HISTORY OF MOSES. LECTURE LX. And it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (with the two tables of testimony in Moses's hand, when he came down from the mount) that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him.-EXODUS xxxiv. 29, 30. communication of pleasure. In the house of mourning, we speedily feel ourselves in unison with the afflicted; our eyes stand corrected, our words are few, our heads droop. In the cell of melancholy, the blood runs cold, the features relax, our powers of thought and reflection are suspended, with those of the moping wretches whose misery we deplore. What wonder then if Moses, descending from the mount, after forty days' familiar intercourse with "the Lord God, merciful and gracious," had not the appearance of an ordinary man; that he had acquired a lustre not his own! "He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink water."* THE sun, the great light of the natural | with whom we frequently converse, and world, communicates to all bodies a portion whom we dearly love. "He who walketh of his own splendour, and thereby confers up- with wise men shall become wise; but the on them whatever lustre they possess. In companion of fools shall be destroyed." At his absence, all things assume the same dis- the social friendly banquet, the eye sparkles mal sable hue. The verdure of the meadow; with delight, the heart expands, the brow is the varied glory of the garden; the bright-smoothed, the tongue is inspired by the law ness of the moon's resplendent orb; the of kindness; every look is the reception or sweet attractions of "the human face divine," pronounce in so many different forms of expression, "The light of yonder celestial globe has risen upon me: if I have any beauty or loveliness, with him it comes, and with him it departs." The whole order and system of nature is designed to be a constant witness to the God of grace—“ the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." If there be in angels any beauty of holiness, any fervour of love, any elevation of wisdom, any excellency of strength; if there be in man any bowels of mercies, any kindness of affection, any gentleness of spirit, any endearment of charity, any humbleness of mind, any meekness, patience, long-suffering, it is a glory reflected from "the Father of lights." It neither exists nor can be seen, but as it is supplied and discovered by the eternal Source of light and joy. Say to that tulip, at the gloomy solstice of the year, or at the dusky midnight hour, "Array thyself in all those beautiful tints of thine wherewith thou charmest the eye of every beholder;" it hears thee not, it exhi-ring to the grosser elements for support. bits no colour but one. But with the return of the vernal breeze, and the genial influence of the sun, and the moment the dawning has arisen upon it, unbidden, unobserved, it puts on its beautiful garments, and stands instantly clothed in all the freshness of the spring. Why is that face clouded with sorrow, why grovels that spirit in the dust, why lacks that heart the glow of benevolence, the meltings of sympathy? The genial current of the soul is frozen up, it is the dreary winter season of grace. The sun, the Sun of righteousness has withdrawn; but lo, after a little while, the winter is past, cheerful spring returns, the voice of joy and gladness is heard," Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."* We naturally assume the tone of those * Isaiah Ix. 1. What a sublime idea does this suggest of communion with God! What created enjoyment has not lost its relish in a much shorter space! What powers of unassisted nature could have so long sustained the want of aliment! No one thing in a more humiliating manner teaches us our frailty and dependence, than the constant necessity of recur Man, the lord of this lower world, must, with the subject tribes, and in a much greater proportion than many of them, pass a very considerable portion of his existence in a state of unconsciousness and insensibility during the hours of sleep: he must purchase with the suspension of his reason, during a third part of his being, the exercise of it during the other two. The happiness of an immortal be ing is, oftener than once in a day, subjected. to a little bread that perisheth; the spirit, however willing, quickly feels the oppressive weight of a body frail and infirm. But behold the triumph of the spirit over the flesh: or rather, the power and grace of God, which vouchsafing in general to employ means, call upon us diligently to use them; but which, sometimes neglecting these, and con * Ex. xxxiv. 28. veying immediate supplies and support, lead us at once to Him who worketh all things af ter the counsel of his own will." assembly and church of the first-born written in heaven," is not composed of men that never "left their first estate," but of "just men made perfect;" not of creatures like Adam, in a state of innocence, but of creatures redeemed by the blood of the Son of God; "justified by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of the living God." Let us not, then, regret the loss of an earthly paradise, nor the destruction of the image of a changeable, though perfect creature, while, through grace, we may regain the paradise of God, and be fashioned in body and in spirit like unto our glorious Redeemer. Moses descends, not with impaired, but with recruited strength; strength, which, to the end of life, never more abated: not with a sunk, darkened, extinguished eye: but an eye, which, having seen God, never afterwards became dim: not with a visage pale and emaciated from a fast of forty days; but with a countenance that dazzled the eyes of every beholder. What a glorious creature is the friend of God; "Lo, O Lord, they that are far from thee shall perish, but it is good for me to draw nigh unto God." When Moses descended before, he was clothed in just Moses has acquired a glory on the mount resentment and displeasure; he came a mi- which he is not conscious of. "He wist not nister of vengeance, and all Israel trembled that the skin of his face shone, while he as he frowned; he now returns with the talked with him."