Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 27:12
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.
12. this mountain of the Abarim ] See on Num 21:11. The spot is defined as ‘the top of the Pisgah’ in Deu 3:27 (D ), and still more closely as ‘Mount Nbo’ in Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1 (P ).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 14. The command to Moses to view the land from a mountain is not obeyed till Deuteronomy 34 (P ). This long postponement might seem strange. But it must be remembered that before the greater part of Numbers 28-36 was added as an enlargement of P by later hands the book of Deut., which is represented, for the most part, as Moses’ farewell address, stood in closer proximity to the present passage. When the compilation of the documents took place, an editor seems to have felt that the interval between the command and the fulfilment was unduly long, and therefore inserted the command a second time in Deu 32:48-52, which is a repetition of the present passage in an expanded form.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mount Abarim – See Num 21:20 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Num 27:12-14
Thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.
Why Moses must not enter Canaan
Eminent as he was in grace and holiness, he was not allowed to enter with his people into the Land of Promise. This in itself must have been a sore trial. But it was tenfold more so on account of the cause; it was a judgment. He who was the meekest of men once spoke unadvisedly with his lips. The reason, then, why Moses could not enter into the Land of Promise is evident. Moses represents the law. Now we have seen that, as a believer, Moses could not enter the Land of Promise, because on one occasion he spake unadvisedly with his lips. But look at him as the representative of the Law, and what lesson does his inability to enter the Land of Promise rivet on our hearts? This truth, that the law cannot bring us into the Land of Promise. There was a point to which Moses could bring Israel, and then he must lie down and die, and his work must be given into other hands, into the hands of Joshua, whose very name shows that he was an eminent type of Christ. There is a point, too, up to which the law may bring us. Where is it? It is to a knowledge of sin. By the law, says St. Paul, is the knowledge of sin. I had not known sin, he says but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet (Rom 7:7). One great purpose for which the law is given is just to teach us what we are- utterly sinful, utterly lost in ourselves. It requires perfect obedience; and, behold, in many things we offend. It makes no provision for transgression, proclaims no forgiveness. It can give no peace. The voice is terrible to the guilty. Whenever it fulfils its true purpose in the soul it empties it of self-righteousness, lays it prostrate in the dust, and makes it take the lowest place. Thus St. Paul says, I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God (Gal 2:19). And, again, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith (chap. 3:24). Are you? Under Moses or Christ? What is your hope of glory? Is it that you have not sinned so much as others? that your life is very exemplary? that you leave no duty willingly unperformed, or service unattended? Do you think that somehow or other Christ must be yours, if your life is so excellent? Are these your thoughts? Then we must faithfully tell you that you are still under Moses, still clinging to a broken law; and we must remind you that the law can never bring you to heaven. It is Christ only who can save you, and bring you into the Land of Promise–Christ only who can reconcile you to God, and we can never come to Christ without utterly renouncing our own righteousness, and our own works, as entitling us to Gods favour. (G. Wagner.)
The death of Moses
Moses must die, but only as Aaron died before him (Num 27:13); and Moses had seen how easily and cheerfully Aaron had put off the priesthood first, and then the body. Let not Moses, therefore, be afraid of dying; it was but to be gathered to his people, as Aaron was gathered. Thus the death of our near and dear relations should be improved by us.
1. As an engagement to us to think often of dying. We are not better than our fathers or brethren; if they are gone, we are going; if they are gathered already, we must be gathered very shortly.
2. As an encouragement to us to think of death without terror, and even to please ourselves with the thoughts of it, it is but to die as such and such died, if we lived as they lived, and their end was peace; they finished their course with joy; why, then, should we fear any evil in that melancholy valley? (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Get thee up into this Mount Abarim] The mountain which Moses was commanded to ascend was certainly Mount Nebo, see De 32:49, c., which was the same as Pisgah, see De 34:1. The mountains of Abarim, according to Dr. Shaw, are a long ridge of frightful, rocky, precipitous hills, which are continued all along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, as far as the eye can reach. As in Hebrew abar signifies to pass over, Abarim here probably signifies passages and the ridge in this place had its name in all likelihood from the passage of the Israelites, as it was opposite to these that they passed the Jordan into the promised land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The whole tract of mountains was called
Abarim, Num 33:47, whereof one of the highest was called Nebo, Deu 32:49, and the top of that, Pisgah, Deu 34:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. The Lord said unto Moses, Getthee up into this mount Abarim, and see the landAlthough theIsraelites were now on the confines of the promised land, Moses wasnot privileged to cross the Jordan, but died on one of the Moabiticrange of mountains, to which the general name of Abarim was given (Nu33:47). The privation of this great honor was owing to theunhappy conduct he had manifested in the striking of the rock atMeribah [Nu 20:12]; and whilethe pious leader submitted with meek acquiescence to the divinedecree, he evinced the spirit of genuine patriotism in his ferventprayers for the appointment of a worthy and competent successor [Nu27:15-17].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. After the covenant made with Israel in the plains of Moab, and the song delivered to them,
De 29:1
get thee up to this Mount Abarim; which was a range of mountains, so called from the passages by them over Jordan into the land of Canaan; one part of which was Nebo, and the top of that Pisgah, from whence Moses had the view of the good land here directed to; see
Nu 33:47.
and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel; for though he was now one hundred and twenty years old, his eyes were not dim, he could see at a great distance; and the height of this hill gave him an advantage of taking a prospect of the land, a great way into it; and very probably his sight might be greatly strengthened and increased at this time by the Lord, for the purpose; this may be an emblem of that sight by faith, which believers have at times of the heavenly Canaan, and sometimes are favoured with an enlarged one of it before their death.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Death of Moses Foretold. – After these instructions concerning the division of the land, the Lord announced to Moses his approaching end. From the mountains of Abarim he was to see the land which the Israelites would receive, and then like Aaron to be gathered to his people, because like him he also had sinned at the water of strife at Kadesh. This announcement was made, “that he might go forward to his death with the fullest consciousness, and might set his house in order, that is to say, might finish as much as he could while still alive, and provide as much as possible what would make up after his death for the absence of his own person, upon which the whole house of Israel was now so dependent” ( Baumgarten). The fulfilment of this announcement is described in Deu 32:48-52. The particular spot upon the mountains of Abarim from which Moses saw the land of Canaan, is also minutely described there. It was Mount Nebo, upon which he also died. The mountains of Abarim (cf. Num 33:47) are the mountain range forming the Moabitish table-land, which slope off into the steppes of Moab. It is upon this range, the northern portion of which opposite to Jericho bore the name of Pisgah, that we are to look for Mount Nebo, which is sometimes described as one of the mountains of Abarim (Deu 32:49), and at other times as the top of Pisgah (Deu 3:27; Deu 34:1; see at Num 21:20). Nebo is not to be identified with Jebel Attarus, but to be sought for much farther to the north, since, according to Eusebius ( s. v. ), it was opposite to Jericho, between Livias, which was in the valley of the Jordan nearly opposite to Jericho, and Heshbon; consequently very near to the point which is marked as the “ Heights of Nebo ” on Van de Velde’s map. The prospect from the heights of Nebo must have been a very extensive one. According to Burckhardt ( Syr. ii. pp. 106-7), “even the city of Heshbon ( Hhuzban) itself stood upon so commanding an eminence, that the view extended at least thirty English miles in all directions, and towards the south probably as far as sixty miles.” On the expression, “gathered unto thy people,” see at Gen 25:8, and on Aaron’s death see Num 20:28. : “ as ye transgressed My commandment.” By the double use of ( quomodo, “as”), the death of Aaron, and also that of Moses, are placed in a definite relation to the sin of these two heads of Israel. As they both sinned at Kadesh against the commandment of the Lord, so they were both of them to die without entering the land of Canaan. On the sin, see at Num 20:12-13, and on the desert of Zin, at Num 13:21.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Moses Warned of His Death. | B. C. 1452. |
12 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. 13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. 14 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.
Here, 1. God tells Moses of his fault, his speaking unadvisedly with his lips at the waters of strife, where he did not express, so carefully as he ought to have done, a regard to the honour both of God and Israel, v. 14. Though Moses was a servant of the Lord, a faithful servant, yet once he rebelled against God’s commandment, and failed in his duty; and though a very honourable servant, and highly favoured, yet he shall hear of his miscarriage, and all the world shall hear of it too, again and again; for God will show his displeasure against sin, even in those that are nearest and dearest to him. Those that are in reputation for wisdom and honour have need to be constantly careful of their words and ways, lest at any time they say or do that which may be a diminution to their comfort, or to their credit, or both, a great while after. 2. He tells Moses of his death. His death was the punishment of his sin, and yet notice is given him of it in such a manner as might best serve to sweeten and mollify the sentence, and reconcile him to it. (1.) Moses must die, but he shall first have the satisfaction of seeing the land of promise, v. 12. God did not intend with this sight of Canaan to tantalize him, or upbraid him with his folly in doing that which cut him short of it, nor had it any impression of that kind upon him, but God appointed it and Moses accepted it as a favour, his sight (we have reason to think) being wonderfully strengthened and enlarged to take such a full and distinct view of it as did abundantly gratify his innocent curiosity. This sight of Canaan signified his believing prospect of the better country, that is, the heavenly, which is very comfortable to dying saints. (2.) Moses must die, but death does not cut him off; it only gathers him to his people, brings him to rest with the holy patriarchs that had gone before him. Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, were his people, the people of his choice and love, and to them death gathered him. (3.) Moses must die, but only as Aaron died before him, v. 13. And Moses had seen how easily and cheerfully Aaron had put off the priesthood first and then the body; let not Moses therefore be afraid of dying; it was but to be gathered to his people, as Aaron was gathered. Thus the death of our near and dear relations should be improved by us, [1.] As an engagement to us to think often of dying. We are not better than our fathers or brethren; if they are gone, we are going; if they are gathered already, we must be gathered very shortly. [2.] As an encouragement to us to think of death without terror, and even to please ourselves with the thoughts of it. It is but to die as such and such died, if we live as they lived; and their end was peace, they finished their course with joy; why then should we fear any evil in that melancholy valley?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 12-14:
It is not possible to determine the exact chronology of the events in the closing chapters of this book. This summons was prior to Moses’ final charge to Joshua, and his last address to Israel, De 31:1-8. There appears to have been a brief interval between this summons to die and the actual event itself.
“Mount Abarim,” apparently refers to the mountain range behind Arboth Moab. Its northern portion was opposite to Jericho, and was called Mount Pisgah, Nu 21:20; De 3:27.
The highest peak of the range was called Mount Nebo, De 32:39; 34:1, deriving its name from a nearby city, Nu 33:47.
God had earlier informed Moses that he would not be allowed to lead Israel into the Land, Nu 20:12. The reason: Moses’ disobedience in striking the rock at Meribah. But God allowed him to look over Jordan into the Land, and see its beauty, possibly in answer to prayer, De 3:25-27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
H. MOSES TO VIEW THE LAND OF PROMISE vv. 1214
TEXT
Num. 27:12. The Lord said to Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. 13. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. 14. 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.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 27:12. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go up to this mountain Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. 13. And when you have seen it, you shall also be gathered unto your people, as Aaron your brother was; 14. for you rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the assembly, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is, the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the wildernss of Zin.
