PROGRESS XII

Jehovah showed that He was glad
The daughters of Zelophehad
Claimed their inheritance;
Claim the rich blessings there for you.
Confident that what will ensue
Is heavenly jubilance.

After such fervour it is sad
That those of Reuben and of Gad
Prefer a lower place;
Go on to all the good that's yours
Because of all God's heart assures
In its unbounded grace!

The half tribe of Manasseh found
They too were allocated ground
Upon the eastern bank;
In all the good He will provide,
In land, or family, or bride,
You have the Lord to thank.

Now Moses, at the LORD's command
Climbs Pisgah to survey the land
Where Israel shall dwell;
So, by the Spirit, we may view
The blessings God will bring us to
Since He does all things well.

He saw the end of his pursuit,
Seeing it lived in, yet his foot
Would never tread its loam;
Authority may bring you near
The blessings of the heavenly sphere
But love must draw you home.

PROGRESS XI

Travelling by ways He has prepared
They gather, for God had declared
He'll water them at Beer;
We move with God, obediently;
We assemble to Him, faithfully;
He gives refreshment here.

Well, that Jehovah told about;
Well, that the nobles hollowed out:
Rise up! Respond to it!
Praise now the Spirit as He springs
Within your heart; the Christian sings
For surely that is fit.

Victoriously they now unclog
The lands of Sihon and of Og,
Beginnings of the land;
Defying pride and laziness
Go, with God's favour, to possess
Good given by God's hand.

Hear Balaam, from the rocks, confess
This is a people God will bless
And which shall dwell alone;
Rejoice, ye saints, in heaven's view
Of separated Christians who
Are unknown yet well known.

God has not seen iniquity
In Israel, but the quality
Of what His love has wrought;
God loves to see His saints "in Christ",
In dignity which has sufficed
To answer to His thought.

How goodly, Jacob, are your tents!
How good the view the camp presents
To one with opened eyes;
How good the people of the Lord
Who congregate, with one accord,
In more than nature's ties.

But Israel falls to sin, alas,
Until the spear of Phinehas
Has executed wrath;
For sin assails us constantly
And must be dealt with ruthlessly
For all who take this path.

Moses and Eleazar count
The generation that will mount
The invasion of the land;
Our God rejoices to record
A generation like their Lord
To share what He has planned.

Since God has kept them both alive
Caleb and Joshua survive
All that might overwhelm;
Trust that the Lord will bear you through
And grace and power assure that you
Will come within His realm.

PROGRESS X

As in the wilderness at first
The people murmur about thirst
With blasphemous complaints.
For life you must not only think
Of blessings, but must daily drink
What God provides His saints.

Israel's blessing would ensue
From God when Moses speaks unto
The rock before their eyes;
Speak to the One following the flock
And you have water from the Rock
In bountiful supplies.

Dishonouring Jehovah's name
Moses was tinged with lasting blame
And failed to reach the land;
Jesus alone is fit to lead
As true to God in every deed,
As Christians understand.

Then the impatient people said
That their souls hated the "light bread"
Jehovah's goodness gave.
We find our hearts can be enticed
Through flesh to disregard the Christ
Who gave Himself to save.

But what the pains they underwent
From fiery serpents which God sent!
And many people died.
For still there operates within
The working of the power of sin
Which must be mortified.

Moses is told by God to make,
And set upon a pole, a snake
And all who look will live;
Faith apprehends that it is in
His Son that God condemns our sin
Which He cannot forgive.

Now are effectual journeying days
For those who've held within their gaze
The serpent on the pole;
As Christ is fixed before your sight,
Christian, you travel towards the light,
Since He has made you whole.

PROGRESS IX

First they rebelliously refuse
To go; and then to wait; and lose
Their lives at Hormah's heights;
Oh Christian, learn to fear the flesh
And judge it as it makes each fresh
Revolt against God's rights.

Despite the will, or flaws, of men
Immediately God speaks of "when
Ye come into the land".
Although temptation may assail
And we, in human weakness, fail
God's purposes will stand.

Despite their errors which God loathes
He marks them out, because their clothes
All bear a lace of blue;
Though here on earth still you may roam
The truth that heaven is your home
Is constantly in view.

But quickly Korah and his band
Claim that they have a right to stand
And offer priestly fire;
Religious flesh desires to seize
A place with God; it will not please
Or answer His desire.

All whom vain-glory caused to strive
For pride were swallowed up alive
And sank into the ground;
There is no feature of the mind,
However speciously refined,
That God will not confound.

