Deu 34:1-12 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.
Moses was commanded in Deuteronomy 32:48-52 to climb Mount Nebo for his death. Here that command was fulfilled. This was God’s kind grace to Moses. Though he could not set foot in the Promised Land, God allowed him to see it. Standing on the peak of Nebo on the collection of mountains called Pisgah, Moses stood on what is the modern Kingdom of Jordan, looking westward to Canaan.
Moses lived 120 years (Deuteronomy 31:2), and his life was divided into three 40-year periods. The first 40 years of Moses ended with a murder and a flight from justice (Exodus 2:11-15). The second 40 years of Moses ended with a revelation of God at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-10).The last 40 years of Moses ended with the vision of the Promised Land.
Moses’ epitaph – what we might call the writing on his tombstone, though he had no tombstone – was simple.
· It was not “Moses, prince of Egypt.”
· It was not “Moses, murderer of an Egyptian.”
· It was not “Moses, shepherd in the wilderness.”
· It was not “Moses, spokesman for a nation.”
· It was not “Moses, miracle worker.”
· It was not “Moses, prophet.”
· It was not “Moses, the man who saw a piece of God’s glory.”
· It was not “Moses, who never entered the Promised Land.”
· At the end, the title was simple: Moses the servant of the LORD. (Guzik)
“His death leaves nothing to regret; neither is any desirable thing lacking. Failing to pass over Jordan seems a mere pin’s prick, in presence of the honours which surrounded his departing hours. His death was the climax of his life. He now saw that he had fulfilled his destiny, and was not as a pillar broken short. He was ordered to lead the people through the wilderness, and he had done so.” “As a mother takes her child and kisses it, and then lays it down to sleep in its own bed; so did the Lord kiss the soul of Moses away to be with him for ever, and then he hid his body we know not where.” (Spurgeon)
Given the great challenges and responsibilities Moses faced, his relative health at the time of his death was remarkable. “He had seen plenty of sorrow and toil; but such was the simple power of his faith, in casting his burden on the Lord, that they had not worn him out in premature decay. There had been no undue strain on his energy. All that he wrought on earth was the outcome of the secret abiding of his soul in God. God was his home, his help, his stay. He was nothing: God was all. Therefore his youth was renewed.” (Meyer)
