In The Promised Land
In Vision Moses View The Promised Land
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.
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, pp. 472-477.
The Grave Cannot Hold God’s Sleeping Saints
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. Deuteronomy 34:5.
After sin entered the world Eden had been caught up from the earth, for God would not suffer it to feel the marks of the curse. . . . As Moses beheld that lovely garden [in vision], an expression of joy came over his countenance. But the servant of God was carried still farther. He saw the earth purified by fire and cleansed from every vestige of sin, every mark of the curse, and renovated and given to the saints to possess forever and ever. He saw the kingdoms of the earth given to the saints of the Most High. . . .
In the new earth the prophecies that the Jews applied to the first advent of Christ will be fulfilled. The saints will then be redeemed and made immortal. Upon their heads will be crowns of immortality, and joy and glory will be pictured on their countenances, which will reflect the image of their Redeemer.
Moses saw the land of Canaan as it will appear when it becomes the home of the saints. John the revelator was given a view of this same land, of which he writes: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”. . .
As Moses beheld this scene, joy and triumph were expressed in his countenance. He could understand the force of all that the angels revealed to him. He took in the whole scene as it was presented before him. His mind was firm, his intellect clear. His strength was unabated, his eye was undimmed. Then he closed his eyes in death and the angels of God buried him in the mount. And there he slept.
But it was not long before Christ came to raise Moses to life. As He stood by the grave and bade him come forth, Satan stood by His side, saying, “I have control over him. I tempted him and he yielded. Even Moses was not able to keep God’s law. He has transgressed and has placed himself on my side of the controversy. He appropriated to himself the glory that belonged to God. He is my property, for by his sin he has placed himself in my dominion and in my power.”Manuscript 69, 1912 (Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, pp. 158, 159).
Moses’ Resurrection Certifies Satan’s Defeat
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Jude 9.
Satan contended earnestly for the body of Moses. Again he sought to enter into controversy with Christ in regard to the injustice of God’s law, and with deceiving power reiterated his false statements about not being fairly treated. His accusations were such that Christ did not bring against him the record of the cruel work he had done in heaven by deceptive misrepresentation, the falsehoods he had told in Eden that led to Adam’s transgression, and the stirring up of the worst passions of the hosts of Israel to incite them to murmur and rebel until Moses lost command of himself. . . . Christ did not retaliate in answer to Satan. He brought no railing accusation against him, but raised Moses from the dead and took him to heaven.
Here for the first time the power of Christ was exercised to break the power of Satan and give life to the dead. Here began His work of making alive that which was dead. Thus He testified that He was indeed the Resurrection and the Life, that He had power to ransom those whom Satan had made his captives, that although people die they will live again. The question had been asked, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). The question was now answered.
This act was a great victory over the powers of darkness. This display of power was an incontrovertible testimony to the supremacy of the Son of God. Satan had not expected that the body would be raised to life after death. He had concluded that the sentence “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” gave him undisputed possession of the bodies of the dead. Now he saw that he would be despoiled of his prey, that mortals would live again after death.
After Moses was raised to life, the heavenly gates of Paradise were opened, and Jesus passed in with His captive. No longer was Moses the captive of Satan. In consequence of his sin Moses merited the penalty of transgression and became subject to death. When he was raised to life he held his title in another name—the name of Jesus his Head.
The day of exile is nearly ended. The time is at hand when all who are sleeping in their graves will hear His voice and come forth, some to everlasting life, and some to final destruction. Christ will raise all His saints, glorify them with an immortal body, and open to them the gates of the city of God.
CTr 128-130