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16. According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Hō'reb in the day of the assembly, saying, 2 Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die

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said that

17. And the LORD said unto me,3 They have well spoken that which they have spoken.

1 Deut. 9: 10.

2 Ex. 20: 19; Heb. 12: 19.

3 Deut. 5: 28.

etc.)." Driver. So Christ was born a despised Nazarene, a carpenter's son, and in a stable; and his apostles were men of the people. Like unto me. Both the prophets and Christ were like Moses in showing God to men, being intermediaries between men and God; but this was in very different degrees. As it is expressly declared in Deut. 34: 10, "There hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom God knew face to face." Of no one but Christ could that be said. "As the crown and embodiment of all that the prophets had aspired to be, the Messiah alone completely fulfilled this promise." Prof. Andrew Harper. See Peter's application of this passage to Christ in his sermon in Solomon's Porch (Acts 3: 22, 23), and Stephen's use of it just before his martyrdom (Acts 7: 37), while Christ himself probably had this passage in mind when he said (John 5: 46), "Moses ... wrote of me," and the people, when they asked of John the Baptist (John 1: 21), "Art thou that Prophet?" and later applied the term to Christ (John 6: 14).

"Moses, the meek man of God,

A type of Christ was seen,
Head of faithful Israel stood,

And guide of sinful men.

"Israel he from Egypt led,

But must to Jesus yield;
Jesus, like his brethren made,
His brethren far excelled.

-John and Charles Wesley.

MOSES AND CHRIST. They were like, in that (1) each laid down a system of religious law; (2) each wrought great miracles; (3) each represented God to men; (4) each was honored by the miraculously manifested approval and authority of God; (5) each was an intercessor with God for his people; (6) each was rejected and opposed by his people; (7) the life of each ended in apparent failure; (8) each passed from earth in an unusual way. There are many other points of likeness, and the passover and tabernacle are wonderful foregleams of the Saviour.

But they were different, in that "the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1: 17), that is, Moses showed the sterner, Christ the most loving, aspect of God. The Ten Commandments begin with "Thou shalt not," but the Sermon on the Mount begins with "Blessed." Moses' first miracle changed water into blood, Christ's first miracle changed water into wine. Moses represents God as a judge; Christ, as a Father. Moses declared the terrors of sin, but Christ saved from sin. Moses used for sacrifice the blood of beasts, but Christ offered up himself. Moses taught one nation alone, but Christ teaches the world. Moses sinned, but Christ was sinless. In short, Moses was a mere man, though perhaps the greatest, but Christ is God.

LIBRARY. Discussion of this passage by Espin in The Bible Commentary (Scribners). J. H. Newman's Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. 7. Poem, "Moses and Christ," by John and Charles Wesley.

Unto him ye shall hearken, while the Canaanites (v. 14) harken to their sorcerers. The Hebrews often rejected their prophets (see Stephen's fearful indictment, Acts 7: 51-53), and finally rejected Christ; but let us never forget that it was Jews that first accepted Christ, wrote the New Testament, organized the church, became its missionaries, and sealed their devotion with their blood.

16. According to all that thou desiredst, at Horeb (Sinai), when the people, terrified by the lightnings, the noise of the trumpets, the thundering and smoking mount, cried, "Speak thou with us; but let not God speak with us, lest we die " (Ex. 20: 18-21; also Deut. 5: 23-31). In the day of the assembly. A frequently used term, applied to this greatest of all their assemblies (Deut. 9: 10; 10: 4).

PRACTICAL. God has a perfect memory for the prayers of his people, and even for their unworded desires. No mother was ever so eager to anticipate the wants of her babe. If God does not answer our prayers, it is not because he forgets, it is because he loves.

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18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and 2 will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

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19. And it shall come to pass, that that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

IV. 15; John 1: 45; Acts 3: 22.
2 Isa. 51: 16; John 17: 8.

3 John 4: 25.
4 Acts 3: 23.

18. And will put my words in his mouth. This, as Prof. Andrew Harper says, "is a provision for religious progress such as had no parallel elsewhere in the world.” Moses was not conceived as having given the final word; God had more truth yet to reveal. Other religions have professed to lay down, once for all, a complete body of truth; but the religion of the Hebrews was a growth, a thing of life.

Especially are these words true, however, of Christ, who himself said, "The words that speak unto you speak not of myself" (John 14: 10). He was tempted as we are, but none of the frailties of mortality affected his teachings. When we study them, we are studying the words of God.

All that I shall command him. See Ex. 7: 2; Jer. 1: 7, 17. Therefore the religious mysteries Christ disclosed but left unexplained, such as the reason why sin is permitted, the precise method of inspiration, the exact nature of the Trinity and mode of the atonement, the reconciliation of foreordination and free will, we may be sure God does not think it necessary for us to know.

