|
Deuteronomy 33:26-29
“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop with dew. 29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.”
Introduction: The Last Words Of Moses
[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED613]
“Deuteronomy chapter 33, we have come as far as verse 26, and these are really the last words of Moses. The 34th chapter, scholars are divided, most think that Joshua recorded that scene of Moses going up to Pisgah, to pass onto the LORD. But we know these are his last, we know for certain these are the last words of Moses. Verse 26 says “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.” Ah, “Jeshurun” literally “the upright,” certainly these prophecies a picture of Israel. With all of the problems that God described them as having, with all of the failings that he said would be in their lives, it is interesting to listen to Moses call God the God of the upright, the God of Jeshurun. “who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.” that’s a good thing to know, isn’t it, that he rides upon the heaven in relationship to helping us. I can use a dose of that every day, I’m sure. “Who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.” this God that we love, riding upon the heavens. Moses says “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.” (verse 27) ‘The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms,’ how important and beautiful those words have been to so many. Interesting, “the eternal God,” not the typical word for “eternal” translated “eternal” a number of times, but most often translated “east” or “eastern,” “in the east of Eden” we hear, “east of Eden” is our word. The root of Hebrew words are verbs, and this word gives us a sense of procession, from orientation. It’s not just “eternal” in the sense that we would think about it, it is a picture of the beginning of the day, orientation is a word that means that you get your bearings by facing east, that’s relative to the beginning of the day with the rising of the sun, has the idea of a new movement. And “everlasting” is not just the way we would think of it. It is eternal, it’s eternal in the sense of procession though, it’s a very interesting idea, that God sees all. The eternal God is our refuge, anywhere in the procession, anywhere in the picture. And here he had just said these things about Israel failing, he just said, in his song he talked about the difficulties they would have, turning to idolatry, all of these things. And then he calls himself “the God of the upright,” very interesting in this picture, and that he rides in regards to helping us, in the heavens, and his excellency in the sky. And then “the eternal God.” I think to get a picture of the procession, we have the advantage today in some ways, when we see a Thanksgiving Day parade or a New Years parade, from the viewpoint of the blimp. If somebody is standing down on the Broadway or down on Broad Street, and they’re watching the procession go by. But the person whose up above sees the end from the beginning, sees the whole thing. And what they see is that the future is at the end, and the past is ahead. You don’t see that from the sideline where you are. Future generations are still behind, and those who have already lived are ahead. We think the other way, we think those who have already lived are in the past, and the future generations are coming. From God’s point of view, past generations are already ahead of us, they’ve gone into glory, they’ve moved on, entered Abraham’s bosom. So, hang in with me here, there’s probably a little bit of pre-Jesus stuff going on in there, I get lost in those things [along with Hawking and Einstein, I’d say]. The idea is, that the past is ahead in the procession, and the future is yet coming, and the idea in all of that is he’s the eternal God, he’s the one who has been there from the beginning, from Creation, he’s the one whose seen the generations move, he’s the one who watched Israel in her forming, from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then in Egypt. He’s the one who led Moses, he’s the one, in the next chapter, who is there when Moses finishes his pilgrimage in this world. He’s the one who sees that which is coming, in regards to his Son. And in fact, says that Christ is the body that cast the shadow back into the Old Testament, just a remarkable picture of this kind of idea. So the eternal God, wherever you are in your journey. Your past, no mystery to him, washed in the blood of Jesus, your future, still coming, the things that may shock you about yourself, no surprise to him, he is the eternal God, he knows the end from the beginning, and he is our refuge. And underneath that, the everlasting arms, beautiful idea, everlasting, in the Hebrew “from beyond the vanishing point,” everlasting to everlasting are his arms, never exhausted. He’s covered us above, his excellency, he flies through the heavens, rideth the heavens to our help, is the idea. His excellency is in the sky. He is the eternal, he is the God of the whole process, the whole procession, he’s our refuge. And underneath, girding everything are those arms, from vanishing point to vanishing point, never exhausted, the everlasting arms, no exhaustion, he doesn’t get tired, he’s not gonna drop you, he’s not going to wear out. You might think you wear him out sometimes, you don’t wear him out. Underneath are the everlasting arms, and some of this, certainly, relative to Israel, “he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.” (verse 27b) “Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop with dew.” (verse 28) What an interesting way for Moses to finish. “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.” (verse 29) Beautiful for Moses to be saying these last things at the end of this very difficult song that he had taught them. So this interesting set of choruses and verses from Moses here, as we hear these last words. Chapter 24 says,
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
“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 Beth-peor: 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 all 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.”
