MOSES THE TYPE OP CHRIST.
" The Lord, thy Ood will raise tip unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy hrethren, like unto me; unto Sim ye shall hearken."
rpHE history of Moses is valuable to Christians, no' only as giving us a pattern of fidelity towards God, of great firmness, and great meekness, but also as afibrding us a type or figure of our Saviour Christ. No prophet arose in Israel like Moses, till Christ came, when the promise in the text was fulfilled— "The Lord thy God,'" says' Moses, "shall raise up unto thee a Prophet like unto me: " that was Christ. Now let us consider in what respects Moses resembled Christ; we shall find that this inquiry is very suitable at this tim« of year \
1. First, if we survey the general history of the
Israelites, we shall find that it is a picture of man^ history, as the dispensation of the Gospel displays it t' us, and that in it Moses takes the place of Christ. Tin
Moses the Type of Christ 119 jlsraelites were in the land of strangers, viz. the Egyptians;
\ they were slaves, hardly tasked, and wretched, and God I [broke their bonds, led them out of Egypt, after many 'perils, to the promised land, Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. How clearly this prefigures to us the condition of the Christian Church! We are by nature in a strange country; God was our first Father, and His Presence our dwelling-place: but we were cast i out of paradise for sinning, and are in a dreary land, a valley of darkness and the shadow of death. We are f born in this spiritual Egypt, the land of strangers. I Still we have old recollections about us, and broken 1 traditions, of our original happiness and dignity as; freemen. Thoughts come across us from time to time, which show that we were born for better things than to be slaves; yet by nature slaves we are, slaves to the Devil. He is our hard task-master, as Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites; so much the worse than he, in that his chains, though we do not see them, become more and more heavy every year. They cling about us and grow; they multiply themselves, they shoot out and spread forth, and encircle us, those chains of sin, with many links, minute but heavy, weighing us down to the earth, till at last we are mere slaves of the soil, with an evil husbandry, slaves of that fearful harvest which is eternal death. Satan is a tyrant over us, and it seems to us useless to rebel. If we attempt it, we are but •overpowered by his huge might, and his oppressive rule, and are made twice the cliildren of hell that we were before: we may g-roan and look about, but we cannot fly from his country. Such is our state by nature.
But Moses conducted the Israelites from the house of bondage to their own land, from which their fathers had descended into Egypt. He came to them from God, and, armed with God's power, he smote their cruel enemies, led them out of Pharaoh's territory, divided the Red Sea, carried them through it, and at length brought them to the borders of Canaan. And who i it that has done this for us Christians? Who but the Eternal Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, whose name in consequence we bear? He has rescued us from the arm of him who was stronger than we; and therefore 1 say in this respect first of all, Christ is a second Moses, and a greater. Christ has broken the power of t Devil. He leads us forth on our way, and makes path through all difficulties, that we may go forward towards heaven. Most men, who have deliberately turned their hearts to seek God, must recollect times when the view of the difficulties which lay before them, and of their own weakness, nearly made them sink, through fear. Then they were like the children ofl Israel on the shore of the Red Sea. How boisterous did the waves look! and they could not see beyond them; they seemed taken by their enemies as in a net..] Pharaoh with his horsemen hurried on to reclaim his.
Moses the Type of Christ. 121 runaway slaves; tlie Israelites sank down in terror on the sand of tlie sea-sliore; every moment brought death or captivity nearer to them. Then it was that Moses suid, " Stand still, and see the salvation of God." And in like manner has Christ spoken to us. When our fhearts fainted within us, when we said to ourselves, rHow is it possible that we should attain heaven?'" When we felt how desirable it was to serve God, but ifelt keenly the power of temptation; when we acknowjledged in our hearts that God was holy and most i adorable, and obedience to His will most lovely and (admirable, and yet recollected instances of our past disobedience, and feared lest all our renewed resolutions ito serve Him would be broken and swept away by the
I old Adam as mercilessly as heretofore, and that Satan i would regain us, and yet prayed earnestly to God for
His saving help; then He saved us against our fear, surprising us by the strangeness of our salvation. This,
I I say, many a one must recollect in his own case. It ' happens to Christians not once, but again and again through life. Troubles are lightened, trials are sur- 1 mounted, fears disappear. We are enabled to do things, above our strength by trusting to Christ; we overcome ' our most urgent sins, we surrender our most innocent wishes; we conquer ourselves; we make a way through the powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil; the • waves divide, and our Lord, the great Captain of our salva-; tion, leads us over. Christ, then, is a second!Moses, and
