What do you think about fences? Are you FOR them or AGAINST them? I guess that depends on whether the fence is yours or someone else’s. If you put up a fence, it is because you are trying to protect your property or your privacy, but if someone else puts up a fence that keeps you out of somewhere you want to go, fences become a problem. I have a shortcut from our house to Dundas Street and for a while there was construction going on so my shortcut was blocked with a fence. I know there were good reasons for that fence. The fence was there for reasons of public safety and probably some insurance and workplace concerns, but that didn’t stop me from resenting the fence.
Think about what the Berlin Wall meant for those who lived in Berlin during the Cold War. A wall divided a country, a city, and even families. It created, or at it least maintained a spirit of “us” and “them.” The same can be said of the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.
On a smaller scale you have gated communities. They are all over the US and in a lot of other countries as well. On one side of the gate is the world and on the other side are life, family, comfort, and security.
Then there are the fences that keep people in: the fences of POW camps in WWII or the fences of penitentiaries today. At their worst, fences give us a view of what we cannot have.
Please turn with me to Deuteronomy 34, p. 180
As you turn there, let me give you a bit of background. Deuteronomy is a collection of sermons. In fact Deuteronomy contains the longest sermon in the Bible, so this week I want you to go home and read Deuteronomy out loud to each other and time it and then you can properly evaluate the length of my sermons. Actually, since I haven’t done this myself, perhaps you better not, just in case.
Deuteronomy is one of the four most often quoted books in the New Testament and it is Jesus’ most often quoted book as well.
Deuteronomy is a dramatic book. It presents Moses standing on the Plains of Moab, in the presence of the entire nation of Israel, preaching what will be his last sermon. Maybe that’s why this particular sermon is so long—Moses knows that when he is finished preaching, he will leave his people, walk up Mount Nebo, and die in the presence of God. If I knew I was going to die after this sermon today, I would be in no hurry to finish it either. In fact, I would consider it my prerogative to preach long enough to take a few of you with me!
Eugene Peterson writes in his introduction to Deuteronomy: “This sermon does what all sermons are intended to do: Take God's words, written and spoken in the past, take the human experience ancestral and personal, of the listening congregation, then reproduce the words and experience as a single event right now, in this present moment.”
Next time you read through Deuteronomy pay attention to how many times you see words like, “now and today.” Moses wanted to recount their past to ensure their future by making them renew their commitment to God in the present. Without a present commitment to God your past has no power and your future has no potential.
The Plains of Moab are the last stop for Moses and his people. For forty years, from slavery in Egypt, to their soon to be freedom in the Land of Promise, Moses and his people have been through a lot together: deliverance, wanderings, rebellions, wars, worship, joy, sorrow, faith, doubt, grumblings and more grumblings, and did I mention grumblings?
They had shared everything together, as a living community following their God through all the unexpected experiences that life brings. And now their journey together was about to end. Moses would pass the baton of leadership to Joshua. Joshua would lead the people into the Promised Land meanwhile Moses would walk up Mount Nebo and find Pisgah, its highest peak, and there he would find rest in the presence of God.
Beginning with verse 1 we read: “Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land--from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." 5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. 6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over . . . . 10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” (Deuteronomy 34:1-8, 10-12)
Moses climbed Mt. Nebo to the top of Pisgah. From there one could see the majority of the Promised Land. The LORD showed Moses a sweeping view of the land in a counter-clockwise panorama. Gilead was straight north on the east side of the Jordan River. It was the territory given to Gad. Dan was in the northernmost part of the land, located in the foothills of Mt. Hermon. Mt. Hermon, 160 km to the north, would have been clearly visible. Naphtali was in upper Galilee and west of the Sea of Galilee. Ephraim and Manasseh represented the central hill country that became the northern kingdom. Moses would have seen Mt. Gilboa and Mts. Ebal and Gerizim (ch. 27). Judah lay directly west and to the south. The Negev was the semiarid land in southern Judah that formed the southern boundary of the Promised Land. The panoramic sweep concluded with a view directly down the Jordan River valley that would have included Jericho, the Dead Sea, and Zoar. Zoar was the area to the south of the Dead Sea. The view Moses saw was representative of the Promised Land. Moses wouldn’t have been able to see all of the land, but he saw the majority of it.
In Genesis 13:14-17 we have a parallel to this passage in which God shows the land to Abraham. Both Abraham and Moses were shown the land that their descendants, or people, would inherit. So what Moses was looking at was more than just the culmination of a forty-year sojourn. In reality, it was the fulfilment of the ancient promise to Abraham. Hundreds of years had passed. Great struggles and hardships were endured. There were moments when everything seemed to be against the possibility of Abraham’s promise coming to pass and yet, here Moses was, looking over the land, claiming the soon to be realized fulfilment of God’s promise to Father Abraham. Our God is a God of ancient promises being fulfilled in the now.
