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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 3:23

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And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,

23. And I besought the Lord ] In the Pent. the Heb. verb is used with the Deity only here; but to beseech man in E, Gen 42:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23 29. Moses’ Prayer and its Rejection

At that time Moses besought God to finish what He had begun and show him all His greatness (Deu 3:23 f.), by letting him cross Jordan and view the whole land (Deu 3:25). Wroth with him on Israel’s account God refused (Deu 3:26) and bade him ascend the Pisgah and thence view the land (Deu 3:27); also he must charge Joshua as his successor in leading Israel to their heritage (Deu 3:28). They abode in the ravine opposite Beth-Pe‘or (Deu 3:29). To this prayer there is no parallel in JE; for the JE account of the ascent of the Pisgah see Deu 34:1 b ff. Nor does P record the prayer; it ascribes the exclusion of Moses to his own sin at adesh, and differently names the Mt he ascended; with Deu 3:27 f. cp. Deu 32:48-52, Num 20:12; Num 27:12-21. See further the notes immediately after this, that on Deu 1:37, and those on Deu 32:48 ff.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Deu 3:23-26

Thou hast begun to show.

Revelation always new

Thou hast begun. That is all He can do. Always beginning, never ending that is the mystery and that is the glory of the Divine revelation. When we come to see that all things are but in the bud, and can never get out of it, we shall begin to see the greatness of God. How pitiable is the condition of the man who has worn out anything that has in it real life, poetry, meaning, and application to the affairs and destinies of life! We must not take our life line from such vagrants. We must be made to see and feel that everything has eternity in it. We shall be real students and worshippers when we say about the moors so desolate, and the sea so melancholy, and the forest even in December, Lo! God is here, and I knew it not; this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. We should be wiser if we were not so clever. If we could consider that all things are yet in plasm and beginning and outline and suggestion, we should remit to a longer day the discussion and the settlement of questions which now constitute the mystery and torment of our intellectual life. A beautiful period of life is that in which a man begins to see the shaping of a Divine purpose in his own existence. Some can remember the time when the meaning of words first came really to the mind. What a light it was, how content was the brain; the whole mind rose up and said, This is something really gained, and can never be lost. A similar sensation comes to men who live wisely. In their childhood they did not know what God meant them to be, so they proposed many things to their own imagination; then early life came, and things began to settle into some kind of hazy outline; then manhood came, with all its experiences and with all its conflicts, and at last there was, as it were, a mans hand building the life, putting it into square and shape and proportion, and flushing it with colour. Then we began to see what God meant to be the issue of our life. He made us great, small, strong, weak, rich, poor; but if we have lain in His hands quietly, gently, obediently, and lovingly, we see that poverty is wealth and weakness is strength. A holy thought of this kind has sanctified the whole purview and issue of life, so that men can now say, That is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. When the Lord undertakes the outbuilding and shaping of a life, none can hinder it. O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness. Throughout the Bible God is never represented as a dwindling quantity. God, in other words, does not grow less and less, but more and more. When our imagination is exhausted Gods light has already begun to shine. Age after age has come and has written upon its record these words, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. God has always reserved to Himself the use of the instrument of education which we call surprise. We have never anticipated God. When we have gone out early in the day it has been by the assistance of His light. If He had not kindled the lamp we could not have taken a step upon our journey. God surprises us with goodness. We think we have partaken of the very best He can give us, and, lo! when we have drunk again of the goblet of Divine love we say, Thou hast kept the good wine until now. It is in that spirit of hopefulness, in that everlasting genesis, we must live; then we shall be young for ever. (J. Parker, D. D.)

I pray Thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan . . . But the Lord . . . would not hear me.

Mans sin and Gods will

When we read the history of a nation as we do in the Old Testament, we cannot but be struck by the extent to which a nation depends upon its representative men. Its ambitions, virtues, and hopes may be what you please, but they must find visible embodiment and capable instruction in some great and commanding personality. One lesson of the opening chapter of Deuteronomy is that nations, as a rule, are not very sympathetic with those on whom the burden of their affairs is laid. They heap responsibilities upon their leaders, and leave them to carry weights beyond human strength. They hardly think of their limitations as men like themselves, who, besides the public duties which they discharge, have a spiritual life of their own to care for, a conscience of their own to keep right with Goal a spiritual ladder to climb, individual convictions, and a soul to save. They do not consider that God is looking on at the trial of a strong but weary spirit, while men may be doing their best to make the trial to turn out to his hurt. This passage shows us this great man in the last year of his life. The dying of Moses had been extended beyond the common measure of humanity, and his experience had been as various as his life had been prolonged. He had seen the courts of Pharaoh; he had dwelt in the tents of Midian for forty years, and for forty years more he had never escaped from the pressure of the tens of thousands of Israel. He knew the worry of his public position, and he knew also the awful message of God. The greatest figure in the Old Testament, as far as we can judge greatness, his heart was most deeply pledged to his people, and the promise God made to them. The day was long passed when he had identified himself with Israel for weal or woe. At the close of his long life–with the wonderful experience of what God had done lying behind him–what was the thought that rises to Moses lips? It is that all this has only been enough to awaken hope–O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand. The mysterious name of God, which our Bible translates, I am, has been rendered by some scholars, I will be; I will do what I will do. It is My very nature to be a God of unimaginable promise, doing for those who look to Me far more than they can ask or think. I believe that rendering is as legitimate as the more metaphorical one. At any rate, this is the conception of the Divine nature which experience has enforced upon Moses. At the end of his long life he can only feel that God has begun to show His greatness. If he is sure of anything, it is that God can do more and will do more than He has done yet. His very name is a name of promise. Now, that is a worthy spirit with which to come to the close of ones life. Death is a decisive end for us–the close of all our work on this scene. But if we have been in the company of God and learned to know Him, we will not measure His work by anything we have seen. Though our strength is spent, He has no more than indicated His purpose and excited His peoples interest and hopes. When St. Paul was ready to die he wrote to Timothy, I have finished my course. But if he had been able to see what we see now, would he not have exclaimed, as Moses did, O Lord, Thou hast begun? There is a famous passage in Latin poetry in which the founder of the Roman race is taken to the end of the world and shown the fortunes of posterity. The grand figures of later history pass in magnificent procession before his eyes. But what Moses felt was far better than any such vision. He had faith that the work which had been so much to him was in Gods hands, and that though his part in it was all but over, Gods was only beginning. It is easier to apply this consideration to New Testament times. When the last of the Apostles died, what had God done in the world? He had kindled His little sparks of light here and there in the darkness of heathendom. But the whole framework, the whole spirit of society were pagan. A society like that in which we live, in which there is an instinctive recognition of Christ as final moral authority, in which children are baptized in His name–such a society was beyond the Apostles vision, and perhaps beyond their conception. The Lord had more to do for the world than they had seen. It is the same now. Generation after generation passes, men grow old and grey and die in the work of the Lord, yet that work is ever beginning. We see the authority of Christ extending even in Christendom. We see the application of His will becoming more constant and thorough. They grow old, not to be pessimists, not to lose hope in the world because their own eyes are dim or their natural force abated, but with their hearts young within them; eager and interested in what God is doing; sure that the best is yet to be. Moses, with this noble faith in Gods purpose, offered passionate prayer to God–I pray Thee let me go over and see the good land. We can hardly imagine the interest of Moses in Canaan. It was the land of the fathers–Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was the land God had chosen as the inheritance of Israel. It was the goal of forty years wanderings. It was at length, for the second time, and after a faithless generation had perished in the wilderness, within their sight. It was not Gods will that Moses should live to see the conquest of Canaan. There are people so deeply interested in the evolution of things–as to what practical applications electricity will be put, what Socialism will do in the way of reconstructing society, what will be the position of Christianity and the Church, what will become of the Chinese and Turkish empires–that they can pray to be kept alive to see the end. And if they are not they may leave the world with a keen sense of disappointment. What was the sin of Moses? At first sight it seems very strange. Moses has this testimony given him in the Bible–that he was meek above all men. Yet he was not always meek. He was hot and hasty in his youth when he slew an Egyptian, and the sin of his youth flared up one fatal moment as he struck the rock. At last his sin found him out, and excluded him from the Holy Land. I can imagine someone feeling that in this matter Moses was hardly dealt with, and that the inexorableness of God is painful to contemplate. No doubt it is meant to impress us that way. Believe it in time, all young men and women. There are good things, the best things, the only things you will one day care for, that sin makes impossible; a single bad action can forfeit hopes that you will never be able to redeem. It can draw an invisible line round about you–a line invisible to everyone except God and you–that you cannot cross. Moses is presented here to us learning one of the hardest of all lessons–the acceptance of Gods will as it is determined by our own sins. Often our repentance is no better than a desire to escape the penalty of our faults. But our hope lies in accepting, not in rebelling and struggling against, the consequences which God has attached to our sins. To learn humility, to learn that God knows the discipline which is best for us, to learn to walk softly and accept as His will restrictions and losses which our sins have brought with them–that is the secret for restoring the soul. Rebellion does no good. Unbelieving despondency does no good. What is required is that the punishment of our sin be recognised as what it is, and taken as Gods will for our good. It is never pleasant, how could it be? The most awful thing in the world, it has been said, is the unpardoned sin, and the next is sin which has been pardoned. To accept the punishment of our iniquity is to have experience of both of these, and we need it to make us hate sin as we should. For remember, though Moses prayer was not granted, we are not to Suppose that his sin was not forgiven. It is striking that in the New Testament Moses appeared in glory and talked with Jesus of the death He should accomplish in Jerusalem. Thus all the limits which sin had imposed upon his life had vanished; thus he saw how far the grand work of God had progressed. Thus his mind still looked forward to the great event in which that great work should be consummated in the death of Jesus on the Cross. Moses talked of that, for that was his hope as it is ours. It is not true that the consequences of sin are immutable. If that were so there would be no Gospel. By Gods will they abide for a time, but there is a world in which curse shall be no more. It is not true that the limitations of sin and its deformities are seen even in heaven. But Gods answer to Moses prayer did not end with His refusal. Charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him, for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. The natural effect of despair is that we lose heart. We lose interest in our work when the accomplishment of it is a thing in which we have no interest. We are not going to be there, why spend ourselves as though we were? To speak like that is to forget that the work is not ours. It is Gods. Our interest is not to be limited as if it were a private concern of our own. It is a mark of true goodness when a man can admire and encourage his successor, and keep up his interest and hope in the common cause, though active participation in its affairs has become impossible for him. We sometimes see men who have been great leaders retire with a bad grace. They looked askance at those carrying on their work. They are more ready to be critical and sulky than to cry, Well done. They are under no obligation to encourage their successors! Over against this set these words of God to Moses, Charge Joshua. Possibly there are some whose own sins have inflicted losses which are very hard to bear. We might have entered the land of promise. We might have been men and women infinitely different from what we are–brighter, happier, richer in our souls. Well, what does God say after our disappointments? He says what He said to Moses: Do not be selfish, do not sulk; do not let your disappointments, bitter as they are, cast a shadow over your family or over the church. Digest it in solitude. But beyond everything, get above Pisgah and see the goodly mountain of Lebanon, and then, with the glory of that prospect on your face, turn to those whose hearts are cold within them, whose spirits are broken, and cherish and encourage and strengthen them. Tell them what God has prepared for those who love Him, and rejoice with them that they will inherit the land which you have only seen from afar. (J. Denney, D. D.)

