(Continued: Chapter I- The Romance of Jewish History)

20 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, 6 and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. 18 And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. (Ex. 19:16-20:21).

The Five Books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—cover little more than 2,500 years of human history. The Book of Genesis recounts the creation of the universe, the catastrophe which wrecked the earth, and the work of reconstruction¹ which made the earth habitable for man whom God created for His glory (Genesis, chapters 1 and 2). Genesis has well been called "the book of beginnings": the beginnings of the material universe; the beginnings of life on earth, the highest of which is man; the beginnings of Satan's nefarious activities; the beginnings of sin and sickness; the beginnings of the scheme of redemption; and the beginnings of Hebrew history and God's plan for the Jewish people.

The Book of Exodus takes up the story where Genesis leaves off. The word exodus means a going forth. In this connection it means the going forth of the Hebrew people from Egypt. Since God sent Moses to deliver the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage, Exodus has been appropriately called "The Book of Redemption." The principal events of the Book of Exodus eddy around the giving of the law at Sinai and the erection of the tabernacle.

The third Book of Moses, Leviticus, has been called "The Priestly Manual," because in it instructions are given regarding the sacrifices and the worship to be conducted at the tabernacle. A portion of it has been called "The Book of Holiness." In this section special emphasis is laid upon the clean lives of the worshipers.

Numbers, the fourth Book of Moses, recounts Israel's trek through the wilderness for forty years. Since this Book recounts many of Israel's failures, it has been called "The Book of Backslidings." In order to appreciate the Book of Numbers, one should very carefully study Psalms 78 and 106.

Deuteronomy, as the name signifies, the fifth Book of Moses, is a repetition of the law plus some new revelations. The law was given to the generation that came out of Egypt. During the forty years of wilderness wanderings, there arose a new generation. Especially for the benefit of this new generation was the law repeated by Moses just before his death.

Here and there throughout the Five Books of Moses one finds certain laws and legal requirements, given as the occasion demands. The same principle is true concerning the sacrificial system of offerings. From Genesis, chapter 3, there flows throughout the Five Books of Moses a stream of sacrificial blood. What is the significance of this blood in the light of Jeremiah 7:21-26?

21 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh. 22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: 23 but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 26 yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.

Jeremiah declares that God did not speak to Israel concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices when He brought their fathers out of Egypt. An examination of the law of Moses shows that He did. Is there a contradiction between Jeremiah's hyperbolic statement and the sober statements of Moses? There is not. For after stating that God had not spoken to them concerning burnt-offerings, Jeremiah declares that God had commanded them to hearken to His voice. These facts show that Jeremiah means that obedience is better than sacrifice: "And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah?" (I Sam. 15:22), "For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings" (Hos. 6:6). The full significance of these statements relative to offerings is clearly seen in the following quotation:

5 Many, 0 Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done,
And thy thoughts which are to us-ward:
They cannot be set in order unto thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do thy will, 0 my God;
Yea, thy law is within my heart (Ps. 40:5-8).

In the light of the facts just presented, it is clear that the system of animal sacrifices commanded by Moses could not cleanse from sin. They had a symbolic and typical meaning. Scriptural proof of this position is found in Isaiah 53:10: "Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand." This verse read in the light of its context shows that this servant of Jehovah, the Messiah of Israel, pours out His blood to make atonement for sin. In harmony with this scriptural statement is the language of the poet:

"Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain.

"But Christ, the heav'nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away,
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.

"My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of thine,
While like a pentinent I stand,
And there confess my sin."

At Sinai God spoke audibly to Israel, giving them the ten words, the Ten Commandments, which are found in Exodus, chapter 20, and in Deuteronomy, chapter 5. These commands are basic in the government of God and in the governments of men. They fall into two categories: man in relation to God and man in relation to his fellow-man. On one occasion a lawyer asked Jesus what was the great commandment. He replied saying,

37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets (Matt. 22:37-40).

According to this statement, every utterance of Moses and the Prophets hangs upon these two laws. The one, therefore, who loves God, as here stated, and who loves his neighbor as himself has fulfilled everything that Moses and the Prophets commanded. In other words, there is not a single utterance of Moses or of any of the prophets that can be fulfilled except by genuine love. Every statement of Moses and the Prophets is seen, when analyzed, to be an expression in some way of genuine love.

Since the essence of the revelation of Moses is the love of the individual for God and for his fellow-man, the outward form of expressions or symbols may vanish or be abolished, but the reality remains. In the light of these basic principles, one can readily understand how the Lord allowed the elaborate ceremonial worship and temple services to disappear from Israel. Since it was by divine providence that the beautiful ritualistic services of Israel were abolished, one can understand the following statement by the Apostle Paul:

7 But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away: 8 how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. 11 For if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.

12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13 and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: 14 but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. 15 But unto this day whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. 16 But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit (II Cor. 3:7-18).

The next mountain peak of Israel's history to be inspected is the entrance of the people into Canaan. Jacob and his family went down into Egypt seventy strong and developed into a nation of approximately three million—according to the estimate of some Bible students. One could think of the day of Israel's departure from Egypt as the birthday of the nation. Israel's forty-year trek through the wilderness was largely a sad story of backsliding and of strokes of judgment. There were, however, some bright spots here and there which broke the monotony of the humdrum of their carnal living.

As has been seen, Moses was a very highly educated man, taught in all the arts and sciences of Egypt. His forty years of caring for sheep, and his practical experience gained thereby, prepared him for the strenuous duties of leading his people through the wilderness. From the record it is clear that Moses was a born and trained executive and an administrator, who under God could and did cope with and solve the many difficulties which were constantly arising.

As a good and faithful administrator who had the welfare of the people of God at heart, Moses, figuratively speaking, set his house in order. He did so—at the command of God—selecting and appointing Joshua, a military genius, as his successor (Deuteronomy, chapter 31). No good and faithful servant of God who has the welfare of the people at heart ever thinks of his own prestige and power, but is engrossed with the thought of being a blessing to others and of advancing the cause of God.

The people constantly murmured against Moses. On one occasion they wanted to appoint a captain to lead them back to the "fleshpots of Egypt" (Num. 14:4). Concerning the effects of their murmurings on Moses' spirit, the inspired psalmist declares:

32 They angered him also at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;
33 Because they were rebellious against his spirit,
And he spake unadvisedly with his lips (Ps. 106:32,33).

On this occasion God instructed Moses to speak to the rock that it should send forth water for the people. They angered Moses by their grumblings and actions until he struck the rock and shouted:

10 ... Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. 12 And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. 13 These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and he was sanctified in them (Num. 20:10b-13).

On this occasion Moses, concerning whom God said, "See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet," became angry and misrepresented God, speaking unadvisedly with his lips—the only recorded mistake of this peerless servant of God. But this sin deprived him of entering the land of promise. "Every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward ..." (Heb. 2:2).

Thus without fanfare and human glamour Moses, one of the greatest servants of God, quietly but gloriously passed into the presence of His Maker.

BURIAL OF MOSES
By Cecil Frances Alexander

By Nebo's lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan's wave,
In a vale of the land of Moab,
There lies a lonely grave.
But no man dug that sepulchre,
And no man saw it e'er;
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.

That was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the trampling,
Or saw the train go forth.
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes, when the night is done,
Or the crimson streak on ocean's cheek
Fades in the setting sun;

Noiselessly as the spring-time
Her crest of verdure waves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves;
So without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain's crown
That grand procession swept.

Perchance some bald old eagle
On gray Beth-peor's height,
Out of his rocky eyrie,
Looked on the wondrous sight;
Perchance some lion, stalking,
Still shuns the hallowed spot;
For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.

But when the warrior dieth,
His comrades in the war,
With arms reversed and muffled drums
Follow the funeral car;
They show the banners taken,
They tell his battles won,
And after him lead his matchless steed,
While peals the minute gun.

And the noblest of the land
They lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honored place,
With costly marble drest,
In the great minister's transept height,
Where lights like glory fall,
While the sweet choir sings, and the organ rings
Along the emblazoned wall.

This was the bravest warrior
That ever buckled sword;
This the most gifted poet
That ever breathed a word;
And never earth's philosopher
Traced with his golden pen,
On the deathless page, words half so sage,
As he wrote down for men.

And had he not high honor?
The hill-side for his pall,
To lie in state while angels wait,
With stars for tapers tall;
The dark rock-pines like tossing plumes
Over his bier to wave,
And God's own hand in that lonely land
To lay him in the grave:

In that deep grave without a name,
Whence his uncoffined clay
Shall break again—most wondrous thought!
Before the judgment day;
And stand, with glory wrapt around,
On the hills he never trod,
And speak of the strife that won our life
Through Christ the Incarnate God.