Now, you have to wonder about what Moses was feeling as he looked over the land with God. In one sense he has the privilege of standing there, an audience of one, listening to God as He shares with him the developers’ preview of the Promised Land. Moses was being given the keys to the land Abraham was promised. That’s no small honour. I wonder how excited God was as he shared the tour with Moses. Did He give him hints of what would happen in the various locations?
There also the wonderful sense of completion that Moses must have had. Moses had done exactly what the Lord had called him to do. He had brought the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt and he had delivered them to the Land of Promise. True he wasn’t taking them into the land, but he had done everything he needed to do to ensure they would get there!
Now the interesting thing here is that nothing is mentioned in this passage that points to the reason why Moses isn’t going to go into the land. The sin at Meribah is not mentioned, like it was when Aaron died (Numbers 20:24). All that we are told is that Moses didn’t cross over into the land. “And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.”
Why is Moses’ sin not mentioned? I can think of a couple of explanations. First of all, the reason has already been mentioned several times in Deuteronomy (1:37; 3:23-29; 31:2,14,16,27-29; 32:28-52). Second, the purpose of these last words in Deuteronomy were to praise Moses and his place in God's plan, so nothing was mentioned that would distract from God’s praise.
The closing words of Deuteronomy are an epitaph for Moses. They are words exalting Moses’ virtue and uniqueness as God's servant. Throughout Deuteronomy, Moses has emphasized God’s incomparability. Now in this last chapter of Deuteronomy God stresses Moses' incomparability. Just look at what he says: “…no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”
These words, most likely given to Joshua after Moses’ death, give us God’s description of Moses. The phrase, “no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses” isn’t suggesting that Moses was the only prophet or the last prophet and neither is it slighting the other prophets who come along in Israel’s history. The point that God is trying to make here is that Moses was more than prophet. He was unique. He was one of a kind. He knew God face to face. Moses had a relationship with God that was totally unique. We see that in his call when he talked to God from the burning bush on Mount Horeb and we see it on how he dies with God talking to him, showing him the Promised Land on Mount Nebo, and then verse 6 tells us that God himself buries Moses. No one ever had such a direct, intimate relationship with God like Moses did. And no one ever did all the miraculous signs and wonders that Moses did. True some of the prophets did miracles, but nothing like the plagues and nothing like the things he did as the leader of God’s people. No one was like Moses. No one received the praises of the Lord like Moses. No one knew the Lord as personally and intimately as Moses. No one displayed the power of God like Moses. No one else would ever lead God’s people from bondage into freedom like Moses. No one would ever have God so intimately involved in their death and burial. Think about it. We are told in verse 7 that Moses was still strong and full of life. Moses doesn’t die because it was time for Him to die. God takes His life and then He personally takes care of the burial.
Why do you think Moses is buried like this? Well, some suggest that Moses’ burial place could end up being a place of worship and idolatry, if people knew where it was, and I think that is true. But I think the main reason God takes care of Moses’ burial is because of the close relationship they had. No one else needed to be there. Just as Moses’ ministry began alone on a mountain with God, it will end alone on a mountain with God.
As I read the list of characteristics that makes Moses unique, I hope there was something pushing and pricking at your thinking. You see it is a very unique list that no one else can claim for themselves, that is, until Christ enters God’s Story. Think about it: The very things that make Moses unique are also the very things that find their perfect fulfilment in the uniqueness of Christ.
For example no one received the praises of God like Jesus. At Jesus’ baptism God declares: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)
And no one knew the Lord as personally and intimately as Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells us as much in the Gospel of John when he tells Philip: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:9-10)
And how can we deny that no one showed the power of God like Jesus? He raised the dead and calmed the storms and walked on water and healed the blind and lame and leprous. But more than that, in Mark 2 we read, concerning Jesus’ declaration that He forgave the sins of the paralytic that was lowered through the roof: “Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Mark 2:6-12) Jesus power was great enough to forgive sins.
And certainly we know that Jesus leads God’s people out of bondage to freedom: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32).
Finally no one ever had God more intimately involved in their death and burial than Jesus. Peter on the Day of Pentecost declared: "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:22-24)
So, in summing up: all of the things that made Moses unique are the very things that also made Jesus unique. Moses himself pointed out this connection between himself and Christ when he prophesied about Jesus with these words: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Now God himself tells us that Christ is that prophet like Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. In Luke’s account we read: ‘A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him."’ (Luke 9:35) Jesus is unique like Moses, with one exception and that exception, I believe gives us a tremendous insight into why Moses dies without entering the Promised Land.