Moses unanswered

1. Our first consideration is that the case before us does not disprove Gods willingness to hear and answer prayer.

2. Our second consideration is that God does not always answer in just our way. The two things which Noses wanted were these–

(1) To enter the Promised Land. He did not, indeed, cross the Jordan into the earthly Canaan; but, closing his eyes, he opened them on a vision of heavenly beauty such as he had never dreamed of.

(2) He wanted to see the work of his hands established upon him (Psa 90:16-17). This also was given in manifold measure. The influence of Moses was, under God, the controlling factor in the theocracy. His name has always been revered among the Jews.

3. Our third consideration is that no prayer is true prayer unless it is offered in the filial spirit. Some supplications are unfilial in their presumptuous boldness. Other supplications are unfilial in their servility. (Homiletic Review.)

The prayer which God denied

I. Observe that Moses here calls his own sin to remembrance. The plank which broke beneath ones weight is not apt to be kept as a sacred relic or treasured with fond affection. The place associated with some sin whose memory makes us blush, or some blunder so foolish as to be worthy only of an idiot, is not a place which we delight to revisit. Therefore it is the more remarkable that when Moses, in lifes latest hour, reviews Gods mercy to His people, he should not pass over the one great blunder and sin of his own career. But with the finger of transparent honesty he touches the sorest spot in his memory.

II. Observe why God denied Moses appeal.

1. We must not forget that what Moses sought from God was a temporal, not a spiritual blessing.

2. Perhaps, too, God may have refused the appeal of Moses because it humbled him and made him feel his complete dependence on Gods grace to save him.

3. It may be, too, that the Divine refusal was only a part of the process by which God was fitting Moses for a better inheritance than Canaan. When the denial of his prayer was first made there were yet two years before him ere his earthly pilgrimage should end. Into those two years God was crowding the final work of preparation of His servant. Said Beethoven once of some famous musical composer, He would have been a great musician if he had only been terribly and mercilessly criticised. (Bp. Cheney.)

The petition of Moses to God

Here Moses teacheth us how to pray. He beginneth first and telleth God that He hath begun to show him favour; and well might Moses so say, for he was no sooner born but the Lord began to show him His greatness, in saving him when he was cast into the river, etc. If all that the Lord hath done for him till this time be considered he had great cause to say, O Lord, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness. Herein Moses in some part showeth himself thankful for that he had received, trusting thereby to entreat God to continue His benefits and loving kindness towards him, which is a thing which pleaseth God. He is not like one who sitteth in his door and sooth one day by day come by him and salute him, and yet taketh no acquaintance, so that if he stand in need of him, either he knoweth not where he dwelleth; or else, because he is not acquainted with him, he is abashed to ask anything of him. Moses is not such a one, but he is acquainted with the Lord, who so often passed by him; and therefore lie now saith, Thou hast begun, etc. Next, Moses challengeth all the idol gods, and telleth them, that amongst them all there is not one of them that can do like his God. So God, when He is opposed and set against His enemies, is then most glorious, and confoundeth them all (Psa 89:6). Now, Moses proceedeth in his prayer, saying, I pray Thee, let me go over, etc. Here Moses prayeth like one of us, who are always craving, but never hath respect to the will of God, to say, Thy will be done. What is this mountain Lebanon? Surely Moses meaneth the place where the temple should be built, and God honoured; for after that Joshua had quietly possessed the land of Canaan, he only builded a tabernacle (Jos 18:1) wherein to call upon the Lord. Now it followeth in the text, But the Lord was angry with me, etc. So soon as Moses changed his prayer God turneth from him, and will not hear him; so soon we make God to forsake us, if we do not according to His will. Moses showeth the cause why God would not hear him; although he were a great man, and in high authority, yet he is not ashamed to confess his fault. So we see that where sin is, there prayer is not effectual; so that if we will hope to receive by prayer anything at Gods hands, we must first remove and take away the cause of our hindrance, which is sin, before we can receive the thing we pray for. God, when Moses had prayed, did not grant his request, but was angry with him; but lest Moses should be quite discouraged, He straightways mitigated His anger, and biddeth him be content and speak no more unto Him of that matter. God doth not bid him that he should not pray any more unto Him, but that he should pray no more for that thing. First, God biddeth him to be content; as if He should hat e said, Although thou mayest not enter into the land, yet I will content thee otherways. Thus God would have us, in what estate soever we be, to be content with our calling, for it is His appointment. God is so merciful that, though we are not able to pray aright, yet He considereth our prayers, and turneth all to the best for our good; not granting our request many times, but a better thing than we do desire of Him. Who, then, will offend so merciful and loving a Father? Let us, seeing God is so merciful unto us, take heed that we abuse not His mercies, lest in so doing we provoke Him unto judgment. Now, God hath told Moses that he shall not go into the land, He beginneth to teach him how he shall do to see it, and biddeth him go up into the top of Pisgah, and cast his eyes eastward, and westward, and northward, and southward, and behold it, etc. As a bird stayed with a little string, or a strong man in swimming held back by a small twig, so a little sin stayeth this great captain, that he cannot come within the land of Canaan. First, God is angry with him, and envies him altogether, as though he were not worth so much as go up to the mount. Thus we may see how one of the least sins is able to turn from us all the goodness and all the favour which God beareth to us. After, God commands Moses to go up to the mount. Here, Moses obeyeth Gods commandment; but if he had been like many a murmuring man he would have denied to go up to the mount, saying, What banquet is this to me, but a dainty dish set before one forbidden to eat? But Moses had rather die than anger the Lord again when He had bid him be content. This we may learn of Moses, to be content with our calling, whether we have little or much; for God contented Moses as well with the sight of Canaan as those who possessed it. So when God hath not ordained us to see great substance, as He hath some of our brethren, yet because we should not be discontent He will give us as much pleasure at the sight of them in others as though we ourselves enjoyed them. Many things might Moses have objected which might have hindered him from going up the mount; for surely it must needs be a grief to him, when he considered that great pain which he had taken in bringing them through the wilderness, and conducting them forty years together; and now, when he had no farther to go, but even over Jordan, to be taken away then; and another, which never took any pains, possess all his labours: this, I say, must be a great and intolerable thing to flesh and blood; for when one hath laid a foundation and another comes and builds upon it, surely he will think himself hardly dealt withal. Such is our nature; and yet, notwithstanding all this, Moses is content. He knoweth that God doth him no wrong, but is just and merciful also. He blesseth all alike, as Jacobs children were blessed (Gen 49:1-33). Moses, so long as he was upon the plain ground, could not see the type of heaven; but when he was upon the mount he saw it before he came to heaven itself. So let us even now scale the mount as Moses did, that we may see and consider those joys; which thing shall serve to reclaim our hearts from earthly matters. As Peter went up the mount to see Christs glory, and Moses went up the mount to see the land of promise, so let us ascend from these earthly things to the contemplation of heavenly. Now, Moses is in his prospect as David was in his tower. Here he must prepare himself to die, while he is looking upon the land which so long he hath been in coming to. Who would not have grieved at this, that, after so long as forty years travel in hope to possess it, he should now in the end be content with a sight of it, and so vanish away! Yet Moses, for all this murmureth not, but, like Job, taketh it patiently. And as he was upon the mount where God vanished, so here he is upon the mount and vanisheth away himself; as it appeareth (Job 24:6). So good rulers are taken away in a time when death is least suspected. As Lot was taken away before the people of Sodom knew, as is showed (Gen 19:10); so we see that when our time is come, and our glass run out, that neither our riches, nor our wits, nor our friends, nor anything that we have in this world, can carry us any further. No, no more than Moses could go over this Jordan. (H. Smith.)

The good land that is beyond Jordan

It is there, a seer has seen it; and God gave him words to paint the vision for us. A good land; glorious in beauty, yet homelike; familiar in every form and feature, but still a transfigured world. It is the hope that lights the way of the wilderness–the hope that we may one day behold the glories of a creation which has been delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. None believe that the present is final. Men, dreaming of a delivered humanity, have dreamed, too, of a delivered world. A world, a home to dwell in, not cursed as this is, with all its prophetic beauty–a world without wastes, marshes, lava floods, blights, famines, plagues–a world that will fit a redeemed, as this fits a fallen, nature–a world whose paths shall be, the pathways of angels, whose sun shall be the face of God. In Egypt, mans toil is the prominent feature; man made its fertility: in Canaan, Gods bounty is the prominent feature; It drinketh water of the rain of heaven. Egypt is the field in which a man, by the low form of labour, might exist amply; Canaan the home in which a man, by joyful concert with God, might nobly live.

