Get thee up into this mountain. .. and die in the mount.
Moses commanded to ascend the mount and die
I. The apparently hard providence which befell Moses on this occasion.
1. It was death in the presence of unaccomplished work--a work to which Moses had consecrated his life, for which he had sacrificed much, and to which he had proved preeminently faithful.
2. It was a death amid shattered plans and unfulfilled hopes.
3. It came to Moses when, although old, he was yet vigorous.
II. But it was also a wise and loving providence.
1. It was the assertion of Divine impartiality.
2. It was a striking illustration of a man’s sin following him in its results even when the sin itself has been forgiven.
3. It supplied a proof of the Divine adaptation of means towards the desired end.
4. It taught men that God was not dependent even upon the greatest and most honoured of His servants for the final triumph of His cause. (D. Davies.)
The scene and circumstances of Moses’ death
I. The loneliness of the death on Nebo. Moses was strong in faith, and its strength was tested here. It had often been tried before, and had stood the trial. In battles, in contentions with his people, it had been tested, and had stood the test. But what is death, when the blood is heated and the passions up, compared with death alone, apart from friends and friendly sympathy, with no kindly eyes and no sounds of loving words! There was great courage here. You have read of men who, in the excitement of battle, when death was strewing the red plain with human clay, rejoiced with a joy that knew no fear, and through the hell of carnage hewed their way to victory. In such cases death was met with great courage; but it was met with greater in the case of him who, with “eye undimmed and natural force unabated,” quitted a high post of command, abandoned an enterprise when on the eve of accomplishment, without understanding the why or wherefore, and with life vigorous and strong within him, alone, unaccompanied, and by human eye unseen, calmly awaited death.
II. The Nebo mystery--one sows and another reaps. Have you never known a man whose youth and early manhood have been industriously spent in preparation for the serious work of life, in whose breast noble aspirations burned, of whom it was evident that the world would be the better for him, and who, with extensive acquirements, mature culture, confirmed principles, and thorough training, was about to step thus equipped into the arena of life, resolved to leave his mark for good on his age and time, when the command came, “Get thee up into the mountain, and die there,” etc.? And the magnificent prospect of his life passed; the tree that many a sun had ripened and many influences of earth and sky had cherished, fell as its mass of blossom was passing into fruit. Have you never known a mother who, after a long and faithful training of her children, after patient watch and ward for many a year, during which she has considered no labour too great, no struggle too hard, no suffering and pinch too severe to equip them for the competition of life--as she is about to enter into the reward of her long and patient work, and to see in the success and gratitude of her children the recompense of many an anxious day and sleepless night, hears the command, sharp and sudden, from the Master of life, “Get thee up,” etc.? Have you never known a merchant who, after many a year of ceaseless toil, during which, by shrewdness and patience, he had amassed fortune enough to give him ease and comfort for the remainder of his life, when about to enter his Canaan of rest, is suddenly struck down, the command having come, “Get thee up,” etc.?
III. The ingredient of joy that was mingled in the cup. “Be gathered unto thy people.” These words imply a social heaven--not heaven as a dim, vague, ethereal scene,--but as a communion, a fellowship. Were it not so, our whole nature and instincts would require to be changed on entering it. “As Aaron thy brother died.” Why this allusion, if not to give comfort to the old man? if not to intimate that his death would be meeting with his brother? This prospect must have taken at least one pang from death, and infused at least one drop of joy into the bitter cup he was called to drink.
