Deuteronomy 34

Chap. XXXIV. Ver. 1—12. The death and character of Moses.—In the close of the 32d chapter, the prophet received his summons to prepare to die. “And Moses went out from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah…. And the Lord showed him all the land ol Gilead,” &e. So Moses died, according to the word of the Lord,” without a fear, and without a murmur; affording to us, Christians, a happy example both of faith and submission to the divine will. ‘. Moses died, and was buried, and was lamented; such is the utmost we can say of the greatest man on earth. The pomps which follow them to the tomb may be admonitory to others, but is lost on them; and in this case there is an important reason for their omission; for such was the proneness of Israel to idolatry, that there is no room to doubt, but that the very men who so often slighted his authority and disobeyed his laws, would have been the first to idolize him.

For this reason, the oe ee could not be written by Moses; and it is probable that it anciently formed the first chapter of Joshua.]—Bagster.——Top of Pisgah.—Margin, “The hill.” See note on (Numbers 27:12). Ver. 6. Buried him in a valiey.—[it is probable, that the reason why Moses was buried thus privately was, lest the Israclites, prone to idolatry, should CONCLUDING REMARKS ON DEUTERONOMY. (Tus ends the Book of Dewteronomy, and withit the PENTATEUCH, commonly called the LAW OF Moses; a work every way worthy of God its author, and only less than the NEw ‘TESTAMENT, the Lato and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Its antigwity places it at the head of all the writings in the world; and the various subjects it embraces render it of the utmost importance to every part of the civilized world.

paar, history, georraphy. and chronology entitle it to the respect of the whole human race; while its system of theology, and religion demonstrably prove it to be a revelation from God. The Law of Moses is more properly the Law of Jehovah, torath yehowah, the grand title of the Pentateuch. Could we conceive Moses to have been the author of this system, we must consider him more then mortal:—no wisdom of inan has ever yet invented such a Code of Laws. His merit, however, has been disputed, and his laws severely criticised, by per- Sons whose interest it was to prove religion a cheat, because they had none themselves. To some, whose mental taste and feeling are strangely perverted, every thing in heathenisim wears not only the most fascinating aspect, but — to lay claim to, and possess every excellence; and hence they have called up Confucius, Menu, Zoroaster, and Mohammed himself, to dispute the palm with Moses !

On this subject in apccral, it may be just necessary to remark, that the utroost that can be said ofall laws, merely Awman, is, that they restrain vices, through the terror of punishment. God’s law not only restrains vice, but it infuses virtwe. It alone brings man to the footstool of his Maker; and keeps him dependant on the strong for strength, on the wise for wisdom, and on the merciful for grace. It abounds with promises of support, and salvation forthe present life, which no false system dared ever to propose: every where, Moses, in the most confident manner, pledges his God for the fulfilment of all the exceeding great and precious promises, with which his laws are so plentifully Ir is not certain whether this book received its name from Joshua as the author, or as the hero of it.

It is reasonable to believe that Joshua would keep minutes of events in which he bad so considerable a share; and yet, as several passages occur in this book which were evidently written after his time, it is likely that gome subsequent prophet, most probably Samuel, collected and arranged these memorials, and added those passages which Joshua could not have written, and which yet must have been written before the times of David and Solomon. (See (Deuteronomy 15:63).; xvi. 10.) However this may have been, “The Book of Joshua (as Dr. Clarke observes) is one of the most important writings in the Old Covenant, and should never be separated from the Pentateuch, of which it is at once both the continuation and completion.

Between this book and the five books of Moses, there is the same analogy as between the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The Pentateuch contains a history of the acts of the great Jewish iepuaton, and the laws on which the Jewish church should be established. The Book of Joshua gives an account of the establishment of that church in the land of Canaan, according to the oft-repeated promises and declarations of God. The gospels give an account of the transactions of Jesus Christ, the great Christian Legislator, and of those laws on which his church should be estabsished, and by which it should be governed. The Acts of the Apostles give an account of the actual establishment of that church, according to the predictions and promises of its great Founder.”

