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From Eternity Past
the desert with the flocks of Jethro, the appearance of the Angel in the
burning bush, and his call to deliver Israel. Again he beheld the mighty
miracles of God’s power displayed in behalf of the chosen people,
and His long-suffering mercy during the years of their wandering and
rebellion. Only two of all the adults in the vast army that left Egypt
had been found so faithful that they could enter the Promised Land.
His life of trial and sacrifice seemed to have been almost in vain.
Yet he knew that his mission and work were of God’s appointing.
When first called to lead Israel from bondage, he shrank from the
responsibility, but he had not cast aside the burden. Even when the
Lord had proposed to release him and destroy rebellious Israel, Moses
could not consent. He had enjoyed special tokens of God’s favor; he
had obtained a rich experience during the sojourn in the wilderness
in the communion of His love. He felt he had made a wise decision
in choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
As he looked back upon his experience, one wrong act marred the
record. If that transgression could be blotted out, he felt that he would
not shrink from death. He was assured that repentance and faith in
the promised Sacrifice were all that God required, and again Moses
confessed his sin and implored pardon in the name of Jesus.
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Now a panoramic view of the Land of Promise was presented to
him, not faint and uncertain in the dim distance, but standing clear,
distinct, and beautiful to his delighted vision. In this scene it was
presented not as it then appeared, but as it would become, with God’s
blessing. There were mountains clothed with cedars, hills gray with
olives and fragrant with the odor of the vine, wide green plains bright
with flowers and rich in fruitfulness, palm trees, waving fields of
wheat and barley, sunny valleys musical with the ripple of brooks and
the song of birds, goodly cities and fair gardens, lakes rich in “the
abundance of the seas,” grazing flocks upon the hillsides, and even
amid the rocks the wild bees’ hoarded treasures. It was indeed such a
land as Moses, inspired by the Spirit of God, had described to Israel.
Moses Has Preview of Israel’s History
Moses saw the chosen people in Canaan, each of the tribes in its
own possession. He had a view of their history—the long, sad story of