* The choicest of God's covenant renewed, the tables of the law res- gifts, and humility is one of the most pretored, a messenger of peace, and yet the luscious, come not with observation, announce tre of his appearance is intolerable. What not their approach, are not first visible to the must the great JEHOVAH be in his own possessor. But it is impossible to converse glory, when reflected, imparted glory-glory much with God, without appearing more communicated to a creature, thus intimidates glorious in the eyes of men. Has a man and astonishes! How dreadful the glory of been in the mount with God? He needeth wrath and fiery indignation, when the glory not to sound a trumpet before him, to proof infinite goodness we are not able stead- claim from whence he has come; he has but fastly to behold! to show himself, and the evidence of it will appear. The man has been in the mount with God. What are the signs of it? Is he ostentatious, self-sufficient. Is he eager to talk of his attainments, to exhibit the shining of his face, to abash and confound a less favoured brother? He is not like Moses, he has not been with the God of Moses, his pretensions are vain. That man has been in the mount with God. How does it appear? Is he gloomy and sullen, harsh and uncharitable? Is his tongue filled with anathemas? Flashes his eye destruction on mankind? He is a liar and an impostor, believe him not; he is not come down from the God of the law, from the God of the gospel, from the relenting Father of Israel, from the compassionate Father of the human race: No, he has been conversing with, he has ascended from the malignant enemy of God and man: by his spirit you may know who he is. : Moses descended the first time, with the tables in their original state, altogether of God; and in his haste he effaced and destroyed them but we read of no attempt to collect the scattered fragments, and to reunite them. Superstition might have made an improper use of what could not be distinctly read, and of consequence, but partially understood; and true piety will seek some surer rule of faith and conduct, some more powerful assistant in devotion, than the scattered shivers of even a sapphire from the throne of God. It has been wofully demonstrated to be an easy matter to mar the work of God. Adam defaced the divine image in his own person, by one wilful transgression. Moses cancelled the hand writing of ordinances in one rash moment: and every thoughtless transgressor is pulling down, in his own person, a fabric of God's rearing. But all the powers of nature united, are incapable of rebuilding that temple, of renew ing that writing, of restoring that image. He who in the beginning "commanded light to shine out of darkness," alone can relumine the extinguished life of God in the soul. The hand which at first created man out of "dust of the ground," alone can form of the dead in trespasses and sins, "a new creature in Christ Jesus unto good works." And what was afterwards laid up in the holy place, and preserved while the tabernacle remained? Not that which came pure and perfect from the hands of the Creator, but that which God, by an act of grace and the intervention of a Mediator, recovered. Thus "the general Pretenders are at as much pains to display the lustre of their outside, as Moses was to conceal his. By this then you shall try and know yourselves, and form your judgment of others. Does a man issue forth from his closet, return from the temple, retire from the Lord's table, with his temper sweetened, his heart enlarged, with the law of kindness on his tongue, with the tear of compassion, or the lustre of benevolence in his eye? Is he, like Moses, more attentive to the condition, necessities, and instruction of others, than earnest to blaze abroad his own excellencies, in order to obtain reputation for himself? How gloriously does such an one * Exodus xxxiv. 29. shine in the eyes of men: but that is nothing, how gloriously does he shine in the eyes of God! And that is true only which God sees to be such. "The face of Moses shone and they were afraid to come nigh him."* Of what importance is it to inquire, at what particular moment, and through what particular medium, this singular appearance was produced? Is it not sufficient for me, that I see the fruit hastening to its maturity, though the commencement and progress of vegetation escape me? I look up and "behold the face of the sun," and draw comfort from his beams, though the discriminating instant of darkness and the dawning was too fine for my perception. Let me be able to say, with the man restored to sight, “One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see," and I shall leave to others a minute inquiry into the process of the cure. Show me a man shining in the beauty of holiness; a man really changed in heart and in life, and I will not trouble him to tell me, what perhaps he does not know, and therefore cannot declare, at what place, by means of what preacher, or by what dispensation of Providence, the important change passed upon him. A truly good man is among the first to discover, to acknowledge, and to correct his own errors and imperfections; but humility spreads the veil which conceals his good qualities first over his own eyes, and he is among the last to discern the splendour which confounds others. What a powerful charm is there in undissembled goodness, when the wicked themselves are constrained to venerate and to approve it, even while it condemns them. Besides the instance in the text, scripture has furnished us with at least another, and a most illustrious one, in the history of Stephen, the first martyr to Christianity, after its divine Author. An enraged multitude, blood-thirsty accusers, and a partial tribunal feel themselves awed into a temporary reverence; their fury stands suspended while they behold him. "All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." But there is a greater than even this upon record. The band which broke into the garden, with their officers, under the commission of the chief priests, and headed by the traitor, to apprehend Jesus of Nazareth, were so struck with an inexpressible something in his presence and address, "that they went backward and fell to the ground."