4; The foundation of the Jewish church and polity being laid, there are two peculiar circumstances, which, though they have been already hinted at, now claim a more distinct remark.; f 1. The Hebrew government, as just established, was a Theocracy: thatis, God (Theos) was himself the Supreme Governor of the nation; the high priest his prime minister (if we may so speak;) and Joshua, and his successors, the judges, his commanders in chief. Every tribe had its elders, who were magiatrates, or members of the Police; and the army was officered in the same way, by commanders of tens, of fifties of hundreds, and of thousands, ((Exodus 18)pay him divine honours. Almost all the gods of antiquity were deified men— great lawgivers, eminent statesmen, or victorious generals.

|—Bagster. _Ver. 7. Nor his natural force abated.—Hebrew, (as per margin,) ‘* Nor was his moisture fled;” or, as Job expresses it, ‘‘ His bones were moistened with marrow.” (Job 21:24). interspersed: and while they were obedient they could say, ‘‘ Not one word hath failed us, of all the good things which the Lord our God spake concerningus.”’ Who that dispassionately reads the Pentatewch, that considers it in itself, and in its reference to that glorious Gospel which it was intended to introduce, can for a moment deny it the palm of infinite superiority over al! the systems ever framed or imagined by man? Well might the Israelitish people triumphantly exclaim, ‘‘ There is none like the God of Jeshurun!”’ and with what striking propriety docs the glorious legislator add, ‘* Happy art thou, O Israel!

who is like unto thee? O people, saved of the Lord?’ Finally, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are amassed in these jive books, have enriched the whole civilized earth, and, indeed, greatl promoted that very civilization. ‘They have been a kind of tect-book to almost every writer on geology, geography, chronology, astronomy, natural history, ethics, jurisprudence, political wedss is theology, poetry, and criticism, from the time of Moses to the present day. Books to which the choicest writers and philosophers in Pagan antiquity have been_ deeply indebted; and which were the text-books to all the prophets—books from which the flimsy writers against Divine Revelation, have derived their natural religion, and all their moral excellence:—books written in all the energy and purity of the incomparable language in which they are composed; and lastly, books, which for importance of matter, variety of information, dignity of sentiment, accuracy of facts, impartiality, simplicity, and sublimity of narration tending to improve and ennoble the intellect, and ameliorate the physical an moral condition of man, have never been equalled, and can only be paralleled by the GosPEL of the Son of God!

Fountain of endless mercy, justice truth, and beneficence! how much are thy gifts and bounties neglecte by those who do not read this law; and by those who having read it, are not morally improved by it, and made wise unto salvation. ]—Bagster. THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 21. (Deuteronomy 1:15).) These were in all cases to abide by the written Mosaic law; and if any case occurred which that did not appear to reach, the high priest was to put on his mysterious breast-plate, and to appear before the most holy place, (without-side the vail,) and there to receive an oracular answer. This was the original constitution of the Hebrew government; but as it was foreseen that a kingly government, and a human monarch, would be required in process of time, provision was made for such a.

change, as we have seen in the t7th chapter of Deuteronomy, and latter part. Still however, the choice was with the Lord; and when chosen, the king had no right to make any alteration in the laws;_ but in all difficult cases, himself, as well as the judges, was to ask counsel of God, by the medium of the high priest. ((1 Samuel 14:37).) The Hebrew government, though divine, appears founded in covenant between God and Israel; ((Exodus 19:3-6). (Deuteronomy 19:10-13).) the fundamental principle of which was, the worship of Jehovah, and the utter extirpation of idolatry from all the land of Israel. The sanctions of this law, both in its rewards and punishments, were all temporai, (as among ourselves,) and necessarily must be so, as nations have no existence in a future state.

This does not prove, however, that the Hebrews had no knowledge of such a state, though it is probable that the bulk of the nation acted as little under its influence as the mass of nominal Christians among our countrymen. The doctrine of a future state among the Hebrews, (as the progress of truth generally is,) was like the rising of the sun, which “shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” It is impossible to account for the faith and piety of the early patriarchs, on the supposition that they knew nothing of a future state. Could Abel or Noah walk with God, as they are represented to have done, under the impression that the moment of death should separate them from him for ever? Could Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, die in faith, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews ((Deuteronomy 11)) informs us they did, without any assurance of an hereafter? Could Moses ‘“‘esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt,’” because ‘‘he had respect to the recompense of reward,” when his whole life was a series of “ afflictions,’

Notes on the verses

Chap. XXXIV. Ver. 1. Moses went wp.—IIt is evident that this chapter