“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,” (verse 1) Now God had told him ‘You’re going to come up into this mountain and you’re going to die.’ He had asked God, I think it’s chapter 3 of Deuteronomy, it seems, the verb indicates here, he continued to ask God ‘Can I go into the land, can I go into the land, can I go,’ and God finally says ‘Moses, we’re going to talk no more of this. No, you’re going to come up onto Pisgah and you’re gonna die there.’ And what an interesting picture here, as we read it. We’re told that his eye was not dim, his natural forces were not abated. He’s not withering, he’s not worn to the bone, he’s not collapsing on this day. God is calling him onto the top of mount Nebo, and to a particular point, about 15 miles south of Jericho, looking over into the Promised Land, Pisgah, where you have a view of the whole area. And 4,500 feet above the Plain of Moab, and he’s 120 years old. Now you know his natural forces are not abated, if he’s going to climb up this, because I’m only 58 and heading up 4,500 foot I’d probably need some oxygen somewhere along the way, on the way up. And Moses, God tells him to come up. Imagine this encampment, one and a half, 2 million people, this solitary figure going alone, up the valley, up the side of the mountain. How long did it take? Hours? How long was he in view, how long did the people sit and watch him? How well they knew what was taking place, as they looked at this man, what a life he had lived. 40 years in Egypt, 40 years on the backside of the desert, 40 years leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, 40 years we see him, we follow him from the Nile to Nebo as it were, 40 years in Egypt, the top of the world. We’re told in secular history he destroyed the Ethiopian army, led the Egyptian armed forces, Acts chapter 7, as Stephen is about to be stoned he tells us some remarkable things about Moses, his prowess and his ability to speak, learned in all of the wisdom and ways of the Egyptians, this remarkable young man. Again, I’m looking forward to getting to heaven to learn what his name was. An Egyptian princess [Hatshepsut] named him Moses, we don’t know what his mother names him. She named him Moses because she drew him out of the waters [not really true, Mose’ means “son of” in Egyptian, as in the name Thutmose, which means “son of Thut.” Mose’ or Moses in Egyptian means “son of” but since they didn’t know who he was the son of, he was merely named Mose’ in Egyptian.] Isn’t he an interesting guy, it says ‘No prophet has arisen since like him in all of Israel.’ And his origin is in Egypt, his death is in Moab, just some strange things, he doesn’t get into the Promised Land until the transfiguration, just what an interesting life. And God was ministering to him, look at what says in verse 10, if you look there, “And there arose not a prophet since in all Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” your translation may say “mouth to mouth,” whom the LORD knew face to face, or your translation may be “mouth to mouth.” The idea is, in the most intimate way. And some of that started, we don’t know all of the details, in Egypt, because it says there he didn’t fear Pharaoh, he made some choices there, choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God, there was some incredible intimacy before we’re aware of it, in the history that we hear part of here, and part of in Hebrews chapter 11, about this man. And then to the backside of the desert, I think he must have thought ‘LORD, you’ve revealed yourself to me, spoke to my heart, I had this tremendous sense that I was the deliverer, I did what I thought I was supposed to do,’ and then 40 years on the backside of the desert there, tending the flocks of Jethro, in Midian, by the way, not in the Sinai Peninsula, in Midian, in Saudi Arabia. And then God telling him here to bring the people back to “this mountain,” in Saudi Arabia, Paul says Mount Sinai is in Arabia, in Galatians. And I wonder what that life was like, the quiet? I like the quiet, on the backside of the desert, the Hebrew for desert means “to speak.” I don’t know if you’ve been in the desert, I have been in the desert in California, Death Valley, in Arizona, and sometimes the stars are just spectacular in the desert, and there’s a quiet in the desert that’s pretty remarkable. And then Egypt, sent back, the burning bush, all of that, the Nile turning to blood, the signs, the wonders, the miracles, the parting of the Red Sea. You follow his life, leading the largest charismatic church the world has ever seen, signs, wonders, all of the things that sometimes we long for, maybe to see in the Church, he had it all going on, 2 million people, leading them. And yet he would say to God, ‘LORD, I want to see your glory, LORD, there’s something behind this, it’s not just a demonstration of your power, you weren’t just bringing frogs on Egypt to freak everybody out, all the while I knew some of the things going on, LORD, let me behold your glory.’ And God, knowing what he was begging for, said ‘Moses, you can’t see my face, but I will make my goodness pass before thee.’ He knew what he was asking for. What a life, what a life. It says ‘He made known his ways unto Moses,’ Psalm 103, ‘and his works to the children of Israel.’ He made known his ways to Moses. That’s so beautiful. You know, Kathy and I have been married long enough now, 30 years, that I know her ways, I know her ways. I know when I say ‘Do you want me to do this?’ and she says ‘no,’ I’ve broken the code and I know what that means, it doesn’t mean “no,” it means ‘yes, you shouldn’t ask, but here’s your chance to do what’s right, before things get really tough.’ It’s her way, just her tone, or you can be somewhere, and she can give me an eye-signal, just, you’re around someone, you see what someone does, you see someone’s occupation, but you’re around someone you love, around someone. My four kids, I know their ways, and all four of them are different, there’s a way about them. God has given them an ebb and a flow of personality, of emotion, they have a way. How wonderful. ‘You have made known his ways to Moses, and his works to the children of Israel.’ And now this day, God tells him, ‘Moses, come on up, come on up to the top of the mountain.’ The nation watching as he goes, it says “he went up,” again, how long did it take, how long could they see this solitary figure.
Moses Goes Up Mount Pisgah--The LORD Shows Him All The Land
“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, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 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.” (verses 1-4) Moses had never been in it, he’d never been in it. “I will give it unto they seed: I have” interesting phrase, “caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.” It’s a very interesting description, he’s at Mount Pisgah, again, 10 to 15 miles south of Jericho, but he could see no doubt the city of Jericho, the walls of Jericho that would fall down. He could see a panorama there. You’re there on the Jordan Valley, on a clear day sometimes you could probably see the southern end of Gennesaret, of the Sea of Galilee. Probably from there you couldn’t see Hermon, because it was behind the Golan Heights, there are those who have stood there, and tried, but with the naked eye you could never see some of these things, because some of them were over 100 miles away. But God said ‘I caused thee to see.’ It isn’t God taking Moses, over and over and over he had asked God ‘Can’t I go, can’t I go in,’ and God said ‘No, you’ve sinned there, at the waters of Meribah, you didn’t sanctify me in the hearts of the people.’ So this isn’t God taking him up there saying ‘Na, na, ya-na ya, this is what you’ve got, but nooo, you had to hit the rock again, you never listen.’ No, God’s not like that at all. God is taking him up, and caused him to see, he’s caused him to see, he’s blessing him. And by the description we have here, it says he showed him first all of the land of Gilead. Now he’s showing him the land, I’m going to turn this way so you understand, because you’re in Moab now, and he’s showing him the land from the north, all the way down to the south, from Gilead, which is up where mount Hermon is and that area. ‘You see that little mountain peak up there, we’ll talk about that in a couple thousand years.’…Then it says “Dan,” what he’s showing Moses, he’s causing him to see something, because we’re hearing about Naphtali in the land, we’re hearing about Judah in the land, we’re hearing about Ephraim in the land, they hadn’t crossed the Jordan yet, they hadn’t conquered the Canaanites yet, they hadn’t cast the lot for a piece of ground yet, they hadn’t received their allotments yet, it would be 50 years before Dan would move from the south to the north, and he’s getting to see the land “from Dan to Beersheba,” the way the land would always be described. And God is showing him the tribes in their allotments. Well somebody says ‘Well, whoever wrote this wrote this later,’ no, no, no, it doesn’t say that, it says ‘God showed Moses Naphtali, God showed Moses Judah, God showed Moses Ephraim.’ God shows him what he’s going to do, he shows him, he causes him to see something that you wouldn’t see with the naked eye. Listen, Satan took Jesus in the mount of temptation, and it says he showed him all of the kingdoms of this world, and all of the glory of them, and yet he did that. In Revelation chapter 21, the apostle John tells us that God took him to a great high mountain and showed him the Holy City, Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband, coming down out of heaven. The city is 1,500 miles on a side, no wonder he had to take him way, way away. But my point is, that’s not the human eye, he’s causing him to see that. And here in like manner God is causing Moses to see something. He caused Elijah’s servant to see the fiery chariots flying around Dothan. He was granting to Moses this remarkable scene now, from the north, from Gilead, which is to your right, it says here, unto Dan, which would be 50 years in the future. And all of Naphtali, still in the north, and the land of Ephraim, moving south, and Manasseh that would be in the land, next to Ephraim, and all of the land of Judah. I wonder if he said, ‘Moses, those are the mountains of Jerusalem over there. That’s where Abraham offered Isaac, Moses, you’ve never been there, you’ve never gotten a look at it, but it’s that hill over there, and that’s where I’m going to offer myself, Moses.’ He showed him the area of Judah, “unto the utmost sea,” which is the Mediterranean, which you can’t see from there. And the south, and the plain, the Valley of Jericho, which was within human view, that was in front of him, “and the city of palm trees, unto Zoar,” the south, down near where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had been. And the LORD showed him all of these things, remarkably. “And the LORD said unto him, This is the land” what would he say to us, I wonder? It’s almost as though Moses is there, he’s ready to pass into eternity, and he’s seeing the thing he longed to see, and he’s seeing it in the future, he’s seeing it fulfilled, as God said it would be. Dr. Payson, I remember reading as he was on his deathbed, he said “The Celestial City has come within full view,” he said to his son, who was a missionary, he said “It’s breezes blow upon my face, it’s odours are wafted to me, it’s lights are shining, the sounds are within my ears.” You know, he brings Moses. I’ve been with too many people, enough, in their passing, and I have seen some open their eyes and say ‘Jesus!’ and I’ve heard some talk about the music that they hear. I am convinced that he reaches across, ‘Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me and my Father, in my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, if I go, I prepare a place for you, that where I am you may also be. And if I go to prepare a place, I will come again and receive you.’ [btw, that prepared place is described in Revelation 21:1-23, it is the same city Abraham, it says in Hebrews, longed for.] Not send for you, ‘I will come again and receive you.’ Just my aunt a few years ago, five minutes before she went, she said ‘Joe, I’m afraid,’ I said ‘Aunt Marie, you just listen, he’s not going to let you fall into the darkness, and catch ya, he’s going to give you a token, he’s the Good Shepherd, you’re going to see, you’re going to smell, you’re going to hear, he’s going to reach across,’ and she went in such amazing peace. And it’s so remarkable to watch him here with Moses. And I think, what will it be like when it is our time? Because this is not loneliness, but it is aloneness, this is the bridge that we all cross, as it were, alone. This is where my sons won’t go with me, or my daughters, my wife will go as far as she can. And it is an aloneness, not a loneliness, it’s a loneness, until He greets. But it is that place, and I’ll be longing to see an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, I’ll be looking forward to seeing the multitudes around the Lamb that was slain, my dad, my grandpa, again, I’ll have morning and evening devotions with Spurgeon. Moses, what a picture, as God gives this to us. “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.” (verse 4) This is the first time Moses has seen it, he had longed for it, he had longed for it, and he’s seeing it, but ‘you’re not going to cross there.’