COMMENTARY
The Abarim, those on the other side, are mountains east of the Jordan near the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Moses was led here for the purpose of examining the land into which the people, but not he, would enter. The peak from which Moses looked is referred to as Pisgah or Nebo (Num. 21:20, and Deu. 34:1 ff.). From any of several such peaks in the areaand the exact identification of the individual peak is impossiblea commanding view may be had of the Jordan valley to the north, of the depression and environment of the Dead Sea to the south, and across the Jordan into the Judean hills.
Because of his part in the sin at Kadesh (here called a rebellion), Moses will not be permitted to cross the Jordan. He had been previously informed of this judgment (Num. 20:12); it is here reaffirmed. Gods authority and integrity must stand, therefore the punishment could not have been rescinded. Whereas we might wish some concession to have been made to Moses because of his greatness, or his usually adamant resistance to evil and to the enemies of God, or his splendid and heartwarming intercessory prayers for the people, the view is quite different from Gods perspective: as leader of the people he had a primary obligation to adhere rigidly to the divine instructions under all circumstances, and punishment must be sure, fair and consistent upon the occasion of his disobedience. God could do nothing other than that which He did and be fair.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
503.
Identify Abarim. Why was this an ideal point from which Moses could view the Promised Land?
504.
In what sense could Moses actions at Meribah be called a rebellion?
505.
Explain why God did not revoke the punishment He had previously announced for Moses.
506.
Is it fair that a special weight should be attached to the sin of Moses?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) Get thee up into this mount Abarim.The position of this command, in immediate connection with the answer returned to the request of the daughters of Zelophehad, is very remarkable. They were to enter into the land of promise, and their descendants were to inherit it. The great lawgiver himself was to be excluded on account of his transgression. He does not, however, shrink from recording the sentence of exclusion in immediate connection with an incident which brings out that exclusion into greater prominence. The fulfilment of the announcement made to Moses is related in Deu. 32:48-52. The mountains of Abarim form the Moabitish table-land, the northern portion of which bore the name of Pisgah. It is here that we must look for Mount Nebo, which is sometimes described as one of the mountains of Abarim (Deu. 32:49), and at other times as the top of Pisgah (Deu. 3:27; Deu. 34:1).
And see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.The law, says Bishop Wordsworth, led men to see the promises afar off, and to embrace them [rather, to see and greet the promises from afar, Heb. 11:13], and it brought them to the borders of Canaan, but could not bring them into it: that was reserved for Joshua, the type of Jesus. It must not be overlooked, however, that, although he was shut out during his lifetime from entering into the land of Canaan, Moses was permitted to stand with Elijah upon the Mount of Transfiguration (Mat. 17:3).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
MOSES FOREWARNED OF HIS DEATH, Num 27:12-14.
12. Abarim literally signifies the farther parts, or possibly the fords or passages, as the word is translated Jer 22:20. It is a range of high lands on the east of the Jordan in Moab, facing Jericho, and forming the eastern wall of the Jordan valley. Its most prominent out-jutting or swell is Mount Nebo, head of the Pisgah.
See the land Moses earnestly begged to be permitted to enter into Canaan, but the word of Jehovah excluding both Aaron and Moses (Num 20:12) could not be broken. He received this decisive answer, “Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.” Deu 3:26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Moses Is Told To Prepare Himself For Death After First Seeing The Land. He Pleads For A New Shepherd For The People ( Num 27:12-17 ).
Having established that all of the new generation who had died (in contrast with the old. The old died as a punishment. The new did not) would have their names remembered in receiving a portion of land in the future from the conquered lands, the time came for the grand old man of both generations to die. But his death was not like that of the old, it was like that of the new. Even though he too ‘died for his sin’ with which he had sinned at Kadesh, it was not a punishment for the sin at Kadesh thirty eight years previously. It was not his destiny to die under that sentence. And before he died he would gaze with wonder on the land which Yahweh had brought them to, and had promised them.
Analysis.
a Moses to ascend a mountain to see the land after which he will be gathered to his people (Num 27:12-13).
b It was because he rebelled against Yahweh’s command in the strife of the people (meribah) to sanctify Him (qdsh) in the eyes of the people at the waters (Num 27:13 a).
b These waters were the waters of Meribah (strife) of Kadesh (qdsh) in the wilderness (Num 27:13 b).
a Moses pleads for a man to replace him lest they be as sheep without a shepherd on his departure (Num 27:14-17).
Moses To Ascend A Mountain To See The Land After Which He Will Be Gathered To His People ( Num 27:12-13 ).
Num 27:12
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Get yourself up into this mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given to the children of Israel.” ’
Yahweh was merciful to His old servant. While he had forfeited his right to enter the land because of his sin, he was to be allowed to possess it with his eyes. We can compare here Gen 13:14-16. Abraham too possessed with his eyes what would one day belong to his descendants. And now Moses was having the promises confirmed. He was not as one who was excluded from the land to die in the wilderness because of the rebellion of unbelief. He would die in a place prepared by God, having seen the land with his own eyes, knowing that it would soon belong to his people, for that was why Yahweh had caused him to bring them there.
Zelophehad’s daughters were to possess the land by being allocated his portion. But Moses was to possess for a brief span the whole land. He would feast his eyes on it and see it as the land given to them by God. And Joshua would do even more. He would possess the whole land in reality. So does this chapter move on in progression.
Both this and the last passage therefore emphasise the difference between the deaths of the old generation who died in the wilderness because of their unbelief, and the deaths of those who had not been involved in that extreme unbelief, and who therefore in one way or another would possess the land.
So even Moses failed at the last. He was faithful in all his house, but he was a sinner. But when the greater Moses came, our Lord Jesus Christ, He would not fail or be discouraged (Isa 42:4). It would seem so at first when they hung Him, obedience intact, on a cross, but from that ‘failure’ would come forth the salvation of the world. He would say, ‘Lo, I come to do your will, O my God’ (Heb 10:7; Heb 10:9), and die for us all and rise again, a resurrection which would bring new significance to the death of Moses.
Num 27:13
“ And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered,”
Once Moses had seen the land with his own eyes he would then be ‘gathered to his people’ as Aaron had been. He would join them in the grave world. His death, while occurring earlier than it should have because of his sin, was not to be seen as punishment on the level of that meted out in the wilderness. It was a graded punishment (a reminder to us that God does grade punishment).
This Being Gathered To His People Was Because He Had Rebelled Against Yahweh’s Command Due To The Strife of the People (meribah) And Had Thus Failed To Sanctify Him (qdsh) In The Eyes of the People at The Waters (Num 27:13 a).
Num 27:14
“ Because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes.”
His punishment, though milder, was due to the fact that he too had been guilty of a form of rebellion. He had not ‘believed’ fully and had rebelled against Yahweh’s word, and had thus failed to ‘reveal Him as holy’ (qdsh) at the waters in the eyes of the people, because of the people’s strife (meribah). He had allowed his view of the people to cause him to disobey Yahweh.
Num 27:14 b
‘(These are the waters of Meribah (strife) of Kadesh (sanctified place) in the wilderness of Zin.)’
For that was what the waters of ‘Meribah’, of strife, in ‘Kadesh’, in the place of sanctification, were all about. Note the play on words with the previous sentence. It should have been a place of sanctification, but it became a place of strife both for the people and for Moses and Aaron. What God had intended to be for everyone’s good had brought misery to everyone because of how they took it. If only all had looked only to Yahweh, how blessed they would have been!
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Moses Informed of his End
v. 12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this Mount Abarim, v. 13. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shall be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron, thy brother, was gathered, v. 14. v. 15. And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, v. 16. Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, who gives life and breath to all beings, set a man over the congregation, v. 17. which may go out before them, and which may go in before them,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
MOSES AND JOSHUA (Num 27:12-23).
Num 27:12
And the Lord said unto Moses. It is impossible to determine the exact place of this announcement in the order of events narrated. It would appear from Num 31:1 that the war with the Midianites occurred later, and certainly the address to the people and to Joshua in Deu 31:1-8 presupposes the formal appointment here recorded; but the chronologer of the concluding chapters of Numbers is evidently very uncertain; they may, or may not, be arranged in order of time. We may with good reason suppose that the summons to die was only separated from its fulfillment by the brief interval necessary to complete what work was yet unfinished (such as the punishment of the Midianites and the provisional settlement of the trans-Jordanic country) before the river was crossed. Into this Mount Abarim. See on Num 33:47; Deu 32:49 sq; where this command is recited more in detail. Abarim was apparently the range behind the Arboth Moab, the northern portion of which opposite to Jericho was called Pisgah (Num 21:20; Deu 3:27), and the highest point Nebo (Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1), after the name of a neighbouring town (Num 33:47). And see the land. Moses had already been told that he should not enter the promised land (Num 20:12), yet he is allowed the consolation of seeing it with his eyes before his death. It would seem from Deu 3:25-27 that this favour was accorded him in answer to his prayer.
Num 27:14
For ye rebelled against my commandment. Rather, “as ye rebelled.” The same word, , quomodo, is used hero as in the previous clause. That is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. These words have all the appearance of an explanatory gloss intended to make the reference more plain to the reader or hearer. It is impossible to suppose that they formed part of the Divine message; nor does it seem probable that Moses would have added them to the narrative as it stands, because, in view of Num 20:13, no necessity for explanation existed. It is quite possible that both Num 20:13 and the present clause are subsequent additions to the text intended to clear up an obvious confusion between the “strife” at Rephidim (Exo 17:7) and that at Kadesh.
Num 27:15
And Moses spake unto the Lord. The behaviour of Moses as here recorded (see, however, on Deu 3:23 sq; which seems to throw a somewhat different light upon the matter) was singularly and touchingly disinterested. For himself not even a word of complaint at his punishment, which must have seemed, thus close at hand, more inexplicably severe than ever; all his thoughts and his prayers for the peoplethat one might take his place, and reap for himself and Israel the reward of all his toil and patience.
Num 27:17
Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them. A comparison with the words of Moses in Deu 31:2, and of Caleb in Jos 14:11, shows that the going out and coming in refer to the vigorous prosecution of daily business, and the fatigues of active service. Which may lead them out, and which may bring them in. The underlying image is that of a shepherd and his flock, which suggests itself so naturally to all that have the care and governance of men (cf. Joh 10:3, Joh 10:4, Joh 10:16). As sheep which have no shepherd. And are, therefore, helpless, bewildered, scattered, lost, and devoured. The image is frequent in Scripture (cf. 1Ki 22:17; Eze 34:5; Zec 10:2; Mat 9:36). The words of the Septuagint are .
Num 27:18
Take thee Joshua. Joshua was now for the first time designated at the request of Moses as his successor; he had, however, been clearly marked out for that office by his position as one of the two favoured survivors of the elder generation, and as the “minister” and confidant of Moses. In regard of the first he had no equal but Caleb, in regard of the second he stood quite alone. A man in whom is the spirit. here, although without the definite article, can only mean the Holy Spirit, as in Num 11:25 sq. Lay thine hand upon him. According to Deu 34:9 this was to be done in order that Joshua might receive with the imposition of hands a spiritual gift (charisma) of wisdom for the discharge of his high office. It would appear also from the next paragraph that it was done as an outward and public token of the committal of authority to Joshua as the successor of Moses.
