Men of the Mountains & Valleys
Gospel Folio Press
Grand Rapids MI
Copyright 1992
Part One: Introduction
The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest, at 29,028 feet, a peak of the Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and Tibet. The expedition which first reached its summit in 1953 was the eighth to make the attempt. The leader was Col. John Hunt of Great Britain. After careful planning and incredible hardships and dangers, two gallant members of the expedition, Edmund P. Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper, and Tenzing Norway, a Sherpa guide and veteran mountaineer, stood on the summit of the world. It was 11:30 am on May 29, 1953. Hillary described his feelings:
“My initial feelings were of relief—relief that there were no more steps to cut, no more ridges, and no more humps to tantalize us with hopes of success. I looked at Tenzing and in spite of his balaclava, goggles, and oxygen mask all encrusted with long icicles that concealed his face, there was no disguising his infectious grin of pure delight as he looked all around him. The ridge had taken us two and a half hours, but it seemed like a lifetime. I turned off the oxygen and removed my set I had carried my camera loaded with color film inside my shirt to keep it warm, so I now produced it and got Tenzing to pose on top for me, waving his axe on which was a string of flags—United Nations, British, Nepalese and Indian. Then I turned my attention to the great stretch of country lying below me in every direction.
To the East was our giant neighbor Makalu, unexplored and unclimbed, and even on top of Everest the mountaineering instinct was sufficiently strong to spend some moments conjecturing as to whether a route up that mountain might not exist. Far away across the clouds, the great bulk of Kangchenjunga loomed on the horizon. To the west, Cho Oyu, our old adversary of 1952 dominated the scene, and we could see the great, unexplored ranges of Nepal stretching off into the distance.”
The Encyclopedia Britanica, in its article on Everest, asks the question, “Why do men climb mountains?” and suggests an answer given by Rudyard Kipling:
Something hidden, go and find it,
Go and look behind the Ranges,
Something lost behind the Ranges,
last and waiting for you, Go!
But the Bible has the real answer. It has a lot to say about mountains and the men associated with them. It is important to recognize that every mountain has a corresponding valley. The one balances the other. Life is like that—it has its tips and downs. It may be true to say that in the life of every true Christian there is a mountaintop experience. It may be short, but it is very precious and is never forgotten. Very few, if any, of God’s men are on the mountain all the time. God is not only the God of the mountaintop but of the valley as well (see 1 Kings 20:28). This little volume is an attempt to outline some of the great men of Holy Scripture and their experiences on the mountain and in the valley. Associated with this are many great truths that have relevance for the present day.
In Scripture, the mountaintop is a place of revelation, a lonely place, a dangerous place, often covered with eternal snow and rarified air. It is no place for weaklings or cowards.
In the Old Testament there are six outstanding men associated with a mountain. They are: Noah and Mount Ararat (Gen. 6-9); Abraham and Mount Moriah (Gen. 22; 2 Chron. 3); Moses and Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-40); Caleb and Mount Hebron (Josh. 14; Jud. 1:10-15); David and Mount Zion (2 Sam. 5:6-10); Elijah and Mount Carmel (1 Ki. 18).
The first book in the New Testament, Matthew, records seven scenes of Christ on a mountain at critical points in His earthly ministry, with important teaching connected with each one. These are: the Mount of Temptation (Matt. 4:1-11); the Mount of Teaching (chs. 5-7); the Mount of Intercession (ch. 14:23-33); the Mount of Transfiguration (ch. 17:1-9); the Mount of Olives—His Coming (chs. 24-25); and Mount Calvary—His Crucifixion (ch. 27); the Mountain in Galilee—His Commission (ch. 28:16-20).
The last book in the New Testament, Revelation, ends with the last survivor of the Apostolic witnesses, the venerable John, being carried away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain to see the great city, the Holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. It is the peak, the culminating point of mountaintop experiences in the Bible.
Noah & Mount Ararat
The Age Before the Flood
From Adam to the Flood was a period of approximately 1600 years. Man had been commanded to multiply, to subdue the earth and have dominion over every living thing (Gen. 1:28). Alas, sin intervened and as a result of the Fall, the original mandate for dominion was lost. But in spite of this, there must have been a considerable population increase (Gen. 6:1).
Genesis 4 and 5 describe two distinct kinds of people and life-styles that are traced to the seventh generation. Genesis 4 describes “The way of Cain” (Jude 11). It commences with a murder and reaches its climax in a song or ditty boasting of another murder. Lamech, its author, is the first recorded polygamist. Marriage, instituted by God, and the principles concerning it were arrogantly ignored. The Cainite civilization was characterized by urban development, cattle ranching, musical entertainment, and heavy industry (vv. 17-22). Cain, like Judas many centuries later, went out from the presence of the Lord (v. 16), and is the prototype of apostasy and departure from God.
On the other hand, chapter 5 traces the line of godly Seth, characterized by faith, and reaches its climax in the seventh generation in another Lamech, the father of Noah. Two names are prominent in the line of Seth, those of Enoch and Methuselah. Enoch walked with God, pleased God, and was translated by God before judgment fell. Methuselah lived longer than any other—969 years. His name means: “When he is dead, it shall be sent.” When he died, the flood came. Enoch must have been divinely inspired in naming his son.
Chapter 6 gives a graphic account of the condition of mankind in the period immediately before the Flood. That age commenced with a satanic attack in the Garden of Eden, with the Fall and its dreadful consequences. It ends with another diabolical attack with equally devastating results.
There are a number of allusions in the Bible to the spiritual character of this period. In Job 22:15-17, we read: “Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overthrown with a flood; which said unto God, Depart from us; and what can the Almighty do for them!”
Our Lord said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as the days that were before the Flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). Yet through it all, God had a competent testimony. Adam lived 930 years into the period and must have had a tremendous influence on his progeny. Then there was the influence of Abel’s sacrifice, the prophecies of Enoch (Jude 14-15); Noah, the preacher of righteousness, and above all the convicting power of the Spirit of God (Gen. 6:3).
What were the reasons for the terrible judgment of the Flood when a whole generation of mankind was wiped out, except for one family, and the earth itself subjected to the greatest cataclysm (Peter’s word, 2 Pet. 2:5) since creation? There never has been anything like it since.
There are two interpretations to the liason between the sons of God and the daughters of men (Gen. 6:2):
1. The breakdown of separation between the line of Seth and the ungodly progeny of Cain. Both lines were destroyed at the Flood. Only godly Noah and his family were spared.
2. A satanic attack on the human race. The sons of God (see Gen. 6:1-2; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6-7) are said to be fallen angels who left their first estate, invaded the human race, and who had intercourse with women. The result was the Nephelim, translated giants or fallen ones. There are difficulties with the meaning of the passage by both interpretations, but there does not seem to be any doubt that Satan was the instigator of the deplorable and desperate conditions that resulted in the judgment of God. It was his second, but not his last attack on the seed of the woman.
Noah the Preacher of Righteousness
Genesis 6 describes how the wickedness of man in both lines of descent came to a head. It could be summarized in four words: mind, murder, marriage, and morals. The chapter gives God’s diagnosis of the situation and His decision: “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.” There was a period of grace of 120 years when God’s patience waited. Then God’s man is introduced. There are six character references of Noah. He found grace (the first reference to this great word in Scripture) in the eyes of the Lord (v. 8). He was just, perfect in his generations and, like Enoch, he walked with God (Heb. 11:7), which tells us that he was a man of faith. In the darkest hour of human history, God always has a man. He was warned by God of things not seen as yet. It is probable that he had never seen rain or a flood (Gen. 2:5-6). God’s revelation of a coming catastrophic judgment caused him to be moved with fear. Fear is a healthy, normal feeling. The bravest men are those who act in spite of their fear. He acted in faith and in response to God’s oracular warning.
When Noah was building and preaching, it was not so much what he said, but what he did that proclaimed the coming judgment. Every blow of the axe and every nail or dowel lie drove home was a sermon. There would be smart witticisms from the onlookers and those that passed by. Practical men would think Mm a fool. But he went on hammering; he did not seem such a fool when water was to the knees of the jesters, and their sarcasms faded away as they drowned.