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IV. Punishment for Disobedience. V. 19. Whosoever will not hearken. A hearer was as necessary as a prophet. Indeed, it is an old puzzle to inquire, "Would there be sound, if there were no ears ?" Our responsibility for good listening is as great as the preacher's for good sermons. Moreover, right listening does not stop with hearing, but goes on to doing; "hearken" includes obedience. I will require it of him. That is, punish him for his disobedience. See the use of the phrase in Psa. 10: 13. ILLUSTRATIONS. Obedience is the test of hearing.

'It

Is the sermon done?' was asked of one who returned from church sooner than usual. No, not yet,' was the answer. is preached, but it still remains to be done.'" - G. S. Bowes.

Joseph Parker says that "to have been near a great teacher is to have been close to an open gate, the entrance of which would have brought one into a kind of paradise." No one can scorn a wise man's words, still less the words of the Bible, and remain as good as he was before.

It would be an unkind teacher that did not keep strict account of his scholars' infraction of the rules, and an unwise parent that did not remember his child's disobedience. God shows his love for us in his punishments quite as much as in his mercy. V. Distinguishing False Teachers. - Vs. 20-22.

If all this was to be done by the prophets, it was of supreme importance to be able to recognize them, and separate them from mere pretenders. Christ himself, when he came, saw that false Christs would arise, and warned his disciples against them (Matt. 24: 5, 11). The test laid down in the remainder of this chapter is the actual occurrence of what has been prophesied. All prophets' utterances were for the immediate present; they were words of illumination lighting up perplexities, words of encouragement, rebuke, exhortation, reminder. But they also had always an element of disclosure, pointing out the future, and this furnished the surest and most reasonable test of their truth. If their predictions proved genuine, they were to be honored as God's prophets; if false, they were to be put to death, since they had blasphemously pretended to speak for Jehovah. There is, of course, the exception noted in Deut. 13: 1-5, where a prophet that calls men to false gods is to be put to death, even if his prophecy chances to hit the truth.

ILLUSTRATIONS. Edersheim cites the conduct of Jeremiah with reference to the false prophet Hananiah (Jer. 28: 1-17) as a good illustration of the way the prophets themselves made use of this test. (See also the story of Micaiah and the false prophets, I Kings 22.)

The New Testament test of false teaching is given in 1 John 4: 1-3: "Prove the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. . Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” The acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the divine Saviour of the world is the fundamental

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test to be applied to all would-be teachers of men. If they have not the insight to see this or the honesty to acknowledge it, they are unfit to lead others.

Now that Christ has given us the test of his perfect revelation, is the Old Testament test, the appeal to the future, still to be applied? Yes, when the doubtful teaching is set forth in avowed allegiance to Christ. Then, if it is not inconsistent with Christ's teachings, we are simply to judge it by its fruits. Does the new teaching give the happiness, power, and wise guidance that it promises? This test, with charity and large-mindedness yet with practical shrewdness, is to be applied to the many innovations in church life, the new societies, novel church methods, and fresh interpretations of the Scripture. If after this trial they have not proved themselves by their fruits, put them away; unless, as is more likely, they have quietly put themselves away without your trouble.

LIBRARY. F. D. Maurice's sermon on "The Test of Prophecy," in The Patriarchs and Law-Givers of the Old Testament (Macmillan).

LESSON XI. - September 14.

LOVING AND OBEYING GOD.

Deuteronomy 30: 11-20.

GOLDEN TEXT. - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. I JOHN 5: 3.

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II. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.

hidden from

I Isa. 45: 19.

The Hebrews were near the end of their long schooling in the desert. Moses had almost completed the baccalaureate address of the great commencement week. After the rehearsal of the laws, he closed (Deut. 27) with the command that when the nation reached Canaan the laws should be inscribed in plaster on stone tablets, and with the recital, in a sublime passage (Deut. 28), of the blessings that would attend obedience to the law and the curses that would follow disobedience. Then, as if lingering lovingly with his people, the aged leader added still further words of warning and encouragement, and at length closed with the matchless exhortation to faithfulness that forms our lesson.