0 lonely tomb in Moab's land!
0 dark Beth-peor's hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to be still:
God hath his mysteries of grace,
Ways that we cannot tell,
He hides them deep, like the secret sleep
Of him he loved so well.

Upon the death of Moses, Joshua, the chosen of God and of Moses, stepped into his predecessor's position, taking command. A new day was dawning. Israel, having received the law through the ministration of Moses, no longer needed the special services of the lawgiver. The time had come to enter the land of promise because the seven nations of Canaan had filled their cup of iniquity to overflowing. "And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full" (Gen. 15:16). What the people of Israel needed was a military genius to lead their armies against inveterate and unscrupulous enemies who lived in moral filth and the abominable pollution of idolatry, and who were strongly entrenched in the land.

As a wise, prudent, military strategist, Joshua struck with sledge-hammer blows Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. In this first military campaign Joshua conquered all the territory east of the Jordan River. By this conquest he made his rear secure from attacks.

At this time the hosts of Israel were encamped in the Plain of Moab opposite Jericho, the key city guarding the entrance to the land from the southeast.

At the proper time the command was issued to the nation to pass over Jordan into the land of promise. Herewith is the historical account of the inspired chronicler:

3 And Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Jehovah will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7 And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan. 9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God. 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. 13 And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap. 14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bare the ark of the covenant being before the people; 15 and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest,) 16 that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan. (Joshua, chapter 3).

The inspired author (Ps. 114:1-8) speaks most beautifully, and yet accurately, of Israel's passing through the Red Sea and of crossing the Jordan River into Canaan:

114 When Israel went forth out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3 The sea saw it, and fled; The Jordan was driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs.
5 What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest?
Thou Jordan, that thou turnest back?
6 Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams; Ye little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.

When the Hebrews came out of Egypt, "Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion." After this statement the Psalmist states, "The sea saw it, and fled ..." Obviously, this statement refers to the parting of the waters of the Red Sea for Israel to pass through. Then the Psalmist says, "The Jordan was driven back"—a reference to the parting of the waters of the Jordan for Israel to pass into Canaan. The sea parts its waters to let the Hebrews out of Egypt; the Jordan opens its waters to let them into Canaan. When the Jordan parts its waters, the mountains skip like rams; the little hills, like lambs. What is the significance of this statement? Obviously, the land in the vicinity is trembling, which causes the mountains and hills to shake. Undoubtedly, there was an earthquake.

In verses 5 and 6 the Psalmist asks four questions—not to obtain information, but to interpret the supernatural phenomena to others which he is observing in the vision. He sees the Red Sea parting asunder, the Jordan River turning backward, and the mountains and hills in the vicinity of Jericho being rocked. He compares their movement to the skipping of rams and lambs. According to the scientists, there is an adequate cause for every effect. Recognizing the correctness of this principle, the Psalmist wishes to inform his readers who or what force is causing these unusual phenomena. This extraordinary shaking and trembling of the earth doubtless suggests to the writer prophecies which foretell that God will shake, not only the literal earth, but the heavens also. An example of such prophecies is Isaiah 24:18-20:

18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.

Another example of this type of prophecy is Haggai 2:6,7:

6 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations; and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.

The Psalmist's seeing the supernatural rocking of the earth creates in him a desire to see the final rocking of the earth and the establishment of the reign of righteousness among men. He, therefore, prays, "Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob" (Ps. 114:7). From this petition, it is clear that the Lord of the whole earth is the one who will shake both the heavens and the earth at the conclusion of the Tribulation. In the light of these facts, the Psalmist wishes us to know that it is the God of the earth who parted the Red Sea, turned back the waters of the Jordan River, and made the mountains and hills to skip like rams and lambs at the time of Israel's entrance into the promised land.


Footnote:

¹ When God created the earth, it was perfect. We read in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 2, "And the earth was a desolation and a waste." If it was perfect when created, and if subsequently to its creation it was in a state of desolation and waste, as Genesis 1:2 asserts, evidently it was wrecked. In Isaiah 45:18 we read that God created the earth "not a waste." This passage, therefore, is positive proof that the world was wrecked.

(Continued on the next page)