Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-09-21
DEATH OF MOSES.
LESSON XIII, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATiONAL SERIES, SEPT. 20.

Text of the Lesson, Deut. xxxiv, liz.
Commit Verses 5-7-Golden Text, Prov.
iv, 1s Commentary by Rev. d. NJ.
Stearns.
CONDENSED from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
permission of IL. S. Hoffman, Philadelphia,
publisher.]
"And Moses went up" Many a time had
Moses gone up on a mountain to meet and
talk with God, but never before had he gone
up not to return. There is something SO
mysterious about the going out of a person
from the tabernacle in which one has So
journed on earth, either for few or many
years, that though one may have witnessed
many such events 1t is ever a most solemn
sight When the one called upon to depart
can cheerfully say, Even 30, Father, l am
ready, and quietly arrange all earthly mat
ters, then joyfully await the call, it is indeed
O glorious sight. Blessed be God that He has
taught US in His word, and by the lives Of
many of His saints, that it Is possible, and
our privilege, 80 to walk with Him here that
we may lose all fear of death and daily re-
joice In the prospect Of being absent
from the body and present with the
Lord whenever He shall see that our
work here Is finished. Moses had long
6 forsaken all the pleasures and
vanities of this world, choosing rather to
suffer affection with the people Of God than
to enjoy the pleasures Of sin for a season; es-
teeming the reproech of Christ greater
riches than the treasures In Egypt; and for
at least eighty years he had endured, as see
ing Him who Is invisible (Heb. xl, 2420.
But now bis work In a mortal body was fin
ished; ID was the eleventh month of the for
tieth year since they left Egypt Deut. |, 3,
and be bad rehearsed to them all the way by
which they had been led, and all b COM
~mandments Of the Lord; he had given them
another song, and had blessed the tribes tchs.
xxi, ExiiD, both song and blessing reach
ing ON to the time of their, to us, still future
glory; he had appointed his successor and
laid his bands upon him, and given him a
charge In the sight of all the congregation
Num. xvii, 1928; and now he Is to be gath
cred unto his people.
Ea. sand the Lord showed him all the
land" He Is o alone with God, the people
all Left behind, his earthly work laid down;
but before be departs from earth he Is per-
mitted to see that good land which, on &C
count OF sin, be was not permitted to enter.
He had besought the Lord to Let him go over
and see the land, but the answer was, Let
1t suffice thee; speak no more unto me OF this
matter; thou shalt behold it with thine eyes,
but thou shalt not go over this Jordan
Deut. LII, 23-27.) When Paul besought the
Lord thrice for the removal Of the thorn in
the flesh, the Lords answer was, "My grace
is sufficient for thee" In Paul,s case the de-
NAL Of the request and the continuance Of
the infrmity was lest he should be exalted
above measure; in the case of Moses, his re-
quest WIS denied because Of his sin Num.
xvii, Id, which, although forgiven, still
left q present unpleasant result Fourteen
hundred years later Moses did stand tn that
good land, 'aien with Elijah he talked with
Jesus of His decease about to be accom-
plished.
4. This IL the lam which I swore unto
Abraham" The promise had been made
nearly 5Oyears before Gen xii, y, yet Abra-
ham had received no inheritance in It; no,
not so much as to set his foot on LActs vii, 81.
His seed, which has grown from one to mill
ions, Is now about to take possession of it, but
they did not possess it fully, nor use It well
when they got it, and now for more than
1,SD years they have been out OF it, and yet
it Is their land, and God will make good to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, personally, his
personal promise to them God lives, the
persons 1--we to whom the promise was made,
Jesus lives who died and rose again, all the
promises Of God in him are yea and in Him
amen, one day is with the Lord as q thousand
years, and thousand years as one day; be
patient, be t~rustful, be steadfast, be fully
persuaded, and rejoice In hope of the glory
Of Godi the resurrection will a it all
plain, $50 that you take part in the first one.
8 "So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died
Although before the deluge people lived
seven, eight and nine hundred years, yet In
due time they died at Is appointed unto
men once to die" Heb tx, ~, and yet there
Is q common saying to this effect-oue thing
Is sure, We must all die1which Is not cor.
rect, Tor the Spirit says through Paul In
l Cor. xv, 81, 81 that We hall not all
sleep or die,, but In the ~twinkling
Of an eye be changed at the sound
ing Of the trumpet So say the Spirit
also In I ThesS iv, lG-lA An true believers
who ore alive when Christ returns shall for
HIS sale DO excused from keeping their up
pointment, and being instantly changed,
shah becaught up to meet Christ In the air.
@ "And he buried him" Most unique
death and burial ever accorded to mortal
God and angels welcome him to the spirit
world and the Lord buries his body. When
We bury the bodies of our loved ones, though
we lay eway the form We have looked upon,
our friends with form and features just
as real nave passed beyond our reach
and from the dust Of the corrupt
ible body shall come at the resurrection
an immortal, ~tncorruptible body with the
same form and features, glorifed, in which
the spirit shall again take up its residence,
be rewarded for service done In the mortal
body, DO ut the marriage Of the Lamb, and
then With Christ reign over the earth. How
long the body Of Moses remained buried we
are not told; but that he had the risen body
on the Mount Of TRANSPORTATION seems evi-
lent from Jude X, for not only does the
devfl hate to give up q soul to Christ, but be
also hates TO AVE to give up the body of
saint from the grave And if the Mar Chile
Of Rev. hi, 8 includes the risen saints Of
Israel, We can understand something Of tht
cause Of the war In heaven there referred t.
between the same two parties
& ~The children of Israel wept for Nose
thirty days" If departed friends have
gained by their departure We cannot mourn
for them III ye loved me-said Jesus OF
the nighe of his ~betrayal-ye would have re
joiced because I go unto the Father" UohI
XIV, 2A II we believe that our loved one
are with Christ in paradise we cannot but b