‘So Moses The Servant Of The LORD Died There In The Land Of Moab, According To The “Kiss” Of The LORD’
“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 a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” (verses 5-6) Now we’re not sure how we know that, did the children of Israel when he stood there on Pisgah on the point, did Moses see a sea of faces looking up at him, did they see him retreat from there, and know he went back into the valley? We’re not certain. But it says ‘The LORD,’ he has a burial like no one has ever had a burial before. He has a private burial, with the LORD himself here, in a sense. “And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” (verse 6) this is over where Elijah had gone up, in Moab. Now what an interesting picture, Moses the servant of the LORD died there. How, how did he die? It says his natural forces were not abated, literally, they weren’t dried up, they hadn’t left him, his eye wasn’t dim, he wasn’t withered. How did he die? He was just finished, God was done. Did he get up there and say ‘What do I do now? Should I lay down?’ maybe the LORD said ‘Ya, lay down over there,’ he’s still in his health, it says he goes there and he dies. And “it’s according to the word of the LORD.” Now that’s true in all of our lives, I am convinced of that. Psalm 103 says that before we live any of our days, that they’re written out, God is sovereign. It says he knew Jeremiah before he was conceived, now that’s way back. He knew all about John the Baptist before he was conceived. Paul says, to the elders on the beach at Miletus, that he is praying that he might just finish his course. He was convinced there was a path that was laid out for him, and at the end of that path, there was a particular time and a particular place, and a particular manner that he would cross the finish line, he believed that. He said in Ephesians, for you and I, that there are good works, foreordained that we should walk, there’s a path. Of course in Timothy, in 2nd Timothy he said ‘I’ve done it, fought the good fight, kept the faith.’ He realized he’d come to the end. Peter said, ‘I know, the Lord is ministering to me, that sometime soon I’m to put off this tabernacle,’ he knew, had that sense that his time was coming…Interesting, I have this little article, it says “Abraham Lincoln was shot just when Lee’s army had laid down its arms, the bloody four years of war was coming to an end. On June 9th, 1864, father Charles P. Quinappy of Illinois paid a last visit to Lincoln. Lincoln took him with him to visit the sick in the hospitals, and after they returned to the White House, they took up the Bible that had always laid on his desk, and opening at the 34th chapter of Deuteronomy, read the verses which tell of the disappointment and death of Moses on mount Nebo. When he had finished, Lincoln said, “I have read these strange and beautiful words several times these last five or six weeks, the more I read them, the more it seems to me that God has written them for me as well as for Moses. Now I see the end of this terrible conflict. With the same joy, when at the end of his trying forty years in the wilderness. And I pray my God to grant me to see the days of peace and untold prosperity which will follow this cruel war, as Moses asked to see the other side of Jordan and enter into the Promised Land. But do you know that I hear in my soul, as the voice of God, giving me the rebuke which was given to Moses, this is a still but solemn voice which tells me that I will see those things only from a long distance, and that I will be among the dead when the nation which God granted to me to lead through these awful trials, will cross the Jordan and dwell in the land of promise. It seems to me that the Lord wants today, as he wanted in the days of Moses, another, and another victim which he has himself chosen, anointed and prepared for sacrifice, by raising it above the rest of the people. I cannot conceal from you, that my impression is that I am the victim. But just as the Lord heard no murmur from the lips of Moses, when he told him that he was going to die before crossing Jordan for his people, so I hope and pray, he will hear no murmur from me when I fall for my nation’s sake.” Interesting too, the night that he died, in Ford’s Theater, he died across the street, but there sitting next to his wife, he said “When all of this is over, this war, you know what I want to do?” She said “What?” he said “I want to go to the Holy Land, I want to go to Palestine,” and he said “You know what I want to do?” and she said “What?” he said “I want to start at Bethlehem, where he was born, and I want to follow his footsteps, and then I want to go up to Jeru--” and the bullet went through his head in the middle of the word “Jerusalem.” He had a sense of it. God had spoken to his heart. Moses here, taken up to mount Pisgah, God speaking to him. And it says he died “according to the word of the LORD.” Now “peh” [Strongs # 6310, Hebrew “mouth”], according to the word “peh” here, this particular Hebrew word which is used 425 times in the Old Testament, and 341 times it’s translated “mouth,” he died according to the mouth of the LORD. In fact, the Hebrew just says he died “at the mouth of the LORD.” The ancient rabbis said this verse should be translated “kiss,” “peh” here, “that he died at the kiss of the LORD.” Isn’t it beautiful? And by the way it wasn’t a kiss good-bye, it was a kiss hello, I want you to know that, that he died at the mouth of the LORD, what an interesting picture. One tradition that I found says, ‘Near one of the loftiest summits,’ the old tradition says, ‘Moses came upon three angels,’ this is just pretty stuff, not biblical, it’s not heresy, just sharing something, ‘he came upon three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Urial busily engaged in hewing out a grave. It was almost finished, and the steps had been cut in the rock leading down to the floor of the tomb. And Moses asked for whom it was intended. For one, said Michael, dear to our LORD. And Moses looked around him for some sign of a dead body, whereat Gabriel spake, ‘This grave, O man of God, is meant for thee.’ Taking his hand they led him down the steps, and then took up their places, one on either side, and one at the grave’s head. Then suddenly, a Presence shown with light ineffable, and took the vacant place at the grave’s foot, ‘Lie down,’ it said, ‘and close thine eyes, and sleep.’ ‘But LORD, I am afraid,’ Moses replied, for I have sinned, and sadly wounded thee,’ ‘Thy sins are blotted out,’ the Presence said, ‘thy service only is remembered.’ Then like a tired child, he laid him down, the Presence bent above him, lip to lip, and in the sweetness of that lingering kiss, the soul of Moses left its clay behind, he lay like some chaste statue finely carved, the angel filled the grave so cunningly that no man has ever found it to this day.’ When you go to Israel, it’s a land of traditions and a land of poetry and things, but I saw that and thought ‘How beautiful.’ Here, Moses, it just says, “died according to the word of the LORD.”
