In the scene that passed in the wilderness, only to the hand which employed it. The zeal we behold the shadow of good things to come, of that pious prince, therefore, is worthy of a prefiguration of the death which Christ commendation, who, in reforming the abuses should die. He is here "evidently set forth of religion, which prevailed at the time that crucified before us," according to his own he mounted the throne of Judah, abolished words, descriptive of" the decease which he this among the rest. Regardless of the purshould accomplish at Jerusalem." "And I, pose for which it was at first framed; of the if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all venerable hand which formed and reared it, men unto me."* and of the lapse of so many years which had stamped respect upon it, "he brake in pieces the brazen serpent which Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan,"* by way of contempt-a piece of brass. This same idea, we have just observed, had been suggested by the evangelical prophet Isaiah, and a similar expression is put into the Saviour's mouth by that harbinger of the Prince of Peace. "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." And in another place, speaking of gospel times," At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel."+ Thus was Moses, by what he did, and Isaiah, by what he wrote, pointing out to the world one and the same great object, Christ Jesus, "the end of the law for righteousness;" the substance of the types; the accomplishment of prophecy and promise; the bruiser of the serpent's head; the restorer of defaced, defiled, degraded humanity. And thus we are taught to regard with peculiar respect, an event which Providence has, in so many different ways, rendered illustriously conspicuous; the death of Christ on the accursed tree. We shall have exhibited to you all that Moses and the prophets, all that the historian and the evangelist have suggested, on the subject of the brazen serpent, when we have led your attention to the impious and idolatrous use made of it in after times. That this illustrious instrument of Israel's deliverance in the wilderness, should be carefully preserved, as a monument of the divine power and goodness, and by length of time acquire venerability and respect among the other valuable memorials of antiquity, is not to be wondered at. But every thing may be perverted; and a corrupt disposition has ever manifested itself in man, to exalt into the place of God, something that is not God. Accordingly we find, about eight centuries from its original fabrication, even in the days of Hezekiah, the brazen serpent exalted to divine honours, and a besotted people rendering that homage to the mean, which was due † Isa. xvii. 7. John xii. 32. On this part of the history of Moses, pagan antiquity has founded the fabulous history of Esculapius, the pretended god of medicine, whose symbol was a serpent twisted round a rod. The learned have, through a variety of particulars, traced the derivation of the fable from the fact; but to repeat them, would rather minister to curiosity than to instruction and improvement. We dismiss the subject, then, with this general remark, that in more respects than is commonly apprehended, and than it has had the candour to acknowledge, is pagan literature indebted to the sacred volume; that the wisdom of Egypt, of Babylon, of Greece, and of Rome is traceable up to this source; that Moses is, of course, to be considered as the father of profane, as of sacred learning, from whom all subsequent historians, legislators, orators, and poets have derived the lights which directed them in their several pursuits; that to the pure source of all wisdom, the revelation from heaven, in a word, the world is indebted for the first principles of science, morality, and religion; which appear to the attentive and discerning eye through the mist in which credulous ignorance or bold fiction have involved them. Let us hence be encouraged to revere the scriptures, to search and compare them; to derive our opinions of religious subjects from that sacred source, instead of forcing the truth of God into an awkward supporter of our preconceived opinions. Above all, let it be our concern to regulate our conduct by the laws which scripture has laid down, and to comfort our hearts by the hope it inspires, and the prospects which it has unfolded. Amen. 2 Kings xviii. 4. HISTORY OF MOSES. LECTURE LXXIV. And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes. That is the water of Meribah in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin.-NUMBERS XXVii. 12-14. THERE is something peculiarly interesting in hearing a plain, honest, intelligent man, without vanity, or self-sufficiency, or of affected humility, talking of himself; going into the detail of his own history, with the same fidelity and simplicity as if it were the history of a stranger; unfolding his heart without reserve, disclosing his faults and infirmities without palliation, recording his wise and virtuous actions without ostenta tion; and relating events, with all their little circumstances, according to the feelings which they excited at the moment. at the distance of thirty-eight years, the whole difference is no more than one thousand eight hundred and twenty men: for at the former period, the number of men of a military age was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty; and at the latter, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty. But though the strength of the host was nearly the same, the individuals whereof it was composed were totally changed; two names alone of so many myriads stood upon both lists, Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, for It is pleasant to see an old man, with his Moses himself was under sentence of confaculties unimpaired, his spirits cheerful, his demnation; he was not to be permitted to temper sweet, his conscience clear, his pros-pass over Jordan; he is already numbered pects bright; enjoying life without fearing with the dead. death; blending the modesty and benevolence of youth with the wisdom and dignity of age. There is a double satisfaction in hearing such a one describe persons whom