Communion With the Christ:: The Death of Moses

The Book of Deuteronomy, which means "re-giving or re-affirmation" of the Law or elleh haddebarim"meaning "these are the Words”. This book is sometimes called " debarim", meaning "the Words". It was written around 1406 BC, by the Great Servant of God, Moses. Deuteronomy is the last of the five Books of the Law, or the Torah of Moses known as the Pentitude or Pentateuch, meaning "the Five Books".

The Book of Deuteronomy was written while the people of Israel were still on their pilgrimage through the wilderness in the land of Moab east of the River Jordon, just before they were to enter the Promised land.

Deuteronomy comes to its conclusion with the death of Moses and the assumption of leadership by Joshua.

" These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan--that is, in the Arabah--opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab" Deut:1:1

Moses Views the Land

The Prophet Moses had led the people of Israel all those years, he had been used by the One and only true God, the Creator of all things, the very God who made a covenant and gave promises to the Patriarch Abraham after calling him out of "Ur of the Chaldeans".

This God, had now acted in the lives of the descendants of Abraham and set them free from the bondage of Egypt, showing that he and he alone is God by destroying the idols of Egypt the very things which the Egyptians worshiped.

Moses was used by this Great God to bring the people of Israel to the brink of the Promised Land, yet, Moses himself could not enter nor take the people of God into the land, but could only look out from m top of Mount Nebo at this land beyond that Jordon which was rich with so many blessings.

It would be here, on the summit of Mount Nebo that Moses would see the Promised Land and here he would die never able to enter the Promised Land which he had led the people of Israel to.

"Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 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 man knows his burial place to this day.Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end." Deut: 34:1-8

The task of leading the people into these blessings of the Promised Land would rest upon Joshua, whose name in Hebrew is "Yehoshu'a" meaning "God, or the Lord, is our Salvation" or "one who Saves" .

"Yehoshu'a" would also be the name that the Savior of all humanity would assume centuries later when the very Creator, the only true God came in the person of his Son.

"Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses."(9)

Moses' last action was to point the people of Israel to that one; Joshua, who would lead them and take them into the Promised Land. Moses cold only see at it a distance, the Land that was so often promised to them, but Moses himself could not go there, the land given to them by God now they would embark upon a new journey and experiences in this Land of Promises under Joshua; seemingly fulfilling the promises made to Abraham over four hundred years prior.

Moses would be buried east of Jordon in Moab by the Great God himself; the whereabouts of his grave is unknown to any and its location not document in the Scriptures.

"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 man knows his burial place to this day."

Lessons for Christians

What does this speak to us today? What is this all really about, and how does it speak to Christians?

Moses was the one through whom the Law or Torah was given to the people of Israel, but he could not take them beyond the Jordon, it required another after his death, Joshua to take the people of God into the Land. This speaks to us regarding the Law, or Torah.

As Moses could not take Israel into the Promised Land, so the Law could not take us into the Promised eternal life, if would require another to lead us there, as Joshua led Israel over that Jordon so Jesus,"Yehoshu'a" the one who saves, leads us, leads us into life.

Moses' Death

As this entering into the Land was required after the death of Moses. In like manner, so we can enter into life only after the Law has died to us and we to it. The Law could not give life, that is, take us into eternal life, only Jesus could bring us eternal life. Jesus has done what the Law could not.

"For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,"Rom:8:3

The Law as Holy as it was, it could not give life. The Law was like Moses a top of Mount Nebo peering into the Promised Land beyond that Jordon but never able to enter therein, but only see afar off.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves."Heb:10:1

What the L aw could do was to define sin and our need for a Savior Jesus as the Apostle St. Paul wrote.

"Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith." Gal: 3:24

The Law ultimately, and all Scripture, speaks about the person of Jesus Christ and when we read the Scripture through that view they point us to Jesus, then there is a transposition to them, we can see Jesus standing forth from Genesis to Revelation.

Jesus Takes us in

After seeing our need for a Savior, for we see that we could not save ourselves , and when we come to believe in Jesus ,we are led by our Lord Jesus, that one who saves, we are led by Jesus into the Promised land of eternal life. The Law, like Moses, is now dead to us and is buried beyond the Jordon in the valleys of Moab.

We are now free to live in Christ Jesus in all the promises that he has secured for each and all who will but freely receive them, we live in him dead to the Law.

"But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."Gal:3:25

All through Jesus we can be free of sin, fear, loneliness and in the end even death has no power over us all because of Jesus. We are now joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ.

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Rom: 6:14

Promises Made to Abraham Kept

All the promises which God had given to the Patriarch Abraham when he brought him out of Ur, have been given their faithful fulfillment in Christ that God had always intended them to have.

God has done greater than to just limit his favor to one people, that is Israel, in a given region of the world; what God has done is to include all peoples form all nations from all over the world into the Promised Land of eternal life in Jesus.

"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."Gal:3:29

We have been made heirs with Jesus of all that is his because of who Jesus is, and not by any merit of our own. We with and through him are now Children of God.

"and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" Rom:8:17

All that our God has for us is our in his Son Jesus, who takes us ever deeper into a relationship with our God where so many abundant blessings of salvation which await us; all us through his grace apart from the Law. The Law like Moses has died.

We can now, through Jesus, journey through and in that Promised Land of eternal life in Christ that the Law could only look upon at a distance, as Moses did from the summit of Mount Nebo.

Benediction: May we each and all , live and walk that glorious Promised Land in and by our Lord Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen