Introduction
This chapter informs us about the last course, the last views, the death and the burial of Moses. We read about Israel's mourning over him and the time of it, about his successor Joshua and about the incomparable character of Moses.
Moses’ life consists of three periods of forty years:
1. Forty years at the court of Pharaoh.
2. Forty years in the wilderness with the sheep of Jethro in the school of God.
3. Forty years in the wilderness with the people of God.
Then comes the moment when he will return to dust, according to his own words in Psalm 90: “You turn man back into dust and say, “Return, O children of men” (Psa 90:3). God Himself arranges His burial.
1 - 4 The LORD Shows Moses All the Land
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.”
After Moses has blessed the people, he climbs Mount Nebo according to the command of God (Deu 32:49). The people will certainly have looked to him as long as possible. Without any help Moses goes up to the top of the mountain. He is not at the end of his strength; he is not tired of life. Yet he rests in the LORD’s decision that his task is over. There is no fear for death in him. He climbs the mountain not to die, but to be with God.
On the mountain the LORD shows him, as He had promised, the promised land in all its vastness. Moses has seen the people in possession of the land. The land is named after the names of the tribes, as each will own their own inheritance. He has an eye that sees beyond what natural eyes see. The LORD has shown it to him in a supernatural way in one moment.
Moses has not only seen the land, but also the ultimate blessing of the people. God’s reign is that he will not go there; God’s grace is that he has seen it as no other has seen it. He has seen it in all its parts under God’s guidance.
Moses is found seven times on a mountain:
1. as intercessor (Exo 17:8-16);
2. when he receives the law and a description of the tabernacle (Exo 24:12-18);
3. to plead for the people after their sin with the golden calf (Exo 32:30-32);
4. to receive the second stone tablets (Exo 34:4);
5. on Mount Hor, to transfer the priesthood from Aaron to Eleazar (Num 20:23-28);
6. on Mount Nebo, where he sees the land (Deu 34:1);
7. on the mountain of glorification, together with Elijah, with the Lord Jesus (Mt 17:1-8).
He has described the whole history of the failure of God’s people. Here on the mountain he sees the people according to God’s thoughts. The apostle John also has seen it in the same way. In Revelation 2-3, John describes the failure of the church, and finally the apostacy, in Revelation 17-18. But then he may see the church on the mountain according to God’s thoughts (Rev 21:9-10). Moses sees the earthly side of the kingdom; John sees the heavenly side of it, the heavenly people of God.
5 - 8 Moses Dies and Is Buried
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.
Moses did not die because he was old and exhausted. Moses’ eye is not dim. He still sees as sharp as in his youth. That is in contrast to Isaac (Gen 27:1) and Jacob (Gen 48:10). The LORD takes the life of Moses. The LORD Himself has taken care of his burial (not: cremation). No one knows the burial place of Moses. The devil knows it. He disputed and argued over the body of Moses with the archangel Michael (Jude 1:9), possibly to make known to the people where he is buried and thereby to lead the people to idolatry.
The mourning period of thirty days because of Moses’ death is as long as that of his brother Aaron (Num 20:29).
9 Joshua Takes the Place of Moses
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.
After the report of the death and burial Moses and weeping about his death, the book is not yet finished. Joshua is the successor of Moses as the leader of the people, not as a prophet, but as leader in the battle of the people to take possession of the promised land.
10 - 12 Moses, the Prophet Without Equal
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.
This last chapter was not written by Moses. Joshua will have been used for this. Under the guidance of God’s Spirit, Joshua depicts the life of Moses in just a few sentences in these last verses. Perhaps there is no one of the people who was aware as much as Joshua, what an extraordinary man Moses has been. Joshua has experienced Moses from very close by and for a very long time.
In these last words about Moses his failure is not mentioned. The place of Moses has been completely unique among the people of God. His fellowship with God has also been unique (verse 10; Exo 33:11a; Num 12:8a). His service to us is great because of his presentation of the blessings of the land and the place the LORD has chosen to make his Name dwell.
Moses has been faithful in all God’s house (Heb 3:1-6). He is a picture of the Lord Jesus, the perfect faithful One, not only in the house of God, but as Son over the house. Moses wrote about Him (Jn 5:46). Therefore the Lord Jesus far exceeds this excellent man of God.