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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s whether they were strong or weak, few or many; and about the land, whether it was good or bad; and the cities, whether the people lived in tents or strongholds. They returned after they had searched the land for forty days. They reported about the land that it was very rich and fruitful, and they showed the huge bunch o f grapes which they had brought back. It was so big that two spies had to carry it on a pole between them. But when they came to speak o f the people living in the promised land, they frightened the children o f Is rael. They said, “ There are many more people than we, they are much stronger, they are giants 1” Then the children o f Israel were afraid and said, “W e won’t go up into this land.” They had forgotten that God was on their side. Only two o f the twelve spies were brave and urged the people to go on. But the people would not go. So God had to punish them again. Once more they wan dered in the wilderness until their faith was stronger. By that time, only their children were left to go in and possess the land.
' August 1932
Two Brave Spies N umbers 13:1-3, 21, 25, 30-33
believes its promises is the faith that obeys its precepts. And this obedience, Moses declared, “is not a vain thing for you” (v. 47). It “ is your life,” he told them. Their obedience to what the Lord said would prolong their days in the land which the Lord was about to give them. While Moses here speaks o f the national life of Israel, the in dividual is certainly included in the prom ise. But it is the nation that is prom inently in view in these addresses o f Moses, and we should train ourselves to think along national lines when studying these passages, at the same time applying the truth to our own individual needs in our own times. II. T he C losing W ord of M oses (32:48-52). As soon as Moses’ task was finished, the Lord came to him with the startling an nouncement that his life was finished also. There need be no lengthening o f days when once a man’s work is done; and the work of Moses was complete when he had given the people the messages from God. Thus it was with our Lord Jesus Christ who came to the end o f His earthly life while still a young man. In the calcula tion o f man, our Lord was too young to d ie; but in the calculation o f heaven, there was no need for another day upon earth. Our Lord would not have known what to do with another hour of time; He had fin ished what He came to do, and He had but to return to the glory from whence He came and wait for the fruitage o f His work to be gathered in. So with M oses; his work being done, the Lord called him to glory. Before his death, however, Moses was granted a vision o f the land into which he might not lead his people. While it was through his own mistake that he was pro hibited from entering the land, neverthe less God used even this to work out His purposes. Moses was the representative of the law ; indeed, Moses and the law are in a sense synonymous. The law could not bring the people into the land, only grace could. And when Moses committed sin, the way was opened for his departure and for the incoming o f Joshua (Jesus) to lead the people into the promised land on the only ground upon which they could take it, that is, the ground o f grace. But Moses was granted a view o f the land which was to be the possession o f the people for whom he held such deep affection. Moses was told to “ die in the mount whither thou goest up.” It seems almost as though Moses was to choose his own time to die. But this also was in the hands o f the Lord. Certainly Moses did not die o f old age, nor because o f any special weakness or collapse of his bodily frame, but he died at the word o f the Lord. Whatever form death may assume, it is always under the control o f our God, and hence it does not come by accident, or by disease, or by the wearing out o f the bodily frame, but it comes when and how the Lord wills. " Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return ye chil dren o f men” (Psa. 90:3). Then we read o f the reason for this seemingly early death o f Moses (vs. 51, 52), It was because Moses had trespassed against the Lord at the waters o f Meri- bah-Kadesh. The record o f this event is found in Numbers 20, and while it appears to be too petty an offense to merit such a judgment, nevertheless we must remember
Memory Verse: “What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee” (Psa. 56:3). Approach: In our story today, we find the children of Israel getting into more trouble, and all because they did not trust God to keep His promise to take cart of them. It h appen ed this way. L e s s o n S t o r y :
A t last they had got ten through the wil derness a n d w e r e nearing the promised land. God told Moses to choose a spy, or scout, from each one o f the twelve tribes of the children o f Israel to go over into the find out what it was
promised land and like.
The twelve men were chosen, and they set out on their journey. They were to find out about the people o f the land,
SEPTEMBER 25, 1932 REV IEW : MOSES HONORED IN HIS DEATH D euteronomy 32:45-52 ; 34:5-8
GoldenText :“‘Precious in the sight o f the Lord is the death o f his saints” (Psa. 116:15). The Land Viewed from Nebo everal months ago , we stood on a hill just to the east o f Bethel, as did Abraham and Lot many thousands of years ago, and looked down upon the Jor dan valley and the Dead Sea. Today we shall stand upon the eminence which we
as we can see the hills all the way from Hebron to Tabor, and even to Mount Her- mon. It is a grand and awe-inspiring view.
Outline and Exposition I. T he F inished T ask of M oses (32:45-47).
It was t h r o u g h Mo s e s that God elected to give us the first five books o f the Bible, that is, the Pentateuch. It is in these books that we find God’s ac count of the creation o f the universe, the original condition o f man, the entrance o f sin into the world, the final apostasy of the race, and the choice o f the nation to come through Abraham, which nation He will use to reveal Himself to the nations o f the earth. It was the task of Moses to give to the people the words o f God, and now, at the end o f his life, we read, “ Moses made an end o f speaking all these words to all Is rael.” He exhorted them, “ Set your hearts unto all the words” which had been spoken to them. To set the heart upon the words o f God is the path o f wisdom for the Christian o f today. It would have been of little value for the people to have set their hearts upon anything Moses had said un less God had been speaking through Moses; and the Bible itself is o f little value unless it is the W ord o f God. It is upon this W ord o f God that we are called to set our hearts. Only by that W ord can the sinner find eternal life or can the saint find daily sustenance. A reverent and obedient study o f the Word of God is the greatest employment a human being can undertake. Moses went on to exhort the people, not only to hearken to the words he spoke, but to “ observe to do them.” Without obed ience, a knowledge o f what the Bible says is worse than useless; better not to know what it says, than, knowing, to fail to per form what it commands. The faith that
could then see in the mountains o f Moab, and look back the other way. This time we s t a n d w h e r e M o s e s stood as he took his one look into t h a t beautiful land which had been the goal o f his wander ings for forty years.
We are standing upon Mount Nebo. Nebo is not a high mountain, but merely a slight rise in the plateau o f Moab. As we stand upon this height, we seem to be about on a level with the hills of Judaea directly across from us. But between us and them, the earth seems to sink away in to a yawning chasm whose floor is over three thousand feet below us. Directly be low us, the waters of the Dead Sea re flect the azure blue o f the sky. T o the north, the Jordan River winds like a mam moth serpent up the floor o f the valley. It is obscured by trees except here and there, where a patch of reflected light reaches us through the branches. Close to the base of the mountain at the other side lies the village of Jericho. As we lift our eyes up the barren slope o f the Mount of Olives, across the Wilderness o f Judaea, we see, nestling in its grove of olive trees near the summit, the village o f Bethany. The city o f Jerusalem is just over the sum mit, but it cannot be seen from here. In fact, we can see only the cities which are on the very summit o f the ridge on the west o f Jordan, and those lying in the val ley. The view is quite extensive, however,
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