Farewell to Moses

good evening y'all i want to welcome you everybody this evening to calvary chapel and those of you online just welcome and would you would you stand and join me in prayer father we thank you as we're busy about this holiday season lord we we thank you for who you are and your love your grace your mercy and you being the reason for the season and all lord we just thank you lord would you bless our time tonight as we worship and study your word lord help us focus lord and strengthen us with your might we ask lord you're so worthy of our praise every song we could ever sing worthy of all the praise we could ever bring we could ever breathe we live for you jesus the name

above every other name jesus the only one who could ever say the of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you beside and shows our every song worthy of all the praise we could ever bring every breath we could ever breathe we live for you jesus the name above every other name jesus the only one who could ever say the of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you like you beside and show nation and i and i you i trust in none beside you and show to those lives trusting in you and looking to you the author and finish up our faith strengthen us lord we need your strength in this world in which we're living lord to take the time to worship and focus on you with all that's going on in the world it's

just something that's can be encouraging for us just to look to you or maybe seated lift them up to pray nothing is mercy pray we're nothing without you oh praise you lord for loving us that divine love from you that it's part of love thank you for your forgiveness Lord paid for that sin those sins on that cross for us and we thank you Lord Jesus there's nowhere else to go to you where else would we go you have the way of life Lord we thank you I say you're Lord there is a free Jesus who has forgiven those sins like you all i want to praise the wonders of your mighty tower of refuge and strength free breath

shout to let us sing majesty praise to the king mountains bow down in the sea at the south i sing for joy i'll stand nothing compares to the promise i have in his none lies the wonders of your altar huge in strength let every breath ever cease to shout to the sea majesty praise to the kings bow down in the sea at the sound i sing for joy nothing

i have no mess i have oh nothing compares to the promise i have in we thank you for your promises lord because you always keep them we can count on it that one scripture that sticks in my mind so many times of in philippians 1 6 being confident this very thing he who has begun a good work in us will continue a performance of the day of jesus thank you lord jesus may we just serve walk with you trust you love you in turn love one another and allow your work to be done as we prepare for your return in jesus name amen lord bless y'all good evening if you would open up your bibles to the book of deuteronomy chapter 33. today tonight we say farewell to moses it's been a good long amount of time that we've

spent studying about moses starting there in exodus as god called him into ministry and we've seen him all throughout his time in ministry his uh his heights of uh really trusting the lord and being obedient to the lord his lows of failing and yet through it all he remained faithful to uh to the lord and uh and continued to serve him and so tonight what we're going to see is in chapter 33 we're going to see him bless the different tribes really kind of speak to the church and we're going to speak a word of prophetic blessing upon each of the tribes uh and then we'll look at the uh the passing of moses so we pick up in chapter 33 verse 1 with the blessing of moses it says this

now this is the blessing with which moses the man of god blessed the sons of israel before his death he said the lord came from sinai and dawned on them from seer he shone forth from mount peron he came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones at his right hand there were flashing lightning or as his right hand there was flashing lightning for them indeed he loves the people all your holy ones are in your hand and they followed in your steps every one receives of your words moses charged us with a law a possession for the assembly of jacob he was king in jeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered the tribes of israel together so he starts off really by giving a general blessing of the nation

and kind of as moses has become so fond of doing kind of recounts what god had done for the nation in in particular what he's done for the nation in delivering them from egypt and in giving them the law he first of all talks about the love of god in rescuing the people when he said he came from sinai with 10 000 of his holy ones speaking of angels there and the great deliverance that he worked for the nation of israel and of course i really enjoyed there in verse 3 where it says indeed he loves the people i think it's good to remember that that's why god delivered the nation of israel there's a good number of political and prophetic reasons where you can say that god delivered the nation of

israel but none of them trumps the fact that he loved them it's a good reminder for us that's exactly why god saved us yes there's great things that he did and in his coming but it was all because of how much he loved us and i think that that's one of the things that really for me it always sticks out to me this time and i think that's one of the things that really this time of the year is it's a reminder of the great love that he has for us that he was willing to lay aside his glory come down and dwell among us simply because he loves us and so as he said that he reminded them of the blessing of the law he said that moses gave the law and it was an absolute blessing to the people because it showed them not only the righteousness of god but their