The prince of each of Israel's tribes
Must bring a staff, as God prescribes,
To find whom He approves;
To quell in us the flesh's strife
God now will demonstrate the life
In which His Spirit moves.

Here is God's answer to their strife:
The power of resurrection life
In Aaron's budding rod;
Who, with His company, has sufficed
To act in priestly order? Christ,
The risen Son of God.

PROGRESS VIII

The Israelites now bake and beat
The manna given them to eat
Each morning on the dew;
Oh! Christian, pray you will not tire
Of Christ, who's worthy to acquire
Increasing worth to you!

They lust for meat - and soon you see
The quails Jehovah sent; yet He
Put leanness in the soul;
Judge lust by which you will not feed
On Christ, who answers every need
And makes the Christian whole.

When Moses' siblings' jealousy
Results in Miriam's leprosy
How fervently he pleads!
How well, when sins seems to enmesh,
Through sin that's working in the flesh
Our Patron intercedes!

They chose a man from every tribe
To find what blessings they describe
In spying out the land;
The Spirit helps you to explore
God's purposes, though they are more
Than you can understand.

While all affirm the land is good
And bring back samples of its food
Most make the people cower;
God's thought are good, and He has stRength
To bring you to His land at length
In spite of Satan's power.

But Caleb makes the people still
Assuring them that by God's will
The land will yet be theirs;
As we, obediently, employ
Our faculties we may enjoy
All that God's love confers.

PROGRESS VII

A chastened people now imparts
Wealth for the tent, because their hearts
Are willing, and are wise;
Recovered by God's grace, provide
For His place, where God may abide,
In spiritual supplies.

And soon, upon the desert sands,
The anointed tabernacle stands,
Enfolded in the cloud;
Now, by the Spirit, have a part
In what will answer to God's heart,
Spiritually endowed.

And now a priestly family
Begin to function comelily
According to God's ways;
Thus persons who are sanctified,
Influenced by Christ as glorified,
Begin to give God praise.

And should the camp remove, observe
The separated Levites serve
Under the priest's command;
Take opportunities God brings
To bear the consecrated things,
Lifting up holy hands.

Disdaining any human guide,
Israel, see the ark provide
The way for you to go;
Discounting man and all his views
Following Jesus you must choose
The road that He will show.

PROGRESS VI

Before they build their sanctuary
See Israel's idolatry
Before the calf of gold;
Despite your blessings, Christian, start
To learn the evil of your heart
And see its wiles unfold.

How good that Israel can count
On Moses who, upon the mount,
Is near to God to plead;
How good, failed Christian, that you can
Depend on the ascended Man
Who lives to intercede.

Observe how Levi righteously
Enacts God's word judicially
And does not spare the sword;
Despising claims of blood and flesh
When their entrapments would enmesh,
Be zealous for the Lord!

The Levites, who will not relent,
Now leave the camp towards the tent
Which is their separate tryst;
And, Christians, that we might be found
Before the Lord on righteous ground
We must go forth to Christ!

PROGRESS V

When Moses has inscribed these truths
Taking up priestly work the youths
Make sacrifice to God;
As stony tables of the heart
Are graven with God's words, saint, start
To sound His praise abroad.

After his reading Moses took
The blood to sprinkle men and book
To seal the covenant;
For the new covenant to take place
The blood of Jesus forms the base
Of all that God will grant.

Where He appeared in clarity
The Israelite nobility
Saw God and ate and drank;
By faith you can approach God now
And know that He to whom you bow
Confers the highest rank.

Now Moses goes before God's face
To take the mediator's place
And thus receive God's plan;
You may know all God chose to think
Of you because you have a link
In the ascended Man.

And God shows He desires to dwell
Among His people Israel
Between the cherubim;
The Lord's desire is to reside
In His own house, and there abide
In settings fit for Him.

Jehovah shows His dwelling should
Be centred on an Ark of wood
That's overlaid with gold;
A house that's suited to God's plan
Must have its centre in that Man
Whose worth cannot be told.

And each of the acacia boards
Upon its silver stands affords
Some structure for the tent;
Men fashioned after Christ provide
The dwelling where God may abide,
Eternally content.

And it is the divine intent
That boards and curtains of the tent
Should constitute one whole;
The dwelling suited to the Lord
Has saints in heavenly concord
Conjoined in heart and soul.

And God desires that Israel
Should furnish the materiel
To form His dwelling place;
For Christ desires that He should dwell
Amid the sacred personnel
Configured by His grace.