Moses was prophetic of Christ by his failures as by his successes. He
could not do what the people clamoured to have done, and what he in the
mood of despair in which the text shows him, sadly owned that he could
not. In that very confession he becomes an unconscious prophet. For
that he should have so vividly set forth the qualifications of a leader
of men, as defined by the people's cries, and should have so bitterly
felt his incapacity to supply them, is a witness, if there is a God at
all, that somewhere the needed Ideal will be realised in 'a Leader and
Commander of the people,' God-sent and 'worthy of more glory than
Moses.'
The best service that all human leaders, helpers or lovers, can do us,
is to confess their own insufficiency, and to point us to Jesus.
All that men need is found in Him and in Him alone. All that men have
failed, and must always fail, to be, He is. Those eyes are blessed that
'see no man any more save Jesus only.' We need One who can satisfy our
desires and fill our hungry souls, and Jesus speaks a promise,
confirmed by the experience of all who have tested it when He declares:
'He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger.' We need One who will dry
our tears, and Jesus, when He says 'Weep not,' wipes them away and
stanches their sources, giving 'the oil of joy for mourning.' We need
One who can hold us up in our journey, and minister strength to
fainting hearts and vigour to weary feet, and Jesus 'strengthens us
with might in the inner man.' We need One who will bring us to the
promised land of rest, and Jesus brings many sons to glory, and wills
that they be 'with Him where He is.' So let us turn away from the
multiplicity of human insufficiencies to Him who is our one only help
and hope, because He is all-sufficient and eternal.