AM Bible Study Group; February 29, 2012
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Theme: This passage describes for us the story of Moses view of the promised land before he dies.
The closing phase of Moses’ life are somewhat veiled in mystery. That, it appears, was intended. But at the same time, what the Bible does show us of it gives us a beautiful picture of God’s love for His faithful servant at his life’s end—including God’s gracious provision of a view of the land to which he had spent forty years of his life leading his people.
I. HIS VIEW OF THE LAND (vv. 1-4).
A. First, notice the viewpoint from which Moses viewed the land. The place he went was “to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho” (v. 1b). The name “Pisgah” can mean “ridge”; and this may mean that he went to the top of Mount Nebo as the highest point on the mountain ridge.
B. Note also his actual view. We’re told that “the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar” (vv. 1b-3). This would have given him a panoramic view that followed from northwest, to southwest, to south, and up north again, in a counter-clockwise movement. How his heart must have thrilled as he saw the land that God was giving to his people!
C. It was at this point that God reminded him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there” (v. 4). God had kept His promise to the patriarchs; but He also kept His promise that Moses would be prohibited from going with the people because of his error (see Deuteronomy 3:23-29; 4:21-22; 32:49). God did not allow Moses to enter it; but He was very gracious to allow Moses to see it. Note, however, that Moses does appear later in the land—at the Mount of Transfiguration before the Lord Jesus (Matthew 17:3). God did not say that Moses would never appear in the land after death—but just that he would not then be allowed to cross the Jordan with his people.
II. HIS DEATH ON THE MOUNTAIN (vv. 5-8).
A. God had told him that the day of his death was approaching (see 31:14). And now, that day finally comes. Note that Moses dies on a mountain; but that he later appears again—with the Lord Jesus—on another mountain!
B. No one knows where Moses’ body was buried; and the context of the passage suggests that his body was not buried by men but by God. We’re told in Jude 9 that “Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!'” This could help explain why the burial place of Moses’ body was not made known. The other man that Moses appeared with on the mountain with the Lord Jesus was Elijah—a man who, like Moses, did not have a known burial place; and who, unlike Moses, was not recorded to have died. Another possible reason is because the people of God might not have moved in to the promised land but would have settled near the body of Moses—almost to the point of worshiping it. Satan certainly would have sought to get people’s allegiance to God distracted by worshiping the body of Moses.
C. Note that Moses’ strength was not abated (v. 7); even though he lived to the age of 120. In 31:2, we’re told that he was unable to either to come out or go in. And yet, it appears that, in spite of his limitations of age, he still retained vigor and the clarity of his senses. He was, indeed, able to “see” the land.
D. Note that, at his death, the people mourned for him for an amount of time that was very much like that of his brother Aaron (see Numbers 20:22-29).
III. HIS SUCCESSOR IN LEADERSHIP (v. 9).
A. God had already appointed Joshua to take his role in leadership (see Numbers 27:18- 23; 31:7-8). “Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses” (v. 9). The people regarded his godly spirit (see Isaiah 11:2); and honored God’s appointment of him.
B. Some have asked how it could be that—if Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy—this record of his death could be contained in it. The most likely answer is that Joshua himself wrote the record of his death at the leading of God.
IV. HIS LEGACY IN ISRAEL (vv. 10-12).
A. There have been other prophets who have served in the context of the nation; but only Moses served in the formation of it. “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.”
B. We’re told that God spoke to Moses face-to-face. Moses’ brother and sister once rose up in rebellion against him; and God told them, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (see Numbers 12:6-8).