfruitful knotted trunk
but laughs at winter's storms ; it is His voice that speaks,
', Return unto the dust ; ' and though that voice is quite
supreme in its commands, wisdom and love at all times
guide its exercise. Nay, it is not mere ' Nature ' that
requires man's latest breath ; it is the living God, who
carries in His hand the worlds, yes, and the breath of
lives. Nay, it is not the mower of our race, who comes
in arbitrary mood, and cuts the fairest flowers ; it is the
heavenly Husbandman, who now removes a beauteous

232 Moses.
plant from earthly soil to heaven's garden of delight, and
roots out what have proved abortions, or still lets them
grow for some wise end as yet known only to Himself.
We pass away, but He remains ; we are but clouds on
heaven's expanse, reflecting sunlight thrown on us, — He
is the everlasting Sun, that may hide sometimes, but can
never set ; beneath, the grave awaits our feet, — above,
God is our Refuge high ! Does not that ray of light
from heaven already make death's shadows flee ; and
does not the stream of death awake less fear within your
soul as it foams towards you, when you behold the
Infinite enthroned as King, above the flood ? If He but
lives, and I may live in Him, then, even although what
is most dear to me should be removed, I may lose much,
but cannot be deprived of everything. If life be but a
vapour, then what matters it, provided that life -vapour
rises, as an incense-offering, to heaven ? and jf we soon
fly hence, beyond the reach of human eye, — again we
ask, what matters that, provided His eye reaches us, and
we soon find a resting-place for ever in His heart ? If
there has once been formed, by faith, a personal con
nection between Him and us, it will not, cannot perish,
like the grass that withereth. And if the hour of life is
soon to pass away, as if it were a single thought, the
closing thought will be, ' This God is our God ; He will
be our guide even unto death.' 1
But is the praise of faith too loudly trumpeted ? and
would there rather be far greater reason for prolonged
complaint, if we were but to look once more upon the
heavy burden of this life ? Not one iota we retract of
all that has been said as to the griefs and sorrows of this
life ; but now, we may present to you the other side of
the matter,— the obverse of the coin. In midst of all
life's burdens, true faith knows a life of joy. Surely you
1 Ps. xlviii. 14.

The Retrospect of Life. 233
do not ask me, what is that ? You have already been
regarding Moses, who, all through that series of years,
so burdensome and sad, might well be called the most
severely tried of men, and yet he was the happiest. Yea,
verily, the happiest ; for know you not in whom he placed
his faith, — from whom that trouble and that sorrow came,
— and to whom these could not but lead him ? And
is there not at least one pleasure, of which all the wicked
ness of men cannot deprive him, and which becomes
more dear to him the more life's struggle deepens, —
namely, the enjoyment of secret intercourse with God ?
Ah, child of this world ! if you do not yet know that joy,
I understand how you feel sometimes that the world is
too confined ; and how you would seek to escape from
life, as an accursed thing, if there were no eternity ! It
is hard to bear a heavy burden on the back, and have no
hand on which you may with safety lean ! And it is
hard to look around in vain for light, and find besides
that there is only darkness overhead ! But if the God
of Moses be your God, then you, too, drink of a spiritual
rock that ever follows you through life ; and when the
world inquires how you can eat the bread of tears so
cheerfully, you can give answer in your Saviour's words,
' I have meat to eat that ye know not of.' x You look
no longer merely to the trouble you endure, but above all
to the hand that laid it on ; no longer do you specially
regard the weight of sorrow, but rather the object of
the chastisement. Like Moses in the wilderness, you
bear submissively what is imposed on you because of
sin ; because you see, more clearly than he saw, that it
is no longer an avenger who repays you for your sin,
but a Father who chastises you in love. And it is well
for you, when you depart, to see that refuge open wide
for you ; a blessed thing it is, besides, to know that you
1 John iv. 32.

234 Moses.
have nothing more to fear, when you, too, hear the great
command addressed to you, ' Return to dust ! ' But —
as we well may modify the question asked by Moses
— who fully knows the power of God's grace, and His
love to sinful men in Christ ? Behold, what Moses' law
concealed, the gospel now proclaims. He, who could
easily destroy us in His wrath, finds not His pleasure in
the sinner's death ; and our unrighteousnesses, which He
could place in the light of His countenance, He casts
behind Him into the depths of the sea. In Christ, He
takes from off our shoulders what is far the greatest
burden that we bear, — the load of guilt ; and every other
ill He sends on us, while we traverse this vale of tears,
He makes work for our good. Nay, now we are no longer
troubled by His wrath, but we rejoice in His great love ;
we bless Him for the troubles and the sorrows under
which so many others groan ; for the cords of love, by
which God draws us to Himself, are closely twined around
His chastening rod. Ye followers of Christ who feel
God's chastening hand, may you not well discard Moses'
complaint for Paul's triumphal tones, ' In all these things,
we are more than conquerors through Him that loved
us'?1 But, once more, does your heart fail when you see the
vanity of life, — that lesson which so few have learned ?
Again, rejoice in the Lord, ye who have learned at first to
view life in the light of faith ; for you, like Moses, — yea,
even more than he, — may speak of a grand hope of life.
But do you think it difficult to find out, in this prayer
of his, traces that he expected more than what this pre
sent life affords ? Surely, it scarce would be worth while
engaging in such earnest prayer for wisdom, had the poet
known no higher destiny than death, and after that the
grave. No ; he who knows such fellowship with the
1 Rom. viii. 37.

The Retrospect of Life. 235
Eternal as is here desired and felt, must carry, deep
within his heart, a strong presentiment of the eternal
life. When such an one as Moses seeks to count the
days that swiftly pass, it is because he knows that time
stands in direct connection with eternity ; and when he
prays that he may find satisfaction in the mercy of God,
it is impossible that he can rest content with this mean
earth. But, God be thanked, what was quite sure to
Moses we can now see far more clearly than even he ;
the eye of faith, besides, descries a better country than
the promised land of earth, looming beyond that Jordan
we must cross at death. Apart from a direct connection
with that life, we grant that there is nothing less im
portant than existence here ; but, viewed in the light
of things to come, can you point out what is of more
importance, or what more demands the wise employment
of our time ? Eternities depend upon the hours we
often waste so thoughtlessly ; and earnest effort, which
we now expend to learn life's lesson, will then be repaid
with interest. Nay, Adam's children return again unto
the dust of earth, not to experience annihilation, but to
continue elsewhere what was here begun. Life seemed
a sleep, but the morning of awaking dawns ; with rapid
flight we hasten hence, but, just like birds of passage, to
a milder clime ! What are the seventy or eighty fleeting
years (and few reach even that boundary, — years spent
on earth in toil and trouble, too) when we compare
them with the glory of the sons of God, which then
shall be revealed? Then, in the morning of eternity,
He satisfies His people with the full enjoyment of His
goodness ; He makes them glad according to the days
of evil they have seen on earth. Then all His work
appears unto His servants' eyes ; and it is shown to
heaven and earth that there was absolute necessity for
even that weary warfare in this life, to fit them for the

236 Moses.
wearing of the everlasting crown. Then comes — what
higher blessedness can faith conceive ? — then comes the
beauty of the Lord our God, in its entirety, on all who
loved Him in sincerity ; and the work of their hands,
begun in weakness to His praise, is perfected in power.
Once more He overwhelms them, but with streams of
everlasting bliss ; the brief — yea, and the longest — life
of pain has now passed by, as if it were a watch by night ;
and God's eternity, God's blessedness, God's glory now
are theirs, as far as creatures can receive. They mount
up hence, — always, like eagles, straight towards the sun.
. . . Christians ! do you still look upon this vain and
fleeting life from such a lofty eminence ? Nay, for it
now lies far beneath your feet, and quite behind your
back, like a grey cloud which has disappeared from
sight : now is it nothing, and yet, in this nothing lay
the germ and essence of that everything. The burden
borne on earth is now laid down, but the wisdom
learned on earth remains ; and the struggle to attain
that wisdom has been followed by enjoyment that shall
know no end. Christians ! if the psalm of life, even here,
gives such encouragement to faith, what shall it be when,
up in heaven, the song of all eternity ascends ?

4.
But who will be so bold as raise his voice to join the
angels in their heavenly song ? Here you will see that
our discourse bears more directly on your heart and
conscience than your understanding, your feelings, and
your faith. Only when it is not merely understood and
assented to as true, but earnestly laid to heart, does
Moses' view of life become for you and me a truly
profitable view of life.
To what does it more urgently arouse us than to ask

The Retrospect of Life. 237
this practical question, — Have I, too, learned as yet to
view things with the eye of Moses ; and have I yet
obtained the wise and understanding heart for which, as
we have seen, he prayed so earnestly ? Nay, do not be
too ready to solace yourselves with'the consideration that
you quite assent to all that has been said, and even at the
present moment feel, to some extent, its force. It is not
so difficult a matter to feel saddened when a mournful
song is sung, — to speak with visible emotion on the
frailty of our life, — or even to affirm, with some degree
of unction, that death is always near. But when we
look for the right kind of fruit from this lightly-won
conviction, and when we attentively regard the lives
of many who declare that death is ever near, once
more we ask, where shall we find a heart in which true
wisdom dwells ? Surely not in you, O thoughtless
youth, who walk according to your own desires, for
getting that the slightest sign which God may give can
stop the joyous course of your life's blood, now bounding
through your veins ? Nor yet in you, O man of business,
skilful in your reckoning of every chance, excepting this,
which you least reckon on, — that the King of Terrors
may wipe out one cipher of the well-made reckoning ?
Nor yet, again, in you, old man of earthly mind, who
always say, in comfort to yourself, that others have lived
longer still than you ; or who may certainly complain
like Moses, but yet never pray like him ? Nor yet in
you, O worldly-minded woman, who turn pale with
terror when you only hear the name of an infectious
disease, and yet at once plunge deep into the whirlpool
of all kinds of dissipation, just as if you could not there
drink of the stream of death ? Oh, what sad folly, and
what blindness, too ! Ye dream of years, yet cannot
count upon a day ; ye reckon up your treasures, while
your hours, which gold can't buy, are let slip through

238 Moses.
your fingers like the sand ! And we, who must condemn,
detest, oppose all this, are we indeed far better than our
fellows ? and have we already profited by Moses' view of
life ? What is our leading principle of action, our highest
aim, and our most sacred joy ? And if, this night, our
life, and everything the world sees to admire and to de
sire in us, were wholly lost, what would remain in us ripe
for eternity? Oh that this question, put to you as in the
invisible presence of the angel of death, might sink deep
into your soul, and lead you to a proper frame of mind !
It is indeed no trifling matter to be liable, at any moment,
to be called before a heavenly Judge, who — mark those
words — ' sets our secret sins in the light of His counte
nance,' and then to 'fly hence' into everlasting destruc
tion. And that everlasting destruction — we say it with
the fear of death in our own heart — is, as truly as God lives,
and as you may die this day, your portion, if you have
been seeking your highest good in this present life ; and
it shall be more tolerable for Israel, that suffered in the
wilderness the punishment of their unrighteousness, than
for you, who will not hear the loudest calls, but kick
against the pricks ! If God be faithful, then He also
will make good His threatenings ; if God be infinite, His
wrath against men's sin will never end ; and if God's
holiness be feared, even by a Moses, then what mountain,
or what hill, would shield the unrepenting sinner from
the fierce fire of His wrath ? Oh, fellow sinner, would
that such a voice as this might rise within your heart
ere death shall break it, — ' What shall I do that I may
inherit eternal life ? '
If this be what you ask, then Moses earnestly directs
you to the first great want of life. And what else could
this be, than that the Lord should be as really your God
as He was his ; and that you should soon learn to seek
true life, which only can be found in fellowship with

The Retrospect of Life. 239
God ? Here is the reason why Moses could speak so
earnestly, and yet so calmly, too, about that death which
made the most courageous in Israel quake. To look
with calmness on the King of Terrors, we must first, in
faith, have looked upon the God of life; the grave affords
no peace to us, if Moses' heavenly refuge be not first
sought and attained. It cannot be too frequently re
peated, that this does hot mean the philosophic faith
in a Supreme Being, without whose will not a sparrow
falls to the ground ; but that childlike, personal faith in
a Father, who, in Christ, has also made an everlasting
covenant of grace with us, which gives us strength in
presence of life's troubles, and sustains our courage in
the hour of death. If God does not become our God on
earth, then neither shall His heaven be ours. How shall
we worthily give thanks to Him, who still, in kindness,
says to us this day, ' Return, backsliding ones,' before the
last ' Return ' arrests us suddenly, and brings us to the
dust ? For what shall we more earnestly make our request
on your behalf, than that the love of God, more than the
terrors of eternity, may lead you to repent ; and that
your stubborn heart may here be broken, so that you
may no more tremble for the breaking down of this your
earthly house ? A thousand years are, in God's sight, as
yesterday when it is past ; but though you had a thousand
years to live, one hour of the repentance which is not to be
repented of would be to you the most decisive, the most
blessed in your life ! And wherefore should you say,
'To-morrow,' when death constantly may say, 'To-day'?
Nay, come without delay to Christ, through whom alone
the Father will receive lost sinners, and let Him preserve
you from the wrath to come ! Depending on the power
given by the Holy Ghost, break loose from all connection
with a world that gives so little and so quickly vanishes ;
and when you estimate the things of time, employ no

240 Moses.
other standard than the one which, in your dying hour,
you will desire to have employed. Still is it day, but
even now the days are few; see that you carefully improve
the hours, and let not even the minutes be misspent or
lost. Of all that we have heard to-day, this is the sum : each
one of us is urged to lay to heart the great, important
task of life. By this we mean the careful counting of
our days, — a task which is, for us, more difficult, but of
as much importance as for Israel, who could, in some
degree, while they were in the desert, reckon up the
probable duration of their lives. It is quite natural
that there should be a reckoning, in which regard is
had not only to mere number, but intrinsic worth, —
not only the amount of principal, but specially the
interest drawn from the treasure of this life. Oh, how
much farther we might have advanced in the art of
making this brief life — I do not say longer — but really
more profitable, both for ourselves and others, if we did
not remain so backward in the practice of this heavenly
arithmetic ! But, alas ! ' time is money : ' such is the
motto of your daily life ; but why not also of your higher,
never-ending life ? Your gold you keep behind strong
bolts and bars, but you give up your time quite will
ingly to any robber that may come : do you put pence
to usury, and let hours lie without return ? Oh that I
could inscribe upon your souls the legend round the
clock, through which a famous preacher rose to emi
nence : ' They pass away, but they are laid to our ac
count ! ' x Count up the many days already gone, the few
that still remain. Count up your opportunities already
lost through sheer neglect, and learn to live in such a
way that, when you come to die, you may obtain eternal
1 Transeunt et imputantur were the words inscribed around the clock
placed in the school in which Bossuet was taught.

The Retrospect of Life. 241
life. Make up your reckoning before it can be said of
you, ' Counted and weighed, but found too light ! '
From Moses, learn, in all humility, not to be hasty in
imagining that you are perfect in this art ; and be not
slower, but more faithful in your work, according as the
night draws on. And further, if, like him, you are but
sure you have the grace of God, you may, with him,
look calmly on when now and then there falls away
what never was intended to remain ; and you may
quietly advance to meet the evil day, as one who
knows that his best days of life lie not behind, but
all before, and there in infinite variety. Thank God
that you have found the only true reply to the great
question, ' What is life ? ' and urge this, in your turn, on
other men. ' Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation ;'
but, above all, like Moses, ' continue instant in prayer.'
A short time longer, and then your death, too, shall
confirm the truth of Moses' view of life ; and one who
has but known you in your conflicts and your strife may
sigh, as he takes your cold hand in his, ' What, then, is
life ? what has even this life been ? ' But he who has
observed your faith, and your departure from this world,
will point the sighing one aloft as he replies, ' His true
life has begun ! '
Amen.

Q

CHAPTER IX.
&fy Cursins f ropfjct.
' Balaam the son of Beor saith.' — Num. xxiv. 3.
THE history of God's special revelations, particularly
those of the Old Testament, while exhibiting a remark
able variety, presents the whole to us under three great
aspects. We find a great number of brilliant pictures,
which form memorials of God's mighty deeds, and which
we can never look at again without feeling stirred up to
adoration and thanksgiving. In contrast with these we
find, all too frequently, soiled pictures, exhibiting the
saddest traces of weakness and wickedness, and filling
us anew with deep shame every time we look at them.
And, lastly, interspersed among those of the two pre
ceding classes, there claim our attention many pictures
most mysterious and obscure, — at least such as have
hitherto received only partial explanation, — views which
elicit from us the most pressing questions, but afford no
more than partial replies, and which are of themselves
sufficient to remind us of the words of the apostle : ' We
know in part, and we prophesy in part.' 1 Even in the
course of these contemplations we have already had
many specimens of the first and second kinds. Would
you like now to see one of the most remarkable
examples of the third series ? Then let it be the pic
ture upon which, in large although rough outlines,
1 1 Cor. xiii. 9.

The Cursing Prophet. 243
you may perceive the figure of Balaam the son of
Beor. Balaam the son of Beor is certainly not one of those
ancient prophets who can boast that they often direct
their words to a Christian assembly ; let us at once add
to this, that he is by no means one of the leading figures
in sacred history on which the eye especially desires
to rest. His name, which is distinctly mentioned with
abhorrence in the writings of the New Testament, comes
sounding in our ears as if still burdened with the curse
of more than thirty centuries. His whole spirit and dis
position exhibit a remarkable combination of faith and
unbelief, of pride and meanness, of cunning and double-
dealing. And his whole history is, on many points, so
enveloped in clouds and darkness, that, even after
repeated attempts, one might almost despair of attain
ing clear views regarding him. What those possessed
of devils, and the swine in the neighbourhood of Gadara,
are in the New Testament Scriptures, such is Balaam
and his ass in the Old, — an absurdity to many, an
offence to not a few others. Perhaps the number of
fruitless attempts made to explain this episode has been
as great as that of the endeavours to cast ridicule on it.
We need not wonder, therefore, that preachers in general
studiously avoid a rock on which so many have already
suffered shipwreck, and that very few of their hearers
have ever cast more than a passing glance at this much-
bedimmed mirror. Yea, we also have doubted whether we
ought not rather to have quite passed by this incident in
the history of Moses and Israel, that we might direct your
attention instead to pictures more familiar, and possibly
also more attractive. The history of Balaam, however,
even with all its obscurity, we consider as sufficiently im
portant to claim your special attention, at least for once.
Just as of old, in the days of Isaac, various wells were to

244 Moses.
be found which had been filled up and rendered unfit for
use by stranger hands, but which only needed to be
opened up again to give a fresh spring of living water,
so is it with many portions of the Sacred Scriptures,
which have scarce been touched upon. Unbelief regards
them with contempt, and superficial minds but pass
them lightly by ; yet any one who looks more carefully,
and searches more than the majority of men, will find,
even here, a stream at once refreshing, strengthening,
and comforting. Such Scripture passages, so enigmatical
in character, are not by any means on that account
reserved, just like the temple shewbread, for the use of
priests alone ; they constitute a portion of the spiritual
manna, which the Lord is constantly bestowing for the
quickening and strengthening of those He loves. And —
as we must at once declare by way of warning — though
we may find it is impossible to give a satisfactory reply
to every question prompted by our curiosity, we shall
once more be taught that even those members of the
living body of the Word which we esteem the least, bring
it the more abundant honour. When not only Moses
himself, but also Joshua, Nehemiah, and Micah, have
expressly reminded Israel of the events recorded in this
and the two preceding chapters ; when we find that
these events led to a deep fall and to a fearful visitation
on some thousands of the Israelites, upon which occasion
Moses' strength of mind and courage were most beauti
fully shown ; when, in short, this may be called one of
the most notable incidents in the last year of Moses' life,
surely we should at least attempt to throw some small
degree of light upon a portion of history which is, in
many ways, obscure, but at the same time of the highest
importance. The God of truth has spoken even through
the man who, in many respects, deserves the name of a
false and lying prophet. He that hath ears let him

The Cursing Prophet. 245
hear what the Spirit saith unto the Church through this
mouth, which was indeed unclean, but opened by the
Lord Himself!
Surely it will not be necessary to say much by way
of reminding you of the peculiar position occupied by
Balaam in the history of Israel ? That we may, how
ever, aid the memory of even the weakest in this age,
when Scripture knowledge is so neglected and in such a
backward state, we merely mention that, in the fortieth
year of the wandering, he was sent for by Balak, king
of the Moabites, that he might pronounce over Israel,
who then threatened the Moabite territory, a solemn
prophetic curse. Regarding the person and the character
of this Balaam, opinions have always been very much
divided. According to some, he was a false prophet,
properly so called, who lived in fatal league with the
Prince of Darkness ; according to others, he was a true
messenger of Jehovah, but one who, through pride and
avarice, brought about his own destruction. It scarcely
need be said that, till at least we gain more definite
information, we can neither side with the one nor other
of these two opinions. Balaam no doubt knew the only
true God : in Mesopotamia, his own residence and
Abraham's native land, this knowledge, through the
influence of Abraham's family, does not seem to have
been wholly lost ; and he must have heard enough of
what occurred in the wilderness and in Egypt to regard
Jehovah at least as a mighty, perhaps as the supreme
Deity. But with this knowledge there was also com
bined the most Pagan superstition, — almost in the same
way, perhaps, as we find, for example, in Laban the
Syrian a mixture of true religion and idolatry. Hence
also he is not called a prophet in Scripture, but a sooth
sayer, and as such he was accustomed to practise his
sorceries on a large scale, and had, throughout a wide

246 Moses.
extent of country, a reputation proportionate to the
greatness of his abilities and the skill with which he
maintained the deception. Endowed with much poetic
eloquence, he showed a rare capacity of being raised to
the ecstatic state, and in such condition the eye of his
soul seems to have been opened by a higher Hand.
Regarding the value of his other utterances, we have no
means of determining ; but that at least on one occa
sion, and that the one now before us, the Spirit of God
was indeed present with him, is attested not merely by
himself, but by Moses (chap. xxiv. 2), in the most express
terms. Do not be surprised that God could make use
of such a deceiver or fanatic — choose whichever name
you please — to make him the herald of the coming
salvation ; we must remind you how frequently, under a
special dispensation of God, the treasure of great value
is carried in most impure earthen vessels, — how a dis
obedient Jonah became the preacher of repentance in
Nineveh ; how, as John tells us, a profane Caiaphas
uttered prophecy ; and how some even successfully cast
out devils in Jesus' name, without, however, being recog
nised as His own people. In God's hands, Balaam was
nothing more than an instrument, that was cast aside as
useless whenever he had fulfilled his destiny ; like his
ass, he gives witness to the truth, though this did not
become power and life to himself.
This naturally leads us to inquire what conclusion we
must come to regarding the miracle, which, in the esti
mation of many, is the most astounding of all miracles.
To assume that we have here the account of a dream, is
certainly as arbitrary as to assert that this is a cleverly
concocted fable. That Moses meant to narrate an actual
occurrence is absolutely beyond a doubt ; and as little
is there need for proof that we have here the account of
a miracle. The question can only be, whether we are

The Cursing Prophet. 247
to place the miracle in the animal itself, or rather in
Balaam ; in other words, whether we must say that the
ass actually spoke, or that the speaking was only in the
consciousness of the seer. Both of these opinions have
by turns been upheld and impugned by learned and
pious expositors. Those who maintain the first, very
properly remind us that it is as possible for God to make
an audible voice issue from an animal as from a lumi
nous cloud j1 that, in the Second Epistle of Peter, we
read of the ass ' speaking with man's voice ;'2 that such
speaking was, as we might expect in this case, performed
merely in a mechanical way, but that this sign was the
very thing necessary for putting Balaam to shame. The
others, again, appeal to what is stated elsewhere as well
as here regarding his highly excited, ecstatic condition ;
they find, in the statement that the soothsayer answered
his ass, an indication that he was now — perhaps through
the influence of the angel's presence — more out of the
body than in it ; and they ask why there is no intima
tion that those who were conducting him perceived this
miracle as well as himself. You see that there are
grounds for the one opinion as well as for the other ;
choose yourselves whatever seems the most probable.
If you only bear in mind that Balaam had not the least
doubt himself that the irrational animal really stopped
to speak with him, while you perceive in this the effect
of God's own miraculous interposition, this will, on the
whole, be sufficient Rightly considered, the greatest
wonder in this case is, not that an animal should have
spoken, but rather that a man who but runs away, like
an irrational animal, to utter words of cursing, is led,
plainly against his will, to bless like an angel of peace.
And now, too, we find an answer to the question, why
this occurrence has been left on record in these sacred
1 Matt. xvii. 5. '' 2 Pet. ii. 16.

248 Moses.
pages for all generations. A man who was called to
curse feels himself irresistibly impelled by the power of
the Spirit from on high to bless the people of the Lord :
what was such a man, if not a powerful witness to the
greatness and the honour of Israel ? It was necessary
that his history should remain as a permanent demon
stration, to all succeeding ages, of the supremacy of
Jehovah and the nullity of all false gods. To use his
own words, it was necessary to show that ' no enchant
ment availed against Jacob, nor any divination against
Israel;'1 and that the people of the Lord had nothing
to fear in any case from heathen superstition and sor
cery. Thus they were encouraged against approaching
days of darkness, and assured of the protection of an
almighty Power, which, if need were, could change even
the curse into a blessing. And that the history and
utterances of Balaam were not merely of the deepest
significance for that time, but remain such for all suc
ceeding ages, we do not ask you to believe on our word
only, but to substantiate for yourselves. Let us, as it
were, take you by the hand, to place you on one of those
heights upon which Balaam tarried in succession ; and
though, alas ! so many faithful witnesses have all ' too
frequently addressed their words to you in vain, now let
even an unfaithful one bring you the message in the
Sender's name, and give him no less heed than what a
heathen king once paid to him. Balaam the son of
Beor speaks ; will you give ear to what he has to say to
our, to every age ? What you now hear from him, and
read, gives you a deep insight into (1) the seductive influ
ence of the world ; (2) the bondage of sin ; (3) the glory of
God ; (4) the bliss of the redeemed ; (5) the splendour of
the future.
Does this surprise you, and can you not comprehend
1 Num. xxiii. 23.