Num 27:19
Give him a charge. . Septuagint, . Command or instruct him as to his duties.
Num 27:20
Put some of thine honour upon him, or, “some of thy dignity” (). Septuagint, .
Num 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest. This points to the essential difference between Moses and Joshua, and all who came after until the “Prophet like unto” Moses was raised up. Moses was as much above the priests as he was above the tribe princes; but Joshua was only the civil and military head of the nation, and was as much subordinate to the high priest in one way as the high priest was subordinate to him in another. In after times no doubt the political headship quite overpowered and overshadowed the ecclesiastical, but this does not seem to have been so intended, or to have been the case in Eleazar’s lifetime. Who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord. Rather, “who shall inquire for him in the judgment of Urim.” . Septuagint, . The Urim of this passage and of 1Sa 28:6 seems identical with the Urim and Thummim of Exo 28:30; Le Exo 8:8. What it actually was, and how it was used in con-suiting God, is not told us in Scripture, and has left no reliable trace in the tradition of the Jews; it must, therefore, remain for ever an insoluble mystery. It does not appear that Moses ever sought the judgment of Urim, for he possessed more direct means of ascertaining the will of God; nor does it seem ever to have been resorted to after the time of David, for the “more sure word of prophecy” superseded it. Its real use, therefore, belonged to the dark ages of Israel, after the light of Moses had set, and before the light of the prophets had arisen. At his word. Literally, after his mouth, i.e; according to the decision of Eleazar, given after consulting God by means of the Urim (cf. Jos 9:14; Jdg 1:1).
Num 27:23
And gave him a charge. This charge is nowhere recorded, for it cannot possibly be identified with the passing words of exhortation in Deu 31:7.
HOMILETICS
Num 27:12-23
THE OUTWARD FAILURE AND INWARD VICTORY OF MOSES
In this section we have two things very plainly: spiritually, we have the weakness of the row, and its inability to do what only Jesus can do for his people: morally, we have the beauty of an uncomplaining submission to the chastening hand of God, and of gladly seeing others reap where we have sown; succeed where we have failed. Consider, therefore
I. THAT MOSES MUST NOT LEAD THE PEOPLE INTO THE PROMISED LAND BECAUSE OF THE PROVED IMPERFECTION OF HIS CHARACTER. It can hardly indeed be supposed that Joshua was in himself more perfect, or on the whole more dear to God, than Moses: but Joshua was not known to have failed distinctly and publicly as Moses was at Meribah; therefore he seemed to answer to the Divine ideal, to the requirement of perfect holiness, better than Moses. Even so the law made nothing per-feet, accomplished nothing fully, because it was known and felt to be imperfect. As applied to the guidance and training of human life for a better world it broke down. Therefore it must be set aside in favour of something more perfect: its glory must be done away before the glory that excelleth (2Co 3:10; Heb 7:18, Heb 7:19; Heb 10:1, &c.).
II. THAT MOSES WAS NOT PERMITTED TO CROSS THE JORDAN: SO much of the inheritance of Israel as lay on the wilderness side of Jordan, he might enter and settle, but he must not cross the river. Even so it was not possible for the law to enter in any wise upon the life to come, the land which is very far off, beyond the stream of Death. This was its limitation imposed upon it by God, by reason of its weakness, that it dealt only with this life, and with such religious sanctions, joys, and consolations, as lie upon this side the grave exclusively. Immortal life was without the province of the law, and could only be entered in Jesus (Joh 1:17; Joh 11:25; 2Ti 1:10).
III. THAT MOSES WAS PERMITTED TO SEE THE LAND ERE HE DEPARTED. Even so the law, which brought men to the very confines of the kingdom of heaven, but could not bring them in (cf. Mat 11:11), had yet within itself a clear vision of the fulfillment of its own hopes. The Song of Simeon and the Voice of the Baptist are the dying testimony of the law, seeing the salvation of God to which it had led through many a weary year, and so content to pass away without enjoying it (Luk 2:29, Luk 2:30; Joh 3:29-31, and cf. Heb 11:13; Joh 8:56).
IV. THAT MOSES CRAVED OF GOD A SUCCESSOR TO HIMSELF WHO SHOULD DO WHAT HE COULD NOT DO. Even so the law through all its voices craved for one, and demanded one of God, who should really save, who should indeed open that kingdom of heaven to which itself pointed, yet was too feeble to enter.
V. THAT GOD DESIGNATED JOSHUA () TO TAKE UP AND TO FULFIL THE WORK OF MOSES. Even so, what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, that hath God accomplished by his holy servant Jesus (Act 13:39; Rom 8:3).
VI. THAT MOSES INSTITUTED JOSHUA TO HIS OFFICE BEFORE THE PEOPLE, AND DECLARED HIS WORK TO HIM. Even so was Jesus proclaimed beforehand to all the faithful by the law which pointed him out as the Captain of our salvation; and our Lord himself, in his human nature, learnt from the law what himself should be and do and suffer (Luk 24:26, Luk 24:27; Joh 19:28; cf. Mat 26:54; Act 13:27; Act 17:3; Act 26:23; Act 28:22).
Consider again, with respect to the conduct of Moses at this time, wherein he is not a foil to one greater, but a pattern to all the servants of God
I. THAT HIS PUNISHMENT SEEMED VERY BITTER AT THIS TIME: much more so surely than when first announced, because then the land was far off, now it was very nigh; then there was yet hope that the Lord would repent him of his sternness, now the decree was palpably final and irrevocable. After so many additional toils, and after so many happy anticipations of victory, to find that the sentence of exclusion still held good must have been bitter indeed!
II. THAT HIS PUNISHMENT WAS IN FACT INEXPLICABLE TO HIMSELF, AND TO ALL, AT THAT TIMEFOR THE EXPLANATION WAS NOT TO COME FOR MANY CENTURIES. It is only in the glory of the Mount of Transfiguration that we can understand or justify the apparent severity with which Moses was treated. His sentence was “exemplary,” for the sake of the people, in order to show in the most striking instance that God requireth a perfect holiness, and a sinless Mediator. But for himself, as (on the whole) a most faithful servant, the sentence was in fact reversed; the wrath was swallowed up in mercy. Moses died outside the promised land, but his body was preserved from corruption by the power of God (cf. Deu 34:6 with Jud Deu 1:9), and in that body he did actually stand within the inheritance of Israel and talk with Jesus of the decease () which he should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luk 9:31, &c.). And note, that in Moses and Joshua we may clearly see the distinction between the Divine treatment of men as types and as individuals. Moses, e.g; was made in his own time to yield to Joshua, to die in exile while Joshua led on to victory and home; and that obviously because Moses represented the weakness of the law, Joshua the power of the gospel. We, however, with the New Testament in our hands, have no difficulty in seeing that as individual servants of God, Moses is more honoured and more greatly rewarded than Joshua; for God is not extreme to mark what is done amiss by those who in the main serve him nobly, unselfishly, and patiently; nor is it in truth a righteous thing with God for one sin of temper to confiscate the rewards of many years of devotion. As a type Joshua stands higher because he was unblamed: as a man Moses is more dear to God, because his work was far more hard, his position more discouraging, and his lot less happy, than that of Joshua, and he himself not less faithful.
III. THAT MOSES DID NOT COMPLAIN OR REBEL. We know indeed from his own mouth (Deu 3:24), that he privately besought the Lord to let him go over; but when the Lord refused him (for the time present) he submitted without a word of complaint. Here was Moses’ meekness (Num 12:3); not that he was not sometimes provoked so that he forgot himself; but that he habitually humbled himself to bear meekly even what seemed most hard.
IV. THAT HIS HABITUAL UNSELFISHNESS SHOWED ITSELF IN CONCERN FOR HIS PEOPLE WHEN HE WAS GONE. He did not harp upon his own fate, or brood upon his own sorrow, but thought only of the people, what should become of them.
V. THAT IN HIS UNSELFISH CONCERN FOR THEM HE WAS WILLING AND ANXIOUS THAT ANOTHER SHOULD BE PLACED OVER THEM IN HIS STEAD. And this showed the highest generosity of mind, because even very noble and otherwise unselfish people constantly betray jealousy and displeasure at the thought of others taking their place. To one who had wielded absolute power for forty years, it might well have seemed impossible to ask for a successor.
VI. THAT IN HIS LOYALTY TO THE KING OF ISRAEL HE GLADLY DEVOLVED HIS OWN DIGNITY UPON ONE WHO HAD BEEN HIS OWN SERVANT, AND OF ANOTHER TRIBE. Moses made no effort to advance his sons, as even Samuel did (1Sa 8:1), nor had they any name or pre-eminence in Israel; nor did he show the least jealousy of Joshua, although he had been his own minister and (humanly speaking) owed everything to him.
Consider, again, with respect to Joshua as a figure of our Lord
I. THAT HE WAS TO SUPERSEDE MOSES. (See above, and cf. Mat 5:17; Act 6:14; Heb 3:3.)
II. THAT HE WAS APPOINTED IN ANSWER TO THE PRAYER THAT GOD WOULD “SET A MAN OVER THE CONGREGATION.” Even so the Lord is that Son of man whom God hath ordained to be the Head of the Church, the human arbiter of human destinies, the human pattern and guide of all believers (Act 2:36; Act 10:42; Heb 2:16-18; Eph 1:22, Eph 1:23).
III. THAT HE WAS TO GO OUT AND TO GO IN BEFORE HIS PEOPLE; i.e; he was to lead an active and busy life in their sight and in their behalf. Even so our Lord fulfilled his ministry before the eyes of all the people, not in solitary meditation nor in calm retirement, but in a ceaseless activity of labour for the bodies and souls of men (Luk 2:49; Joh 4:34; Joh 9:4; Joh 18:20; Act 10:38).
IV. THAT HE WAS TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT, AND TO BRING THEM IN, as a shepherd does his flock. Even so our Lord goes before his own in all things whether in life or in death, leading them out of the uncertain wilderness of this world, bringing them in to the unchangeable rest of the world to come (Psa 23:4; Joh 10:3, sq.; 1Pe 2:21; Rev 1:18).
V. THAT HE WAS TO BE A SHEPHERD TO THEM THAT HAD OTHERWISE BEEN SHEPHERD–LESS (Eze 34:23; Mat 9:36; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 5:4; Rev 7:17). But note, whereas Joshua was to stand before Eleazar, and seek counsel and command through him, our Saviour is both Captain and Priest of his people, and knoweth of himself the will of the Father (Mat 11:27; Joh 1:18; Joh 10:15), and is the Shepherd and Overseer of souls as well as bodies (1Pe 2:25).
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE
Num 27:12-14
GOD’S WORD TO HIS DYING SERVANT
The death of Moses was as singular as his life had been. The scene of it, a mountain-top, where he might be alone with God and yet have a wide prospect of the promised land; the manner of it, not by gradual failure of natural strength, but while he was still able to breast the steep mountain side; the mystery of it, such that no man knew where he was buried. Yet underneath this singularity there was much that is often seen in the departure of God’s servants, and which we shall find it profitable to contemplate.