need for a savior and then he begins now to bless the tribes and so we'll take them one by one first of all in verse six it says may reuben live and not die nor his men be few he gives a blessing of protection and growth for the people of reuben but it's kind of interesting how swift this blessing is and shall we say tepid this blessing is right if you remember correctly reuben found himself in the bad graces of his father jacob when he laid with one of jacob's concubines and really caused himself some issues and so reuben lost that place of favor of being the firstborn and this blessing that moses speaks over reuben is uh it's a limited blessing we'll say that we'll say that the

effects of sin in the life of reuben had continued on throughout the tribe he now goes on to speak of judah and he says in this regarding judah so he said hear oh lord the voice of judah bring him to his people with his hands he can hear and he can hear and he can hear and he can hear and he can hear and he can contended for them and may you be a help against his adversaries the blessing of judah really starts off by saying lord hear the people of judah it's interesting because the name judah literally means praise and so if you will moses just said lord hear the praise hear the praises of this particular tribe and so it's a call for god to hear the the things that are going on

within the tribe of judah but then he asks that god would protect them militarily the reason for that is because he wants to hear the things that are going on within the tribe of judah the reason why he asks that god would protect them militarily is if you remember the way that the tribes were laid out when they marched judah was the first tribe to march judah was the first tribe to confront any enemy and so judah was the one that needed that greatest aspect of protection because they were the ones who would face the enemy first so he praised god's protection over the people but not only his protection over them while they're in battle but that god would bring

them home back to their people next we come to levi it says of levi he said he would protect let your and this is really hard to pronounce your thumam and your urim belong to your godly man whom you proved at massa with whom you contended at the waters of meribah who said of his father and his mother i did not consider them and he did not acknowledge his brothers nor did he regard his own sons for they observed your word and kept your covenant they shall teach your ordinances to jacob and your law to israel they shall put incense before you and hold your covenant and keep your covenant and hold burnt offerings on your altar oh lord bless his substance and accept the work of his

hands shatter the loins of those who rise up against him and those who hate him so that they will not rise again now levi is a tribe that's really redeemed himself and we've talked about this before but if you remember the two tribes of levi and simeon take note of the fact that simeon is not going to be mentioned in any of these blessings levi and simeon concocted a plan to take revenge on levi and simeon and take revenge on levi and simeon and take revenge on levi and simeon for a wrong that was committed against their sister and they lied to a to an entire people group and then slaughtered an entire people group and so jacob cursed them jacob said you'll be

scattered amongst the nation you will not have any kind of an inheritance amongst the nation and that's exactly what's going to take place matter of fact simeon will be so scattered that we don't really see any kind of a blessing for them in this from moses but levi redeemed himself because if you remember it was the levites who when moses moses needed to deal with the nation of israel in a time of great sin he said who was on the lord's side and the tribe of levi stepped up they proved themselves to be the ones who were on the lord's side they redeemed themselves if you will because of their righteousness and so because of that god said because they have taken my law so seriously and taken righteousness so seriously they will be

the ones who will serve in the tabernacle and so the nation of the tribe of levi will be scattered throughout the land but they will be the ones who will serve in the tabernacle and so the nation of will be scattered throughout the land in those cities of refuge, in those cities that belong to the Levites. And so because of that, he says, because they did not consider their own family more important than God, they have been given this great blessing. They are blessed with being the ones who will teach the law to the people because of their great love for the Lord. And they will be the ones who will be responsible for the sacrifices because of their great love

for the Lord. And so he speaks this blessing over the tribe of Levi. But again, Simeon not mentioned. Next, we come to the tribe of Benjamin. Verse 12, it says, of Benjamin, he said, may the beloved of the Lord dwell in security by him who shields him all the day and he dwells between his shoulders. Now, Benjamin was known as simply beloved of the Lord. And it's interesting

because as the very beginning of the book, he was known as the beloved of the Lord. And he was the youngest son of Jacob. He was also very beloved of Jacob. And so found himself in high favor as far as the Lord was concerned. But it also says something very interesting. It says, who shields him all the day and he dwells between his shoulders. If you were to look at a map,

like in the back of your Bible, you have to look right now. But if you were to look at a map in the back of your Bible and you locate the tribe of Benjamin, you'll notice that the very southern end of the tribe of Benjamin, it almost looks like the way it's shaped that their shoulders there. Now, between those two shoulders, if you will, of the tribe of Benjamin, the way it's laid out, there's a little city that's mentioned that shown right there. And that city is called Jerusalem.