The Cursing Prophet. 249
at once how such a singular history shows you things of
such vast importance ? Then follow us with undivided,
with increasing attention. And do Thou, O Lord, teach
us Thy way, even through these words, and we shall walk
in Thy truth ; unite our heart, that we may fear Thy
name. Amen.

1.
The Israelites have, as on the wings of the wind, re
moved their camp from the midst of the desert, and
pitched on the borders of Midian and Moab. The barrier
which kept them from the Promised Land has been re
moved ; a most important portion of the trans- Jordanic
country has already been subdued ; and mighty kings,
together with their capitals, have yielded to the con
querors. Then terror strikes the heart of Balak, son of
Zippor, ruler of the Moabites. In fancy he perceives his
wide, luxuriant pastures eaten up, like verdure by the ox ;
what must he do in order to avert the ruin which now
threatens him ? Craft may perhaps procure what cannot
be obtained by force, and a Divinity may be entreated
to effect what human power fails to attain. From Pethor,
on the banks of the Euphrates, even though the journey
there takes twenty days, there must be brought the
famous sorcerer, whose word was, far and near, regarded
as a heavenly oracle. Already, you perceive the elders
both of Moab and of Midian are setting out, to pray the
son of Beor to return with them, and, in the name of
Israel's God, pronounce the curse on Israel ! In Balak's
mind there was no shadow of a doubt whether such
power indeed belonged to this great soothsayer. His
heathen superstition leads him to believe, not that the
seer shall declare what God reveals to him, but rather,
that Jehovah shall accomplish what His servant says, —

250 Moses.
if need be, when the necessary incantations have been
gone about. The first attempt to gain Balaam fails, but
Balak is not one to be put off at once ; still more illustrious
messengers, and larger gifts, he thinks, must be enough
to bring the man of God into a better frame of mind. He
perseveres, until, at last, the man he so much wished
appears ; he goes to meet him at the frontier, showing all
courtesy and complaisance, and asks if men do not believe
that he can highly honour any one in whom he takes de
light. Even when Balaam hesitates, Balak does not, even
for an instant, stop. Now he conducts him first to one,
and then another height, in order that the prophet may
look out upon the widespread camp of Israel, in whole
or part, and from that eminence send down his curse,
like poisoned night-dews, on the myriads below. The king
is most exact in his observance of religious rites ; he dbes
not think it is too much to build seven altars, three times
over, as required. But the weightier matters of the law,
inscribed upon the rudest heathen consciences, — mercy,
and faith, and love, — are utterly unknown to him. The
ruling passion in the man is selfishness and self-will ; and
he will have his own way, though it cost him much. If
Balaam be unable to accomplish all that he desires, he
will be satisfied with something less ; if need be, he will
rest content provided that Balaam at least refrains from
blessing Israel. Only when it appears that each attempt
and each proposal is in vain, and that the prophet's words
come forth each moment much more fully and more
fervently in Israel's praise, does Balak's patience reach
an end. Love is transformed to hate, and courtliness to
coarseness ; no excuse will now avail ; and he who had
been honoured as more God than man, is soon driven
forth as if he were a vagabond, while there are flung at
him the railing words, ' I thought to promote thee to
great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from

The Cursing Prophet. 251
honour.' x Need we add anything to these words of the
Moabitish king, to show how clearly they exemplify the
seductive, wicked spirit of the world ? Surely, though
every other proof were wanting, Balaam now has found,
in serving Balak, what the world really is ; and the world
itself fully deserves to bear the name borne by that
king, — Balak, destroyer. At any rate, the relative position
of the world to the kingdom of God is substantially the
same as that of Moab and Midian to Israel, now drawing
near. The same enmity still remains in the world, in
manifold forms ; and it is the instinct of self-preservation
which incites the world and its followers to do their
utmost against the coming of God's kingdom among
them. When force would do no good, then they resort
to cunning, or to caution, that they may oppose the
progress of God's cause among them in so far as it is
possible ; and natural enemies, such as Midian and
Moab, frequently become sworn friends for a time, when
ever it appears expedient to combine against the one
whom both oppose. On every hand, the world looks out
for allies, servants, friends ; as Balak did to Balaam, she
promises to bestow on you her favours and her wealth,
if you but follow her behests, and make her will your
own. If you refuse, as he did at the first, the world will
not believe that you act but from principle, — rather, she
thinks that you regard self-interest ; but she will give you
large rewards when you but sell yourself to her. ' All
these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and
worship me :' so spake the Prince of this world to Jesus ;
and at every turn he modifies his voice, but still to say
the same thing, in the softest tone, to all Christ's
followers, — nay, even to every one of His redeemed.
What is it that you seek, insatiable heart, — honour, or
luxury, or gold ? All these, if need be, may be had for
' Num. xxiv. 11.

252 Moses.
almost nothing by the man whose conscience is not over
scrupulous. This Balak also, like a true destroyer, rests
not for an instant till he brings you where he will ; and if
the first attempt does not succeed, he makes a second,
and a third. The world knows very well, like Balak, how
to suit herself to circumstances when they change, and to
attract some friends from every side. Nay, she can even,
in her own time and way, be quite religious — that is,
from mere policy, and ill-concealed self-interest ; and if
you like, she shows all possible respect for — forms. But,
for your very life, ye who are striving for her praise
and her reward, venture not to show that you really will
obey God rather than any man ! The world, if need be,
will forgive you everything ; but this it cannot possibly
forgive, — that you most earnestly believe God's word,
and give obedience to what He requires. Scarce can you
show, like Balaam, that you hesitate, because the truth is
much too strong for you, ere favour from the world is
quite withdrawn ; your name appears no longer on the
list of friends, but is consigned to deep oblivion ; and
all the more dishonour falls on you, the greater was the
honour meant for you at first. You are a most un
pleasant, useless man, and quite intractable ; like Balaam,
you are roughly pushed aside, arid told, ' The Lord hath
kept thee back from honour ; ' and then the world, instead
of her intended laurel-wreath, presents you with a crown
of thorns. Her love, it now appears, was nothing but fine
show, — her flattery, deceit. To such a world — so selfish,
false, malicious, just like Balak — should you make your
heart a slave ? And you especially, young men, should
you not rather have in readiness, for her seductive tones,
the proud reply which Balaam first gave Balak : ' If Balak
would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot
go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or

The Cursing Prophet. 253
more ' ? * Oh, had he but kept firm to that reply, how
much less tarnished would have been his name, how
much more calm his conscience ! Ye who, like him, are
much exposed to snares, see that ye profit by his loss!
Hear what Balaam the son of Beor says : ' All that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of
the world.' 2
Beloved, surely the world has not the first place in
your heart ? 2.
How sad, if it were so ! But, as you see, Balaam's
history gives, secondly, a deep insight into the slavery
of sin. ' Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of
sin.' 3 If ever the truth of these words was confirmed
in a touching manner, it is in the man whose history
now lies before us. He is, indeed, far from a monster
specimen of immorality, such as is sometimes, though
but rarely found. According to the light of these old
times, he certainly knows God in some degree ; he has
some reverence, too, for God,— some fear, even, of dis
pleasing God. At least, he quite declines to go to Balak
when the first request was sent, until he has asked
counsel at the Lord ; and when the Lord decidedly
forbade his going, then the messengers return, their
mission unfulfilled. 'A promising beginning,' you
would say : alas, we soon perceive in Balaam what virtue
is in the natural man ! Strong selfishness is seen to be
the motive principle of even his life, both inwardly and
outwardly ; a selfishness which showed itself, on one
side, in a childish vanity, and on the other, in insatiable
avarice. There is, in the whole character of Balaam,
1 Num. xxii. 18. 2 I John ii. 16. 3 John viii. 34.

254 Moses.
even looked at in most favourable moments, an element
of insincerity, duplicity, false policy, that calls less for
compassion than contempt. Even at the first, when
Balak sent the messengers, he tells the truth, indeed, but
only half the truth ; he says, indeed, that God has quite
forbidden him to go, but not that God has utterly
forbidden him to curse. Thus he himself holds out
encouragement for a second invitation ; and when it
actually comes, it is accepted with the secret fear that
he shall not be able to accomplish everything that is
desired, but specially with the earnest wish that he may
earn the proffered reward, which glitters now before his
eyes. You see he is under the dominion of sin, and at
the same time so blinded and hardened, that he remains
insensible to the most powerful appeals. Think for a
moment of the mysterious meeting that took place on
his journey : opinions vary on the point, but this is plain
enough, — that the Lord Himself meets him upon the
way, to make him feel the terror of His wrath. It speedily
appears, that the permission given to gratify his evil wish
was not unbounded liberty, but rather was a test, a
judgment, and a punishment. He hears himself up
braided by an irrational animal for stubbornness of heart ;
and when God opens his eyes, he sees the Angel of the
Lord with drawn sword in his hand, as if to bar the way
against him in his fatal, foolish course ; just as upon the
narrow mountain-path which he descends, he finds him
self impeded in this course, upon the right and left, so
that he scarce can turn in any way. Will not Balaam
now, think you, alarmed by such disturbing signs, consider
for a moment longer, ere he enters on a struggle with
the Lord and His own people ? Ah, the sleep of sin
will not be broken even by a miracle, when once the
stubborn will is fixedly directed to its evil end ! Balaam's
head, indeed, bows down in presence of the angel who

The Cursing Prophet. 255
appears, but his heart of stone remains unbroken still.
His mouth in stammering tones says, ' I have sinned,' and
he declares himself quite ready to return ; but still his
heart's desire is ever to what was forbidden him before.
And while the beast that carried him winced under every
angry blow, the man himself remains inflexible under
the chastisement of God. He is so blind as not even to
perceive that the permission given him to go still farther
is not any benefit, but rather a judicial sentence passed
on him ; and that he ever cherishes the secret hope of
influencing the Unchangeable, so that He shall concede
his heart's wish, — that the people shall be cursed. And
finally, although he turns no longer to his sorceries (chap.
xxiv. 1), this is simply because he sees these are without
effect ; his heart remains as far as ever from the Lord.
If he does not fulfil what Balak wished, it is not that his
own desires are contrary, but that he has no power to do
anything at all. And to crown all, after he himself has
suffered the most shameful defeat, and proclaimed the
triumph of Israel, he is so little changed by all that has
occurred, that he secretly gives an abominable advice for
leading Israel astray, and lives and dies an enemy of God
and His people. When, shortly afterwards, you see him
lying slain upon the battle-field, do you not think upon
the words of truth, ' The wages of sin is death ' ? Yes ;
Balaam cries to you, ' Know and see that it is an evil
thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy
God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God
of hosts.' x Oh, how unutterably wretched does sin make
her slaves, — body and soul, for time and for eternity !
He who permits himself for once to be allured by her
seductive tones, soon finds, like Balaam, that it is indeed
no feeble influence, but rather a most dreadful potency,
which makes a man, first, her close ally, then her instru-
1 Jer. ii. 19.

256 Moses.
ment, and finally her sacrifice. The world still sets herself
to find the weak points in our hearts, as Balak sounded
Balaam, and endeavoured to make use of him in carrying
his point ; and even when there is not wanting much
that is both good and praiseworthy, one bosom sin is
quite enough, just as in Balaam's case, to ruin us. At
first, the conscience warns, as God forbade Balaam to
accept of Balak's invitation ; but woe unto the man
who learns from him the fatal secret how to sear that
conscience as with a hot iron ! The warning voice within
is silent soon, and we become the helpless prey of every
one who but attracts us with the wages of unrighteous
ness. We hear the admonitions given, but we understand
them not, — appeals, but we believe them not, — faint
thunder-sounds, presaging the approach of threatened
storms, but little do we, in our folly, pay regard to
these. Say not that it is quite incomprehensible how,
after such a terrible experience of the displeasure of a
holy God, Balaam could for a moment think of going on.
For such is every man who has once set aside the word
of God ; even though an angel should appear, or one
should rise up from the dead, he would refuse to hear
what was addressed to him. Sometimes, indeed, the
false confession will be uttered, ' I have sinned ; ' but
true contrition, an immediate turning from the path of
error which each one has chosen for himself, wOuld, we
need hardly say, require us to forsake the honour, and the
gain, and friendship of the world ; but it is here especially
that Balaam's nature shows itself! Approach, indeed, is
made to God by lip, but properly by lip alone. For sake
of gain, people would be and would do everything, —
would even be religious ; but unconditionally to present
one's real self upon God's altar, is too hard for flesh and
blood. The one bosom sin, be it that of Balaam or any
other, speaks louder far than any higher voice ; and very

The Cursing Prophet. 257
gladly would most men make a compromise when a
decided choice has to be made. To do the will of God,
but yet in such a way as not to spoil one's interest with
men like Balak, is the plan pursued by the servant of sin.
And even when, as here, the understanding thoroughly
perceives the hopelessness of any struggle which man may
commence with God, the heart will still refuse to make
surrender of itself to God. How very much of the eternal
truth we may, just like Balaam, perceive, bear witness to,
believe, while, inwardly, we have had no experience of
the emancipation by the truth ! And what a multitude
there is of peaceful dying-hours, which yet are quite as
void of real peace and hope as that of this great sorcerer in
Midian's camp ! It is quite possible to know God's will,
and yet not do that will : how frequently do men give ear
to messages from heaven, and yet pursue the road to hell !
Listen to what Balaam the son of Beor says. ' The heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ! '
Beloved, are you still the slaves of sin, or are you now
the freedmen of the Lord ? 3.
If you are still, in secret, slaves to sin, well may this
give you deep concern. Balaam appears before us,
thirdly, as a witness of God's glory. In one of the
Psalms, there occurs a passage which is confirmed and
explained in the most striking manner by this very
history. ' With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure ;
and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.'1
In other words, God often puts Himself in the same
attitude towards men as that in which men place them
selves to Him. If you are true, the true God comes
towards you as a friend ; if you are false and faithless,
1 Ps. xviii. 26.
R

258 Moses.
He but hides His face from you, even while you seem to
seek Him earnestly; and in just judgment He but gives
you up to your own folly and unrighteousness. So was
it with Balaam here ; so was it both before and after
wards with many who, like him, preferred men's honour
to the praise of God. When Balaam honestly begins to
ask, God simply answers, ' Do not go ; and specially, do
not curse Israel, for they are blessed.' But when Balaam
shows that, notwithstanding this, he burns with an unholy
desire to gratify the wish of Balak, God modifies, to some
extent, the strong restraint He had imposed upon this
wicked man, and says, 'Depart' Not that the Lord
has changed His mind, for Balaam may not go to curse,
though this was the sole aim he had in view ; he may
speak nothing but what God puts on his lips ; he cer
tainly can go, but only to find out, in this way, that he
has no power against the Lord. God in his anger grants
him his request, as when a father lets incorrigible children
have their way, though less in favour than in wrath ; but
when the sorcerer begins to do according to his heart's
desire, mark that he can do nothing but what God's hand
and His counsel have before determined to be done.
He still retains his liberty, responsibility, and guilt ; he
cannot say that he goes down into perdition without
warning, but only that he was unwilling to be saved.
God even intervenes by miracle to bring him to regard
his sins ; the inward monitor no longer speaks, — one of
the lower animals assumes its place ; Balaam's pride is
deeply humbled on discovering that the great gift, on
which he plumed himself so much, can be bestowed on
even a brute, — nay, more, that this same beast which
carries him, for once has seen much more than he. But
while the Lord thus shows His mighty power, and His
unceasing efforts to prevent the sinner in his down
ward course, He likewise shows Himself longsuffering !

The Cursing Prophet. 259
Balaam is not slain by the angel's sword, though he is
shown that he has forfeited his life ; God lengthens out
His time of grace, and still prepares new revelations of
His glory, hoping that these may be of more effect than
former ones. On those unholy lips He puts the language
of true prophecy ; and, even before these eyes, He shows
His glory as the Covenant-God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Balaam is not let go till it is shown that he has
chosen for himself no blessing, but the curse which he
could not bring down on Israel, and that he is determined
to remain an enemy of that true God who but employs
him as His instrument. But whatever fiendish pleasure
this black wretch may now derive, when, through the
counsel he had given, the Israelites bring on themselves
the curse of God, at least he shall not have the satis
faction of frustrating God's design. God rather shows
Himself, all through this wondrous history, the only and
the ever Faithful One, — faithful not only in His promises,
but in His threatenings, — faithful in all that has been laid
down in His counsels of eternity ; and what else could
these counsels be but the salvation of His chosen Israel ?
Do not your thoughts anticipate my words in noticing
that, in the main, God still pursues the selfsame plan
with many here, who love and follow sin, as He did with
Balaam ? Never did He permit you to remain groping
in darkness, when you truly sought to understand His
will. The voice of conscience, calls of Providence, and
words of Scripture have, by turns, striven, as it were, to
call to you more loudly than the others, in God's name,
' This is the way ; walk ye in it ! ' But have you not had
quite as little inclination as Balaam to forsake your sin
ful lusts? And thus the Holy One, to whom you showed
so little gratitude, has gradually given you up to the
perversity of your own heart. Yet it is not as if God
thus gave up all further efforts in the way of warning you :

260 Moses.
these He continues to put forth far longer than you ever
could expect, — yea, longer than you are yourself dis
posed to grant. No longer are there miracles performed
to intimate to the ungodly man that it shall not fare well
with him, and that he shall but eat the fruit of what he
sowed. But heaven and earth, the dead and those who
live, nature and grace, appear as if they now and then
combined in earnest supplication to exclaim, 'Stop,
sinner, stop ! ' Who has not sometime, like Balaam,
come face to face with God, upon the path of sin, when
He made known His terrors and His threatenings ?
And what man dares affirm that there has been too
little effort made to lead him from the broad way to
the narrow path of life ? Nay, more ; Balaam's brief
experience is, in a certain sense, as nothing when com
pared with that long labour of love which God in Christ
has most unweariedly bestowed upon us, that we might
be saved. Nay, God has no delight in any sinner's death,
but spares when He could smite ; nor does He ever suffer
us to hold on in the way to death, without affording us a
last, loud warning, that not seldom comes on us as if it
were an angel's sword piercing our very bones. Blessed,
thrice blessed he who, with a more unfeigned humility
than that of Balaam, can acknowledge, ' I have sinned,'
and who does not grow hard in sin, but lets himself be
led. Soon shall he learn, with deep astonishment, that
God's good angels round encircle him in all his ways ;
and that far more is to be gained in serving Him, than
the disgraceful pittance offered by the Balak-hand of a
vain world. But if, like Balaam, you still kick against
the pricks, the time is drawing nigh when you, like him,
shall be cast from the presence of the God of everlasting
righteousness, and given over to that death which you
so obstinately choose before the life now offered you.
Yet think not, O vain man, that thou shalt have more

The Cursing Prophet. 261
success than Balaam in attempting to frustrate God's
purpose, and make evil triumph over good. This is
the curse of every evil deed, ¦ — ¦ and Balaam's history
confirms the truth, — that it must ever be productive of
fresh ills ; and no less is it true, that wicked men have
no power to prevent the God of boundless goodness in
the execution of His plan ; and either now or afterwards,
it will appear that there has been but one link wanting
in the chain of plans sketched out by Him whom we
opposed. God's word and truth are glorified in the
destruction of the impenitent, as well as in the saving
of the penitent. And like this history, the gospel, men's
experience, and our own life, all represent Him as long-
suffering, even to the greatest sinners, but inexorably
rigorous, and strictly faithful to His word ! But is it
possible for any sinner to grow hardened towards such
a God, and yet have lasting peace ? Hear what Balaam
the son of Beor saith: 'God is not a man that He should
lie, neither the son of man that He should repent : hath
He said, and shall He not do it ? or hath He spoken,
and shall He not make it good ? ' 1
Beloved, is this God even now your rock, your portion
for eternity ? 4.
A most important question, and well calculated to
rouse any one to earnest thoughtfulness ! We scarce need
say that it depends on this alone whether we also may
apply to our own case the comfort brought from God,
through Balaam, to the true servants of the Lord. The
fourth point here presented to our minds is, the happiness
of the redeemed. The Israelites are set before you here as
the redeemed of God, threatened, although they did not
1 Num. xxiii. 19.

262 Moses.
know it, with the danger of a prophet's curse. Imagine
what a sight that camp must have presented at this
juncture in the nation's history ! There lies the chosen
nation, at the foot of Pisgah and of Peor, like a vast
flock covering a wide extent of wilderness, but ever
under the Good Shepherd's care. The camp forms an
immense square ; each corner is occupied by three tribes,
every one of which may be distinguished by the banner
flying over it, though, chief among the whole, the lion of
the tribe of Judah meets the eye. In midst of all there
stands the Tabernacle of witness, and over it the cloudy
pillar rests in stately majesty : thousands rejoice in hope
that soon their feet shall tread the Promised Land. Who
are they standing on yon lonely rock, with evil eye, and
looking down upon that host, like some fierce birds of
prey viewing their victims in unconscious sleep ? 'Tis
Balak, who expects far more from cursing than from
mighty hosts ; it is Balaam, who, for the sake of gold,
is ready to do anything, even what may bring destruc
tion upon Israel. The children of Moab and Midian be
upon you, Israel ! — but nay, He that keeps Israel neither
slumbers nor sleeps. Already there ascends the flame of
sacrifice, and, near at hand, the prophet who was brought
to curse beseeches God to hear his prayer ; his mouth
he opens to give utterance to what would quite please
Balak, — but, O son of Beor, what is this ? The stream
of prophecy flows forth, indeed, but all that he can utter
is pure blessing for this Israel. In -spite of his own wish,
in the most glorious words of prophecy he celebrates the
fame, the origin, the multitude, the blessedness of Israel.
Now he exclaims (chap, xxiii. 8, 9) : ' How shall I curse,
whom God hath not cursed ? or how shall I defy, whom
the Lord hath not defied ? Who can count the dust of
Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel ? '
And then (ver. 20) : ' Behold, I have received command-

The Cursing Prophet. 263
ment to bless ; and He hath blessed, and I cannot reverse
it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath
He seen perverseness in Israel ; the Lord his God is with
him, and the shout of a king is among them.' And
finally (chap. xxiv. 5) : ' How goodly are thy tents, O
Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel ! ' — But why should
we deprive you of the pleasure to be gained in reading
this yourself? Take up his God -given words before
you, like so many diamonds of brightest lustre joined
together in a string, and mark how he — not willingly,
but just because he must — pronounces blessing after
blessing upon Israel; say, too, whether his prophecy
has not been gloriously fulfilled ? Well might a better
prophet than Balaam declare of God's own Israel, ' No
weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.'1 And
again, another prophet says : ' I will be as the dew unto
Israel ; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots
as Lebanon.' 2 If the son of Beor could rise from the
grave, do you not think that he would be beyond measure
astonished at finding this same posterity of Abraham
still scattered through the world, more numerous now
than in his days, in spite of centuries of persecutions
quite unparalleled, and with regard to whom a monarch
of last century,3 even though an unbeliever, was con
strained to say, ' History has taught me that this nation
can never be oppressed, without the oppression returning
sooner or later on the oppressor.' Yea, 'Happy art thou,
O Israel : who is like unto thee, O people saved by the
Lord ? ' 4 But do not these words apply also to you and
me, if we by faith belong to God's peculiar people ? Surely
this is self-evident : what Balaam says of Israel applies
most fully to the company of the redeemed, whom God's
own Son has purchased for Himself by His own blood.
1 Isa. liv. 17. 2 Hos. xiv. 6.
3 Frederick the Great. * Deut. xxxiii. 29.

264 Moses.
If you have let this Lord conduct you from the deep, hard
slavery of sin, you are entitled to receive more benefits
than even Balaam praised ; you have a right to God's
spiritual and eternal blessings in the Son of His love.
The people of the Lord still dwell, like Israel, in
a certain sense, alone, though scattered everywhere
throughout the world ; nor do they mingle with a single
family besides. But still the words hold true regarding
them (Num. xxiv. 6), ' As the valleys are they spread
forth, as gardens by the river's side.' Yea, verily ; life,
joy, and fruitfulness become the share of all who are in
truth the children of the Lord ; and as the cedar, men
tioned also by Balaam, still flourishes even in the driest
season, while its wood is not exposed to ravages from
the devouring worm, so does the Christian carry in him
self the principle of a far higher, an undying life. No
marvel, for he is accepted as God's son and heir ; and
now it may be said of him too, as of Israel, that God
' does not regard his sins.' Ye friends of God, say
whether there is not with you, too, 'heard the shout
of your king,' as soon as the sweet gospel sound brings
God's consoling words ; say, too, if, though but weak
yourselves, you cannot frequently exult in God's great
might, 'as a unicorn, as a young lion.' And ye, the
world of unbelief, say not, for your own sakes, how
frequently you have unwittingly betrayed yourself, like
Balaam, when you sighed and wished you were as happy
as the Lord's redeemed ! Who shall count the multi
tudes, more numerous than Israel, that, scattered every
where throughout the world, stand up to testify that
verily there is prosperity within the dwellings of the
righteous ? And who shall tell in what a multiplicity of
ways Israel's experience has shown that God has not
allowed our enemies to curse, — or if they did, the curse
became a blessing from the Lord ? This is assuredly

The Cursing Prophet. 265
one of the most astonishing and yet most gladdening
experiences of every spiritual life, — that God continually
makes even an evil purpose, formed against us by our
fellow-men, work for our good. David may count, among
the men who did him good, not merely such as kind Bar-
zillai, but also Shimei with all the curses he pronounced ;
and many servants of the Lord have greater cause to
thank their enemies for their reproach, than friends who
gave them flattery. And when our spiritual enemies
make us give heed to some weak point in our defence ;
when they inflict, again, upon the soul, a wound whose
pain makes us more loose to earth and ripens us for
heaven ; and when, once more, by their own wickedness,
they bring us to self-knowledge, to humility, to greater
watchfulness,: — what else are they than Balaams, come
to curse, but through whom God designs to bless ? It
would be endless work did we but seek to show you
even the leading instances in which the evil plans of
enemies and their attacks have been transformed to
blessings for the Church by her great Lord. And some
thing we may leave for your own thoughts ; but we must
specially entreat you to fill up, as much as possible, what
has been said by instances connected with your own ex
perience. Well may we now leave you yourselves to say,
whether you know of any happiness to be compared with
that of the true Israel, to which each follower of Christ
belongs ; well may we ask, too, if you are astonished that
a subject of God's kingdom will not sell his rights for
even a hundred royal crowns. Give ear ! Balaam the
son of Beor speaks : ' Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord, and the people whom He hath chosen for His
own inheritance ! ' 1
Beloved, do you envy or commiserate the man who is
a subject of this King ?
1 Ps. xxxiii. 12.