he knew, scenes in which he acted, expeditions which he conducted, schemes which he planned and executed. The course of nature, it is true, is continually producing a similar effect on the human race, upon the whole; but there is a degree of exactness in this instance, not to be accounted for on common principles, and which must be resolved into a special interposition of Providence, which had pronounced the And such a one was Moses, who having, doom of death on the whole body of offenders, by divine inspiration made the ages and ge- in the moment of transgression, and at the nerations before the flood to pass in review, same instant, promised the reward of fidelity and unfolded the history of redemption, in its and obedience to those illustrious two: lonconnexion with the system of nature and the gevity, and the possession of Canaan. Vain ways of Providence, during a period of two therefore is the hope of so much as one guilty thousand five hundred years; having admit-person escaping in a crowd, groundless the ted us to his familiarity and friendly instruc- fear of singular goodness suffering in the tion during an eventful life of one hundred midst of many wicked. and twenty years, is now, with the same calmness and ease, admitting us to contemplate his behaviour in the immediate prospect, and up to the very hour of his death. The idolatrous defection of Israel in the plains of Moab, had been visited with a plague which swept away twenty-four thousand of them. Immediately on the staying of that terrible calamity, Moses is commanded, with the assistance of Eleazer the high priest, to take the number of the people, from twenty years old and upwards, and to compare the muster-roll of the day, with that taken in the wilderness of Sinai, thirty-eight years before. This being done with all possible accuracy, two most singular facts turn up, each singular, considered separately and by itself, and both most singular, taken in connexion one with another. In a multitude so great, and It is related of Xerxes, king of Persia, much to the honour of his humanity, that surveying from an eminence the vast army with which he was advancing to the invasion of Greece, he burst into tears to think that in less than one hundred years they should all be cut off from the land of the living. What then, O Moses, were the emotions of thy soul, to see the event which Xerxes but anticipated, realized before thine eyes? To walk through the ranks of Israel without meeting one man who followed thee out of Egypt, with whom thou couldst mingle the tears of sympathy over so many fallen, or remind of the joy and wonder of that great deliverance? Is not that man already dead, who has survived all his contemporaries! A consideration, among many others, powerfully calculated to reconcile the mind to the thoughts of dissolution, and to impress on the soul the sentiment of the wise man concerning the world, "I hate it, I would not live always." God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon."* At another time, he seems quietly to give up the cause as lost, and patiently prepares to meet his fate, and meekly resigns himself to the will of the Most High, which he was unable to alter. In a word, we see him at once the man and the believer, and a pattern well worthy of imitation in both respects. Long life, however, is not the less to be considered as a blessing. The love of it is a constitutional law of our nature; and the promise of it is annexed to the sanctions of the written law, as a motive to obedience: "Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,"* and it is here bestowed as a reward on the faithful. Premature death, in like manner, is an object of natural horror, is threatened in anger, and It is impossible to observe the conflict of inflicted as a punishment. "The wicked Moses's soul, when this cup of trembling was shall not live half his days, and his memory put into his hands, without thinking of the shall rot." In general, a wise and merciful bitter agony in the garden, of the travail of God hides from the eyes of men the era of the Redeemer's soul, of that passionate adtheir departure out of the world. The bit- dress, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup terness of death consists in the foretaste, pass from me"-of "sweat like great drops and the forerunners of that great enemy. of blood falling down to the ground,”†—of That bitterness, in its full proportion, was the triumph of resignation, "nevertheless, wrung out, and mingled in the cup of Moses. not my will, but thine be done"-of "humiThe death of every Israelite was a death- liation to death, the death of the cross." warning to him. He had lately ascended Thus it "behoved him to fulfil all righteousmount Hor with Aaron his brother, strippedness." Thus he taught men to obey the law him of his garments, closed his eyes to his of God, to use all lawful endeavours to prelast long sleep, and descended without him; serve life; and thus he inculcated submission and mount Hor is only a few steps distant to that sovereign will which it is unprofitafrom mount Abarim, and his own summons ble and impious to resist. comes at length. He is respited, not pardoned, and a reprieve of forty years is now expired. It is in that awful, trying hour, we are at this time to trace the character and mark the behaviour of the man of God. "Get thee up," said God to Moses, "into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel;" and this is all that the law can do for the guilty; it conducts to an adjoining eminence, it spreads a distant prospect of Canaan, it can From the moment he fell under the divine display its beauty and fertility, it can inspire displeasure which shortened the date of his the desire of possession; but it cannot divide life, we observe it lying with an oppressive Jordan, it cannot lead to victory over the last weight upon his mind. The love of life ma- enemy, it cannot make "the comer therenifests itself, and we behold, in the prophet, unto perfect," nor establish the soul in everthe man of like passions with ourselves. lasting rest. Neither Moses, the giver of the There is no incident of his life on which he law, nor Aaron, the high priest, under