He Prepared an Ark to the Saving of His House
The ark is a graphic picture of Christ as the only means of salvation, God was the designer and Noah the builder. It was made of gopher wood, probably cypress, an incorruptible wood. Taking the cubit as 18 inches, the dimensions were 450 feet long, 45 feet high, with a beam of 75 feet. The measurements represent the basic proportions in modern ship construction. Probably it did not have a pointed bow and a cruiser stem like a modern ocean liner. Likely it was a huge barge with a flat bottom, made for floating and not for speed and practically impossible to capsize, “The word for “ark” is not the same as the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25T0) but is the word used for the ark of bulrushes (Ex. 2:3). It had to withstand tidal waves, wind, and the greatest storm the world had ever seen. There were four main items in the plans.
1. It was covered inside and outside with pitch. The word for “pitch” is caphar. It is the same word as “atonement” in Leviticus 17:11. The hull was completely covered, making it practically watertight.
2. It had a door in the side. No measurement is given. It had to be large enough to admit the huge elephant and the smallest rodent. There was only one door and the Lord had charge of it. It was the Lord who gave the invitation to enter and it was the Lord who shut the door (Gen. 7:1, 16).
3. There were three rooms or stories or decks, literally “nests.” There is speculation about where the living quarters for Noah and his family and the animals were located, as well as where the considerable amount of food was stowed. Noah’s family would naturally be on the upper deck as the window was there. The animals must have been divinely brought to the ark. It is well-known that wild beasts and domestic animals can sense a coming storm and look for shelter. But here it was God who directed the operation.
4. There was a window. “In a cubit thou shalt finish it above.” The word window is literally an opening for light and ventilation. The phraseology is difficult. Most authorities understand that this window was to consist of an opening a cubit high extending all around the ark’s circumference, near the roof. Presumably there was also an overhanging parapet provided to keep out the rain and floodwater. God had charge of the door, but Noah of the window. The door would speak of safety, salvation, and security; the window of worship and communion.
“As far as we know, there was no sail, no mast, and no rudder, only God—and that was enough” (Griffith Thomas).
The Flood
The universal flood was the greatest natural disaster since creation of our planet. Peter calls it a “kataklusmos” (overflowed, 2 Pet. 3:6). Noah had preached and toiled for 120 years. Then there were seven days of calm before the storm came. God gave the command: “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” There was only a step to safety (Rev. 22:17). The Lord was inside. So to speak, He said, “Come and stay beside Me.” The Lord shut him in (7:16).
Two terms describe the commencement of the Flood. “The fountains of the great deep were broken up,” and “the windows of heaven were opened.” It came from beneath and above. One would indicate volcanic action and the other the collapse of the vapor canopy that surrounded the earth. Few things are more terrifying than the combined force of wind and water. It lasted for forty days and nights, a typical period. “Every living thing in whose nostrils was the breath of life died” (7:22). The tops of the highest hills were covered. If language means anything, especially the language of Holy Scripture, the Flood was universal. Morris and Whitcomb, in their book, “The Genesis Flood,” give ten reasons for believing that it covered the whole globe. Seashells on the highest mountains, and the traditions of primitive people in every part of the world testify to this fact.
Five categories of living creatures are mentioned as having perished: fowl, cattle, beasts, creeping things, and men. All that was on the dry land died. Fossils buried in the sedimentary rocks are a silent testimony to the awful judgment. The surface of the earth, and its climate, were drastically altered. The evidence of coal in the frozen Arctic, the hundreds of thousands of tropical mammoths suddenly engulfed with food in their mouths in Siberia and Alaska, the bones and remains of animals trapped in the caves of France and in the crevices of the Rock of Gibraltar all bear witness. Deserts in Africa, China and Australia that were once fertile, all show-that the earth of today is different from what it was before the Flood. After the first forty days, the waters prevailed another 150 days (7:18, 24). No other biblical event is so comprehensively dated by God as is the Hood. There are repeated references to days and months and years. There are eighteen notations in all. It would appear that Noah kept a diary, noting day by day the events of the monumental catastrophe. Altogether, it covered a period of a full year of 365 days.
Mount Ararat
Mount Ararat is an extinct volcano. It stands in Turkish territory overlooking the point where the frontiers of Turkey, Iran, and Soviet Armenia converge. There are two peaks, Great and little Ararat, separated by a saddle. The dome of the former is 16,945 feet above sea level. Its heights are in the zone of perpetual snow. It is the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Local legend maintains that the remains of the ark were long visible on the mountain. The Armenians believed that God forbade anyone from reaching the top of Mount Ararat and viewing the remains of the ark. But in September, 1829, Von Parrot, a German in Russian service made the first successful ascent of the mountain. In recent times, a number of attempts have been made to find the ark, but so far with no convincing success.
The name “Ararat” is said to mean “the curse reversed” (J. B. Jackson), or “holy ground” (F. W. Grant). Genesis 8:4 tells us “the ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” It is significant that the Lord rose from the dead on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Nisan). For the ark and its occupants, it was a resurrection day and a day of rest. Noah’s name means “rest.” They had been brought safely through the stormy waters of judgment to a place of rest on resurrection ground. Peter uses it as an illustration of the meaning of believer’s baptism (1 Pet 3:20-22). But before the door was opened and they set foot on a cleansed and renewed earth, there was a prolonged waiting period in which there was the important typical incident of the sending forth of the raven and the dove. Noah opened the window (8:6) and released both birds. But the raven never came back. It went to and fro and apparently was perfectly happy among the debris of judgment and dead bodies of those who had been swept into eternity. But the dove “had no rest for the sole of her foot” and came back to the place of rest in the ark. After a period of seven days, it was sent out again and returned with an olive leaf in its mouth, plucked off a living tree—visible evidence that life had arisen from a dead and devastated world. When the dove was sent forth the third time, she did not return, but it is not said that she had found rest for the sole of her foot. Obviously she had found some place to perch, but the statement is omitted. The typical significance comes to light in Matthew 3:16. When our Lord arose from the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit in bodily form as a dove came and abode upon Him. Here at last the Heavenly Dove has a place where the sole of its feet can rest.
The raven and the dove in the ark are birds of a different nature as to habits and food. The raven feeds on carrion and other unclean things, but the dove is clean in its character and the things it feeds upon. When first released, there was plenty to attract the raven, but there was nothing for the dove. In the New Testament, the dove becomes the emblem of the Holy Spirit; the raven, a picture of the old, unregenerate nature. Every true believer has both. We must remember that the old fallen nature feeds on that which is unclean, as does the raven. Only that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual, and, like the dove, feeds on that which is clean. Recognizing this, we must be very careful as to that which feeds our minds. It has been well said that for spiritual growth we must “starve the raven and feed the dove.”
There are four important items connected with Ararat:
1. An altar and a sacrifice; it is a place of worship.
2. A covenant: it heralds a new dispensation.
3. A covenant promise: no more judgment by a flood.
4. A covenant symbol: the bow in the storm cloud.
It was the Lord (Jehovah) who invited Noah into the ark: “Come thou and all thy house into the ark,” and it was the Lord who shut him in (7:1, 16). Now it is God (Elohim) who commands him, “Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” He emerges as the head of a new race, into a new world, under new conditions. It is a fresh start for mankind. His first act is worship.
An Altar and a Sacrifice
This is the first mention of an altar and a burnt offering in Scripture. It is the third indication of the way of approach to a Holy God. The first was in Eden when the Lord God provided coats of skin to clothe the naked, guilty pair. It was a covering, which is the root meaning of atonement, and must have involved the shedding of blood. The second was Abel’s offering of the firstfruits of the flock and the fat thereof (Gen. 4:4), indicating the divine way of approach to God. But here it is a burnt offering, pointing forward to Leviticus 1. Here we discover the reason why the clean animals were taken into the ark in sevens and the unclean only in twos. In the new environment, the unclean pair could easily thrive and survive, but why the odd one in the seven clean animals? The answer is that it was required for a burnt offering sacrifice in the new order.
Noah built an altar unto Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God, and offered a sacrifice of every clean beast and fowl. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor, or “a savor of rest,” the word apparently being a play on the meaning of Noah’s name. This is the peak in Noah’s career and testimony. It all pointed forward to another sacrifice, that of Calvary, where we too can find rest.