I. THE LORD REMINDS HIS DYING SERVANT OF HIS SIN (Num 27:14). Dying thoughts are serious thoughts, and it would be strange if they did not often turn on the falls and shortcomings of the past life. Thoughts about sin are of two kinds:
1. There may be the recollection of sin without any knowledge of forgiveness. It was not so that Moses remembered Meribah. The remembrance of unforgiven sin banishes peace. The soul cannot bear to look back, for the past is full of shapes of terror; it cannot bear to look up, for it sees there the face of an offended God; it cannot bear to look forward, for the future is peopled with unknown terrors.
2. There may be the recollection of sin and at the same time an assured persuasion of forgiveness. This is by no means inconsistent with peace. Not that, even thus, the remembrance of sin is pleasant. Moses is put in mind of Meribah to keep him humble. Sin remembered cannot but cause shame; yet it is quite compatible with great peace of mind. Not only so, there is a calm and soul-filling peace which is the fruit of forgiveness, and diffuses itself most abundantly when the soul expatiates on the remembrance at once of its own sin and the Lord’s forgiving grace. “Bless the Lord, oh my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities.”
II. THE LORD COMFORTS HIS SERVANT IN THE PROSPECT OF DEPARTURE.
1. By giving him a sight of the good in store for the Church. It is remarkable how often saints who have spent their strength on some great Christian enterprise, and earnestly desired to see it accomplished before their departure, have been denied this gratification. Moses did not cross the Jordan; David did not see the Temple, nor Daniel the Return, nor John the Baptist the manifestation of Christ’s glory. Yet to all those saints there was granted some such view as that which gladdened the eye of Moses on Nebo. He who knows the hearts knew how dear to Moses’ heart was the good of Israel. It is an excellent token of grace in the heart when the prospect of good days in store for the Church and cause of God is a cordial in one’s last sickness.
2. By telling him of the good and congenial society that awaits him in the other world. “Thy people.” When we die we go to God. The ascension of Christ in our nature has filled heaven for us with such a blaze of fresh light that we must ever think of heaven chiefly as a “being with the Lord.” Yet it is a precious thought, and full of comfort, that those who fall asleep in Jesus are gathered to their people, their true kindred. Moses goes to be with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, with Joseph, with Miriam and Aaron.B.
Num 27:18-20
THE APPOINTMENT OF JOSHUA TO BE MOSES’ SUCCESSOR
Moses, after having been the leader of his people for forty years, is at length to get his discharge. Nothing has yet been determined regarding a successor. The point is, on every account, too important to be left open till the present leader has passed away. A change of leadership, always hazardous, is especially hazardous when the army is in the field and the enemy is on the watch. If the Divine wisdom judged it necessary that Eleazar should be invested with the high priesthood before Aaron died, much more is it necessary that, before Moses lays down the scepter, a successor should be appointed and placed in command. We are now to see how this was done. The story, besides its intrinsic interest, which is not small, is interesting, moreover, on this account, that the mode of procedure prescribed and followed in this case furnished precedents which continue to be observed amongst us down to the present day. Three topics claim notice.
I. AT WHOSE INSTANCE THIS APPOINTMENT TOOK PLACE. It was Moses who sued for a successor. It was not the people who urged on the business, nor was it necessary to overcome the reluctance of the present leader by a Divine command. No sooner does Moses receive notice to demit than he prays for a successor, and begs that his eyes may see him before he dies. His experience of the government makes him dread the dangers of an interregnum. “Sheep without a shepherd,” such would the tribes be without a leader; unable to keep order among themselves, and exposed to every enemy. It betokened great nobility of soul in Moses that this was the thought uppermost in his mind on hearing that his hour was come. The paramount feeling of his heart was concern for the honour of the Lord and the good of Israel after his decease. Some men cannot endure the sight of a successor; Moses earnestly desired to see his successor before he died. Such being his desire, see where he carries it. “Let the Lord set a man over the congregation.” From the Lord he had received his commission at the bush; from the Lord he sues for a successor. Moses was emphatically the “servant of the Lord;” and none but the Lord has authority to nominate the heir to so high an office. Moses has another reason for turning God-wards at this time. None but the Lord knows the fittest man, or can furnish him with the wisdom and valour the office will crave. He is “the God of the spirits of all flesh.” He made men’s souls, and he knows them. He admits them into intimacy with himself. He is their Saviour and Portion. When the Church, or any part of it, finds itself in want of a man fit to be intrusted with some office of high responsibility, or to be sent forth on some peculiarly difficult mission, this is the quarter to which it must turn. The God of the spirits of all flesh can furnish them with the man they want; He, and no other.
II. ON WHOM THE APPOINTMENT WAS BESTOWED. “Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit.” Joshua was no stranger to Moses; he had been “Moses’ minister from his youth” (Num 11:28), and known to him as a man every way fitted to be his successor. He must have thought of him; yet he did not presume to suggest his name; he waited to hear what the Lord would speak. N.B. When Moses was about to die and a successor was sought, it turned out that the Lord had anticipated the want. The successor of Moses was in training for forty years before Moses died. This happens oftener than many suppose.
III. THE MANNER OF THE INVESTITURE.
1. Joshua was presented to the congregation in a public assembly. To be sure, he owed his appointment to Divine nomination, not to popular election. He was, like Moses, the Lord’s vicegerent. Nevertheless, the people were acknowledged in the appointment. They were to be Joshua’s subjects, but not his slaves. Accordingly, it was judged only fair and right that they should be informed publicly of the appointment; that they should witness the investiture and hear the charge (cf. Num 20:27).
2. Moses laid his hands upon him. This is the earliest example in Scripture of a rite of investiture which was afterwards much in use, which was transferred by the apostles to the New Testament Church, and is the familiar custom of the Churches of Christ still. The terms in which it is here enjoined place the intention of it in a clear light.
(1) It denoted the investiture of Joshua with the office of leader and commander in succession to Moses. “Thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation may be obedient” (verse 20). Not all his honour; for Moses was set over all God’s house, and in that respect had no successor; but part of his honour, particularly that part in virtue of which he was captain of the host of Israel (cf. Act 6:6; Act 13:3).
(2) It denoted also the bestowment on Joshua of the gifts appropriate to his new office. Not that Joshua was, till now, without valour or wisdom. During his long apprenticeship of forty years he had given abundant evidence of a rich dowry of these virtues. But the laying on of the hands of Moses by Divine command was a token and pledge that a double portion of his master’s spirit would be thenceforward bestowed, to strengthen him to take up his master’s task and carry it forward to completion. The pledge was redeemed. “Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him” (Deu 34:9; cf. 1Ti 4:14).
3. Moses gave him a charge. The scope and substance of the charge are recorded in Deu 3:28 and Deu 31:7,
8. The design of this part of the service was twofold. On the one hand. Moses faithfully expounded the duties belonging to the office with which he was now invested. He certified him that it was no idle dignity he was now entering upon, but an arduous work. And this was done not within a tent, or in some solitary place, but publicly, and before all the congregation, that they as well as Joshua might hear. On the other hand, Moses laboured to strengthen his successor’s heart. No man was so well able to comfort Joshua as Moses was. The Lord in calling Moses at the bush had given him the promise, “Surely I will be with thee.” He had kept the promise. Moses was able to testify that when God calls a man to any duty, he will be with him in the discharge of the duty; so that the most timid man may well be strong and of a good courage in the work the Lord has given him to do.B.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT
Num 27:12, Num 27:13
THE ALLEVIATIONS OF DEATH
Death a penalty even in the adopted family of God, though turned into a blessing to the believer. Some of the alleviations of the penalty suggested by this command to Moses. Through faith in Christ we may enjoy
I. A CLEAR VIEW OF THE GLORIOUS FUTURE OF THE CHURCH. As Moses saw the land, not yet possessed, but already “given,” so may faith anticipate the goodly heritage of the future. Illustrate Joseph’s death-bed (Gen 1:24); David’s anticipations of an age of glory under Solomon; the bright glimpses of the future with which nearly every one of the minor prophets concludes.
II. A RELEASE FROM THE GRAVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THAT FUTURE. Moses was spared from the wars of the Lord in the conquest of Canaan. And Christians, though willing, like the aged Dr. Lyman Beecher, to “enlist again in a minute,” “to begin life over again, and work once more” (Autobiography,’ 2:552), are spared from the conflicts of the “perilous times” of the future.
III. AN ASSURANCE THAT THE WORK OF GOD WILL BE EFFICIENTLY CARRIED ON WITHOUT us. Not even a Moses is essential to the Church of God; Joshua will do the work as well.
IV. AN ADMITTANCE TO THE COMPANY OF THE PIOUS DEAD. “Thy people,” who died in faith, and now live with God. With brighter hopes than any heathens, or even than Moses, we may say, “I go to the majority.”
V. A PEACEFUL DEPARTURE SUCH AS OTHER LOVED ONES HAVE EXPERIENCED. “As Aaron thy brother was gathered.” We have seen “the end of their course” (Heb 13:7), and may expect grace for dying hours such as they enjoyed.P.
Num 27:18-21
THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF GOD
Some of these are illustrated in the case of Joshua.
I. THE INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD (verse 18). This obvious from the past history of Joshua, especially at Kadesh (Jos 13:1-33, Jos 14:1-15). Union with Christ through faith, attested by his Holy Spirit, essential for us.
II. A CLEAR CONVICTION OF DUTY. We need the assurance of a mission, “a charge” (verse 19), whether addressed from without or heard in the secret of the soul.
III. A PROVIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT. “Lay thine hand upon him.” Not every impulse is to be taken for a Divine “charge,” lest we should run without being sent (cf. Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5; Psa 143:8).
IV. THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD (verse 20; cf. 1Ti 3:7). In carrying on our work we may need the cheerful co-operation, or even “obedience” (verse 20), which confidence in our character and commission inspires.
V. CEASELESS COMMUNION WITH AND DIRECTION FROM GOD (verse 21). For the welfare of a “congregation” or of a nation may depend on the instructions given, or assumed to be given, in God’s name.P.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Num 27:12-23
PREPARING FOR THE END
God has kept in view this solemn departure of Moses, even from the time of sentence on him for his transgression. The heights of Abarim were visible to God from Meribah. And now Israel lies at their base, the work of Moses is done, and God intimates the immediate preparations for his departure. God had already said to him that after taking vengeance on the Midianites he should be gathered to his people (Num 31:2). (Evidently the events of Num 31:1-54 are earlier in time than those of Num 27:12-23.)
I. THE PLACE OF DEPARTURE IS ALSO THE PLACE OF A GLORIOUS VISION. The eyes of the dying leader closed upon the sight of the land which the Lord had given to the children of Israel. We may be sure that God directed the feet of Moses to the one spot where there was the most suggestive view of Canaan. Not of necessity the view of greatest geographical extent, but probably one that would sufficiently indicate the variety of surface and products, showing also something of the populous cities. There would be everything to impress on Moses a most decided and cheering contrast with the wilderness. There might be no place even in the promised land itself where he could get a better view for the purpose. He may have climbed to different heights during the sojourn of the people in Moab, and seen many things to gladden his heart, yet never found just the Abarim point of view, until God signified it to him. There are many points of wide and spirit-filling view to which we may come in our excursions through the high lands of Scriptural truth and privilege, but we must wait for God himself to give us the great Abarim point of view. Many a Moabite shepherd had wandered on those heights, and seen with the outward eye the same landscape as Moses; but it needed a Moses, with a long-instructed, experienced, and privileged heart, to see what the Lord would show him. Balaam was driven from one height to another by the unsatisfied Balak, yet from them all even he, the man of carnal and corrupt mind, saw something glorious. What then must not Moses have seen, being so different a man from Balaam. and looking from God’s own chosen point of view?
