DEATH OF MOSES.
Deuteronomy 34:1-12.
DEUTERONOMY 34:1-4. Moses’ long ministry was drawing to an end, but the LORD had one last treat for His faithful servant before he died. Moses already knew that he would not be permitted to enter the promised land (cf. Deuteronomy 3:27), but the LORD personally gave him a visual guided tour of the land, from the top of a mountain in Moab. “This is the land,” announced the LORD, “which I swore unto Abraham… I have caused you to see it with your eyes” (Deuteronomy 34:4).
This ‘look’ is the same ‘look’ that Abraham was allowed (cf. Genesis 13:14-15). Yet Abraham and the patriarchs dwelt as ‘strangers and pilgrims in the land’ (cf. Hebrews 11:13-15). Indeed, none of the OT saints received the promise, ‘God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect’ (cf. Hebrews 11:39-40).
We may have ‘lands’ to possess in this world; but we are not to make that our priority (cf. Luke 14:16-18). Our priority is to ‘seek first the kingdom of God’ (cf. Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31). Part of the ‘lively hope’ which is ours in the risen Lord Jesus is ‘an inheritance… reserved in heaven for you’ (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-4).
DEUTERONOMY 34:5. So Moses “the servant of the LORD” died in the land of Moab. Moses was not without his faults, but at heart he was a meek man (cf. Numbers 12:3). Meekness is not weakness, but strength under control (cf. Matthew 11:29).
The title “servant of the LORD” describes the Christian walk and life. Jesus’ own model of leadership was one of service and self-sacrifice (cf. Mark 10:42-45). True meekness, true ministry, true service is not ashamed to stoop down and ‘wash the feet’ of another (cf. John 13:13-17).
DEUTERONOMY 34:6. And the LORD Himself buried Moses in a place undisclosed to any man to this very day. This was no doubt expedient, lest the children of Israel should turn his sepulchre into a place of pilgrimage, causing them to stray out of the promised land.
DEUTERONOMY 34:7. Moses was 120 years old when he died (cf. Genesis 6:3). Although Moses had earlier complained of lack of vigour (cf. Deuteronomy 31:2), “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” Moses had had enough strength to climb this mountain. Furthermore, he had ‘seen the promised land.’
DEUTERONOMY 34:8. The mourning for Moses was of a length befitting a great leader, but once the thirty days were over “the weeping and mourning for Moses were over.” It was now time to look to the future.
DEUTERONOMY 34:9. When the LORD had first instructed Moses to lay his hand on Joshua, the LORD described the younger man as one in whom the Spirit already abode (cf. Numbers 27:18). The New Testament teaches, ‘Lay hands suddenly on no man’ (cf. 1 Timothy 5:22). But rather the church should choose fit persons for the work of the ministry (cf. Ephesians 4:11-13).
However, there is no doubt that in his public ordination Joshua was further equipped for his future ministry (cf. Numbers 27:20). And here we are told that Joshua was “full of the spirit of wisdom,” equipping him to know God’s will in the various challenges that lay ahead. Significantly, “the children of Israel hearkened unto (Joshua), and did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
DEUTERONOMY 34:10. In the epitaph to Moses life, we are told first of all that he was a prophet. A prophet is a person who tells forth the Word of God. There were others before him: Enoch, Noah, Abraham. And others after him, but none like him.
At least, until One who appeared who was described as ‘greater than Moses’ (cf. Hebrews 3:1-6). In the Old Testament, God spoke through dreams and visions, through type and prophecy, and through the sacrifices and ceremonies of a complex cultic ritual (cf. Hebrews 1:1). With some, like Abraham and Moses, He spoke ‘face to face’ (cf. Numbers 12:6-8) - but the fathers were walking in the shadow of the promise, and not in the fullness that we now enjoy.
Despite his initial reluctance, Moses did everything that God commanded him (cf. Exodus 40:16). Moses was like a faithful old retainer in a mighty house: but Jesus is the one who built the house. Moses was a servant of the house: but Jesus is the founder and head over His own house; ‘whose house are we…’ (cf. Hebrews 3:6).
DEUTERONOMY 34:11-12. The epitaph reflects on “all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent (Moses) to do in the land of Egypt” and “in the sight of all Israel.” The ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea; the water from the Rock, the manna. Yet the real hero of the show is the LORD Himself, who performed all these wonders both to confound His (and our) enemies, and to encourage His people in the way. May His Name be praised.
