Dr Dodiddily and the Dee-Dot's : Blog

Dr Dodiddily and the Dee-Dot's : Blog:
"The Burial of Moses - Mrs C. F. Alexander. A wonderful piece of Poetry
Dr. Dodiddily and the Dee Dot's
and her own views of the Holy Land Nebo

THE DEATH OF MOSES.

And the Lord spake unto Moses that self-same day, saying. Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession :
And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother dies in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.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 there in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor :
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give children of Israel. Deuteronomy: parts of chapters xxxii and xxxiv

To climb the 4,000 feet to the top of Mount Nebo would have posed a significant physical challenge for a person of any age. The Scripture records, however, that 'Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigour abated' (Deut 34:7). God provided Moses with continued keen eyesight, so he could see the Promised Land from north to west to south, and with the physical stamina to climb the mountain to view it. On the Plains of Moab there was a month of mourning but no funeral or burial. Moses never had to climb down from the mountain. He never had to report to the people what he had seen. Perhaps he never had to explain why he would not be leading them across the river into the Land. They watched him leave the camp and begin his climb, following his figure until it was out of sight. They waited for him to come down, but they never saw him again. Had Moses told them why he was climbing the mountain, a somewhat unusual act for their aged leader? How many times would they have looked up to those heights, as they mourned below, wondering exactly what had transpired on the 4,000 foot heights of Mount Nebo?


The Burial of Moses

By Nebo's lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan's wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab
There lies a lonely grave,
But no man dug that sepulcher,
And no man saw it e'er ;
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.

Thus was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the tramping,
Or saw the train go forth -
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes when the night is done,
And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek
Grows into the great sun :

Noiselessly as the springtime
Her crown of verdure waves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves ;
So, without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain's crown
The great procession swept.

Perchance the bald old eagle
On gray Beth-peor's height,
Out of his rocky eyrie,
Looked on the wondrous sight;
Perchance the lion stalking
Still shuns that hallowed spot,
For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.

But when the warrior dieth,
His comrades in the war,
With arms reversed, and muffled drum,
Follow the funeral car ;
They show the banners taken,
They tell his battles won,
And after him lead his masterless steed,
While peals the minute gun.

Amid the nobles of the land
Men lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honoured place,
With costly marble drest,
In the great minster transept,
Where lights like glories fall,
And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings,
Along the emblazoned wall.

This was the truest warrior
That ever buckled sword,
This the most gifted poet
That ever breathed a word ;
And never earth's philosopher
Traced with his golden pen
On the deathless page, truths half so sage
As he wrote down for men.

And had he not high honour,
The hillside for his pall,
To lie in state while angels wait
With stars for tapers tall,
And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes,
Over his bier to wave,
And God's own hand, in that lonely land,
To lay him in the grave ?

In that strange grave without a name,
Whence his uncoffined clay
Shall break again, O wondrous thought !
Before the Judgment day,
And stand with glory wrapt around
On the hills he never trod,
And speak of the strife that won our life,
With the Incarnate Son of God.

O lonely grave in Moab's land !
O dark Beth-peor's hill !
Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to be still.
God hath his mysterious of grace,
Ways that we cannot tell ;
He hides them deep like the hidden sleep
Of him He loved so well.

Cecil Frances Alexander

In a way it is a little sad that a man who did so much for the Israelites, should have been allowed to die in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor, a place whose name bought to mind not greatness but that of a demon:


A famous mountain beyond the Jordan. Nebo and Pisgah were neighbouring mountains.

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