IV. The scene and prospect which Moses was permitted to enjoy. (John Stuart, D. D.)
The sin and punishment of Moses
It is a remarkable circumstance, not without an obvious moral, that the greatest favourites of the Almighty have been among the persons most severely dealt with by His providence. Not to mention our Saviour Himself--the only sinless, yet the most grievously afflicted of men--Abraham, “the friend of God,” was put to a trial; the afflictions of Jacob were also great; Job’s are proverbial; the painful vicissitudes of David’s life outnumber its successes; and St. Paul, the most heroic servant of God in New Testament times, was subject to a long course of calamities. The real cause of the affliction is always sin. If it be asked--How can this be consistent with the fact that the sufferings of the most distinguished instruments of God’s glory have been severe beyond the common lot of mortals? the answer is--that either we may observe in such persons great crimes set against signal virtues; or, at least, sin against peculiar light, and in spite of unusual grace: moreover, such are to be raised to remarkable heights of perfection; and this is not to be done but by means of chastisement and the stern discipline of affliction. Pass we, however, from general considerations to the individual instance before us.
I. The circumstances which gave occasion to the Divine decree against Moses--that he should not live to enter the promised land (see Numbers 20:1-29). The ground of the whole transgression seems to have been a hasty yielding to carnal passions; which in this case, as it ever does, shut out faith and reliance on God, and substituted distrust and self-confidence. And the criminality of this conduct was doubtless increased by the eminent dignity and great endowments of the offenders. It was for the head and legislator, and for the anointed High Priest, to set an example to the people of meekness and patient confidence.
II. The doctrinal and spiritual meaning, and results, of this event.
1. The inclination of the Israelites to idolatrous worship, imbibed chiefly in that nursery of superstitions, Egypt, was strong at all early periods of their history. Profound, also, must have been their veneration for that man of wonderful gifts, who had brought them with the arm of God out of the house of bondage, and for forty years had led them in the wilderness. Hence if Moses had finished his great work in his own person, and, together with the Israelites of this generation, the children and grandchildren of his early contemporaries, had taken possession of Canaan as the design and completion of the enterprise, it is most probable that he would, in spite of himself, have been deified by his superstitious countrymen; and either substituted for, or confounded with, the Divine Liberator, whose vicegerent he was.
2. That the commission to lead into Canaan the children of the people whom Moses by the Divine power had freed from Egypt, now devolved upon Joshua--or, as he is called in the New Testament, Jesus--is an instance which I cannot wholly pass by in silence, of the typical character of all Bible history. Moses was a type of Christ, in his office and character, as the deliverer, leader, and pastor of God’s flock, through the mingled trials and mercies of the wilderness; but Joshua was more remarkably so, in prefiguring our Lord’s going before His people into heaven, at His ascension, to take possession for and with them of the celestial inheritance.
3. There is an obvious and sublime sense, in the fact of Moses, the giver of the Law--the administrator of that imperfect and temporary dispensation, not going over into the Promised Land. His work was now done--his function was at an end. The conducting of the people was now handed over to another--to Joshua, the type of Christ as ascending up on high and entering into His rest; “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
III. This severity of God towards His servant Moses, so favoured and “faithful in all His house,” presents a very affecting circumstance. It admonishes us, how much of the good consequences of a life may be defeated by one act of prevarication and disobedience. It admonishes us to be careful how we “finish our course,” lest we “lose these things which we have wrought,” even within sight of “the prize of our high calling.” (R. Cattermole, B. D.)
What dying is
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to meet and mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “There! she’s gone!” Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in the mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of her destination. Her diminished size is in me, and not in her. And just at that moment, when someone at my side says, “There! she’s gone!” there are other eyes that are watching for her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “There she comes!” And that is--dying. (Episcopal Recorder.)
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee.--
Good cheer frown God
I. A message for Christian workers. Seed we have sown shall bear fruit when the hand that scattered it is at rest. Behind every Christian worker is God. Much of the work is hidden as yet, as Moses could not see the homesteads of the land, the divisions of the tribes, etc., but he could see the land. So can we by faith see in broad outlines the goal to which the Christian Church is travelling year by year. The evening of life shall be better than the morning.
II. A message to the Christian in his pilgrimage. The Jews could not think without regret of their life. Nor can we. What sublime mercy on God’s part! Gratitude itself grows dumb in silent wonder. We can only say, “Forgive.” But look forward now--what do you see? Many a failure, etc., yet the steady growth of the will of God in you--therefore the future shall be better than the past. Life ripening like harvest under the summer sun. “At evening tide it shall be light”--and lighter still when the veil of flesh is torn from the spirit.