266 Moses.

5.

But Balaam has not yet directed his last words to us.
Four times has he addressed himself to Balak, but the
fifth time to a gathering of Christians. How could we
turn away from him, without at least attending to his
words about the glory of the latter days f It is another
glance he gives us at the close of history. In mute
astonishment, Balak must listen while the mercenary
prophet first extols the brilliant past of Israel, and then
their present blessed state : is there no single word, not
even a syllable of imprecation to be heard ? At last,
when all advice has no effect, when Balak's patience
finds its end, he sends the sorcerer away — of course with
empty hands. But ' Come now,' says Balaam, still plainly
guided by a power which he feels irresistible (chap. xxiv.
14), ' and I will advertise thee what this people shall do
to, thy people in the latter days.' And now an unseen
hand lifts up the curtain of the distant future for that
bloated countenance. ' I shall see Him,' — he exclaims
(ver. 17), as if with outstretched finger, and with head
bent forward to behold, — ' I shall see Him, but not now ;
I shall behold Him, but not nigh : there shall come a Star
out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall arise out of Israel, and
shall smite the corners of Moab, and ' (as we must render
it) ' destroy all the children of tumult ! ' I shall say
nothing of what he has further uttered with regard to
the Amalekites and the Assyrians, the Kenites and the
Kittites ; and of what, in the opinion of the chief exposi
tors, concerns the history of ages then remote. With
you, I look upon the charming lustre which he sees
thrown round the house of Israel ; and I but ask, — Does
that to which the Spirit of prophecy now specially directs
your thoughts appear to be an enigma ? The Star and
Sceptre, as you know, are, in symbolic Scripture language,

The Cursing Prophet. 267
signs of royalty ; and this prediction has been strikingly
fulfilled by the Davidic monarchy ; for then, more than
at any other time, the powe,r of Moab was restrained.
But should we rest content with viewing this, and not
rise higher to that one and only King, through whom the
royal crown of David has obtained the lustre of eternity ?
We do not here decide whether and in how far Balaam,
in his ecstatic state, foresaw the advent of that Great
Deliverer Himself. But does it not deserve remark, that
when the wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, it
was a star that guided them to Christ, then newly born ;
that, in the second century, a false Messiah took the
name ' Bar-Cochba,' i.e. Son of the Star; that most re
nowned expositors, Jewish as well as Christian, have
both found, in these words, more or less direct reference
to Him who calls Himself ' the root and the offspring of
David, the bright and morning star ' ? x Nay, verily,
son of Beor, thou art by no means least among the
heralds of the New Economy who lived while yet the Old
prevailed ! Thou, too, hast, in thy way, borne witness to
this King of Heaven, who, raised to sit at God's right
hand, extends the sceptre of His power over the world,
and will not rest till He has utterly deprived 'the
sons of tumult ' of the weapons which they bear. But
how, then, shall our lips declare, in measure adequate,
the glory of a King concerning whom even this unholy
mouth speaks with such evident regard, although his
thoughts are both obscure and intricate ? Balaam's
prophecy becomes an intimation of Christ's advent to
this earth,2 and the annunciation rises to the joyful
strains, ' Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; for behold,
thy King cometh unto thee ! ' Blessed are we, who see
the day of great deliverance, long looked for by the
prophets and the kings of old ; and who have much more
1 Rev. xxii. 16. 2 This sermon was preached Dec. 12, 1858.

268 Moses.
cause than they for boasting of the spiritual influences
of the mercy of our God, with which ' the day-spring
from on high hath visited us ! ' We do bless Him who
came to show Himself to those who ' sat in darkness and
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
peace.' 1 No princely sceptre ever has been stretched out
half so tenderly as this great sceptre out of Israel. No
star in morning or in evening sky has ever beamed so
softly upon men as does the Star that rose out of Jacob.
To him who wanders in the darkest night, that Star fails
not to show the safest path ; even towards weeping eyes,
it shines with comforting and friendly light ; over the
dust of our departed ones, it still sheds its own unclouded
brilliancy. What a Balaam then scarce saw from afar,
is now beheld by millions in the clearest light ; and with
the tones of praise and joyfulness, ' God's kingdom
comes,' there is combined the prayer of hope, ' Come
quickly, Lord.' But these prophetic words as yet are
but in part fulfilled, and multitudes of wandering stars
distract the eyes from God's fair heavenly light. For,
are there not full many eyes that never yet have looked
upon this Star of Jacob ? are there not many children of
sedition, who refuse to kneel before the Sceptre out of
Israel ? This age, indeed, in which we live, is bringing
the fulfilment of these prophecies ; but this, too, is the
later advent-time, — the time of preparation for the Lord's
return. That dark presentiment of ruin close at hand,
which then stirred Midian and Moab to spasmodic efforts
against Israel, is rising by degrees again within the
world still out of Christ ; and on the mountain-tops of
faith, all Christians may once more behold the vision of
this seer with its enigmas. Yes ; ' I behold Him, — but
not now ; I see Him, — but not nigh ; a Star, arising out
of Jacob, shall in brightness far surpass all other princely
1 Luke i. 79.

The Cursing Prophet. 269
stars ; and the Sceptre out of Israel shall compel all the
rebellious ones to yield ! ' Give ear and hear ! Balaam
the son of Beor speaks : ' Behold, He cometh quickly,
and His reward is with Him, to give to every man
according as his work shall be ! ' x
Beloved, shall that day be for you a day of glory, or
a day of fear ?
The mercenary prophet has reminded us of many
precious truths ; but all the questions that have been
suggested by what we have been considering may be
reduced to this one, — What have you to say about your
self? Nay, do not be so proud as to refuse comparison
with Beor's son. It is remarkable, how even in the New
Testament, believers have been warned against the ways
and doctrines of Balaam ; and he who is acquainted with
the little world within himself, knows that, though names
are changed, there is no change of principles. Again,
Balaam seems to me to be the type of those who speak
the truth, yet are not of the truth, — who know about the
Lord, yet do not know Him in the proper sense, — in
whom most brilliant talents are combined with glaring
sins, — whose understanding was enlightened at the first,
but who remain still unrenewed in heart. And does not
every Balak on this earth find his Balaam ? does not his
great ambition, too, and thirst for gold, hold an important
place within your social and domestic life, — yes, and your
hidden life with God ? Nay, are not many who profess
their faith in Christ still far behind the man who showed
himself, at least at first, disposed to understand and to
obey the will of God ? Do not the flesh and the spirit
stand as irreconcilably opposed, each to the other, even in
the Christian, as Balak did to Israel ? and is there not a
multitude of features still remaining on the face of the
new man, which involuntarily remind us of the old
1 Rev. xxii. 12.

270 Moses.
Balaam ? Whoever you may be, do not descend from
yonder height, ere you have solemnly considered with
yourself how near God's kingdom we may seem to be,
and yet be truly far away ; how much we may do for the
Lord, and yet not serve Him in sincerity ; and specially,
how great a power of grace is needed to regenerate our
hearts, with their deceitfulness and their unfaithfulness !
Awake, ye sleepers ! And ye who are now awake, pray
that ye may be taught to know yourselves, not merely
superficially, but in the full light of God's holiness. And
follow Balaam in this one respect at least, — that his
desire and prayer may be truly yours : ' Let me die the
death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his ! '
Does your heart also say ' Amen ' to such a prayer as
this ? Well shall it be for you when He, who des'ireth
truth in the inward parts, hears it arise within your soul.
But let not any one forget these things : that we may
die with righteous men, we must have lived as righteous
men ; that we may live as righteous ones, we must have
first approached the Lord with the unfeigned confession
of unrighteousness and guilt. Oh, come, come all to Him,
who willingly took on Himself the greatest curse, that
He might bring His blessing upon you ; and let His
Spirit henceforth lead you on the path of truth and
righteousness ! Why should you listen to the world,
which vainly promises to honour you, but shows that it
will rather send disgrace ? Give ear ! Balaam the son
of Beor speaks : — But no ! His must not be the last
words we shall hear to-day. Thus saith the First and
the Last, the faithful and true Witness : ' Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death ! '
Amen.

CHAPTER X.
tEije Expectation of Salbation.
' The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me : unto Him shall ye hearken.' —
Deut. xviii. 15.
' What is truth ? ' Is there a single question that has
been so long, and with such frequency, reiterated on all
sides, by men of the most different opinions, than that
well-known question asked by Pilate? But you know
full well yourselves, that wheresoever we direct our ears,
we find the question is re-echoed constantly from minds
the most diverse in all respects. ' What is truth ? ' asks
the light-headed youth in his frivolity, with heart devoid
of sympathy for aught but pleasures of the sense ; and,
borne along himself by mere deceptive, outward show,
he scarce can understand how any man still tries to get
at the reality. ' What is truth ? ' asks the philosopher
again, as he unfolds, to their full breadth, the wings of
reason, so that he may rise above the clouds of error,
while he thankfully receives the rays of light that let
him see the path of safety which he must pursue.
' What is truth ? ' the sceptic silently sighs forth : he
calls in question the reality of truth, — at least deems its
attainment quite impossible for man ; the search for this
great treasure he regards almost as vain and foolish as
the fruitless efforts to discover the philosopher's stone.
'What is truth?' the Christian in his return repeats,

2

272 Moses.
seeking, amid the conflict of opinions, to attain firm
anchor-ground ; and, not content with simple repeti
tion of what others have affirmed before, he seeks to
give an independent reason for his holy faith. And will
it really be needful to maintain the right to ask a ques
tion having for its object nothing less than this, — the
satisfaction of the primary requirements of our minds ?
I am indeed aware that the question frequently betrays
a sad disinclination to receive the word which God Him
self has given us men ; and that it is not he who blindly
gropes about in deep uncertainty, but he who thankfully
can say he has both seen and found, that is the true dis
ciple of the Christ. Nevertheless, this very Christ has
well declared, ' Every one who is of the truth heareth
my voice ; ' a and there is no more profitable business to
engage in than that which Solomon has recommended
in his well-known words, ' Buy the truth and sell it not'
He who refuses to expend a single farthing that he may
obtain this treasure, forfeits every right and title to receive
the name of man ; for man can only seek for, or dispute the
truth, — he cannot live deprived of it. Doubt as regards
the truth from God brings darkness on our souls, dis
traction to our minds, and takes all comfort from our
life and death. A firm conviction, on the other hand,
though frequently the issue of an inward strife, pro
duces in its turn a comforting tranquillity ; and even
the heavenly King could not give promise to His sub
jects of a higher bliss than what is pointed out in His
sententious words, ' Ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.'3 But where shall we dis
cover this fair child of heaven ? and how shall we be
kept from foolishly imagining that our own castle-in-
the-air is really the temple of the truth ? Oh that we all
sought this, — sought it with all the earnestness and deep
1 John xviii. 37. 2 Prov. xxiii. 23. 3 John viii. 32.

The Expectation of Salvation. 273
concern of those who prize the truth above all else
besides ! Then would it be to you a joyful message
which we now proclaim as God's ambassador : the
promise comes to you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, — even this, ' The Lord thy God shall
raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him shall ye hearken.'
We have already set before you, under various lights,
the remarkable man to whom we owe these remark
able words. But the more we look at him, so much
more naturally does the question force itself on every
thoughtful mind : in what relation stood the greatest
man of God, under the Old Economy, to what is now
found in the New ? Had Moses less of privilege than
the patriarchs preceding him, and the whole host of
God's ambassadors succeeding him, who were permitted
to behold, in clearer light, the day of our salvation, now
begun ? Has he himself not given his contribution to
that glad expectancy, continued through so many cen
turies, of a Messiah, the Deliverer, — this Prophet with
regard to whom the Lord declared to unbelieving Jews,
that even Moses would accuse them to the Father, inas
much as he, too, wrote of Him ? x Has he done no more
than preserve for us the first links of that chain, not
even adding to its length a single link himself ? and is it
true that, while, in many ways, he shadows forth the
Christ, he cannot properly be called a witness and a
herald of the King ? If we were forced to be content
without an answer to such inquiries, our knowledge of
the highly-privileged man of God would be deficient on
a most essential point. But, if we mistake not, the
words of the text supply the want ; and gladly do we
seize the opportunity of bringing to the light of truth
this side of one who is so worthy of our reverence.
1 John v. 45, 46.
S

274 Moses.
Eight days ago, Balaam led our thoughts far past
Mosaic times, — to-day, we are concerned with Moses'
own ideas of the great deliverance to which he still
looked forward : then, we were pointed by Balaam to
the Star that would arise from Jacob, — now, the mouth
of Moses will describe the Prophet to arise among His
brethren.1 Were it still necessary to make some considerable
effort by way of arousing your attention, there would
now be less need than ever to search for suitable induce
ments. The words of the text are of importance for the
right understanding of Moses himself; because, as will
soon appear, they point us to a remarkable incident in
the history of his secret intercourse with God. Still
more important are they in reference to this day of rest,
when we are summoned in a special manner to renew
our common confession, before we celebrate the ap
proaching sacrament of the Lord's Supper, — a confession
of which the great centre is here pointed out to us in
a manner as natural as it is appropriate. But most
important are the words in view of the approaching
Christmas-tide, which soon will call us joyfully to hail
the saving grace of God in Christ, that hath appeared
unto all men.2 What better can we do, on the last
Sunday in Advent, than once more place ourselves, in
thought, back in those ever memorable times, when,
though the dawn of prophecy already was beginning to
light up the darkened heavens, the Sun of Righteousness
Himself still lingered far below the great horizon of the
spiritual world ? Let Moses, then, even more distinctly
now than ever previously, fulfil his high and sacred
calling in conducting us to Christ ! And when, to-day,
we speak together of his looking forward to redemption
times, we shall, at once, pay due regard to Moses himself,
1 This sermon was preached Dec. 19, 1858. 2 Tit. ii. 11.

The Expectation of Salvation. 275
to the confession proper to the present time, and to our
preparation for the Christmas-tide. The threefold task
to which we now address ourselves is, — to point out to
you the grandeur of this expectation ; to show that
these high expectations have now been fulfilled ; to
show what is required of those who cherish hopes like
these. To state the matter more succinctly and with
more precision, in the text we find abundance of material
to speak about (1) the grandest hope of all antiquity ; (2)
the greatest Witness to the truth ; (3) the holy calling of
our Christianity.
O holy Father ! sanctify us through Thy truth ; Thy
word is truth. Lord of the Church ! reveal Thyself to us
also, as the way, the truth, and the life. Spirit of grace !
open our ear and our heart, that we may hear the voice
of him who cries, ' Prepare ye . the way of the Lord,
make His path straight ! ' Amen.
1.
The grandest hope of antiquity ! Could the sublime
object of that hope have ever been proclaimed by more
venerable lips, and before a more numerous audience,
than in the words of the text ? No ; certainly there
never has been so impressive a farewell address de
livered, as that which is contained in the greater part of
Deuteronomy. The speaker is an aged man, whose
venerable head is covered with the snowy white of
nearly sixscore years, but whose voice is still both loud
and clear enough to make itself be heard far off. The
audience is a people now redeemed : rulers, heads and
members of families, in thousands and ten thousands,
crowd around the spot from which the prophet of the
Lord addresses them. The sanctuary where they are
assembled is creation's mighty temple, bounded on the

276 Moses.
one side by the wilderness which they quitted only
recently, and on the other by the stream which they
were soon to cross. And the address itself is nothing
less than the last lessons, reminders of past events, ex
hortations, and promises, uttered by lips which, ere a
few months shall have passed, will be silent in the dust.
We can well understand that an address like this, de
livered under circumstances such as these, must have
had an immense effect, even on the hardest hearts ; and
that Moses made a special effort to inscribe the words
of the Lord, not on stone tables as before, but on the
fleshly tables of many hearts. In the context, he shows
himself most earnest in giving express warning against
the seductions of false prophets. The people were for
bidden, under any circumstances, to betake themselves
to sorcerers (see ver. 10 ff.), as heathen nations did ; nor
was there any need of this to those who had received the
light of special revelation from above. The Lord Himself
would never let them want His counsel and His aid ; for,
' a Prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up unto thee of
thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him shall ye hearken.'
We are not inclined to deny that Moses here promises,
in time to come, a continuous revelation by prophecy ;
and that the whole series of prophets who appeared and
spake, one after the other, in the name of Jehovah, may
thus be regarded as an initial fulfilment of this predic
tion. So also (vers. 20-22) there is a general reference
to the false prophet who should speak in his own name,
and to the well-merited punishment which awaited him.
But, making allowance for all this, it is absolutely im
possible to miss seeing Christ Himself in these words ;
nay, we consider that this more general, explanation,
which is comparatively true, leads to a decidfed-entruth,
when we fail to regard Him who is no less than the
glorious and indispensable Leader of the venerable com-

The Expectation of Salvation. 277
pany of the prophets. Though these words have already
received partial fulfilment in the messengers of God who
followed Moses, and concerning whom, moreover, one of
the sacred writers1 declares that it was the Spirit of
Christ which bare witness in them before He appeared,
we have no hesitation in advancing a step farther. For
who is so worthy of being called the Prophet, in the
fullest extent of the word, as He who has fully made
known to us the Father's will and counsel for our salva
tion ? Does not the sacred writer expressly declare, at
the end of this same book, that ' there arose not a pro
phet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face ' ? 2 And do not the greatest of the
prophets, as if they wished to refuse honour which they
did not deserve, most constantly and emphatically speak
of one perfect Servant of the Lord, for whose doctrine
the islands were to wait, and to whose voice the nations
were to listen ? It is in this sense that the words of
the text have been understood by the best Jewish and
Christian expositors of all ages, and doubtless also by
the contemporaries of the Lord. Witness the Samaritan
woman, who held only to the books of Moses, and yet
could say, ' I know that when the Christ cometh, He
shall (as Prophet) tell us all things.' Witness a Philip,
who declared he had found Him of whom Moses had
written in the law ; and the multitudes who repeatedly
hailed the Lord as the Prophet who was to come into
the world. In like manner is this divine utterance ex
plained by His first apostles,— notably by Stephen and
Peter ; and He Himself repeatedly appeals to Moses as
a witness to His Messianic destiny. Nay, the Father
Himself, as if desirous of putting an end to all contro
versy, caused the words to be heard from the excellent
glory, as a distinct echo to these promises, ' This is my
1 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. 2 Deut. xxxiv. 10.

278 Moses.
beloved Son ; hear ye Him ! ' If any one, in the face of
such testimonies, still denies all reference in this predic
tion to the person of the Lord, verily, we have as little
desire of having a spirit like his as inclination to tread
in his uncertain footsteps.
You see how clearly He is set before us in these
words. ' A prophet,' — a favourite and confidant of God,
who stands higher, sees farther, and can speak more posi
tively than all other men ; and who, being initiated into
God's adorable designs regarding this world, reveals the
secrets of the future when it pleases Him who has com
missioned him ! ' A prophet out of the midst of his
brethren,' — bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh,
and thus connected with the house of Jacob by the most
sacred ties ! A prophet ' like Moses,' — that is, not one
who should in no respect surpass Moses, but one who, like
Moses, should occupy a position peculiarly his own, —
who should stand far above all prophets, and be thus, no
less than he, thoroughly fitted for the grand and noble
task awaiting Him ! Yet, anything higher than Moses,
the Israelite of those days could not conceive possible on
earth ; Moses was, and remained for Him, no less than
the visible interpreter and representative of the invisible
Deity. Had not Jehovah Himself assigned to Moses
such an exceptional rank above all other prophets ?
Just hear His own words, addressed to Aaron and his
sister Miriam on that memorable occasion when they
showed themselves so contentious : ' If there be a prophet
among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him
in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My
servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently
and not in dark speeches ; and the similitude of the Lord
shall he behold.' x And now, do you ask on what ground
1 Num. xii. 6-8.

The Expectation of Salvation. 279
this man of God could promise to the children of his
people, with such positive certainty, such a Prophet,—
no less than Moses, a benefactor, protector, and inter
cessor of the people, — for all that is contained, directly
or indirectly, in this title, in this connection? The
immediately succeeding context affords a reply to that
question, as astonishing as it is sufficient, and informs us
of the origin of this his grandest hope. Nay, the servant
of God here speaks less than ever of himself ; he merely
repeats what had been announced to him, on an ever-
memorable occasion, by the God who sent him. Well-
nigh forty years have passed since the nation, trembling,
stood near Horeb with its summit wrapped in smoke,
and there entreated that the Lord might no more speak
to them out of that flaming fire. Moses had felt some
hesitation in presenting that request ; but he had 'been
received with deepest condescension, and obtained, in
answer, promise of new grace. As if in thorough con-
fidencej the Lord had said to this man whom He favoured
(vers. 17, 18), 'They have well spoken that which they
have spoken : I will raise them up a Prophet, from among
their brethren, like unto thee.' All this time has Moses
carried with him, in his faithful heart, that blessed secret ;
and it has proved a hidden source of strength for work,
for calm endurance, and for special efforts he must make.
But now, before he leaves the scene of earthly toil, he
must reveal this secret in his heart ; the ray of heavenly
light, that has refreshed and cheered himself, must also
be allowed to shine before his brethren's eyes. The
Israelites must be informed that their approaching loss,
his death, shall yet receive full compensation in the
person of his substitute. Then, let even this Prime
Minister depart : the King remains among His people
still, showing His favour and His grace, and shall yet
gloriously complete the work He has begun.

280 Moses.
And now, to some extent at least, you are in a position
where you well may estimate the value of a hope, whose
origin and object are sufficiently well known. We do
not here seek to determine the precise amount of clear
ness with which one like Moses looked on the fulfilment
of this glorious prospect, nor to what time he referred
the whole. It is enough that, in addition to so many
promises of salvation given long before, and doubtless
well known both to him and Israel, there is communicated
now, as if in God Himself, a new and precious promise,
that shall prove a preparation for some others yet to
come. Did it not seem a strange idea, we should be
inclined to compare the Messianic prophecies to one
of those gigantic piles, the Pyramids of Egypt, that
for ages have astonished every traveller. Just as the
base of such monuments is of gigantic breadth, while
every other layer, as you rise, is narrower than that on
which it rests, until at last the summit tapers off to a
thin point, — so is it with the gradual discoveries God
makes to us regarding the way of salvation. First comes
the promise to mankind in general ; then, to but one of
their three heads,- — to Shem ; next, to a single one of his
descendants, — Abraham, and his chosen family ; then,
among all the sons of Jacob, to but Judah ; and at last,
of all the families in Judah, to the house of David.
Jacob, as he lay dying, had beheld the hope of the
fathers as the Prince of Peace ; now Moses, in his turn,
adds to men's thoughts of Christ the element of his
prophetic dignity, while indications of His sacerdotal
work are left for later times. What we read here is still
comparatively little, when we think of the abundance
and the fulness of the later prophecies regarding Christ ;
but who does not at once perceive what even this little
was for Moses and for Israel ? Nay, verily, the man of
God need not be so solicitous, even though he should at

The Expectation of Salvation, 281
once lay down the staff with which he wrought his
miracles, lest his great work remain undone. Though
this Old Covenant, which he has founded, still leaves
many enigmas unsolved, yet, in the distance, he sees,
glimmering, the light of new and ever higher revelations
to be made. Even though the Israelites shall still con
tinue to corrupt their way, and the task of those who
follow Moses thus must prove more difficult instead of
easier, it is enough that there comes One — the only
One — who can be fully reckoned on as fit to do that
work, and who, like him, will be superior to all, — yea,
even surpass himself. Depart in peace, thou worthy
Moses ; He that watches Israel still tends the people of
His own inheritance, even when you sleep the sleep of
death ! Though ages quickly roll over your place of rest,
the Lord does not delay the promise He Himself made
in your ears. A brilliant series of prophets shall repeat,
promulgate, and maintain the witness first held forth by
you ; and each one, in his way, as he is taught of God,
shall, with the law, set forth the gospel to his fellow-men.
And, lastly, there appears the Prophet, who Himself
fulfils the hopes of every one, confirms the words of all ;
but how much higher does He stand than you described
Him unto Israel ! Oh that these Israelites had known
the day of their visitation, and had not trampled under
foot the great command, ' Unto Him shall ye hearken ! '
Let us each breathe a prayer for the Israelites, who, once
the first-fruits of the nations, have become despised of
all, since they rejected this Great Prophet sent to them !
And let us render thanks to Him who has ingrafted us,
by nature the wild olive-tree, upon the root of the old
stock ; and who has shown, before the heathen world,
the Prophet whom His own peculiar people have despised !
Well may we call aloud this day to you in fullest con
fidence, ' To-day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears ! '

282 Moses.

It is with great reluctance that I enter on the task
awaiting me in the second part of my address, — to sketch
before you, in the light afforded by the text, the spotless
image of the greatest Witness to the truth. If even
Moses spake of Him with such apparent predilection,
how much more may a holy ardour fill our hearts !
Yet we must gird ourselves like men, though conscious
we are stammering like children ; and we must set
before you Christ as the greatest Prophet of the New
Covenant. But possibly that title sounds too humble in
your ears, and you are ready to inquire if this be all the
honour we now give our Lord, — that we regard Him as
a Teacher of the highest eminence, a perfect pattern of
morality, the greatest Son of nature, and the Man of
men ? O Lord our hope, Thou knowest well that Thou art
more to us, — yea, infinitely more ! Well is it for each
one of us that we this day acknowledge Thee, with all
who show Thee faith and love, as our alone High Priest,
as our eternal King, as sharer of the nature and the ma
jesty of God, — Thyself divine, to be adored supremely
through eternity, well worthy of the homage of each knee
and the confession of each tongue ! But the unsearchable
riches of Christ, that we are privileged to proclaim, are
far too vast to be examined by a single glance ; and
even that special aspect in which we regard Him now
is both sublime and glorious enough. If it appear that
we have really, in Christ, the highest revelation which
the Lord has made to men, the gospel then shall be to
us a power of God through faith unto salvation ; and
there will also be abundant ground to justify the exhorta
tion to hold fast the profession of our faith without
wavering. Judge for yourselves, then, what we say ; we
speak as unto men who understand ; and answer this, —

The Expectation of Salvation. 283
whether you can conceive of any higher revelation, both
of truth and grace, than God has made to you in
Christ ?
That we may aid you, in a way, to give an answer
to the question asked, let us direct your thoughts
especially to the position occupied by Jesus Christ.
As you well know, among the men of God under the
Old Economy, Moses stands most pre-eminent. While
holy stillness reigns throughout the tent of witness,
Jehovah speaks with Moses face to face ; and when the
prophet presently unseals his mouth, and then begins :
' Thus saith the Lord,' ye listening Israelites may well
believe it is not he alone that speaks, but God's own
Spirit through the man. Nevertheless, what is even
Moses' place among the prophets, when compared with
that which faith beholds Christ occupy ? I mention
Moses' name ; but when I do, I merely name the servant
who, when it pleased the Master of the house, received
what He revealed, and what He ordered to be done, but
still continued a subordinate. I mention Christ ; and
when I do, I name the Son who, in the house, has in
Himself the right of ownership, ' whose house are we,' a
sacred writer adds, ' if we but hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.' x The
prophet of the Old Covenant is of the earth, earthy ; the
Prophet of the New is the Lord from heaven ! But
know you not such things as these ? have you not
learned them from the mouth of His trustworthy wit
nesses ? ' God, who, at sundry times and in divers man
ners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.'2
He who here speaks to us is no less than that eternal
Word, who was with God and was God, by whom all
things have been made, and who, in the fulness of time,
1 Heb. iii. 6. 2 Heb. i. I, 2.