A Covenant: A New Dispensation
The first occurrence of the word “covenant” (berith) is found in Genesis 6:18, “But with thee (Noah) will I establish My covenant.” In chapter 9, it is found seven times and overall about seventy-seven times in the Old Testament. It indicates God entering into relationship with mankind, making specific promises and requiring certain responses and obedience. Some of the covenants are conditional and others unconditional. The covenant made with Noah and his posterity was unconditional (8:21-22), and everlasting (9:16).
The covenant with Noah was given before the law of Moses and has never been repealed. It inaugurated a new dispensation, a new method of God’s dealings with mankind. The first dispensation was the age of innocence before the Fall in Eden, when Satan and sin entered, bringing death and disaster. The second was that of conscience, when there was no specific law, but the Holy Spirit was working in men’s hearts to convict of right and wrong. It too ended in the disaster of the Flood. In this third period, the responsibility for human government is placed in man’s hands. Here we have a fresh start under a new head with a new code of behavior. History is the sad record of how it worked out. Note the following features of the covenant:
1. It was based on a blood sacrifice (8:20-21).
2. The curse on the ground was lifted (8:21).
3. A promise was made of continual natural forces (8:22).
4. Human government was committed to man (9:1-6).
5. Flesh was allowed instead of only a vegetarian diet (9:3).
6. The sanctity of Mood was stressed—not to be eaten (9:4).
7. Capital punishment for culpable homicide (9:6).
8. The sign of the rainbow in the storm cloud (9:13-14)
The Covenant Promise
“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of a flood; neither shall there be anymore a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 8:21 and 9:11). Earthquakes, tidal waves, local floods and many other natural disasters, are very often the voice of God speaking in judgment to man, but never again will there be anything like the Deluge covering the whole earth as in the days of Noah. The next global cleansing will be by fire and it will involve the heavenly bodies as well (2 Pet. 3:7-12).
A further gracious promise is given: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22). It is evident that climatic conditions are very different from what they were before the Flood (Gen. 2:5-6). But now the heavenly bodies in relation to the earth are fixed in their orbits and move with mathematical precision to give us our seasons and weather conditions. This is God’s mandate for the present era.
The Covenant Sign or Token
“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen. 9:12-15).
The words, “I do set My bow in the cloud,” clearly infer that a rainbow had never before been seen by mankind. It would strongly support the statement in Genesis 2:5-6 that until the time of the flood, no rain had fallen on the earth, but that it had been watered by mist. The rainbow is the child of the storm and sunshine. Three things are necessary to produce it: cloud, rain, and sun. There may be a cloud without a rainbow, but there cannot be a rainbow without a cloud. There is the dark cloud of judgment but the sun is shining still. The rainbow breaks down white light into its seven prismatic colors, with violet at the one end and red at the other. On earth we can only see a segment, a fragment of the circle, but flying above and through the clouds, the airman can see the completed circle.
The rainbow is mentioned four times in Scripture. In Genesis 9, it is a reminder of God’s covenanted mercy to the survivors of a world that had been destroyed by judgment. Ezekiel 1:28 describes “the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance ... of the glory of the Lord. And when 1 saw it, 1 fell upon my face and I heard a voice as one that spake.” John the apostle, caught up to heaven, sees a throne, and round the throne a rainbow like an emerald (Rev. 4:1-3). In heaven the rainbow is a complete circle. Finally, in Revelation 10:1-3, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open; and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth. And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth; and when he cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.” The mighty angel is no doubt the Angel of the Lord Jehovah, our Lord Jesus Christ coming to claim His inheritance. The four references to the rainbow are full of precious teaching concerning God’s purposes and mercy.
Noah’s Sad Lake
“And Noah began to be a farmer; and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and became drunk; and he was uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren outside. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness” (9:20-23).
It is a sad commentary on human nature to find a man like Noah who had been a preacher of righteousness for 120 years, who was perfect in his generations, who had received direct communications from God, and had come through the traumatic experience of the Flood unscathed, and had worshipped God with an acceptable sacrifice on the mountain-top—to find him drunk and indecently exposed in his tent. Did he not know what he was doing when he overindulged in drinking the wine, the product of his labor in the vineyard? It is the first case of drunkenness and its serious consequences in the Bible. Later on, while the Scriptures speak of the “wine that maketh glad the heart of man” (Ps. 104:15) and that it was the drink offering poured out upon the burnt offering (Num. 15:5, 7, 10), they also warn, of the sin of over-indulgence. The case of Lot and the action of his dissolute daughters is a prime example (Gen. 19:32-34).
After the untimely deaths of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, who were smitten as they attempted to go into the sanctuary with strange fire, the Lord gave the command to Aaron, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations (Lev. 10:1-9). The inference is that Nadab and Abihu were drunk when they went in with the strange fire.
In the case of Noah, it is the only blot on his long and devoted career. It was the deep valley experience in his life. There are many instances in the Bible of a giant in the faith falling into a trap in the latter part of his life.
Noah is the first, but not the last. One thinks of David, Solomon, Gideon, Uzziah, and Josiah. The mature, later years are often the dangerous part of a person’s life. But God in His grace did not abandon his honored servant. Before the Hood he had been a preacher, but here after his devastating experience, like Jacob at the end of his life, he becomes a prophet and gives an oracle of blessing and cursing concerning the future of his sons which has immense significance:
“And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
It is remarkable that the curse is upon Canaan, and his father Ham is not mentioned in the oracle. Three times the word “servant” is used of Canaan and to emphasize it, he is to be a “servant of servants.”
There is a definite link between the oracle of chapter 9 and the table of nations in chapter 10, where the genealogy of the three sons of Noah and the consequent three branches of the human race are outlined. History has verified Noah’s predictions in the oracle.
As we look down through the ages, we find the Canaanite in possession of the Promised Land at the time of the patriarchs; “And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou contest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah” (Gen. 10:19).
When Abraham arrived in the land of promise, “the Canaanite was then in the land” (Gen. 12:6). The mention of Sodom and Gomorrah gives an idea of the moral condition of the Canaanite. God had to destroy them with fire and brimstone. Leviticus 18 gives a list of the unnatural sexual sins practiced by the Canaanite population and from which the people of Israel were commanded to abstain. The word, “nakedness” is used twenty-four times. The wicked, debased life-style had deteriorated to such an extent that God had to order their extermination. This was only partially carried out by Joshua at the invasion of the land. The curse on Canaan was foreseen and fulfilled.
In Shem, we see the blessing of carrying the Messianic line. The first promise was that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15, JND). From Shem, it comes down through Abraham and David to the Babe of Bethlehem, to the Cross, and finally to the Throne.
Japheth finds shelter in the tents of Shem. God has not forgotten the teeming millions of the Gentiles. The gospel of salvation was for the Jew first, but also for the Greek.
It is interesting that in the three detailed conversions recorded in Acts 8-10, the first is a son of Ham, the Ethiopian eunuch; the second a son of Shem, Saul of Tarsus; the third a sort of Japheth, Cornelius, the Roman soldier. Under grace there is no respect of persons. The good news of salvation is for every tribe and tongue and nation.
Addendum
Noah was born circa BC 2948. He died circa BC 1998, aged 950 years. He was the tenth from Adam through Seth. Born 126 years after the death of Adam, he was contemporary with Terah for 128 years, and with Abram for almost fifty years (Young’s Concordance).
As an historical character, he is attested by Moses (Gen. 6-9); by Isaiah (Isa. 54:9); by Ezekiel (Ezek. 14:14, 20); by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 24:37-38); by Peter (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5); and is included in the honor roll of faith (Heb. 11:7).
Job mentions the flood (22:16) as did the Lord and Peter (Matt. 24:38-39; 2 Pet. 2:5).
Abraham & Mount Moriah
The Man in the Middle
Abraham is one of the key figures in human history. He appears in the Scriptures exactly halfway between Adam and Christ, approximately 2,000 years after the creation of Adam and 2,000 years before the incarnation of the Messiah. His life and testimony is an epoch in the purposes of God for mankind. Its importance is shown by the fact that the first eleven chapters of Genesis relates the history of the human race up to the call of Abram by God, and from that point, the rest of the Old Testament traces the record of his descendants, the Hebrew people. He was descended through Eber in the ninth generation (Gen. 10:21) from Shem, the eldest son of Noah in the direct Messianic line (Luke 4:34). In the New Testament, his importance is further emphasized by the space given to him in the great list of the heroes of faith recorded in Hebrews 11.