And so in the midst of the tribe of Benjamin, in that place of safety will be this city of Jerusalem where God will establish the temple and God will establish the place of worship for the children of Israel. Jerusalem is in their inheritance. So kind of an interesting, uh, blessing there on the tribe of Benjamin. And then in verse 13, it says of Joseph, he said, blessed of the Lord be his land with the choice things of heaven, with the dew and from the deep lying beneath and with the choice yield of the sun and with the choice produce of the months and with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the choice things of the everlasting hills and with the choice things of the earth and its fullness and the favor,

of him who dwelt in the bush, let it come to the head of Joseph into the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers. As the firstborn of his ox majesty is his and his horns are the horns of the wild ox with them. He will push the peoples all at once to the ends of the earth. And those are the 10,000 of Ephraim. And those are the thousands of Manasseh. Now,

if you remember when Jacob was dying there in the land, or there in Egypt, when he finally got to see his son, Joseph, Joseph showed up with his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He told us, he told Joseph, he said, because of the love that I have for you, I'm going to give you a double portion in the land. Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh will be like my own sons. And they will each have their own inheritance in the land. The rest of the sons

are yours, but these two, these are mine. And he blessed them. And of course he blessed the younger greater than the younger. And he blessed them. And he blessed them. And he blessed them. And he blessed the older and the younger. Ephraim actually became the greater of the tribes. But as Moses calls out this blessing here, this same blessing upon Joseph that had been there with Jacob is there as well

with Moses. And he calls down a blessing on them in two different ways. He calls down a material blessing upon them that they would be blessed in their crops and in their herds and all the different things that materially they could have. And then of course he calls down a military blessing on them that they would be a strong tribe and drive out the evil. And he calls down a

blessing upon them that they would be a strong tribe and drive out the inhabitants of the land. And we do find that the northern kingdom, when the nation of Israel splits into two, the northern kingdom oftentimes is referred to as Ephraim because it was the dominant tribe among the children of Israel. And so he calls down this blessing of both material abundance and military strength upon Joseph and his offspring. And then we come to Zebulun and Issachar. They're kind of

lumped here together. In verse 18, it says of Zebulun, he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going forth, and Issachar in your tents. They will call peoples to the mountain. There they will offer righteous sacrifices, for they will draw out of the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand. Now this is a little bit of an interesting blessing upon Zebulun and Issachar because their land is not actually adjacent to

the sea. It doesn't actually butt up to the sea. However, again, if you look at a map, the Sea of Galilee is on one side and the Mediterranean Sea is on the other. Flowing into one of the lands is a river that comes from the Sea of Galilee. And on the other side, there is a river, an inlet that goes from the Mediterranean Sea into the allotment of one of the tribes. And most people feel like that's what it means when it

says that they'll be blessed by the seas because they were that close and they were connected to the seas. The interesting thing to pay attention to is that Zebulun and Issachar, they're not actually adjacent to the sea. They're not connected to the sea. They're not connected to the sea. They're not connected to the sea. It says, verse 19, they will call the peoples to the mountain. They will offer righteous

sacrifices for they will draw out of the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand. Now, I did a little bit of research on this because Chuck Smith pointed this out and I looked it up to see if it was true. And a lot of commentators agree. As a matter of fact, I think John D. Rockefeller read this and that's when he started looking for oil in that area.

And there's a lot of commentators who agree with this. And there's a lot of commentators who agree with this. There's actually not only more drilling that's taking place both in this and one of the other tribes I'll mention in just a moment. As of 2018, I looked it up and found an article in the Jerusalem Post that they are reinvigorating the drilling for oil in that area. But there's also offshore

drilling that takes place not too far off of the coast of Israel, straight to the west of one of those tribes. So it's kind of interesting that perhaps that's what God was pointing them to is that there's some oil. There's some oil down in those lands. And so that's kind of an interesting thing to pay attention to there. Then we move on to Gad. And it says, of Gad, he said, blessed is the one, verse 20, who enlarges