Returning to the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke’s account—Luke writes: “Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendorous, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:30-31)
The word that the NIV translates as ‘departure’ is actually the Greek word for ‘exodus’. Moses and Elijah spoke about Jesus’ exodus. Not only did Moses lead God’s people through an exodus, so did Jesus. The exodus of Moses was God’s rescue of His people from the bondage of slavery to Egypt. Jesus’ exodus, which happened on the cross, was God’s rescue of His people from the bondage of sin. Jesus’ exodus replaces Moses’ exodus and it is superior in every way.
Look at it this way: Moses represents the Law. He is the giver of the Law. With Moses’ death the Torah is finished. Moses represents the Law and his death demonstrates the undeniable truth that the Law cannot get you into the Promised Land. The Law can only get you so far. If you are as unique as Moses was, the Law can get you just within sight of the Promised Land, but it can’t get you inside.
Last week we discovered that Aaron, the first High Priest, needed a High Priest greater than himself. That High Priest was Jesus (Hebrew 5:9-10) This week we learn that Moses, the Deliverer, needed a Deliverer greater than himself. Neither the definer (Moses) nor the administrator (Aaron) of the Law made it into the Promised Land. Interesting! Remember what I said in the introduction: At their worst, fences give us a view of what we cannot have. Moses hit the fence. All he got a view of what he could not have. He couldn’t have it because of his sin. Moses, the man whom God used to defined and quantified and contextualized sin, for the entire nation of Israel, could not escape the consequences of sin. Moses got so close, but as giver of the Law, and as one under the Law, he was left on the outside looking in and there he died.
And if Moses, the one who was unique among God’s servants, couldn’t climb the fence into the Promised Land, what chance do you and I have? We have no chance whatsoever.
You can be an authority on God’s Word. You can spend your life focused on following and obeying God. You can deny yourself and even have face to face encounters with the Living God, but when it comes to entrance into the mother of all gated communities, security is going to turn you away. Even the giver of God’s Law could not escape the consequences of being unable to live up to the standard of God’s Law. Only one person was able to live up to that standard of the Law and that person was Jesus. Moses gave the Law—Jesus fulfilled the Law (Matt 5:17).
Moses is the giver of the Law and Jesus is the giver of Grace. The Law leaves you at the fence. It keeps you out of the Promised Land. It’s not fun being on the other side of a fence. It’s not fun being kept from where you want to be. It isn’t fun showing up for the party, only to be kept outside. No one would choose a fence over a door, and yet, many do without realizing it. Only Grace gives us a gate to enter in. Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9).
Why do so many people keep trying to climb the fenced when the gate is open? Why would we stand on the outside looking in, when through Christ we have a way to go through? It’s because they haven’t seen that there path is a dead end that leads to a fence.
The amazing end to Moses’ story isn’t found when he dies on Mount Nebo. It is found when God gives him a one way, first-class ticket to the Promised Land when he meets Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses finally got in, but only because Christ was already there! It’s interesting that Moses visits Jesus to discuss Jesus’ exodus—Jesus’ death on the cross that would lead all who put their trust in His saving work into the real, everlasting Promised Land. Clearly Jesus is the fence buster—even for Moses!
Maybe you’ve spent your life putting up fences. Maybe you’ve closed yourself off from your family, your friends, or whoever. Maybe you have shut the gate on God? Sometimes when we come across a fence, we respond by building a bigger fence. That makes us feel like we’re the one in control. Well, it’s time to get rid of the fences. How do you do that? You do it by understanding that you can’t do it on your own. Trying to live life on your own always ends up at a fence you can’t climb over or dig under. You need help.
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Specifically you need Jesus’ help, because only Jesus gives us a solution to the sinfulness that keeps us on the other side of the fence. So you need to give yourself to Jesus. And you do that by admitting you need help, we call that repentance. You do that by understanding your help is in the person and work of Christ. You have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to live a perfect life and then die for our sins. Then we confess our need for Christ and claim by faith the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit as we submit to the waters of baptism. If you are tired of the fences that keep you on the outside of life looking in, fill in a Keele Connect Card or come see me after the service.
Maybe you have already done all that. Maybe you are already a follower of Christ, but somewhere along the way you started to build more fences, or maybe you never allowed God to tear down all the fences that separate you from God. Are their places in your life you continue to control? Do you still see your faith in terms of keeping people out instead of inviting people in? Are you still trying to climb your way into the Promised Land, even though you once walked through the gate?
Everyone one of us is a fence builder. Fences are simply sinful attitudes and actions. Sin separates us from God and each other. Spend some time in prayer this week asking God to point out your fences and then ask Him to help you tear down those fences. What kind of fences are we talking about? There is a long list: any self-righteous attitudes, any prideful ideas, any bitter feelings, or any fears that keep you on the outside of experiencing God’s transforming Grace. It is my prayer that any fences we have that keep us from entering, or moving deeper into the Promised Land, will be removed as we surrender them to Jesus the fence-buster.