I. It was a land, a good land, the slope of that goodly mountain, even Lebanon, which Moses looked upon; it was a land of promise, which God had prepared. Canaan was in a sense the heaven of Israels hope; the more heavenlike, perhaps, because it was so fair a feature of our world; because it was a home in which a man, a family, a nation, could nobly dwell. A would behind the veil is the instinctive belief of every human spirit; a world, with all the attributes of a world like this, in which all the promises of this fractured creation shall be realised, wherein no hope shall be frustrated, no cord of association broken, which has been consecrated by holy communion here. This is mans vision, inseparable, too, from his condition here. Imagination! we may say; blank dreams, no more! and pass it by. Imagination surely! but who inspired the imagination? Who but the Being who is the Maker of the reality, which He has kept for ages before the imagination of the world? I accept imagination here as a witness to reality. The wise here are the wise for ever, for to be wise is not simply to know; wisdom takes cognisance of what is common to the two worlds. Nothing which has been truly, reverently learnt will need to be unlearnt. The faithful students of Gods hand in the visible are learning to know His mind through the whole sphere of the invisible; they are familiar here with the things which the angels desire to look into; and pass at once from the training school of the Spirit into the inner circle, the elect spirits which are next the throne. A goodly land beyond Jordan. A real, substantial, homelike world.

II. The images which are employed by the sacred writers as most expressive when they are treating of heaven are all borrowed from the higher forms of the development of mans social and national life. All that society on earth aims at and misses, the grand order of human relations, the majestic procession of human activities, of which, marred and crippled as they are on earth, the wisest and noblest have not ceased to dream, shall there be realised, with Christ the King visibly in the centre of it, and the angels attendant to watch the actors and applaud the results.

III. That good land beyond Jordan had some heaven-like feature herein; it was to be the theatre of the highest and holiest human association, under conditions most favourable to the most perfect development, and in an atmosphere of life which Gods benediction should make an atmosphere of bliss. This is joy, this is glory, to dwell nobly, purely, faithfully with men under the smile of God. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Heaven upon earth

We take the words of Moses before us as appropriate to indicate the earnest aspiration of the Christian heart after the rest and the inheritance of the saints.

I. Now observe, this cry may be, after all, merely sentimental, and in such a case it cannot be too strongly condemned. One of the great dangers to which we are exposed in the religious life, in our songs and prayers and utterances, is that of cherishing high, forced, fictitious emotions, and of going altogether beyond our real feelings. What we want is holy feeling, transmuted into Christly living and Christly service. The prospect of a bright life beyond should have the effect upon us of making the present life very happy.

II. Again, this cry may be the result of maturity and ripeness, and then the spirit prompting it is bright and beautiful. I see one who is a great sufferer. It has pleased God, in the order of His inscrutable Providence, to lay him aside from the activities of life for months, or even years. And the sorrow has been sanctified. He has not sought relief in cherishing a stoical spirit or by looking to earthly sources, but with a full consciousness that suffering is wisely and graciously designed, he has looked upwards and has found in God almighty strength. Despite adverse influences, he has been moving onwards towards the haven of eternal rest. And thus he has become ripened and matured, thoroughly weaned from earth; his heart has long been in heaven, his treasure lies there, and fittingly he longs for the hour of full release, and cries, with a chastened spirit, wholly resigned to the Divine will and full of expectant hope, I pray Thee, let me go, etc.

III. And now let us specially notice that there is an aspiration after heaven which may be fittingly cherished at any and every stage of life: even aspiration after those moral excellences which constitute the perfection of the heavenly life.

1. Heaven is the good land, for it is free from sin. Then be it ours to desire heavens purity, and even here to break away from the enthralment of evil.

2. Heaven is the good land, for it is the realm where there is realised in all its perfection the vision of God. Then be it our desire to have granted unto us here this vision; let us seek, through Divine help, to become possessed of a heart right loyal to the Divine will, in which evil passions and desires have been dethroned, and in which has been set up the spiritual kingdom of God; that so, being renewed and sanctified, God may even now be apprehended by us. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

3. Heaven is the good land, for it is the realm of light. Endless progression in knowledge characterises its inhabitants. Then be it ours to cry for more light here, and to seek the influences of the Revealer of truth, that under His guidance we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

4. Heaven is the good land, for it is the land of rest and peace–rest from sin, rest from temptation, rest from care, rest from harassing and perplexing doubt; calm, unruffled, perfect rest. Then let us see if we cannot get an earnest of this even whilst we sojourn in this world, by accepting the gracious invitation of Him who has said, Come unto Me all ye that labour, etc.

5. And heaven is the good land, for it is the land where prevails concord and love. No note of discord is heard there, no strife of parties prevails there; unity and love reign, and shall reign there eternally. Be it ours to aspire here after this characteristic of the heavenly life. Let us avoid all narrowness and exclusiveness, and cherish the spirit which finds expression in the benediction–Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Whatever lack of charity others may show towards us, let there be no lack of this on our part towards them. (S. D. Hillman.)

Longings for the land

I. Moses desire to enter.

1. It was strong and deep; the strongest desire of his soul in regard to anything earthly, is our longing for the heavenly Canaan as vehement as his for the earthly?

2. It was a holy desire. There was nothing carnal in it; nothing of self. It was the desire of a holy man for a share in the fulfilment of the Divine promise.

3. It was a patriotic desire. Canaan was his true fatherland, though he had never dwelt in it.

4. It was a natural desire. Though brought up in ease, for now eighty years he had been a dweller in tents in the wilderness, a man without a home. How natural that he should be weary of the desert, and long for a resting place!

5. It was a desire connected with the welfare of his nation. Israel was to be blest in that land of blessing, and he desired to see his nation settled in the Lords land.

6. It was a desire connected with the glory of God. He knew that God was about to choose a place wherein to set His name, and to show His glory. He had once before pleaded, Show me Thy glory; and what could be more desirable in his eyes than that he should see the manifestation of this glory, and witness the mighty power of God in the land which he knew was to be the centre and stage of all these?

II. His arguments (verse 24). The first part of his argument is, Thou hast showed me the beginning, wilt not Thou show me the end? It is natural, even in mans works, when we have seen the beginning, to desire to see the end, and to expect that he who has shown us the one will show us the other. Moses feels as if he would be tantalised, almost mocked, by not seeing the end. He argues that Gods willingness to show him the beginning is a pledge of His willingness to show him all. We may all use this argument. Thou, who hast forgiven me past sin, wilt Thou not forgive all present and all future sin? (Php 1:6.) The second part of his argument is, that to stop here would leave so much undiscovered of His greatness and mighty hand, that, for the sake of the glory to be unfolded and the power to be revealed, he might expect to be allowed to enter. So great is the undiscovered glory of God, and so desirous is God to reveal it to us, that we may use this argument with Him respecting anything we desire. The third argument looks at the very little already seen–only a glimpse. Moses pleads this little, and because of it asks to enter Canaan. He had seen much of Gods power, yet he speaks as if it were little; not as if undervaluing the past, but still feeling as if it were comparatively nothing. So all that we have tasted hitherto is small. It is in the ages to come that He is to show the exceeding riches of His grace; and hence we may call the past a little thing, and use it as an argument with God.

III. Gods answer. It sounds stern; yet is the answer of wisdom and love.

1. The anger.

2. The refusal.

3. The prohibition.

IV. Gods condescending grace. Entrance is denied, but a full vision of the land is granted (verse 27). He strains His purpose (if one may speak so) as far as possible, without breaking it. The actual request is denied, but something as like it and as near to it as might be is accorded. What a favoured child does Moses seem, even in this very scene of apparent sternness! O love that passeth knowledge! O condescension of God, to what depths of indulgent tenderness wilt Thou not stoop!

1. What one sin can do. One sin cost Adam Paradise; one sin costs Moses Canaan. In the case of Moses it is the more startling, because it is a forgiven sin, and he is a forgiven sinner. His sin is forgiven, yet it leaves a stain behind it; it traces a testimony to its unutterable evil on the person of the sinner.

2. What Gods inflexibility is. He cannot change. He cannot call that no sin which is sin; nor that a small sin which is a great sin; nor that a private sin which was a public sin. His purpose is not the easy, pliable, changeable thing which ours is. He is the God only wise, only righteous, only mighty, and is therefore above all such vacillations.

3. What the grace of God is. Many waters cannot quench it, nor the floods drown it. To what lengths it will go in order to pardon a sinner or to bless a saint! (H. Bonar, D. D.)

Consolation

There are many things in a mans life which he desires; but these may come and go, and yet leave the real life of the man little touched. But there are few men who have not had once and again in their life, certainly once at least, some great object on which they set their whole heart–some vision that towered over all others, as Lebanon now did to the eye of Moses–some ideal, some supreme good, that kindled their brightest and most impassioned hours.

I. What God refuses to grant. Take a man who has set his heart on some plan of life. It may have been one of ambition. He has worn himself out to attain it. Every line of his life converges to it; but at length comes his Waterloo, and he is dethroned for ever. It may be some creation of learning or genius. He has brooded over it in chaos, he has gathered slowly all the materials, he is about at last to shape them by the skill and vivify them with the light of the soul within him; but the fire grows dim, and at last dies out, and the great design and the yearning desire stand apart for ever. It is unachieved, and he carries the broken plan to the grave with him; he himself is cut down, while the harvest of his life is left to waste ungathered in the darkening fields. Or it may be some post of honour and influence. But when the time comes to seize it another steps in, and you are left empty handed. Then, too, there are higher visions–visions of the moral and spiritual order–left unfulfilled. Who has not felt times, say, of conversion, when there rose upon the soul the sweet Divine dawn of Christs salvation, trembling over its calmed waves and revealing transcendent worlds of beauty; or of revival, when at a new turn on the road some heavenly vision met us and blessed us with a joy unspeakable and full of glory; or of comfort, when hope sprung immortal out of some dark grave beside which we sat crushed and alone; or of a strange strength front on high, when we had almost altogether perished? Such seasons have been; but see how some failing to pass over the temptation that crossed unexpectedly our path, some mean passion laying its arrest on our onward march, some looking away from the great Lebanons of nearness to God, and fellowship with the very death and resurrection of Christ, kept us from our last crowning step; and the supreme attainment of our lives was, on this side the grave at least, lost for a while, it may be for ever.