III. A message to those who are not Christians. “The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light,”--it is turned upon you that you may see the land before you. (R. Betts.)
The happy people: who and why
We are wont to note the sayings of dying men. The testimony both of the godly and the ungodly is more valuable and reliable at such a time. Moses was specially fitted to give an estimate of Israel’s past experience and future prospects. He had been intimately connected with them for a lengthened period.
I. Who is Israel?
1. A perverse people. They are often rebellious, they murmur often, they bring upon themselves punishment because of their obstinacy. They are slow to learn and obey. The type and the antitype correspond. The people of God are often so; and the world often sees it. Their leader and they do not always agree.
2. A peculiar people. They are different from the nations around them.
3. A pilgrim people. They were yet in the wilderness when Moses spoke of them.
4. A protesting people. They were raised up for this very purpose. “Ye are My witnesses.”
5. A persecuted people. They were met by the Amalekites almost as soon as they had crossed the Red Sea. They had to encounter enmity and opposition all the way.
II. Wherein, then, consists Israel’s happiness? Not certainly in their worldly, external, visible circumstances. There is nothing in these to draw forth the rapturous enthusiasm of Moses. No; but his vision and his voice extend beyond things seen and temporal. Their happiness arises out of their relation to God, the only true God.
1. They are chosen by His grace. Underneath them are the everlasting arms.
2. They are redeemed by His ann.
3. They are guided by His eye. He goes before them; He is their reward.
4. They are kept by His power. He is their refuge and their strength. Jehovah-nissi: the Lord is my banner.
5. They are cheered by His presence, His promise, and His purpose.
III. There is no happiness like Israel’s.
1. Because none comes from so good a source. With Thee is the Fountain of Life. From this fountain flows the river of the water of life. Other sources fail; they are broken cisterns.
2. Because none can be enjoyed with so much security. The promise of God is the best security which we can possibly possess.
3. Because none is so satisfactory in its own character. Out of Christ there is no happiness to be enjoyed worthy of the nature with which we are endowed.
4. Because none is so beneficial in its effects. The world, with its pleasures and pursuits, degrades and hardens the heart that is engrossed with them.
5. Because none is so permanent in its duration. “That knave, Death,” as John Knox said, will take it all away--will mar the beauty, spoil the treasure, and bring the tenure to an end. (J. Smith, M. A.)
The happy people
I. Happy in their name. “Israel” signifies--
1. That God has chosen and prepared them to be His people.
2. That tie has privileged them with communion with Himself.
II. Happy in their salvation. Delivered from Satan’s yoke and dominion, etc.
III. Happy in their Divine help.
1. Protection.
2. Security.
3. Strength.
IV. Happy in the prospect of a complete conquest over all their enemies.
V. Happy in their ultimate arrival in the land of Canaan. (Homilist.)
Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee.
The devil a liar
That arch-enemy, the devil, is a liar from the beginning; but he is so very plausible that, like mother Eve, we are led to believe him. Yet in our experience we shall prove him a liar.
1. He says that we shall fall from grace, dishonour our profession, and perish with the doom of apostates; but trusting in the Lord Jesus, we shall hold on our way and prove that Jesus loses none whom His Father gave Him.
2. He tells us that our bread will fail, and we shall starve with our children; yet the Feeder of the ravens has not forgotten us yet, and He will never do so, but will prepare us a table in the presence of our enemies.
3. He whispers that the Lord will not deliver us out of the trial which is looming in the distance, and he threatens that the last ounce will break the camel’s back. What a liar he is! For the Lord will never leave us, nor forsake us. “Let Him deliver him now!” cries the false fiend; but the Lord will silence him by coming to our rescue. He takes great delight in telling us that death will prove too much for us. “How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” But there also lie shall prove a liar unto us, and we shall pass through the river singing psalms of glory. (C. H. Spurgeon.).