“And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.’ That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, ‘Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.'” Deut. 32:45-52
Devotional Thought For The Day
What does it mean that Moses was excluded from the “Promised Land”? Does it mean that he didn’t make it to heaven? What is the significance of the fact that he was buried in Moab? And what should we make of his short obituary recorded in Deut. 34? There we read: “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” He is still described as “the servant of the LORD,” and furthermore, he appears with Elijah on the mount of Jesus’ transfiguration: “Behold, two men were talking with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” [Luke 9:30,31] If God was still displeased with Moses, had not forgiven him and re-embraced him, why would He have buried him? And why would he have still been around with Elijah and Jesus? So we are left with two seemingly disparate realities: God loved Moses, forgave him, reinstated him as chief prophet and leader of His people Israel, but also imposed a temporal penalty on Moses, not allowing him to finish the job of bringing the children of Israel into the Promised Land.
It is a very frustrating thing to have begun a project and then for whatever reason we are unable to finish it. For Moses, we might think that this was his principle life task, this project of moving a whole nation out of slavery in Egypt to freedom, prosperity, and prominence in a whole new land of their own. However, Moses had other life tasks that he was able to fulfill – having a family, being restored to the fellowship of God’s people after his banishment to the wilderness of Midian, and most importantly, being the premier servant of God’s Word in the whole history of the world prior to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. He was the first author of Holy Scripture [assuming he also penned the written book of Job which precedes the Exodus by perhaps 400 years]. Given all that he was able to accomplish, all of his faithful service to God through the latter 40 years of his life, we might think that God would have cut him some slack in the incident at Meribah. As Moses looked back on the events of that day he must surely have regretted it, but could have offered all manner of reasoning and rationalizing as to why he “lost it” and did what he did. He surely understood the profound lapse and fall that he had committed when he “broke faith” with God in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah and failed to treat God “as holy.” The incident is recorded bluntly and tersely – along with many others, but there must have been something very deep and grievous about this – and God spoke His judgment, His decision, and carried it out.
We also have times of similar grievous sin, where we demonstrate profound lack of faith in God, lack of respect for Him, and when we do not “treat Him as holy” in the presence of other people. We recognize this in others from time to time, and we also come to realize this same rebelliousness in our own thinking and behaving – if we are honest about ourselves and our fallen nature. The bad news is that God is fully aware of the depth of our sin and does not discount it or treat it as trite and insignificant. The bad news is that there are often consequences that are brought to bear so that we learn greater respect for God, put greater faith in Him, and hopefully come to “treat Him as holy” in all that we are, think, say, and do. The good news is that God is gracious and merciful, longsuffering and forgiving, full of steadfast love and kindness. As we repent and turn to Him for forgiveness, we are assured of His forgiveness, and though we may not be able to “finish” and “accomplish” some of the things that are very important to us, still through faith in Jesus – “His departure” at Jerusalem, His self-offering on the cross as the blood atonement for the sins of the world, God has promised us eternal life, and as we see with Moses, God always fulfills His blessed Word. So He instructs us as to wisdom and prudence in life through this incident with Moses, the great leader of God’s people and the great servant of His Word. So let us heed Moses’ very Word – which is “no empty word for you, but your very life” – and learn wisdom and take great care not only in our faith and life, but also in our judgments about others.
I don’t know whether it is better to pretty much finish up your life tasks and then to become frail and decrepit on our way to death and eternal life, or to still have “eye undimmed” and “vigor unabated” when we die, but to leave the finishing of important tasks to another. I suppose it is a matter of personal preference – but we do not get to choose; all matters of life and death are in God’s hands. What we can know is that God is love, and He has proven His love in the gift of His Son Jesus, our Savior, and in the redemption and salvation that He has freely provided for us. We also know God’s love because He has called us to faith and a renewed knowledge of His holiness and love, His goodness and kindness, and He has been renewing us inwardly all these years. We needn’t fear a thing – all is in His loving and powerful hands, and He has promised to be working all things together for our great good. We may have indignities to suffer – “we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God” [Acts 14:22], but God will always be with us to take care of all things – we are “to the praise of His glorious grace.” [Eph. 1:6] So we keep faith in Him and treat Him as holy!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You know the glory that You reveal in the lives of all of Your dear servants, Your people of faith, even through our weaknesses, foibles, frailties, and failures. Where sin abounds there Your grace abounds all the more. Help us to keep faith with You, to entrust all things into Your merciful, gracious, and loving care. Teach us also to treat You with ever greater holiness in all that we do and say. Thanks and praise be to You for Your power and love, for the sure and certain salvation that You have given us. Amen.