Week #6:
Moses
Deuteronomy
34:10-12 (ESV)
And there
has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to
do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his
land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses
did in the sight of all Israel.
What
would you do in your final day on earth?
What
would you say?
Who
would you talk to?
What
would you talk about?
We
come to the end of our quick 6-week journey through Deuteronomy as Moses gives
his final blessings, then he walks up the mountain to die. We see at the end of
chapter thirty-two that God told him he would say these final words, then he
would “join his fathers” as Aaron had done.
I
cannot even imagine the emotions that flooded the heart of Moses. The thoughts
that must have racked his brain; the memories that flashed before his mind’s
eye…
Let’s
look at his final words, and then let’s relish his life.
Part 1: The final words spoken
by Moses.
Deuteronomy 33:26-29 (ESV)
“There
is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who
rides through the heavens to your help,
through
the skies in his majesty.
The
eternal God is your dwelling place,
and
underneath are the everlasting arms.
And
he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’
So
Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and
wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
Happy
are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
a
people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
and
the sword of your triumph!
Your
enemies shall come fawning to you,
and
you shall tread upon their backs.”
· “Jeshurun” actually means upright
one or righteous one.
· It is a pet name, nickname, or
endearing name of Israel.
In Deut.
32:15, this term of endearment is used as an indictment of how “un-righteous”
Israel had been.
Look at
the “thoroughness” of the safety, protection, and presence of God in this
portion:
· “rides through the heavens”
(above)
· “your dwelling place” (around,
surrounding)
· “underneath are the everlasting
arms” (below, under)
They are
surrounded by the eternal God…above, around, and under.
One of my
favorite words in this portion is help.
· “Your HELP” and “the shield of
your HELP”
I’m
reminded so often that I need God’s help. I’m grateful that He runs to my aid.
I love that God doesn’t step-in to cast me aside and do the thing on His own…He
comes to be my help, a Helper.
I love
what Beth Moore says about this:
“Whatever
God has called you to do, He can do by Himself.”
God has
called me to do certain things, you to do certain things…He will help us to
accomplish those things; although He could do “that thing” better, quicker,
less messy(!), and without us.
A
wonderful example of God’s help coming to us is found in Joshua chapter ten
when God holds the sun still in order that Joshua and his men would win the
battle in Gilgal.
Has it
ever crossed your mind that God could’ve simply ended the battle? Instead, he
enables or HELPS Joshua do what he has been called to do. Next time we need
help, let’s ask God…and as we cry out for help, take a moment to thank Him for
using us to do the work.
Look at
the word HELP in these passages:
Psalm 33:20 (ESV)
Our soul
waits for the Lord;
he is our help and
our shield.
Psalm 118:5-7 (ESV)
Out
of my distress I called on the Lord;
the
Lord answered me and set me free.
The
Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What
can man do to me?
The
Lord is on my side as my helper;
I
shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
Psalm 115:9-11 (ESV)
O
Israel, trust in the Lord!
He
is their help and their shield.
O
house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He
is their help and their shield.
You
who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He
is their help and their shield.
Psalm 121 (ESV)
I
lift up my eyes to the hills.
From
where does my help come?
My
help comes from the
Lord,
who
made heaven and earth.
He
will not let your foot be moved;
he
who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold,
he who keeps Israel
will
neither slumber nor sleep.
The
Lord is your keeper;
the
Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The
sun shall not strike you by day,
nor
the moon by night.
The
Lord will keep you from all evil;
he
will keep your life.
The
Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and
forevermore.
Psalm 146:5-7 (ESV)
Blessed
is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose
hope is in the Lord his God,
who
made heaven and earth,
the
sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who
executes justice for the oppressed,
who
gives food to the hungry.
The
Lord sets the prisoners free;
Isaiah 41:10,13 (ESV)
fear
not, for I am with you;
be
not dismayed, for I am your God;
I
will strengthen you, I will help
you,
I
will uphold you with my righteous right hand…
For
I, the Lord your God,
hold
your right hand;
it
is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps
you.”
God
is our help. Notice as well the use of the word SHIELD.
As
we work, we can become vulnerable to attack…So, God comes to help us, but also
to be a shield of protection. I love that!!!!
Lastly,
in this passage, Moses makes two statements that are so very intertwined. He
says there is no God like our God; therefore, there is no group of people like
Israel!!!