} But what made İsrael to shrink from the presence of their gracious leader, intercessor, and friend? What could render the presence of his affectionate brother formidable to Aaron? That which drove the first trans gressor to "hide himself from the presence of the Lord God." It is conscience that makes cowards of all men; it is conscience that converts the rustling of a leaf, the shaking of a bulrush, into a spectre from the grave, or a flaming minister from heaven to execute vengeance. Under the lawful terrors of divine glory, they had lately entreated, saying, "Let Moses speak to us, and we will hear:" but now, even the look of Moses, though he say nothing, is too much for a guilty people to bear. Alas, how little do men reflect, when engaged in criminal pursuits, that the pleasures of sin in which they riot, are one day to become hideous ghosts to disturb their repose, to scare the imagination, to harrow up the soul, to accuse them at the tribunal of God, to be their tormentors for ever. Moses, conscious of good-will at all, exulting in the thought of having procured pardon and reconciliation for them, but unconscious of the change which had passed upon his own person, observes with concern and surprise that every one avoided him. At length he discovers the brightness of his own counte nance reflected from their guilty blushing foreheads; and by words of kindness encourages them to return, whom the terror of his looks had dismayed and put to flight. We then find him, with the condescension of true goodness, accommodating himself to the circumstances of the people whom he was appointed to instruct. Intercourse with heaven has raised him to a higher pitch of exaltation; guilt and fear have degraded them: but love levels the mountains, and fills up the vallies of separation. The interposition of a veil reduces him to their standard, because the confidence of innocence raised them not to his. The law of God must be taught to the people, though the teacher is become more glorious. This is a plain and striking lesson to all who undertake to instruct others. It is a wretched ambition merely to shine. The great aim of a teacher should be to communicate knowledge; and he shows himself to be possessed of most, who knows best how to convey it to others. He is the truly rich man, who, by the proper use of his wealth, assists in making many rich; not he who possesses a vast hoard which he knows not how to enjoy; nor he who makes an ostentatious display of riches, merely to insult his poorer neighbour. And he who speaks three words in a known language, to the edification of the hearer, has more real learning than the babbler of ten thousand, in a language which no one understands. ** "Till he had done speaking," then, "Moses put a veil on his face;" so that the sound of his voice might be heard, while the terrifying lustre of his face was obscured. But this was not merely an incidental cir *Exod. xxxiv. 38. cumstance, arising out of the occasion, and done away with it; but was designed, in providence, to be a symbolical representation of the whole Mosaic dispensation: which was nothing else but the gospel under a veil. That this is not a fanciful conjecture, we appeal to the great apostle of the Gentiles, who has removed the veil, and discovered the hidden glory which lies under it, and thus writes, "Not that we," meaning the apostles of the Lord Jesus under the New Testament, "not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away, in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."* From the days of Moses down to those of Paul, and by Paul himself, in the days of his ignorance, Moses was heard and read with the veil over his face; was understood in the letter, not in the spirit; and even after the veil was done away in Christ, who is "the end of the law for righteousness;" after the types were explained, the predictions accomplished, and the great prophet of the Jews had brought all his glory, and laid at the feet of the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, still the people who had the best means of information, who had the power of comparing spiritual things with spiritual, read them, and continue to read them to this day, under the power of passion and prejudice. And he who sees in Moses, and the other writings of the Old Testament, nothing but the histories of certain events long since past, and confined in their *2 Cor. iii. 5-16. operation and effects to a particular district; nothing but the religious usages and ceremonies practised by a particular people, that man looks with a bandage upon his eyes, understands not what he reads, and therefore cannot profit. There is a gracious intimation in the passage we have just now quoted, that a period is approaching when Israel too shall turn unto the Lord; when the veil shall be taken away, and Moses, in whom they trusted, shall be seen without a covering; and “if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?"