Abraham was born in Mesopotamia, the son of Terah (Gen. 11:26). His original name was Abram, meaning “height.” His wife’s name was Sarai. Many years later, God made a covenant with him and changed his name to Abraham, “Father of a multitude,” and his wife’s name to Sarah, meaning “Princess” (Gen. 17:15). He had a long life of 175 years, and on two occasions he is called “The Friend of God” (Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23).
The Call of Abraham
“The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee” (Acts 7:2-3). Apparently the call of God came to Abram when he was living in Ur of the Chaldees, a flourishing city with a highly developed civilization. It was situated in southern Mesopotamia, not far from the spot where the Euphrates empties into the Persian Gulf.
In recent times, it has been excavated by a number of archaeologists, notably by C. Leonard Woolley (1922-34), He uncovered the Royal Tombs of Ur which produced a treasure of magnificent golden vessels, musical instruments, and weapons of war that caused a sensation comparable to the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt The city was encompassed by a wall two and a half miles around and 77 feet thick. It had a complex hierarchy of government and a well-developed system of commerce. There were two-storied houses, some with ten or twelve rooms. Schools had a varied curriculum including reading, writing, and mathematics. The most prominent feature of the city was a ziggurat or artificial mountain made of sundried bricks, 200x150x70 feet high. On top was a shrine dedicated to Nanna, the Moon-god, the deity of Ur. The ziggurat was called “the mountain of God.” Many of the homes had a domestic shrine for worship.
Joshua 24:2 informs us: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they served other gods.” This is the background and environment in which Abram lived and was brought up. But then the God of glory appeared and said, “Get out!” It was the prima- ry revelation of God to His servant.
The original call of God at Ur was obeyed. He left all the wealth, sophistication, and security of a settled life, but also its pagan worship, and went out as a pilgrim and a stranger, not knowing where he was going. The God of glory had told Mm to go and that was sufficient.
He did not go alone. His wife Sarai, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot went with him. They journeyed 600 miles northwest to Haran and there stopped. The Lord had called Abram, but apparently his father Terah took over command of the emigrating party. “Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, Ms son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205 years: and Terah died in Harari” (Gen. 11:31-32).
Haran was on the border between Mesopotamia and Canaan. The great river Euphrates separated the two countries. One can understand Terah’s feelings. To cross the river was a complete break with the old life and land. But he died! Abram was now free to act. The hindrance to complete obedience was now removed. Many today encounter this difficulty when they attempt to obey the call of God. “A man’s foes shall be they of Ms own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:36-37).
On leaving his native land and facing the unknown future, Abram received a promise from God: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall ail families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3). This was the firstfruits of a covenant, later to be ratified and amplified.
Abram a Builder of Altars
On arrival in the land of Canaan, Abram’s first act was to build an altar. This was the first of four altars, a place of worship and fresh revelation.
1. “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was still in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” This altar is connected with promise (ch. 12:6-7).
2. “And he removed from there unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.” This altar is linked with prayer (ch. 12:8).
3. “And the Lord said unto Abram, after Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And 1 will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered . . . Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.” This altar is the response of faith to the promise of the land and the seed (ch. 13:14-18).
4. The fourth and final altar is on Mount Moriah. Here is the climax of Abraham’s obedience, sacrifice and faith. It was rewarded by a new revelation of God’s name, Jehovah-jireh. The Lord saw, the Lord provided (ch. 22).
The Revelation of the Name of God to Abraham
God reveals Himself in at least four ways: In creation, in His Word, in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Names. Abraham is the head of a new race, the dynasty of faith, and God granted him at critical points in his life a sevenfold revelation in a series of meaningful Names. They are:
1. The God of glory (Acts 7:2). At a difficult period in Moses’ life, he prayed, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory” (Ex. 33:18). Isaiah and Ezekiel too had that experience (Isa. 6; Ezek. 1).
2. Jehovah (Gen. 12:1-8). Six times, the covenant promising and keeping God is mentioned: Abram called by Jehovah (v. 1); Jehovah appeared unto him (v. 7); he built an altar unto Jehovah (v. 7); and he called upon the name of Jehovah (v. 8).
3. El Elyon, The Most High God (Gen. 14:18-24). This is the first occurrence of this title of God in Scripture. Here it is used of the Melchizedek priesthood. Note its use in Deuteronomy 32:8 and in Daniel 3-5.
4. Adonai, Sovereign Lord or Master (Gen. 15:2). It is used concerning Abram’s refusal of the riches of Sodom.
5. El Shaddai, God Almighty or All-sufficient (Gen. 17:1). This is used concerning patient waiting for the promised heir.
6. El Olam, The Everlasting God (Gen. 21:33). The God of the Ages was called to witness Abraham’s covenant.
7. Jehovah-jireh, The Lord saw, the Lord provided (Gen. 22:14).
The revelation of these seven names to Abraham mark seven steps in his life of faith from his call to leave Ur of the Chaldees, to his supreme test on Mount Moriah.
Abraham: The Man of Faith
Abraham has been called the father of the faithful (Rom. 4:1). He occupies an important position in that great chapter of the heroes of faith, Hebrews 11, and rightly so. The records describe not only seven steps in his life of faith, but also seven tests of his faith. After his call to leave Ur, the first test was:
Family: Arriving at Haran, his father Terah refused to cross the river Euphrates which separated his homeland from Canaan. We do not know how long he was delayed, but when Terah died, he obeyed the original command and crossed the river. From that time on, he was known as the “Hebrew” (the man from across the river). He never retraced his steps to go back to Ur. His next test was:
Famine (12:10): The famines recorded in Scripture are full of spiritual lessons. Hunger can be a severe trial. Hearing of plenty in Egypt, the pilgrim band headed for that land which resulted in a third test, that of:
Fear: He was afraid that his life would be in danger on account of his beautiful wife, Sarai. Calling her his sister, Abram found that his fears were justified, when Pharaoh sent for Sarai, and took her into his home. But God was good to his erring servant, by warning Pharaoh not to touch the woman. Abram got out of Egypt, a humiliated but wiser man. A fourth test was:
Friction: Both he and his nephew Lot were wealthy. Problems arose among the herdsmen of their respective flocks, and it became necessary to separate. Abram graciously gave the younger man the choice of location. Lot, influenced by what he saw in Egypt, chose the well-watered plains near Sodom, which ended in his downfall. Abram overcame that test by remaining a pilgrim with his tent and altar. A fifth test was his attitude to:
Filthy Lucre: He refused to touch the spoils of war from the soiled hands of the king of Sodom. A man’s attitude to money is an acid test of his character. He had every right to the loot as he was the victor in the battle over the united kings of the East. He ignored the temptation to enrich himself from worldlings. The sixth test was:
Frustration: God had promised him an heir and posterity as numerous as the dust of the earth and as the stars of heaven. The first promise was made when Abram was 75 years old (Gen. 12:4, 7). The heir of promise was born when he was 100 years old (21:5). After ten years of waiting without result, he took matters into his own hands and married Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid. He was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. This lapse of Abram’s faith in God’s promise has had agelong and worldwide consequences. In three of these tests of faith there was failure, and in three there was victory. But in the Final test, when God called upon him to offer up Isaac, there was complete triumph.
Mount Moriah
The sacrifice was to be made in “the land of Moriah” (Gen. 22:2). The word “Moriah” is found only here and in 2 Chronicles 3:1. The name means “Jah provides” (Young). It is associated with Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22), Araunah’s threshing floor (2 Sam. 24:18-25), and with Solomon’s temple (2 Chron. 3). It is said that Golgotha, on which the crucifixion of the Saviour took place, was a spur of the mountain on which Solomon’s temple was built In ancient times, a road was cut that separates the temple mount from the Golgotha spur. It was God who selected the mountain spot where Abraham was to offer his son Isaac, the temple was to be built, and where His Beloved Son was to suffer for the sin of the world. A sacred spot indeed!
The Command: “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of” (v. 2).
There are five important expressions in this chapter that occur for the first time in Scripture. As the keys to the passage, they are:
1. Thine only son. This is found three times (vv. 2, 12, 16). In the N.T., John uses the Greek equivalent (monogenes) five times of the Lord Jesus, the Only Begotten (John 1:14,18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9)—the Unique One (cf. Rom. 8:3, 32).