· “There is none like God…the eternal God”
o
Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV)
The Rock, his work is perfect, for
all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without
iniquity,
just and upright is he.
o
Deuteronomy 32:31 (ESV)
For their rock is not as our
Rock; our enemies are by themselves.
Moses
reminds these people of the mighty works God has done, and the works He has
worked on their behalf.
· “Who is like you, a people saved
by the LORD…”
o
Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (ESV)
“For you are a people holy to the
Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen
you to be a people for his treasured
possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It
was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set
his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to
your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know
therefore that the Lord your God is God, the
faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him
and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
o
Deuteronomy 26:18-19 (ESV)
And the Lord has declared today
that you are a people for his treasured
possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his
commandments, and that he will set you in
praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and
that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”
We’ve
talked about how God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…and Moses; He chose these
people who were slaves in Egypt; and then he chose to bring this generation
into the Promised Land. We talked about how Israel became valuable, a
“treasured possession” as a result of their God and the love He set on them –
NOT because of their value in and of themselves. They were “a people like no
other” because of the God who had “set His love” on them.
Hallelujah!
Part 2: The Final Words Written About Moses.
Deuteronomy 34 (ESV)
Then 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, all
Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the
western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city
of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of
which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your
offspring.’ 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 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. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty
days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
And Joshua the son of Nun
was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the
people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. And there
has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to
do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his
land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of
terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
·
“The LORD showed him all the land.”
·
“I have let you see it with your eyes, but you
shall not go over there.”
Remember, God told Moses that he would not enter the
Promised Land because of his sin at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20). But God
in his mercy, showed Moses a panoramic view of the land that He had promised.
·
“So Moses died there…according
to the word of the LORD.”
This is so beautiful!!! In my study of this passage, I’ve
learned this could literally mean a kiss from God or the kiss of death.
·
“Moses was 120
years old when he died. His eye was undimmed,
and his vigor unabated.”
Coupling this verse with 31:1-2, we understand that Moses
was physically able to go into the Promised Land, physically he was fully
capable of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land; however, at God’s
command, he would not go in. This is so powerful. The Holy Spirit was
intentional to let us – the reader – know that Moses was kept from the Promised
Land solely on the basis of his sin against God.
·
“There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face…”
Powerful words. The man of God that Moses was, he truly
was one of a kind…however… In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses himself says that God
will “raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers –
it is to him you shall listen…” We know that ultimately this will be Jesus
Christ, who indeed knows God “face-to-face” and is the Ultimate One-of-a-kind.
In Exodus 2, we read of the birth of Moses. His mother trying
to protect him during a very dangerous time for Israelite boys and hide him as
long as she could, places him in a small basket among the reeds. The Egyptian
princess finds him and offers to pay his own mother to nurse and raise him – my
favorite part EVER!!! – until he is ultimately brought into the palace as one
of Pharaoh’s own.
By the time God calls to Moses from the burning bush in
chapter three, Moses is a murderer, a fugitive, a hero at the well, then
married and a shepherd…far from the reaches of an angry Pharaoh.
When God calls to him – after Moses turns to see the bush that
is not consumed – Moses argues with God, telling Him that he is incapable of
doing what God has commanded. But, God will not let him off the hook. Even when
God brings Aaron in to help Moses, Moses is still not able to refuse his
calling.
This should really put us on alert to an important
principle we see when it comes to God and His plan. There are things we are
called to do, in general, as His people; however, there are things you and I
are called specifically, by name to do. For example, Jonah was going
to deliver God’s message to Nineveh regardless of how many fish God had to
prepare to swallow him until he conceded. Gideon tried to convince God that he
was too much of a shrimp to do anything big; but God would not move on to
someone else when He specifically was calling Gideon by name.
Moses saw first hand the mighty acts of God, the great
mercy and steadfast love of God, and the great terror of the Holiness of
Almighty God. He had the audacity of asking to see the Glory of God, a request
which God granted to a doable action. He knew the LORD face-to-face, a great
privilege indeed!!!
Deuteronomy 32:45-47 (ESV)
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.”
Within this old book there are Words of Life that are
full, not empty…may we heed their warning; treasure their richness; thirst for
their refreshment; learn from their wisdom.
Oh blessed Word of God, speak…speak to us.
We are hungry to hear.
Thank you from the
bottom of my heart.
I pray you have been
encouraged.
May God richly bless
you by the power of His Word.