Gad. He lies down as a lion and tears the arm, also the crown of the head. Then he provided the first part for himself. For there, the ruler's portion was reserved. And he came with the leaders of the people. He executed the justice of the Lord, and his ordinances were done in Israel. This seems to be a blessing upon Gad about his fierce warriors. As a matter of fact, when Jacob prophetically speaks of

the tribe of Gad, he also speaks of the fierce warriors that would come from Gad. And as a matter of fact, and you can just jot this down in the margin of your Bible, if you were to look up 1 Chronicles chapter 12, you will see some of the men who gathered themselves to deal with Gad. And as a matter of fact, when Jacob prophetically speaks of the tribe of Gad, he also speaks of the king David, King David, after he found himself fleeing from Saul. And you'll find that a good number of the men that were his mighty men in battle were from the tribe of Gad. And so kind

of interesting to pay attention to there that they actually supplied a good number of the troops for David. Again, that's 1 Chronicles chapter 12, if you want to look that up later. They supplied a good number of the troops for David as he was fighting his battles. As we come to verse 22, we come to the tribe of Dan. And of Dan, he said, Dan is a lion's whelp that leaps

forth from Bashan. I'm just going to be really forward with you and say, I have no idea what that means. Okay. But I do know this because no commentator commented on this, except this one thing that I'm going to tell you. Some of these things that they said, they're like, that's really hard to know what that means. Here's what we do know. And I'm like, you're supposed to be the

smart people. You're the people with doctorates in this stuff. And you don't know what it means. Here's the thing. Most people, most commentators agree that this is not a positive statement on Dan. This is actually a negative statement on Dan. Kind of a negative prophetic statement that's made about him because it's interesting to pay attention to the fact that Dan is the one that

will introduce idolatry to the nation of Israel as the kingdom is divided there. And so Dan is the first one to introduce idolatry. So maybe not the most positive statement that could ever be made. About Dan. And then we come down to verse 23. It says of Naphtali, he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord, take possession of the sea

and the south. Now the tribe of Naphtali actually is right on the coast of Galilee. If you were to look at the sea of Galilee, you would find that Naphtali actually surrounds the sea of Galilee. And most agree that, what the statement that's made here, satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord actually speaks of the fact that that's where Jesus will do so much of his ministry because Jesus will establish his headquarters there just off the coast of the sea of Galilee in that region of Naphtali. And so many believe that that's a prophetic blessing upon the tribe

of Naphtali that Jesus will do so much of his teaching there. Next we come to Asher in verse 24. It says, Of Asher, he said, More blessed than sons is Asher. May he be favored by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil. Your locks will be iron and bronze, and according to your days, so will your leisurely walk be. Now, there obviously is a focus on the fact that Asher is going to be incredibly blessed.

And if I remember correctly in the, in the prophetic statement that Jacob makes, he says something about the dainties of Asher, speaking of the fact that they will be blessed monetarily. But that clearly is what's being spoken of here. There's an abundance of blessing. But again, so some commentators say, And may he dip his foot in oil. It speaks of olive oil, speaking of great abundance in the,

in the land. But again, there are those now drilling for oil in this region because it says, And he dipped his foot. In oil. And so this is another one of the places where currently they're, they're doing some looking for, for oil. So who knows? Maybe God was like, Hey, one of these days you're going to need this. Pay attention. So that's the blessing on the tribe. So let's look at kind of the conclusion

of what he has to say here, because this conclusion of this blessing is really beautiful. It says in verse 26, There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in his majesty, the eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he drove out the enemy from before you and said, destroy. So Israel dwells in security.

The fountain of Jacob secluded in a land of grain and new wine. His heavens also dropped down the dew. Blessed are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty. And he drove out the enemy from before you and said, So your enemies will cringe before you, and he will tread upon their high places.

So I've divided this conclusion up into two things. Number one, who is like God? Who is like God? I got to tell you, verses 26 and 27 are like sitting down in an easy chair after a long, hard day of work. Because when you read those, you're like, who is like the God of Jeshurun? Which, by the way, is a substitutionary word for Israel. It simply means the upright one. Who is like the God of

Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your help? Man, have you ever viewed God like that? That God is just like cruising across the heavens just to come help us? Matter of fact, as he cruises across the heavens to come help us and through the skies and his majesty, the eternal God is a dwelling place. I love that phrase dwelling place. Because you know what the idea of a dwelling place is?

