Moses Sees the Promised Land

A charge to Joshua. Before he climbed, Moses told Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land” (31:7). The Lord goes first. “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you” (31:8). This is the memory verse. Up the mountain. “Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho” (34:1). Pisgah was the peak of the ridge. God showed him. “And the Lord showed him all the land” (34:1). God Himself was the guide. North to south. From Gilead and Dan in the north to Judah and the Western Sea, and down to the South (34:1-3). The Western Sea is the Mediterranean. The city of palm trees. Moses saw “the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees” (34:3). Jericho would be Israel's first city. Old but strong. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old, yet his eyes were clear (34:7). What we learn. God was faithful to Moses to the very end, and He let him see the promise come true.

Mount Nebo (34:1). Nebo is a peak in the Abarim range east of the Jordan. Pisgah names the ridge or summit. From there you can see much of Canaan on a clear day. Obedient to the end (32:49). God had told Moses to go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range and look at the land. In 34:1 Moses did exactly that, obeying God on the last day of his life. The view (34:1-3). God showed Moses the north (Gilead, Dan, Naphtali), the west (Ephraim, Manasseh, Judah, the Western Sea) and the south (the Negev, Jericho, Zoar). Moses saw the whole land spread out like a map. Joshua's charge (31:7-8). Moses publicly passed leadership to Joshua “in the sight of all Israel.” The promise “He will not leave you nor forsake you” is later repeated to Joshua by God Himself (Joshua 1:5). Hebrews 13:5. The same promise is applied to every believer: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The last page of the Law. Moses wrote down God's law (31:9, 24). The closing verses about his death and burial were most likely added by Joshua, Moses' faithful helper, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Moses had finished his last talks to God's people. He gave Joshua a special job. He told Joshua to be strong and brave. He said the Lord would go ahead of him. God would never leave him or forget him. Then Moses climbed up Mount Nebo. He went from the plains of Moab to the top. The mountain looked across the Jordan River toward Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land. He could see from Gilead all the way to Dan. The hills of Judah and the sea were in view. Down below was Jericho, the city of palm trees. It was a beautiful land. God wanted Moses to see His promise kept.

Moses climbed a tall mountain. It was Mount Nebo. God showed him the land. God was with Moses.

An old promise. “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (34:4). To your descendants. God had said, “I will give it to your descendants” (34:4). Descendants means children and grandchildren down the years. Promise kept. Hundreds of years had passed since God spoke to Abraham (Genesis 12:7). God had not forgotten. Seen with his eyes. “I have caused you to see it with your eyes” (34:4). Moses saw the promise. But not entered. “But you shall not cross over there” (34:4). Why not? At Meribah God had said, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land” (Numbers 20:12). Kindness in discipline. God did not take back His word, but He let Moses see the whole land from the top of the mountain. What we learn. God keeps every promise, even when it takes a long time. Sin is serious, even for great leaders.

The oath to the fathers (34:4). God had promised this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Genesis 12:7, 15:18 and 26:3. Now, at the end of the five books of Moses, Israel stood at the very edge of that promise coming true. Seeing without entering. Moses' view is a picture of faith: Hebrews 11:13 speaks of those who died without receiving the promises, having seen them from far off. Moses saw the land with his own eyes and trusted God for the rest. Meribah (Numbers 20:12). Moses struck the rock in anger instead of speaking to it. God called it unbelief that failed to hallow Him before the people. Moses' plea (3:23-27). Moses had asked to cross over, and God told him to speak no more of it, but to look from Pisgah. God's “no” came with a gift. Leaders and accountability. James 3:1 warns that teachers face stricter judgment. Moses was Israel's leader, and he sinned in front of the whole nation, so his sin was especially serious. A greater entering. Hebrews 4:8-9 says Joshua did not give the final rest: “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” The land was a picture of the greater rest God gives through Jesus.

God told Moses that this was the land He had promised. He had promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That promise was hundreds of years old. Now God's people were about to live there. God always keeps His promises, even when they take a long time. God had let Moses look at the land. But Moses would not cross over into it. He could see it, but he could not go in. Long ago, Moses had disobeyed God at the rock. He hit the rock instead of speaking to it. So God said Moses would not lead them in. That was very sad. But God still loved Moses and was kind to him. He gave Moses a beautiful view of the promise.