II. Why God refused to grant the prayer of Moses.

1. The sin of Moses.

2. It was the last stroke of Gods chisel that Moses needed to clear away his last infirmity.

3. It lifted Moses to a nobler elevation of character–more unselfish, more Divine.

4. It was an opportunity such as Moses never had before of honouring God, in the midst of disappointment, before all.

IV. What, because of refusal, God the more grants.

1. A larger outpouring of grace into the heart of Moses. Grace of forgiveness, grace of restored joy of Gods salvation, grace of broken bones rejoicing, grace of fresh communion.

2. The speedier crossing the Jordan of death into the life everlasting. (Prof. W. Graham, D. D.)

Gods refusal of desire

1. Natural to wish to enter Canaan as an object of curiosity, of which he had heard so much; still more as an object of hope, which had been promised so long with every enhancement. This animated the people to leave Egypt, and encouraged them in the desert. This was the end, the recompense of their toils for forty years, and now they had nearly reached it. How painful to miss the prize when the hand was seizing it–to have the cup dashed even from the lip!

2. Yet the desire was refused. God sometimes refuses the desires of His servants, even the most eminent. He does this in two ways.

3. Sometimes He does it in love. What is desired might prove dangerous and injurious. In many cases must a wise and good parent distinguish between wishes and wants! A child may wish for liberty, and want restraint; for a holiday, and want schooling; for dainties, and want medicine. Here the parent must act, not according to the wish, but the welfare of the child. How much better for the Jews had God turned a deaf ear to their importunity! Who knows what is good for a man in this life? No one but God–the good God.

4. He sometimes refuses in anger. Wrath is incompatible with love; but anger is not: anger may even flow from it. Though Christians cannot be condemned, they may be chastened: and the law of the house is, that if the children obey not, He will visit with the rod. Hence those saved eternally may fall under present rebuke, and be refused many things on which they set their heart. By such conduct Providence teaches submission to His people, and the evil of sin to others.

5. Yet his desire was partially indulged. The command to get on the top of Pisgah was not to tantalise him, but to be a mitigation of the severe sentence. The preservation of his sight fitted him for the gaze–the prospect showed him how worthy the country was of all that had been said about it; and would give him high views of the truth and goodness of God in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. With this also was the influence of Divine grace which satisfied hint and made him content with his condition. While his mind was raised to things above, in type and emblem, to a better country, into which he was immediately to enter–and there would be no want of Canaan. Thus in judgment God remembers mercy, and though He cause grief yet will He have compassion. (W. Jay.)

The long journey

1. We learn from this, first of all, that one sin may shut us out of heaven. Moses had committed a sin long ago; since then he had done God good service, yet that sin was not forgotten, it shut him out of the promised land. Sin always brings its own punishment, at some time or other, and in some way or another. Some sins, like some seeds, grow up and bear their bitter fruit very quickly. Others lie hid for a long time, but they bear fruit.

2. Learn next, that doing good does not atone for a past sin. All our obediences, says an old writer of the Church, cannot blot out one sin against God. When we have forgotten our sins, God remembers them, and though not ill anger, yet He calls for our arrears. If Moses died the first death for one fault, how shall they escape the second death for sinning always? Do not think that the old sins of your past lives are of no importance because you may have been living decent lives of late. I pray thee, let me go over, that I may see the good land that is beyond Jordan. Some of us, who have wandered these many years in the wilderness, long very eagerly for that rest which remaineth for the people of God. Many a one is tempted sometimes, when the sorrow is very sharp and the road very tempted sometimes to say, I pray Thee, let me go over, that I may see the good land that is beyond Jordan. Wishing for Paradise will not take us there. For us all there is a work to be done, and a given time to do it in. A quaint old writer tells us that God sends His servants to bed when they have done their work. Our journey through this world must be one of watching, of fighting, of praying, and of waiting, and when that is over our Master will give His beloved sleep. When the American saint and hero Stonewall Jackson was dying, he said, Let us cross the river, and rest under the shade of the trees; so may we one day hope to cross the river of death, and to see the good land that is beyond Jordan, and to rest under the shadow of the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. (H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)

The request of Moses

I. In regard to the prayer itself, it may be remarked–

1. That the desire it expressed was a very natural one. He had been looking forward, it may be, to years of honourable service and rich enjoyment, and he might mourn in the cutting off of his days, that he was to go to the gates of the grave, and say, as Hezekiah did under like prospects, in the sadness of his heart, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

2. The desire expressed was a benevolent one. It was dictated by his regard to the welfare of the people. It was a desire that he might be spared to assist in effecting their settlement in the land of Canaan, and in establishing such order as might promote their prosperity as a nation there.

3. The desire expressed may be regarded as a pious one, as having been prompted by devout affection. What he had already seen had convinced him that there is no god in heaven or in earth that could do according to His works and according to His might; but he felt that there were wonders yet to be shown in the introduction of His people into the promised land and their establishment there, which might fill his mind with increasing admiration and joy in beholding them.

II. We proceed, then, in the second place to notice some of the reasons for which, as we may conceive, this prayer of Moses was denied. These may have been such as the following–

1. To mark the Divine displeasure with a part of his conduct.

2. To convey a lesson of reproof and instruction to Israel. The Lord was wroth with me, says Moses, for your sakes. There was displeasure, then, with their conduct, as well as with that of Moses, manifested in his removal. And God, by taking him away, might design to tell them that they were not worthy of such a leader.

3. It was in order to satisfy in another manner, and more fully, the affections and desires which were expressed by His servant. The prospect of it showed him how worthy the land was of all that the Lord said concerning it. The reality exceeded, we may conclude, all that imagination had pictured. But there was more in the vision enjoyed than the gratification of a natural curiosity–there was what satisfied benevolent and pious affection. He saw the end of his cares and toils for the people attained, and the truth and goodness of God in His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob vindicated. And the vision with which he was favoured may have been, as it were, the seal of his own reconciliation to the God whom he had offended, who now came to take him to a more glorious recompense than if he had been spared to reign there for long years over the tribes of Israel. And may we not conceive that when he saw the good land that was beyond Jordan he knew that he saw in type and emblem the better country–that is, the heavenly, which lies beyond deaths dark river. The patriarchs who before sojourned in it as in a strange land showed that it was thus regarded by them, and the same faith by which they walked dwelt in him who recorded their history. (J. Henderson, D. D.)

Holy ardour after a heavenly state

I. From what principle does this desire after a heavenly state arise?

1. From having formed a right estimate of the present world. He has passed through the world not as a cynic. He has mixed in the worlds society, he has tasted some of its pleasures, he has acquired some of its riches, he has enjoyed some of its esteem; yet, by the grace of God, he has been taught to see that vanity of vanities is inscribed on all the world calls good or great

2. From having realised the blessings of true religion.

3. From strong faith in the unspotted honour and integrity of Him who has promised this good land to us. The Christian believes what God has graciously revealed of this heavenly state.

II. What are the evidences of your truly desiring a heavenly state.

1. Earth loses its attraction.

2. Religion assumes its personal importance. Let me go.

3. There will be a restlessness of desire while absent from the Lord. They feel that this is not their rest.

4. Death will lose its terrors.

III. Let me now urge you, by some appropriate motives, to aim at the attainment of this holy ardour after a heavenly state.

1. Be convinced that it is attainable. Oh, how many Christians there are who stop short of this holy state of mind! They seem to be quite satisfied if they can but arrive at heaven, and never manifest any anxiety to attain that perfection which is the great preparation for its enjoyment.

2. Be assured also, that this state is desirable. It is desirable that you should be thus dead to this world and alive to that which is to come, on several accounts.

(1) Consider the personal advantage to the individual.

(2) But you should aim for this holy ardour, because of the benefit likely to result to others. Can such a city be set on a hill, and not observed? Impossible. Such a city must be admired.

(3) And by this you will also be an honour to the religion you profess.

(4) Hereby God will be glorified. (G. Hyatt.)

Ardour after the heavenly Canaan

If we take this prayer in its spiritual sense we shall find in it much to elevate our hopes and views beyond the passing scenes of time, and to fix them on the more permanent realities of that eternal world to which we are all quickly approaching. I pray Thee, says Moses to God, let me go over and see the good land. The words of this prayer imply a strong desire, a heartfelt eagerness, on the part of the person uttering them, to see the good land, and not alone to see it, but to enter it and enjoy its pleasures.

I. Now we are naturally led to the inquiry, from whence arises this feeling in the Christians heart–this eagerness to see the good land? I should say, from his having taken a proper estimate of the world. The Christian has been taught to look above it and its low concerns to nobler objects, to heaven and heavenly things, as the supreme object of his ambition and as his incorruptible and undefiled portion.

II. Now, what proofs have we that we are desiring this good land, this better and heavenly country? If we are looking forward to be with God in heaven we are now endeavouring–

1. To sit loose to the things of this world.

2. Another proof of our earnestly seeking this heavenly country is, that we are now making religion our chief concern, that it is the most important matter we have at heart, that our worldly engagements, of what nature soever they may be, are all secondary to the interests of the soul.

3. Another evidence that we are advancing towards the heavenly Canaan is that sin is becoming a matter of habitual distaste to us. (Dr. L. F. Russell, M. A.)

