* John Ker.
DEUTERONOMY xxxiv. 5, 6 109
ii. 23), so Moses bears the title of "the Servant of the Lord" (Ex. xiv. 31 ; Num. xii. 7 ; Deut, xxxiv. 5 ; Josh. i. 1 ; Heb. iii. 5). The special quality which this epithet marks is his unswerving faith- fulness— that absolutely unshaken fidelity to God which character- ized him throughout his entire career, alike at Heliopolis, where he worshipped God daily outside the walls of the city, turning towards the sun-rising; in Midian, where he proclaimed by the name of his son that God was " his help " (Ex. xviii. 4) ; in his dealings with Pharaoh, wherein from first to last he followed exactly all the directions that God gave him ; and in his leadership of the people, which was little less than a constant pleading to them of God's claims, God's will to bless, God's power to punish. Moses was " faithful " to God " in all his house " (Heb. iii. 5) ; i.e. in the entire government and administration which he exercised for forty years over Israel, God's " house " or " household." He was ever witnessing to them for God. " Stand still, and see the salva- tion of the Lord" (Ex. xiv. 13); "the Lord shall fight for you" (Ex. xiv. 14) ; " at even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out " (Ex. xvi. 6).^
(2) The people of Israel must be taught, in the beginning of their history, that the messengers of truth do not come from their midst, but from a Master above. Man's philosophy is the off- spring of the soil of this earth. It appeals to man's reason and finds there its reward. But God's law descends from God's throne, and while it meets the requirements of man's nature, it is not responsible to them. Every true bearer of it has his errand from God, gives his account to Him, and finds his reward in God at last.
How faithfully to men, and also how kindly, would all our work be done, if we had our account not to them, but to God, ever in our eye ! Moses ascends the mount to learn God's will, and, when he has finished his work, he goes to Him to die, and to find from Him his sepulchre. He, whose servant he is, takes him back into His keeping, in the spirit of that grand old psalm which comes down to us as " A prayer of Moses, the man of God " (Ps. xc.) ; " Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."
(3) There is another point in connexion with his death that expresses the kindness of the Lord. We know we must die, and, knowing this, we have the wish to die among our own; to be
*G. Rawlinson, Moses, 200.
no THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF MOSES
tended in our last moments by our dearest ones on earth ; and when all is over (is it not also true of most people ?) to be laid beside our kindred.
As if the quiet bones were blest Among familiar names to rest.
And whilst this is true, it is also true that, should any of our household be " sick unto death," our desire is that they should die at home. If we should hear of our absent child being dangerously ill, our first thought would be to get him home ; and if he were too ill to be removed, we would then arrange to go to him, and nurse him wherever he might be, until death relieved us of our sad but loved charge. So Moses was well cared for in his death ; for God, like a comforting mother, took him into His own care, and laid him down to rest. He loved him, and so brought him up into one of His upper chambers, where, tended by Himself, the good man remained until he died, and then the Friend, who had been with him in his dying, laid his body in its unknown grave. " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
*|| I heard a daughter say, not long since, speaking of her mother's long and fatal illness, " I am so thankful I was able to nurse her, and do everything for her with my own hands all the way through to the end." And when she spoke the words it was quite evident that the facts she stated gave her the deepest satisfaction and joy.^
^ What a marvellous coming forth of the Lord God out of the thick darkness is here ! Moses must die ; but no human friend may wait upon that hallowed death-bed, no human eye may watch the ebbing of that preternatural strength, no human hands may lay that flesh, which had shone with the reflection of the un- created glory, in the dust. God will be all in all to His servant ; about him to protect him, above him to draw him upwards, beside him to uphold, beneath him to sustain. Comfort and help in the dark hour must come to Moses direct from God. The utterances which hang around that solitary departure are the Divine words, " I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." ^