284 Moses.
appeared in human flesh. ' A prophet out of the midst
of his brethren,'— yes, that He is ; for in His veins there
flows true princely blood, and she who bare Him traces
her descent direct from David's family. But He is,
furthermore, the Son of God in a peculiar sense of the
word ; and what the Baptist once bare witness to, ' He
that is of the earth speaketh of the earth ; he that is
from heaven is above all,' 1 applies without restriction to
the Lord, when we compare Him with the men of God
under the Old Economy. They testify what was delivered
unto them at sacred moments by the Spirit of revelation ;
Jesus speaks what He has seen and heard when with
the Father in past ages, long before His incarnation ;
and even as man, He still maintains constant com
munion with the Father, so that it can equally be said
He is on earth and in the heavens. Nothing becomes
the servant better than, ' Thus saith the Lord ; ' the Son
can testify, ' Verily, verily, I say unto you ; ' and every
form of contradiction and of opposition must give way
before that 'Verily' The prophets humbly point to
Him as the greatest Prophet of all ; He points to none
except the Father, and Himself as the one way unto the
Father. He points also to the Spirit, but in this (be it
observed) as unto one who shall not witness anything
against His word, but who shall take of what is His and
show it to His own. We need not wonder, certainly, that
even the greatest of the prophets yields to Him, and
utters words of reverence like these, ' I have need to be
baptized of Thee ;'2 for, in like manner, all the host of
stars, and not they only, but the moon besides, with
draw their feeble light when the great prince of day, in
all his splendour, rears his head out from the clouds.
In short, whoever listens to the prophets as they speak,
feels constantly that he is under gloom. The word of
1 John iii. 31. " Matt. iii. 14.

The Expectation of Salvation. 285
the Lord, grand though it be, is but the germ and
presage of a something grander, higher far ; he who
hears Jesus speak may well believe that His words are
the last, the highest, and substantially the only words
that God now has for sinful men — that all besides, even
those in heaven, can but serve to explain and to confirm
these last words uttered on this earth. But what more
wouldst thou have,0 thou uneasy, discontented mortal ?
That the Infinite Himself might rend the heavens, and
so come down to answer every question you may ask ?
That happened when the Son, who is the same in
essence with the Father, dwelt and conversed with us
men ; and now, to every other question, it is but the
Father who replies, pointing in silence to the gospel,
and to that alone. How fortunate are we — beyond
description fortunate ! Now, it is not another servant
whom the Master of the vineyard has sent forth to the
ungrateful husbandmen ; it is not even an angel whom
He has commissioned to give peace to troubled hearts ;
but His own Son, His second Self, His highest gift,
with whom He has given everything, with whom He
has blessed everything! Oh, who can meditate upon
the fact and realize its truth, that the sinful heart can
have no rest so long as it has not received a special
intimation from the God of truth Himself, without ex
claiming, from the bottom of a heart filled with emotion,
while he lays his folded hands upon the open gospel,
' Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift ! '
Yea, verily, a gift unspeakable ; but must you not
repeat these words, too, when you see the light diffused
by Jesus Christ ? Far be it from us to cast disparage
ment upon or to despise the revelation made through
Moses to the Israelites. The absolute unity of God,
His perfect holiness, and matchless mercy, to all of
which He has been ever pointing men — these were but

286 Moses.
rays of that full light which we could only estimate if
we were able to conceive how great the heathen dark
ness was. Correctly speaking, later prophets had but to
develope the germs of the desires and views expressed
before by Moses, or implicitly contained in what he
wrote. But what is all that kindly twilight, when com
pared with the full light afforded by the day of grace ?
And what is that old revelation, made to one chosen
nation, when compared with what is given us in Him
who, in the fullest sense, could call Himself ' the Light
of the world ' ? The Apostle John, who witnessed the
burial of the Old Dispensation and the birth of the
New, has placed in brief and striking contrast the nature
and the relative value of each : ' The law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ' 1 Do
not these words, ' grace and truth,' sound like a discord
in your ears, when you turn away from that great moun
tain where the law was given, to that whereon the
blessings were pronounced, and hear, like the soft dew
that falls on fields quite parched and languishing, the
words, 'Blessed, blessed, blessed,' dropping from His
lips upon the heads of those assembled multitudes ¦?
Well might this Prophet, on His entrance into Nazareth,
proclaim He was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord,
to bring glad tidings to the meek, and heal those broken
in their hearts. If Moses was a prophet for the obdu
rate, Jesus is one for contrite hearts ; and the first
miracle that each performed was a prognostic of what
each should say, and do, and found ; for Moses changes
water into blood, — Christ changes water into wine !
With Moses, God's unspotted holiness is made most
prominent, — with Jesus Christ, His matchless love ; in
one case, offerings of penitence are brought, — but in the
other, gifts of grace are readily bestowed ; on one side,
'John i. 17.

The Expectation of Salvation. 287
there is mostly heard stern threatening, — upon the
other, joyful promises. Moses speaks about the Judge,
and even the boldest bow their heads towards the earth ;
Jesus bears witness of the Father, and the most timid
look above in confidence, that in the Son's eye they may
read the Father's love. Cheered by the sight, they
further look around, to see the lilies of the field and hear
the birds of heaven as they proclaim the pity of the
Lord. Moses demands repentance, but he cannot give
the strength for it ; Jesus both promises and gives the
Spirit that makes the dead to live. Moses makes pro
mises and threats, but the rod of his command extends
no farther than the narrow limits of this present life ;
Jesus draws aside the veil that hides the future from our
gaze, and shows His faithful ones the crown that cannot
fade, awaiting them in heaven at their journey's , end.
What need for more ? To note the points of contrast
would be endless work, even though we were content to
specify no more than leading features, that have gained
our Lord the honourable designation of the greatest
Prophet, ' mighty in word and work before God and all
the people.' Just think, — and it will be a worthy
renewal of your Christian profession, as well as an appro
priate extension of your Christmas rejoicings, — think
what great wealth of precious truths, scarce known
before, or once forgotten, have been brought into the
foreground by the gospel ; think how they have been
here deposited in such a form as to be quite accessible
by even the simplest minds, and yet attractive for the
most profound ; remember specially that Moses' words
were meant and suited for one nation only, while the
words of Jesus are for all the earth. When, therefore, in
the flood of light, your eyes are dazzled by its brilliancy,
judge for yourselves whether the gospel may not well
be called the highest revelation of the Deity ?

288 Moses.
But especially do not forget, in the third place, to
take into account, and test by a comparison, \Wz faith
fulness which Jesus showed. ' Moreover, it is required
in stewards that a man be found faithful.'1 These
apostolic words hold also of the prophets of the Lord ;
and Moses could obtain no higher honour than what is
contained in the comprehensive tribute of praise, ' Moses
verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant' 2 But
yet, what else was the faithfulness of even the most
eminent ambassador of God, than the obedience of a
feeble man, who always must conclude by humbly
asking pardon for his shortcomings ? How much of
prophet-life in Israel is spotted by the saddest stains !
Jonah goes forth to preach obedience, yet he wilfully
withdraws from the performance of the heavenly task.
Elijah must come forward as a leader in the strife, but
once, at least, he falls dispirited. John is expressly
called to serve the King of Heaven when He descends
to earth ; and yet he stops Him in His progress with
the question from the prison-house, that testifies of
doubt and discontent. Yea, did not Moses himself fail
in his faith and patience ? And do you know one
prophet who can say, without reserve, ' I do always
those things that please the Father ' ? 3 Yes, we know
Him ; for we look upon the Pure and Perfect One,
who faithfully devoted every breath to the glory of the
Father. Was there ever an ambassador of heaven
exposed on earth to more severe temptation than sur
rounded Him on every side ? It comes before Him, in
the desert, in the form of an allurement ; on the cross,
as something terrible, to frighten Him ; and in the space
that intervened between the wilderness and Calvary, a
countless multitude of arms were constantly stretched
out, to take Him forcibly and set Him on a throne.
1 I Cor. iv. 2. 2 Heb. iii. 5. 3 John viii. 29.

The Expectation of Salvation. 289
But, ' Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God :' such are the
words He used on coming down from heaven ; and
when that will directs Him to a cross of shame, the Son
will not refuse to drink the cup mixed for Him by the
Father's hand. Perhaps, at some time or another, you
may have observed how the first words attributed to
Jesus in His early years, ' Wist ye not that I must be
about my Father's business ? ' may also be regarded as
the constant motto of His earthly life. He is about His
Father's business in the temple and in the synagogue,
in the wilderness and by the shore, at the social board
and in the peaceful solitude, when friends exclaimed
' Hosannah ' and when enemies cried ' Crucify him ; '
not only in the little boat where He laid down His
weary limbs to rest, but also on the cursed tree where
He exposed Himself to death. And does it not appear
to you that 'sinlessness' — that word so often used — is,
properly, too weak for adequate expression of the match
less greatness seen in God's incarnate Son ? Here, there
is more than sinlessness : here, there is holiness, perfec
tion, majesty, such as might dazzle even angelic minds.
A Moses we admire, but Christ we must adore; and what
would but sound blasphemous proceeding from the lips
of even the greatest prophet, sounds in His mouth with
all the grand simplicity of truth, — ' He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father.' But who will give us thoughts,
ideas, wherewith we may extol the glory of the match
less revelation now afforded us through Jesus Christ ?
Not only does He bring, but, what is infinitely more, He
Himself shows us the revelation of the Father. Moses
can say, ' I speak the truth ; ' Jesus, not merely in what
He declares, but in His whole personality, can say, ' I
am the Truth.' He traverses the land, blessing and
doing good, — the living, speaking, acting Image of the
Father ; and not a single spot is seen upon the sun of
T

290 Moses.
His glory, from where it takes its rise, to where it sets.
And at the close of life, He can present a summary of
all He did in these few words, ' I have manifested Thy
name unto the men whom Thou hast given me ; ' J yea,
even now, when He has gone to heaven, the Son knows
of no better meat than the performance of His Father's
will. Show me more faithfulness than that which Jesus
has displayed, and I will let you look for a still higher
revelation than He brought.
But why do I speak of a higher revelation, as if any
thing higher could be imagined than the fellowship with
God begin through Jesus Christ, — which we now men
tion as the fourth point claiming our regard ? You see to
what the Lord Himself directs His servant's thoughts ;
to Israel He predicts a time, when He shall no more
speak to them through flaming fire, but through a
human voice, — when He shall send His highest Messen
ger. And ye who, in the gospel, hear the voice of God,
— not as the hurricane, the earthquake, and the fire, but
as the still, small voice, — say, does not the Christ of God
appear to you in glory quite peculiar to Himself, be
cause, like Moses, He is not a Prophet only, but, besides,
the Mediator in God's Covenant with men ? But what
a difference between the Covenant established through
the agency of Moses, and the better one now made
through Christ ! ' Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them : ' such was the truth announced upon
the morning when the law was given, and all the people
said, ' Amen,' and bowed their guilty heads to have the
burden of that curse laid on their backs. Hundreds of
rams could not remove the load of sins ; thousands of
streams of oil could not bring calmness on the sea
of fear ; and though the pious Israelite knew that
1 John xvii. 6.

The Expectation of Salvation. 291
Jehovah, for His own name's sake, forgave men's sins,
yet day by day he stood in the presence of the Lord, as
if before the mountain in Arabia that might be touched ;
there still remained, between him and his God, strong
separating lines ; and though the voice of anguish was
entirely hushed, the spirit of the bondman still remained
in him. But is it not remarkable, that almost at the
very point when it attained its full development, the
seeds of dissolution in the Old Economy begin to show
themselves ? The prophet gives the promise of another
Covenant ; thereby the first one is declared now to be
growing old, and soon about to disappear. ' I will for
give their iniquities, and remember their sins no more,' —
so runs the promise in the Covenant, — •' for they shall all
know me, from the least to the greatest.' l Thou morn
ing of a brighter day, how long thou dost delay beneath
the rim of earth ! Lo, heaven opens for the sweet
angelic song, ' Good-will to men ! ' Another revelation
is beginning now. But there is being instituted, too, a
new kind of communion between heaven and earth ;
and while Moses dedicated the Old Covenant by blood
of bulls and goats, Christ dedicates the New one in His
own, and by His offering fills up the chasm that separates
a holy God from an unholy world. Yea, the propitiation
which could but be dimly shadowed forth by Moses in
those sacrificial rites, — prophetic, though mysterious, —
that grand atoning work, Christ shows in its reality ; and
just as Aaron once, with the censer in his hand, planted
himself between the living and the dead, so does He
now appear before the holy Father's face, that, as High
Priest of heaven, He may thus hide His people's sins.
In the first Covenant, God comes before the sinner as a
creditor • while, in the second, the sinner comes before
the Lord as one who is forgiven. The former Covenant
1 Jer. xxxi. 34 ; cf. Heb. viii. 11, 12.

292 Moses.
included Israel, but excluded every other race ; the
latter was established everywhere on earth. The first
was destined to endure no more nor less than fifteen
centuries; the second, to endure throughout eternity,
and to unite both heaven and earth in one great spiritual
kingdom that shall not be moved. What are even all
the love and faithfulness which Moses showed, as medi
ator of his Covenant, when we compare these with the
riches of that Mediator's love whose heart was broken
on the cross for us, — a heart that still beats on His
universal throne ? And do you know what, even when
compared with all these great and glorious things,
remains most glorious of all ? As Moses was not only
a prophet and a mediator, but, besides, the guide of
Israel to the land of their inheritance, so is it, too, with
Him whose form is now before our mind. He does not
merely make a revelation of the truth, — externally by
His own person and His word, internally by the power
of the Holy Ghost. He does not merely open up the
way, and break down the partition-wall that separates
all men from God, and each man from his brother-man.
Like Moses, He remains the trusty Guide of all His
own, — both Way and Guide in one ; so far is it, besides,
from being possible that life or death can come between
Himself and any one of them, that He abides with us
continually. He does not rest until those sharing in the
Covenant have first been justified, then sanctified, and,
lastly, glorified ; and that same offering, by which He
frees them from the curse of sin, becomes the means by
which the righteousness demanded by the law is not
merely fulfilled for them, but in them too. Enlighten
ment, redemption, salvation, — name any greater benefits
than these, which He not merely promised, but procured,
bestows, and still reserves for His own people, without
price. Lord Jesus, how can any one have but a little

The Expectation of Salvation. 293
understanding of Thy preciousness, without devoting all
he is and has to Thee ?
But does this seem excessive praise which we bestow
on that 'true Light, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world ' ? God has not waited till men
should decide upon the value of His greatest gift ; for
He Himself has given witness to the Son of His eternal
love, as the last and fullest revelation He has made.
The testimony which Jesus has received will be the last
point we shall set before your thoughts. One statement
in the former declaration made by God remained un
noticed ; this we are now so much the less inclined to
pass, because the present is the first occasion when a
special threat is introduced in close connection with a
Messianic promise. These are the words of ver. 19 :
' And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not
hearken unto my words which He shall speak in my
name, I will require it of him ; ' or, as it is elsewhere ex
pressed, ' he shall be destroyed from among the people '
(Acts iii. 23). Does it require much proof to show that
Christ, no less than Moses, has been recognised in quite
a special way, and is maintained in His prophetical
authority, by God Himself ? You know that there was
no more dreadful sin which could have been committed
in the wilderness, than that Moses should aspire to wear
the crown. His daily business was emphatically God's ;
and it was but his intercession that could save those
guilty ones who crowded round the standard of rebellion.
But what are all those judgments sent by God on
Israel, while wandering through the wilderness, when
we compare them with the signs, and wonders, and the
divers mighty deeds by which the Lord Himself gave
witness to the Prophet of the New Covenant ? As
Peter excellently says, if God was not with this man,
then — let us say it with all reverence — God has Him-

294 Moses.
self, in some way quite incomprehensible to us, con
curred in cheating all the world by means of a deceitful
show. As every one well knows, and as we find it
stated in a history whose truth has frequently been
questioned, but never yet disproved, God sent His
angels down from heaven to watch beside the Saviour's
cradle and His grave. Three times, a voice from heaven
was heard that witnessed to His majesty; He raises
Him up from the grave, and sets Him on His universal
throne ; and then, at His request, He distributes those
spiritual gifts through which the earliest foundations of
His kingdom have been laid. Plainly He manifests His
favour for the Nazarenes, and pours upon His enemies
the fear of death, while He gives courage to His friends ;
nay, more, — and. surely God keeps it designedly before
our eyes, — He visits with dread punishment the man
who will not hear this Servant in the same way as
Himself. If what God has made known in Christ be not
the most complete and highest revelation He has made,
and further, meant and suited for all men, I ask what
more God could have done, if any higher revelation
came ; and can you possibly conceive of any tokens
that could prove more unmistakeably His approbation
and interposition in the case, than those by which His
well-beloved Son was pointed out before the eyes of
heaven and earth ? Nay, we are not surprised that
leading infidels have striven in vain to cut out from this
gospel all the miracles which it contains. But what
would it avail even though — what we deem quite im
possible — success attended the presumptuous attempt to
strip the sacred history of its supernatural character ?
Then they would be obliged to go still further, and
make out the entire history of the kingdom of God to
be a cunningly devised fable, which certainly may be
pronounced wholly inexplicable, if the Lord were less

The Expectation of Salvation. 295
than He has declared Himself to be. Then they would
be obliged to show us how it comes about that the most
furious attacks of unbelief, like waves against a rock,
have dashed against this gospel in their impotence, only
to earn, through time, deep ridicule and merited oblivion.
Then would they need to show us higher truth, wisdom
more fully tested, and more blessed comfort, than have
here for ages been deposited. Then must they needs be
able to refute the witness of the Holy Ghost, that makes
these words resound in every Christian heart, ' Lord, to
whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal
life.' x Yea, verily, that is the highest seal, impressed,
as if by God's own signet, on the words of Him who is
the greatest Prophet, and the King of truth. The heart
and conscience of all those who, seeking for salvation,
hear and follow Him, bear witness to His words ; ex
perience proves that He is the Amen, the Faithful and
the True ; and that which time has not yet shown,
eternity will hear proclaimed as if with trumpet-sound,
— that in Him, and in Him alone, there are combined
the highest truth and highest blessedness, for both are
one and indivisible.
In the kingdom of nature, there is no higher light
than the meridian sun : in the kingdom of grace, there
is no higher revelation than the Christ !

't>*

3.
What we have just expressed is but the sum and the
conclusion of an argument, the special points in which
we will again present at once, for clearness' sake. We
have been looking in succession at the rank which Jesus
occupied, the light which He diffused, the faithfulness
which He displayed, the fellowship begun through Plim,
1 John vi. 68.

296 Moses.
the witness He received. In all these, as it were, we
read the plain credentials, of the Prophet out of the
midst of His brethren, to whom Moses bare witness ;
and thus, too, we renewed our own confession of our
Lord, as the highest Witness to the truth. And now,
do you not feel what is the highest and most sacred call
of Christianity, addressed to us through all that we have
been considering ? What we have still to say admits of
being summarized into three words : inscribe them in
your memory through life !
And what, then, could become us more than humble
thankfulness ? Is it a small thing that the voice of this,
the very greatest Prophet, whom even Moses saw but at
a distance, sounds so close beside our ears, and that the
most unlearned knows far more of Him than did the
highest then in Israel ? Is it a small thing that God
still continues to shed down the light of saving truth,
not merely upon those who rendered due obedience at
the first, but also upon the rebellious ones ; and that we
who — just say yourselves how long it has been so — per
haps may have refused the greatest blessing, now are
called anew to go to Bethlehem, and hear the words that
have been uttered there regarding this great Prophet ?
And, once more, is it but a small thing that so many of
His utterances as a Prophet have already been fulfilled
to you and me ; and that we all can learn, from an
infallible authority, what is the truth that saves ? How
very touching is the thought that such great multitudes
have longed to see the revelation made, but not obtained
the promises ! How much more touching is the thought
— and of its truth we are assured — that, at this very
moment, there are multitudes who do not yet feel any
thing of what they owe unto that Saviour of the world,
— perhaps they are even somewhat wearied of the good
ness they experience ; while others fall upon their knees

The Expectation of Salvation. 297
to praise the Lord ! What sad insensibility, fearful in
difference ! When we inquire into their reasons, what is
it that we must mention first ? Is it deep ignorance
that makes so many, even with the name and the pro
fession of a Christian, still live substantially without the
Christ, and thus, too, without God and without hope ?
Or is it a deep-rooted worldly-mindedness, that sets
a higher value upon everything except the satisfaction
of the soul's great need ? Is it the force of habit, that
constrains us to regard the most astounding wonder of
God's grace as if it were a matter of indifference ? Or
possibly it is a secret scepticism, that ever asks the
question, ' Art Thou He that should come ? ' Whatever
it may be, see whether conscience does not tell you that
your heart is still too cold towards your Lord ; and
learn especially to pray in secret, that you may, ere long,
give thanks in honesty of heart at this our Christmas
feast. Pray that the eyes of your understanding may
be opened to acknowledge that you need the world's
great Light. Let Moses tell you what your sin deserves,
that you may call on Christ, who saves from sin ; and
let the preacher of repentance that exists within, pre
pare the way for the great Gospel-preacher in the plains
of Bethlehem. Go forth to meet your Lord with joy, not
simply as the people of Jerusalem did, who, with their
glad hosannas only called Him ' the Prophet of Naza
reth,' to cast Him off again, and that, too, very soon ;
but let your gratitude be humble and sincere, and such
as truly glorifies the Lord. And ye especially, who
know the ' Prophet out of Israel ' experimentally as
your great Light, and your sole comfort in the world,
see that ye be not silent now! Sing gladly in the Lord,
ye righteous ones, not only at the coming feast, but at
all times ; rejoice all ye that are upright in heart !
But further, let our second word be, — listen to what

298 Moses.
this mouth announces in the Father's name ! Listen, we
scarce need say, not with the ear of one who acts the
spy, and seeks to catch the Master in His words ; or of
a judge, who seeks to judge the Lord instead of being
judged by Him ; or one with strong aesthetic tendencies,
who is quite satisfied provided that his feelings are but
pleasantly touched and wrought upon. But listen with
the ear of an obedient child, who knows but little, and
receives in silence what is told him of his Father's will ;
of one against whom accusation has been made, and
watches anxiously, with bated breath, to see if there
be still some hope of liberty and life ; of an obedient
servant, who but asks, What does my Master wish that
I should do ? And what should keep you from thus
giving ear to Him through whom the Lord has made
His highest and — do not forget — His final revelation to
us men ? Surely, not the obscurities and unsolved pro
blems that remain connected with the gospel, even after
the most careful investigation has been made ? Does
not the large amount that you already comprehend
awake within your heart the strong presentiment that, in
what you do not understand as yet, a deep and glorious
meaning lies concealed ? And can you wonder that
God's highest revelation should have depths which your
arm cannot sound ? And you who always stop when
you have left the sphere of sense-perception and experi
ence, how can you hesitate, when in the supersensual
sphere, to grasp the hand of an unerring Guide, simply
because He tells you what you never would have known
yourself, and what, even yet, you cannot fully com
prehend ? What wretched folly ! When the God of
heaven stoops condescendingly to His vain creature,
seeking to impart His secret thoughts concerning the
salvation of mankind, shall man, who does not compre
hend himself, take deep offence because he cannot find

The Expectation of Salvation. 299
out God ? And when the stream of living water flows
towards him, shall he say that all the water which he
cannot gather in these hands of his is quite superfluous,
and thoroughly unfit to drink ? We cannot, certainly,
be too exact and thorough in inquiring if the gospel
really contains God's highest revelation to mankind ; it
is not real science, but mere superficiality and imperfect
knowledge that have done the greatest damage to the
cause of truth. But when it has sufficiently appeared
who is the real Speaker in the words of prophecy, then
let the child of earth bow reverently ; then let the proud
philosopher remember he is but of yesterday ; then let
the Christian wait until the future, with its light, shall
give the explanation sought for now. Or — tell us
candidly — do the requirements of this Prophet seem too
high ? and does your understanding seek for pleasure in
its doubt, because your heart has no delight in rendering
obedience to the Lord ? But is it not an easy yoke that
this great Master lays on us, — is not the burden of this
Leader light ? and may not His most strict require
ments well be called His greatest benefits to us ? ' Your
ear is so deaf, and your heart is so slow to believe ! '
But is He, who calls you to obedience, a hard Master,
who will not subdue the stubborn heart ? and will the
God, who made the ear, not listen to the prayer for
wisdom ? Surely there shall be no escape, if ye refuse
to pay regard to such a great salvation ; and if they
who rejected Moses did not escape, of how much sorer
punishment, think ye, shall they be thought worthy who
turn away from Him who comes from heaven ? Oh that,
when we point earnestly to Him, we could keep back
the words of John, ' Many false prophets are gone out
into the world ! ' ' But is there no lying spirit that
shamelessly withstands the King of truth ? Are there
1 1 John iv. I.