2. Love (v. 2). This first occurrence refers to the love of a father for his son (cf. John 5:20; 10:17; 17:26). The second occurrence of the word (Gen. 24:67), unfolds the love of a bridegroom for his bride.
3. Worship (v. 5). Translated “bowed” down (Gen. 18:2; 19:1, A.V.), it involves giving the best to God (cf. Matt. 2:2, 11).
4. Lamb (vv. 7, 8). Where is the Lamb? The New Testament answer is found in John 1:29.
5. Obeyed (v. 18). This was the immediate response to the command of the Lord.
The Communion: They “went both of them together” (v. 8; cf. v. 19). It was three days’ journey from Beersheba, “the well of the oath” to the place of sacrifice. This reminds us of the three years’ communion and fellowship between the Father and the Son from the river Jordan to Calvary. The Gospel writers take up this theme: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). The apostle John, especially, describes the Father and Son relationship. In his Gospel, he mentions the Father 120 times and the Son about 45 times.
There may have been periods of silence between Abraham and Isaac on that long journey; they are not recorded. But it is evident that they were of one mind in carrying out God’s command—Abraham in his determination, and Isaac in his subjection and obedience. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. This was the time arid the place when the servants and the ass were left behind, the spot where Abraham’s faith grasped the great truth of death and resurrection. The last sentence of verse 5 makes this plain: “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” The sacrifice of Isaac he regarded as “worship,” and Isaac as well as his father was to “come again.” This is all the more remarkable seeing he carried both a knife and the fire, the instruments of death. The wood was laid on Isaac. The fire would consume the burnt offering. In all of Abraham’s experience he had never seen or heard of a resurrection from the dead.
The Conversation (vv. 7-8): Finally the silence between the father and the son is broken by Isaac’s question and Abraham’s answer. “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both of them together.”
There is not another word from Isaac, but what a wealth of meaning lies behind both the question and the answer! Some commentators suggest that Abraham spoke evasively, but rather it was the long sight of faith. Hebrews 11:17-19 declares, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” The force of the word “accounting” means that he argued the situation in his own mind, and on the basis of God’s promises came to a definite conclusion. It is the highest peak of Abraham’s faith. From the standpoint of volition, surrender and obedience, Isaac was really offered. But God in a wonderful way provided a substitute. The answer to Isaac’s question, “Where is the lamb?” is given in John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
The Crisis (vv. 7-8): “And they came to the place which God had told him of” (v. 9). The place is mentioned four times (vv. 3, 4, 9, 14). It was a place chosen by God—Mount Moriah—the place where God had placed His Name (Deut. 12:13-14), the place where the temple was built, the place of gathering and sacrifice. In connection with the fulfillment of that which was anticipated in Genesis, the Gospels mention the word “place” four times:
A place called Gethsemane (Mk. 14:32).
A place called Gabbatha (John 19:13).
A place called Golgotha (John 19:17).
“Come, see the place (the Garden Tomb) where the Lord lay” (Matt. 28:6). This must have been the most sacred place on earth! Judas knew the place (John 18:2) where the Lord had agonized in view of the cross, but sadly and tragically, he went to his own place (Acts 1:25).
And “Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” This is Abraham’s fourth altar. The other three, at Shechem, Bethel/Hai, and Hebron, led up to it and prepared him for it. The altar on Mount Moriah was the final test and the climax of his faith. Between verses 9 and 13, the conjunction “and” occurs ten times. It is not eloquent grammatically, but it shows either the continuity and persistence, or word of remonstrance on his part His experience must have typified that which our Lord passed through in a supremely greater measure in Gethsemane and on the cross.
Verses 10 to 12 graphically relate the extent to which Abraham’s faith was tested. His uplifted hand holding the knife was about to strike. At the last possible moment, the Angel of the Lord intervened. His obedience had been tested to the full, and had stood the test. He had not withheld his only son. This proved beyond doubt that he believed in the God of resurrection. It also points forward to an infinitely greater sacrifice when God “spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). The voice from heaven arrested the deathblow on Isaac, but at Golgotha, amid the darkness, heaven was silent.
After the voice, Abraham’s eyes were immediately directed to a God-provided substitute for a sacrifice on the altar. Looking behind him he saw, not a lamb, but a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Later, in the Levitical economy, the ram, the leader of the flock, was used in the trespass offering (Lev. 5:15), and in the consecration of the priest for a burnt offering (8:18). Here it is, a burnt offering “in the stead of” his son. Although the word “substitute” does not occur in the text, here we see in the sacrificial death of the ram that which the word means. Thus we have in this incident another glorious type of the substitutionary death of the Saviour on the cross. Abraham recognized the wonderful way in which God had provided the substitute for a burnt offering by naming the place Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide.”
The Abrahamic Covenant
In verses 15 to 18, the Abrahamic covenant was confirmed and expanded. The Angel of the Lord spoke twice from heaven, firstly averting the deathblow upon Isaac and assuring Abraham of the completeness of his obedience (v. 12). The second time (vv. 15-18), he pronounces a fourfold blessing on the patriarch and his seed: “By Myself have! sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will Mess thee, and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.”
This is the occasion referred to in Hebrews 6:13-20, when God confirmed the promise of a seed to Abraham and sealed it with an oath. First the seed is compared to the dust of the earth, then to the stars of heaven, and now to the sand of the seashore; an earthly seed, a heavenly seed, and then a seed that would reach out to the nations. Galatians 3:16 tells us that that Seed (in the singular) is Christ in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. All this blessing is guaranteed by the promise and the mighty oath of God. In this we can rest. It must not be forgotten that the Abrahamic Covenant also involves the promise of a land with clearly defined boundaries (Gen. 15:18-21). The promises concerning both the seed and the land will be fully implemented and fulfilled in a coming day.
This great chapter, Genesis 22, is closed by a genealogy, introducing Rebekah who is destined to be the bride of Isaac (Gen. 24). What a fitting conclusion to the narrative of Isaac, who, in his miraculous birth, his submission to the will of his father, in his figurative death and resurrection, and then in his marriage to Rebekah, is a type of the Lord Jesus.
As we look back over the intensely interesting narrative of Abraham, “the friend of God,” we can see that he had deep valley experiences in his life—when he went down into Egypt and denied his wife; and doubted God’s promise of an heir when he married the Egyptian slave girl with all its devastating results. But his faith in the “God of glory” made him a pilgrim and a stranger, resulted in justification by faith, and finally led him to the mountaintop of Moriah where his obedience, dedication, and faith in the God of resurrection was fully demonstrated. He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. What an inspiration he is to those who are in the valley of doubt or depression today, but whose faith rests on the same eternal foundations laid on the Person and the substitutionary death of our heavenly Isaac, the only begotten Son of God.
Moses & Mount Sinai
The Emancipator
In the course of human history, Moses was one of the greatest men who ever lived. Few men ever influenced mankind as he did. He towers above not only his contemporaries, but succeeding generations as well. In the Bible, his name occurs 835 times in the Old Testament and 80 times in the New Testament, more frequently than any other O. T. character. He wrote 137 chapters of the Bible, is the author of the Pentateuch and his name occurs as the writer of Psalm 90, where he is called “the Man of God.” He is designated a prophet (Deut. 18:15); a priest (Ps. 99:6); and a king in Jeshu-run (Deut. 33:5). If Abraham is the father of his people and his country, demonstrating the principle of faith, Moses is the emancipator of his people from slavery, symbolizing the principle of leadership.
It would be interesting to ask wherein lay the secret of his greatness and his power? First of all, it lay in God’s sovereignty in choosing and raising up a man at a critical point in world history; and secondly, that man’s willingness to subject himself to God’s will and obey His commands. He was the instrument in God’s hands to carry out His purposes of grace for His people.
Moses’ life of 120 years is divided into three equal periods of forty years. The first forty years was spent In Egypt. Born of God-fearing parents, living as slaves under an oppressive, tyrannical government, by a series of remarkable divinely overruled events, the baby Moses was adopted by the daughter of the reigning Pharaoh. His Jewish mother was hired to care for him. As a protege of the royal household, he was given the best education that the most advanced nation in the world at that time had to offer. Stephen, in Acts 7:22, tells us that “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” God was molding and preparing him for his life’s work and allowing the devil to pay for it
Moses’ Choice
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” (Heb. 11:24-26). It was the turning point in his life. He turned his back upon wealth, affluence, false religion, and all that the world had to offer, and identified himself with a suffering nation of slaves. But they were his own kin. Seeing an Egyptian overseer maltreating a Hebrew, he lost his self-control, impetuously slew the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. He had acted hastily and as a result had to flee from the country.
