RPG Adults
MOSES’ FINAL COMMUNICATION
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28
Deuteronomy 34:1-4
Psalm 103:1-10
“He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel.”
MOSES’ FINAL COMMUNICATION
In Deuteronomy 33:29, Moses put a full-stop to the writing of the Book of the Law. Deuteronomy 34, possibly penned by Joshua, is a logical conclusion of the Pentateuch. Here, Joshua spoke of the death of Moses after Moses viewed the land from Mt Nebo. He died at an advanced age although he was still physically fit. It was the end of a great era and a new era, under the leadership of Joshua, was ushered in. This is the narrative of that transition.
Moses went to Mt Nebo and stood upon Pisgah, the highest point of the mount, and the Lord showed him the whole land of Canaan. Gilead was the southern border and Dan was the northern border. These places were named after the tribes that occupied those localities. In the first zone, there were the tribes of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah. This zone ended “unto the utmost sea” (Deut 34:2). The eastern zone was the plain of the valley of Jericho (the city of palm trees) to Zoar (Deut 34:3). This was the land that the Lord swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord specifically told them that He would give that land to their seed. Now it was the time to fulfil that promise. Moses had no doubt that Israel would occupy that land, but he himself would not be allowed to set foot there.
The mysteries of the Lord are beyond human comprehension. The subsequent settlement of Israel in the land of Canaan was largely due to the work of Moses, but the Lord overrules man’s wishes. The key factor is stated in this verse which Moses wrote: “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deut 30:20). Moses would have wished to see that land, and also Israel had expected him to lead them all the way to their settlement in the Promised Land, but the Lord overruled all these expectations.
THOUGHT: It is delightful to start, and it is profitable to finish.
PRAYER: Father, may I finish my race as Thy servant Moses finished his.