122 Moses the Type of Christ.
greater than he, inasmuch as Christ leads from hell V heaven, as Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan 2. Next, Christ reveals to us the will of God, a, Moses to the Israelites. He is our Prophet, as well a our Redeemer. None was so favoured as Moses in thi respect: before Christ came, Moses alone saw God fao to face; all prophets after him but heard His voice ^ saw Him in vision. Samuel was called by name, bi he knew not who called him in the dark night till 1'^ told him. Isaiah saw the vision of the Seraphim, an heard them cry " Holy" before the Lord; but it was nc heaven that he saw, but the mere semblance of tin earthly temple in which God dwelt among the Jew and clouds filled it. But Moses in some sense saw Gl and lived; thus God honoured him. "If there be prophet among you," said Almighty God, " I the Loi will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and wi speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is n( so, who is faithful in all Mine house. With him will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not <lark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord shall 1 behold ':" and on his death we are told, " there aro not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom t1 Lord knew face to face ^." When he was in the Mou: Sinai it is said of him still more expressly, " The Lo spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh un his friend^." In the Mount he received from God t
Moses the Type of Christ 1 23
I ►evelation of the Law, and the patterns of the holy serjrices which the Jews were to offer to God; and so, Iwin^ favoured with the intimate knowledg-e of God's 'ounsels, when he came down, his face shone with glory. fThe Divine majesty was reflected from it, and the people Sared not look upon him. " The skin of his face shone jivhile he talked with Him. And when Aaron and the bhildren of Israel saw Moses, they were afraid to come bigh him.'' '^ And till he had done speaking with them, {he put a veil on his face \"
I Yet, after all, favoured as he was, Moses saw not the (true presence of God. Flesh and blood cannot see it. [Even when Moses was in the Mount, he was aware I'that the very fulness of God's glory then revealed to ■him, was after all but the surface of His infinitude. The more he saw, the deeper and wider did he know ithat to be which he saw not. He prayed, "If I have ^ found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that i I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight; • and God said. My Presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest *." Moses was encouraged to ask for 'further blessings; he said, "I beseech Thee, show me i Thy glory." This could not be granted; " Thou canst i not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and " live." So, as the greatest privilege which he might I attain, Moses was permitted to see the skirts of God's ' greatness — "The Lord passed by in a cloud, and pro- 1 Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30. 33. 2 Exod. xxxiii. 13, 14.
claimed the Name of the Lord; and Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped '/' And it was this sight of the mere apparel in which God Almighty was arrayed, which made his face to shine.
But Christ really saw, and ever saw, the face of God, for He was no creature of God, but the Only-begottoi Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. From etemiiy He was with Him in glory, as He says Himself, dwelling in the abyss of the infinite greatness of the Most High. Not for forty daj's, as Moses on the mount in figure, but for ever and ever was He present as the Counsellor of God, as His Word, in whom He delighted. Such was He of old; but at the time appointed He came forth from the Father, and showed Himself in this external world, first as its Creator, then as its Teacher, the Eevealer of secrets, the Mediator, the Off-streaming of God^s glory, and the Express Image of His PersoqS Cloud nor image, emblem nor words, are interpose between the Son and His Eternal Father. No Ian guage is needed between the Father and Him, who i the very Word of the Father; no knowledge is impartj to Him, who by His very Nature and from etemit knows the Father, and all that the Father knowi Such are His own words, "No man knoweth the Soi but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reve^ll Him '." Again He says, " He that hath seen Me hatfi' 1 Exod. xxxiv. G. 8. 2 ^att. xi. 27.
Moses the Type of Christ. 125 sen the Father ^ -^^ and He accounts for this when He tils us, that He and the Father are one '; and that le is in the bosom of the Father, and so can disclose [im to mankind, being still in heaven, even while He as on earth.