The refusal

Disappointment–the very word has an unpleasant ring; but who is fully able to describe the painfulness of the reality which this word indicates? Just picture to yourself a traveller making his preparations in another portion of the world to visit his dearest friends once more before he dies. For years he has been making his arrangements with the utmost carefulness; at the appointed time he has embarked with all his property, and he has safely managed through the greater portion of his journey, though most dangerous. But suddenly there rises up a violent storm that makes the masts and tackling crack, the flail craft, though in view of the desired haven, sinks to the bottom, and the wanderer, who came expecting rest within the circle of his friends, finds but a grave down in the gloomy depths. How sad a picture! you exclaim. It is no sadder, we reply, than the reality of many lives on earth. The public life of Moses, as Israels lawgiver and guide, is, as it were, a picture set within a flame of two great disappointments. The first is the occasion when, on slaying the Egyptian, he fancies that his brethren should acknowledge him as their deliverer, and finds himself most cruelly betrayed; the second, when he sees be is refused an entrance to the promised land.

I. There kneels in prayer a godly man to whom, as we can see at once, such intercourse with God is not a duty merely, or a habit, but a pleasure and delight. Must we now picture Moses in the stillness of the tent of witness, or in the boundless temple of creation, or in the solitude of waking night? It is enough for us that he now ventures, all alone with God, to place upon his lips the prayer that had been already lying heavily upon his heart for days and weeks, and he receives the answer which you know so well, but which produced, upon a heart like this, such an amount of grief. Well may we, first of all, speak of dark dealing in Gods providence. For who is he whom we now see driven from the throne of grace with such inexorable severity? Is it a wicked man, to whom the wise kings words apply in all their force, He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination? Nay, but it is the special favourite of God, who often could succeed, by powerful intercession, in averting from a hundred thousand guilty heads the sword of justice when it had been raised to smite. What does he ask, that he thus stirs the wrath of Him to whom he speaks? Some special recompense, perhaps, for years of toil; or possibly, release from that most arduous post which he approached with such reluctance. Nay; he merely asked for a free entrance, a short stay, in the evening of his life, in that inheritance which God had promised to the fathers. How was that prayer expressed? Was it with an excessive urgency, unsteady faith, in an uncourteous tone? Nay; he himself is not afraid to own that he but asked a favour as a guilty one; and it is quite impossible to listen to his prayer without perceiving there the spirit of profound humility and the most hearty gratitude Are there not many who have had such an experience as Moses underwent? A lovely prospect smiled on you, a pilgrim on lifes path; it seemed to you a very Canaan of terrestrial luxury; then you put forth your strongest efforts to attain that height and call the treasure yours. Alas! you see the palm trees of Canaan, but it is not permitted you to rest beneath their shade. Where would I stop, even if out of the book of each mans life I wished to do no more than indicate the chief among the sealed-up pages bearing the superscription Unanswered prayers? Verily, the Lord did not without good reason say of old that He would dwell in the thick darkness.

II. But is it really He, the only wise, the gracious one, the God unchangeable in righteousness, who dwells in this darkness? Before you hesitate to answer this in the affirmative, look back a moment from the valley opposite Bethpeor, where the conclusion of this chapter places you, to Kadesh, which you know so well. Such a refusal, which, viewed in itself, seems almost quite inexplicable, harsh, at once appears in another light, when you have heard not merely what the heart of Moses says, but also what his conscience tells. We know full well there is a thread–often, indeed, invisible, yet natural, and such as none can break–which forms a bond between our conduct and our destiny; and if the history connected with each one of you were accurately known to us, it would be far from difficult to prove that God has really good reason for the choice He makes of such steep paths for some. At one time, weak in body, you pray vainly for recovery of health and strength, and you exclaim, How dark my path! But did you not, in younger days, employ your powers, when they were fresh, as instruments of sin? May not your present suffering, besides, be a sharp thorn that must remind you, through the flesh, how deeply you once fell Or yet again, some wretched father may be now beseeching God to bring his lost son back into his arms and to the home of God–but all in vain; the blinded one holds on in the broad path that leads to death. But have you ever thought upon the time when your own mother vainly urged you to forsake the sinful path? and have you also said within yourself, I am but punished now, in my own family, for sins committed in my youth?

III. But our sphere of contemplation tends to widen out on every side. It is not merely to the previous history of Moses, but also to the needs of Israel, that we must look to find the true solution of the enigma connected with the firm refusal to accede to his request. If we mistake not, the providence of God becomes apparent here after His righteousness; and when we take a step still further in advance, we find that we can readily extol Him for a wise arrangement in His providence. Moses was but a man; it is impossible that one man should do everything; it must, too, be acknowledged that he was more fitted to guide Israel through the wilderness than lead them into Canaan. When we so rashly raise a loud complaint because our prayers remain unanswered, do we not far too frequently forget that we are here not for ourselves, but with and for each other; and that He who makes provision for the wants of all, without respect of persons, frequently must quite withhold something from one, that the fulfilment of his wishes may not turn out for anothers injury? How much more lightly would our disappointments press on us had selfishness less influence; and what a multitude of instances does history afford in which God often, in His wisdom, gave no answer to mens prayers–at least, delayed His answer–so that in what saddens us there might be found a germ of what would work for others good.

IV. But someone may reply, it surely must have saddened Moses heart to think that he had been incited to the sacrifice of his own personal, legitimate desire for Israels benefit. Such an objection might be called a fair one, if the man of God, through what he was deprived of, had been really too great a loser in the case. But just as many a hard, uncomely shell often conceals a kernel of the sweetest fruit, so it is with Gods chastisements; the very rods employed in smiting drop with blessing from the Lord. He is deprived of–yes, Canaan; and that word means–does it mean everything? No, in the eye of faith it is not everything; it merely seems so to the mind of Moses now. Canaan is–and how could it be otherwise?–his earthly ideal; but ideals seldom gain by being realised, and even the Land of Promise offers no exception to the melancholy rule that there is far more pleasure in desire than even in the actual enjoyment of prosperity. But will it be impossible to forfeit Paradise even in Canaan? Shall sin be unknown there? Shall death have no dominion there? Does it make such a mighty difference to one like Moses whether death takes place on Nebo or, a few months later, upon Zion hill? for surely to such minds and hearts the whole earth is a land of sojourning, where all is strange. Has he been thinking of the daily cross he must expect, because within the first few weeks he only looks upon sad scenes of blood and tears, and afterwards finds out that Israel has certainly changed for the better as regards their dwelling place, but not in heart? Many an earnest prayer for longer life is utterly refused, that so the eye, closed ere the day of evil comes, may not perceive the misery to follow us.

V. We place ourselves upon the stand point of the world to come, and then the blessing in disguise appears to us as an eternal ground of gratitude. But do you not yet feel convinced, with us, that Moses has received the punishment of his offence wholly within this present life, and that the temporary loss has been abundantly made up by God in heaven? Well may we rest assured that all the friends of God will have much cause for gratitude in heaven, but more especially for this–that He has said so often, in this world, through His strong love, No more of this! But do we not begin to find this out even on this side of the grave? Many of you, in silent admiration, must acknowledge that the principle of everlasting joy would never have been drawn out in your hearts had not the Lord been pleased to lead you through this world by paths where pains and crosses are familiar things. But the poor heart, that has been cured of lusting by the sorrow it has felt, finds constantly, in overwhelming measure, how the All-sufficient One, in a most wondrous way, makes up for what He has Withheld by giving us Himself. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)

The desire of Moses

The east side of Jordan had been conquered, Moses and the people had experienced the nearness and help of Jehovah; and Moses had exhorted Joshua to press on Without fear. It was then that–

I. The desire to enter Canaan awoke anew in the heart of Moses–

1. A prayer, coloured by deep emotion, came from his heart like a forest stream breaking its way through a narrowing ravine, and then dashing over the falls.

2. Was it possible that the man of God should cry out for what lay behind in a conquered desire? The power of earthly hopes over the heart must be remembered. Moses remained Moses–and his heart remained a mans heart, which only conquers after fresh struggles, which relinquishes hope only when the Highest unmistakably strikes through these hopes and uproots the desires of the heart.

3. It was the hour of conquest where joy filled the hearts of the Israelites. Was it not natural, then, that the old desire should awaken amid this outburst of joyful hope? and that his tongue should utter that of which his heart was full? The words of the prayer show that the goodly mountain and Lebanon were before his eyes; and it was in view of them that he again prayed and must again submit.

II. Moses reception of the answer to his prayer.

1. We all understand this fluctuating of the human heart. By the grave we stand in silence and sow the seed of tears. But the Easter sun rises, and in its brightness flowers bloom on the graves. Easter bells ring. In this Easter gladness sorrow is stilled and the heart finds peace. It conquers through Him who has swallowed up death in victory.

2. Yet does sorrow never return? We must remember that grace leaves the heart a human heart still. Grace blameth not thy sighing, but makes it still and pure. The heart still retains its deep emotions, desires, love, hope, longing, and sorrow; and it would be an evil day for men when tears did not bring relief, nor the words of the tongue express the emotion of the heart.

3. When a fervent desire or deep sorrow fills the believing heart it finds relief in prayer–which sometimes bursts forth like a pent-up stream. So it was here with Moses. He entered on this conflict in prayer, and his heart found rest only when the clear answer came.

4. The poet is right when he thinks such conquest impossible on the plane of the world. The heart that here in sorrow sails by a storm-swept shore gains peace, but on that morrow when it shall beat no more. But it is otherwise in the kingdom of God. Moses, in his words to the people, showed that he had overcome and attained to rest. In his heart he was victorious when he was led by God in His answer to his prayer to the sepulchre of his earthly hopes. His heart did not break–the foaming waves and jagged rocks did not wreck his faith. We almost hear the words, Not my will, but Throe be done.

III. Are such decisive and unmistakable answers, such as this given to Moses, given from on high now?

1. Answers in view of which all questionings and grievings cease, all petitions withdrawn, and prayer ends in submission, thanksgiving, and victory.