“And He Buried Him In A Valley In The Land Of Moab”
“And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (verses 6-7) “natural force” the Hebrew is “his moisture was not abated” his moisture hadn’t fled, he hadn’t dried up, he was still vitally healthy it seems. Of course he died young, you read through the Old Testament, and you find out that his great-great-grandfather lived to be 137, his grandpa lived to be 130, and his dad lived to be 137, and Moses is dying here at 120, why so young? He’s got a good gene pool, he had at least 17 years, he had some tread left on him. But it was time, his days were written out before any of them were lived. It was his time, and it couldn’t have been more noble, couldn’t have been more wonderful, going as it were, face to face, mouth to mouth. Seeing the face that he was told before, ‘Moses, I’ll make my goodness pass before thee, but my face you cannot see,’ and now face to face. He’d have traded those 120 years away at a drop of a hat to see that face as it was before him, I’m sure. I don’t think we’re through with him, he’s there on the mount of transfiguration with Elijah [which may have only been a vision]. It is Luke’s Gospel that says they spoke to him about the decease, Jesus, he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem, the Greek word there is ”exodus,” “the exodus you’re going to accomplish,” Moses hadn’t accomplished his, he was always travelling with Israel, Elijah hadn’t brought about the reforms, repentance and renewal and change he wanted to, they talked to the LORD about what he was going to accomplish, and it is my own distorted opinion, you’re entitled to yours, that one of the two Prophets outside of Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 11 will be Moses [why would God resurrect Moses and Elijah just to have them be put to death again, this time by the Beast? it don’t make sense]. The miracles that would represent the Law and the Prophets, the Church gone, the Law and the Prophets addressing the nation once again, the shutting up of heaven so that it rains not, as Elijah had done, the waters turning to blood, as Moses, you read through the miracles that are performed. And remarkably when we get to the 15th chapter of Revelation around the 3rd verse and it says ‘And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,’ isn’t that interesting? Here’s a man whose not allowed to enter the land because of his sin, and in heaven and glory, around the throne of God they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb [he’ll be up there at the New Jerusalem for that Wedding Feast]. Remarkable, what grace God has, to remove all of our sin, to see us justified, sanctified and glorified, what a remarkable thing. He was 120 years old, you want to know what his diet was, don’t you. It was 40 years eating everything bad in Egypt, 40 years eating mutton and peta bread on the backside of the desert, and 40 years of Manna, it was prayer and moderation and hiking. Try that. But the point is, at the end, he’s vital, he’s healthy, and when his time is done he’s done, it doesn’t matter how many vitamins and many juicers he buys, it doesn’t matter how much health food he eats at this point, he’s outa here. I don’t know what to do with that. You can do whatever you want with that. Just, when you eat that stuff say grace. “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.” (verse 8) They had driven him out of his mind for 40 years, now they weep for him for 30 days, so typical. “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. And there arose not a prophet since in all Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” (verses 9-10) Now of course before the New Testament, but now Jesus was “that Prophet like unto Moses.” But again, in a sense, when we hear that song in Revelation 15, there is no one in Israel’s history like Abraham in his particular nature, and there is no one like Moses, ‘whom the LORD knew face to face.’ Wouldn’t it be a great thing on your tombstone? I don’t go to cemeteries much, I’ve enjoyed them in some foreign countries, just because I can’t read, but the pictures are very remarkable. My whole family is in one place, my mom goes when I take her, it’s interesting to look sometimes what is on the tombstones [I have a very old graveyard, dating back to the Revolutionary War, next to where I live, I take walks through it almost every day for exercise, as it’s on a hill, gotten to know many of the people buried there, one guy who fought in both the French & Indian War and then 20 years later, the Revolutionary War, saw a drawing of his likeness, looked like a tough old bird of a guy], the things that are written, remarkable. You see one born on a certain day in June, died three days later, the same month in June, that’s a story that tells you something about a child, about a baby. You see someone who lived 90 years, and there’s a verse on there, it tells you something. James Dobson said his mother on her tombstone is going to put ‘See I told you I was sick.’ Because when you’re a mom you never take a break, you just have to keep going whether you’re sick or not. But all of their lives, are represented by that dash between dates, whether it’s three days or whether it’s 90 years, that goes by remarkably fast. And part of our vocation, we’re told to walk worthy of our vocation, and I think it was John Stott, one of those guys I was reading about, and he just talked about that is part of our vocation, we’re on a pilgrimage, which means that we’re headed somewhere. And the crossing over is as much our vocation as the testimony that we give here in this world. I just read somewhere last week, I forget his name, but he fell over preaching, and I thought ‘That’s what I want to do.’ I’m not a hospital guy, I won’t do well, I’ll ruin my testimony if I have to lay in a hospital with tubes and people sticking in me, I love that movie Secondhand Lions, where Robert Duval throws the bedpan out the hospital window, everybody’s running, I’d just ruin my testimony, where they’d be saying ‘I hope he dies, just get him outa here!’ that’s not for me. Some people have a great witness and a great testimony there, we see just remarkable, I could fall over preaching. Or they could find me in a rocking chair on a porch in Montana in the spring, thawing out, that would be fine too. “And there arose not a prophet since in all Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” what a thing to have on your tombstone, and listen to what it says here, God knew him face to face, “in all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh,” it says in all of that there was a very intimate communion taking place between him and the LORD, in all of those things, he made known his works to the children of Israel, but his ways to Moses. God knew him face to face, notice the word “all, all, all,” in all of the signs that he did, “and to all his servants, and to all his land,” speaking of Pharaoh and all his servants, “and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.” (verses 10-12) In all of those things, and all of those demonstrations of power, and in all of those things that took place, it says that God knew Moses face to face in all of those things, mouth to mouth, in great intimacy. Moses had I think the great sense that God cares more for the servant than for the service, so important. I get to do something that Moses never got to do, I get to sit alone and lift my head to heaven and say “Father, Father.” And that’s what I want, is to know my Father more and more, because in heaven [which will end up on earth, cf. Zechariah 15:1-19, and Revelation 21:1-23] there’s no pastors, I’ll be out of work [after the period of time in Revelation 20, you’ll be done pastoring, but not during the Millennial Kingdom of God]. The worship leaders will still have a job, I will have nothing to do. [The Bible says we’ll be kings and priests in the coming Kingdom of God, we’ll always have something to do.] And he reminds me ‘Joe I didn’t hire you, I birthed you, and you’re my son.’ and I spend a lot of time talking to him about job related problems, and he reminds me sometimes, ‘Could we just talk about family stuff, all you want to do is talk about work. I didn’t hire you, I gave birth to you, you’re my son.’ [and that is so true too, I still remember that period of time during my calling, that period of time where I was being born-again, drawn to Jesus, my first love.] And it still breaks me down, it still breaks me down, it still bends me, and he is gracious enough to remind my thick head of those things, and all the while just wanting some face to face with me. Read ahead, you have two weeks to get started on the Book of Joshua. I hope the Lord comes before then, if he does you can talk to Joshua and get it all straight from the horse’s mouth. Next Wednesday evening we will gather and enjoy the Lord’s supper, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night down to the Wackovia Center, I urge you to pray about those things. We’ll have the musicians come, we have time to do two songs tonight, we’ll take time and do that. And then stop by and visit the kiosk outside with the guys from Potter’s Field Ranch, I think you’ll get a blessing. But let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s lift our voices…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Deuteronomy 33:26-29 and Deuteronomy 34:1-12, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related links: Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED613 |