It's a place that you abide in. Isn't that a beautiful thought? That right there, Moses is telling us that one of the things that we need to do is view God as the place that we abide in. Because what is Jesus going to go on to tell his disciples in John chapter 15? He's going to say, I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me, he who dwells in me. Matter of fact, the psalmist will say,

he who dwells in the secret place of the most high abides under the shadow of the almighty. And isn't that just, a beautiful statement of what we're to do with God. We just kind of go, I'm just going to dwell in you. I'm going to find my rest in you. I'm going to find my place of sanctuary and safety in you. One of the things I've learned that is of utmost importance in my

life is to find a place of sanctuary. To find a place where everything is just safe. I can just really be myself. And I, find that most often in my time with the Lord. I find that the most often when I can block out all of the noise of the world and I can just simply relax and know that I'm dwelling in that secret place of the most high. He says, who is like God? Not only is he our dwelling place,

but underneath are the everlasting arms. John Corson gave a very similar illustration, but I'll use one from my own life. It reminds me of when my oldest daughter was very little. Now, she is a fish now and loves to swim, but when she was real, real little, she would be scared to jump into the water. She'd come right to the edge and then back up and right to the edge and then back up,

and I'd say, just jump into my arms. And it would take her forever to want to do that. I'm like, I'm not gonna drop you. Like, I promise I can catch you. And as soon as she figured out, Dad is always gonna catch me, it became the only thing I could do for the next hour and a half. Because once she realized that my arms were always gonna catch her, it became the most fun she'd ever had.

Why? Because she felt secure and relaxed. And that's the way God wants us to be. I can take steps of faith because I know his arms are always there to catch me. I can feel secure and relaxed in him. And then the second part of this conclusion is that, blessed is the nation of Israel because he says, you dwell in security. You dwell in a land of grain and new wine.

Who is like you? A people that is saved by the Lord who is the shield of your help. You've been blessed in so many ways and that blessing will continue even after you've come into the land. And that concludes Moses' blessing on the nation of Israel. So now as we come into chapter 34, again we say farewell to Moses and I got super creative and I titled this,

The Death of Moses. It says in verse 34, chapter one, now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo at the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea and the Negev, and the plain and the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, this is the land which I swore to give to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob saying, I will give it to your descendants.

I will let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. I call this an incredibly gracious act of God. God didn't have to let him do this. Remember, Moses had misrepresented God and did not believe God when he told him to speak to the rock instead of striking the rock. Moses disobeyed and he struck the rock. And while God was gracious and still caused the water to flow,

he said, but because you did not honor me, you can't go into the land. Moses said, please. And God said, enough. Now, as we learned in the last chapter, Moses said, hey, I can't go into the land. I can't come and go the way that I used to. Not because physically he couldn't. We'll find that out in just a moment. But because spiritually, speaking this was God's judgment in his life.

God's so gracious. I picture it like this. Again, can't prove this biblically, but this is the way I picture it. I picture God kind of putting his arm around him, walking him up on the mountain and saying, see that over there? That's where Manasseh is going to be. That's where Ephraim is going to be. That's where Dan's going to be. That's where Gad's going to be.

And that's Jericho. That's going to be a tough one. But I think, I know Joshua can do it. They'll just have to listen to me. They'll have to learn to do what I tell them to do. But that's the land, Moses. That's what it looks like. See what I mean? See why I call it a land flowing with milk and honey? This place is going to be amazing. I can't wait to see it.

It's kind of like that scene from any kind of Chip and Joanna show you ever watch where they take this disgusting house and they're like, oh yeah, we'll do this over here and we'll do this over here. And the homeowners are going, I don't see it yet, but awesome. And God kind of gives them that gracious moment. He says, Moses, you can't go in there, but I want to let you see it.

I wonder if the moment that Moses realized that he got to show up with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, if he was just like, I get to go now. Now's the time. Again, I can't prove this. This is what goes through my mind. I can't help it. It's how I imagine things. I get to go now. I got to see it, but now I actually get to go there. God's like, yeah, you sure do.