* What glorious views of God, of his providence, of his grace, does the gospel disclose! The gentile nations behold their admission into the family of God, and their privileges, as his children, in the promises which were made to Abraham and his seed. And the Jews will in time discover the intention and design of their political and religious establishment, in the nature, duration, and extent of the Redeemer's kingdom: when “Israel also shall be saved:" as it is written, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."t Human frailty rendered the interposition of a veil necessary between Moses and the people; because "they could not look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished;" but when Moses went into the tabernacle, to converse with God, a veil to cover his face being unnecessary, it was laid aside. It is natural to hold out our most favourable appearance to men, to catch at their good opinion, to secure their approbation; but we see in Moses a mind intent only upon usefulness. He joyfully gives up a little fame, for the sake of doing much good. If the church of God be enlightened, what is it to him that he himself is a little obscured? His lustre is to illuminate Israel. Vain glory always defeats the purpose which it had formed; humility as certainly gains the point at which it aimed not. Who does not esteem Moses, modestly shrouded in a veil, infinitely more than all the loquacious boasters and exhibiters of themselves that ever existed? Moses, in talking with the people, employed a veil, not as a mask to insinuate a false idea of what he was not, but to conceal the real excellency which he had; unlike the hypocrisy and disguise of the world; and, to use disguise with God he knew would be impious, profane, and unavailing. We find him changing his appearence, as the occasion required. This was not, in him, versatility and address, a cunning accommodation to circumstances for selfish ends; but the compliance of wisdom and necessity, in order to be more extensively useful. Thus Paul "became all things to all men, that he might gain some." And, for the same reason, a greater than Moses, a greater than Paul disdained not the festivity of a marriage solemnity; refused not the invitation of one ruler, nor rejected the visit of another; abhorred not to eat with publicans and sinners, if by any means the ignorant might be instructed, the proud and selfish checked and reproved, the modest encouraged, and the mourner comforted. glory of his person was a rare and singular attainment; but that of his spirit may be imitated and attained by all. His piety, resignation, and obedience; his meekness, gentleness, and compassion, present amiable patterns, and they are the ornaments suited to your present state. It is given but to a favoured few to exhibit heroic virtue, to perform splendid actions, to acquire extensive reputation; but none is excluded from the honour of simple, modest worth, of habitual beneficence, of honest fame. And those are the most valuable and solid acquisitions, which "are in the sight of God of great price." At the first descent of Moses from the mount, we see the glory of a man zealous for God: at his second, the glory of a man owned and honoured of God; "the skin of his face shining." But at his appearance many Steady and persevering intercourse with days afterwards on Tabor, we behold a saint, Heaven will infallibly transform the whole from the world of bliss, altogether glorious. man into the image of God. The very exteSuch is the blessed effect of being with God rior will be meliorated and improved, and the and "seeing him as he is," not for forty days world itself will "take knowledge" of the only, but during a series of ages. And disciple who "has been with Jesus." The what must it then be, to "be ever with the exercises of the closet will be seen and felt Lord," to glorify God, and to be glorified of in the serenity of the countenance, the kindhim "in body and spirit which are the ness of the eye, the melody of the voice, the Lord's?" And why was Moses again ex-affability and graciousness of the whole dehibited on the mount of transfiguration? portment. "Let your light so shine before Wherefore again displayed in glory? Again men, that they may see your good works, to put a veil upon his face, to empty himself, and glorify your Father which is in heaand to deposit his glory at the feet of Him | in whose light and likeness he shone-To talk with Jesus "concerning the decease he should accomplish at Jerusalem." The Jewish Rabbins pretend to account for the unabated vigour, the unfading lustre of the latter years of the life of Moses, from these very circumstances. The eye, say they, which had endured the sight of God, could not become dim: the natural strength which supported a fast of forty days, could not sink under any future decay. ven."* The time is at hand when the glory which irradiated the face of Moses shall be imparted to the whole company of the redeemed; when the name of God and the Lamb shall shine in every forehead. Behold, and wonder, behold, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." "They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to Christian, consider Moses, the man of God, righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." invested with lustre which dazzled the eye" The Lord God is a sun and shield: the of every beholder, and which length of time Lord will give grace and glory: no good could not impair; and reflect, to what a height thing will he withhold from them that walk of glory communion with God can raise a uprightly." fallen creature; and aspire after a participation of that grace which adorned him. The Matt. v. 16. ↑ Dan. xii. 3. † Rev. xii. 1. § Psalm lxxxiv. 11. HISTORY OF MOSES. LECTURE LXI. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and behold they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: And Moses blessed them.--EXODUS xxxix. 42, 43. Ir reason were to maintain its full dominion in man, were the senses perpetually under the control of the mind, a motive to religion would be continually supplied from the natural impulse of a grateful and affectionate heart. The vast universe would become one great temple; every pebble, every plant, every star would be a witness for God; and |