II. IT IS ALSO THE PLACE FOR CHEERING ANTICIPATIONS OF THE EARTHLY FUTURE OF GOD‘S PEOPLE. Moses is to see with his own eyes that the land was worth forty years’ waiting and suffering for. The object stands revealed before him as worthy of the effort. And though the earthly future of Israel is not to be his future, yet how could he look upon it otherwise than with as much interest and solicitude as if it were his own? Certainly that future was assured, as far as promise could assure it, and all the tenor of experience in the past. Whatever the circumstances of Moses’ death, they could not materially affect the course of the people, seeing the ever-loving, all-comprehending God had them in charge. But it became Godit was a sign of loving care for a faithful servantthat Moses should die as he did. Quite conceivably he might have died in the gloom caused by some fresh aberration of the people, or at the best in the ordinary circumstances of daily life, with nothing more to mark his departure than if he were one of the most obscure persons in the camp. But God orders all things so that he shall depart where and when his mind may be filled with great joy because of Israel’s coming years in Canaan. It happened not to him, as it has happened often in great crises of human affairs, that the leader has been suddenly called away with the feeling in his heart, “After me the deluge.” None indeed knew better than Moses that Canaan would have its own difficulties. From the wilderness to Canaan was in many things only an exchange of difficulties, but still Canaan had things the wilderness never had, never could have, else it would not have been the promised land. Moses looks down on Canaan, and he sees not only the land, but a Joshua, with 600,000 fighting men under him, a tabernacle, an ark of the covenant, institutions in a measure consolidated by the daily attention of forty years.
III. THE SIMILAR ASSURANCES WE MAY HAVE AS TO THE FUTURE OF GOD‘S WORK IN THE WORLD. We have things which our fathers had notinstruments, opportunities, liberties, and successes which were denied to them. Yet they saw the bright day coming; its first streaks fell on their dying faces; and they rejoiced even in what they could not share. Aged and bone-weary Israelites who died just as the people were leaving Egypt would nevertheless rejoice with all their hearts in the deliverance of their children. And Moses, who had been born an exile, who had lived forty years among strangers in Egypt, forty years more in the second exile of Midian, and forty years in the wilderness, was just the man to appreciate the satisfactions which were coming to his brethren at last. Thus we should learn to rejoice with all our hearts in the advent of possessions and privileges which have come too late for us individually to share. It is not enough languidly to say that things will be better for the next generation than they are for the present; it should be our joy to live and work as Moses did for the attainment of this. Let all our life be a slow climbing of Abarim, then our closing days will be rewarded with Abarim’s view. It was the glory and joy of Moses that while he looked from the top of the mount, Israel was in the plain beneath. They were not far away in the wilderness of Sinai or, Worse still, in the brick-yards of Egypt. Moses had brought them with him, or rather God had brought him and them together. All humble, unselfish, and God-respecting hearts, who work through evil report and good report to make the world better, will assuredly have something of the reward of Moses from the top of Abarim. As concerns the greatest treasures of the kingdom of God, it matters not in what generation we live. It was better to be a believing Israelite in the wilderness, even though he died there, than an unbelieving one in Canaan. It will be better in the judgment for the man of two thousand years ago who looked forward longingly for the Messiah than for the man of to-day who looks back carelessly on the cross. The resources and revelations of eternity will equalize the disparities of time. All the same it will be no small matter if those who have taken part in guiding a generation through the wilderness see the earthly Canaan on which it is entering before they are gathered to their people. Each generation should leave to the next more of Canaan and less of the wilderness. Each generation, though it enters in some sort upon a Canaan, should leave it as only a wilderness compared with the brighter Canaan that is to follow. Let our confident, determined cry ever be, Out of Christ there is no hope for the world. Out of Christ the generations of men must become more and more corrupt, and give more hold for the pessimist with his dismal creed. But equally our cry must be, In Christ there is no room even for despondency, let alone despair. Black as the outlook remains on a world’s sins and sorrows, the God who showed Canaan to Moses from Abarim holds his resources undiminished still (Matthew 37:20; Rom 8:28; Rom 11:33-36; Rom 15:19, Rom 15:29; 1Co 15:58; 2Co 1:20).Y.
Num 27:15-17
THE SOLICITUDE OF MOSES FOR THE HELPLESS FLOCK
I. THE FIGURE UNDER WHICH MOSES INDICATES ISRAEL. He speaks of them as a flock of sheep, thus venturing on a meek reference to the quality of his own past services. He speaks like a man who had been long preparing, even before Meribah, for an emergency such as this. He knew he could not live always, and he saw no sufficiently hopeful change in Israel. He had to deal with the sheep-nature in them from the first, and that nature was in them still in undiminished vitality. They would, he implies, be as helpless in Canaan as in the wilderness. He had not yet got the view from Abarim, but that view would only deepen his thankfulness that God had given the people a shepherd. For the more impressive the view, and the more there was revealed of rich and abundant pasture, the more evident it would become that the sheep needed guidance in order to make full use of the pasture. Passing from the wilderness into Canaan, while it vastly enlarges the sheep-privileges, does not in itself change the sheep-nature. The need remains in equal force both for guidance and protection. Where the privileges are greater, there, consequently, the possessions will be greater; there also there will be more to attack, more danger of attack, and more need of defense. And in like manner how helpless we are of ourselves among the vast resources and promises which belong to God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Unless we have some one to guide and strengthen, and show us the meaning and power of Divine truth, we are as helpless as an infant would be with a steam-engine. Weak and strong are relative terms. Sheep are strong enough in certain waysstrong to rebel against wholesome restraints and break through them, but not strong enough to repel the dangers which come when the restraints are broken through. Moses had only too often seen Israel hanging together like sheep. going in troops after some headstrong Korah, while men of the Caleb and Joshua order were almost to be counted on one’s fingers.
II. THE PEOPLE BEING SUCH, A SHEPHERD WAS A MANIFEST NECESSITY. Given sheep, it does not take much reasoning to infer a shepherd. Moses had been a shepherd himself, both literally and figuratively, and his experience of the sheep in Midian doubtless sharpened his sense of the analogy as he gazed on the human sheep whom he had led for forty years. A man unfamiliar with pastoral life might indeed talk in a general way of the fallen children of men as sheep; but it needed a Moses to speak of the shepherd’s work with such minuteness and sympathetic interest as he shows here. The shepherd is to go out before the sheep. With him rests the responsibility of choosing the place of pasture. And he must lead the sheep. He must go before them, and not too far before them, or he cannot truly lead. He leads them out to find pasture, and he leads them in to insure security. The Good Shepherd is in himself the guarantee both for nourishment and security, and the sheep follow him, as if to show that the real nourishments and securities of religion must come by a voluntary acceptance. There is much difference between being drawn and driven. The sheep following the shepherd is not like the ox dragging the plough and quickened by its master’s goad. There are times indeed when, like the ox, we must be driven and chastised, but the greatest results can only be gained when we are drawn like the sheep. In the lives of God’s people there is a very instructive mingling of freedom and constraint. Let us add, that in thinking of the responsibility of the shepherd for the providing of pasture it must not be forgotten how soon the manna ceased when Canaan was entered (Jos 5:12). The people then needed guiding into a forethought and industry from which, in the presence of the daily manna, they had long been free.
III. IT IS MANIFEST THAT NOTHING BUT A DIVINE APPOINTMENT WAS ADEQUATE TO MEET THIS NECESSITY. Popular election was certainly not available. The sheep would make a poor business of it if they had to choose a shepherd. Popular government is less objectionable than the rule of despots, but it has its own delusions, its own narrow aims. The natural man is the natural man, circumscribed by the limits of time, and sense, and natural discernment, whether he be noble or peasant. The follies and cruelties of democracy have caused as sad, humiliating pages to be written in the history of the world as the follies and cruelties of any despot whatever. The man who says vex populi, vex Dei speaks error none the less because he speaks out of a generous, enthusiastic heart. Never till the voice of Christ becomes the willing and gladsome voice of the people can vex populi, vox Dei be the truth. Equally plain is it that the choice of Moses was not available. He feels that the thing can only be done in entire submission to God. Moses himself, in the day of his first call, had spoken very depreciatingly of his own qualifications. Yet not only had God chosen him, but also proved the choice was right. The event had shown that he was the leader after God’s own heart. What a thing if he had turned out like Saul; but that he could not do, he was so completely the choice of God. It was not for Moses then, who had gone so tremblingly from Midian to Egypt, to say, “Who is fittest man for shepherd now?” Moses felt well able to estimate the qualifications of a leader; but who best supplied those qualifications was a question which none but the all-searching, all-knowing God could answer. God had not only seen fitness in Moses, but he had seen fitness in Moses only; for we must ever believe that in each generation, and for each emergency, he takes the very fittest man among the thousands of Israel. God had chosen at the departure from Egypt; God also shall choose at the entrance into Canaan.
IV. NOTICE THE SUGGESTIVE AND APPROPRIATE WAY IN WHICH GOD IS ADDRESSED. “The God of the spirits of all flesh.” It is God who breathes in the breath of life, sustains and controls it, and can fix the time of its cessation. Speaking to God in this way, there is thus an expression of humble personal submission. Moses cannot choose the time of death, any more than he has been able to choose anything else. God had shielded the faint and delicate breath of the infant as it lay in the flags by the river’s brink, and now he calls upon the old man of a hundred and twenty years, who has passed through such a difficult and oft-endangered course, to yield that breath up. There is also in this mode of address a clear recognition of how it is that God may be looked to for the choice of a leader. God has but lately proved his knowledge of individual men by his complete control over those dying in the wilderness (Num 26:64, Num 26:65). He who assuredly knows the hearts of all the 600,000 lately counted can say who of them is fittest to be leader. God knows who is nearest to him as a follower. There is no fear but the sheep will recognize those whom God appoints. In spite of all the difficulties of Moses, in spite of rebellions and curses, in spite of the crumbling away of a whole generation, the nation is still there. Moses can say, on the verge of Jordan and at the foot of Abarim, “Here am I and the flock that was given me.” But all this achievement only glorified God the more, that God who had chosen Moses and hedged up his way. Any other leader than the one God had chosen could never have got out of Egypt. Any other leader than the one God will now choose cannot get across Jordan.Y.
Num 27:18-23
THE SOLICITUDE RELIEVED BY THE APPOINTMENT OF JOSHUA
God makes an immediate, gracious, and full compliance with the request of Moses. It is a welcome sight when the will of God runs forward as it were to meet the wishes of man. God has so often to reveal himself refusing and thwarting the wishes of men, or at all events complying with them only in part. This request must have been expected, and the command to go up into Abarim prepared the way for it to be made.