God showed Moses the land. It was the Promised Land. God keeps His promises. His people would live there.

The servant of the Lord. “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord” (34:5). This is Moses' best title. Buried by God. “And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab” (34:6). God Himself cared for Moses' body. An unknown grave. “But no one knows his grave to this day” (34:6). No one could make it a shrine. Strong to the end. Moses was one hundred and twenty, and his eyes were not dim (34:7). Thirty days of tears. “And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days” (34:8). Mourning ends. “So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended” (34:8). Grief had its time, and then life went on. Precious death. “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). Saints means God's people. What we learn. God cares for His people in life and in death, and it is right to grieve.

“According to the word of the Lord” (34:5). Literally, at the mouth of the Lord. Moses died at the time God chose, when his work was done. Later Jewish tradition pictured God taking Moses' life as with a kiss, but that is a tradition, not Scripture. Servant (34:5). Eved YHWH (say: EH-ved yah-WEH), servant of the Lord, is the highest title the Old Testament gives Moses (compare Joshua 1:1). God's burial (34:6). The Hebrew says “He buried him.” The Lord Himself buried His servant. God's care for Moses did not stop when his life ended. No known grave. Because no one knew where Moses was buried, no one could turn his grave into a shrine. Israel's hope rested on God, not on Moses' tomb. Vigor (34:7). Moses' strength at one hundred and twenty shows that his death was God's appointment, not weakness (compare 31:2, where he could no longer lead in battle). Mourning (34:8). Thirty days matched the mourning for Aaron (Numbers 20:29). Scripture honors grief and gives it its proper time. Psalm 90. The psalm “of Moses” confesses, “Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2), and prays, “So teach us to number our days” (90:12).

Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died on the mountain. It happened just as the Lord had said. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old. His eyes were not weak, and he was still strong. The Lord Himself buried Moses in a valley in Moab. Even today, no one knows where his grave is. God took care of Moses to the very end. The Israelites cried for Moses for thirty days. They missed him very much. Moses had led them out of Egypt. He had prayed for them so many times. It is okay to cry when someone we love dies. God sees our tears and cares about us. Jesus cried too when His friend died.

Moses was very old. Then Moses died. God buried him. The people were sad.

Joshua. “Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him” (34:9). The people listened. “So the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses” (34:9). Heeded means listened and obeyed. Face to face. “Since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (34:10). Signs and wonders. Moses did “all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt” (34:11). A promise. Moses had said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Peter's answer. In Acts 3:22 Peter quoted those words and said they were about Jesus. Greater than Moses. “For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Hebrews 3:3). What we learn. God always gives His people a leader. The greatest leader is Jesus, the Prophet Moses promised.

Laying on of hands (34:9). Numbers 27:18-23 records Moses laying hands on Joshua before Eleazar and the congregation. The act marked public succession and God's gifting. The unmatched prophet (34:10). Long after Moses died, no prophet like him had arisen in Israel. Numbers 12:7-8 explains why: “I speak with him face to face, Even plainly.” Exodus 33:11 adds, “as a man speaks to his friend.” Deuteronomy 18:15. Moses had promised “a Prophet like me.” 34:10 tells us that Prophet had not yet come, so Israel kept waiting. Who is the Prophet? After the feeding of the five thousand, the people said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14). Peter applies Deuteronomy 18:15 to Jesus (Acts 3:22). Servant and Son. “Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant… but Christ as a Son over His own house” (Hebrews 3:5-6). Moses in the land. On the mount of transfiguration, “Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him” (Matthew 17:3). Many Christians see God's kindness here: the man who could not enter with Joshua finally stood in the Promised Land, beside Jesus. John 1:17. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Joshua was filled with wisdom from God. Moses had put his hands on Joshua before he died. That was a sign that Joshua was the new leader. So the Israelites listened to Joshua. God was still taking care of His people. The Bible says there has never been another prophet like Moses. The Lord knew Moses face to face, like a friend. Moses did great signs and miracles in Egypt. Long before, Moses had made an important promise. He said God would send another Prophet like him. God's people must listen to that Prophet. Many years later, Peter said that Prophet is Jesus. Jesus is even greater than Moses. He is God's own Son, and He gives us eternal life.

Joshua was the new leader. God was with Joshua. Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is with us forever!