Deuteronomy 34: 1 – 12
Good Night Moses Sleep Tight
34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. 9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
My favorite verse that I use to start off each funeral/Memorial Service is from the book of Revelation chapter 14 verse 13, “13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
Stop and think about this verse for a minute. We sinful humans tend to rejoice when we see the bad guy get his rightfully due punishment and we are heartbroken when someone we know dies. In Heaven however we have just the opposite view. In Heaven there is rejoicing when a believer dies and sadness when the evil person life is ended.
Why is this?
The answer lies in the fact that the believer has eternity in store for him/her in being with the Lord Jesus and other love ones while the non-believer is cut off for eternity with all connections in hell.
If you ever have the time, look up the word ‘sleep’. You will note that when a believer dies he/she is referred to as sleeping. Let me give you just a couple from the mouth of our Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;
Matthew 9, “He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him
John 11, “These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
1 Corinthians 15, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—“
Romans 13, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
Some people have argued with me about the resurrection. They state, ‘How do you know that there will actually be a resurrection. Have you personally seen someone rise from the dead?’
I respond, ‘that question is an easy one to answer. In fact our Holy and Marvelous God shows us all each night the experience of resurrection.’
Now I’ve got their attention.
I continue, ‘For believers when one dies it is referred to as sleeping. For all of us each night we fall asleep. Our Holy God Is so great that He gives us movies to keep us occupied. We call them dreams. We experience a resurrection when we wake up. If you do not have prostate problems then many times hours go by and you are oblivious to missing the time. A person dying does the same thing. He or she falls asleep and instead of waking up to the alarm clock they hear the voice of our sweet Savior saying ‘Tom’ (put your own name here) it’s time to wake up.”
Moses went through this experience. We are going to learn how our Merciful Holy Father allowed him to look at all the Promised Land from the top of the mountain. Then He said to Moses, ‘Good Night My son sleep tight.’ We might be saddened by Moses loss of not being allowed to go into the Promised Land but I want to show you an amazing example of God’s Grace.
Matthew 17, “17 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, [a]let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”
Where did the Transfixion of our Holy Lord Jesus take place? The answer is on Mount Tabor which is in Israel, which is in the Promised Land. Moses was resurrected in order to go over the ‘Exodus’ of our Lord and Savior Jesus in providing for us sheep a way for our entry into His Promised Land.
The book of Deuteronomy closes with a record of the death of its main source.
34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
Having fulfilled his final responsibilities Moses went up to the high cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea (the Pisgah), to Mount Nebo, a high point in the Pisgah. And from there he surveyed the land on the other side of Jordan as far as the eye could see. The point is to bring out that he surveyed ‘the whole land’, north towards Gilead, north west towards Dan and Naphtali, west towards Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah, and south towards ‘the South’ and Zoar.
4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”
The surveying of the land was probably intended to represent ownership. On behalf of his people Moses was permitted this first indication of ownership. It was the land which Yahweh had sworn to the patriarchs that He would give them, now it will be possessed, but not by Moses except by faith. It was for the children of the patriarchs, for Israel.
5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
There in that mountain Moses died, just as Yahweh had stated must happen. ‘The Servant of Yahweh’ was a title of great honor. It represented one who was directly associated with Yahweh in His purposes, and through whom Yahweh carried out His will on earth, and who was faithful to the end. Joshua would later also be called the Servant of Yahweh at his death (Joshua 24.29).
6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
This probably simply means that although they went up and searched everywhere they never found his body. ‘Yahweh had buried him’. Thus no one knew where he was buried. Just as he had mysteriously appeared from God, from the wilderness, so he had equally mysteriously returned to God, and no one knew how. He had come from God and now he was in God’s hands. It may be that God did not want any attempt to be made to take Moses’ body with them into the land along with Joseph’s bones. His exclusion would ever be a warning against presumption.
7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
He died in full health. The very fact that he had been able to climb the mountain alone and look across the Jordan was proof enough of this. He could still see well and move about with confidence. Today he would have been described as ‘a wonderful man for his age’. And that he certainly was, in more ways than one.
8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.
The thirty days appears to have been the prescribed period of mourning for a leader in Israel (Numbers 20.29). There can be little doubt that the mourning was genuine. They had not always loved him in life, but he had been their mainstay and their inspiration, their great deliverer, and their constant contact with Yahweh. However, they knew that once the mourning was over they had to move on. Death was no stranger to them and they had been warned in advance that this one was coming.
9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
For the moving on there was only one man, Joshua the son of Nun, for Moses had appointed him and laid his hands on him. He was Yahweh’s and Moses’ choice. And as a result he was filled with the Spirit of wisdom. Compare Numbers 27.18-23 where he is described as ‘a man in who is the spirit’ (Numbers 11.16-17). He was a man prepared. Yahweh’s work never loses through the death of even so great a man as Moses. No human being is ever indispensable. Yet note what is said about him. Israel listened to him and did what Moses commanded. Even after Moses’ death he was Moses’ mouthpiece. Thus the authority that lay behind Joshua was seen as a might passed on by Moses.
10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
Nevertheless no prophet had arisen to replace him who was of his quality. Moses was unique.
11 in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
This uniqueness came out in what was accomplished through his life. Moses took on the whole of Egypt singlehanded in Yahweh’s name, and won. And then it was revealed again in God’s mighty hand revealed throughout the wilderness journey, including all the terrible judgments that took place through his ministrations, producing within Israel the fear of Yahweh, so that all Israel feared Him. It was through such that they were now here waiting to cross the Jordan, confident in Yahweh.