The next forty years were spent in obscurity on the backside of the desert in the land of Midian. Instead of the schools of Egypt and its opulent life-style, he was introduced to the discipline of God’s school. Instead of a royal protege, he became a father and a shepherd of sheep. The lessons learned in the home and in the humble occupation of taking care of the sheep fitted him for that which lay ahead in leading a nation. No one is fitted to counsel on the problems of family life until they have been in the school of suffering with God. Practical experience is a hard but valuable teacher. An act of anger performed in a moment of time took Moses out of Egypt, but it took forty hard years in a lonely desert to take Egyptian mentality out of him. This is a school where many of God’s honored servants have been trained: e.g., Elijah, John the Baptist, and Paul. The first part of Moses’ training in Egypt was valuable, but the second in the desert was indispensable.
Moses’ Call and Commission
While tending the flock, Moses saw a bush burning with fire, and yet it was not consumed. The time had come for his call to his life’s work. The burning bush was the first of a series of sign miracles in which God dealt with four parts of his body:
1. His Feet: As Moses approached the burning bush to see the amazing sight, God spoke: “Moses, Moses ... Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” His first lesson was reverence in the presence of God. This was to be a primary trait in Moses’ life. In our modern life, reverence for God is rapidly deteriorating. In addressing God in prayer and worship, and speaking about Him in ministry and evangelism, we would appeal for reverence. The familiar language of the street or the telling of jokes to provoke a laugh, should find no place in the ministry of the man who has been in the presence of the Almighty Sovereign of the Universe.
2. His Hand: “And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. And He said. Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.” The lesson is obvious. The rod was the shepherd’s rod with which he tended the sheep. Later in Scripture it was to become the scepter, and a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9; Rev, 2:27). It is the symbol of authority and rule. In man’s hand it symbolizes delegated authority. Moses was to use it five times in his subsequent life. The first man to have the rod of dominion or authority was Adam (Gen. 1:26, 28). In his case it was cast to the ground and became a deadly serpent. But another Man, the Last Adam, has crushed the serpent’s head. Moses, the servant, boldly took it by the tail and it again became a rod in his hand. With it he faced Pharaoh, opened the Red Sea, smote the rock to bring out the living water, and confronted Amalek, the enemy of the people (Ex. 17:9). Our Lord, in the Great Commission, said: “All authority in heaven and in earth has been committed unto Me; go ye therefore ...” Blessed is the man who has “the ordination of the pierced hands” and who carries the rod of delegated authority from the risen and glorified Christ in his hand.
3. His Bosom: “And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow. And he said again, Put thy hand into thy bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.” Here is the lesson of the seat of human depravity and corruption. Paul said: “In me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” The servant that goes forth into the work of the Lord and who has never learned this lesson, is of all men to be pitied. The old man and the flesh, the old habits and desires, and the depraved sinful nature are still with us. We are exhorted to put off the old man with his deeds, and to crucify or put to death the flesh (Rom. 6:6-23). But they are with us as long as life shall last and there is plenty of tinder in our bosom on which Satan can cast his fiery darts and set it alight But thank God for the indwelling Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and the Word of God, and the Intercessor at God’s right hand to give us the victory in time of need. The world outside, the flesh inside, and the devil beneath us have not changed. But we can be overcomers through Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. His mouth: “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Have not I the Lord?”
Moses’ words were just an excuse. He did not want to go back to Egypt and face Pharaoh. In Egypt he was too hasty; now he is too hesitant. Most preachers at the beginning of their career feel the same way. Very few are eloquent or facile speakers. Usually it means hard work and careful study and only develops through time and experience. Mere volubility and talkativeness is a frightening talent. An endless talker who must have the floor at all times is a terrible bore and affliction. But what a comfort it is when God says: “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say!” And what a joy it is when one feels that the Holy Spirit is speaking, unquenched and ungrieved, and God’s people are being blessed and refreshed by the spoken word. The Apostle James has a lot to say about the tongue, both good and bad. So conscious did Moses become of his own insufficiency, that God had practically to thrust him out into the work for which He had called and fitted him. It reminds us of the words:
“How ready is that man to go,
Whom God has never sent;
How timorous, diffident, and slow
God’s chosen instrument.”
The Revelation of God’s Name
After his call and commission at the burning bush, Moses was anxious to know the name of the One who had called and sent him, first to the Israelites and then to Pharaoh in Egypt. Note, first of all, the location. It was “the mountain of God, Horeb” {Ex. 3:1) This is the first of seventeen mentions of Horeb in the Bible. It is the northeastern peak of the mountain range of which Mount Sinai is the northwestern.
The One who appeared and spoke to him out of the burning bush is called “The Angel of the Lord” (v. 2). He is called “Jehovah” (v. 4). Then He speaks in verse 6, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.”
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am; and he said, Thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations” (vv. 13-15).
This is one of the greatest revelations in Holy Scripture of the names of God. I am that I am is an exposition of the mystic name Yahweh or Jehovah or Lord. It contains each tense of the verb “to be.” It could be translated, I was always being, I am always being, I shall always continue to be. Here it is the present continuous tense—I am. It is His name as the self-existent One, an expression of the essential being of God. It was this name that the Lord Jesus claimed when He said to the unbelieving Jews, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). In His ministry He used it at least seven times: I am the Bread of Life. I am the good Shepherd. I am the Door. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I am the Light of the world. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the true Vine. In Gethsemane, when the soldiers from the chief priests came to arrest Him, He asked them, Whom seek ye? They answered, Jesus, of Nazareth, He replied, I am. As soon as He said this, they went backward and fell to the ground. The synoptic Gospels describe the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane falling on the ground in prayer, in His agony and blood-like sweat, but John sees Him on His feet in royal majesty and dignity uttering the divine title I am twice and His enemies on the ground before Him. John, in his introduction to the book of Revelation, uses the majestic, divine title twice; “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne” (Rev. 1:4); “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (v. 8). “The same, yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Moses, now fortified with his credentials, his call, and his commission, and with faith in the ineffable Name of Jehovah, the I am that I am, is now ready to present himself to his brethren, the children of Israel, and to their formidable oppressor, Pharaoh. No man on earth was better equipped for the task. At eighty years of age, he was ready for the contest and his lifework as the emancipator of his people.
The Passover and the Exodus
Moses was an expert, both in the language and diplomacy of Egypt. During a series of interviews with Pharaoh, Moses made the request, “Let My people go,” reinforced by miraculous signs indicating God’s power and the authority of His servant. Then followed nine different plagues, each one more severe than the last one, sent by God on the land of Egypt. Each time when Pharaoh pled for mercy and the plague was removed, he reluctantly made a number of excuses and minor concessions. Five times we are told that he hardened his heart. It was evident that he had no intention of releasing the people of Israel from their bondage. Then God, seeing there was no change, judicially hardened his heart. The final judgment was on the firstborn of every family in Egypt. God instructed Moses that each household of the people of Israel was to take a specially chosen lamb, in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month Nisan. It was to be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the two sideposts and the upper lintel of the door of their dwellings. They were to remain inside and feast on the roast lamb. The Angel of the Lord passed through the land that night, and in every house not protected by the blood of the lamb, the firstborn child was slain. This is the night of the Passover, which marks the birth of the nation of Israel. It was an epoch in human history. It points forward to another and greater epoch, when the Lamb of God was sacrificed on Calvary’s cross. His precious blood is the price of our redemption from sin and slavery.
The children of Israel left Egypt in a hurry. Pharaoh begged them to get out, but later changed his mind and decided to follow and destroy them. They were a mighty host—“about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle” (Ex.l2:37-38). The mixed multitude was to give trouble later on. But God was merciful in protecting them.
