Never Forsaken: Finishing Well

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt – to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.  Deuteronomy 34:10-11

 Moses truly lived an incredible life, and we can learn so much from it. He was not perfect, not by far, and the Bible doesn’t shy away from that. He was a confessed murderer (Exodus 2:12). He argued with God and tried to get out of the role that God had for him at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4). In the wilderness, he let his frustration get the better of him and he disobeyed God’s instructions at Meribah (Numbers 20:1-13). But despite these failings, and others I’m sure, God chose to use Moses to accomplish His will and show His wonders. We may have thought that because of what we have done or who we have been, God cannot use us. I caution you to remember that Moses was 80 – EIGHTY YEARS OLD – when God finally got a hold of him and began his ministry. He had 80 years of walking apart from God leading up to that. This should show each of us that it is never too late, as long as we draw breath God can use us, and you never know what He will have in store, perhaps it will be 40 more miraculous years!

 Moses died up on the mountain, alone with God. He was 120 years old, but he had not lost his strength, nor seen weakness in his eyesight. At 47, I don’t think I could climb Pigsah Peak of Mount Nebo, but Moses had the strength to do it on his own at 120. At this rate, it must have seemed like he could live forever! But God had an earthly end to his days. I find it interesting that Moses lived exactly 120 years and back in Genesis 6:3, God had said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” But clearly, Moses died here. He was not taken up into heaven in a chariot like Elijah (2 Kings 2), because the text tells us in Deuteronomy 34:6, “The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place.” I imagine this to be a peaceful and gentle passing. I can see Moses laying down for a nap and God taking him home to be with Him. God watched over Moses every day of his life, from keeping him safe as a baby when Pharaoh was out to kill him, to helping him escape to Midian, to building his family and growing as a man, to coming to know God personally and being His emissary and leading His people. God was with Moses every step of the way.

 And how interesting it is that Moses gets a cameo in the New Testament?!? Moses and Elijah had gone onto “Abraham’s bosom” but because Jesus had not yet died for the sins of mankind, they were not in heaven. Did they talk with God there? Were they picking up a conversation with Jesus that had been going on for centuries? What did they talk about? The Bible never tells us the contents of the conversation. It doesn’t even say if the disciples that were present heard it or just saw that they were talking. I’m not sure about the exact timing, some of the gospels were compiled more by subject and less chronologically, but it seems to have happened shortly before the triumphal entry, when Jesus would begin His final week of ministry on earth, leading to His death and resurrection. Perhaps this was His pep talk, His bit of encouragement to get Him through the home stretch. There are a lot of questions I would like to ask when I get to heaven, a lot of curiosities about things, and this is definitely one of them!

Here’s the Thing: We can’t all be Moses. In fact, the scripture says that there’s never been a prophet like him since (Deuteronomy 34:10). But each and every one of us can learn from his story. We can see that God can use anyone. We can see that God has a plan for us, that He is able to accomplish through us. Trust Him.