I. THE QUALIFICATION OF JOSHUA. “A man in whom is the spirit;” a spirit doubtless such as was bestowed on the seventy elders, of whom, in all probability, Joshua was one (Jos 11:1-23). Having the spirit was the one indispensable thing. Nothing of such work as Joshua had to do could be done without it. There are diversities of operations, but they are all the operations of those in whom there are special and necessary endowments for the work they have to do. Others beside Joshua had some of the qualifications he possessed, but, lacking the spirit, they might as well have lacked everything. What, for instance, was there to prevent Caleb from being leader? Like Joshua, he had been one of the spies, and seen Canaan before. He strikes us as being even a bolder and more resolute man than Joshua; but courage, fidelity, the following of God rather than man, while these are the qualities that make martyrs, they are not enough to make leaders. A Christian might make an excellent figure at the stake who would be nowhere as the guide of the flock. It is beautiful to feel that Caleb continued his simple-hearted devotion to the cause of Israel. Joshua and he seem to have continued the best of friends (Jos 14:1-15). Whether a man is a leader or not should not affect our judgment of him in his whole humanity. Let us esteem most those who are best. It is a foolish question to ask who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, for every one may conceivably have such excellence of spiritual qualities as may put him in the first place. We may conclude then that, good and true man as Caleb was, he lacked the particular spirit which Joshua possessed. Notice, again, that some who certainly had the spirit as well as Joshua lacked other qualifications. For one thing, Joshua had been long and intimately connected with Moses. It is interesting to notice how many things were done to give Moses pleasure in this departing hour. His death before crossing Jordan is a necessity; there is no way to obviate it; but really as we read of it we have hard work to connect the usual gloom of death with the event. The view that he gets, the compliance with his request, and the choice of one who had been long his faithful and affectionate companion, all these things made the cup of the dying Moses run over. It was euthanasia indeed. The friendship of Joshua with Moses may have had a very great deal to do with the appointment. Those who choose the company of the good and remain steadfast in it are likely to gain such positions as may enable them to transmit the influence of the good. Passing over the immediate circumstances of the appointment, which were such as to impress deeply both the shepherd and the sheep, and remain in the shepherd’s mind, at all events, till his latest hour, we notice
II. THE GREAT RULE FOR THE SHEPHERD‘S GUIDANCE. God was not about to visit Joshua as he did Moses. Moses stood in lonely and awful eminence as the prophet with whom God spoke face to face (Jos 12:8; Deu 34:10). Such a mode of revelation was needed for the work Moses was called to do. The work in the wilderness was a peculiarly critical one. In one sense we may say it was even more important than the work in Canaan. Given your foundation, which may require great toil and great destruction of existing things if you are to get down to the rock; given your materials, which have to be accumulated with much searching, discernment, and exactitude; given, above all things, your design, in which even the least thing is to have vital connection with the great principlesgiven all these, and then the chief thing required is a competent, honest, and industrious builder. Moses was the man who gets to the foundation, gathers the material, and furnishes the design; Joshua, the subordinate, to come in afterwards and by simple-hearted, plodding, tenacious fidelity to complete the construction of what was intrusted to him. There was no need for God to visit Joshua as he did Moses. The signs of the Urim were quite sufficient, and therefore nothing more was given. Notice also that the priest became thus associated with the leader, to confirm his position when right, and to check him in case he showed signs of going wrong. If Joshua had gone anywhere else than to the intimations of Urim, the resort itself would have been sufficient to condemn him. God took care of Moses in all the directions he had to give by immediately and most abundantly strengthening and supporting him. And so Joshua here was wonderfully helped by the Urim. Any one who refused obedience to him must have been resolutely opposed to truth, for who could deny intimations plainly palpable to the senses? Thus we are helped by the thought of what the Urim was to Joshua in our consideration as to the authority of the New Testament Scriptures over Christians. It is sometimes asked why inspiration should be held to stop with the canon of Scripture. An equally pertinent question is to ask why it should continue. God alone is the judge as to the modes of revelation, and the duration of those modes. It is out of the sovereignty and wisdom of him whose ways are unsearchable that he dealt with Moses after one fashion, and with Joshua after another. And it is by a practical reference to the same sovereignty and wisdom that we shall account for the difference between the New Testament Scriptures and even the most copious and esteemed of the earlier post-apostolic writings. We have our Urim in the great principles of the New Testament.
III. THE CHOICE WAS JUSTIFIED BY THE RESULT. The Book of Joshua is a very remarkable one for this peculiarity, which it shares with the Book of Daniel, that there is no record of any stumbling on the part of its leading character. Joshua is always alert, obedient to God, jealous of God’s honour, and keeping the great end in view. There is sin recorded in the Book and a dilatory spirit, but Joshua himself appears in striking contrast to this. And so it always has been and always will be; he whom God chooses will justify the choice. The successful leaders whom God has given his people in the past are an ample assurance that he will continue to provide them.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Num 27:12. Get thee up into this mount Abarim It appears from Deu 32:49; Deu 32:52 that these words were spoken by the Lord to Moses, after all which follows here in the Book of Deuteronomy. Abarim was a long ridge of mountains between the river Arnon and the river Jordan; one part of these mountains was distinguished by the name of Mount Nebo. Deu 32:49 compared with Num 33:47-48. And from Deu 34:1 it appears, that Nebo and Pisgah were one and the same mountain. If there was any distinction between them, it was, that the top of the mountain was more particularly called Pisgah. Abarim in the Hebrew signifies passages, which name might possibly be given to these mountains, because the Israelites passed the Jordan over against them. Dr. Shaw gives us the following description of these mountains. “Beyond these plains [of Jordan] over against Jericho, where we are to look for the mountains of Abarim, the northern boundary of the land of Moab, our prospect is interrupted by an exceeding high ridge of desolate mountains, no otherwise diversified than by a succession of naked rocks and precipices, rendered in several places more frightful by a multiplicity of torrents which fall on each side of them. This ridge is continued all along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, as far as our eye can conduct us, affording us all the way a most lonesome, melancholy prospect, not a little assisted by the intermediate view of a large, stagnating, unactive expanse of water, rarely, if ever, enlivened by any flocks of waterfowl that settle upon it, or by so much as one vessel of passage or commerce that is known to frequent it.” Travels, p. 277.
REFLECTIONS.Moses is warned of his death, and reminded of his sin which was the cause of it. He must not enter Canaan, but he may be gratified with a sight of it. For this purpose he is ordered to go up to mount Abarim, and there, as Aaron before him in mount Hor, after he had seen the promised land, he must be gathered to his fathers. Note; (1.) The dearest servants of God go not unpunished for their offences. (2.) Temporal death is the tribute we must all pay for sin. (3.) The dying believer is by faith enabled to see the heavenly country, and to rejoice in the prospect even on this side the grave. (4.) It is among the great comforts of death, that we are going to those whose presence and company will make the exchange of states most desirable. (5.) We should improve by the death of those whom we have seen depart before us in comfort and peace, and be encouraged to hope that our last end shall be like theirs.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
FIFTH SECTION
The Consecration of Joshua introduced by the announcement of the death of Moses, with reference also to the speedy entrance of Israel into Canaan
Num 27:12-23
12And 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. 13And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. 14For 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.
15, 16And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17Which may go out before them, and which 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.
18And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21And he shall stand before Eleazar 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. 22And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: 23And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num 27:20. Hearken, without the object. See Exo 7:16; Isa 1:19. The object is easily supplied from the context.A. G.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Deuteronomy 31-34 completes this section. It is clear from the whole context, that we are not dealing here with two successive sections, but with one having two closely related divisions; and that the first, of which here, the command of Jehovah to Moses to ascend Mount Nebo before his end, the fulfilment of which is not related here, serves as an introduction to the consecration of Joshua as the successor of Moses (in his position as leader of the hosts, though not in his prophetic office), and indeed with express reference to the approaching entrance into Canaan. [The command stands here probably in its natural and chronological order. It follows naturally upon the regulations as to the inheritance of the land. It was given to bring to the mind of Moses, afresh, what he had known before, that he was not to lead the people into that land, that his career was near its close, and to stimulate him to do all that he could, while he was still living, to provide for the welfare of his people in the future. The first and most essential thing was the choice and consecration of his successor.A. G.].
Num 27:12-14. Moses is commanded to ascend Mount Nebo, in order to finish his work with the view of Canaan before his death. Here again he is reminded of his sin in the wilderness of Zin, in which also Aaron shared. The workings of passion, which in its inward violence and agitation may have, to some extent, shortened his life, seem to have been concentrated in that passionate act. The command here is left somewhat indefinite. Get thee up into this mountain Abarim. Subsequently it becomes more definite. Abarim becomes Pisgah, and Pisgah Nebo. Comp. Com., chap. 34, the Bible Lexicons, and Num 20:12. [The double is not causal, but comparative, indicating that as he had sinned with Aaron he must die also, with only the sight of the promised land; or that as they had sinned, they must bear the penalty of that transgression. Hirsch draws the distinction between the occurrence at Rephidim and at Kadesh, not only that the one was at the beginning and the other at the close of their wanderings, but that at Rephidim the water was to flow upon the blows with the rod of Moses, while at Kadesh it was the word of Moses which was to open the fountain. When Moses used the rod he did not sanctify Jehovah. He failed to recognize the efficacy of the word, and that they were now at the transition point, passing from the immediate supernatural divine support and security, into the ordinary, natural method of life. In His view Moses and Aaron had reached the end of their course; they had led the people through this more exclusively miraculous period, and there removal therefore while it was as a punishment for their sin, was natural and necessary also, their specific work being finished.A. G.].
Num 27:15-23. A preliminary account of the consecration of Joshua. Although Moses had for a long time previously been familiar with the thought that Joshua, already for nearly forty years his military captain, would at one time replace him in that capacity as his successor, he did not venture with his human estimation and choice, to anticipate the divine decision. It was, too, in full accordance with his noble self-forgetful disposition, to ask for the appointment of his successor.
Num 27:16. Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation.All flesh has the same likeness, but the spirits of all flesh are endlessly different. God alone knows and tries the spirits, and therefore He alone selects the right persons. In such an emergency, too, His decision alone is satisfactory. Comp. Num 16:22. The destined man must be the shepherd or the leader, the prince or captain of the people, since the people must not be without a shepherd.
[Num 27:17. Go in and out as descriptive of the private life, while to lead out and lead in designates his public official walk; one who in his private personal, and in his official life, should be an example to the people, and so be fitted to direct and influence them in their private and public obligations.A. G.].
Num 27:18. Upon this Jehovah designates Joshua the son of Nun as the man whom He has chosen. For in him is the Spirit.Spirit: Knobel, Insight and wisdom. Keil: The higher power breathed into his soul by God, which quickens and shapes his moral and religious life, and here the spiritual qualifications necessary for the office which was to be entrusted to him. The Spirit however is a developed fulness of life, here with reference to his particular calling as a leader of the host.
Moses, however, must consecrate him before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, by the imposition of his hands (transferring his official dignity) and give him a charge, the instructions which were connected with this ordination service. [The spiritual gifts which he possessed did not dispense with the necessity for the external consecration, nor would this consecration have been of any avail without the gifts.A. G.].
