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<< Deuteronomy XXXIV: The Promised Land >>
 We must read also how the Lord let Moses see the promised land, which he was not to enter. The time was near for Moses to die, and he blessed the people as an old father used lo bless his children before his death. Then he climbed to the top of Mount Nebo, which is still called Neba, "height," rising nearly four thousand feet above the plain.
From this mountain-top the Lord showed Moses the land. He looked northward over the land of Gilead on the east side of the Jordan, towards Mount Hermon and Dan where the Jordan rises. Some who have visited the mountain say that Mount Hermon itself can be seen. Then he looked westward over the land of Canaan. It is called by the names of the tribes to whom it soon was given. Naphtali reached to Mount Hermon. Manasseh lay in the middle of the land, including Mount Ebal and Mount Grerizim, which are plainly seen from Nebo. Ephraim lay south of Manasseh, and Judah, just across the Dead Sea, stretched away to the west towards the Mediterranean. Still to the left lay the open pastures of the South Country. Near by was the deep plain of Jordan, with Jericho at the foot of the bluffs across the river, with its groves of palms. Zoar was a city of the plain, which we learned about in the story of Abraham and Lot. It was probably close under the mountain, near the northern end ol' the Dead Sea.
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewedin the sight of all Israel.---Deuteronomy XXXIV.
Author: William L. Worcester 1904
Spiritual Correspondences
Spiritual Meaning
DEUTERONOMY XXXIV
1And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
1. And now the merely representative church, or the merely natural man is elevated, as to the understanding separated from the corrupted will, by means of the affection of knowing into the perception of Divine Truths in general so that he understands natural good and natural truth.
2And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
2. And thence farther also, the freedom of the new natural man; the new intellectual and voluntary life of the spiritual man; and even celestial love in obscurity.
3And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
3. And thence also interior truths from the natural affection delighted with knowledge, and the good of life even to its ultimates.
4And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
4. And in this way the natural man has a perception from the Lord that the heavenly state is confirmed to man in its threefold character as celestial, spiritual, and natural, from which are all truths; but although he understands these things, he cannot realize them.
5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
5. On the contrary true spiritual life is rejected by him, in his state of corrupted good, according to Divine Order.
6And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
6. And he is raised to life in a state and place whichis agreeable to the natural man both in will and understanding; but the quality of his life is not known to any but the Lord.
7And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
7. But the natural man who is regenerated, is in a full state of spiritual life both as to understanding and will.
8And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
8. Nevertheless, the spiritual man, in the corrupted church, mourns for the want of truth, when it completely disappears, and is succeeded by another state, which is one of transition.
9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
9. But the new state which brings salvation and is to be eternal, is a state of heavenly wisdom arising from the reception of Divine Truth in its power; and the Spiritual Church therefore, is obedient to this wisdom according to influx from the Lord into Divine Truth instructing man.
10And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
10. For Divine Truth from the Word is superior to all other truth, because it is the manifestation of Divine Good,
11In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,
11. And enables man to resist evil and falsity in the merely natural life, both as to the will and understanding internally and externally;
12And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.
12. And this even with full spiritual power, in all respects, by Divine Truth operating in the Spiritual Church.
Author: Rev. HENRY MACLAGAN (1911)
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