I. Faithfulness is Possible. The Law in the Heart. - Vs. 11-14. II. For. Why does the lesson begin with For? Moses had just prophesied (vs. 1-10) that the Israelites would in the future become so disobedient to God that their enemies would triumph and they themselves be taken into exile. But in their exile they would remember God's commands and turn again to the Lord; he would restore them to their own land again, and they would enter upon a new life of obedience there. "For," Moses goes on to say, "this obedience is possible; the commandment is not too hard for you." This commandment. Moses was not referring to the vast and complete series of laws he had been rehearsing. Had he intended those, he would have used some such phrase as in v. 10, "His commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law." What the great law-giver insists on as the one essential commandment is the precept laid down in vs. 6, 10, 16, and 20, namely, love to God. "It is the central command of love to God, without which all external obedience is vain, which is the theme of this last great paragraph." - Andrew Harper. Which I command thee this day. The commandment was God's, though spoken through the lips of Moses. It was as far beyond the powers of Moses to discover the world of divine truth which his writings disclosed to men as to discover, in that age without a telescope, an eighth-magnitude star. It is not hidden from thee (R. V. "too hard for thee "). Moses would avoid confusing and discouraging the people with the multiplicity of laws he had laid down, so he condensed them all to one, "Love God." That, he said, is not too hard to remember or too difficult to do.

ILLUSTRATION. The commandment was not too hard, yet it was hard. Christ's yoke is easy, his burden is light, but

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it is a yoke, a burden. If a trainer in athletics should prescribe exercises that were perfectly easy, there would be no strengthening of the muscles. He gives exercises that are hard, but not too hard, and the young athlete practises them till they become easy.

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From a Photograph by Wilson.

Dead Sea, looking towards Moab.

12. 1It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to that we may hear it, that we may and do it? 13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to that we may hear it, that we may and do it? 14. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

1 Rom. 10: 6.

given in the grove of Dodona, the cave of Trophonius, the temple of Delphi, and the oasis of Ammon."-Wolfendale.

PRACTICAL. The religious life of many is dead because they think of God as far off, up in the skies, and forget that he is by their side, reading their thoughts, hearing their words, ready to talk with them and help them carry their burdens. "Practise the presence

of God!" cried old Jeremy Taylor. Realize the great truth of God's omnipresence, and you will be ashamed to live unworthy lives.

12. It is not in heaven. It is not a spiritual mystery, far above comprehension, and needing some messenger from the heavens to explain it, "and make us to hear it " (K. V.). Many are waiting for just such an experience of religion, one that will sweep them into the kingdom of God by sheer force, through the commanding intellect of some great preacher or the excitement of some marvelous manifestation. But the kingdom cometh not with observation. It comes quietly, as leaven works in the meal.

13. Neither is it beyond the sea. The Mediterranean. In those days, extensive travel was a most important means of obtaining learning. The true religion does not need travelers, to bring it from foreign countries.

14. But the word is very nigh unto thee. "It has been brought so near to thee -viz., by prophets and other teachers, and especially in the discourses of Deuteronomy that thou canst talk of it familiarly with thy lips (Deut. 6: 7; 11: 19) and meditate upon it in thy heart (Deut. 6: 6; 11: 18).”— Driver. "This doctrine of a God nigh to them, a God of the heart, an ever-living Teacher, was the soul of Jewish education, as it was the soul of Jewish history." -Maurice. It is the substance of what God was teaching them in his wilderness training school. It is the "kingdom of God within," which Christ preached (Luke 17: 21). It is blessedly different from the conception of distant gods, off on some high Olympus, as heathen religions fancy.

Closer is the Lord's protection than a near investing wall;
Closer than a moat around me, closer than a tower tall;
Closer than a suit of armor, or my flesh and soul can be ;
For against my own assailing his protection keepeth me!
-Amos R. Wells.

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In thy mouth. God's word must be on our lips as well as in our hearts. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth . and believe in thy heart . . . thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10: 9). Here and in Romans the spoken confession is named before the faith in the heart, even though faith is fundamental, because the expression of our faith is the visible and conspicuous evidence before the world.

ILLUSTRATION. "The gospel believed is a fountain in the heart; the gospel confessed is the streams through the mouth."- - Robinson.

And in thy heart.

"In the heart and not in the mouth is cowardice; in the mouth and not in the heart is hypocrisy." Robinson. "The word could not possibly be nigher than in thy mouth and in thy heart.' We need not move a muscle to get it. There is no need of either hands or feet." - C. H. Mackintosh. Heathen religions are impressed on the worshiper from without, and the assent of his heart and mind is not even asked. Our religion alone appeals to man's soul to testify to its truth. "For an Oriental of the preChristian era," says Harper, "such teaching is most marvelous.” That thou mayest

do it. God's law is not impracticable. It can be done, and therefore it must be done. To know it is not enough.

ILLUSTRATION. A locomotive may run down-hill without any fire in its boiler or smoke issuing from its smoke-stack, but when it meets the up-grades the fire must glow and the smoke-cloud rise or there is no progress. So as to God's commandment, "that thou mayest do it," there is need of faith in the heart and testimony on the tongue.

PAUL'S APPLICATION of this passage to Christianity, as found in Rom. 10: 4-10, is most important. Paul argues: "Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?

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