His Final Words, Our First Work Series

For twelve weeks we have been studying the life of Moses, the greatest Old Testament prophet. A prophet, by definition, is one who speaks just as a preacher does today. Do you remember one of the first things we heard Moses say during this series? After God appeared in the burning bush to an 80-year-old Moses and tasked him with confronting the Egyptian Pharoah so that he would let the Israelite slaves go, Moses countered: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. …Please send someone else.” (Ex. 4:10, 13b)

But what a difference forty years can make! As we listen to the final words of Moses, words he spoke to the Israelites shortly before his death at age 120, we hear him say: “Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Dt. 32:1-4)

No longer was Moses hesitant to speak. He spoke boldly, even eloquently as if from a carefully crafted Shakespearean sonnet. Why? Because Moses had something important to say and he wanted everyone to listen…including us. As we conclude our Moses: Made for More sermon series, we’ll see why we’ll want to make Moses’ final words our first work.

They say that before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. If Moses experienced a phenomenon like that, he had an exciting life to review! Born to Jewish slaves in Egypt, Moses was supposed to have been tossed into the Nile River and drowned with other Jewish baby boys because the Egyptian Pharaoh was nervous that there were too many Jews in his land. Instead, Moses was lovingly placed in a basket called an ark by his mother. She then floated that basket on the Nile River, entrusting Moses’ care to God. God responded when he caused Pharoah’s daughter to discover and adopt Moses.

40 years later, Moses threw away a life of ease as an Egyptian nobleman when he sided with his Israelite brothers and sisters. He saved one from an Egyptian slave driver but committed murder in the process and was forced to flee Egypt. The next 40 years of his life was spent in obscurity as a shepherd in the wilderness near Mt. Sinai. But one day, a burning bush caught Moses’ attention. It was clearly on fire, but the leaves and the branches did not disintegrate. When Moses went over to investigate, the Angel of the Lord called out to him from within the fire: “Moses! Take off your sandals. You’re on holy ground.” God proceeded to task Moses with leading the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. It was also here that God revealed himself as the great I AM, the God of absolute constancy and independence. When Moses and the Israelites would later wonder whether God was really with them, God’s response was his name: I AM!

Time and time again, God proved that he was with Moses and the Israelites when he performed miracles on their behalf, like the Ten Plagues against Egypt. And although there were no Walmarts but only a barren wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land, God provided food and water in miraculous ways for two million refugees. He did this in spite of constant grumbling and complaining from the Israelites. Moses was right when had said about the Lord: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Dt. 33:27)

Have you seen that new commercial from AT&T? It’s the one with the 6’11, 250 lbs NBA basketball player Steven Adams holding up three adults on his outstretched arms. Those are strong arms, but they are not everlasting arms. Your God, on the other hand, managed to uphold two million Israelites for 40 years. This same God has slipped his arms underneath you too. Oh sure, you’ve no doubt experienced some turbulence in your life. But I don’t doubt either that God’s everlasting arms have cushioned the blows.

Since this God had been faithful to all of his promises to Israel, Moses urged that the Israelites remain faithful to the Lord. Among Moses’ final words is a statement of faith that many Jews still recite twice a day. It goes like this: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Dt. 6:4)