The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-09-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the International serieH
for September FL, 19O2-The
Death of Moses.
THE LESSON TEXT.
yD OXx -

(Deut.b 54.l-lz.)
i. And Moses went up from the plains of
Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the
top of Pisgah, that Is over against Jericho
And the Lord Showed him all the land of
Gilead, unto Dan
2. And all Naphtal and the land of Eph-
rain, and Manasseh, and all the land of
Judah, unto the utmost sea.
3. And the south, and the plain of the
valley of Jericho the city of palm trees,
unto Zoar.
4. And the Lord said unto him, This is the
| land which l sware unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, l will give
| it unto thy seed: have caused thee to see
| it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go
| over thither.
| s. So Moses the servant of the Lord died
there in the land of Moab, according to the
| word of the Lord
| 6. And he buried him in valley in the
| land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but
no man knoweth Of his sepulchre unto this
/ Gay.
| Z. And Moses was an hundred and TWEEN
| ty years old when he died. his eye was not
| dim, nor his natural force abated.
s. And the children of Israel wept for
| Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.
| SO the days of weeping and mourning for
Moses We're ended.
9. And Joshua the son of Nun was full
of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid
Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the
Lord commanded Moses.
~. An6 there arose not prophet since in
Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face.
IL. In all the signs and the wonders, which
the Lord sent him to do in the land OF
Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants,
and to all his land,
IL. AND in all that mighty hand, and in
all the great terror which Moses showed in
the sight of all Israel
GOLDEN TEAT-The Lord spal6e
unto Moses face to face.-Ex 33;11.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Dedtn IN view ................... Deut., XXI
Moses song .....................D eut., Xxi
Moses blessing ................D eut., xxxiii
Moses mourned ................Deut., "a :S-l2
TIME.-B. c. 145l.
PLACE.-Land of Moab.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
A Sentence Fulfilled. - Because of
his sin at Meribah, Moses was not to
be permitted to bring the children
OF Israel into the promised land
(Num. 20:7-12). He besought the
Lord to revoke the judgment, but
without avail (Deut. 3;23-26); for it
would not be just to punish the peo-
pie for their sins and overlook the
transgressions of their leader. 1t
seems pathetic that Moses should
have been denied this great privilege,
but those who carefully study this
lesson will see that in reality he lost
nothing and gained a great deal
Death in View.-Moses knew that
his work was done. The reading of
the Deuteronomic law took place dur
ing the feast of tabernacles once in
seven years ". 10), and women and
children, as well as the men who
usually assembled for feasts, were
gathered to hear it. The consecra-
ton of Joshua as Moses successor
took place privately within the taber-
nacle ". 14), but was supplemented
by public charge ". .23). The regu-
lations for preserving the copy of the
law are very definite ". 26), and the
song of Moses was to be taught to
the whole congregation.
Moses Song.-This song is one ofthe
finest poems in the Hebrew language.
1t dwells on Jehovah's faithfulness
and the ingratitude of His people,
and promises rescue at the last mo-
ment from threatening Judgment.
Driver says of it: 1.-THE song shows
great originality of form, being a
presentation of prophetical thoughts
in poetical dress, on scale that is
without a parallel in the Old Testa-
ment. AS the opening verses show,
it is a didactic poem. The
poet develops his theme with con-
spicuous literary and artistic skill;
the images are diversified and ex-
pressiye; and the parallelism (the
Hebrew substitute for rhyme) is re-
marlahly regular and forcible. A
spirit of impassioned earnestness sus-
tains and suffuses the whole"
Moses Death.-The top of Pisgah
is sheer rocky mountain standing
just east of the northern end of the
Dead sea, from which one can see the
mountains of Gilead, Hermon, Tabor,
Ebal, Gerizim, Quarantania, the Mount
of Olives, Mount Zion and the slopes
extending to the Dead sea, 1000 feet
above the summit The Mediterra-
mean sea is not visible from Mount
Pisgah.
There are few things harder to
bear than such a disappointment as
this of Moses. His was one of the
great griefs of history. Moses had
spent his life to bring his people into
the promised land, but here, in sight
of that land Of his lifelong dream,
but not in it, he died. But Heaven is
full of those who have known their
measure of Moses grief-who have
labored and striven and prayed to-
ward some one great hope, and have
died without reaching it. May not
the example of Moses help us to see
() that though its dearest hope be
not realized, life is by no means q
failure; (2) that God is to be trust
ed and His decision faced in quietness
and peace; (3) that the development
of character is more important than
the carrying out of any earthly plan;
az that to die the friend of God is
sublime even though the promised
land of our dreams is never reached?
Moses Mourned.-The grief of the
people for Moses was sincere, though
not prolonged beyond the usual time.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
Not even Moses was perfect man.
All but Jesus have fallen short of
fully and always doing Gods will
1t was not Moses the sinner but
|