God is so gracious with us. Even in the midst of the areas where he sometimes has to bring judgment into our lives. He's still so gracious with us. He's still so merciful, even in the way that he corrects us. Is he not? And so he does this gracious act for Moses. Then we come to verse five. It says, so Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab,

according to the word of the Lord. He buried him in the valley, the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows his burial place to this day. Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days. The days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and Israel listened to him and did. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and Israel listened to him and did. As the Lord had commanded him.

I love the way that Moses is referred to here. Now, again, I have a question. This question is not answered for us, although there is some debating views. I'll tell you what my view is. Who wrote this part? Right? Good question. Like, is Moses going, this is how it's going to happen, and then wrote his own obituary at this point in time? Maybe. Maybe he did.

I think Joshua wrote it. I think Moses said, you're going to have to fill in the last part. You write whatever you feel like is right. You write that last little part. Again, either way, we can't prove it. Somebody wrote it. I believe it was Joshua. But I love the way that this begins. It simply refers to him as Moses, servant of the Lord. Of all the things that could be said about Moses,

and a couple of them are mentioned at the very end, but of all the things that could be said about Moses, I believe that his greatest accomplishment was this. He was a servant of the Lord. Because after all, at the end of our lives, what is the one thing that we would want to be known for? To be a servant of the Lord. Because remember, what are we all hoping to hear on that day when we graduate?

On that day when we take our last breath on this side of eternity and take our first breath on the other side of eternity? Well, the thing I'm hoping the most to hear is, well done, good and faithful servant. That's exactly who Moses was. Did he make mistakes? Oh, absolutely. Did he do everything right? Absolutely not. But through the ups and the downs, the right and the wrong,

the failures and the places of victory, ultimately, he was a servant of the Lord. And I believe as believers in Jesus Christ, that's a phrase we need to hold on to. Because you know as well as I do that sometimes things are going great, and I'm not going to hold on to it. And I'm not going to hold on to it. And I'm not going to hold on to it. And I am stoked about following Jesus,

and I'm doing everything. I'm walking in the spirit. I'm doing everything the way that I'm supposed to. And then the rest of the week happens, right? That's like 10 minutes on Sunday morning. And then the rest of the week happens. And you're like, what happened here? I was doing so good. It doesn't matter. This one thing I do, forgetting what's behind, I press on.

Because I am a servant of the Lord. Moses, the servant of the Lord, without much fanfare, it just says, died there in the land of Moab. This had to have been hard on the nation of Israel. He was the man that they'd followed now for the last 40 years. He was the man that they knew. He was the one that they trusted. He was the one who God always spoke through.

And now, he's gone. There's something interesting I'd like to point out to you about his death. It really comes in two phrases. The first phrase is, the first phrase comes in verse 5. It says, according to the word of the Lord. The second phrase comes, actually, it's verse 7. Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

When Moses died, there's two things that are important to know. Number one, it was according to the word of the Lord. Number two, it wasn't because he wasn't in good health. Number three was he was saved. The second phrase from this, I think there's a really interesting thing, a really important thing that we all need to pay attention to, in this time of great loss that many of us are facing.

Because I get all the obituaries to, and I know how much of it is happening. Our days are in God's hands. We can't add to them. We can't take away from him. God knows the number of our days. I can worry about things. I can stress about things. about whether or not I'm healthy enough. I can stress about whether or not I'm working out enough or eating the way that I'm supposed to. B-T-dubs, I am working out enough. I'm not eating the way

I'm supposed to. It's the way I live my life. I can worry about all those kinds of things. But when it comes right down to it, what really matters is my days are in God's hands. I will not stay here one day longer than he intends for me to stay here. I can rest in that in my life. As a matter of fact, I find a great deal of rest in that in my life. I've shared it with you before. I know I have. But after I lost my cousin a couple of

years ago, a year and a half ago, my aunt and uncle came over and we were sitting there talking and we were doing all of the if we only had, all the what ifs and things like that. And my wife so graciously said to the three of us, B-T-dubs, two pastors and a pastor's wife, my wife looks at the three of us and she says, but his days were in God's hands. And my uncle Joe and I just looked at each other and we were like, she's right. And that was enough.

We dealt with it at that point in time because you can what if everything to death, but all of the what if-ing that you can do will never change the fact that our days were in God's hands. It would have been easy for Joshua to be like, Lord, why are you taking him now? He's still healthy. That's why I think, why are you taking him now? He's still healthy. He's still healthy.