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light; to go by day and night” (13:21). Their first great problem was the crossing of the led Sea. Shut in by the great fortress ‘Migdol’ which was on the ‘Shur’ or wall (built to protect Egypt from Asia) and the sea, with Pharaoh’s hosts behind, and shut in on the other side by the wilderness (Ex. 14:2-3), it was indeed a crisis. To the tacticians of Egypt, it was a perfect trap. Then the Lord ordered Moses to go forward and lift up his rod and divide the sea. The Angel of God that was in front, leading them with the pillar cloud, moved to their rear, protecting them from the enemy. The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. The people passed over on dry land, but when the Egyptian forces attempted to follow them, the sea returned to its bed and overwhelmed them. This was celebrated by the first song in the Bible: “I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea” (Ex. 15:lff.). Interestingly, the name of Moses is associated with the first song in the Bible and also with the last (Rev. 15:3).
There follow the experiences at Marah and Elim and the water (ch. 15); in the wilderness of Sin and the manna (ch. 16); and Rephidim and water from the rock, followed by the conflict with Amalek (ch. 17). Finally Moses and the people arrived at the mount of God (Ex. 3:1, 12). It was here where God had first spoken to Moses. Here he was reunited with his wife, Zipporah, and Ms two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, and his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. Jethro gave Mm some good advice about sharing responsibility with able men, who fear God—men of truth who hate covetousness. This sane counsel would be a help in the difficult days that lay ahead.
Moses and Mount Sinai
The Peninsula of the Sinai is triangular, shaped like a heart, situated between two arms of the Red Sea. On the west is the Gulf of Suez, and on the east is the Gulf of Aqaba (or the Gulf of Eilat). The west shore is 180 miles long, the east shore about 130, the north borderline about 150. The northern part is relatively flat desert, but in the south is a great cluster of rugged mountains. Two biblical names are associated with these, Horeb being the whole mountain group, and Sinai, a special mountain in the range. Its modem name is Jebel Musa (the Mountain of Moses). It is an isolated mass of rock, rising abruptly from the plain in awesome grandeur. On the northwest side is a spacious plain, two miles long and half a mile wide, capable of accommodating two million people, Moses must have been very familiar with the area. He had spent forty years in the desert around, taking care of sheep, and it was at Horeb that God had first spoken and revealed Himself to him (Ex. 3:1-6), Now he has to lead and care for another larger flock, the people of Israel.
The journey of Israel from Egypt to Sinai terminated on the third month. There they camped before the mount (Ex. 19:1-2). They remained there one whole year (Num. 1:1). Here God was to reveal Himself through Moses to the people. Apparently Moses ascended the mount four times, twice for an undefined duration of time and twice for a period of forty days. Each time there was a distinct revelation. They are as follows:
1. God proposes a conditional covenant with Israel (Ex. 19:3-19). He reminds them of their redemption from the bondage of Egypt and how he bore them on eagles’ wings and brought them to Himself. “Now therefore if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” When Moses conveyed the terms of the covenant to the people, they replied: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Alas, they did not realize their own weakness and consequent failure as subsequent history records. All the previous covenants that God made were with individuals, with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but here for the first time it is with a nation.
2. The second ascent of the mount by Moses (Ex. 19:20). It was accompanied by a tremendous display of God’s majesty and glory. The people were told to wash and sanctify themselves, and not to come near or touch the mountain. “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and (became) louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.” It was here that Moses received the Law and communicated it to the people. It was in three parts:
a. The Ten Commandments (ch. 20)—the moral law.
b. The Judgments (ch. 21-23)—the civil law.
c. The Ordinances (ch. 24-31)—laws concerning worship, the Feasts and the Sabbath. These were first communicated orally.
3. The first forty days (ch. 24-31). This was introduced by the ratification of the covenant by a blood sacrifice. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel took part in the ceremony. An altar was built, with twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes. The terms and details of the covenant were written by Moses in a book. Half of the blood of the sacrifice of the burnt and peace offerings was sprinkled on the altar, and after reading to the people the terms of the covenant, they replied “All that the Lord hath said we will do and be obedient.” Then the rest of the blood was sprinkled on the book and on the people (Heb. 9:19).
After a preliminary vision of God—seen by Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel where they ate and drank a sacred meal—Moses alone went up into the mount and was there forty days and forty nights (Ex. 24:18).
It was during this time that he saw a model and received Instructions concerning the building of the Tabernacle, the priesthood and the offerings, and the two tables of stone with the law inscribed by the finger of God (Ex. 25-31). This very important section of the Word of God has typical lessons for us at the present day. The law was inexorable in its demands for obedience, but God in His grace provided the tabernacle, the priesthood, and a system of sacrifices as a way of access to Himself. They are authorized types. The tabernacle, for example, is a pattern of things in the heavens (Heb. 8:5; 9:9, 23, 24). The details are not left to our imagination. It is heaven transferred to earth as a visible type (Cf. references to heaven in Rev. 4, etc.) The tabernacle is a picture of:
a. The church as the house of God (Heb. 3:1-6).
b. The Person and Work of Christ (Heb. 8:2; 9:11).
c. The way of access to God (Heb. 10:20).
d. The priesthood and offerings are typical of the High Priestly ministry of Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. The Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation are divine commentaries on these great types.
The Apostasy and its Aftermath (Ex. 32)
When Moses came down from the mount with the tables of stone in his hand, he saw a deplorable sight and, unfortunately, his own brother Aaron was the leading figure in it. The people who so recently had pledged their allegiance to a covenant with Jehovah and had vowed to obey Him, are now worshipping a golden calf manufactured by Aaron and saying, “These are our gods which brought us up out of Egypt.” They must have thought that Moses had died amid the smoke and fire of Sinai, and couldn’t wait for six weeks for his return. Such is human nature and fickleness. After their worship of the golden calf, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Moses must have been heartbroken. When God threatened to act in judgment and wipe them out, Moses interceded for them but proceeded to take drastic action. He smashed the tables of stone at the foot of the mount. Then he burned the golden calf and ground it to powder, mixed it with water, and forced the people to drink it. Then he pitched a tent outside the camp and called on all those who wished to follow the Lord to join him. All the sons of Levi did so. He ordered each man to take a sword and go throughout the camp and slay every man his fellow. That day about three thousand men were executed.
We can understand Moses’ reaction to these events: Is it worth going on? His resource was to call upon God. He made two requests: “Show me now Thy way that I may know Thee.” The divine answer was: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Moses added: “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up from here.”
His second request was: “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” The answer was one of the most wonderful manifestations of God to mortal man. “And He said, Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and live. And the Lord said, Behold there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by; and I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back (or after-glow); but My face shall not be seen.” Fortified by these two great experiences, Moses was prepared to resume his work.
The Second Forty Days on the Mount
With the two fresh tables of stone in his hand which he had hewed at the command of the Lord, Moses ascended Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:1-4). Again he met the Lord who proclaimed His Name and attributes, and Moses bowed his head to the earth and worshipped. The Lord renewed His covenant with Israel and recommissioned Moses, and repeated the promises concerning the occupation of the Promised Land. The feasts and the sabbaths were to be carefully observed as well as the civil and ceremonial codes of the law. He was commanded to write these words, “For after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (vv. 27-28).
One result of this period of communion with God on the mountaintop was that the skin of his face shone, although he himself did not know it. Aaron and the people were afraid to come near him, so he put a veil on his face when speaking with them. When speaking to God, however, he took the veil off. At the burning bush, God dealt with his feet, his hand and his bosom, teaching him important lessons (Ex. 3-4). But here it is the transformation of his countenance as a result of being in the presence of God. Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 3:6-18. He points out the difference between the ministry of the law which results in condemnation, and the superior ministry of the new covenant: “But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit” (v. 18, R. V.)
The final chapters of Exodus (35-40) relate the historical construction of the tabernacle under the supervision of Moses and the competent workmanship of Bezalel and Aholiab, two men called and fitted by God. When it was completed, God showed His approval and His presence by the Shekinah cloud and glory filling the tabernacle.
The Believer’s Relationship to the Law of Moses Today
This is expounded in detail in Paul’s Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and in the Epistle to the Hebrews. John says, “The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). That means that there was a change of dispensation from law to grace. Paul says, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12). Why then a change? To summarize:
1. The Law is a Standard. Sinful man will never measure up.
2. The Law is a Judge. All are guilty (Rom. 1-3).
3. The Law is an Executioner. Its curse means death (Rom. 6:23).
4. The Law is a Schoolmaster (pedegogus) until Christ (Gal. 3:24).
Christ, the holy sinless One, fulfilled the law, bore the curse, died a vicarious, substitutionary death on the cross. Those who believe, trust, commit themselves to Him in simple faith, in true repentance of their sin, receive eternal life and are delivered from the curse of the law.
Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath died and there is remission.
Cursed by the law, ruined by the Fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all. —P. P. Bliss
On the other hand, we must remember that nine of the clauses of the moral code contained in the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament as incumbent on believers today. The only exception is the Sabbath. God’s moral commandments and requirements do not change. But they are obeyed from a different basis and motive, that of love to Christ. James calls it the “perfect law of liberty” (Jas. 1:25). Paul describes it as “being not without law to God, but in-lawed (lit.) to Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21; Rom. 8:4).
Moses in the Wilderness
The third section of Moses’ life was the forty years spent in the wilderness on the way to the land of Caanan. It is the main theme of the Book of Numbers. It has been called “the record of a lost generation.” At the beginning of the book, there is a census of the people in the wilderness of Sinai, and thirty-eight years later there was another in the plains of Moab, just before entering the land. Out of the two-and-a-half million who had left Egypt, the only survivors were Joshua and Caleb, the men of courage and faith. The rest left their bones in the wilderness.
The desert is the place of testing and also of God’s gracious protection and provision. In Israel’s case, there was dismal failure. The crucial point took place at Kadesh-barnea. Twelve men, one from each tribe, were sent ahead as spies to Canaan to survey the land and to assess their ability to occu- py it. Ten came back with a pessimistic report. The enemies were too great and powerful; it would be impossible to overcome them. God had promised to be with them; their sin was unbelief in that promise. Only Joshua and Caleb said, “We are able.” The result: the unbelievers were sentenced to thirty-eight years of wandering in the desert until they were wiped out. The two optimistic believers in God and His promise survived to triumphantly enter the land.
The record of the years of wandering is punctuated by a series of episodes, mostly characterized by murmuring, complaining, and revolt against the leadership of Moses. One was spearheaded by the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the children of Israel. It had to do with food supplies. They complained of the heavenly manna which God had miraculously provided. They longed for the variegated diet which they had enjoyed in Egypt In response, God gave them meat in the form of flocks of quails, but it also brought judgment on the complainers.
Then there was family trouble among the leaders. Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ sister and brother, spoke against him because he had married a Cushite woman. Here we are told in a parenthesis that Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the earth. He made no attempt to defend himself, but God intervened. Miriam was smitten with leprosy, the first time this disease is mentioned in the Bible. After seven clays’ exclusion from the camp, through the intercessory prayer of Moses she was healed (Num. 12).
Perhaps one of the most serious events in the history of the wilderness Journey was the revolt of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against the God-appointed leadership of Moses and Aaron (Num. 16-17). It was motivated by jealousy.
It was an attempted revolution that could have divided the people and led to disaster. It was an invasion of Levitical service into the priestly office. Again God intervened. The rebels were standing at the doors of their tents with bronze censers containing fire and incense in their hands, when suddenly the ground opened and swallowed them, and they went down alive into sheol. The disaster was accompanied by a fire from the Lord which consumed the men who had offered incense. At a subsequent undercurrent of murmuring against Moses and Aaron, who were blamed for the death of the rebels, a plague broke out in which fourteen thousand, seven hundred died.
Numbers 20 records the arrival of the whole congregation at Kadesh of notorious memory (Num. 11-14). Thirty-seven troubled years have passed since they were there. Much has happened in the meantime. The chapter opens with the death and burial of Miriam. It ends with the stripping of Aaron’s garments and the putting them upon Eleazar his son, and his death and burial on the top of Mount Hor. In between is the sad story of the smiting of the rock by Moses, for which he was to die, being buried in the land of Moab.
Again the people were murmuring and complaining about the lack of water and talking about the figs and vines and pomegranates of Egypt. Again Moses and Aaron were on their faces before God. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth (its) water . . . And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice; and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.”
It is unspeakably sad to think of this great man, one of the greatest who ever lived, not being permitted to fulfill his ambition of leading the people of God into the land. We may think his sin was trivial in comparison to that of the rank and file of the people, who sinned so grievously and so frequently. But Moses’ sin was great because he was great. That which we regard as small sins, in great men have tremendous consequences. The higher one is elevated by God, the greater will be the fall if failure takes place.
First of all, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips (Ps. 106:33). Losing his self-control, he called God’s people, “Ye rebels. Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” Then he disobeyed God and smote the rock twice instead of speaking to it He spoiled a type. The once-smitten rock (Ex. 17:6) from which the living water flowed, must not be smitten again. The uplifted rock—prefiguring the risen Christ to whom we may speak and from whom our blessings flow—was smitten twice, thus spoiling the intended type. Therein lay Moses’ sin for which he was to die. The death and the burial of Moses is described in Deuteronomy 34:
“And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed Mm all the land of Gilead, unto Dan. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the uttermost sea. And the Negev, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over there.
So Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.”
The Burial of Moses
By Nebo’s lonely mountain, on this side Jordan’s wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab there lies a lonely grave.
But no man dug that sepulcher, and no man saw it e’er,
For the angels of God upturned the sod and laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral that ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the tramping, or saw the train go forth;
Noiselessly as the daylight comes when the night is done,
And the crimson streak on ocean’s cheek grows into the great sun.
Lo! when the warrior dieth, his comrades in the war,
With arms reversed and muffled drum, follow the funeral car.
They show the banners taken, and tell his battles won,
And after him lead his masterless steed, while peals the minute gun.
This was the bravest warrior that ever buckled sword;
This the most gifted poet that ever breathed a word;
And never earth’s philosopher traced, with his golden pen
On the deathless page truths half so sage as he wrote down for men.
O lonely tomb in Moab’s land! O dark Beth-pear’s hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours, and teach them to be still.
God hath His mysteries of grace, ways that we cannot tell,
He hides them deep, like the secret sleep, of him he loved so well
—Mrs. C. F. Alexander
Caleb & Mount Hebron
The Faithful Follower
In the history of the conquest of the land of Canaan by the Israelites, recorded in the books of Numbers and Joshua, the name of Caleb is outstanding. He and Joshua are the prominent leaders. Joshua is a picture of Christ, and Caleb, as his second-in-command, is a devoted, loyal collaborator. He is an example of the faithful follower of Christ today.
The name Caleb means “a dog,” or “wholehearted.” To the oriental mind, the word might have a disparaging meaning, but to Westerners the dog is man’s best friend and calls to mind many a story of devotedness and loyalty to its master.
The name of Caleb is mentioned for the first time in Numbers 13:6. From the desert of Paran, Moses sent a man of each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan. Among these twelve we find Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Hoshea, the son of Nun, whom Moses called Jehoshua (vv. 6, 16). From that moment the two men are closely linked together (see Num. 14:30, 38; 26:65; 34:17-49; Deut. 1:36, 38; Josh. 14:13). The great name of Joshua overshadowed that of Caleb, but throughout the whole campaign of war and conquest, there is no suggestion of jealousy or discontent on the part of Caleb. He was loyal to his commander-in-chief till the end.
It is worthy of note that Caleb was chosen to represent the tribe of Judah when the twelve men were sent to search the land. But on a number of occasions, he is called the Kenezite (Num. 32:12; Josh. 14:6, 14). Kenaz, his ancestor, was the fifth son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau (Gen. 36:11). Apparently a part of the clan of Kenaz had voluntarily associated themselves with the tribe of Judah. It would appear that a so-called outsider became the tribe’s chosen representative when courage and initiative were essential.
The Spy Mission
The twelve men, chosen for this difficult and dangerous task of surveying the land they were to invade, were the heads and rulers of their respective tribes (Num. 13:2). Today they would be called intelligence agents—spy is not a nice word. In wartime, a person caught in that kind of work would be executed. The Canaanites were a wicked, bloodthirsty people, and their worship showed that they had little regard for human life. The twelve men literally took their lives into their own hands. They had their instructions and, setting out from Kadesh-barnea in the wilderness of Paran, they entered the land by way of the Negev and penetrated as far as Rehob, which ancient maps show to be in the Lebanon area (v. 21).
Only two places are selected for special mention—Hebron and the Brook Eschol. Hebron was an ancient city, built seven years before Zoan in Egypt (Num. 13:22). It was inhabited by three sons of Artak, the people “great and tall” (Deut 9