Deuteronomy 34:5-12

Introduction

We left off last Sunday night talking with Moses on Pisgah’s Peak, Mt. Nebo, given a tour of the Promised Land but reminded that he would not enter the land.

Tonight we pick with v. 5…

[READING - Deuteronomy 34:5-12]

Deuteronomy 34:5–12 NASB95

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]

[INTER] How should we remember Moses?

Major Ideas

We should remember Moses as one who served the Lord (Deut. 34:5-8).

Deuteronomy 34:5–8 NASB95

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.

[EXP] Most people wear out and expire. Moses, however, did not wear out and expire. Although he was 120 years old, his eye was not dim nor his vigor abated. In Deuteronomy 31:2, Moses said, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go...” Moses was saying to the people of Israel that he was too old to continue leading them, too worn out to keep coming and going among them, but although he was old, he wasn’t worn out. He still had his strength and vitality. He could’ve still done the job but the Lord had said his time was up. He died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

Whether we are young or old; whether we are still strong or worn down—if the Lord decides that out time is up, our time is up.

Man, his days are determined,

The number of his months is with the Lord;

And his limits the Lord has set so that man cannot pass (Job 14:5).

The NASB capitalizes “He” in v. 6, “He buried him,” i.e., God buried Moses. The “he” is, of course, no capitalized in the original language, and it is possible that it could refer to Joshua or even to Israel. It seems likely, however, that the “He” in v. 6 is referring to God because of the unusual nature of Moses’ death.

It was according to the Lord.

No man knows his burial place to this day.

His eyes was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

As Peter Craigie put it, “The context would indicate the Lord (buried Moses), which would suggest that the death and burial of Moses was a private matter between God and Moses.”

No matter who gathers around me as I breathe my last breath; no matter who shows up to say nice things about me at my funeral, my death will ultimately be a private matter between me and God.

Dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).

How will people remember us when our spirit returns to God who gave it? The people wept for Moses for thirty days, then those days of mourning were over. Moses was gone, and the people of God had to move on. How was he remembered? He was remembered as the servant of the Lord.

This title “servant of the Lord” is applied to others in the OT but it is a title that primarily belongs to Moses in Israel’s immediate future. In the book of Joshua, there are 15 references to the servant of the Lord. One of them refers to Joshua. The other 14 refer to Moses.

Moses will be remembered by the people of God as the servant of the Lord.

[ILLUS] Bob Dylan wrote...

You may be an ambassador to England or France You may like to gamble, you might like to dance You may be the heavyweight champion of the world You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed You're gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Bob Dylan was right. You’re gonna have to serve somebody. And I think we’ll be remembered for who we served.

[APP] Some of us serve ourselves, and that’s how we’ll be remembered. Some of us serve our careers, and that’s how we’ll be remembered. Some of us serve our families, and that’s how we’ll be remembered.

Moses could’ve served himself, but he didn’t. He could’ve served the people according to their desires, but he didn’t. Moses served the Lord and therefore was remembered as the servant of the Lord.

The greatest servant of all, Jesus, said, Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

That’s who Moses followed.

That’s who we should follow.

That’s how we should want to be remembered, as servants of the Lord.

[TS]...

We should remember Moses as one full of the spirit of wisdom (Deut. 34:9).

Deuteronomy 34:9 NASB95

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.

[EXP] Biblical wisdom refers to the practical skills necessary to understanding and living a successful life. Foolishness is the opposite of wisdom. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God,” and then lives like it. The wise man believes that God is and lives his life before the face of God in the way that God commands.

One writer said, “(Wisdom) is intensely practical, not theoretical. Basically, wisdom is the art of being successful, of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results.”

This is true so long as we understand being successful and being faithful to God, the correct plan to be the plan that aligns with God’s Word, and the desired results to ultimately be in the hands of the Lord.

In any case, all men are called to live wisely in regard to themselves. Some men are called to lead their families with wisdom. But very few find themselves in the position that Moses was in, the position that Joshua now finds himself, the place of leading a new nation into its new land.

Joshua certainly needed wisdom.

Before Moses died, he laid his hands on Joshua. This was a commissioning for service, a transfer of authority. In Numbers 27, God told Moses, “Put some of your authority on (Joshua), in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him.”

This is why the end of Deuteronomy 34:9 says, “The sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

This laying on of hands was perhaps also a giving of practical spiritual gifts—practical spiritual gifts that would help Joshua serve the Lord as he led the people.

Numbers 27:18 says that Joshua already possessed the Spirit of the Lord, but additional spiritual gifts would certainly be necessary as Joshua moved from second chair to first.

