354 



THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



in heaven ; the rocky horizon bounded his view and 

 hemmed him in ; he saw no sight save the common 

 features of the landscape, and heard no sound save the 

 sigh of the wind and the rustle of the acacia. In the 

 foreground of the mountain he was surrounded with 

 nothing but nature in its ordinary mood ; and he 

 himself was but a common shepherd engaged in the 

 familiar task of feeding his flock on the scanty herbage 

 around. But when he led his flock to the back side of 

 the mountain, it was like passing behind the scenes to 

 behold the unseen and eternal realities of the things 

 seen and temporal. It was like going through the veil 

 from the outer court of nature into the inner ; from the 

 holy place where everything testifies of God's creation 

 and providence into the most holy place where is the 

 immediate and unveiled face of God. At the back side 

 of the mountain the common air syllabled God's name, 

 and the common bush revealed His presence, and the 

 common sunshine that quivered on the leaves of the 

 bush flamed with His glory. Heaven came down to 

 earth. Moses became an inspired seer; he was let into 

 the secret of the sufferings of Israel, the meaning of 

 God's discipline of them, and the design and end of 

 their captivity. And the vision changed him from 

 being a shepherd of sheep into being a shepherd of 

 men. And so, too, if we are to behold something 

 of the sight which Moses beheld, and to be changed 

 in some measure as he was changed, we must often 

 retire to the background of the mountain on which we 

 live and labour. In the foreground we see only the 



