Sunday, December 13, 2009

Deuteronomy 29-34

Deuteronomy 29


These are THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, IN ADDITION TO the covenant he had made with them AT MOUNT SINAI.


Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to his whole country— all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear!


...


“Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. All of you—tribal leaders, elders, officers, all the men of Israel—are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God. Your little ones and your wives are with you, as well as the foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here today to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God. The Lord is making this covenant, including the curses. By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


“But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.


...


“Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction. “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’ “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’ “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’



  • Psalm 106:34-39: Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

  • This fall and dispersion subsequently happened in two stages:

    1. The Northern Kingdom by Assyria in 721 B.C.


    2. The Southern Kingdom in 586 B.C.



      The Southern Kingdom was attacked three times:

      1) The first was in 605 B.C., during the reign of King Jehoiakim, when Daniel was captured. Many sacred vessels were taken from the Jerusalem temple to Babylon at that time.

      2) The second occurred in 597 B.C., when King Jehoiachin was carried away. During this attack, the remainder of the
      sacred vessels were transported to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-16.

      3) The third attack, in 586 B.C., resulted in the total destruction
      of Jerusalem. Its palaces and houses were burned to the ground and the temple left in ruins. King Zedekiah's eyes were put out and he was taken in chains to Babylon. Many of the people of Judah were deported with him. Only poorer inhabitants and those considered incapable of making trouble were allowed to remain. (2 Kings 25:1-21)




Foreign Empires that ruled in Israel Period Empire Major Events




  1. 721 B.C. The Northern Kingdom taken into exile by Assyria .

  2. 587 B.C. Babylonian Destruction of the first Temple.


  3. 538-333 B.C. Persian Return of the exiled Jews from Babylon and

  4. 520-515 B.C. Construction of the second Temple.


  5. 333-63 B.C. Hellenistic Conquest of the region by the army of Alexander the Great (333 B.C.). The Greeks generally allowed the Jews to run their state. But, during the rule of the king Antiochus IV, the Temple was desecrated. This brought about the revolt of the Maccabees, who established an independent rule. The related events are celebrated during the Hanukah holiday.


  6. 63 B.C. -313 A.D. The Roman army led by Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple at 70 CE. Jewish people were then exiled and dispersed to the Diaspora.

  7. In 132 A.D., Bar Kokhba organized a revolt against Roman rule, but was killed in a battle in Bethar in Judean Hills. Subsequently the Romans decimated the Jewish community, renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel (the word Palestine, and the Arabic word Filastin originate from this Latin name). The remaining Jewish community moved to northern towns in the Galilee.

  8. Around 200 A.D. the Sanhedrin was moved to Tsippori (Zippori, Sepphoris). The Head of Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (Judah the Prince), compiled the Jewish oral law, Mishna.


  9. 313-636 A.D. Byzantine period.


  10. 636-1099 A.D. Arab Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the grounds of the destroyed Jewish Temple.


  11. 1099-1291 A.D. The crusaders came from Europe to capture the Holy Land following an appeal by Pope Urban II, and massacred the non-Christian population (Jews and Muslims). Later Jewish community in Jerusalem expanded by immigration of Jews from Europe.


  12. 1516-1918 A.D. During the Ottoman reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Population of the Jewish community in Jerusalem increased.


  13. 1917-1948 A.D. British Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a "national home in Palestine". Yet they greatly curtailed entry of Jewish refugees into Israel even after World War II. They split Palestine mandate into an Arab state which has become the modern day Jordan, and Israel.

  14. May 14, 1948 Israel declared its independence and was immediately attacked by the Arab states.


“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.



  • Hmmm - What are these "secrets", and are we Gentiles now allowed to know them?

    • Isaiah 45:3:
      And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness - secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

    • Matthew 10:26:
      “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

    • Matthew 13:11:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.

    • Mark 4:11:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,

    • Luke 8:10:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’

    • Luke 8:17:
      For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

    • Luke 12:2:
      The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

    • Romans 16:25:
      Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:1:
      When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:10:
      But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

    • 1 Corinthians 15:51:
      But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

    • Ephesians 3:9:
      I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

    • Colossians 1:26-27:
      This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.




Deuteronomy 30


“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. IF at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and IF you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!



  • The official return began on May 14, 1948 after 2500+ years of being dispersed from their homeland. The prophesy of Moses is not complete yet, though - they haven't turned back to God to the extent specified. That's coming at the end of the tribulation. May 14, 1948 was just the start of a prophesy that was given over 3,400 years ago.


