The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1913-10-22
Sunday School Notes
Side Lights on Next Sundays Lesson
for Teachers and Pupils.
Edited by Charles X. Meyers

The lesson of this date is not
q pleasing one to talk about. 1t tell
: Us how the great Moses did wrong i
= the sight of God, and how he was pun
: ished for it. | expect all who hav
' been studying the lessons of late hav
! felt sorry for Moses, because he wa
trying to be faithful to his trust O
: leading the children Of Israel through
4 the wilderness, and they were the ma
t jority of the time, hateful and migrate
full. He was under a terrible burden
and it would have seemed that hi
, shortcomings could well have been ov
erloOked. But that is the human ant
MOI Gods way OF looking at matters
In His sight wrong is wrong, and ;
punishment must come.
The Jews had been out in the wilder
ness nearly forty years. What years
they must have been to Moses ant
Aaron. The record tells us Of faul,
finding ingrat altitude to God and Moses
on the part of the people. On the
Cre side Moses must be accountable
to God to obey His directions, and on
the other his heart went out in pity
and love to the ignorant people he was
leading. In TIE lessen of today the
people were in bad mood, they cried
out asking why they had been brought
out in the wilderness, that their cat
tie might die for want Of water and
food Further they said sit is no place
for seeds, figs, vines, pomgranates' and
lastly there was no water to drink.
| They evidently forgot for the time
| hov IF bni r
| troubles over thirty years ago if they
had had the faith in God to go forward
into the Promised Land when Caleb
and Joshue urged them to SO strongly
after the report was made by the spies.
Their bewailings came to the ears Of
| Moses and Aaron, and they promptly
! took the matter before God. The glory
of the Lord appeared to them, and
they were given instructions as to how
to act
Early in the wanderings Of the peo
pie, at the command of God Moses at
Horeb, as told in Exodus 17-1-7, smote
the rock and water came forth in
abundance At the time we are now
considering the command Of God was
that Moses take the rod which he had
used many times before as an emblem
Of his authority, call the people to-
gether and then speak to the rock"
and water should come forth Moses
and Aaron called the people together
as directed but when it came to hav-
ing water come, they were unmindful
of the words of God. Moses called out
Hear now we rebels, must we fetch
you water out Of this rock" Then he
struck the rock Water came, but
Moses and Aaron had not obeyed. had
not gloriied God in the coming of the
water, but rather took upon themselves
the office OF chief actors in the scene.
They were rebuked and told that they
should not be allowed to enter the
Promised Land. Before the people en-
tered Aaron was stripped of his robes
of Office and they We're put on his son.
Eliager, and Moses was taken up On
the lofty mountain of Nebo, where he
viewed the land and died. The record
says that his burial was not unnoted
by the God whom he had served so
long and so we'll. This is told of in
Deut $40. Many of my readers will
recall the remarkable poem on "The
Burial of Moses" which in such beau
tiful and graphic language sets forth
the scenes which in the thought of the
author, might well have attended the
laying to rest of the body of the i'm
mortal Moses 1t is gem in ltera-
ture and most fitting ending of the
life work of the great law giver. The
account of the burial of Moses will
come in our lesson OF November 18th,
and then the poem should be read in
the Sunday school
The scene at the TRANSPORTATION Of
Jesus when Moses and Elijah were
seen in His company by the chosen
disciples, Peter, James and John.
showed the true position in the eye
Of God of Moses, His faithful servant.
In truth, the life work of Moses was
about done when the incident of the |
water and the rock came to him. From
that time on warrior leader was
needed and this was found in Joshua
who took the people over Jordan. was
at the taking of Jericho and was the
when the subduing of the
enemies of the Jews was undertaken.
There are many things for us to
learn from the experiences of Moses
at this time. One might be that we
must not think that because we have
been faithful to God in the past that
we cannot therefore do worng. A doc |
trine that any of us can get to place
where we cannot do wrong in Gods |
sight is most dangerous. Moses did
not attain to it. neither did any other
person spoken of in the bible except
the Blessed Jesus Himself. The great
Paul who certainly knew things did
rot claim for himself inability to go
estray. The punishment Of Moses was
but the correction by God of a man
Ihom He loved. and did not effect in
the least his standing for the great
eternity. What was done was without !,
doubt needed as lesson to the Jews
who witnessed the issue of the water
from the rock. In the bible history
men were struck with instant death,
or punished for placing hand on
the sacred ark, gathering up sticks |
On the Sabbath day, hiding money or
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