Deuteronomy 34 - The Last Day of Moses

Introduction

[READING - Deuteronomy 34]

Deuteronomy 34 NASB95

1 Now 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, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 6 And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. 7 Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. 8 So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end. 9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

[PRAYER]

He was buried in a valley just outside the Promised Land—a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor. This is where Deuteronomy essentially began. On the plains of Moab is where Moses instructed the new generation of Israelites on Israel’s history, on God’s law, and the details of living faithfully before God in the Promised Land.

This place will be remembered by the Israelites as the staging ground for taking the Promised Land, but perhaps more than that, it will be remembered as the burial place of Moses.

[INTER] If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it?

Would you spend time with loved ones?

Would you take time to reflect on your life?

Would you pursue a passion, a favorite hobby?

Would you try to find some way to give back to those who helped you along the way or would you give to others in honor of those who helped you?

How would you try to find peace?

How would you say your goodbyes?

If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it?

[PROP] How Moses spent his last day and how he was remembered afterward helps us to think about how we should be spending our days.

[CIT] Moses, the man of God, was given a visual tour of the Promised land, then he was likely buried by God Himself, and finally he was remembered as a one-of-a-kind prophet among the Israelites.

[TS] Tonight we will focus on the visual tour from Pisgah Peak in vv. 1-4…

Major Ideas

The Visual Tour from Pisgah Peak (Deut 34:1-4)

Deuteronomy 34:1–4 NASB95

1 Now 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, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

[EXP] Mt. Nebo was likely the highest peak along Pisgah ridge across the Jordan River from Jericho.

Moses was told to look on the land in the north as far as Dan. Then he was told to look west toward Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the west. Then he looked south toward the Negev, a dry desert region, all the way back north to Zoar, which was close to were he stood.

Moses was given a 360-degree visual tour of the Promised Land.

“This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there,” (Deut. 34:4).

God used Moses to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give their descendants this Promised Land—a land which was already taking on names like Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah—, but it was a land that Moses would not enter.

When Joseph died in Egypt, he made sure that his bones would be transported and buried in the Promised Land, but Moses’ bones would not be transported. He would be buried on the other side of the Jordan River outside the Promised Land.

In Deuteronomy 3, Moses told us that he pleaded with the Lord, “‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27 ‘Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan,” (Deut 3:24-27).

Moses would cross over because on one occasion he had served sin in anger instead of the Lord in obedience.

[ILLUS] Years ago, the senior ladies were having breakfast in our fellowship hall on a Thursday morning, and they had a question, “Why didn’t God let Moses into the Promised Land?” They knew why, but they were really asking was, “Wasn’t it sort of harsh of God to not let Moses into the Promised Land?”

Last Sunday evening someone else basically asked the same thing, “Wasn’t it harsh of God to not let Moses into the Promised Land when he had been so faithful and only messed up that once?”

When I have been asked that question, I’ve tried to respond with two truths: Just one sin will keep you out, but Jesus can get you in.

Moses was a man with more than one sin, but let’s just assume for the sake of argument that all he had was the one sin against God—disobeying God by striking a rock to bring forth water rather than speaking to it as God commanded.

That one sin was enough to keep Moses out of the Promised Land and to send him to Hell forever.

But when Jesus called Peter, James, and John to go with Him up to the Mount of Transfiguration, who appeared there to talk with Jesus about His upcoming departure? It was Elijah and Moses! Moses wasn’t in Hell! He was in heaven! And Moses was in the Promised Land as he talked with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

That one sin was enough to keep Moses out forever, but Jesus got Him in!

[APP] I’m going to guess that you have more than one sin that should keep you out of Heaven, out of that ultimate Promised Land, but the grace of God toward us in Jesus is a grace greater than all our sins!

Our sins would keep us out, but if we’ve trusted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, He will get us in!

[TS]

Conclusion

How would you spend your last day? There’s no better way than by comforting yourself with this truth: Jesus will get me in.

[ILLUS] Alistair Begg was preaching at a preaching conference not too long ago. Perhaps you’ve seen the clip from the sermon I’m talking about. He said, “If you were asked by God, ‘Why should I let you into my Heaven?’ and you begin to answer in the first person, you’ve already gone wrong. Loved ones, the only proper answer is in the third person. Because He… Because He…” The “He” refers to Jesus of course.

Begg said, “Think about the thief on the cross. I can’t wait to find that fellow one day and ask him, ‘How did that shake out for you? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend, you’ve never been in a Bible study, you never got baptized, you didn’t know a thing about church membership, and yet… and yet… YOU MADE IT! YOU MADE IT! HOW DID YOU MAKE IT?’

“That’s what the angel must’ve said, you know like, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Well, I don’t know.’

‘What do you mean you don’t know?’

Well, cause I don’t know.”

‘Well… you know… where you… jus… did ya… Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.’

“The supervisor angel comes, ‘Sir, we have just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?’”

The thief says, “Guys, I’ve never heard of it in my life.”

“Well, what about, let’s just go to the doctrine of Scripture immediately.”

“This guy’s just staring.”

“And eventually in frustration (the supervisor angel says), ‘On what basis are you here?’”

“And he said, ‘The man on the middle cross said I can come.’”

“That’s the only answer.”

[APP] Brothers and sisters, just as He got Moses in, just as He got the thief in, the Man who hung on the middle cross will get us in!

[PRAYER]