  • We see four events that must take place to fulfill this prophecy of Israel's restoration:


    1. A restoration to Israel's homeland in 1948 - NOT the return of the exiles in 535 B.C. under Cyrus.


    2. A work of grace in Israel's hearts.

    3. A judgment of Israel’s enemies.

    4. Prosperity in the land.




  • Some might argue that the return to the land to which Moses referred is the return under Cyrus beginning in 535 B.C. However, the total renewal, prosperity and longevity we see in this chapter were not fulfilled at that time.

    • 1948 was just the beginning of this process. Today Israel is a largely secular nation. There is respect for the Bible as a book of history and national identity, but there is not, and has not been, a true turning to the Lord God, particularly as a nation.

    • The picture of regathering in Ezekiel 37 - the vision of the dry bones - shows Israel regathered, and strong, before the Lord breathed the breath of His Spirit on the regathered Israel.

    • Not until after the millennium begins will the total dependence upon the Messiah by Israel be realized.



  • Paul quotes these verses in Romans 10:6-8. In these verses Moses proclaims to the people that simple acceptance of God's law is all that is required. Paul uses this passage to proclaim the same - simple faith in Jesus Christ as one's Savior is all that is required.


“The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. The Lord your God will delight in you IF you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and IF you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.


“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.


“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. IF you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And IF you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”


Deuteronomy 31


When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of Israel, he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’ But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.


...


So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel. Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”



  • Lest we misunderstand the command here, Israel actually assembled three times each year according to Exodus 34:23; these gatherings were the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles. The specifications of "every seventh year" was for the purpose of reading the law to the people every seven years at the annual gathering for the Feast of Tabernacles.

  • The first we know of a public reading of the law is in Joshua 8:30. The next we hear of it is during the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:7), more than 500 years later. Then, in the reign of Josiah there was another public reading of the law (2 Chronicles 34:30), more than 250 years after Jehoshaphat. With this kind of neglect of God’s word, no wonder Israel was so often in trouble!


Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die.


Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle, so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. And the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of cloud that stood at the entrance to the sacred tent. The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’ At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods. “So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them.


For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat.


But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”


So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.


Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”


When Moses had finished writing this entire body of instruction in a book, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant: “Take this Book of Instruction and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, so it may remain there as a witness against the people of Israel. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still alive and am here with you, you have rebelled against the Lord. How much more rebellious will you be after my death!



  • Where was the Torah scroll placed? The Sages of Israel were divided over this matter. Some maintained that there was a shelf protruding from the Ark, where it was put. Others maintained that it was put next to the tablets, inside the Ark.

  • 2 Kings 22:8-23: Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. Shaphan went to the king (Josiah ) and reported, “Your officials have turned over the money collected at the Temple of the Lord to the workers and supervisors at the Temple.” Shaphan also told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” So Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair....Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

  • Some raise objections at this point, wondering who wrote the last three chapters of Deuteronomy, because the text says that Moses finished here. No doubt, Joshua had the remainder of Moses’ words and deeds recorded and added to the end of his magnificent work.


“Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them. I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.” So Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel:


Deuteronomy 32 is mostly the Song of Moses, which we're going to skip for now except for this little piece:




  • Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people;
    I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.

    • The Apostle Paul refers to this verse to turning to the Gentiles with the gospel after the Jewish rejection of Christ in Romans 10:19.




So Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. When Moses had finished reciting all these words to the people of Israel, he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.”


That same day the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river, and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own special possession. Then you will die there on the mountain. You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”


Deuteronomy 33


This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave to the people of Israel before his death: “The Lord came from Mount Sinai and dawned upon us from Mount Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran and came from Meribah-kadesh with flaming fire at his right hand. Indeed, he loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands. They follow in his steps and accept his teaching. Moses gave us the Lord’s instruction, the special possession of the people of Israel. The Lord became king in Israel— when the leaders of the people assembled, when the tribes of Israel gathered as one.”



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben: “Let the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, though they are few in number.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Judah: “O Lord, hear the cry of Judah and bring them together as a people. Give them strength to defend their cause; help them against their enemies!”

