Our lesson is called "The Death of Moses," but there is this difference between the death of Moses and that of ordinary men: In general, when we hear of the death of a man we think of his weakness and feebleness; whereas a reference to the death of Moses invariably reminds us of his strength and youthfulness, even in old age. "Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." (Deuteronomy 34:7)
That is a wonderful record, and we may be assured that it was not written as a mere matter of curiosity; there is certainly a lesson in it, which we have been very slow to learn. Let us see if we cannot learn it.
In the first place, Moses was doubtless the most complete type of Christ to be found among the Old Testament characters. So complete was his character that he is the one man to whom Christ, although far greater, is likened. Thus: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all His house." (Hebrews 3:1-2)
Now that which makes anybody active and faithful in God's service is life. The Word works in them that believe: "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
And the active word is living: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
It is life. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life." (1 John 1:1)
It was life,--the life of God,--that is committed to all men, that Moses improved so fully that he was worthy to have Christ likened to him. It is by laying hold of eternal life that we "fight the good fight of faith." (1 Timothy 6:12)
And this is simply to live, for: "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
Life itself is a fight against sin and death. We fight for life, and it is with life that we fight. Christ said: "As the Father has life in himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in himself; and has given Him authority to execute judgment also." (John 5:26)
Why has the Father given to the Son to have life in himself, and authority to execute judgment? "Because He is the Son of man." (John 5:27)
But we are all sons of man, and therefore we know from Christ that the gift which God has graciously bestowed upon all men, to have in themselves, is life. Whosoever will lay hold of it, and keep it, is master of everything, even death itself.
Now what proof have we that Moses had this life, and consciously and understandingly laid hold of it? We have it in the work that he did, in the freshness and youthfulness of his old age, after forty years of the most wearing toil and care that any man ever had, and in these words of the Lord: "Get up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, ... and behold the land of Canaan, ... And die in the mount wither you go up." (Deuteronomy 32:49-50)
Here is a plain intimation that the life of Moses was in his own hands, and that he could keep it or lay it down at his will, even as Christ could, subject always, of course, to the command of God. This is the power that God wishes every man to have.
Moses did not commit suicide, neither did God kill him; yet he died in the full strength of manhood, with no trace of disease upon him. At the command of the Lord, because he had been unfaithful in a single instance, he laid his life down, just as he would compose himself to sleep.
A single failure to acknowledge and honor God before the people, on the part of a man in the position of Moses, meant much more than a failure in duty would on the part of an ordinary person; and for that reason Moses could not be the complete type of Christ, by taking the children of Israel into the promised land. But God's refusal to allow him to do this, and His command to Moses to die, was not an arbitrary punishment; it grew out of the very nature of the case. Moses had broken the connection,--had turned aside the stream of life from its proper channel,--and having denied it once, he was obliged to lay it down. It was but a temporary break; but the people had to learn that it is not a light thing to be out of harmony with God.
But let us from the case of Moses consider a little more closely some of the possibilities of life. God is no respecter of persons, and what He did for Moses we may be sure He will do for any who will use life as faithfully as Moses did. By using it faithfully I do not mean merely what is called "improving the time," but recognizing God's ways, and learning how He lives, so as to know how to conform to the laws of life. "[God] made known His ways unto Moses." (Psalm 103:7)
In the same psalm that tells us this, it tells us to "bless His holy name, ... and forget not all His benefits; Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:1-5)
Note that it is when our mouth is satisfied with good things that our youth is renewed like the eagle's. Thus it was with Moses. Others complained of the simple food that God gave them,--bread from heaven;--but Moses did not. How can people be so blind to the influence of diet upon their life, when they know full well that they live by eating? God told the Israelites in the beginning of their sojourning in the wilderness: "You shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you." (Exodus 23:25)
In Moses this was fulfilled, and so it might have been in all the rest.
Do not misunderstand. The idea is not that the fountain of eternal youth is in eating and drinking. Far from it. But the truth intended to be conveyed is that God, "the Fountain of living waters," (Jeremiah 2:13) with whom is "the Fountain of Life," (Psalm 36:9) is for that very reason the Fountain of the eternal youth, and that by learning His way of living, and adopting it,--living by perfect and intelligent faith in Him,--we can preserve in ourselves the youthfulness of the Ancient of days.
Our food and drink come from God, and are the visible means of the communication of God's life to us, but not the only means. By eating and drinking, as well as doing all of the things, to the glory of God, we not only get fresh life from Him, but we put no obstruction in the way of His life, and so by faith we get the "more abundant" (John 10:10; I am come that they might might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly) life that is greater than all the visible things in the universe. To know God's ways, should be the one study of mankind.
It is not God's design that the lapse of years should bring infirmity and decrepitude. Age gives experience, and an experienced workman is more valuable than a beginner. What master would turn off a faithful workman just as he was completing his apprenticeship, and was most capable of doing the best work? That would not be wisdom; no man's business would prosper if he did that way. Even so God can ill afford to let His servants die. It is expensive business for Him. "Costly in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15)
That is what the text really says.
If we know the possibilities of the life that God has given us, we shall, if we appreciate it, devote ourselves to lay hold of them; but if we do not realize "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1:18) we shall allow ourselves to be overcome, and shall be the prey of disease. It is in our power to do with as we will. God has not only given us service for life, but our service is life; it is the ministration of life. Should not the one who carries life to others be able himself to live by it? Is it reasonable, that the one who ministers life should himself be the prey of death? "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord;" (Psalm 107:43) and, "in His favor [lovingkindness] is life," (Psalm 30:5) "even life for evermore." (Psalm 133:3)--Present Truth, September 11, 1902--Deuteronomy 34:1-12
E.J. Waggoner