2. Not precisely as they came to Moses, who lived in such close communion with the Invisible, since only thus in that time could Divine Revelation progress; nor as in later times to the apostle (2Co 12:9). To the apostles as instruments of revelation the eternal world came nearer than to ordinary men.

3. Yet even to ordinary Christian men there come indications and messages from above which cannot be misunderstood. Not every day–not always when we desire, but in the events of life, in the ordering of circumstances, in the indications of the end of life drawing near, answers are often given as clear and definite as in the words, Let it suffice thee, etc. And he who understands Gods Word and has hid it in his heart, like Moses looks steadily towards Pisgah. The spirit overcomes and looks toward the earthly Canaan, but only to leave it. Let the heart turn, let the eye look upward to the Canaan above! (W. Granhoff.)

Unanswered prayers

I remember many years ago one Sunday afternoon I sat in an upper room by the side of a coffin in which lay the body of a dear child–no matter whose child. A small boy came to me with a deep feeling, and, showing how far sometimes children penetrate into the deep mysteries of life and spiritual things, said to me: Uncle, I want to ask you something. I said, Well? Said he, Does God always give us what we ask Him for. And I hardly knew what to answer, and I said. Why do you ask? Said he, Because I asked Him to spare my dear little cousin, and He didnt do it, and I do not know what to think about it. The child touched bottom. We have all had the same difficulty. I said to him, Suppose that your father should send you off to boarding school, and should say to you, as he bade you good-bye, Now, if you want anything, just ask me for it, and I will send it to you. You do not suppose that he meant to say that he would send you anything that would not be best for you? Now, God says, Ask, and it shall be given you; but He does not say that He will give us anything that is not best for us. And I said, Does that help you any? And he said, I think I see. Now, that is just as far as I have ever been able to go–I think I see. But do you not see that right here is the very privilege of praying to God? Why, if God should give us everything we ask Him for, the very best and wisest of us would almost be afraid to pray. How many times good people have prayed for certain things, and they did not get them. Many years afterwards they saw that it would have been a thousand pities if God had given them what they asked for. When we shall climb the shining steeps of heaven, and from the light of the eternal world look back on this enigma of human life, we shall have nothing for which to praise God more than for not having given us everything for which we asked Him here on earth. He knows how to give. He sees what is best. So what first may seem one of the greatest discouragements may be a blessing in disguise. (J. A. Broadus, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And I besought the Lord at that time,…. When he was told he should die, and Joshua should succeed him; or when the two kings were slain, and their kingdoms conquered; this being the beginning, pledge, and earnest of what God had promised to do for the people of Israel; Moses was very desirous of living to see the work completed, and therefore sought the Lord by prayer and supplication:

saying; as follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 23-29:

The text acknowledges the sole supremacy of Jehovah Elohim as Lord, above all gods of the nations.

“That goodly mountain” does not refer to any particular mountain, but to the entire Land of Canaan.

Moses’ greatest desire was to enter the Land of Promise, leading Israel to possess their promised homeland. But this was not to be. The reason: Moses’ sin and God’s judgment for that sin, Deu 1:37; Num 20:12; Num 27:13-14. This is a reminder that sin causes God’s child to forfeit many blessings today.

God permitted Moses to ascend to the peak of Pisgah, Mount Nebo, and look to the four points of the compass to view the Land, see Deu 34:1-4.

Moses did enter the Land of Promise, after centuries had passed; but not as Israel’s leader, Mat 17:1-3.

God reaffirmed His choice of Joshua as Moses’ successor. He was to be the one to lead Israel into their inheritance, see Deu 1:38; Deu 3:21; Deu 31:7; Num 27:23.

Beth-peor the house or temple of Peor. In the Abarim mountain range there was a hill called Peor near a town by this name. It was across Jordan opposite to Jericho. This was the site of Israel’s camp at the time Moses delivered this address.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

23 And I besought the Lord. (239) Others have, “I besought;” but I have preferred using the pluperfect tense, because, in my opinion, Moses interrupts himself to show why he had resigned his office to another, and did not rather declare that he would be their leader, as heretofore, and at the same time an example to the people of courage. He says, therefore, that when he had prayed that he might be permitted to enter the land, he received a refusal. For it is not probable that, after he had substituted Joshua for himself, he straightway conceived a desire, which was in direct opposition to it.

The drift of the prayer is that God, by granting him permission to enter the land, should thus fill up to the full the measure of His grace towards him: for he enumerates the blessings already vouchsafed to him, as the ground of his confidence in asking, and that God, who is not wont to forsake the work of His own hands, might carry on to the end the mercies He had begun. For this reason he says that the might of God had been shown him; modestly hinting that it was natural to expect that he should be a partaker of the crowning blessing, in order that the end might correspond with the beginning. He also magnifies the power of God as proclaimed by the miracles; that so magnificent a work might not be interrupted. On the other hand, he speaks in commendation of the goodness of the land, and expressly shows that his desire to see it springs from earnest piety; for I willingly subscribe to the opinion of those who understand Sion by the “goodly mountain;” for, with the exception of Lebanon, there was no other mountain so delectable in the land; whereas Lebanon, as if next to it in rank, is mentioned in the second place.

(239) “I had besought, etc. ” — Lat.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(23) Here begins the second section according to the Jewish division, called And I besought (vaeth channn).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(23-28) And I besought the Lord at that time.Two things Moses is recorded to have asked for himself in the story of the exodus. The first is written in Exo. 33:18, I beseech thee shew me thy glory; the second is before us here. O Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah), thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand . . . I pray thee let me go over and see the good land beyond Jordan. It would seem that Moses desired not so much to view the land (which, indeed, was granted him), but to see the greatness of Jehovah manifested in the conquest, as he had seen it in the victories over Og and Sihon. While we cannot allow for a moment that the old fathers looked only for transitory promises (see Notes on Deu. 5:16; Deu. 22:7), yet it is impossible not to feel in this prayer of Moses the pressure of the veil which hung over the unseen world before the coming of our Saviour, who brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. Moses evidently did not realise that he might see the works of Jehovah and His glory still more clearly in the other world.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Moses’ Plea To Be Able To Enter The Land ( Deu 3:23-29 ).

But one of the things that grieved Moses most was the fact that through his own sin of impatience, carelessness, petulance and uncontrolled anger in smiting the rock at Meribah when he had been told only to speak the powerful word of Yahweh, and as a result cloaking Yahweh’s act of compassion and mercy in providing water in a garb of petulance and anger (Num 20:1-13), he was to be prevented from entering the land by death.

He and Aaron had come from the presence of Yahweh having successfully been promised His mercy. But instead of approaching the people with joy over God’s provision, and rejoicing over His mercy, he and Aaron had been possessed by a spirit of animosity, anger, petulance and superiority, and even of arrogance, at a time when Yahweh was seeking to reveal love and compassion. They had given the people the impression that he and Aaron were the ones who were in control, and who were dispensing the gift, and not Yahweh, and that Yahweh was reluctant to offer His mercy. They had besmirched the holiness of God (see Deu 32:51). It was a sign that they had grown too big for their own positions. They had become too important in their own eyes. No longer was Moses meeker than any other man on earth (Num 12:3). No longer did he fully represent Yahweh before the people. And God had clearly recognised that this was a permanent defect which now rendered them unsuitable for the next stage in His great deliverance. They would need to be replaced by those who were more submissive, and more obedient. It proved that no one is indispensable.

Those who are appointed to the highest positions in His service should ever be aware that they have the greatest responsibility. They must never treat God’s work as though it were their own. And that is what Moses had done. Great privilege requires great responsibility. And Moses was now reaping the consequences of irresponsibility. He explains how he had sought to reverse God’s sentence, only to be told that it could not be.

We may analyse this passage as follows:

a Moses besought Yahweh ‘at that time’ (Deu 3:23).

b He declared how Yahweh had begun to show him His greatness and ability to do what He would (Deu 3:24).

c He pleaded with Yahweh that he might go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan (Deu 3:25).

d But Yahweh was angry with Moses for their sakes and would not listen (Deu 3:26 a).

d He said, Speak no more to Me of this matter’ (Deu 3:26 b).

c Yahweh commanded Moses to climb to the top of The Pisgah so that he may see the land in all directions, but he would not be allowed to cross the Jordan (Deu 3:27).

b Instead he was to charge Joshua and encourage and strengthen him with his vision of Yahweh for he would go over and cause the people to inherit the land which Moses would see from afar (Deu 3:28).

a So they remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor (Deu 3:29).

Deu 3:23

‘ And I sought the mercy of Yahweh at that time, saying,’

He explains how he had come to Yahweh to plead for mercy and a reversal of the sentence. ‘At that time’ may indicate the same time as he had given his charge to the two and a half tribes about their necessary cooperation in possessing the land, compare ‘at that time’ in verse 18. The one having brought the other to mind. But it probably rather means simply at the time when he did it, whenever that was.

Deu 3:24-25

“ O Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand, for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts? Let me go over, I pray you, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.”

Indeed, he had humbly approached Yahweh exulting in what God was doing, in the greatness that He was revealing, and the strong hand that He was laying bare, demonstrating His superiority and that there was none like Him. There was none on heaven or earth, no spiritual being of any kind, who could do what He could do, and reveal the power that He would reveal (compare Exo 15:11). And he had declared his desire to be a part of it.

He had pleaded that he might be allowed to cross the Jordan and see the ‘good land’ for himself, the goodly hill country and that which was beyond.

“O Lord Yahweh.” He had come in submissiveness recognising God’s sovereignty and great power. See Deu 9:26; Gen 15:2; Gen 15:8.

“That goodly mountain.” The central part of Canaan consisted of the great mountain range that stretched from Galilee down to the Negeb.

“Lebanon.” This indicates the remainder of Canaan stretching northwards. Lebanon, like Gilead, can, depending on usage, indicate a particular part of northern Canaan which includes the valley of Lebanon, or a larger area going northwards, or the land to the north of Canaan. We must not assume that all geographical terms were too precise in those days.