I According-ly, the Blessed Apostle draws a contrast etween Moses and Christ to our comfort: " the Law,"
[ & says, " was given by Moses, but grace and truth jame by Jesus Christ." In Him God is fully and ifuly seen, so that He is absolutely the Way, and the Lruth, and the Life. All our duties are summed up for fp in the message He brings us. Those who look l-owards Him for teaching, who worship and obey Him, vill by degrees see " the light of the knowledge of the ^lory of God in His face," and will be '^changed into:he same image from glory to glory." And thus it lappens that men of the lowest class and the humblest jducation may know fully the ways and works of God; I'ully, that is, as man can know them; far better and:aiore truly than, the most sagacious man of this world, ■to whom the Gospel is hid. Pteligion has a store of wonderful secrets which no one can communicate to ianother, and which are most pleasant and delightful 'to know. "Call on Me," says God by the prophet, "and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not of." This is ino mere idle boast, but a fact which all who seek God will find to be true, though they cannot perhaps clearly express their meaning. Strange truths about ourselves, about God, about our duty, about the world, about heaven and hell, new modes of viewing things, discoveries which cannot be put into words, marvellous prospects and thoughts half understood, deep convictions I inspiring joy and peace, these are a part of the reve- i lation which Christ, the Son of God, brings to those i who obey Him. Moses had much toil to gain from the1 great God some scattered rays of the truth, and that for! his personal comfort, not for all Israel; but Christ hfij brought from His Father for all of us the full andj perfect way of life. Thus He brings grace as well as truth, a most surprising miracle of m^rcy from the, freeness of the gift, as well as a true wisdom from itS' fulness.::
And yet, alas! in spite of all this bounty, men caliel Christians, and how many! live heartlessly, not carii^ for the gracious benefit. Look at the world. ]\Ien begin life with sinning; they quench the early promise of grace, and defile their souls; they block up the entrances of the spiritual senses by acts of sin, lying and deceit, intemperance, profaneness, or uncleanness, — by a foolish and trifling turn of mind, — by neglect ol prayer when there is no actual vice, — or by an obstinate selfishness. How many are the ways in which men begin to lose sight of God! — how many are the fallings away of those who once began well! And then they
Moses the Type of Christ. 1 27
)on forget that they have really left God; they still
:^\vk they see His face, though their sins have beg-un b blind them. Like men who fall asleep, the real
Respect still flits before them in their dreams, but ut of shape and proportion, discoloured, crowded with jll manner of fancies and untruths; and so they proceed
[a that dream of sin, more or less profound, — sometimes jousing, then turning back again for a little more slum-
H'v, till death awakens them. Death alone gives lively i rieBceptions to the generality of men, who then see the rery truth, such as they saw it before they began to sin,
)yA> more clear and more fearful: but they who are the
Ibure in heart, like Joseph; or the meek among men, hike Moses; or faithful found among the faithless, as
{Daniel; these men see God all through life in the face
,l)f His Eternal Son; and, while the world mocks them, i ' br tries to reason them out of their own real knowledge, ithey are like Moses on the mount, blessed and hidden, —
If' hid with Christ in God,^" beyond the tumult and idols
|of the world, and interceding for it.
f 3. This leads me to mention a third point of resem- jblance between Moses and Christ. Moses was the
I [great intercessor when the Israelites sinned: while he ijiwas in the mount, his people corrupted themselves;
ithey set up an idol, and honoured it with feasting and
: dancing. Then God would have cut them off from the
"Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people ^." In this way he gained a respite, and then he renewed his supplications. He said to the people, " Ye have sinned a great sin; but now I will go up unto the Lord: peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin." Then he said to their offended Creator, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin.''