Moses possessed those gifts. He had that spirit of wisdom. As his hands rested on Joshua, Joshua received those gifts as well.

Joshua received the ability to lead militarily and administratively.

He rose to lead committed to relying on and obeying the Lord just as Moses had done.

[ILLUS] The spirit of wisdom to lead was what the people recognized in Moses. In fact, when Joshua made his initial speech to God’s people in Joshua 1, they replied, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you...” (Josh. 1:16-17).

Now, of course, they didn’t obey Moses in all things, but to the extent that they did obey, it was because they recognized the spirit of wisdom in Moses, a spirit then recognized in Joshua.

[APP] It’s pretty easy to spot a fool, but no one wants to be recognized as a one. We want to remembered as Moses was remembered, as one full of the spirit of wisdom. If that’s true, then we must live wisely, and the only way to live wisely in the way that Moses did is to follow after Jesus who “became to us wisdom from God,” (1 Cor. 1:30).

There is no wisdom apart from following Jesus.

Moses knew that.

Joshua knew that.

If we are following Jesus, we know it too.

[TS]...

We should remember Moses as one like no other (Deut. 34:10-12).

Deuteronomy 34:10–12 NASB95

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.

[EXP] These verses highlight two unique attributes of Moses’ ministry: the intimacy he had with God and the miracles he was sent to perform.

The intimacy Moses had with God is captured at the end of v. 10 where it says that the Lord knew Moses face to face.

Moses didn’t literally see the Lord face to face. We know this because in Exodus 33:20, God told him, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” But in Exodus 33:11, it does say that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”

The miracle-power Moses had from God is described in vv. 11-12. Every one of the Ten Plagues in Egypt, every miracle crossing the Red Sea, every miracle in the wilderness was a God-empowered miracle performed through Moses, a miracle leading God’s people out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

Now, v. 10 says, “Since that time not prophet has risen in Israel like Moses,” which means that at the time when the end of Deuteronomy was penned by Joshua or whoever, there had not bee another prophet equal to Moses—one the Lord knew so intimately, one the Lord used so powerfully.

But Moses said earlier in Deuteronomy, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him,” (Deut. 18:15).

But was there ever a prophet that was like Moses—one the Lord knew so intimately, one the Lord used so powerfully?

Just one—but this one was actually greater than Moses.

Jesus of Nazareth—the one who lived perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose triumphantly—He is the one greater than Moses!

The Apostle John points this out in John 1:17-18, when he writes, “17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Moses had a one of a kind intimacy with God, but Jesus’ intimacy was greater.

Through Moses we received the Law of God.

But in Jesus we can know God Himself!

[ILLUS] One time people were coming to Jesus looking for bread rather than salvation. Jesus told them to be saved by believing in Him whom God had sent. They asked, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘(Moses) gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” They had misunderstood, because it was not Moses who gave them bread out of heaven to eat; it was God! And it was God who now offered these people salvation in Jesus Christ, the bread of life!

As Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst,” (John 6:35).

But the people didn’t believe. They were still looking for a sign, a display of miracle-power from Jesus, one that proved who He was to their satisfaction. But because of their unbelief, no miraculous work would ever prove to them that Jesus was the prophet greater than Moses.

They just wanted Jesus to serve them bread; they didn’t want to serve Him as Messiah.

O another occasion, some scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You,” (Matt. 12:38), but Jesus knew that no sign would prove to them that He was the Messiah, so Jesus said, Matt 12:39-40, “39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus was using veiled language to talk about His death and resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus was the greatest display of miracle-power in history, and yet some wouldn’t believe that Jesus was the prophet greater than Moses even after they witnessed the sign of Jonah, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection!

These people were like the brothers of the rich man in Jesus’ account of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus. The rich man died and went to the place of torment but begged Abraham to send the beggar, Lazarus, back from the dead to warn his brothers, but Abraham said, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead,” (Luke 16:31).

Jesus performed many signs and mighty works that pointed to Himself as Christ, as Lord, as Savior—as the way out of slavery to sin and the way to freedom in the ultimate Promised Land of Heaven—but the greatest sign that Jesus performed was His resurrection from the dead, a sign that was “performed in the sight of all Israel,” (Deut. 34:12, cf. Acts 26:23, 26).

[TS]…

Conclusion

As we wrap-up Deuteronomy and wrap-up the words of Moses, let’s remember what Jesus said in John 5:46…

John 5:46 NASB95

46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

[PRAYER]