The Conclusion of a Godly Life
Text: Deuteronomy 34
Recently, I have just concluding another reading of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy). As I read and meditated my way through the pages of the Scriptures, there have been many thoughts and insights that I have gleaned. Genesis tells the story of the beginnings of the human race and the Hebrew race. In the concluding chapters of Genesis, one cannot avoid the vicarious experience of being there with Joseph, as he reveals his identity to his brothers. Yet, the toll of death’s bell echoes in the concluding verse of the book, “So Joseph died…and he was put in a coffin in Egypt” (Gen. 50:26).
As the door of Exodus swings open, we are introduced to baby Moses. This introduction begins a journey that last 120 years. As each page of the biblical text is turned, we learn more of the man who was so greatly used of God. We quickly learned that Moses was an emotional man, like so many of us. In his early life, at age 40, he permitted his emotions to rule his life and it cost him the palace. He spent the next 40 years on the back side of the wilderness. Nothing to show for his life! There is no record of those 40 years being a time of instruction. There is no evidence that God communicated with him during those forty years. For all practical purposes, it was a wasted 40 years. There are many people today who can identify with that stage of Moses life. There was a time when they attempted something for God and it went bad, so they gave up and followed other pursuits.
However, all is not lost! Although the first 80 years of Moses life are summed up in three chapters, the remainder of the Book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy detail his last 40 years. That is three chapters for 80 years, and ONE-HUNDRED-THIRTY-FOUR chapters for 40 years! Obviously, the latter portion of his life was more meaningful than the former portion.
During those 134 chapters, we watch as God does a mighty work among His chosen people. With God as his power, Moses performed great feats in Egypt, which led to the liberation of approximately 1,500,000 people. He led them on what would become a forty-year march. During those years, he fearless and faithfully led the people of God. On several occasions, he stood between a disobedient people and the consuming wrath of God, as he interceded on their behalf. As a leader, he was challenged more than once by those who sought to usurp his God-given leadership. Moses was the only man of whom it is said that God spoke with him “face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend” (Exodus 33:11a). He saw the unique glory of God, like no other man (Exodus 33:18-23). He had a unique relationship with God.
Yet, the concluding chapter of Deuteronomy is a record of the death of this great patriarch. Forty years of faithful service and an intimate relationship with the Lord, but he is now unable to enter the Promised Land. One mistake…One loss of temper…One act of pride, and he forfeited the desire and hope that lived within the soul of every Hebrew…The land that flowed with milk and honey. His first recorded loss of control cost him the palace. The last recorded one cost him the Promised Land.
However, Moses found forgiveness. The eulogy of the Holy Spirit for Moses is one of commendation and approval…”his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated…And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew fact to face, 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, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel” (Deut. 34:7-12).
The life and death of Moses offers proof that God is not looking for a perfect person but, rather, a faithful person. Each believer should rejoice that sin can be forgiven, fellowship can be restored, and we can finish well!
