Lesson 13.—September 28.—Review of the Quarter’s Lessons.
During the quarter we have had twelve of the lessons taught in Israel’s training-school in the wilderness. These are lessons for our day and generation as well as for Israel. They were taught directly to Israel, but they “were written for our learning,” Rom. 15: 4. They were not written merely for our memorizing, not merely as an intellectual accomplishment, an addition to our scholarship, but “that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Only those who have studied the quarter’s lessons with this object in view, and have thus learned them, have been really benefitted. The lessons have been as follows:—
1. The Giving of the Manna—Ex. 16: 4–15.—After leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea by faith in God’s Word (Heb. 11: 29), the people were suddenly confronted with the problem of getting food for the vast multitude in the wilderness. So the Lord demonstrated His ability to feed His people under any circumstances. He had previously shown His power to heal bitter water. Ch. 15: 22–26.
2. The Ten Commandments—Duties to God—Ex. 20: 1–11.—While obedience to the whole law is a duty, we owe first duty to God (Eccl. 12: 13, 14; John 14: 15; 15: 14); the language of the first four makes this duty specific in the commandments themselves. The fourth establishes a memorial as a specific sign of obedience. Ex. 31: 12–17, Isa. 58: 13, 14. It is a memorial in special honor of God’s creative and redemptive power. Gen. 2: 2, 3; Deut. 5: 15.
3. The Ten Commandments—Duties to Man—Ex. 20: 12–17.—The last six of the commandments definitely forbid infractions of duty to our fellow-men, but they are the commandments of God. Being the law of God, the performance of the duties enjoined constitute obedience to Him. When the duties are neglected it is God that is dishonored. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
4. Worshiping the Golden Calf—Ex. 32: 1–6, 30–35.—Because Moses was out of sight, the people could not trust God. Aaron, tho standing as the representative of God before the people, was afraid to deny their demand that he should make them a god. The law of God, to which they had assented but a short time before and covenanted to keep, had no power over them because it was not in their hearts. “It was weak through the flesh.” Rom. 8: 3. If the Spirit of Christ be in the heart, the law is written there, and has power to control the action of the individual.
5. The Tabernacle—Ex. 40: 1–13.—The tabernacle was built that God might dwell with His people. Ex. 25: 8. It was a type of the sanctuary in which Christ is now ministering in heaven, and its service was a type of His service in the heavenly sanctuary. Heb. 8: 1–6. The purpose of God is to dwell in the hearts of His people (1 Cor. 3: 16, 17; 6: 19, 20); but Israel had not let Him unreservedly into their hearts, so He could not dwell there. The tabernacle, with its furnishings and services, was a series of object lessons to teach spiritual truths.
6. Nadab and Abihu—Lev. 10: 1–11.—These young men lost their lives because they did not sense the sacredness of the house and the presence and the service of God. They did not discern the difference between the holy and the common. Selfish desire was heeded rather than the commandment of God. Their overt act was drinking wine and using common fire in the tabernacle; the underlying sin which led to this was unbelief. This is more than an ordinary temperance lesson. It teaches that the service of selfish desire and the service of God can not be combined in one individual.
7. Journeying toward Canaan—Num. 10: 11–13, 29–36.—After the building of the tabernacle at Sinai, after an encampment there of a little over eleven months, Israel set out for Canaan, piloted by the Angel of the Lord in the pillar of cloud. It was a shade from the sun’s hot rays by day, and a continuous light in the camp by night. See Ps. 34: 7 and 91.
8. Report of the Spies—Num. 13: 26 to 14: 4.—The ten spies, who discouraged the people with reports concerning the enemies that confronted them, had not learned the lesson that the God of Israel was invincible. The two spies, who saw victory by faith beyond the great obstacles portrayed by their brethren, had learned the lesson. The unbelief of the people, that hindered their entering into the land (Heb. 3: 19), had been manifested in their proposition to send spies to see whether they could go where the Lord was leading them.
9. The Brazen Serpent—Num. 21: 1–9.—There was no healing power in the “piece of brass” (2 Kings 18: 4, margin). Those who looked to it were healed by faith in the Lord’s Word. The lesson is that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3: 14, 15.
10. The Prophet Like Moses—Deut. 18: 9–19.—“The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Ex. 33: 11. No other prophet in Israel held such intimate communion with God until Christ came. The people had looked for “that prophet” all the time from Moses’ day until Jesus appeared, and then rejected Him through unbelief.
11. Loving and Obeying God—Deut. 30: 11–20.—The Lord loves His people, and wants to bless them and give them eternal life. But if they are disobedient, they bring death upon themselves in spite of His love. “The wages of sin is death.” No profession of love will stand unless there be obedience. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5: 3. They are not grievous when written on the heart.
12. The Death of Moses—Deuteronomy 34.—Moses had led the Lord’s people forty years in the wilderness; had led them to the border of the promised land, and then was not permitted to go in with them. Why?—Because on one occasion he failed to give God the glory as the provider of a needed supply of water. God was not selfish, but the welfare of His people required that they must in everything recognize dependence upon Him. The words of Jesus, “Without me ye can do nothing,” were true then, as they are to-day. Not even a Moses was an exception to this truth.