Num 27:20. And thou shalt put some of thine honor () upon him. Moses could confer upon him his princely or his judicial office, but not the prophetic calling; for that calling Jehovah reserves to Himself, and it could not be made an official institution. Elijah could initiate Elisha into the prophetic order and school, but he could not make him a prophet. Eleazar was not a prophet, although as high-priest he administered Urim and Thummim, the substitute for prophetic decisions. [The eminence and authority of Moses were not to be fully transferred to Joshua, but in part. He became vice-leader. Bible Com.: The transference of this honor to Joshua is not parallel to the communication of the spirit which rested upon Moses to the seventy elders, Num 11:17; Num 11:25; for though Moses in elevating Joshua to his new office, did not part with any of his own spiritual gifts, he yet necessarily shared henceforward with another that power which hitherto he had exercised alone.A. G.].
Num 27:21-22. By these decisions Joshua must direct his steps when he needed divine direction. The oracle is here designated merely by the Urim, because in the administration of men so consecrated it was pre-eminently Urim, the true source of light. [Moses had direct access to God, Joshua must use the means instituted to meet such cases of doubt or perplexitythe High-priest and the Urim.A. G.].
Num 27:23. The consecration of Joshua was carried out in accordance with the prescribed regulations, as it is more fully related in Deut. Keil: All the congregation denotes the whole body of heads of the people, or the college of elders, representing the congregation and conducting its affairs. But beyond doubt the commander would be presented to his whole army at his installation, and it is expressly said in Deu 31:7, before the eyes of all Israel.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
[It is not keenness of insight, or large culture or wide experience in affairs, but the gifts of the Spirit which qualify men for high official duties. Endowments, native or acquired, are not dispensed with, but neither are they sufficient. The crowning qualification is the Spirit, given by Him in whom the Spirit dwelleth without measure.]
HOMILETICAL HINTS
Wordsworth finds a typical meaning in the narrative. Moses the law, and Joshua Christ. The law brings men to the border of the promised blessing, Christ gives them actual possession, etc. God will not leave His people without a shepherd.
The ascent upon the mountain Abarim. From a mountain, the servants of God take their departure from the earth, although for the most part in a spiritual sense: Jacob, Gen 45:27. Aaron upon Mount Hor, Moses upon Nebo, Joshua at Shechem, Elijah, Christ from the mount of Olives. Moses a type also in the arrangement for his departure. Jehovah as the God of the spirits of all flesh. Behind the uniformity of the flesh and outward appearance, there lies concealed an endless variety of individual spirits which Jehovah alone can estimate according to their true worth and destination. The spirits of men, their spiritual characteristic features, are veiled by the external manifestation. Still they will be brought to the light, a. by the Spirit; b. by the age; c. in the last day or by the judgment. The consecration of Joshua and the determination of his calling. [Henry: God tells Moses of his faults, although a faithful, honorable and favored servant. He must hear of his faults and others likewise. God will show His displeasure against sin, even when in those who are nearest and dearest to Him. The mitigation in the death of Moses. 1. He leaves his people provided for. 2. He has the sight of the promised land. 3. His death is being gathered to his people.A. G.].
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Though it is appointed unto all men once to die, yet precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Observe, Moses is to have such a view of the promised land, as may strengthen his faith in the divine promises. But is there not in all this, strong assurances implied of an everlasting inheritance in the covenant-righteousness of Him, whom Moses beheld in the bush. Thus Abraham may die when he has seen CHRIST’S day afar off. Jacob may die, when he could with holy confidence say, concerning GOD’S CHRIST, I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD! And Moses may die, though not suffered to enter upon an earthly Canaan, when assured of an heavenly one. Gen 49:18Gen 49:18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Moses Ordered to Abarim
Num 27:12-23
Here is a man receiving notice to prepare for death. We need not stumble at this reading as if it involved any impossibility, for if we were keener in vision, and more sensitive in response to providential intimations, we ourselves should know that it is quite common on the part of God to give men notice to quit this dark and narrow scene. The notice comes in various ways; but it certainly does come. We have the condemnation of death in ourselves. We know what we cannot always tell to other people. We are conscious of influences and actions which point in the direction of decay. Some men begin very early to die. That is wise. Dying should not be an act of closing the eyes in one little moment which is beyond the range of our reckoning. We may begin so soon to die as not to die at all. We should be familiar with death, and so reverently and religiously familiar with it as to abolish it Marvellous wonders can be done by expectation, by preparation, by accustoming the mind to certain issues and facts, so that when they transpire in the one critical moment which marks our history, we shall be superior to the event; the event which was expected to strike us on the head will sweep beneath our feet and pass on without leaving mark of wound or defeat upon us.
When we read these words we could amend the providence. It is marvellous how God exposes himself in Providence to adverse criticism. Only he could do this. Wooden gods make mechanical arrangements, and in their clockwork no flaw must be found, or down goes their deity. Never was any government so open to adverse comment as the government of the human family. Where is there a man so dull of mind that he could not amend the ways of God? God lets little children die before they can speak poor little speechless things that can only look their pain or smile their love. He allows good lives to pass away in the night time, so that in the morning they cannot be found. He permits vice for a time to ascend the highest places in the State, and to exercise the largest influence in human affairs, when he knows all the time that virtue is standing outside shivering with cold, wet with the dews of night, homeless, breadless, friendless. We cannot improve the sky, but who could not improve the earth? We cannot paint a lily without spoiling its beauty, but who could not raise into finer expressiveness of strength almost any human life? Things are so roughly huddled together. The men that ought to live a thousand years die before they touch the maturity of their strength; and gates that creak, creak on for ever, and lives destitute of fire and genius and nobleness, seem to be immortal. Why should Moses die? How we shall miss that man! It will be a sunset full of trouble. We do not want him to go, let Balaam die, if the heavens must needs look down on death. Balaam is a mighty man, a man of genius, of avarice and sensuality, combining the passions, why should not he die? He has been slain with the sword; but why might not he have been taken up to a mountain and made a specimen of in some grander way?
Not only does the Lord expose himself to adverse criticism, but he offends us morally. “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” ( Num 27:14 ). This makes us impatient. The punishment is out of proportion to the sin. These are little words; they take out of the occasion all its dignity. We are shocked. If the sin was so great, it should have been visited at the time. We ourselves being witnesses are bound to say Moses has deserved any Canaan under heaven. We must not allow our brother man to be run thus to earth. How, then, can we rid ourselves of the moral offence the pain of soul which afflicts us? By remembering that the fourteenth verse is really not in the history at all. The Speaker’s Commentary very justly says this appears like a gloss. Even those who are not scholars feel that these words have no right to be here. We read on as if God were about to crown the man and to give him rest, saying, Noble soldier! thou hast done valiantly: come home and partake of the feast and enjoy the security of the immortals; instead of which, we begin to read about rebellion that happened long ago, and passions that had died out of the human heart, if ever they raged there. The words were written on the margin. We go back to find reasons for things, and with our blundering pens we often write on the margin our own condemnation. We will insert marginalia; we like to account for events. So, when some scribe had heard that Moses had been ordered into the mount of Abarim to see the land and hear the message of God, he began to wonder why; and then, going back in history, he found out the occasion of the rebellion in the desert of Zin, at the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, and accounted for the order to Abarim by that historical event. Do not let us attempt to account for everything. It is unprofitable work. Our great sphere of service, duty, and suffering is in the future. We shall find, in the long run, that those things, even in the divinest books, which have shaken our confidence, or offended our conscience, were only scribblings on the margin made by some ill-guided hand. Yet Moses himself might have written those very words, as we ourselves have done, on lower scales and on meaner occasions. When we have been driven into isolation, or had some heavy loss imposed upon us, or have been brought into very critical and bewildering situations, we have sat down to find the reason why, and in many a diary we have written this spiritual nonsense. We have thought of reasons, and magnified them, and fixed dates for events and causes for effects; and in the midst of our wisdom we have played the fool. The way of the Lord is right, and his judgment is good; verity and grace are the pillars of his throne.
All these things, which we mourn as untimely events, suggest that this life cannot be all. We are driven to that conclusion by events when we endeavour to resist it by logic. When the great preacher died at thirty-seven years of age, in the very act of retranslating the Bible into the latest speech of religious civilisation, we said, This is very hard. When the great missionary was just about to put on the top-stone of the temple he had built, and was taken away before he saw it finished, we said, This is cruelty, whoever did it. When the great leader has been smitten down just when the occasion became insufferably critical, and he alone seemed to have the power to overcome every difficulty, our hearts have sunk within us, and we have been too sorrowful to pray. Then we have had forced upon us the suggestion that this life cannot be all: there must be a place of explanation, there must be a time of enlightenment, there must be a heaven of reconciliation.
See how much out of place the fourteenth verse appears to be when Moses himself speaks: “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 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” ( Num 27:15-17 ). That prayer vindicates the character of Moses, a shepherdly prayer, an unselfish desire. He will not appoint one of his own family; he will have nothing to do with the thing personally and directly; it shall be God’s action for it is God’s Church, and he alone can make the bishop, the minister, and the guardian of the redeemed. In this very prayer Moses shows how appreciative he was of the difficulties of the situation. The only man who could undertake the work must be a divinely-selected and a divinely-appointed man. We cannot raise our leaders out of the ground: we must receive them from the opening heavens. If they can pray, they are God’s gift to us; if they can speak the Word in small syllables so that little children may pick up somewhat of heavenly wisdom, they are God’s great donations to the race. Herein is that word true, “I proceeded forth and came from God”; and herein, also, is that word true of the lesser servant, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” Moses held his office from the Lord. Every man must hold his appointment from the same hands, or he will be a hireling, tiring very early in the day, discontented with the service, stung by its disappointments, and overwhelmed by its responsibilities. Only Omnipotence can sustain a ministry of redemption.
