#359 Last Chapter of Moses?

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,

2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,

3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

4 And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

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, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

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 were ended.

9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,

11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,

12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel. Deuteronomy 34 KJV

From one place, atop this mountain, God shows Moses things that are at much distance. What a grand relationship and such meekness, it was a hurt to him before and something he had petitioned the Lord about. He had wanted this judgment revoked, but nevertheless, not Moses will but God's be done. He does not as many would react and curse the day, refuse the vision or continue to pout. He goes up alone to be buried by God, and there is some debate on this, but I think it presents itself rather obvious in that this people are so quick to be religious and to serve idols. Many revere ancestors, make heroes of and romanticize the connection between the dead and the living. Moses dies before the children enter the promised land, he lays hands upon Joshua who takes them into the promised land. They are not left without guidance, as Christ has not left those who believe without comfort. If they would have known the place where Moses was buried then it would have been a place of pilgrimage to this day, by not just to mystically inclined Jews, for many of those who claim Christ also embrace so many foolish idols, and place power upon pictures. Moses was a forerunner to Christ, and when Peter saw Moses and Elijah standing before Christ in the garden he asked right away to build a tabernacle for each of them. The Jews revered Moses, but the Jews of Moses' day were a thorn to him, and even came against him. There was never another like him, in the plagues he placed upon Egypt, water that came from rocks, parting of the Red Sea, the earth swallowing up those that rebelled, God knew, and this is the kicker for me, God knew him face to face. Yet he doesn't enter the promised land. In retrospect we put our heroes, ancestors, high upon a pedestal, though we would have been the ungrateful lot that he drug around the desert. It does seem much more prideful to me now, so what if my relative did something great or knew God well, what does that even make for me to attach myself to? Yes, Moses was a great prophet, but he didn't make himself, was not without sin and he looked forward to a time when a greater than Moses would arrive. He comes to speak with Christ and Elijah and I disagree with those that would say he cannot be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:11. They base this on the general statement that it is given to men once to die and then the judgment. Now while much of this is speculation on my part, it is not so speculative to suggest that just as Lazarus was raised from the dead, so too the miraculous is never the norm, for it can't be. Lazarus died, rose and died finally. Think about it, Moses didn't get to enter the promised land back then, but maybe, just maybe, as God's witness, he will get a second tour of duty. Whatever God's will may be, I know that it will be perfect and as Moses saw much a far off, so too I must pray about that which is at a distance. Sometimes it is difficult to see and I must admit too often to chasing rabbits, but the Pentateuch has been an interesting journey. 

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion,

during the time of testing in the wilderness,

9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,

though for forty years they saw what I did.

10 That is why I was angry with that generation;

I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known my ways.’

11 So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion.”[c]

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3

But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

41 I receive not honour from men.

42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? John 5: 34-47