    • Moses knew this destiny for the tribe of Judah from Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:10: The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Levi: “O Lord, you have given your Thummim and Urim—the sacred lots— to your faithful servants the Levites. You put them to the test at Massah and struggled with them at the waters of Meribah. The Levites obeyed your word and guarded your covenant. They were more loyal to you than to their own parents. They ignored their relatives and did not acknowledge their own children. They teach your regulations to Jacob; they give your instructions to Israel. They present incense before you and offer whole burnt offerings on the altar. Bless the ministry of the Levites, O Lord, and accept all the work of their hands. Hit their enemies where it hurts the most; strike down their foes so they never rise again.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Benjamin: “The people of Benjamin are loved by the Lord and live in safety beside him. He surrounds them continuously and preserves them from every harm.”

    • The place of special love and blessing Benjamin had would be prophetically fulfilled in a Benjaminite city becoming the center of the nation - Jerusalem.



  • Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph: “May their land be blessed by the Lord with the precious gift of dew from the heavens and water from beneath the earth; with the rich fruit that grows in the sun, and the rich harvest produced each month; with the finest crops of the ancient mountains, and the abundance from the everlasting hills; with the best gifts of the earth and its bounty, and the favor of the one who appeared in the burning bush. May these blessings rest on Joseph’s head, crowning the brow of the prince among his brothers. Joseph has the majesty of a young bull; he has the horns of a wild ox. He will gore distant nations, driving them to the ends of the earth. This is my blessing for the multitudes of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.”

  • Moses said this about the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar: “May the people of Zebulun prosper in their travels. May the people of Issachar prosper at home in their tents. They summon the people to the mountain to offer proper sacrifices there They benefit from the riches of the sea and the hidden treasures in the sand.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Gad: “Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad’s territory! Gad is poised there like a lion to tear off an arm or a head. The people of Gad took the best land for themselves; a leader’s share was assigned to them When the leaders of the people were assembled, they carried out the Lord’s justice and obeyed his regulations for Israel.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Dan: “Dan is a lion’s cub, leaping out from Bashan.”

    • History records that Dan was a troublesome tribe. They were the tribe to introduce idolatry into Israel (Judges 18:30); Jeroboam set up one of his idolatrous golden calves in Dan (1 Kings 12:26-30), and later Dan became a center of idol worship in Israel (Amos 8:14). Indeed, Jacob said of Dan in Genesis 49:17, Dan will be a snake beside the road.



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Naphtali: “O Naphtali, you are rich in favor and full of the Lord’s blessings; may you possess the west and the south.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Asher: “May Asher be blessed above other sons; may he be esteemed by his brothers; may he bathe his feet in olive oil. May the bolts of your gates be of iron and bronze; may you be secure all your days.


  • Where's Simeon in these blessings? As a matter of fact, the Tribe of Simeon gets swallowed up into the Tribe of Judah when they reach Canaan. Their inheritance is contained within the boundaries of Judah. Later on, they seem to disappear altogether. Remember that attempt to overthrow the theocracy in lieu of a democracy back in Numbers 16? Well, the Tribes on the south side of the Tabernacle (Simeon was one) took a big population hit as a result. When the census is taken at the end of the 40 years, their numbers have diminished by nearly two-thirds. Now, at the end of the 40 years, they are the smallest Tribe of Israel with just 22,200 men. And to make things worse, they don't even get a mention in the blessings of Moses.


“There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’ So Israel will live in safety, prosperous Jacob in security, in a land of grain and new wine, while the heavens drop down dew. How blessed you are, O Israel! Who else is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your protecting shield and your triumphant sword! Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will stomp on their backs!”


Deuteronomy 34


Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho.


And the Lord showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho—the city of palms—as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.”



So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.



  • Literally, the phrase just as the Lord had said means upon the mouth of the Lord. From this, ancient Jewish traditions say that Moses died as God took away his soul with a kiss. The medieval Jewish rabbi Maimonides says that of the 903 different ways to die, this was the best.


The Lord buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place.



  • Jude 9 speaks of an occasion when Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses. Apparently, there was a contention over the body of Moses, and according to Jude Michael the archangel won this contest as he appealed to the Lord’s authority: “The Lord rebuke you!”

  • Possibly, Satan wanted to use Moses’ body as an object of worship to lead Israel astray into idolatry.


Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.



  • Moses’ life was neatly divided into thirds. He spent 40 years as the crown prince of Egypt, 40 years as a humble shepherd in the wilderness, and 40 years leading the children of Israel to their destiny in the Promised Land. The first two-thirds were in preparation for the last one third. Moses was willing to let God prepare him for 80 years.


The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary period of mourning was over.


Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.



  • The term face to face does not literally mean “physical face to physical face,” but it has the idea of free and unhindered communication. Moses had a remarkably intimate relationship with God.


The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.



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Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.