the dwells so much, and with such earnestness law, could "continue by reason of death." of interest as this. The history of his offence But the Apostle and High Priest of our prois again and again repeated, not in the view fession is entered into the holiest of all," of extenuating the guilt of it, but to vindicate has opened a passage through the gates of the righteous judgment of God. The excel-death, to life and immortality; lifted up, first lence of this part of his narrative, is its departing from the direct line of narration. He hastens forward to bring it early into view; he returns again upon his footsteps, and presents it a second time to view. Is he reminding Israel of their rebellion and disobedience? his own transgression, and the punishment of it, arise and stare him in the face. Is he encouraging them in their progress towards the promised land? he sighs to think that he himself shall never enter into it. At one time, he flatters himself with the hope that justice might perhaps relent, and presumes to expostulate and entreat, in terms earnest and pathetic, such as these; "O Lord *Exod. xx. 12. upon the cross, and then to his throne in the heavens, he is drawing all men unto him. Together with the honest, though fond attachment to life, which characterizes the man, and the pious resignation which marks the child of God, Moses discovers, on this occasion, that excellent spirit which sinks and loses the individual in the public. He cheerfully gives up his personal suit, and the cause of Israel henceforth engrosses him wholly. "And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which * Deut. iii. 24, 25. 1 Luke xxii. 42-44. Lev. xvii. 12, 13. may go in before them, and which may lead | them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd." furnished for his great undertaking, God was pleased to command a solemn and public declaration of his choice, and that the object of it should, before the eyes of the people, be set apart by the imposition of the hands of Moses to the office assigned him. Forms are necessary, because men are not spiritual; forms are interposed, that the understanding, the heart, and the conscience, may be approached through the channels of sense. And of all forms, recommended by divine authority, and its own significant simplicity, that of the laying on of hands is one Let modern patriots think of this, and blush at their pride and selfishness. But they are lost to all sense of decency, they keep each other in countenance by their multitude and confidence, and "glory in their shame." This noble conduct of the Jewish legislator was not the affectation of virtue and public spirit, the ostentatious boasting of a man who had no prospect, or a distant one of being put to the trial; but the native greatness and supe-of the most ancient, most frequently in use, riority of a mind occupied with two grand objects, the glory of God and the good of his country; a mind that could rejoice in the advancement of an inferior, and decrease with inward satisfaction while the other increased. Ordinary men look with an evil eye upon their successors. A prince and his heir, though that heir be his own son, generally live upon indifferent terms; but Moses sees his dignity departing from himself in his life time, departing from his family, given to his servant, without a murmur, without a sigh. It was enough to him that God had been pleased to adopt Joshua, for the purpose of finishing his work, of introducing Israel into their inheritance. It is no sooner intimated to him, than Joshua becomes his son, his brother, his friend: and he proceeds to his installation with as much alacrity, as he invested Aaron with the pontifical robes. and most striking. By this solemn rite, the devoted victim was set apart for death, and the guilt of the offerer transferred, as it were, and laid upon the head of the oblation: and thus were the minister of the sanctuary, the general, the statesman, dedicated to the duties of their respective stations; thus new and extraordinary powers were conferred upon Joshua: thus Jesus took leave of his disciples, and left a blessing behind him, more precious than the mantle of Elijah. "He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them."* By laying on of the apostles' hands, miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were communicated; and by laying on of the hands of the presbytery, Timothy was solemnly set apart for exercising the office of a bishop; and thus a great part of the christian world continues to install its ministers in the pastoral honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient." This solemn ceremony consisted of a vari-office. ety of circumstances, which are well worthy Moses was farther commanded "to cause of our attention; from their being of divine Joshua to stand before Eleazer the priest," appointment, from their great antiquity, from who was probably to offer up sacrifice in betheir inexplicable mysteriousness, or their half of the commander elect, and by this adobvious significancy. Joshua was already ditional solemnity to impress both upon his anointed with the unction of the Spirit: he own mind and upon those of the spectators, was a person of singular piety, undaunted re- the weight and importance of the sacred solution, and unshaken fidelity: he had long charge committed unto him. It is added, attended upon Moses as his minister, had ac-verse 20th," And thou shalt put some of thine companied him into the mount, when he ascended to meet God, had traversed the land of Canaan as one of the spies, had brought This is interpreted by some commentators, up its good report, and stood firm with Caleb of those rays of glory, which are supposed to in resisting the timid and discouraging repre- have surrounded the head of Moses, ever sentations of his colleagues. He possessed since his descent from God in the mount, and all the qualities natural, acquired, and miracu- which so dazzled the eyes of the beholder, lously dispensed, which were requisite to the that in speaking to the people he was under discharge of the duties of that high and im-the necessity of putting a veil over his face. portant station to which Providence was now By the imposition of his hands upon the head calling him. By the spirit which is said to of Joshua, according to the commandment, have been in Joshua, some understand the spirit of prophecy, or supernatural powers of foreseeing and providing for future events. By taking in every circumstance, it seems rather to denote those rare gifts with which nature had so liberally endowed him; wisdom, and courage, and strength, and which Providence was now calling forth for the general benefit. But though thus amply Numb. xxvii. 