300 Moses.
not those who, in their arrogance and pride, imagine
they have now outgrown His high authority as the great
Prophet of the world, and bow, instead, before the mere
assumed authority of human guides, who are too often
but blind leaders of the blind ? , Is not the warning
given by Moses against a wretched superstition quite
as needful in our days, when people seek, by every kind
of means, to wring out secrets from the spirit-world ;
and even go the length, too frequently, of showing
greater faith in lifeless wood, which they consult, than in
the true and living word of God ? We, too, may well
address you in the Lord's name, ' Little children, let no
man deceive you ; ' ' Believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God ; ' and, ' See that ye
refuse not Him that speaketh.' l Give ear to Him ! —
the words are both for old and young, for rich and poor,
for learned and unlearned, for you and me ! This
Prophet's eyes see deeply down into the darkest corners
of your heart. Shall it be well if He will search you ?
and have you as yet obeyed His voice ?
If it indeed be so, then our last word is testify ; bear
witness in the spirit of faith, and in the line of Moses'
zeal. Are we not living in the blessed times when this
grand prayer of his has been fulfilled, ' Would God that
all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord
would put His Spirit upon them ?'2 It is not we alone
— we ministers who preach the gospel — that are called
to prophesy (and oh that we fulfilled this task in some
thing of the spirit and the power of Moses, of Elijah, of
John, of Jesus), but all on whom has shined the won
drous light of God must go forth and proclaim His
mighty deeds. Israel's prophets but prepared the way
for the highest Witness of the truth ; Christian prophets,
in their turn, must follow in the footsteps He has trod ;
1 I John iii. 10, iv. I ; Heb. xii. 25. 2 Num. xi. 29.

The Expectation of Salvation. 301
they have been born again and sent into the world that
they may give their testimony to the truth. That world,
— so deeply sunk, and in such unexampled misery, — how
shall it once more and for ever be recovered to its lawful
King ? Arise, ye Christian prophets, to begin the holy
war with the sword of the Spirit ! Spirit of grace ! Thou
who alone canst teach us to speak with new tongues,
descend in larger measure on us all ! Children of light !
go daily forth into the world, led by the Spirit, and with
all your power of love, to bring that world unto the
light of life ! Church of the Lord! send out your gospel-
messengers, that all ends of the earth may see the great
salvation of our God ! (These words are specially ap
propriate to such a day as this, which witnessed the
foundation of our own Missionary Society.1) We may
predict, in His great name, that soon the hour will come
when the command, ' Hear Him,' shall cease on every
side, and all the earth shall know the Lord. Now, we
still ' know in part, and prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away ; ' and those who here on earth con
fess the Lord before their fellow-men, shall be acknow
ledged in the presence of the Father and the angels up
in heaven. For thus saith the greatest Prophet, whom
God hath anointed King : ' If any man serve me, let him
follow me ; ' and again : ' Where I am, there also will
my servant be ! '
Amen.
1 Dec. 19, 1797, the date of the foundation of the (old) Dutch Missionary
Society.

CHAPTER XI.
&fje Eefusal
' Let it suffice thee ; speak to me no more of this matter. ' ' — Deut. iii. 26.
Disappointment — the very word has an unpleasant ring ;
but who is able fully to describe the painfulness of the
reality which this word indicates ? Just picture to your
self a traveller, making his preparations, in another por
tion of the world, to visit and embrace his dearest friends
once more before he dies. For years he has been mak
ing his arrangements with the utmost carefulness ; at the
appointed time he has embarked with all his property,
and he has safely managed through the greater portion
of his journey, though most dangerous. From day to
day, as we might well expect, desire and hope increase ;
away on the horizon he already can descry his native
shores ; a few hours more, and then the joyful ' welcome
home ' will greet his ears. But suddenly there rises up
a violent storm, that makes the masts and tackling
crack ; the frail craft, though in view of the desired
haven, sinks to the bottom, and the wanderer, who came
expecting rest within the circle of his friends, finds but a
grave down in the gloomy depths. ' How sad a picture !'
you exclaim : it is no sadder, we reply, than the reality
of many lives on earth. Disappointment : — if such a
word is scarcely to be found in the vocabulary of the
child and youth, it is that it may stand, with lines so
1 Preached Jan. 16, 1859.

The Refusal. 303
much the darker, in the lists of grey-haired men. What
one of us has not had reason, in his way, to testify with
Job, ' When I looked for good, then evil came ; and
when I waited for the light, then darkness came ; ' x or
if there has been any one who has, as if by miracle,
escaped till now, who can be sure of what will happen
any single moment ere to-morrow ends ? What no one
looked for may occur the very first ; and what seemed
yesterday to have been brought within our reach has
now, as if by magic touch, quite vanished from our
sight. Thus the complaint we make when hope proves
vain is quite as old as man himself; and as for prayers
unanswered, who has not, sooner or later, buried them
deep down in a distressed and anxious mind ? And
were these merely inconsiderate desires which thus met
disappointment, we could certainly scarce feel at liberty,
after due thought, to raise complaint. When mothers
like Salome show themselves so foolish as, in unre
strained ambition, to desire a place for her two sons on
either side of Jesus' kingly throne, then it is well in all
respects that the great Master, wiser far than they,
should give the stern reply, ' Ye know not what ye ask.'
But there arise, too, in our minds, from time to time,
desires for which we have as little reason to feel shame
before God as before ourselves. There hover frequently,
before our minds, plans whose fulfilment we expect will
bear abundant fruit for good to men, and glory to the
Lord. Not seldom there are uttered in our solitude,
prayers of a nature such that we might almost say with
confidence regarding them, ' God saw that it was good.'
But even those desires remain ungratified, those plans
are thwarted, and those prayers so little answered, that
at last we even forget to ask ; how bitter an experience,
— all the more bitter in proportion as our fancy was
1 Job xxx. 26.

304 Moses.
inflamed, feeling excited, and our faith supposed to have
been placed upon sure ground ! How must the Chris
tian view so painful an awakening from the most
pleasant dreams ? how must the friend of God conduct
himself on the complete rejection of his pious prayers ?
If such a question have, in your esteem, as much at
traction as it has importance in our own, then we rejoice
that, in addition to so many other Scripture passages,
the history of Moses also offers an important contribu
tion in the way of a reply. The public life of Moses, as
Israel's lawgiver and guide, is, as it were, a picture
set within a frame of two great disappointments he ex
perienced. The first is the occasion when, on slaying the
Egyptian, he fancies that his brethren should acknow
ledge him as their deliverer, and finds himself most
cruelly betrayed ; the second, when he sees he is refused
an entrance to the Promised Land. The pains arising
from the former wound he felt throughout more years
than months of pain felt from the latter wound ; yet are
we wrong in thinking that the second was by far the
deepest and the most severe ? We almost would even
hesitate to fathom its full depth, if he had not himself
removed the cover which concealed it, so that Israel,
and so far others too, might see. But, in the narrative
connected with the text, we hear him, with a touching
simplicity, relate an incident which we might almost call
a page extracted from the journal of his private history,
inserted in the story of the wanderings which he was
writing down in this and the two chapters which precede.
The old man is engaged, about two months before his
death, in looking back, together with his people, on a
portion of the way by which the Lord had hitherto been
leading them. He bids them bear in mind how Og the
king of Bashan had been overcome, his land distributed
among the Israelites, and how there has been opened up

The Refusal. 305
) Joshua the joyful prospect of still further victories.
ut though there had thus been such joyful days for
;rael, ' at that same time' (see ver. 22) he saw himself
jmpelled to offer a most painful sacrifice. In vain, — so
tys the humble-minded man, as if to show himself quite
illing to do penance publicly, — in vain had he entreated
>r remission of the sentence passed on him ; the Lord
ad given him a stern reply. We must, with this, corn-
are especially what is recorded Num. xxvii. 12-14,
here the Lord repeats the judgment passed on Moses ;
hile the latter prays that Jehovah, the God of the spirits
f all flesh, will, in his stead, appoint a man as leader of
le congregation. There seems good reason to suppose
lat what is here declared took place between the Lord
nd him on that occasion, or but shortly afterwards.
lowever this may be, we hear, from the whole tone of
is account, how hard he felt the struggle and how
ainful the defeat. It almost seems to- us as if tears
larred his utterance, while saying to the younger genera-
ons, for their instruction, though to their astonishment,
But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes ; '
lat is, your unbecoming conduct, shown at Kadesh, was
le cause why I then sinned against the Lord, and thus
tust feel His wrath ; He would not hear me, but replied,
Let it suffice thee, — speak no more unto me of this
tatter ! '
Moses rejected in his prayer: how shall we best set
>rth this touching incident in such a light, that, in
xordance with the twofold object of these meditations,
od's way of dealing with him may be better understood,
id our own Christian life intensified ? Perhaps we can
d nothing better than simply attempt to trace the
>urse of thoughts that rise within us in such fulness,
hen we place ourselves before this piece of history.
/hen we bring up the matter by itself before the bar of

306 Moses.
our own feeling, we exclaim, How dark God's dealings
were! But when we further listen to the witness of
preceding history, then we acknowledge that this was a
righteous judgment of the Lord. When we regard God's
mode of dealing in this case with reference to Israel, we
find it is a wise arrangement He has made. When, by
degrees, we have ascended to the point where faith looks
out, we find it is, for Moses himself, a blessing in disguise.
When we permit the light, that shines out from the world
to come, to fall upon this enigma which meets us here,
then we find grounds for everlasting gratitude. And
finally, when we return from that height to ourselves, we
cannot leave this man engaged in prayer without a glance
into a training school here opened to our view. Such is
the line of thought we purpose to traverse this hour ;
give us your company, and do not fail, especially, to
glance continually from Moses to yourself, and back once
more to him. And Thou, O Lord, who sayest to our
hearts, ' Seek ye my face,' — lo, we are here; we seek Thy
face ! Oh, hide it not from us ; and for Thine own name's
sake, teach us Thy way ! Amen.
1.
There kneels in prayer a godly man, to whom, as we
can see at once, such intercourse with God is not a duty
merely, or a habit, but a pleasure and delight. Must we
now picture Moses in the stillness of the tent of witness,
or in the boundless temple of creation, or in the solitude
of waking night ? It is enough for us that he now
ventures, all alone with God, to place upon his lips the
prayer that had been already lying heavily upon his
heart for days and weeks ; and he receives the answer
which you know so well, but which produced, upon a
heart like this, such an amount of grief as I need not

The Refusal. 307
attempt to tell. Well may we, first of all, speak of dark
dealing in God's providence. For who is he whom we
now see driven from the throne of grace with such
inexorable severity ? Is it a wicked man, to whom the
wise king's words apply in all their force, ' He that
turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his
prayer shall be an abomination ' ? x Nay, but it is the
special favourite of God, who often could succeed, by
powerful intercession, in averting from a hundred
thousand guilty heads the sword of justice, when it had
been raised to smite. What does he ask, that he thus
stirs the wrath of Him to whom he speaks ? Some special
recompense, perhaps, for years of toil and trouble ; or,
possibly, release from that most arduous post which he
approached with such reluctance, uttering the prayer,
' Send, Lord, I pray Thee, by some other one than me ; '
or did he ask a throne, which he and his descendants might
possess in that good land of promise ? Nay ; he merely
asked for a free entrance, a short stay, and calm enjoyment
in the evening of his life, in that inheritance which God
had promised to the fathers. How was that prayer ex
pressed ? Was it with an excessive urgency, unsteady
faith, in an uncourteous tone? Nay; he himself is not
afraid to own that he but asked a favour as a guilty one ;
and it is quite impossible to listen to his prayer itself,
without perceiving there the spirit of profound humility
and the most hearty gratitude. ' Lord God,' he suppli
cates, ' Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy great
ness and Thy mighty hand ; for what god is there in
heaven or in earth that can do according to Thy works,
and according to Thy might ? I pray Thee, let me go
over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that
goodly mountain,' — such is the name given to Canaan in
its totality, as being mountainous, — ' and Lebanon.' Is
1 Prov. xxviii. 9.

308 Moses.
not this prayer a faultless one — nay, more, one of the
highest excellence, and well deserving praise ? But
possibly you may already have remarked yourselves, that
there does not occur in it a word to palliate the evil
done ; he does not even allude to what he did for Israel
and for Jehovah ; there is but humble acknowledgment
of what the Lord already has begun to do unto His
servant, with the earnest prayer that He will now com
plete His work. It is not a reward that he desires, but
something as a special favour ; and even that earnest
prayer is wholly free from every shade of selfishness,
because he intercedes for Israel, while praying, too, in
faith, that God, in His great majesty and mercy, may be
glorified. And finally, when was that prayer refused ?
Now there is but one step — yes, between him and death
— but also between him and Canaan ; and the mountain-
tops of the Promised Land already glitter in the sun,
before his eyes. ' Canaan,'— that was the name which,
even in childhood, he could lisp with feelings of deep
reverence and love ; that was the spot to which his eye
had now been turned, in holy eagerness, for longer than
a century, — in youth, in manhood, and in age ; this was
the sole reward he sought for all his life of toil and
conflict, — such a life as God alone could estimate, as to
its efforts and results. For this he watched, and worked,
and lived ; and if you ask what was it that enabled him,
without a murmur, to wander eight and thirty years with
a rebellious nation, and to bear upon his shoulders such
a burden as might almost seem beyond the strength of
man, you may be sure that nothing but the thought of
entering Canaan could, for a man like Moses, make it
seem that he enjoyed a heaven on earth. And now, there
he is standing, as it were, upon the threshold of the
dwelling that is to make up for everything : ' Back,' cries
a voice which no one ever dares to contradict. Alas !

' The Refusal. 309
some years ago it had been left to him alone to say if
he would let himself be made the father of a mighty
nation, and the heir of all God's promises instead of the
rejected Israel : this, in his magnanimity, he had refused,
but even from this sacrifice he will not get the great
reward he seeks ! But surely (you will say) the Lord is
ever gracious ; He has never yet rejected Moses, when,
as mediator, he made intercession for his Israel ; the Lord
did not give absolute refusal even to that bold request he
once made for himself, ' Show me Thy glory ; ' shall this
matter, then, so small comparatively, be refused ? In
vain was supplication made in humblest tones before the
All-compassionate. The termination of the wanderings
shall form the boundary of Moses' hopes ; within thy
gates, thou lovely City of the Palms, he shall not pass,
but he must enter in within the gates of death. Thus it
would seem that Moses fails to reach his earthly destiny,
and Israel suffers an irreparable loss ; for where on earth
is there a second Moses to be found ? Mystery of
mysteries ! here, truly, all seems mystery !
But has the like not frequently occurred ? — does it not
happen still ? Though overwhelmed with sorrow, Jere
miah, it is vain for you to intercede for Judah ; God has
said : ' I will not hear.' In spite of all your penitence,
your pleadings, David, for the sparing of Bathsheba's
child are vain ; not all your prayers can dull the edge of
that dread sword, suspended by a slender thread above
the tender head, and which but waits the signal of the
Sovereign God to fall. With all your zeal and earnest
ness, it is in vain, Paul, that you have for years now
been endeavouring to visit Rome ; the Lord continually
turns your path towards the east, when you would turn
towards the west. And now, ye friends of God, are
there not many of your number who have had such an
experience as Moses underwent? A lovely prospect

310 Moses.
smiled on you, a pilgrim on life's path ; it seemed to
you a very Canaan of terrestrial luxury ; then you put
forth your strongest efforts to attain that height, and
call the treasure yours. Alas ! you see the palm trees
of Canaan, but it is not permitted you to rest beneath
their shade ; what you most earnestly desired is merely
shown to you, but not bestowed ; your path at once
takes a direction quite the opposite from that in which
you wish to go ; instead of milk and honey, bitter waters
flow to you. I see you kneeling there, an anxious wife,
beside the sick-bed of the husband whom you love ; you
call aloud to Heaven with strong cryings and tears,
beseeching that He may take something else, — if need
be, everything besides, — but spare you such a sacrifice
as this. It is in vain ; death knows no sympathy, and
even the Prince of life does not appear to know.
Yonder — but nay ; where would I stop, even if, out
of the book of each man's life, I wished to do no more
than indicate the chief among the sealed-up pages, bear
ing the superscription, ' Unanswered prayers ' ? Verily,
the Lord did not without good reason say of old that He
would dwell in the thick darkness. 2.
But is it really He, the Only Wise, the Gracious One,
the God unchangeable in righteousness, who dwells in
this darkness ? Before you hesitate to answer this in
the affirmative, look back a moment from the valley
opposite Bethpeor, where the conclusion of this chapter
places you, to Kadesh, which you know so well. Such a
refusal, which, viewed in itself, seems almost quite in
explicable, arbitrary, harsh, at once appears in quite-
another light, when you have heard not merely what
the heart of Moses says, but also what his conscience

The Refusal. 311
tells. However much of pain it causes us, we can no
longer speak of a dark dispensation, without adding, in
the second place, that this was a just judgment. We shall
not here remind you of what it was through which Moses
had forfeited his special privileges. We merely add to
what has been already said, that though the heinousness of
Moses' sin, after some days or weeks, perhaps diminished
in his own or Israel's eyes, it could not possibly have
seemed the less to Israel's God. The sentence passed
on Moses was not, certainly, the consequence of sudden
and unholy wrath, but the expression of strict equity,
wisdom, and love ; ,and if the Lord had shown Himself
relenting here, it would have seemed as if He formerly
had gone too far, when He condemned Moses and
Aaron equally with those who had transgressed so
much. That sentence, certainly, was hard, yet just, and
one which there was need to pass : Moses himself, too,
is so little disposed to call it arbitrary, that, instead, he
acquiesces silently ; and even in his latest song he can
not keep from praising God's great righteousness, — yes,
but His mercy too. Nay, least of all can the upholder
of the law be spared the application of the threatening,
'The soul that sinneth shall die!' Then, Moses, bow
thy head when now you pray, and bear the burden laid
on you ; for surely you, too, are not free from guilt
before the Lord ?
But we must not incautiously exalt a special case into
a universal principle. We must not think that every
rejection of a natural and suitable request is, for a pious
mind, the punishment inflicted for a special sin. But
more especially would we exhort you earnestly not to
imagine, when a disappointment such as this befalls you,
that the cause is always to be sought for in yourself, or
to remain dissatisfied till you have found at least one
cause. Had not those sisters in distress at Bethany,

312 Moses.
when the Lord delayed His coming to their brother
who was sick, refrained from seeking to discover why
they could have merited such a delay on His part, they
, would have been needlessly increasing sorrow for them
selves. But while we thus deny that there must ever
be a peculiar connection between rejection and guilt, we
must even still more strenuously resist the allegation
that such connection is but rare and casual, and in most
cases utterly inscrutable. We know full well there is a
thread — often, indeed, invisible, yet natural and such as
none can break — which forms a bond between our con
duct and our destiny ; and if the history connected with
each one of you were accurately known to us, it would
be far from difficult to prove that God has really good
reason for the choice He makes of such steep paths for
some. At one time, weak in body, you pray vainly for
recovery of health and strength, and you exclaim, ' How
dark my path!' But did you not, in younger days,
employ your powers, when they were fresh, as instru
ments of sin ? May not your present suffering, besides,
be a sharp thorn that must remind you, through the flesh,
how deeply you once fell ? Sometimes, again, in bitter
grief, you vainly seek deliverance ; and though you sorrow
loudly, yet the Lord at present gives you no reply. But
is there nothing that you seek to hide ? do not your feet
now tread the path of danger, where you cannot look
for peace ? have you not sinned against past mercies,
and, after plain experience of great deliverance, forgotten
your invisible Deliverer ? Or yet again, some wretched
father may be now beseeching God to bring his lost son
back unto his arms and to the home of God, — but all in
vain ; the blinded one holds on in the broad path that
leads to death. But have you ever thought upon the
time when your own mother vainly urged you to forsake
the sinful path ? and have you also said within yourself,

The Refusal. 313
' I am but punished now, in my own family, for sins
committed in my youth ' ? So plain and palpable is
the connection that exists between the Canaan which
we forfeit and the Kadesh where we sinned against the
Lord ; and it is not Adonibezeks merely, of most cruel
memory, who feel constrained at times to make confes
sion of past sins in words like these, ' As I have done, so
God hath requited me.'1 I know, indeed, that when
we show sincerity of faith in Christ, and have begun to
turn to God, we need no longer fear the revelation of His
wrath, but rather should rejoice in His great exhibition
of free grace. But the natural effects of sin are often
not removed, in spite of even the most earnest prayer :
not seldom, too, the Father deems it right to make His
children feel the bitterness of their temptation, even long
after they have drunk the stupefying draught, that they
may be more thoroughly convinced of the abominable
nature of their sin, and of the holiness of His law. In
the comparatively small amount that He withholds from
His own people, He permits them, as it were, to see
and feel how much He might withhold from them, did
He — as certainly He could — but feel inclined to set
their secret sins before His face. How very sad, then,
the presumption that reveals itself in him who, even for
a moment, still would dare to think of striving with his
Maker ! But surely it is not a girdle, but a penitential
dress that most becomes us, every time we pass through
such experience as Moses did ! Before the suit is
opened, conscience in each sinner will bear witness
that. the right lies wholly on the side of Him in whom
is found unspotted righteousness. 1 Judg. i. 7.

314 Moses. 3.
But our sphere of contemplation tends to widen out
on every side. It is not merely to the previous history
of Moses, but also to the needs of Israel that we must
look, to find the true solution of the enigma connected
with the firm refusal to accede to his request. If we
mistake not, the providence of God becomes apparent
here after His righteousness ; and when we take a step
still farther in advance, we find that we can readily and
heartily extol Him for a wise arrangement in His pro
vidence. Is there much need for proof to show that
Israel, in this case now before us, really loses less and
gains much more than can appear from a mere surface-
glance ? Forbid that we should raise a question as to
even a single pearl in Moses' well-earned crown ; as
legislator and as leader of the people, he has never
found his match. Nevertheless, Moses was but a man ;
it is impossible that one man should do everything : it
must, too, be acknowledged that he was more fitted to
guide Israel through the wilderness than lead them into
Canaan. The trembling hands which, even nine and
thirty years before, Aaron and Hur had been obliged to
lay hold on and sustain, so that the staff of God might
be held up aloft for all the camp, — these hands are now
less fitted than before to wield with dignity the marshal's
staff. The conquest of Canaan — a most colossal work
— demands fresh, youthful powers. And to entrust the
task into another's hands, while Moses was alive, would
have conflicted with the dignity of Moses' character. To
find that the attack failed of success through his defici
ency in vigour and activity would have been still more
galling to his soul. Then, leave in time your scene of
action, worthy old man ; for even Moses may be well
enough dispensed with on the earth, but Moses' God alone

The Refusal.

3i5

is indispensable ! Lo, even now, not far from you, there
rises up the youthful head of one, a warrior, who, trained
in your own school, shall twine the palms of Jericho
into a victor's garland for his brow ! He shall continue
on the path which you have opened up, maintain your
law with unabated zeal, display like faith, and far sur
pass yourself in martial ardour. Do you not think that
Israel would have good ground for saying, ere a few years
had elapsed, that though the Lord removed from them a
benefit, He gave them something better, and arranged
all for the best ? And how much more does Israel gain,
through God's refusal to hear Moses' prayer, than merely
a brave leader in the fight ? What an instructive lesson
there was set before the people in this incident ! And
certainly the Lord had an important end in view when
He thus makes it known. A hundred words, presented
in the form of law, and calculated to impress them with
a sense of God's unspotted holiness, cannot exert so
great an influence upon their minds as this one fact,
which almost seems incredible, — that even Moses, for his
sins, must die, no less than Korah or Dathan, outside of
Canaan. And what a cause of shame to those who had
made Moses sin, and thus to forfeit, in one fatal hour,
the fruit which he had earned so well through years of
toil ! And what a warning, too ! Surely it must have
cried, though not in these same words, ' Except ye re
pent, ye shall all likewise perish;' and again, 'If the right
eous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear ? ' x Moses, because his death took place
while he was yet on this side Jordan, must surely have
become, to an extent beyond what we can calculate, a
grain, of wheat that, for this very reason, has produced
much fruit ; and if there was anything more fitted than
another to make Moses reconciled with the refusal of his
1 Luke xiii. 3 ; I Pet. iv. 18.

316 Moses.
prayer, it was the thought that, in due time, this other
prayer, already mentioned, had been heard, 'that the
God of the spirits of all flesh should appoint a man in
his stead over the congregation.' For so God deals
with us : wisely for us, with one hand He withholds,
but with the other gives abundantly ; and much that
we are ready to regard as an irreparable injury to us,
is just what turns out for the profit of the brethren.
When we so rashly raise a loud complaint because our
prayers remain unanswered, do we not far too frequently
forget that we are here not for ourselves, but with and
for each other ; and that He who makes provision for
the wants of all, without respect of persons, frequently
must quite withhold something from one, that the fulfil
ment of his wishes may not turn out for another's injury ?
So readily are we inclined to look upon ourselves as if
we formed an all-important portion of the universe, rather
than beings of but small importance at the best, — or as
a chain, not as mere links connected with some other
links, — as persons of great consequence, before whom
much, nay, everything must yield, and not as those
placed in subordinate positions, and put there, too, for
the sake of multitudes besides. How much more lightly
would our disappointments press on us, had selfishness
less influence ; and what a multitude of instances does
history afford, in which God often, in His wisdom, gave
no answer to men's prayers, at least, delayed His answer,
so that, in what saddens us, there might be found a germ
of what would work for others' good ! In vain does
David long, for months and years, while he remained a
fugitive from Saul, to find enjoyment at the altars of the
Lord ; but must not Saul have first filled up to him the
measure of God's mercy and longsuffering ere David
can ascend the throne ? Jairus becomes uneasy when
the Master is detained in coming to his house ; but is

The Refusal. 317
the disappointed one aware that, in that crowd, there is
concealed a woman who had been a sufferer for twelve
long years, to whom that precious moment opened up
the prospect of a cure for body and for soul ? Paul
scarce can cease from his desire to work among the
Jews, while, as we know, the Lord designs him specially
to labour in the heathen world ; but, even now, the great
apostle is considering how much the Gentile world will
profit by his disappointment ; and does he not appear
all the more noble in your eyes, when, later, he declares
that for his own sake he would wish to be released, but
yet considers it to be more needful for the good of his
beloved Church that he should still remain on earth ?
It is quite possible that some of your own worldly pro
sperity is owing to the disappointment of the wishes of
some others ; and it is no more than just that a dear
wish of yours be sacrificed, on your part, in their interest.
The One who guides the destiny of both, of all, in such
a way that, in the end, none can set forth well-grounded
reasons of complaint, is He who has reserved, as His
peculiarly, the honourable name of the ' Only Wise ; '
and He desires that you especially shall show, by your
example, how a child that is chastised can render due
submission to the Father of our spirits, and yet live
under the chastisement. Our tears may be a seed of joy
for others, and the loss felt by a portion of the universe
may be the gain of all besides. Christians, does not that
thought apply to your own case ; and does it not begin
to show itself more clearly to your mind ?