Here Moses, as is obvious, shadows out the true Mediator between God and man, who is ever at the right hand of God making intercession for us; but the j parallel is closer still than appears at first sight. After | Moses had said, " If Thou wilt, forgive their sin,' added, "and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Th*J book, which Thou hast written." He was taken at word. Observe, rather than Israel should forfeit tl promised land, he here offered to give up his own' portion in it, and the exchange was accepted. He was excluded, dying in sight, not in enjoyment of Canaan, while the people went in under Joshua. This was a figure of Him that was to come. Our Saviour Chrisf died, that we might live: He consented to lose the light of God's countenance, that we might gain it. By His cross and passion. He made atonement for our sins, and bought for us the forgiveness of God. Yet, on the other hand, observe how this history instructs us, at the
=;ame time, in the unspeakable distance betv*-een Christ
Hit of Thy book,'^ God did not promise to accept the hange, but He answered, ""Wliosover hath sinned uainst Me, him will I blot out of My book/^ Moses was not taken instead of Israel, except in figure. In ppite of Moses, the sinful people were plagued and died', though their children entered the promised land. And jagain, Moses, after all, suffered for his own sin. True,
^he was shut out from Canaan. But why? Not in ispite of his having " done nothing amiss,^^ as the Divine
[Sufferer on the cross, but because he spake unadvisedly
[with his lips, when the people provoked him with their jmurmurings. The meek Moses was provoked to call ithem rebels, and seemed to arrogate to himself the power jand authority which he received from God; and there- ifore he was punished by dying in the wilderness. But
[Christ was the spotless Lamb of God, "who, when He
[was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered. He
, threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that
judgeth righteously.'^ And His death is meritorious;
jit has really gained our pardon.
Moreover, it is well to observe how apparently slight la fault it was for which Moses suffered; for this shows I us the infinite difference between the best of a sinful race and Him who was sinless, — the least taint of human corruption having in it an unspeakable evil. 1 Vide Exod. xxxii. 34, [Vll] K
Moses was the meekest of men, yet it was for one sudden transgression of the rule of meekness that he suffered; all his former gentleness, all his habitual humbleness of mind, availed him nothing. It was unprofitable, and without merit, because it was merely his duty. It could not make up for a single sin, i however slight. Thus we see how it would be with us 1 if God were extreme to mark what is done amiss: and < thus, on the other hand, we see how supremely holy and pure that Saviour must be whose intercession is meritorious, who has removed from us God^s anger. None can bring us to Him but He who came from Him. Hej reveals God, and He cleanses man. The same is ouj Prophet and our Priest.
"We are now approaching the season when we com( memorate His death upon the cross: we are enterin upon the most holy season of the whole year. May "W approach it with holy hearts! IVIay we renew oii resolutions of leading a life of obedience to His coni mandments, and may we have the grace to seal our goo( resolutions at His most sacred Supper, in which " Jesui Christ is evidently set forth crucified among us.^^ H is useless to make resolves without coming to Him foi aid to keep them; and it is useless coming to His tabl without earnest and hearty resolves; it is provoking God "to plague us with divers diseases, and sundij kinds of death.'' But what shall be said of those wlu do neither the one nor the other, — who neither vo'
Moses the Type of Christ. 131
• obedience, nor come to Him for grace? — who sin; deliberately after they have known the truth — who;i review their sins in time past in a reckless hard-hearted jlway, or put them aside out of their thoughts — who can I bear to jest about them, to speak of them to others I unblushingly, or even to boast of them, and to determine i on sinning again, — who think of repenting at some |[ future day, and resolve on going their own way now, ^^■sting to chance for reconciliation with God, as if it i' were not a matter to be very anxious about? This state ' of mind brings upon man a judgment heavier than all the plagues of Eg}-pt, — a judgment compared with which that darkness which could be felt is as the sun's brightness, and the thunders and hail are as the serene sky, — ■ the wrath to come.
I Awake, then, my brethren, with this season, to meet T your God, who now summons you from His cross and \ tomb. Put aside the sin that doth so easily beset you, [ and be ye holy even as He is holy. Stand ready to \ suffer with Him, should it be needful, that you may rise ' together with Him. He can make bitter things sweet ^ to you, and hard ways easy, if you have but the heart to i desire Him to do so. He can change the Law into the! Gospel. He can, for Moses, give you Himself. He can ' write the Law on your hearts, and thereby take away the hand-writing that is against you, even the old curse ' which by nature you inherit. He has done this for many in time past. He does it for many at all times.
Moses the Type of Christ.
Why sliould He not do it for you? Wliy should you be left out? Why should you not enter into His rest? Why should you not see His glory? O, why should }'ou be blotted out from His book?