Joshua wrote this. Again, it's me personally. I think Joshua wrote this. He goes, dude can see just as good as he did 40 years ago. He is as healthy as he's ever been. My gosh, he just walked for 40 years in the desert, right? And not even on a horse with no name. It was just him walking, right? Like, I mean, that was legit. And he is with it. He's sharp as a tack. But listen,

it was according to the word of the Lord. And so Moses, died there. And notice what it says. And he, now in my New American Standard Translation, I believe the New King James does the same thing. It capitalizes he, indicating that it's speaking of God. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. As far as I know, at least in my understanding of scripture,

this is the only guy we know that God actually did the burial process with. God took care of the whole thing. And the most fascinating part is the next part in the verse. But no man knows his burial place to this day. I can't help it. That's incredibly funny. Because you know what we're all thinking right now? I wonder where it is, right? And no one knows. It's kind of interesting. In the book of Jude, the little one chapter book of Jude,

it actually says that at one point in time, there was, Satan tried to come after the body of Moses. And there was a great battle that took place between Michael, the archangel and Satan. That's where we get that statement where Michael wasn't even willing to speak an accusatory word against Satan. He simply said, the Lord rebuke you. But there was a major battle over the body of Moses.

Most believe that it's because Satan either wanted to use that body as some sort of an idol for the people to worship or whatever. But there was some sort of a battle that took place. place there, but nobody knows to this day where he's buried. You know what's probably really good? Nobody knows to this day where he was buried, because you know what we'd have done with it by

now? You know what the nation of Israel would have done with it by now? They'd have turned it into a worship center. We kind of know this because of the book of Hebrews, and I'll address that in just a moment, because we're really good at turning people into idols, aren't we? Anyway, it's a mystery, and when we get to heaven, we'll be like, I don't care where he's buried, because look, there he is.

And so it says, so the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days. The days of weeping for Moses came to an end. I do believe that the days of weeping do come to an end. Oftentimes in times of great loss, the pain may never fully go away. You may always have that little empty spot on the inside of you, but you may never fully go away. You may never fully go away.

But I do believe that the days of weeping, I do believe that they come to an end. I don't know if they come to an end in 30 days, but in God's time, they do come to an end. Because notice what happens in verse 9. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, I don't want to tell us right there, nuns can get married. Now Joshua, I just made that joke up right now. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the

spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. Moses had already ordained him, and he was ordained Joshua. He already laid hands on him, and he filled him with that spirit of wisdom, which by the way, Joshua was going to need. Because while Moses had the job of leading them through the wilderness and out of the land of Egypt, Joshua has the task of leading them into the promised land. And the only way he could do that was with that spirit of wisdom, with that holy

spirit of wisdom that would be upon him. It says,

Moses. You know, I'm really glad it doesn't say there, they listened to him the same way they did Moses. Because if they listen to Joshua the way that they did Moses, things are not going to go well. They listened to him. It was time for new leadership, and God provided that new leadership. Now verses 10 through 12 are what I call the eulogy. It says, since that time, verse 10,

no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew, face to face. For all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all his land. For all the mighty power, and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. What a great statement. There's not been any prophet that's arisen like Moses.

And he gives a couple of reasons why there's been no prophet that's arisen like, Moses. I'm going to take them in reverse of the way that I believe Joshua wrote it. First of all, because of the great signs and wonders that he performed. The things that God did through Moses are so incredibly powerful. And even when you move into the other prophets, Elijah, Elisha, and some of those guys, they did amazing things.

But what do you think about what Moses did? What God did through Moses? I think sometimes our over-familiarity with the story causes us to forget that one of the most powerful nations on the face of the earth at that time was absolutely crippled because of what God did through Moses. All of the signs, all of the wonder, all of the terror. Listen, I don't know

how many rocks I've hit and I've never had water come out of them, right? I've struck them all over the place and still no waters flowed. I have asked God to drop bread from heaven. Hasn't happened. Yet. Right? These are just amazing things that God did through Moses. And so since then, there's been no prophet like him that's arisen. But you know what I think Moses would say was

actually the most important thing he did? Same thing that Joshua says was the most important because it's the first one that he listed. That he knew God face to face. That's a great statement, isn't it? Now, according to what I read and understand, that of course doesn't mean that he had an actual faith. He had an actual faith. He had an actual faith. He had an actual faith.