But some one may reply, It surely must have saddened
Moses' heart to think that he had been incited to the
sacrifice of his own personal, legitimate desire, for Israel's

318 Moses.
benefit ? Such an objection might be called a fair one,
if the man of God, through what he was deprived of, had
been really too great a loser in the case. But just ,as
many a hard, uncomely shell often conceals a kernel of
the sweetest fruit, so is it with God's chastisements ; the
very rods employed in smiting drop with blessing from
the Lord. But do you think that we are scarcely
warranted in speaking, fourthly, of a blessing in disguise?
Then take the scales yourselves, and see what properly
it is that Moses is deprived of, what he obtains instead,
and what, in various ways, he gains. He is deprived
of — yes, Canaan ; and that word means — does it mean
everything ? No, in the eye of faith it is not every
thing ; it merely seems so to the mind of Moses now.
Canaan is — and how could it be otherwise ? — his earthly
ideal ; but ideals seldom gain by being realized, and
even the Land of Promise offers no exception to the
melancholy rule that there is far more pleasure in desire
than even in the actual enjoyment of prosperity. But
will it be impossible to forfeit Paradise even in Canaan ?
Shall sin be unknown there ? Shall death have no
dominion there ? Does it make such a mighty differ
ence to one like Moses, whether death takes place on
Nebo, or, a few months later, upon Zion hill ; for surely,
to such minds and hearts, the whole earth is a land of
sojourning, where all is strange ? Has he been thinking
of the daily cross he must expect, because, within the
first few weeks, he only looks upon sad scenes of blood
and tears, and afterwards finds out that Israel has
certainly changed for the better as regards their dwell
ing-place, but not in heart ? Ah, Moses, Moses ! little
do you know what pain of soul God spares you, when
He gives the stern reply, 'Speak no more to me of this.'
You have already had enough of sorrow in your day, old
man; this last and greatest grief may break your heart !

The Refusal.

319

Nay, better far to die on this side Jordan, than endure a
hundred deaths upon the other side ; and surely, too,
you know that, in this instance also, God still shows that
He is merciful ? Observe the tender care shown in pre
paring Moses for this disappointment, which was at once
the last and greatest ¦ he endured. For eight and thirty
years he had had time to meditate upon the question
why the names of Joshua and Caleb, but not his or
Aaron's, were omitted from the common sentence passed
on Israel. The separation made by death from all that
he had loved before, had gradually made his heart more
loose to worldly things. At last, his brother Aaron was
the only one that still was spared to him ; but it was
not long before he also fell asleep, predicting, in his
turn, that Moses' death was near. Considering all this,
it scarce can seem astonishing that now this last request
too is refused ; but with what tender mercy it is done !
When God will not allow him to speak further of this
matter, He Himself begins to speak about another,
grander theme. Moses receives permission to ascend
the heights of Pisgah, and behold of Canaan not merely
what is naturally given to the eye of sense, but what
the Lord shall set before his supernaturally enlightened
eyes. And presently, in sacred ecstasy, he sees the land
in all its wide extent, inhabited, enjoying all the blessings
of prosperity — as he would never have an opportunity
of seeing it in the reality, as it may never wholly have
appeared, as he may have imagined it to be in those
clear moments when the eagle spirit spread its rapid
wings in flight. How advantageous an exchange to
make, the visible Canaan given for the true ; and while
the foot alone feels loss, and that but to a small extent,
the eye and heart have gained ! Yes ; what is it the
man of God gains through that which the Lord his God
chooses in wrath for him, but which is nothing else than

320 Moses.
blessing in disguise ? It is not but an hour of pure,
unmixed enjoyment, such as earth could scarcely have
afforded him, but far more, infinitely more ! For has it
never yet occurred to you, that here we have the final
touch given to Moses' preparation for a higher, heavenly
sphere ? He who believes there is a definite connection
that exists between the earth and heaven, can never
doubt that Moses certainly was destined for such an
important place before the throne of God as he had
filled on earth. But high positions, both in earth and
heaven, are only reached by steep ascents ; ere Moses
can attain his full maturity, the hidden man of his heart
must needs pass through a final cleansing. Far more,
probably, than he himself yet knew, his heart is still
attached to this Canaan ; and it is natural, and right, and
good, so far ; but not even a Canaan may occupy too
much of any heart, for which God should be all in all.
Till now, it was Canaan and God that had been glorified,
or, if you will (for we do not believe the heart can be
divided), God in Canaan ; now, it is God alone, God
wholly, God eternally, the Giver of all good — if need be,
even without His highest earthly gift besides ! If, after
this, in the account of Moses' last farewell and death, you
can discover nothing sinful, and scarcely anything that
you can say is of the earth, this, too, comes of the present
trial ; now, not even a Canaan can he regard as his
reward ; what now can be his portion, his reward, his
highest good, but God ? Observe the end to which the
Lord's ways lead, and lay it well to your own heart.
We have already said, that patient waiting is the special
training which He gives to all whom He marks out for
something great ; but when we have passed through that
school, then the instruction given in the higher class
(forgive us the expression) before we die is often some
great disappointment we experience : a disappointment

The Refusal. 321
such as this, which we had scarcely reckoned on at all,
in which the aim of life seems to be missed, in which all
earthly things escape our grasp, but one in which, never
theless, we find the last dividing-wall that stood between
our heart and God sinks down into the dust, so that at last,
in answer to the question whether we still have a wish
for anything on earth, we can but answer, in Melanch-
thon's dying words, ' Nothing but heaven ! ' Oh, lovely
light, that rises from the land of Jordan on the enigmas
of lives spent by so many friends of God ! But is it only
Moses who has, to the full, experienced that our greatest
disappointments are God's greatest benefits ? How
eagerly do we, too, pray in our shortsightedness for some
form or another of mere earthly happiness, which, like
Canaan in Moses' eyes, is far beyond comparison with
gold, and yet is little more than tinsel ! How much
more wretched would be the most miserable man on
earth, if God had heard and answered all the prayers
with which he ever ventured to approach .the throne of
grace ! How often has God given you and me some
thing far better than what we so vainly asked, something
less brilliant but more beneficial; and how He purifies
our heart for heaven, by weaning it on earth from that
which it so earnestly desires ! Nay, even the most acute
does not perceive how much of the peaceable fruit of
righteousness he owes just to those days on which the
Lord said, as to Moses, ' Speak to me no more of this
matter.' And who can tell what good there is for man,
even in this life, in days which he spends here like a vain
shadow ? Many an earnest prayer for longer life is
utterly refused, that so the eye, closed ere the day of
evil comes, may not perceive the misery to follow us !
The supplications made by pious parents, for the life of
some dear child, often return unanswered, just because
God saw, in His omniscience, that the child of hope
X

322 Moses.
would afterwards become one of despair ! And God
refuses us a heaven on earth, that, when the separation
follows, it may fall more lightly on our souls ; that the
heaven in heaven may prove the more attractive, and
not any creature, though most dear — that God Himself
may be our all in all. — Does not the light begin to
break through with increasing clearness, to shine in all
directions, and to triumph over every cloud ?

When we have gradually and constantly been rising,
is there any reason why we should not now take one
step more ? We place ourselves upon the stand-point
of the world to come, and then the blessing in disguise
appears to us as an eternal ground of gratitude. But do
you not yet feel convinced, with us, that Moses has
received the punishment of his offence wholly within
this present life, and that the temporary loss has been
abundantly made up by God in heaven ? We shall say
nothing, for the present, of his death viewed in itself ;
but when we follow him, in thought, somewhat above
the height of Nebo, is it not as if the darkness, which by
slow degrees gave way before the twilight and the dawn,
had now quite disappeared before the splendour of the
noonday sun ? Isaiah, in a certain passage, puts into
the mouth of Israel, when they had been redeemed, this
joyful song, ' I will praise Thee, O Lord ; though Thou
wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and
Thou comfortest me I'1 If we mistake not, it is in the
same tone that the psalm of thanksgiving must have
been sung by Moses, raised to glory. Yes, now he is
finding out the reasons why his heavenly Friend afflicted
him ; now, endless thanksgiving assumes the place of
1 Isa. xii. I.

The Refusal. 323
fruitless prayer ! Who now would still desire the earthly
Canaan, if exclusion from that land were just what
hastened his enjoyment of some greater good ? If
Moses had been living there, and been a witness of the
sin and constant strife in which his nation was involved,
I fancy there is little that could form a greater ground
of thankfulness than what seemed his untimely death
on Nebo's lonely top. How widely different the way
in which he viewed the Promised Land, looking from
heaven, from that in which he spied it from that
mountain-top! How clear an insight must he have
obtained into the destiny of Israel, and all the way in
which the Lord conducted them ! What blessedness he
must have then enjoyed, in the immediate presence of
that God who no more spake to him out from a cloud
that none could penetrate ! I fancy, had an angel asked
him, ' Moses, do you still wish that you had crossed the
Jordan ?' that he could have answered, ' Speak to me no
more of this matter ! ' But now that blessed soil he has
in very deed not merely seen, but trodden, in a glorified
humanity. After the lapse of fifteen centuries, he
tarried, with Elias, in Christ's presence upon Tabor's
top ; and one hour spent upon that mountain of Canaan,
in such companionship, is better than a thousand else
where, in the finest valley of the land. Now, there was
neither sin nor death to come between him and the
Promised Land ; now, he no longer need conjecture, for
he knows what God has done to him. Oh, why do we
still speak, in childishness, of dark and stormy moments,
when we know full well that, in eternity, there shall be
ample opportunity for solving all the enigmas of time ?
Well • may we rest assured, that all the friends of God
will have much cause for gratitude in heaven, but more
especially for this, — that He has said so often, in this
world, through His strong love, 'No more of this!'

324 Moses.
But do we not begin to find this out even on this side
the grave ? Many of you, in silent admiration, must
acknowledge that the principle of everlasting joy would
never have been drawn out in your hearts, had not the
Lord been pleased to lead you, through this world, by
paths where pains and crosses are familiar things. But
the poor heart, that has been cured of lusting by the
sorrow it has felt, finds constantly, in overwhelming
measure, how the All-sufficient One, in a most wondrous
way, makes up for what He has withheld, by giving us
Himself. And never has the eye, beclouded by its
tears, been pointed towards heaven, but there has been
complete fulfilment of the words, ' The Lord has more
than this to give you ! ' But is it more than even
the most that we request, — more than the dearest we
have lost, — more than what we have- been accustomed
to regard as indispensable ? ' Yes,' faith replies ; and
' Amen,' shouts the morning of eternity, as it beholds
the last broad strip that forms part of the veil of
mystery drawn from before our eyes. What shall it
be, when the Eternal shall at last design to reply to all
the ' whys ' asked by the child of earth ? Lord, why
that great, irreparable loss ? ' Without that loss, you
never would have gained the treasure in the heavens.'
Lord, wherefore have I not been placed where I had
always thought I should be ? ' Because thou never
wouldst have elsewhere learned, as thou hast now, to
thirst for me ; and thou wouldst have been satisfied.'
Lord, why has not my prayer been heard, that this
thorn now may be extracted from my flesh ? ' Without
that thorn fixed in your flesh, you never would have
plucked a rose of Paradise ; nor would you, by experi
ence, have understood the words, " My grace is sufficient
for thee ; my strength is made perfect in weakness." '
You may have stared yourself half blind beneath the

The. Refusal. 325
cloud ; but do you not now feel your eyes beginning to
be dazzled by the flood of light that comes in streams to
you out from the open heaven ? and does not your com
plaint cease when you hear the prelude of the song,
' Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God
Almighty ' ? Blessed, thrice blessed is the man to
whom the Lord shall then, as now to Moses, ' show His
greatness and His mighty hand ! ' Then, when the dark
ness shall be changed to light, and time into eternity,
the promise made to Moses shall have been fulfilled, —
the promise, made by Him who far surpasses Moses, to
His dearest friends, when all was gloom : ' Said I not
unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest
see the glory of God ? ' :

6.
' If thou wouldest believe.' These words now bring us
to the close of our address. For, lastly, as we said, this
incident in Moses' life shows us a training school that
has been opened ; but is it not a school especially for
learning faith ? If you feel like myself, after considera
tions such as these, with which we have been occupied
this hour, you will be wholly at a loss for words in which
to give due praise, for His great love, to God, who, in
His word, makes a refreshing light arise over our
darkest ways, and seeks to reconcile us with everything
except our sins. But dare we, even this once, fail to
remind you that this priceless comfort is quite lost to all
who do not yet, by faith, stand towards God as we see
Moses here ? Poor man ! your heart and conscience
must condemn you when you seek to place yourself
before His face ; for you are not like Moses yet, ' His
servant,' but a miserable slave of sin ; you are still
1 John xi. 14.

326 Moses.
wholly unacquainted with the blessedness peculiar to
that hidden intercourse with Him, in which you here
saw Moses, in his troubles, finding sweetest joy ! Great
is your loss, ye who know not this joy, the only com
pensation for so much of earthly grief; and every dis
appointment must fall far more heavily on you than on
the Christian, since you can, at most, behold a Judge in
Him who takes and keeps from you what you desire ;
you cannot possibly regard Him as a Father yet. And
after that which is, in many ways, a joyless present,
what is it that you can look for in a future still more
dark ? From time to time, perhaps, some greater dis
appointment of your dearest wishes, but with no ground
whatsoever for expecting anything that shall make up
for this ! Yes, ' no ground whatsoever ;' for in this case
also do the Saviour's words, to some extent, apply, ' If
this is done to the green tree, what shall be done to the
dry?'1 Ah, even Moses' disappointment must sink into
insignificance, when we compare it with the fearful
prospect of the sinner, who awakes beyond the grave,
and hears the sentence uttered in his ears, ' Thou shalt
behold the heavenly Canaan with thine eyes, but thou
shalt not enter therein.' Oh, dreadful day, when, as for
ever afterwards, even this one prayer of the lost soul
will be unanswered, ' One drop of water to cool my
tongue ;' and when, after the bold request, ' Let me pass
over, I beseech thee, to behold that pleasant land which
lies beyond death's river, and those goodly mountains
set apart by Jesus for His people,' nothing but silence
shall succeed. Oh, flee from that eternal and irreparable
ruin ; seek the -Lord v/hile He is to be found ! He has
already spoken to your soul about repentance : say no
longer, ' Speak to me no more of this ! ' Pray first of
all, as Moses did, for grace ; and look for it not on the
1 Luke xxiii. 31 [Dutch translation].

The Refusal. 327
ground of your own excellence, but on the simple
ground of Jesus' intercession in your interest. Moses
can as little lead the sinner into the Canaan above, as
he could of himself enter the Promised Land on earth ;
Jesus only, like another Joshua, can open Salem's gates
for you to enter in. Betake yourself, then, to the
Mediator of a better Covenant, who, for your sakes,
offered His prayers and supplications, mixed with tears,
so that His cup might pass ! Pray that the Spirit of
all grace may also show in you His greatness and His
mighty power ! Submit yourselves to be anew brought,
through communion with Him, to the glorious state of
sons of God, in which the faith of Moses will refresh
your soul, and ' Abba, Father,' shall become more than
an empty sound !
But when we have thus taken our position in the
school of faith, we do not thereby wholly leave unvisited
the school of prayer that opens for us here. Does any
one suggest that instances like these, of prayer un
answered, must serve rather to deter a man from prayer,
than stir us up to practise it, and guide us in the exer
cise ? We answer that it was not so with Moses, or the
multitudes who fared like him and had this testimony,
that they pleased God ; nor shall it be the case with
any one who has first learned to say, | It is good for me
that I draw near to God.' So little should unanswered
prayers be allowed, even for a moment, to affect our
firm belief in special answers given to prayer, that we
should rather look on them as the exception which
establishes the rule, ' To him that knocketh it shall be
opened.' We scarce need mention that unanswered
prayers would not appear to be so enigmatical, did there
not stand upon the other side, as facts, a series of
instances in which an answer has been given to prayer ;
and heaven and earth would sooner pass away, than that

328 Moses.
there should be failure, in one jot or tittle, of the promise
left, at His departure, to His followers, by the Mediator
of the New and better Covenant, 'Whatever ye shall
ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.'
Then, Christians, only let your prayer be truly offered
in that ever blessed name, while you maintain with
Him, by faith, that close connection whereby, through
His Spirit, you are brought into God's fellowship. See
that your faith in special answers given to prayer be not
bound up with any abstract notions you have formed
beforehand with regard to the connection that exists
between God's secret counsel and our perfect liberty to
act as men. Such views can never fail to be contracted,
and may possibly be partial and changeable : what
judgment would you be constrained to pass upon a child
that made the trust placed in his father's goodness quite
dependent on the notions formed, in his own mind, as
to his father's secret plan, and not on his actual experi
ence ? * See that ye rather simply keep to the great
facts and the great promises of Scripture, which place
far beyond all doubt the possibility and certainty of
special answers being given to prayer ; a God who
could not do what far transcends your thoughts would
certainly be utterly unworthy of your adoration. Speak
freely to Him, in the name of Jesus, about all that lies
upon your mind, but always with submission and in
hope. Even when he has been disappointed in his
prayer, Moses is far more happy than the sinner when
he sees his highest earthly wish fulfilled. Pray just as
Moses did,- — pleading not your own works, but His ;
firmly persuaded that what God continues to withhold
from you must not be indispensable for your eternal
happiness, and may be even injurious. And above all,
rejoice that you can offer more than one petition which
even Moses never could expect to be refused, ' Lord,

The Refusal. 329
increase my faith ! ' ' Create in me a clean heart ! '
' Guide me with Thy counsel, and receive me to Thy
glory ! ' And you need never be afraid lest you receive,
in answer to requests like these, the words, ' It is
enough ; speak to me no more of this matter!' Chris
tians ! pray continually that there may be poured out
on you a double portion of this Spirit of prayer.
And finally, the holy place where you saw Moses
kneeling thus becomes to you a school where you are
taught how you should live. What are the lessons of
celestial wisdom, set before us in his disappointment,
for the regulation of our private and our daily life ?
An exhortation, first, to modesty. Ye who can often
build such proud and lofty castles in the air, see here
the fabric of great expectations, built, long years before,
by one who was a man according to God's own heart,
but now laid in the dust ; and learn to be more moderate
in claims which you imagine you can make upon the
future, so well known for its uncertainty. The fairest
Canaans flourish not beneath, but above the stars ; be
quite content when, in the wilderness through which
you silently pursue your way, there is no lack of bread
from heaven, and living water to refresh your soul. — But
secondly, an exhortation to more watchfulness. Ye who
have chosen the good part, do not imagine that the
crown has been already won, because you have got
through a portion of the way, and never stumbled yet ;
the last stones may still make you fall ; one instant may
spoil almost everything : therefore, above all, keep your
heart with diligence, for out of it are the issues of life !
-—But specially, an exhortation to submission of our wills
to God's. Ye who so often have contended with your
Maker, have you really, at any time, stood still and
calmly thought upon the touching words with which this
chapter ends ? How simple and withal important a

330 Moses. «
remark is given in ver. 29, ' So we abode in the valley
over against Beth-peor.' That quiet waiting, when the
Lord does not command us to advance ; that ready
silence, when there is such ground for loud complaint ;
that unconditional, implicit following, wherever God
appoints our path, — would you not almost envy Moses
such submissiveness ? and does not even the best man
feel how far he is from having such a frame of mind ?
Come, let us pray to Jesus, that He may Himself con
duct us to that eminence ; and let us glory in each
tribulation, even in those by which our heart is crushed,
provided only that our wills are truly bent in due sub
mission to the Lord. The time will come when we shall
grieve regarding but one point, — the smallness of our
faith, which sometimes made it so extremely difficult
for us to stoop, and for that very reason to ascend.
But when, with this confession, we have fallen down in
heaven, before the feet of our great Guide, — oh, blessed
prospect ! — He shall then regard us with a look in which
we may read more of favour than of wrath ; and while
He lays His hand upon our mouth, He will reply, ' It is
enough ; speak no more to me of this matter ! '
Amen.

CHAPTER XII.
Efyz Decease.
' So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died.' l — Deut. xxxiv. c,a.
' MARK the perfect, and behold the upright ; for the end
of that man is peace' 2 Could David, in his later years,
have ever given an advice which, if but faithfully re
garded, will produce as much good fruit ? Tell me of
any sight possessed of more impressiveness, solemnity, or
greater comfort, than the deathbed of a servant of the
Lord. The life, indeed, of one who fears the Lord may
well be called a school of wisdom, a mirror of God's
faithfulness, a revelation of His glory. Nevertheless, it
is his death especially that shows to us the riches of
God's grace towards His people, with a lustre never
elsewhere seen. If the Christian's life has been a battle,
death is the hour of victory ; and if the path of God's
own children often runs through cloud and gloom, a
kindly light dawns at the end. Just as, in the realm of
nature, when a cloudy, sultry day draws to its close, the
evening sun not seldom scatters forth its friendly rays,
so also, in the spiritual life, it often is the closing days
that turn out best. Then faith displays her power to
conquer everything ; then love casts tender glances
everywhere ; then hope spreads out her wings in all
their wide extent ; and there appears to be realization
of the words, ' Surely the bitterness of death is past ! '
! Preached Jan. 23, 1859. 2 Ps. xxxvii. 37.

332 Moses.
Nor is it wonderful that what is stated in the Scriptures,
in connection with the death of the most eminent among
the men of God, has at all times obtained particular
attention, unmistakeable regard. The contemplation of
the death of one who fears the Lord bears with it such
a blessing as we can but roughly estimate ; and Abel,
who first fell on sleep, assuredly was not the only one to
whom is due the praise, that after he himself is dead he
still speaks by his faith. What one of you has never
listened to the language of the pious dead, the oldest
of all languages with which we are acquainted in the
world ? And — not to mention any other names — who
can behold a Jacob, and an Aaron, or a David, or a
Simeon, depart in peace, without thus praying from the
bottom of his heart, ' Let my latter end be like his ' ?
A hundred arguments regarding the reality and worth
of faith avail far less for our conviction than one testi
mony, borne by almost fainting lips, of peace, and joy,
and hope. Even the most prosperous of worldly men
must feel some envy of the dying Christian, who knows
whom he believes. And though we were devoid of every
other proof, there still would echo, from the habitations
of the dead, the loud ' Amen ' in answer to the words of
praise, ' He that is our God is the God of salvation, and
unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.'1
Must we, then, still crave your attention, when we are
about to point you now to Moses' death ? We feel
quite sure there is no need for that ; we only fear that it
will scarce be possible fully to satisfy the expectation
with which you open the last page of his earthly history.
Throughout the course of these our contemplations, you
have looked on many scenes of the most elevating
character ; but assuredly, that moment when there was
pronounced on Moses the inexorable sentence which he
1 Ps. lxviii. 20.

The Decease. 333
has himself recorded for all time, ' Dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return,' — this far transcends all else
in calm sublimity. Moses in death : — the picture can,
perhaps, be fully painted, as it should, only by one of
those ambassadors of Heaven, who, on the lonely top of
Nebo, though themselves unseen, yet were the witnesses
of his decease. What more shall we add to that re
markable account, appended by a later hand to the
Fifth Book of Moses, and containing the most un
equivocal marks of its full reliability, and of its having
come from God? It would be easier, with Israel, to,
look upon this death with reverential silence, than to
answer all the questions that present themselves for our
consideration here. Further, we cannot here decline to
cast a glance upon the closing incidents in Moses' life.
And least of , all would you desire that we should silently
omit all reference to the memorial in his honour, for
which the closing verses of this chapter have expressly
been composed. With such abundance of material, it
would be difficult to gather everything into a single
sermon, if the text did not exactly show us from what
point of view the whole could be regarded as a unity.
Suppose that Moses' grave ' could still be pointed out,
and that he had to choose the words of the inscription
to be placed on it : do you not think that he would most
desire the honourable appellation given here, ' Moses,
the servant of the Lord ' ? Then let us here employ this
honourable name, and view the death of Moses, with all
the incidents therewith connected, as the death of the
servant of the Lord. Here we are shown, in the most
striking way, and by a multitude of proofs, how blessed
and sublime may be the death of him who serves the Lord
in uprightness of heart. Come with us while we now —
more fortunate than Israel, who were obliged to stay
behind— in thought ascend to Nebo's top. If any ask,

334 Moses.
' What profit can be found in serving God ? ' the sight
of such an one as Moses at his death can soon dispel his
doubt. Or if another, upright but most timid, trembles
at the near approach of death, Moses can teach him
how faith overcomes the fear of death. And if there be
a third — but why should we anticipate the full enuncia
tion of the lessons which this very hour shall bring
before our minds ? Come, see for yourselves how the
servant of the Lord (a) awaits his death ; (b) submits to
death ; (c) survives his death.
With all the strange and the peculiar features that
distinguish Moses' latter years and death from those of
every other man, it will be evident both how and why
the righteous servant of the Lord can, from the nature
of the case, still die like him. The contemplation will
itself cause us to feel the need of looking earnestly to
our own end, now drawing near. And Thou, God of
all grace, teach all of us to live before Thee, that we
may hereafter die with Thee, the Lord. Let Christ be
come our life, then death shall certainly become our
gain. Amen. 1.
' It shall come to pass that, at evening-time, it shall
be light.' 1 May we not confidently say that these
words of a later seer were abundantly fulfilled to Israel's
greatest prophet ? Mark, first, the way in which this
servant of the Lord awaits the stroke of death. What
persevering industry precedes that death ! And what
grand promises of blessing give announcement of that
death !
It is sad to see a person who has long outlived him
self. When the senses have begun to cease performance
1 Zech. xiv. 7.

