In Vision Moses Viewed the Promised Land

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

In Vision Moses Viewed the Promised Land

Today's Text: Thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 32:52

The Message:      As he [Moses] looked back upon his experience as a leader of God's people, one wrong act marred the record. If that transgression could be blotted out, he felt that he would not shrink from death. He was assured that repentance, and faith in the promised Sacrifice, were all that God required, and again Moses confessed his sin and implored pardon in the name of Jesus.      And now a panoramic view of the Land of Promise was presented to him. Every part of the country was spread out before him, not faint and uncertain in the dim distance, but standing out clear, distinct, and beautiful to his delighted vision. In this scene it was presented, not as it then appeared, but as it would become, with God's blessing upon it, in the possession of Israel. He seemed to be looking upon a second Eden. There were mountains clothed with cedars of Lebanon, hills gray with olives and fragrant with the odor of the vine, wide green plains bright with flowers and rich in fruitfulness, here the palm trees of the tropics, there waving fields of wheat and barley, sunny valleys musical with the ripple of brooks and the song of birds, goodly cities and fair gardens, lakes rich in "the abundance of the seas," grazing flocks upon the hillsides, and even amid the rocks the wild bee's hoarded treasures....      Moses saw the chosen people established in Canaan, each of the tribes in its own possession. He had a view of their history after the settlement of the Promised Land; the long, sad story of their apostasy and its punishment was spread out before him. He saw them, because of their sins, dispersed among the heathen, the glory departed from Israel, her beautiful city in ruins, and her people captives in strange lands. He saw them restored to the land of their fathers, and at last brought under the dominion of Rome.      He was permitted to look down the stream of time and behold the first advent of our Saviour. He saw Jesus as a babe in Bethlehem.... He followed the Saviour to Gethsemane, and beheld the agony in the garden, the betrayal, the mockery and scourging-the crucifixion....      Still another scene opens to his view-the earth freed from the curse, lovelier than the fair Land of Promise so lately spread out before him. There is no sin, and death cannot enter. There the nations of the saved find their eternal home.-Patriarchs and Prophets, 472-477.

Commentary: My friend, because of Moses' sin before the children of Israel he was not allowed to enter into the promised land.  To many it may seem like this sin was not so sever that it should call upon him such a severe sentence, but in the eyes of God it was a grievous sin.  Moses had been magnified in the eyes of the people.  He had been favored above all the people and as such all looked to him as the visible manifestation of the will of God.  Had God overlooked this sin, the children of Israel would have been led to believe that God is not particular regards to His commands and His law. Though the sentence was severe, it was not without mercy.  God presented before Moses the promised land in all its glory, through to the time of Christ's crucifixion, resurrection, the second coming of the Son of God, and the final eradication of sin.  All of this was presented to Moses that he may have faith that the promises of God regarding the people would be fulfilled. My friend, we have all sinned before the throne of God, but we may rest upon the promise given by God that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).  The forgiveness of our sins is followed up with the cleansing of our hearts from all unrighteousness.  This is the work of Jesus upon the heart.  His life is given to us in place of our own.  His victory in place of our defeat.  What a wonderful promise that we have in Jesus Christ, the Son of the One true God. God bless,

Video of the Week Truth Personified - with Daniel Mesa We have been able to identify truth by a name. Do we have enough evidence to be able to personify something else as well?  This presentation was presented recently to a group of believers in Canada.