The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-06
Third Quarter; Lesson x; September ., le02; Deuteronomy, xviii, 9-19.
The Prophet Like hfoses..

The Prophet Like Moses.,
 Israel was on the point of moving into new environment, to exchange the wilderness for Canaan. The dangers of the desert were mostly physical. The per- tls of the new environment were to be largely moral. In the peninsula 1t was hunger and thirst and the occasional in cursion of the Bedouin The moral evil vas mostly subjective, rising frs.n the peoples heart. and consisting of murmur- Ing and kindred vices. But in the new lard. which was the goal of the caravan na,ion, the conditions were all changed. Physical evils were reduced to a mini mum. The country was one of abund- a1ce. flowing with milk and honey There were to be no more pains of hunger and thirst. Here, however. Israel was about to be tested as never before He was to come into close and permanent contact with the most vicio IS races of the world tdoiatrous. drunken, and lascivious. would he stand this subtle and persist ent test?
 The. crowning vice of the Canaanites was the prostitution of their religious na- lures. Instead of using the natural mon ltions of their hearts for their elevation they perverted them so entirely and in- veterately as to debase themselves by the very means intended to exalt. Divination, augury, magic. sorcery, incantation black art. and human sacrifice, are some of the specifications under. the general charge of religious prostitution. The very num- Der of these specifications is evidence of the completeness of this debasement Here, if ever, was the total depravity.
 Into such a mephitic moral atmosphere Israel was about to move. Dangers of the desert fade into insignificance in com, parison It is a national crisis. It has even larger scope than that. As the moral destiny of other peoples is wrapped up in that of Israel, 1t may we'll be said to be test on nations telling
 The Qn0dnacG Cnd tc in thoroughness with which Israel was fore warned. No "hgure-four trap" was set for him. The moral situation was de- scribed to the minutest detail. The sub tleness of solicitation, the spiritual havoc of compliance. the Divine displeasure in- cident,-all were set forth in the une- quivocal words of Moses. The penalty of religious prostitution is named as national shalt not!' is enunciated. The pains and penalties are attached. But the goodness of God does not stop with warning and prohibition. It recognizes the spirit of re- ligious inquiry, of which the deeds of the heather were perversionS. It provides new means of Divine communicable Here we witness the rise of the prophetic order. Not that no one ever before had the prophetic afflatus, but now more dis finctly and continuously with God would speak to the fathers by prophets. By this hew means he will instruct, direct and warn his people. Thus the superstition
 
 were about to enter. was to be offset by this new institution. It Is as if God was saying to his people: There will be no need to consult with the diviners and soothsayers you will find in Canaan. I will afford you the benefit of Divinely-ap- pointed prophets, for judging of whose credentials sure criterion will be given ''
 Thus thoroughly forewarned and fore armed. Israel took up his march upon the enchanted ground of Canaan The very atmosphere of his future association was such as to dull his sensibilities toward God, and the way was strewn with pit falls planned with devilish subtility. But Israel could never say he had not been told of the impen ling dangers.
 The Messianic character of the promised Prophet is, of course. induhitable. The first reference is, no douht. to Joshua He was raIsed up as Moses immediate sue ceeso-. He was "one of the Hebrew brethren.' He was Hike Moses" Hu- mainly speaking. the destiny of Israel de- pended upon his "hearkening" to Joshua But. the scope of the promise is evidently tafger than Joshua and all his success sors. This word of Moses more than any thing else kildled the Messiah-aspiring hope of Israel. It was a keynote for ages. Well may Luther say: '"This is the most renowned passage of this book. and Moses introduces it here in the most hitting way when he was speaking of the priesthood. the authorities, and of all the servants of God"