JANUARY 21.
"The Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt he gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered." Num. 27 :12, 13.
REFLECTIONS on death can never be unseasonable while we are in a dying world and a dying church, and are conscious that we ourselves are dying creatures.
It is said, God sees no iniquity in his people. But he has threatened to visit their transgressions with a rod. Some tell us that sin never hurts a believer. But it injured David. It degraded Eli. Moses was also severely chastised. He was very dear to God, and could plead great provocation ; but because he rebelled against his commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, he was excluded the land of Canaan and though he was very importunate, he could not obtain a repeal of the trying sentence. Yet in judgment God remembers mercy. He here orders him to die. But the order is attended with three softenings to reconcile him to it.
First, he must die, but he shall previously go up and "see the land which the Lord hath given to the children of Israel." Some might suppose that this would tantalize him, and add to his affliction at the loss. But it was designed as an alleviation, and it was accepted by Moses as a favor. For this purpose his natural sight continued uninjured, and his extent of vision was perhaps also enlarged. Thus, not only was his curiosity gratified, but he saw, with gladness and praise, the goodness and truth of God's promise to his people. He also, in type, saw and hailed the prospect of a better country, even a heavenly, and which he was going to enter. "Oh," say many, apprehensive now of the solemn event,
0h, could we make our doubts remove,
These gloomy doubts that rise,
And view the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes
Could we but climb where Moses
stood,
And view the landscape o'er,
Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore."
And they are generally indulged. And often those have been peculiarly favored, who all their lifetime have been subject to bondage through fear of death.
Secondly, he must die, but this will be " a gathering unto his people." To Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph, and the Israel of God. These he so prized on earth, that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Some had departed that he had known, and numbers that he had not known ; but he was to join them--not in the same grave, for he was buried alone, and no one knows of his sepulchre unto this day--but in heaven ; not as to his body, but as to his soul, which was to be united with the spirits of just men made perfect. The believer expects a family meeting.
Thirdly, he must die, but "only as Aaron his brother was gathered." And are we better than those who have gone before us ? And is there any reason why we should be exempted from their lot? The previous removal of the pious, especially those of our own relation.-. tends to render death more familiar. It comes near enough for us to view it. It enters our very apartments. It also tends to diminish our forebodings and despondency. We have seen that God was better to them than their fears. He was with them in the valley. Their end was peace. They were supported. They were comforted. And we thank God, and take courage. Why should it not be so with us? It also weakens our attachment to life. We have fewer detentions below, and so many more attractions above. Who has not felt the sentiment, "Let us also go away, that we may die with him?" Surely the bitterness of death is past.
I could renounce my all below,
If my Creator bid;
And run, if I were called to go,
And die as Moses did."
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TO REV. WILLIAM JAY'S MORNING EXERCISES