The Decease. 335
of their necessary offices, and the head, once vigorously
raised aloft, bends daily nearer to the ground ; when the
hand no longer can be used to hold the plough, and the
feet but totter at each step which they attempt to take :
then, frequently, a feeling of deep pity seizes us, and we
begin to say, that an extreme old age cannot be abso
lutely called a blessing after all. The sight affects us
still more deeply when we know that this old man, now
in his dotage, was a faithful servant of the Lord, and
willingly would be so still, but now is quite incapable of
working in His vineyard any more. The Lord has
spared His servant Moses so severe a trial as this. He
is cut off, indeed, full seventeen years before the age at
which his father Amram died ; but he already has far
passed the term of years for which most men were then
allowed to live, and yet he still remains in all his
strength and love of work. ' Moses,' as we read in
the 7th verse, ' was an hundred and twenty years old
when he died ; his eye was not dim,' — a fact the more
remarkable when we reflect how much that organ must
have suffered in a desert life of forty years at least,
through constant blazing of the sun upon the crystal
sand, — ' nor was his natural force abated.' To none in
Israel has he become the object of commiseration, but
to all he still remains the subject of regard. If he is
now less nimble in his gait, he still remains as firm as
when he left vexed Egypt at the head of myriads ; if his
heart does not now beat more quickly than before, it
still beats warm towards the Lord and Israel. Some
weeks have now gone by since Aaron has been gathered
to his forefathers ; but even the want of one who seemed
to have been indispensable could not cause Moses' energy,
in his last days, to slacken in the least degree. The
stately cedar-tree, inexorably marked for cutting down,
presents to every passer-by the fatal cipher ; still, his

336 Moses.
course is not yet run, his roots are firmly fastened in
the earth. Moses is fully conscious that his life is
bounded on the one side by the Nile, and on the other
by the Jordan ; nevertheless, so very far is even this
certain prospect of his death from bringing gloom and
heaviness upon his soul, that he now plainly sets himself
to make the most of those last hours of life that are
appointed him. It is well-nigh incredible what we still
see him — as if with one foot in the grave — accomplishing
within the weeks immediately before his death. An
expedition is begun against the Midianites, and crowned
with the desired success.1 Solemn assemblies of the
elders of the people are convened ; the law is read anew
to them ; the history of recent years, too, is rehearsed ;
and there is pleading for God's right to Israel's highest
gratitude and love. Even as an aged father scarcely
can allow his darling boy to leave his arms, afraid lest,
after his decease, the child will tread the sinner's path,
so Moses here exhorts and warns his Israel in tones
of deep solicitude. In all this we can easily perceive
that, from his sad experience of Israel in the past, fear,
infinitely more than hope, as to their future, fills his
heart ; yet this does not, even for an instant, keep him
from presenting to their minds, in God's name, life and
death, the blessing and the curse. Further, he gives
command that, after Israel shall have reached the Pro
mised Land, they shall erect large stones upon Mount
Ebal, plaster them with lime, and write thereon the
words of the law. Moreover, he himself puts all these
latest prophecies and lessons in a book, and gives
command that this, his legacy, committed to the keep
ing of the Levites, shall be publicly and solemnly read
every seven years. Again, he introduces Joshua to the
assembled Israelites as his successor, and encourages his
1 Num. xxxi. 2.

The Decease.

337

heart by promising God's help and presence in his
work.1 And finally, when, after this, God in His ma
jesty had made a revelation with regard to the unfaith
fulness that soon would show itself among the Israelites,
and, which demanded yet another warning, as a final
and, if possible, a more impressive one, — then he gives
utterance, before the people, to the grand and noble
Song, preserved in chapter thirty-second, which, in the
boldness of its flight, perhaps by far transcends all else
we know of even Moses' poetry. Only when this song
also has been uttered, heard, and written down, that it
may be a witness unto all posterity, does he consider
that his earthly task has been fulfilled. Nay, even after
this last, dying song, there is heard once more the
solemn, earnest exhortation (vers.' 46, 47) to lay all these
things to heart, and to impress them also on their
children's minds. Ye friends of Moses, do you think
his vital powers are here diminished, or, on the other
hand, that they have now developed to their highest
point ? Well done, thou good and faithful servant, who
dost thus, with girded loins and burning lamp, await
the Master's coming, — not content with simple watch
ing, but engaged in working, ay, and winning too, so
long as even a single breath remains upon these sacred,
blessed lips ! Thus to be found (but not surprised) by
death, while even our latest efforts are employed in
serving Him to whom the whole of life was dedicated —
may not this indeed be called a death of which you
almost envy Moses ? Yes, that is the true power, which
perseveres in doing good ; that is the true nobility of
mind, which lets itself be stirred up by the thought,
' The night cometh, when no man can work,' to do what
the hand findeth to do with all its might. I ask of
every one who truly has become the Lord's, if there is
1 Deut. xxvii. -xxxi.
Y

338 Moses.
anything which he more earnestly desires than to expire
like Moses, faithful to his calling, like the soldier at his
post? What might perhaps be wanting, in his later
years, of youthful vigour, he may possibly make up for
by redoubled zeal. Surely, whoever thus regards God's
pious servant, ever stedfast and immoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, sees for himself
a fine realization of the figurative language used by
Eliphaz the Temanite, who likens such a hoary-headed
man unto a sheaf of corn, brought safely to the garner
in its full maturity.1
But probably your thoughts may be anticipating me
in the consideration of the blessings which presaged
Moses' decease. And well you might have such strong
predilection for the subject ; for, in truth, a more affect
ing and impressive farewell-utterance can scarcely be
conceived, than that which is recorded in the chapter
that immediately precedes. Imagine how it must have
been with Moses, when, as is expressly told us (xxxii.
48), ' on that selfsame day,' after he had delivered his
inimitable parting-song, he heard the Lord's command,
' Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, and die in the
mount ! ' Thus, then, not merely his days, but even his
hours are numbered ; and when once, at eventide, the
sun sinks down behind yon hills, his farewell ray shall
shine upon the prophet's lonely resting-place. Courage
ously the man of God takes up the burden, yet no single
murmur of complaint arises in his heart against the griev
ous load. But still his eyes are Once more turned to Israel,
who lie encamped below, all over the vast plain, and who
are well aware that he, their greatest prophet, shall thus
speedily be lost for ever to their gaze. Shall such" an
one as Moses quietly depart, leaving no blessing after
1 Job v. 26.

The Decease. 339
him ? will he not even at least give some expression to
the love and faithfulness that dwell in him, and bind
him closely to the Lord's inheritance ? Impossible : his
second last address has been an earnest warning, — then
his last is one rich promise ; and if, in days but recently
gone by, his very love to them constrained him to in
exorable severity, he now unhesitatingly opens all the
treasuries within his loving heart, as spacious and as
rich as his still vigorous and all-embracing mind. See
how, like Jacob on his dying bed, he lifts his hands to
heaven, with all solemnity, to bless first one and then
another tribe ; the Spirit of true prophecy, whose it is
to make known hidden things to come, is once more
busy over the affairs of God's own chosen ones. I
scarcely can refrain from giving you at least a short
selection from those blessings, uttered in the form of
aspirations or of songs. How powerful and splendid an
exordium, whose leading thought is taken from the
rising of the sun ! ' The Lord came from Sinai, and
rose up from Seir unto them : He shined forth from
Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of
saints ; from His right hand went a fiery law for them.'
That law, as we are shown even here, is the most
splendid crown of Israel ; and Moses, who delivered it,
is called a king (ver. 5). He speaks about himself as if
it were another person he describes ; he is no longer in
the world, and even now he takes a retrospect of his
past work as a completed whole. Once more he places a
memorial crown upon the grave of Aaron, — ' the man
who was God's favourite, and who, impartial in reward
and punishment, knew not his brethren nor regarded his
own sons.' The weal and woe of the remaining tribes,
excepting Simeon, on through the latest times, he here
predicts. And when he closes with the words, ' May
the eternal God be thy refuge, and may He give support

340 Moses.
to thee with everlasting arms,' l I almost think I see him
press all Israel with both hands to his loving heart,
that rather will consent to break than cease to pray for
Abraham's posterity ! I can but give mere hints ; but
read this blessing for yourselves, even for the purpose of
comparing it with Jacob's dying blessing, which this
very Moses has set forth : the points of likeness and of
difference between the two furnish abundance of material
for meditation, that excites our deepest interest. But
specially, endeavour to make out, as "if it were inscribed
between the lines, what there is in the prophet's heart ;
and then say what it is that most surprises you, — his
strong, unbending faith in the fulfilment of God's ancient
promises, in spite of all the deep unworthiness and the
unfaithfulness shown by the nation ; his indomitable
love shown to the race, a love which neither hate nor
opposition, nor (what probably says more for him) the
ice of sixscore winters cooled ; or his lively hope of such
a glorious future for the Israelites, that (and be sure you
do not fail to mark the point) repressed, at least from
utterance, the thought of his own prospect now. For
himself, Moses has nothing further to desire ; and of
himself he has as little to declare, or to complain ; not
even is there anything besides for which he may express
his thanks : that great mind is entirely occupied by one
main thought, which quite prevents the utterance of
anything besides ; and his last breath is spent in loving
prayer for his people's good. Behold him now, the
prophet who is showering his blessings on the people's
heads, as if he also were high priest, — Moses and Aaron,
— just as if the two were here combined into a living
unity ! See how the stream of blessing — for we well
may here repeat the opening of Moses' song — descends
' like a refreshing rain upon the dry and thirsty plants ! '
1 Deut. xxxiii. 27 [Dutch translation].

The Decease. 341
Surely, none but the faithful servant of the Lord can
thus meet death ! O Israel, so hard in soul against all
change for good, see that ye duly estimate this blessing
uttered by your mediator as he now departs ; and if this
Moses, while he lived, so often preached unto deaf ears,
at least let not the almost dying one address you now
in vain ! But write ye also, on the tables of your hearts,
the final words of pious age, — relations, friends, who in
the last hour of their departure earnestly besought you,
in less grand but quite as faithful language, to ' know
the God of your fathers, and to serve Him with a per
fect heart and with a willing mind.' There lies a
hidden power in the blessing given, as it were, upon the
threshold of the heavenly kingdom by departing faith
and love ; and no prayer more certainly receives re
sponse than that in which a dying one commends those
who shall soon bewail his loss unto the everlasting
Comforter. Ye who are entering on life, see that ye
forfeit not the dying blessing of a parent's heart, that
all through life has beat with deep desires for your pro
sperity ; and Christians, pray that, if it be permitted you
to see your friends assembled round your dying bed,
there may be as much love and quite as little self-
reproach within your heart, as when this Moses bade
farewell to Israel !

Why should the man, who has thus waited the ap
proach of death, not calmly fall asleep ? This second
point we now consider: here, once more, the sacred
narrative shows us the way. What sacred peace illumi
nates that death! What loving care, bestowed by
Heaven, gives sweetness to that death !
'Death' — that brief word we utter easily. Suppose

342 Moses.
however, for an instant, that you could foresee your
death, — I shall not say, as many hours and days, but
just as many weeks and months as Moses could, — how
many, from the time when they have made the terrible
discovery, could know an instant's perfect peace ? Moses
knows it, — he who lived, not under grace, but under
law, while life and immortality had not as yet been
brought to light. The sun of life in him descends with
stately splendour into night; but so long as we can
look and see, there is no single cloud that covers it.
' But Moses, — you have never seen your dearest wish on
earth fulfilled ; you leave so very much behind to which
your heart is bound by sacred ties ; you still could find
so much enjoyment and so much to do on earth ; you
are a sinner, and you go to meet a God the fierceness of
whose wrath your own mouth has made known ; and
finally, you surely do not know at all how it shall be
upon the other side of death ? ' Ye who speak thus,
how little do ye know the power of faith, that still
can easily remove even higher mountains than this
Nebo, or can make ascent of them ! Moses expires,
with an unsatisfied desire remaining in his heart, but
wholly satisfied with God ; and nothing comes more
easily to him than to be still, on the last day of earthly
life, obeying the loud call in his last song, 'Ascribe
ye greatness to our God ! ' He has not only trusted
Heavenly Wisdom, but has tasted Love even in the bitter
cup prepared for him at Kadesh ; and his heart is now
almost as disengaged from an attachment to the land on
that side Jordan, as the wilderness on this. So long as
God was pleased to place him in the midst of Israel, he
knew no greater joy than to be honoured as the leader
of their tribes ; but now he knows the web of his allotted
task is finished to its latest thread : he murmurs neither
openly nor secretly because that task is now, without

The Decease. 343
delay, committed into other hands. ' Enjoyment ? '—
ah! what joy could he now see behind, for which he
might present the prayer, ' Return once more, — only
once more ' ? Or, ' Work ? ' — surely he now has borne
the heat and burden of the day quite long enough, to
have a right to claim the rest which waits the weary one
in his last resting-place? But ' right?'— nay, Moses
does not think of that ; for we have just been listening
to him while he prayed touchingly, and surely not in
vain, to God for grace. That grace shall be the only
anchor of his hope when death's storm shall arise ; but
though he feels the deepest need of that too, he is quite
as sure of gaining it. We stay not to determine what
he may himself have read in those dark shadows cast
by the atoning altar he erected in the midst of Israel ;
or in the Passover, which he ordained for his own folk ;
or in the brazen serpent, unto which he pointed such
vast multitudes of sufferers from deadly serpent bites.
But certainly there is no shadow of a doubt now in his
heart, when he remembers how God spake to him out of
the cloud, nigh forty years before ; and if he once trod
Sinai's sides with fear and trembling indescribable, he
now approaches Nebo with full confidence. He knows
that, for himself, God's wrath is but the utmost point
of the protecting, fostering flame of His great love ;
assured of this, he readily prepares himself, not as one
who must needs, but as one who quite willingly lays
down his life: Eternity, indeed, is in a sense as little
known to him as is the earthly Land of Promise ; but
' he waits for Thy salvation, Lord,' no less than Jacob
when he died. And now, why dost thou tarry longer
here, king in Jeshurun ? The hour is come when thou
shalt from the Lord receive a better, yea, the highest
crown ! The last word has been uttered, the most
blessed prospect shown : Moses at last arises in the

344 Moses.
presence of the whole twelve tribes. How utterly devoid
of spirit and true taste is the tradition given in a pro
fane historian,1 that all the camp went after him, till
Moses himself made signs that they should stay behind ;
that the elders followed him still farther ; that, finally,
Eleazar and Joshua conducted and supported him up to
the very last ! He who can die like Moses needs no
earthly escort on his final journey through this life. Back,
children of the earth ! — he has another Guide, unseen
by any eye of sense ! Already he is marching on, while
every step removes him farther from the scene of his
career on earth, past the last tents, and up the crooked
path that leads to heaven, over the roughest clumps of
stones. These have not been the sharpest stones of
stumbling on the path now almost at its end! Calm
peace, the peace of God that passeth understanding,
now descends upon his snowy head, as if borne on the
evening breeze ; such is the latest service rendered to
the prophet by the staff of God. In silence, yet courage
ously, he moves along ; and the eagle eye soon marks
the limit where the words appear to be addressed to
him, ' No farther ! ' Did the aged man once more think
of that memorable walk he had, no further back than a
few months, so touching in its reminiscences, when he,
perhaps, led Aaron to his lonely deathbed on Mount
Hor ? Once, when he was returning out of exile, from
the land of Midian, he thought the help of Aaron in
dispensable ; but now, when he bids farewell to the
pilgrimage of life, he has no need for even Aaron, since
that place is now supplied by One far better. What
scenes hast thou, O world, to set before our eyes, so
charming, so affecting, so impressive as the sight of
such a death ? . . .
Here are we standing, then, with Moses upon Nebo ;
1 Josephus.

The Decease. 345
and yet we must raise our thoughts still higher than the
man of God, who is already almost glorified. For here, in
very deed, the Lord hath His abode ; and only He can
give us words through which to speak, in some way as we
should, about the loving care which lighted up that death.
Are not all things here ordered by a heavenly hand,
whose workings you can see even in the smallest
incident ? Think of the lonely spot that was determined
on to form the scene of Moses' death. Far from the
earth, near unto heaven, upon the borders of Canaan,
and yet beyond the reach of the vast, gazing multitude.
Nay, Israel must not be able to depict to their own
minds the man of God whom they have seen in all his
greatness, with the sunken countenance and the dis
torted features that appear in death ; he needs must
vanish from their sight in his full powers, a more than
earthly form, so that his matchless personality may
leave the deeper impress on their minds. Think of the
time when he is summoned to depart, — when everything
connected with the desert -life is done, and nothing of
the bloody work in conquering Canaan has yet begun :
to-day, the tabernacle of his flesh falls down, and
scarcely any sound is heard, — to-morrow, if need be, the
tents of Israel may be lifted from their last camping-
ground. Think of the words the Lord last uttered to
His servant on the earth, words equally remarkable for
holiness, for love, for faithfulness : ' This is the land
which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob ; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but
thou shalt not go over thither.' But, above all, think of
the privilege to which these words refer, and which you
scarce can picture to yourself in any way that ade
quately represents the truth, — the privilege of looking
on Canaan. There he beholds, on one side, richly- wooded
Gilead, with all its fields and meadows ; while his vision

346 Moses.
there is bounded by the steep and lofty Hermon, clad
in everlasting snows. There lies the mountain-land of
Ephraim, and in the foreground the luxuriant plain on
which the palms of Jericho wave to and fro. And yonder,
Judah's vineyards smile, adorned with pleasant green ;
yonder, again, lies Jordan's valley, stretching from the
city of palm trees away to distant Zoar ; over all, the
heavens, from which a more than ordinary glow of light
seems to descend upon the land that formed the basis of
his faith and hope. It stretches out before his eyes, now
specially enlightened, like a map, while there is pointed
out to him, as by a heavenly finger, every spot that
claims regard ; never has such a prospect been enjoyed
by Moses upon any mountain-top. And yet, what is
even that, compared with the grand view of the Canaan
above, that now grows clearer every moment as he looks ?
Does it not seem as if the spirits of the patriarchs were
hovering before his eyes, and beckoning on him to come,
— as if some other clouds were vanishing, besides those
that obscure the far horizon of this earth, — as if the still
ness found on Nebo were becoming yet more still, — as
if his spiritual eyesight were becoming constantly more
clear ? But now the cold kiss of the messenger of death
is felt upon his lips ; the staff falls gently from his
trembling hands, but God Himself receives him, in the
agonies of death, into His fatherly embrace. . . . ' So
Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of
Moab, by the mouth of the Lord.' 1
' By the mouth of the Lord.' Whether you understand
these words, with most expositors, to signify, ' according
to the word that the Lord had spoken ;' or, with others,
think the reference is to a death which happened at the
mouth of God, i.e. in His immediate presence, in all
1 Deut. xxxiv. 5, Dutch translation : a closer rendering of the Hebrew
than our English version. — Tr.

The Decease. 347
gentleness and blessedness, while he was still engaged
in speaking with the Lord, — in either case you witness
such a death as earth has never seen at any other time.
But is this Moses, then, the only one who has experienced
so plainly what it is to have a friend in God, not only
when near death, but also in and over death ? Put Nebo
out of the consideration, the immediate and direct com
munications that he had with Heaven, the picturesque
and most extensive view that he obtained ; then say if
you can count the multitudes of those who, just like
Moses, are found more than conquerors in the fierce
strife with death ? But nay, we need not set aside all
these considerations ; for the same thing ever reappears
in other forms, though seldom in the same connection as
before. Celestial Wisdom still continues to determine
both the time and place of death for those who honour
her in all integrity of heart ; nor is there any mother
who can show more tender care in making a first resting-
place for her dear child, than that with which the Father
in Christ Jesus has selected what is destined to become
the final resting-place of His redeemed. The great
death-sentence, certainly, continues equally in force for
Christians as for Moses ; but what enemy is any longer to
be feared, who meets you with his weapons broken, and
a kiss of peace ? 'Peace through the blood of the cross :'
— faith in that fact makes separation easy for the Chris
tian, death sweet, and hope of the eternal life a blessed
thing. He is already freed from his attachment to the
earth before it sinks beneath his feet ; he is at home
within the better land, even long before he plants his foot
in it. If he were but to take a retrospect, indeed, of the
vast multitude of his transgressions, then the confidence
of faith would disappear more rapidly than breath upon
the lip. But he is well aware there is a better sacrifice
than any one that Moses instituted ; so to speak, he has,

348 Moses.
through faith, by slow degrees, outgrown death, though
he knows that he shall soon endure the penalty of death.
These distant Pisgah-views, far more than we well know,
are seen on multitudes of dying beds ; you may perceive
them in the poorest cottages, where some dear child of
God lies stretched upon a humble bed of straw. Those
who are struggling in the agonies of death do not describe
to you the whole that they begin to see of the good land
on yonder side of that dark flood ; but could we listen
to the whole of what the Spirit of Consolation still can
whisper into ears already more than half-closed to the
world around, we should, like Paul, be able to make
known to others mysteries revealed to us from the third
heaven, but not expressed before in any earthly tongue.
And how the love of God can sweeten even the bitter
ness of death, by what He brings about in daily life, by
the refreshing He bestows, by influences brought to bear
on us, not one of which we possibly can reckon on for
even one hour before it comes ! If but the peace of God
refresh our souls, and God's love guide us on our way,
does it make any real difference whether we must meet
death, like Moses, upon Pisgah, or like Paul, upon a
scaffold, or like Stephen, overwhelmed with stones, or
on a cross, as Peter did ? The blessedness of death does
not depend upon the mode in which we die ; and for the
Christian, loss of life remains the painful but the certain
way to everlasting and inestimable gain. In God's
presence there is fulness of joy ; at His right hand there
are pleasures for evermore ! 3.
'Fulness, satisfaction:' — that word brings us to the
third particular. We did not see the whole when we
observed the way in which the servant of the Lord awaits

The Decease. 349
and suffers death. How he survives death is the final
lesson taught by Moses' history. What honour there is
paid his memory when he is dead ! And what unutter
able blessedness rewards that death !
Once more we leave the heights of Abarim, descending
to the plains of Moab down below. It is a change from
heaven to earth, yet the transition is as touching as it
is immense. ' The children of Israel wept for Moses, in
the plains of Moab, thirty days.' I know, indeed, that
thirty days were spent in mourning over Aaron too ;
and that the solemn lamentations of the Orientals were
not always felt as deeply as observance of them might
be called general and comparatively tedious. Neverthe
less, do you not also think that, over Moses, there were
certainly poured other tears than those of simulated
grief ; and that, within the first month after his decease,
many an eye looked, in deep sadness, on the place left
void through death ? No one need watch to see whether
the man of God will possibly return, or set about the
search for his remains. Well do men know they will
not look on him again on earth ; and scarcely has he
vanished from their eyes — not from their hearts — ere
there ascends from earth to heaven a sound of woe. The
cry no longer reaches the departed one ; but those who
have been left behind call, each unto his fellow, through
the midst of tears, that earth has suffered a great loss,
yea, in a certain aspect, an irreparable loss. Would
conscience not be roused in those who formerly made
Moses' life so wretched, but who now are well aware
how high his true position was,— how deeply, too, they
often fell ? I think I see how such as Joshua, in deepest
sadness, daily mourn the absence of his guidance and
advice ;' I think I hear the testimony of the many blind
whose eye he was, the many weak to whom he was a
hand, the many in perplexity whose counsellor he was :

350 Moses.
' Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man
fallen this day in Israel ? ' The time of mourning
hastens to an end, but Moses' memory is carried with
the Israelites, as something sacred, from the wilderness
into the Promised Land, now opened for their entering.
With one exception, his posterity quite disappear from
off the stage in history,1 but his mighty spirit animates
the words and deeds of Joshua ; and when the latter, in
his turn, forsakes the great arena here below, it is not
till the people have anew been bound, by the most sacred
oaths, to the observance of the whole Mosaic law. And
soon his image is found hovering before the minds of
all those judges, kings, and prophets who were faithful
to the Lord ; the book of Moses' law remains the basis
of religious teaching, and the record of God's ancient
revelation, throughout many ages afterward. Yea, verily,
the further back that form recedes into the past, so much
more lustrously does it appear before the eyes of all who
look at it attentively ; of all the seers who come treading
in his footprints, which are ineffaceable, there is no single
one in Israel that reaches such a height ; of all the legis
lators who are still the pride of ancient heathendom,
there is no single one that can compare with him. Where
are they all, — the Dracos, Numas, Solons, and Lycurguses,
and all those who succeeded them ? whose image has a
brighter halo crowning it? Their work has perished
with them ; that of Moses is as permanent as Israel, —
eternal as the God of Israel Himself. Even unbelief
bears witness, though unwillingly, to Moses' matchless
greatness, by the violence of the attacks which it preferred
to make against these sacred pages, and by the futility
(already plain enough !) of its attempts to give an ex
planation, by a method merely natural, of a personality,
a work, a law like those of Moses. And the Christian ; —
1 I Chron. xxiii. 14, xxvi. 24.

The Decease. 351
yes, he renders thanks to God that he has Jesus, and not
Moses, for his Master, and resists most strenuously all
attempts to bring him back from the Redeemer to the
schoolmaster with his hard discipline. Yet not a
moment does he hesitate to show respect for Moses'
greatness, and adopt the language used already by the
son of Sirach in his praise,1 — ' Moses, the favoured one,
beloved of God and man, whose memory is blessed, and
whom God has made in glory like His saints ! ' And did
not even God's incarnate Son once, when a child, sit at
the feet of Moses ? has He not, too, in His mediatorship,
so far from abrogating Moses' law, rather fulfilled it
gloriously ? Did not the apostles, in the mirror of the
Old Mosaic Covenant, behold the glory of the New?
and do not we perceive, in Paul, the spirit which had
animated Moses risen again with mighty power ? And
though the legal dispensation, with its shadows, has now
passed away, does not its founder still address his
brethren ? Even as of old, Moses has still, in every
city, those who preach him, and who read him every
Sabbath in the synagogues ;2 and though, alas ! the veil
formed by the Talmud over Israel's face is thicker far
than that which once obscured his sight, yet he con
tinues to fulfil his lofty calling as a servant — to prepare
the way for Christ. Yes, to the whole of Christendom
on earth, his word comes as a message sent from God ;
the history he writes is like a mine of gold ; his life and
death become a revelation of God's glory; and in heaven
the songs of Moses and the Lamb still mingle on the lips
of the redeemed.3 And when, for weeks on end, he has
again by turns been putting many to the blush, and
giving us encouragement, or guiding us and making us
devote our lives more to the Lord, — who will continue to
affirm that his name belongs to the unprofitable recol-
' Chap. i. 2. 2 Acts xv. 21. 3 Rev. xv. 3.