Deu 3:26-27

“ But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and did not listen to me. And Yahweh said to me, “Let it be sufficient for you. Do not speak to me about this matter any more. Get yourself up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.”

But Yahweh had firmly refused. He had been ‘angry’ with Moses, that is an anthropomorphism indicating that He looked on His sin and had a righteous aversion to it. We are probably to see in this that by his action at Meribah Moses was seen as having identified himself with the people in rebellion against Yahweh to such an extent that he had therefore to suffer the same fate if Yahweh was to be just. Yahweh could not judge them and yet let Moses be spared. That would indicate favouritism. Thus Yahweh could not listen to his plea. As far as He was concerned the matter was settled. However He showed His compassion by being prepared to let him see for himself the land for which he had sacrificed so much. He was to go to the top of Pisgah from where he would see it stretching before him. Thus having had a foretaste of the deliverance in the defeat of Sihon and Og, and the taking over of their land, He was to be allowed to see the full land that was to be Israel’s.

Various views are taken of what ‘the Pisgah’ (always with the article) represents, varying from ‘the Pisgah’ as the height above the precipitous slope going down into the Jordan valley, or the ridge at the top of a mountain, to ‘the Pisgah’ as a range of mountains which included Mount Nebo.

Paradoxically Moses probably intended this refusal to allow him to enter the land, while allowing him to see it from afar, to be seen as a further guarantee that the land would be given to Israel as a possession. His alone being forbidden indicating that those who were not forbidden would enter it.

Deu 3:28

“ But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will go over before this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”

However, although he was not to be allowed to enter the land himself, he had still been given a great responsibility. He had been told to charge Joshua with his responsibility, encouraging and strengthening him for the task ahead. For he was the one who would now go over before the people in Moses’ place, and it was he who would cause them to inherit the land which Moses would see from the Pisgah.

Deu 3:29

‘ So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.’

At this point then they remained for a time in the valley over against Beth-peor.

Thus Israel were in many ways given the firm assurance that the land of Canaan would soon be their possession. This had been confirmed by reference to:

1) Three related nations, Edom, Moab, and Ammon, who had already been given land by Yahweh for the sake of their forefathers and had possessed it by defeating Anakim (Deu 2:4-23).

2) The land that they now already possessed which had previously belonged to Amorites, the peoples who had previously driven Israel back and from whom they had to seize the land (Deu 2:24 to Deu 3:17).

3) The rallying of the troops of the two and a half tribes who were to go over with the invaders, with the promise that they would return when the task was completed (Deu 3:18-20).

4) The command to Joshua and the people to go forward without fear because Yahweh fought with them (Deu 3:21-22).

5) Moses being granted the right to see the land from afar as an earnest of what was to come (Deu 3:23-27).

6) The fact that they had as their leader Joshua to whom the promise was given that he would possess the land (Deu 3:28-29). All the signs were good.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

God Raises Up Joshua to Lead Israel into the Promised Land In Deu 3:23-29 Moses explains why he would not pass over the Jordan, and that Israel would be given Joshua as their new leader. Note that Moses represented the Law, which Paul argued in his epistles to the Romans and Galatians was not able to justify someone before God. However, Joshua represents Jesus Christ, who is able to bring us unto rest and salvation (Heb 4:1-10).

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Ver. 23. And I besought the Lord at that time The Samaritan text introduces this petition, &c. in Num 20:13 where, probably, it has been omitted in the Hebrew text for brevity sake, And I implored grace, says Moses; according to the original, I prayed God to pardon me. The chastisements which God denounces against sinners are sometimes no other than threatenings, whose execution repentance prevents, 2Ki 1:6; Jon 3:4; Jon 3:10 and God had granted to the Israelites such amazing success by the ministry of Moses, that this holy man might well presume the Lord would vouchsafe to prolong his days, and give him the consolation of seeing the people happily established in the land of Canaan.

See commentary on Deu 3:29

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 188
MOSES VIEWS CANAAN FROM PISGAH

Deu 3:23-28. And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain and Lebanon! But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

THE character of Moses, in whatever point of view it be considered, is worthy of admiration: his zeal and industry, his patience and meekness, his fidelity and love, were never surpassed by any child of man. As an intercessor for the Lords people, he stands unrivalled. Many were the occasions whereon he prevailed on God to spare that rebellious nation that had been committed to his charge. But behold, this eminent saint, who had so often succeeded in his applications for others, was now refused when praying for himself. And, though it might appear humiliating, and might lower him in the estimation of all future generations, he gives a faithful account of the whole matter, recording both the prayer that he offered, and the answer he received.
The points to which we would call your attention, are,

Gods rejection of the prayer of Moses

Nothing could be more proper than this prayer of Moses
[He requested that he might be permitted to go over Jordan, and see the promised land. It was with a view to the enjoyment of this land that he had laboured incessantly for forty years. He had held up the possession of it as the great inducement to the whole nation to come forth from Egypt, and to endure all the hardships of journeying in the wilderness, and the perils of protracted warfare against the inhabitants of the land. He knew that Canaan was the glory of all lands. And now that the period for the full possession of it was arrived, yea, and God had given them an earnest of it in the subjugation of the kingdoms on the east of Jordan, who can wonder that Moses should be anxious to participate the promised, happiness? The manner in which he sought it was most becoming. He did not complain of the sentence of exclusion that had been passed upon him; but only prayed that it might be reversed. Often had he urged similar petitions for others with success: and therefore he had reason to hope, that he might not plead in vain for himself. He did not certainly know that Gods decree with respect to him differed from the threatenings that had been denounced against others: there might be a secret reserve of mercy in the one case as well as in the other: and therefore he was emboldened to offer his requests, but with a meekness and modesty peculiarly suited to the occasion.]

But God saw fit to reject his petition
[The refusal which God gave him on this occasion was most peremptory. When he had rejected his prayer for the offending nation, be said, Let me alone; and in that very expression intimated the irresistible efficacy of prayer. But on this occasion he forbade him to speak to him any more of that matter: yea, he sware to Moses, that he should not go over Jordan [Note: Deu 4:21.]. In this refusal there was an awful manifestation of the divine displeasure. It was intended as a punishment both for his sin, and for the peoples sin; for God was wroth with him for their sakes, as well as for his own. To him the punishment was great, as being a painful privation, a heavy disappointment: to them also it was a severe rebuke, inasmuch as they were deprived of a loving father, a powerful intercessor, an experienced governor, and under whom they had succeeded hitherto beyond their most sanguine expectations.

We forbear to notice the typical intent of this dispensation, because we have mentioned it in a former part of this history [Note: See Discourse on Num 20:12.]: it is in a practical aspect only that we now consider it; and therefore we confine ourselves to such observations as arise from it in that view.]

This refusal however, though absolute, was not unmixed with kindness: as will appear from considering,

II.

The mercy with which this judgment was tempered

As God in later ages withheld from Paul, and even from his only dear Son, the blessings which they asked, but gave them what was more expedient under their circumstances [Note: 2Co 12:8-9; Luk 22:42-43 with Heb 5:7.], so now, whilst he denied to Moses an entrance into Canaan, he granted to him,

A sight of the whole land

[He commanded Moses to go up on Mount Pisgah to view the land; and from that eminence he shewed him the whole extent of the country from east to west, and from north to south. The sight, we apprehend, was miraculous: because, however great the elevation of the mountain might be, we do not conceive that the places which he saw could be within the visible horizon [Note: Deu 34:1-4.]. However this might be, we have no doubt but that the sight must have been most gratifying to his mind, because it would be regarded as a pledge of Gods fidelity, and a taste at least of those blessings, which Israel was about to enjoy in all their fulness.

But we are persuaded that Moses, notwithstanding he spoke so little about the heavenly world, knew the typical nature of the promised land, and beheld in Canaan a figurative representation of that better kingdom, to which he was about to be translated.]

An assurance that his place should be successfully filled by Joshua

[To him was committed the office of instructing, encouraging, and strengthening Joshua for the arduous work which lay before him. And what could be a richer comfort to an aged minister, than to see that God had already raised up one to occupy his post, and to carry on the work which he had begun ? Methinks, the preparing of Joshuas mind for his high office was a task in which Moses would take peculiar delight: and the certainty of Israels ultimate success would cheer him under the pains of his own personal disappointment.]

The practical observations arising out of this history, will bring the subject home to our own business and bosoms. We learn from it,
1.

To guard against sin

[We might profitably dwell on this thought, if we considered only the exclusion of Moses from the promised land for one single transgression. But as other occasions must arise whereon such an observation may be grounded, we would call your attention rather to the injury which both ministers and people may sustain by means of each others transgressions. Repeatedly does Moses say, God was wroth with me for your sakes: from whence we are assured, that their sins were punished in him. And we know also that his sin was punished in them: they suffered no less by the loss of him, than he did by the loss of Canaan. Such a participation in each others crimes and punishments is common in the world: children are affected by their parents faults; and parents by the faults of their children. In the ministerial relation, this happens as frequently as in any. If a minister seek his own glory instead of Gods, or be remiss in the duties of the closet, his people will suffer as well as he: the ordinances from whence they should derive nutriment will be to them as dry breasts or a miscarrying womb. If the people slight the ministry of a faithful man, what wonder is it if God remove the candlestick from those who will not avail themselves of the light? If, on the other hand, they idolize their minister, and put him, as it were, in the place of God, what wonder is it if God, who is a jealous God, leave him to fall, that they may see the folly of their idolatry; or take him from them, that they may learn where alone their dependence should be? Let the death of Moses, and the bereavement of the Israelites, be a warning to us all; that we provoke not God by our rebellions to withhold from us the blessings we desire, or to inflict upon us the punishments we deserve.]

