The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-07-07
LESSON XXVIII.-G0D'S PRESENCE
PROMISED.
BY REV. ROBERT T. POLK.
Exodus xxxiii. 1928,
THE MISSION OF MOSES.

GOD by tran5gres5lng MS OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES,
Moses remained faithful to the sacred mis-
sion for which he had been providentially
preserved from the fury of Pharaoh and
trained in statecraft in the roy al palace of
Egypt, and spiritually disciplined in the SOL
itaries of INDIAN (ii). Having suppressed
the rebellion which Aaron had permitted,
manifested in the worship of the golden calf,
he proceeds to instruct the people in the con-
sequences of their idolatrous act. He had
undertaken the work of founding nation
who should worship the Invisible GoD. HIS
method was apparently by object lessons,
employing symbols of his presence and
providence when dealing with his people.
Moses appointed himself anew to his d.
vinely appointed mission, expressing will
lingness to sacrifice his life that his sinful peo-
pie might obtain the Divine forgiveness,
which might be secured by repentance. He
declared that COP was displeased by their
sin, and set himself to the task of affecting
a reconciliation making atonementl. AS
symbol of the displeasure of COP he re-
moved his own tent, where had been mani
tested the Divine presence by the symbol of
fire and smoke which had been their guide
from Egypt to Horeb to position outside
and far from the camp; and to signify that
true penitence which would obtain the favor
and forgiveness of COP, the people were no
longer permitted to ornament their persons
with golden jewelry. And so the faithful
work of Moses went on, Notwithstanding the
ingratitude and sin of the people whom he
had undertaken to serve and guide in the
formation of powerful and righteous ma
ton, whose COP was the Almighty and Invis-
ible Ruler of all nations. The tent of Moses
outside the camp of Israel became the SYM
boil of COPS presence, and was called 1.-The
Tent of Meeting;' and when they saw the
familiar pillar of cloud standing before it,
they worshiped him whose presence and
guidance it represented. Moses may have
employed the phenomena and forces of ma
ture to represent the presence and power of
the COP of nature whom he represented. The
movements of the cloud, as the whole OF
Moses administration of Israel, are ascribed
to the Divine agency. " 1t was such an sgen-
cy, however, as we constantly see around us,
by which the state of the atmosphere is mod
flied to suit the Divine will. 1t may be added
as an interesting circumstance that, when
the weather was likely to be best for the peo-
pie to advance, the cloud would naturally
arise by we'll known laws, and uice Uersa.-
w. E. Manley, d. d. The important fact
to be noted, however, is that Moses, in the
face of distressing and even exasperating
dscouragements, perseyered in his work,
constantly maintaining the high standards
of loyalty and duty to which he held the peo-
pie in their allegiance to GoD. Such quail
ties of leadership as Moses exhibited will
qualify the leader of moral and political re-
form in our day to successfully forward the
kingdom of GoD in the world.
We need men of that mould and temper,
who, coming down bill of prayer and nigh
communion, and seeing our folly, look upon
it with the right eyes and burn 1t with their
anger, and scorch it with their jealousy for
Cop. Let us pray for such men. They are
the angels of GoD among U.s. The AaroDs of
the race would fall into all snares and traps,
and yield to all tumultuous clamor for new
policies and new programs. We need the
stern, iron, burning man, the inoorruptlbie
patriot, the theOlogian whose soul Is fastened
upon central truths, the suppliant who never
can lower the tone of his interce5s1on to
keep us right to call us back-a man 30 ter
rible that he can smite us with judgment and,
ere the thunder dies, turn his very anger
into prayer.-Joseph Parker, ID. d., The
Peoples Bible"
TOLEAD HIS PEOPLE TO THE LAND OF
THEIR PROMISED observation-disclosures
heard the same voice of GoD in Horeb, now
that he had originally heard from the fam
ing bush iii. LID, saying, $50 forward and
lead the people which thou hast delivered
from their oppressors, into the land of their
- 81 An1 ioa1
the land of Canaan to the postsrity of the
Hebrew patriarchs. He had qualified Moses
to be their leader in their pilgrimage from
Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land.
He now commands him to proceed in his
journey, promising to drive out the inhabit-
ants who possess the land of Canaan, and
declaring that he will punish with death all
who committed the sin of idolatry by wor
shipping the calf which Aaron had made
The penalty of the sin was that none who
engaged in it should live to possess the
Promised Land. An entirely new genera
ton, led by Joshua, who was young man
at the time of the Aaronic apostasy, actually
entered and slowly possessed the land of
Canaan, as Shy little and little" the inhab-
itants were driven out and the Israelites in
creased in numbers and power (xxxiii. 30).
GoD did all this by his angel, the messenger,
minister, or means employed to accomplish
his purpose in the movements of human his
tory, in the grand march of mankind to pos
sess the whole world for the kingdom of GoD.
What is really described in the promise to
Moses actually occurred in the history Of
these people, and is continually taking place
n human history, and, indeed, sets forth the
very philosophy of progress in civilization.
The Bible does not originate the facts of his
tory which it records, but attempts to explain
them in the light of Divine philosophy.
THE FACTS AND PHILOSOPHY OF HIS
T0RH.-That one race does put down an
other is the broadcast fact in history. 1t is q
fact in ethnology that some races do sue
that some races are dominant, and some are
servile, and that the great law of the survival
of the fittest is written upon the very face of
all life from the meanest to the highest. D..
In all these interpretations we want
time. A thousand years with the LORD are
as one day. We read the verses in swelter-
ing haste, and imagine that blow followed
blow with cruel rapidity, and that the weak
and helpless peoples were oppressed and
crushed out of existence without notice, or
without chance of escape. That is our in
Justice toward the facts of history. Between
the chapters thousand years may lie, be-
tween lines a millennium may elapse. The
one thought governing all other thoughts is,
that there is an answering purpose running
through all the process of the ages; and that
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