Death and Character of Moses

Deuteronomy 34
The day approached when Moses must die. The people for whom
he had so long cared, and whom he had so anxiously led, were
now ready to enter the promised land; but he was forbidden to go
in with them. His work was done; his great task was
accomplished; and it only remained for him to render up his life.
Yet it was fit that before this venerable servant of God laid down
his charge, he should see that part of it which could be
transmitted, deposited in proper hands, that he might die in the
comfortable assurance, that the great work he had undertaken
might be vigorously prosecuted after his decease. Ever since the
fatal day of Meribah, the prophet knew that he was doomed to
die, without setting the sole of his foot upon the land which was to
form the heritage of his people. But now he receives a distinct
intimation, as his brother had before, that the appointed time was
come, and like him, he is directed to ascend the neighboring
mountain, there to render up his life. Observe well how he
receives this intimation. What is the foremost thought in his mind?
Nothing that concerns himselfno regret of his own; all his
thought is for the welfare of the peopleLet Jehovah, the God of
the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may
go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who
may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the
congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no
shepherd. Here is the same loftiness of spirit, rising above every
thought of selfthe same zeal for the honor of Godthe same
devoted concern for the welfare of the people, which had hitherto
marked his whole career. We may wade through folios of history
and biography, narrating the mighty deeds of warriors, statesmen,
and professed patriots, before we find another case equal to it in
interest. Note: Smiths Sacred Annals, i. 104.
The suit of Moses was heard; and Joshua, who had already had
opportunities of distinguishing himself by his faithfulness and his
courage, was directed to be solemnly inaugurated at the
tabernacle as the future leader of the Hebrew host. Nothing then
remained for Moses to do, but to pour out his heart before the
people in lofty odes and eloquent blessings. Then he retired to the
appointed mountain, that he might, before his death, survey the
goodly land in which the people were to establish that noble
commonwealth which he had so laboriously organized.
This was the only privilege allowed him, when, in the most
touching language, he had, at the time his sentence was first
pronounced, deplored this exclusion from the consummation of
his hopes: I pray thee let me go over and see the good land that
is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
Deu_3:25. Who can tell the eagerness of the glance which he
now threw westward, and southward, and northward, over the
magnificent country that opened to his view. Following with his
eye the course of the Jordan upon his right hand, he beheld the
hills of Gilead, and the rich fields of northern Canaan shut in,
upon the remote distance, by the dim and shadowy Lebanon.
Upon his left, below where the Jordan is lost in the Dead Sea, the
vast and varied territory, afterwards Judah, detained his view,
until it was lost in the haze of the southward deserts. At, his feet,
upon the other side of the Jordan, he beheld Jericho amid its
palm trees; and, traversing the hills and plains of Benjamin and
Ephraim. his undimmed eye Note: His eye was not dim, nor his
natural force abated. might, perhaps, discover the utmost limit
formed by the clouds which rise from the waters of the
Mediterranean Sea. Upon this scene his eye closed, and in the
recesses of the mountain, out of the sight of the host, in a hollow
of the hilly region, where he died, his corpse was deposited. Had
the spot been known, it would, without question, have become
first the goal of pious pilgrimages, and then, perhaps, by the
apotheosis of one so venerated, a scene of idolatrous worship. It
is in harmony with the, self-renouncing spirit which his whole life
displayed, that means were taken to prevent the place of his last
rest from being visited by the coming generations, which would
have such good cause to revere and bless his name.
Here we leave him. But we quit with reluctance the man whose
career and character, as connected with, and developed in, a
large and important part of Scripture, have engaged so much of
our attention. The various incidents which have passed under our
notice, and the principles of action we have had occasion to
examine, leave us but little need to expatiate upon the character
of one whom all must regard as the greatest of woman bornwith
the exception of One only, and that One more than man. As the
mind tries, however, to rest, as it were unconsciously, upon the
prominent points of the character which his career evinces, and
which we discover in most other men, we find ourselves
unexpectedly baffled. All the great men of sacred as well as of
profane history, possessed some prominent virtue or quality,
which stood out in bolder relief than their other perfections. We
think of the faith of Abraham, of the conscientiousness of Joseph,
of the contrition of David, of the generosity of Jonathan, of the
zeal of Elijahbut what do we regard as the dominant quality of
Moses? It is not to be found. The mind is perplexed in the attempt
to fix on any. It is not firmness, it is not perseverance, it is not
disinterestedness, it is not patriotism, it is not confidence in God, it
is not meekness, it is not humility, it is not forgetfulness of self. It
is not any one of these. It is all of them, His virtues, his graces,
were all equal to each other; and it was their beautifully
harmonious operation and development which constituted his
noble and all but perfect character. This was the greatness of
Mosesthis was the glory of his character. It is a kind of
character rare in any manand in no man, historically known,
has it been so completely manifested. The exigencies of even
those great affairs which engaged his thought did not, and could
not, call forth on any one occasion, all the high qualities with
which he was gifted. It is rarely possible to see more than one
high endowment in action at the same time. But we find Moses
equal to every occasionhe is never lacking in the virtue which
the occasion requires him to exercise; and by this we know that
he possessed them all. When we reflect that Moses possessed all
the learning of his age, and that he wanted none of the talents
which constitute human greatnesswhile we know that such
endowments are not invariably accompanied by high character
and noble sentimentswe honor his humility more than his
gloryand above all, venerate that Divine Wisdom which raised
up this extraordinary man, and called him forth at the moment
when the world had need of him.