He had an actual faith. He had an actual faith. He had an actual faith. He had an actual faith. conversation with God. We know that he tried to at a point in time. He said, Lord, I want to see your glory. I would like to just see you. God says, no man can see me and live. Here's what I'm willing to do. Hide yourself on the cleft of the rock. I'll cover you with my hand and I will pass

by and you can see the backside of my glory. That was enough to make the face of Moses shine like a light bulb. But it does seem that Moses had a very free, a very open relationship with the Lord. As a matter of fact, according to David Guzik, the idea behind the Hebrew phrase face-to-face literally means free and unhindered communication. If you will, Moses was one of the few people

in the Old Testament that had the kind of relationship with God that you and I can have with God. Because you and I can have that same sort of free and unhindered relationship because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, because now we can go boldly before the throne of grace to seek mercy and grace for help in our time of need, right? Like we have direct access to God now. We can have that same free and unhindered communication.

But as far as Old Testament prophets go, nobody matched up with Moses as far as his free and unhindered communication with the Lord. I think it's the thing that separates him from just about anybody else. And the thing that, again, if I'm known for any two things in my life, I would hope, I know I'm probably not, but I would hope it's being a servant of God and knowing him, right? That's what Paul said he ultimately wanted.

He said that I might know him, the power of his resurrection, given the glory of his sufferings. And so no prophet has arisen like him, but you know what's kind of interesting? And I'll close with this. Jesus is better. Than Moses. And if you don't believe me, let's turn to the book of Hebrews. Over to Hebrews chapter three, all the way towards the end of the New Testament.

Hit Revelation, you've gone too far. Go back a few books. Right after Philemon.

Hebrews chapter three, verses one through six. It says this. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus. The apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses was in all of his house. For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Again, we don't always realize this. That's a shocking statement to the Jewish people.

He's been counted worthy of more glory than Moses by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now, Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later. But Christ was faithful as a son over his house.

Whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence in the boast of our hope firm until the end. Moses was great. One of the greatest prophets that's ever lived. The only thing that made him great was not who he is. What made him great is the Jesus that he pointed us all to. Because he gave the law. And the law was like a school teacher showing us our need for a savior.

And while Moses gave us the law that pointed to Jesus, Jesus was the fulfillment of everything Moses had to say. He was great because of the Jesus that he pointed to. Brothers and sisters, if we want true greatness in our lives, it will come as we point others to Jesus. And so ends the life of Moses. And so ends our time in the law, thank God, right? They're kind of hit a point there mid-Deuteronomy

where we were like, are we ever getting out of this place? We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out of this place. We are, we're out. Good things were learned, but it's time to move on. Just to give you a little bit of a schedule

of what's coming up next week, I am gonna be showing a video of a guy named Seth Gruber who gives an amazing presentation about kind of the history and the current struggle that we're having with the problem of abortion. And so it's an amazing teaching. It's a little bit long, so you're gonna have to gear in. We'll be here a little past eight next week. Then we're gonna take a week off

in between Christmas and New Year's. And then the first Wednesday in January, much to my fear, we are gonna start the book of Revelation. So I kind of feel like that's what the Lord's leading me to do. And at the conference, the pastor's conference that we went to back in March, Skip Heitzig did a teaching about the importance of teaching Revelation, and I was like, no.

And then slowly but surely, God's been like, I think that would be a really good thing for you to do. And so I've been trying to say, you know, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna start doing a little bit of studying for it. So I'm excited, a little nervous, but that's what we're gonna be tackling in the month of January. So would you all bow with me? Father, I thank you so much for the time that we've had.

Lord, I thank you for just how good you are to us. And Lord, I thank you for the example of such a wonderful man, a man who truly was flawed with the issues of the flesh. But Lord, in spite of his failures, always came back to you and showed us exactly what repentance and grace are all about. So Lord, may we find ourselves as servants of you with free and unhindered communication in our relationship with you, living an abiding relationship with the one who gave his life for us.

Father, be with us as we continue on in this Christmas season. Lord, help us to keep our hearts, our minds, and our eyes focused on you. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.