352 Moses.
lections of a long-dead past ? Who will not rather apply
to him the words used by the Lord with reference to
His apostles, ' I have ordained you that ye should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should re
main ' ? 1 So true is it that the name of the righteous
is held in everlasting remembrance, and that, even on
this side of the grave, there is reward reserved for all
who fear the Lord and who record His name. Say not
that the comparison of every other death with that of
Moses fails us here, because even the most faithful
servant of the Lord among us has not even the smallest
right to expect the thousandth part of the honour paid
to Moses' memory. The question to be asked is not,
how widely does the fragrance of our Christian name
and our example spread around, but whether it indeed
be true that our life's story also may be summed up in
the words, ' He walked with God, and God took him.'
If it be so, we need not fear even though we are forgotten
on the earth ; and the tears of love and gratitude, shed
on our dust, will shine more brilliantly, in the esteem of
God's own angels, than the polished marble covering the
sinner's bones. Those who walk in all humility before
the face of God, and who are even anxious that their
name should be unknown, — I mention merely Thomas a
Kempis, — such men not seldom still continue to be held
in far more precious memory, even after ages pass away ;
and is it possible that Hofacker, or Chalmers, or Adolph
Monod can be the only servants of the Lord who still
continue to exert a greater influence, after their death,
than during life ? Oh, what a blessed privilege, when any
feeble word of ours, or our example, proves to this or
that man, whom we knew not here below, but shall meet
up in heaven, a savour of life unto eternal life ! Chris
tians ! do you know anything that is to be accorded us,
1 John xv. 1 6.

The Decease. 353
when we are dead, finer than that most honourable
testimony, ' They have fought the good fight, they have
finished their course, they have kept the faith ' ?
' Yes,' you will say, ' something that is assuredly far
finer than even that, — the crown of righteousness itself,
which is awarded by the righteous Judge' And you
are right : how could we stop, content with what we
have already said of Moses, without casting one more
glance, at least, at the unutterable blessedness that
followed on the death of this great servant of the Lord ?
How small a thing is even the honour which we pay his
memory, compared with all the joy prepared for him
in the Canaan above ! His last look rested on the
earth ; but now, who shall describe this first look up
in heaven ? That azure stream and those green lanes
now vanish from his sight ; but the palms of Paradise
wave their glad welcome, while the stream of living
water now for ever satisfies his thirst. I will not venture
to express myself decidedly regarding the dispute which,
as we learn from a remarkable tradition, Michael the
Archangel carried on with Satan as to Moses' body.1
Yet, viewing this in its connection with the statement
that no man has ever known his grave, after the Lord
Himself had laid him in his rest, I cannot but consider
it at least as probable that Moses died, though — and in
this respect, too, he becomes a type of Christ — his soul
was not left in the grave, nor did God's holy one see
corruption.2 If we could speak of merit here, is there
another man whose exaltation to such honour would be
less astonishing, when we behold him placed upon a level
with both Enoch and Elijah ? Certainly, such an opinion
gains no little confirmation from his being seen on Tabor
afterwards, in glorious robes of light. If, by his death,
1 Jude, ver. 9. 2 Ps. xvi. 10.

354 Moses.
the rigorous requirements of God's holiness were satisfied,
especially on Israel's behalf, his honourable resurrection
gave him, on the other hand, the fullest compensation he
could wish ; and such immediate exaltation into glory,
after his death-sentence had been so inexorably carried
out, comes on us like a ray of sunlight breaking through
a tempest-cloud. In vain does he who has the power
of death demand that he shall be allowed to exercise
his right upon that lifeless form : ' The Lord rebuke
thee,' calmly says the resurrection-messenger ; and forth
with, in the man of God, what was corruptible is clothed
with immortality. Oh that we now could rise on eagles'
wings, — nay, on the wings of dawn, — to reach, if only
for a moment, the pure atmosphere in which a Moses
has, for ages past, been privileged to breathe ! What a
transition, from the wilderness into the paradise of ever
lasting life ; from the society of Israel into the company
of angels ; from the earthly manna to the joyful feast
of heaven ! What light is shed now on the past, the
present, and the future of the Israelites ; and what a
pleasure is it, when, with Abraham, he can behold the
day when Abraham's great Son was to effect salvation,
, and, together with Elijah, greet that Saviour when He
comes ! What a sight, — to find the promises and
threatenings of his own law even to this very moment
being carried out upon his people, whom he still
regards from heaven in love ! And what a future to
expect, — to see that nation yet once more restored, the
honour of the law so thoroughly maintained, grace fully
glorified, the whole earth once more changed into one
Nebo where God's glory is revealed, but where death
re-'gns no more ! Moses, Moses, what inexpressible de
liverance is this of which you prophesy to us, that never
yet has entered any human heart ? But surely, brethren,
where this Moses now has gone, thither shall all those

The Decease. 355
one by one remove, who, after having lived, like him,
upright in heart before the Lord, though quite lost to
our view, yet have not wholly disappeared from God's
immense domain. This Nebo, too, proclaims that the
existence of God's servants does not terminate, but still
goes on — nay, properly begins only at death ; and the
whole history of those who fall asleep in Christ admits
of being summarized in these five words, ' for all live
unto God.' Moses and Aaron, — they and such as they
still live ! The Joshuas and Davids, — they still live !
The Daniels and Isaiahs, — they still live ! Your godly
friends that fell asleep, some early and some late, — they
are not dead, but they still live ! Yes, that alone de
serves the name of life, — to be no longer burdened and
encumbered with the load of flesh that here oppressed
them ; to be free from wrestling any more with sin, that
daily vexed and plagued them here ; no more to stand
in trembling awe of death, the fear of which, though
they might combat it as strongly as they chose, they
never could entirely lay aside. To be sanctified, and to
attain salvation ; to behold the Lord Himself, and listen
while He points out to His children the celestial Canaan,
and shows them place by place, just as He showed the
earthly one to Moses here ; and now to meet with Jesus,
whom he only looked upon before in the dim distance.
. . . But here we must stop. This Moses was per
mitted to behold the earthly Land of Promise, — not to
enter in ; we do not yet behold the heavenly one, but
are assured of an abundant entrance, through God's
grace. He who gave Moses burial shall one day bring
again with Him, in glory, all those who have fallen asleep
in Jesus Christ. Then shall they all be perfected, — those
who have been redeemed in early and in later days of
grace, — when Christ, who is their life, has been revealed.
Till then, O Moses, thou shalt still surpass us in thy

356" Moses.
glory ; but we do not separate without the words of
faith and hope, — ' Until we meet again ! '
' Until we meet ! ' What words these are to form the
close of our last contemplation of the life of Moses !
To how many or how few of us will they be something
more than a mere empty sound ? You feel yourselves
that we must not now separate, ere we have turned from
looking at the servant of the Lord in death, to cast "a
glance upon ourselves. We still in thought are standing
upon Nebo, and in the name of God, whose is the power
of life and death, we ask both you and our own selves,
' Your hour, too, soon shall come ; will your death be, in
any measure, such as Moses' was ? ' ' Undoubtedly,' I
hear some say ; ' Impossible,' I hear some others cry ;
' Thank God,' some others still exclaim. Love for your
souls forbids my closing ere I treat of such diversified
replies. - ' Undoubtedly,' I hear some say, ' I hope to die as
Moses did. I have, indeed, my faults and weaknesses,
— perhaps far more than he ; but I do not by any means
belong to those who well may be afraid of being lost.
I have been most religiously brought up ; I am, in
general, most piously inclined ; and, like him, I find
nothing that delights me more than living for the good
of other men. The laws of Moses, in so far as they con
cern us still, I have observed from youth till now. I do
not swear, or break the Sabbath day ; I am not guilty
of unchastity ; I do not steal ; I am no slanderer ; I give
to every one his due. Assuredly, if such as I had still
some cause to be afraid of death — ' No more, my
friend, unless you wish that every word which you may
utter yet should cast another stone into the scale which
shows you are condemned. If Moses had not had some
other reasons for ascending joyfully the hill of death,

The Decease. 357
how sad and mournful would his end have been ; and
how unutterably great your self-deceit is, when you
build your house of hope, for the eternity now drawing
near, on such a loose and sandy soil! 'You have
religious impressions,' — had not Israel, also, such im
pressions frequently ? and yet, who of all Israel would
have faced death with calmness such as Moses showed ?
' You give to every one his due : ' then, have you also
given to God your heart, as that of Moses was, in
honesty and faithfulness, given to the Lord ? For,
mark, — without this one essential, all else avails not ;
nor is it in vain that these words were proclaimed and
echoed from another mountain-top : ' Except your right
eousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the king
dom of heaven.' 1 The first and most important ques
tion which concerns us here is not what we appear to
be, — not even simply what we do, — but, above all, what
we are inwardly, before the eyes of Him who searches
hearts and reins ; and though the one-half of the world
should call us blessed, verily I say unto you, if our life
has not been like the life of Moses, one in fellowship
with God, our death shall never be like Moses' death.
But know ye not that there may also come another
death ; and must we picture it to you in darkest hues ?
Oh, dreadful is the sinner's fate, who — not like Moses,
long prepared, but with surprise — hears the command
addressed to him while straying on his fatal path,
' Return thou to destruction ! ' He, too, like Moses, will
look back, but back upon a life of carelessness and sin,
of which each reminiscence rises up against him with a
crushing force. He, too, like Moses, must depart ; but
he will not be able to perform what Moses could, and
would, and might. To him, too, a Canaan — the heavenly
1 Matt. v. 20.

358 Moses.
one — is shown; but there remains against him the dread
sentence in eternal , force, ' No entrance here for you ! '
Thus die, without God and without hope, not merely the
bold libertine, the hypocrite, and he who basely makes
himself a slave to his own lusts, but all who seek their
portion in this life ; thus shall ye also die, ye who are
unrenewed in heart, when death comes on you suddenly,
and finds you have not known the second birth. How,
brethren, could we spare you such disquieting reminders,
when, as you are well aware, even ministers who preach
the gospel do not know the day and hour, and cannot
but feel deep concern lest there be passed on them
the dreadful sentence, ' You have not shown sufficient
earnestness in exhortation and in prayer ; the blood
of those whom you have led astray shall be required
of you ! ' For the sake of our — nay, for the sake of your
own everlasting welfare, we entreat you not a moment
longer to deceive yourselves with false ideas as regards
your state. Ye who are old in years, perhaps your eye
already has grown dim, and your best strength departed ;
but it is not yet too late to see your sins and to forsake
destruction's path. Ye who are young in years, reflect
that Moses, in his dying hour, assuredly did not regret
that he had made a good choice in his early days.
Whoever we may be, the spot that shall receive our
lifeless dust is ready even now : are we, like Moses, able
fearlessly to tread on it ?
But others cry, ' That is impossible ! Moses, indeed,
may thus depart in peace, — but then, he was among
God's chosen ones ; he had been long, and in a most
especial way, assured of grace with God ; he had the
witness of a good conscience before God — in short, he
was a man surpassing thousands even of other men.
I am a man like — nay, far worse than others. Oh, if
you, who preach the gospel, knew what reason I have

The Decease. 359
for detesting my own self. . . .' That, certainly, we do
not know; but we know something better far, — that
there is not a sinner, on this side the grave, who need
despair of reaching such an end as Moses did. But
what was it that gave the man of God such confidence
when the decisive hour approached ? Surely it was not
his own righteousness, or faithfulness unto his sacred
calling ? Ah, even the lustre of a brilliant life grows
dim, when there comes down before our eyes the cloud
of death ; and Moses, under that Old Dispensation,
never would have overcome the last great enemy, if
he had known no better righteousness before the
heavenly Judge than merely that resulting from the
keeping of the law. But in his latest song he sings
these words in honour of the Lord : ' He is the Rock,
whose work is perfect ; ' and God's grace, God's faith
fulness, God's pity even to the greatest sinner, form what
he can now lay down his head upon, when otherwise
the stones of Nebo certainly would have been far too
hard for him. My fellow sinners, look to Nebo — nay,
look to Golgotha, where, for every one who will believe,
the law's curse has been borne and turned away ; and
in the loving heart of Christ that died, seek for the rest
you cannot find within yourselves. When you stand at
His cross, you find a fairer view presented to your eyes
than that which Moses saw ; and God there comes
before you, not in the capacity of Judge, but as a
Father who forgives. The whole appearance and the
work of Moses have been pointing you to Christ ; nay,
God Himself points you to Him on each occasion when
the gospel is proclaimed, and calls to you from heaven,
' Turn ye to Him, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the
earth ! ' Moses alone was privileged to tread on Nebo,
but Golgotha stands with access free to all, from every
side. Only, do not forget that, to depart like Moses,

360 Moses.
full of gratitude, we must first learn to pray like him ;
and that we may at death know what it is to have a
peaceful Nebo, we must previously have felt the curse
of Sinai in our conscience, and received upon Golgotha
the assurance of God's grace. Then, whosoever you
may be, do not leave Moses' company, unless it be to
come unto the Mediator of the second and the better
Covenant. Give ear to his last exhortation, and return
unto the Lord.1 Obey His voice, and ask Him to
baptize you also with the Holy Ghost, that rested on
this Moses so abundantly. Do not inquire if all of
you are chosen to eternal life or not, but rather bear
in mind the words of Moses, uttered in the closing days
of life : ' The secret things belong unto the Lord our
God ; but those things which are revealed belong unto
us and to our children.' 2 Cling you, like him, to God's
sure promises ; and let your life, like his, become a daily
sacrifice of true obedience — ever offered, and yet never
perfected. And then shall you, too, feel increasingly
the witness in your hearts, that you are growing con
stantly, and ripening for heaven. And in whatever
place death comes on you, the words of Him who is
the Prince of life shall be in all respects confirmed :
' He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live' 3
Ye friends of God and of the Lord, is that not even
already your experience ? ' Thank God,' may be your
answer, ' I shall not require to wait so long as Moses
for fulfilment of the hope laid up in heaven.' Yes,
well you may thus praise the Father, that hath now
begotten you unto this living hope. Oh, what can faith
not bear with, and be quite content to want on earth,
when it discovers at the end a Nebo, and above that
Nebo a wide - open heaven ! Surely the stones of
1 Deut. xxx. 8. 2 Deut. xxix. 29. 3 John xi. 25.

The Decease. 361
Abarim proclaim, ' There remaineth a rest to the
people of God ; ' and that rest shall be the more re
freshing to our souls, the longer we have wrought, and
the more wearisome our task has been. ' Then let us
labour,' Moses still exclaims as he departs, ' to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the example of
Israel's unbelief!'1 Let us, like him, all the more
faithfully perform what has been laid on us, the more
distinctly we perceive a secret voice that says it will
not be much longer now ; and let us not impose upon
our Leader the disgrace of bearing the last burdens
of our journey through the wilderness with heavy
hearts and drooping heads. Let us without reserve
commit all care as to the time, and mode, and place of
death to Him who, then especially, never forsakes His
friends ; and let us only see to this one point — to be
indeed prepared ! If we already miss those who, like
Moses, have departed at God's beckoning, let us show
faith like theirs, and mark the issue of their earthly
course, rejoicing specially in this, — that Jesus Christ
shall still remain the same yesterday, and to-day, and
for ever ! Oh, what a blessed comfort is it that, while
we have seen the mediator of the Older Covenant die
for the sins that were his own, the Mediator of the
New has died in our behalf, and now He lives for ever
more, and has the keys of hell and death ! Just as
the days of mourning over Moses reached an end, so,
too, the close of even the deepest sorrow of this earth
approaches ; and eternity unites all those that truly
loved the Lord, like Moses and Elijah, who had never
known each other on the earth, but found each other up
in heaven. And now, like Peter, John, and James on
Tabor, you see Moses there once more — but with
no veil nor spot upon his face. Nay, more, like these
1 Heb. iv. 11.

362 Moses.
selfsame disciples, you see Moses straightway disappear,
and you behold — Jesus alone. Yes, Jesus only; and in
Him, what Moses looked for far more than fulfilled ;
and through Him, Moses' blessedness made sure to all
His own. How grand a sight ! Compared with this, all
Sinai's glory, Nebo's too, and even Tabor's, pales before
our eyes ! Yes, willingly we bid farewell to that Old
Dispensation, even with all the glory which belonged
to it. And then, too, blessed Moses, whom we never
can forget, withdraw into thy cloud of light ! Now we
have Jesus, and we will retain our hold of Him ; nor
shall we ever look on any one with greater love than
Jesus, and Jesus alone.
Amen.

MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH,
PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

T. & T. Clark's Publications.

jForetgn Bebottonal Htfrrats.

Just published, Second Edition, in crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.,
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL:
A PORTRAIT DRAWN FROM BIBLE HISTORY AND THE
BOOK OF PSALMS.
By F. W. KRUMMACHER, D.D.,
AUTHOR OF ' ELIJAH, THE TISHEITE.'
' Dr. Krummacher's -work on David's life resembles that of his "Elijah," in its
eloquence, its graphic description, its devout and earnest spirit, and will be widely
welcomed.' — Evangelical Magazine.
At the close of two articles reviewing this work, the Christian Observer says :
'Our space will not permit us to consider more at large this very interesting
work, but we cannot do less than cordially commend it to the attention of our
readers. It affords such an insight into King David's character as is nowhere
else to be met with ; it is therefore most instructive.'
'We have a lifelike picture of the prophet-king and of his times. The truths
brought out are applied with marvellous skill and deep spiritual insight to the
Christian state, so that every page is luminous with gospel lessons. The
character of David is nobly drawn ; and he stands before us as one of the greatest
men and greatest saints of the Old Testament. We trust its venerable author
will be rewarded by the abundant popularity of his picturesque and charming
volume.' — Evangelical Christendom.
'Prom the author of "Elijah, the Tishbite," we were entitled to expect no
ordinary treat, when he proposed to lead ns over a life fraught with such varie
gated interest as that of " David, the King of Israel." In such a field Dr. Krum
macher's well-known powers of description, his chaste fancy, his well-balanced
judgment, and enlightened piety, were sure to find full scope ; nor have our
anticipations been disappointed. Time has not blunted the keen perception of
the theologian ; and though it may have sobered the exuberance, it has not
withered the power of the writer. In these pages David passes before us in the
various phases of his character as shepherd, psalmist, warrior, and monarch.
There is no attempt at originality of view, no prosy solution of difficulties, no
controversial sparring ; the narrative flows on like a well-told story ; and the art
of the writer lies in the apt selection of salient points, and in the naturalness
of his reflections. A tone of spirituality is imparted to the narrative by linkiDg
it to the book of Psalms.' — British and Foreign Evangelical Review.
' The volume is, on the whole, a very happy specimen of the style for which
Dr. Krummacher is best known — at once vivid, imaginative, and experimental;
and it exhibits more of the intellectual and robust than his earUer work. Should
it direct the attention of ministers and students to the devout and practical study
of the Old Testament narrative as themes for pulpit exposition, it will confer
a great boon on both preachers and hearers.'— Freeman.

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J^otetgu JBebottoual Sltfcratg,

In crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.,
THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHRIST,
Translated from the German of A. CASPERS,
PART I.— CHRIST FOR US.
PART II.— CHRIST IN US.
PART III.— CHRIST BEFORE US.
PART IV.— CHRIST THROUGH US.

'It is a book of solid thought and solid learning, and should find a considerable
publicity in its English dress.'— Nonconformist.
1 A very interesting and instructive book. Its style is quaint and antithetic ;
it abounds in bright thoughts, presents striking views of Scripture facts and
doctrines, and is altogether eminently fitted to refresh and edify believers.' 
Family Treasury.
'Eminently evangelical, and distinguished also by great originality and
terseness.' — Baptist Magazine.
' The style is of English Puritan pithiness. . . . The sentences are short and
antithetical, and the translation is so good and idiomatic, that you never have
occasion in reading to remember that it is a translation at all. The papers are
short, but not too short for a profitable devout meditation in the closet, i They
are admirably fitted for that purpose ; indeed that is their sole aim and end. We
close by simply recommending any and every reader who may be in quest of a
really fresh devotional volume, to stop here at this one.' — Weekly Review.
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DR. LUTHARDT'S NEW WORK.

Just published, in demy 8vo, price 9s.,
ST. JOHN THE AUTHOR OF THE FOURTH
GOSPEL
BY PROFESSOR C. E. LUTHARDT,
AUTHOR OF 'FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY,' ETC.
Translated and the Literature Enlarged by
C. R. GREGORY, Leipzig.
' A work which must be regarded as a very able and almost exhaustive sum
mary of the arguments in favour of the catholic tradition on this subject —
exhaustive, that is to say, in the present state of the question, and until new
evidence shall have been discovered. Nothing can be more lucid or effective than
the author's method of arranging and presenting his arguments.' — Scotsman.
' There are few works in the later theological literature which contain, in such
a confined space, such wealth of sober theological knowledge, and such an invul
nerable phalanx of objective apologetical criticism.' — Professor Guericke.
'In this work, from the pen of one of the greatest divines of Germany, the
facts are made to speak for themselves, and the result is a complete refutation of
the anti-Johannine school of criticism, and a correspondingly complete establish
ment of the truth on which the unanimous testimony of the ancient Church is
shown to rest. . . . Such a work as this was much needed.' — Dickinson's
Quarterly. ' It is with no ordinary gratification that we welcome Dr. Luthardt's exhaustive
treatise. All the more so, that while he writes evidently with the earnestness of
a maD fighting for a treasure, he never descends to the mere special pleader.
We cordially commend Dr. Luthardt's work as an able and seasonable con
tribution to the literature of this question.'— Courant.
' Those who consult Luthardt's volume will find him to be a safe guide. He is
remarkably" temperate and fair. He makes the liberal concessions of one who
feels that his resources are substantial, and that he need not fight for trifles. . . .
This is by far the best handbook on the subject which any inquirer can have.
We hope that in its present form it will find a large circle of res.ders.'-Daily
Review.

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DR. MURPHY'S NEW WORK.

Just published, in demy 8vo, 700 pages, price 15s.,
A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY. ON
THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
WITH A NEW TRANSLATION.
BY JAMES G. MURPHY, LL.D., T.C.D.,
Author of Commentaries on the books of Genesis, Exodus, etc.
' Every Bible Student will look upon this volume with interest, and should
give warm thanks to the learned author for the care and erudition which have
been bestowed upon it. . . . The introductory chapters are very valuable, refer
ring both to the nature of the Psalms, their themes, their authors, and their
arrangements. The exegesis is admirable, and the spirit is devout' — Methodist
Recorder. Just published, in Two Vols. 8vo, price 21s.,
A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF
ST. LUKE.
By F. GODET,
Doctor and Professor of Theology, Nenchatel.
CraKalabb from % Shamir Jrwufo €biiian.
"' We are indebted to the publishers for an English translation of the admirable
work which stands at the head of this review. ... It is a work of great ability,
earning, and research.' — Christian Observer.
' The whole book is very valuable, and is the work of a critic, scholar, and
divine of no ordinary attainments, who has devoted to it wonderful conscientious
ness and diligent care.' — Union Review.

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Just published, in demy 8vo, price 7s. 6d.,
THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD
IN RELATION TO MODERN CRITICISM.
By F. L. STEINMEYER, D.D.,
ORDINARY PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
©ranslattif, faith the pErmtssum of the 3tatftnr, from the ©erman &g
L. A. WHEATLEY.

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' We have read this excellent translation of Professor Steinmeyer's famous work
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—to his attack on the historical veracity of the Gospels and on the reality of
Biblical Miracles. It is therefore, by anticipation, a reply to " Supernatural
Beligion." . . . We most cordially recommend the volume to young theological
students.' — Watchman.
' This work will be found of great and lasting service in the cause of truth
against the sceptical tendencies of the present eager age. . . . The whole argu
ment is bold, masterly, and convincing; and the essay will take its place among
the best recent volumes of Christian evidence.' — Standard.
1 A work of intrinsic importance at the present time, and, both as an argument
for the miracles, and an exposition of their meaning, deserves thoughtful con
sideration.' — English Independent.
' Besides the value of the work apologetically, there is much of acute criticism
and suggestive exegesis, which will be prized by all who have learned to value
duly even the smallest contribution to a more fresh, life-like, and correct concep
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Evangelical Review.

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In crown 8vo, price 4s.,
AIDS TO THE STUDY OF GERMAN
THEOLOGY.
By Rev. GEORGE MATHESON, M.A., B.D.,
MINISTER OF INELLAN.
' The writer of this treatise has formed to himself singularly clear conceptions,
and he possesses in a remarkable degree the faculty of lucid exposition. . . .
Besides serving as an admirable introduction to the study of German theology,
this little volume will be valuable to the general reader, as furnishing an intelli
gible and interesting account of the principal phases which theological specula
tion has assumed in Germany in modern times.' — Scotsman.
' This little volume is a valuable and instructive introduction to a department
of theological literature that every student is now compelled to examine.' — British
Quarterly Review.
' A helpful little volume : helpful to the student of German theology, and not
less so to the careful observer of the tendencies of English religious thought.' —
Freeman. ' The author has a complete grasp of his subject, and displays marked ability
in his searching analysis of the progress of thought in Germany.' — Glasgow News.
' The writer or compiler deserves high praise for the clear manner in which he
has in a brief compass stated these opinions.' — Christian Observer.
Just published, in demy 8vo, price 10s. 6d.,
DELIVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
The Fifth Series of the Cunningham Lectures.
By ROBERT RAINY, D.D.,
PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY AND CHURCH HISTORY, NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
'We gladly acknowledge their high excellence and the extensive learning
which they all display. They are able to the last degree ; and the author has in
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ledge (and we do it willingly) that the Lectures are a real contribution to the
settlement of the vast and obscure question with which they are occupied.' —
Literary Churchman.
'This is an important book; for it contains a mass of powerful principles,
poured forth by an original mind, on a subject interesting to all times anc!
fascinating for our own.' — Daily Review.

•E UNIVERSITY

*670b