To submit with humility to afflictive dispensations

[When once Moses was informed of the decided purpose of God, he forbore to ask for any alteration of it; nor did he utter one murmuring or discontented word concerning it. God had bidden him to be satisfied with the mercies which he was about to receive; and he was satisfied with them. Now it may be that God has denied us many things which we could have wished to possess, or taken from us things which we have possessed. But if he have given us grace, and mercy, and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ, what reason can we have to complain? We have prayed to him perhaps under our trials, and they have not been removed; or we have deprecated them, and they have still been inflicted. But God has said to us, Let it suffice thee that I have made thee a partaker of my grace: let it suffice thee that I have given thee prospects of the promised land: let it suffice thee that thou hast a portion in a better world. And shall not these things be sufficient for us, though we be destitute of every thing else ? Shall any of the concerns of time or sense be of much importance in our eyes, when we are so highly privileged, so greatly enriched? Ah! check the first risings of a murmuring thought, all ye who are ready to complain of your afflictions. Think whether you would exchange one Pisgah view of heaven for all that this earth can give: and, if you would not, then think, how richly heaven itself will compensate for all your light and momentary afflictions: and, instead of indulging any anxiety about the things of this world, let the prayer of David be the continual language both of your hearts and lips [Note: Psa 106:4-5.].]

To serve God with increasing activity to the end of life

[The last month of Moses continuance on earth was as fully occupied with the work of God as any month of his life. Though he knew that he must die within a few days, he did not intermit his labours in the least, but rather addressed himself to them with increasing energy and fidelity. This was the effect of very abundant grace: and it was an example but rarely copied. How many towards the close of life, when they know, not from revelation indeed, but from their own feelings, that they must shortly die, become cold in their affections, slothful in their habits, querulous in their tempers, and remiss in their duties! Instead of taking occasion from the shortness of their time, to labour with increased diligence, how many yield to their infirmities, and make their weakness an excuse for wilful indolence! The Lord grant, that no such declensions may take place in any of us; but that rather our last days may he our best days; and that our Lord, finding us both watchful and active, may applaud us as good and faithful servants, prepared and fitted for his heavenly kingdom!]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

As this is a very interesting part in the life of Moses, and as the subject held forth to us in it is highly instructive, I would beg the Reader to pause over it, and remark with me some of the sweet considerations which arise out of it. And first, consider the mercy prayed for. It was to see that good land, which was Canaan, the glory of all lands, as the Prophet called it. Eze 20:6 . But it was not simply the good land of Canaan, considered in respect to its fruitfulness and excellency, but that goodly mountain and Lebanon, which Moses longed to behold. And, if I mistake, not, the reason was this: that goodly mountain was mount Moriah, that memorable spot where Abraham offered up Isaac, and which was to become yet infinitely more memorable in gospel-days, when JESUS, by the one offering of himself, should forever perfect them that are sanctified. That Moses, under the divine illumination of the HOLY GHOST, had such views of salvation, and was perfectly satisfied in all the great leading points of it, no one, I think, can doubt who compares his first vision of JESUS at the bush with what the apostle relates of his faith, under which all his ministry, he expressly tells us, was conducted. It was by faith that he esteemed the reproach of CHRIST greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. It was through faith he kept the passover. And what faith, but faith in the promised and expected Redeemer? Hence the mercy he prayed for was to behold that memorable spot, which should be sacred in after ages to the ministry of the LORD JESUS. Heb 11:26 , etc. But this is not all; for secondly, let us consider the arguments by which he pleaded for the mercy, and they were the LORD’S past blessings, which are no doubt the strongest of all possible reasons to hope in the completion and fulfillment of all that are to come. It is true, the LORD had before threatened that he should not go over. But as the LORD had not sworn to it, as he did in the case of the spies, there appeared to be room for prayer. See the cases of Hezekiah and Jonah, 2Ki 20:1-6 . Jon 3:4 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 3:23-29

23I also pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 24’O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’ 29So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Deu 3:23-29 This is a very personal note from Moses. This is the only place in all the Bible that we have a recorded plea of Moses for himself. In other places he prayed for people or land. This is a glimpse into the heart of Moses, the man.

Deu 3:23

NASB, NKJV,

NJBpleaded

NRSVentreated

TEVearnestly prayed

I earnestly implored (BDB 335, KB 334, Hithpael IMPERFECT, cf. 1Ki 8:33; 1Ki 8:47; 1Ki 8:59; 2Ch 6:37; Job 8:5; Job 9:15; Psa 30:8; Psa 142:1; Hos 12:4) the Lord. Moses was in agony over not being allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Deu 3:24 O Lord God The term for Lord here is the word adonai (BDB 10),which is the Hebrew word for owner, master, husband, or Lord. The word God is the Hebrew word YHWH (BDB 217). He is saying Lord, YHWH. This designation is seldom used in Moses’ writings. This is Moses’ prayer language. See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY .

You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand Moses is pleading that his intimate knowledge of YHWH, His character (see full notes at Deu 4:31; Deu 10:17), His acts should motivate YHWH to let him cross Jordan, but YHWH is no respecter of persons!

for what god is there in heaven or earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours Is this the concept that God is the supreme God among many, called henotheism (e.g., Exo 15:11 and Deu 4:7; Deu 5:7, see The Jewish Study Bible, pp. 379-380)? Does this mean that Moses is not denying the existence of other gods, but that YHWH is the strongest? Or is this monotheism (e.g., Deu 4:35; Deu 4:39; Deu 6:4; Exo 20:2-3; Isa 43:11; Isa 44:6; Isa 44:8; Isa 44:24; Isa 45:5-7; Isa 45:14; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:21-22), one and only one God? We really do not know. I would rather believe that Moses is not referring to other gods, but to other spiritual forces, e.g., sometimes called elohim (cf. Psa 8:5; Psa 82:1; Psa 82:6; 1Sa 28:13).

Deu 3:25 Let me, I pray, cross over and see This phrase has two VERBS:

1. cross over – BDB 716, KB 778, Qal COHORTATIVE

2. see – BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERFECT, but in a COHORTATIVE sense

Deu 3:26 the LORD was angry This is an example of anthropomorphic language (angry BDB 720, KB 780, see Special Topic: God Described As Human [anthropomorphism] ). How can we express God’s being upset without using human terms? We can’t, but we must remember that God is not a human and does not think and act like humans. We use human terms to describe the nature of God knowing that fallen humans can not ultimately describe God.

Moses’ public sin (cf. Deu 32:51; Num 20:10-12; Num 27:12-14) brought public consequences!

on your account See notes at Deu 1:34; Deu 1:37.

Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter Moses has been praying over and over (cf. Num 20:2-13; Num 27:13; Deu 1:37; Deu 3:23-27), I’m sorry, please let me go into the Promised Land. Finally God said, No, don’t ask any more (BDB 414, KB 418, Hiphil JUSSIVE).

Deu 3:27 This verse and Deu 3:28 have a series of commands in response to Moses’ prayer:

1. go up – BDB 748, KB 828, Qal IMPERATIVE

2. lift up – BDB 669, KB 724, Qal IMPERATIVE

3. see BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERATIVE

4. charge – BDB 845, KB 1010, Piel IMPERATIVE

5. encourage – BDB 304, KB 302, Piel IMPERATIVE

6. strengthen – BDB 54, KB 65, Piel IMPERATIVE

God made provision for Moses and for Israel (to empower Joshua, cf. Deu 3:28 b,c).

top of Pisgah See note at Deu 3:17.

lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes This is a perfect example of God’s love and His wrath. I said you cannot go in, but I will let you see it.

for you shall not cross over this Jordan God is not a respecter of persons. Moses was a great man of God, but he publicly disobeyed God and so he suffered the consequences (cf. Job 34:11; Psa 28:4; Psa 62:12; Pro 24:12; Ecc 12:14; Jer 17:10; Jer 32:19; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31-46; Rom 2:6; Rom 14:12; 1Co 3:8; 2Co 5:10; Gal 6:7-10; 2Ti 4:14; 1Pe 1:17; Rev 2:23; Rev 20:12; Rev 22:12).

Deu 3:29 Beth-peor This was literally house/temple of Peor (BDB 112). Peor was a mountain or city in northwest Moab. This was the site of Israel’s idolatry (Ba’al fertility worship, cf. Numbers 22-23). It became the inheritance of Reuben (cf. Jos 13:20).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.

1. What theological knowledge about God do we learn from this account?

2. How do you relate the God of Deu 3:3; Deu 3:6 to the God of the NT?

3. Does Deu 3:24 teach the existence of other gods?

4. How did God show mercy and yet justice to Moses in Deu 3:27?

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Take Heed to Thyself

Deu 3:23-29; Deu 4:1-14

Strong faith was required by the two and a half tribes to leave their wives and children while they went to succor their brethren. But Gods commands and assurances foreclosed all arguments. Whenever we are summoned to special service, we may consign the care of our personal interests to God. Seek first the kingdom, and all other things will be added.

Notice that Moses referred to the wondrous acts of the Exodus as only the beginning of Gods wondrous works, Deu 3:24. Probably in the countless ages of eternity we shall always feel that we are witnessing only the beginning of Gods self-revelation.

Moses, like Paul afterward, tried to reverse the divine decision. Compare Deu 3:23-25 and 2Co 12:8-9. Do not pray against Gods will, but with it, 1Jn 5:14. When God says No, there are always tender compensations, such as this Pisgah-vision.

Israels tenure of Canaan depended on obedience to Gods will, in statutes, including the ordinances of religion, and in judgments relating to civil matters.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

2Co 12:8, 2Co 12:9

Reciprocal: Num 20:12 – ye shall Deu 1:37 – General Deu 10:10 – the Lord hearkened Deu 32:51 – ye trespassed Ecc 3:2 – and a time

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Deu 3:23-24. I besought the Lord We should allow no desire in our hearts, which we cannot in faith offer unto God by prayer. Thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness Lord, perfect what thou hast begun. The more we see of Gods glory in his works, the more we desire to see. And the more affected we are with what we have seen of God, the better we are prepared for further discoveries.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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