Look for the consolations. They are abundant, but they can only be indicated by one or two examples. This interview took place between the Lord and Moses. Even if the sin was mentioned, it was mentioned in a whisper. Moses is not dragged forth before the whole congregation of Israel and condemned as an evil-doer. It was a secret interview. Jesus Christ had a secret interview with Simon Peter, who had denied him; they talked together on the lonely sea-shore, and what they said no man can tell. Moses was then honoured in the sight of Israel. “The Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him” ( Num 27:18 ). This does not read as if the sin were the active cause in the premature removal of Moses. The Lord recognises the whole ministry of his servant, and connects him with the past and with the future of Israel. “And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation” ( Num 27:19 ). Joshua was not called as Moses was called. Moses had his commission direct from the Most High; he was priest before Aaron prayed; but all other leaders are to be appointed otherwise, and have to pass the priestly recognition and receive the priestly touch. The Lord adds: “and give him a charge in their sight.” This is not pouring contempt upon Moses; this is not visiting a sin upon the great and chivalrous leader; this is giving him crown upon crown, honour upon honour. This is the reading that the heart answers; the spirit of man says, This is the work of God. “And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord” ( Num 27:20-21 ). So Moses was still the leader of Israel. Good men are not cut oft ruthlessly. Such a sun as this is not allowed to set amid thunder-clouds and tokens of trouble. The man who thus closed his history did not die; let him go with his Lord somewhere, and let him pass upward without first going downward. It was the right end. The very mystery was part of the goodness; the concealment enlarged the dignity. They go well together, these two even the Lord and Moses; it is right that Moses should thus pass away. Do we ever hear of him again? We read of him in the account of the Transfiguration of Christ in another mountain. Moses and Elias appeared unto the Son of God to talk of the Exodus which he should accomplish at Jerusalem another Exodus. Moses had written one Exodus, Christ was to accomplish the spiritual decease or outgoing leading forth into liberty those who were held in the bondage of death. Do we ever hear of him at a remoter period of history? You will find the answer in the Revelation of John the Divine. When the seer listened to what was proceeding in heaven, he heard there the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. There is no speech about the sin in the desert of Zin, or the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” God does not name their sins to his servants when they are about to die; He speaks to them of immortality, of heaven and higher service, of perfect and imperturbable rest. There is only one kind of forgiveness impossible, and that is self-forgiveness. God can forgive, but man cannot forgive himself; and it will be no wonder if in the dying time even what may be called the least sins should blot out the light of heaven: they will appear to be so great when looked at in contrast with the purity of God. Moses may have written the fourteenth verse, some scribe may have written it, it is not in the flow of the text, it is upon the margin of the book a suggested reason, rather than a divine visitation. If God were to mark our sins in this way, who could live? If man were to die for one sin, what man would be living? Read the whole passage together in its noble scope, its broad and urgent flow of thought and sentiment and sacred consolation, and you will find how God dismisses his servants: he gives them honour in the sight of the people; he crowns them on earth before he crowns them in heaven; the testimony they are enabled to leave behind them is an ascription of praise to him who sustained their life and energy. “What thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter.” We wanted Moses to remain; we would have made him king of Canaan; we would have had a glad day when we touched the promised land together; the old man should still have been chief: we would have chaired him and throned him and gathered round him, and shouted acclaims of recognition and thankfulness and delight. That is the little heaven we would have made for him; and because God meant him for a greener Canaan, a fairer paradise, a larger sphere of service and worship, we complain, or wonder, or suspect. Have we lost dear friends? Let us weep for ourselves, not for them. Have we stood at the grave, wondering how deep it is and how dark and awful? Let us rather look up into the blue heavens, rich with morning glory, and say concerning dearest loved ones, They are not in the grave, they are risen. “Risen” is a height which has no measurement, an altitude that may go up for ever, a word of poetry rather than of literal definition. Risen! always rising still ascending. Inquire for the liberated soul at any moment, go back to the point where last you left him, and some angel will say, “He is not here, he is risen”; a speech worthy of an angel.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou hast called us to the tent of meeting. We heard thy voice in the night time, and it spake of morning morning life, and morning hope, and morning hymns of praise. We were not disobedient to the heavenly trumpet; we heard its call, we answered its peal; we are here in the appointed place, and we wait the revelation of thy presence. Thou wilt not disappoint the expectation of love; thou wilt hasten to meet us; and whilst we are crying for thee to come, thou wilt prove by some touch, or glance, or odour of unknown flowers, that thou wert in the place before us, and waiting for those who supposed they were crying for thee. Thou art the first alway; no man may be in front of God. Thou art in the tent of meeting night and day; our coming is thy coming. Thou knowest our thought afar off, and before it is shaped into a purpose, behold, thou art standing at the altar. Thou hast called us all our life long: sometimes suddenly, always graciously, yea, though it has been along thorny ways, and up steep roads, and down amongst the stony places. Judging by these things, we have said, Surely the Lord hath not called us to these difficulties and burdens; he hath no pleasure in tears, and can find no delight in the distress of weakness. So our ignorance spoke; we knew not what we said: how could we? We know nothing; we are affrighted at the sound of our own voices: we feel as if in the company of someone unknown, when our own voice smites the ear. But we have lived to know that thy trumpet calls in all directions: to festival, to battle, to wedding banquets, and to mournful scenes. The trumpet is God’s, the tone is God’s, the tone is full of meaning varied according to thy purpose. We know all the meaning, though we cannot put it into words: we know the thunder, and have no pleasure in the sullen storm; we know the falling of the rain, and we bless thee that thou givest drink to the thirsty land; we know the sound of young voices, and take heart again under their silvery music. Speak, Lord, thy servants hear. If thou hast aught to say that the mid-day may not hear, and only the midnight can receive, call us up, that in the silence of eternity we may learn some lesson for the days of time. If thou canst speak to us in the great city, amidst tumult and roar, thy voice shall find its way to our heart, and we shall learn lessons of wisdom in the place of tumult and noise. We want to hear no other voice; we know thine by wisdom of our heart; we answer it as we answer none other with a glowing love, a spontaneous and vehement affection and trust. In this response we know that the joy of heaven begins. To answer thee is to gather strength for the duty which is imposed; to put forth the withered hand at thy bidding is to see it fully restored. We would do all thy bidding; we would carry out thine instructions to the letter; in all our ways we would acknowledge God, that our paths may be directed. We bless thee for this consciousness that thou art always speaking to us. We will listen for thee; we will hush almost the beating of our heart, lest we miss one tone of thy gospel. When we do not know which way to go, let us hear a voice in our ear saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. And when the roads are many in number, crossing one another in thick perplexity, let a light shine upon the road we ought to take, and we shall know that light to be the finger of God. We have walked upon wrong roads, but thou hast brought us back again. The wrong road is the heavy one; there is no rest in it: it does not go towards gardens, and still waters, and green pastures; but towards widening deserts, great wildernesses, and mockeries of stone. But thou hast called us home, and thy call has been an infinite persuasion. In obedience to it we stand before thee, claiming the name of Christ, trusting in the Cross of Christ, cleansed by the blood of Christ, made free by the Spirit of Christ. This is not our own doing; that we are here at all is God’s miracle. Our hearts love the darkness and the tumult, and the altar of self-idolatry; and now that we find ourselves in God’s house, and at Christ’s Cross, we know that the victory is Heaven’s. Regard all for whom we ought to pray. Thou needest not to be reminded of them, but by allowing us to think of them in prayer, thou dost ennoble and refine our love. Be with those who are in difficult places. Look pitifully upon men who cannot find the key of the high iron gate, or scale that gate who are standing outside barred against progress and liberty. Look upon those who are fighting ill-fated battles, to whom the morning brings no hope and the night no rest baffled, disappointed, sorely stricken. The Lord grant unto the soldier in the day of battle, and of fear, and of death too certain, confidence in right and truth and God. Pity those whose homes are battle-fields, though the war be fought many a mile away, for at home men die over again, and still worse death is died because of distance, imagination, and aggravated trouble. Comfort those to whom men may not speak, because of the sacredness of sorrow. Regard those who are on the sea, as if pursued by the winds, as if the storm were wreaking vengeance upon them, and tearing their frail ship to pieces; the Lord plant his footsteps on the sea, and make the storm a trumpet softening into gospel tones and filled with meaning which the heart alone can comprehend. Bring back the traveller; make his face radiant with joy; take the age out of his limbs, and let him run with the vigour of youth. Speak to the dying, and they shall not die. Touch the old man, and he will forget his earth-age in the hope of heavenly youth. Pardon our sin; it will make thy heaven higher if thou dost pardon penitent men yea, thine own Sabbath shall have a deeper calm because of this miracle of love. Bind our hearts together man and wife, parent and child, employer and employed, friend and friend; consolidate the people; fill them with the Spirit of Christ, in which Spirit there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, circumcised nor uncircumcised; but an infinite life of pureness, and love and hope. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Num 27:12 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.
Ver. 12. See the land. ] It was somewhat to see; but oh how fain would he have entered the land, and could not! We shall have in heaven not only vision, but fruition; we have it already in capitetenure, in Christ our head and husband, who will not be long without us, it being part of his heaven, that we shall be where he is, Joh 17:24 and enjoy God, which is heaven itself; whence in Scripture God is called Heaven, “I have sinned against Heaven.” And I had rather be in hell and have God present, than in heaven and God absent, saith Luther. a
a Malim praesente Deo esse in inferno, quam absente Deo in coelo. – Luth., in Gen. xxx.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
mount: Num 33:47, Num 33:48, Deu 3:27, Deu 32:49, Deu 34:1-4
Reciprocal: Deu 3:26 – the Lord Deu 32:48 – General Deu 32:52 – General Ecc 3:2 – and a time 2Ti 4:6 – and
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 27:12. Abarim The whole tract of mountains was called Abarim, whereof one of the highest was called Nebo, and the top of that Pisgah.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Moses’ successor 27:12-23
Another preparation for entering Canaan involved appointing a new leader to take Moses’ place.
God foretold that Moses would die without entering the land (cf. Num 20:1-13). Graciously He allowed His servant to see the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo (Deu 32:48-52). Nebo was one of the mountains of the Abarim range that runs north and south just east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in Moab’s territory. Pisgah (Num 21:20; Deu 3:27; Deu 34:1) is the name of the northern part of this mountain range. The plains of Moab sloped down from the Abarim mountains toward the Jordan River.
Moses’ reaction to God’s announcement of his death was admirable. He did not panic like King Saul (1Sa 28:20) or even pray for a few more years like King Hezekiah (2Ki 20:1-3). Instead he prayed for the welfare of Israel, the nation that had caused him so much grief. Many leaders prefer to select their successor, but Moses asked God to make this crucial choice. In so doing he gave practical testimony to his acceptance of Yahweh’s sovereignty over Israel.
Joshua was a likely choice since he had served Moses and worked closely with him for years. Most importantly, as one of the two loyal spies, he was a man of faith. Moses laid his hands on him (Num 27:18) symbolically imputing his authority to him.
"This spirit was not something that now came upon Joshua, or was temporary (such as the coming of the spirit on the elders in Num 11:17; Num 11:25-26); it already existed in Joshua and was the basis of God’s choice of him. Deu 34:9 applies the phrase ’full of the spirit of Wisdom’ to Joshua, confirming the thought here." [Note: Ibid., p. 552.]
Joshua served as an associate leader of Israel with and under Moses from this time until Moses died (Num 27:20). When Joshua began sole leadership he functioned differently from Moses. Whereas God had given Moses directions for Israel "face to face," Joshua would normally receive his divine guidance through the high priest who would obtain this by using the Urim and Thummim. Only rarely did the Lord speak to Joshua directly.
Conflict for the leadership of Israel occurred frequently in the later history of the Northern Kingdom following the split between Judah and Israel. Moses wisely anticipated the problems that might arise if God removed him before the Lord had identified his successor. Therefore he interceded again, and again God granted his request by identifying Joshua at this time. This action by Moses was extremely important because it precluded countless problems for Israel that might have arisen when Moses died.
"The portrayal of Moses’ passing his authority (splendor or majesty) over to Joshua and Joshua’s reception of the Spirit is noticeably similar to the transition of prophetic office from Elijah to Elisha in 2Ki 2:7-15. It appears that the writer of the book of Kings has intentionally worked some of these themes into his narrative to draw out the comparison. . . . The type of leadership exhibited by Moses and Joshua is the same as that of Elijah and Elisha. It is a leadership that is guided by the Spirit of God." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., pp. 412-13.]
Moses secured the Israelites’ commitment to Yahweh at Mt. Sinai, and Elijah revived it during Israel’s worst apostasy. Both men and their immediate successors, Joshua and Elisha, also had the gift of performing miracles.