15-17. this external, sensible honour, is understood to have been communicated from the one to the other, and that, in consequence of it, Joshua henceforth wore a visible token of the choice of Heaven. Conjecture and fancy blend too much in this exposition, to procure for it a very high degree of respect. Juster and more sober criticism explain the passage as implying, *Luke xxiv. 50. that Moses should immediately associate fore the Lord: and on looking downwards Joshua with himself in the executive powers upon the Urim in the breastplate, the answer of government, devolve upon him a share of God was seen in characters of reflected both of the respect and the care which per-light, from the excellent glory, and which the tained to the supreme command; that he high priest audibly repeated in the ears of might enjoy the satisfaction, while he yet the party concerned.-"Go;" or, "Thou shalt lived, and which he so much desired, of be- not go.' holding a wise and a good man conducting the Israelitish affairs, in church and state, with discretion, and carrying on the plan of Providence to its consummation. There is another article in the injunction laid upon Moses, respecting the appointment of his successor, which has greatly exercised and puzzled the critics. "And he shall stand before Eleazer the priest, who shall ask counsel for him, after the judgment of Urim, before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation."* The difficulty is, what was the Urim, and the judgment of Urim, of which Eleazer was to ask counsel in behalf of Joshua, and wherein Moses differed from Joshua as to this? Urim, is, in general, in scripture, found in connexion with Thummim. The words import light and perfection; and they appear to have been some part or appendage of the breastplate, that essential article of the high priest's dress. They were not, it is alleged, the production of human skill, like the other particulars of the sacred clothing, for there is no account of their fabrication by the hands of man; but when the breastplate was finished, Moses, we are told, "put into it the Urim and the Thummim," whatever they were, immediately from God. When the oracle refused to give any response, as in the case of Saul, it was considered as a mark of high displeasure. God would not answer that wicked prince "by the judgment of Urim," but because he had wilfully forsaken God, an offended God, in just displeasure, gave him up to ask counsel of hell, and to follow it to his own destruction. "We have also," Christians, "a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed; as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts."* Joshua being referred to this mode of consultation, compared with the history of Moses, points out the difference between these two leaders of Israel. "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." God manifested himself immediately unto Moses; conversed with him as a man with his friend. Joshua was kept at a greater distance, and enjoyed communion with God through the intervention of appointed means. Just as before Moses was admitted to the very summit of the mount, received within the veil of thick darkness, which at once concealed and revealed the divine glory; while Joshua was confined to a lower region, kept in the place and on the duty of a servant. But we must conclude. The method of consultation has also fur- The whole scene that has now passed in nished ample matter of dispute. The most review, speaks directly to the heart and conapproved tradition is this, for scripture gives science. It presents a striking and instrucbut few, and those very general hints, upon tive instance of the goodness and severity of the subject, the person who desired to consult God. The faults and infirmities of his dearest the oracle, (and none but public persons, and children he neither overlooks, nor forgets to on great public occasions, were admitted to punish. For one offence, and seemingly a that privilege,) intimated his intention to the slight one, Moses is excluded from Canaan. high priest; who, at the hour of incense, ar- No humiliation, penitence, or entreaty can, of rayed in his pontifical vestments, entered the themselves, remove the guilt nor prevent holy place, accompanied at a little distance the chastisement of sin. The neglect or inby the magistrate or general, who made the sult offered by a child, a brother, a friend, inquiry. The high priest placed himself strikes deeper than the most violent outrage with his face towards the entrance of the from a stranger, or an avowed enemy. The most holy place. The veil which separated | transgression of Moses at the waters of strife the holy place from the holy of holies, was drawn up for the occasion, so that he stood directly fronting the ark of the covenant, overshadowed by the cherubim, where the Schechinah, or visible glory, resided. The nirer then standing behind, pronounced the question, or consultation, in a few plain words; such, for example, as these: "Shall I go up against the Philistines, or shall I not go up?" This question was again repeated solemnly and distinctly by the high priest be *Nam, xxvii. 21. was thus aggravated, and he must die for it. O my God, enter not into judgment with me, whose crimes are heightened by every circumstance of aggravation-deliberation, presumption, filial ingratitude, in the face of solemn and re, eated engagements. If Moses died the death, for once speaking unadvisedly with his lips, in the moment of passion; " if thou, Lord, art strict to mark iniquity, where shall I stend!" how shall I escape? But is death a punishment to a good man? † Dut. xxxiv. 10. * 2 Peter i. 19. |