Deut. 34:7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, interestingly enough, on the wrong side of Jordan, while still in the wilderness and nearly fourty years after leading the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt. At this time we see that his vision and strength had never left him. He was a man who died to young and notice where he died, in the wilderness. According to Deut.34:10, He was a great man of God. He appeared with Christ and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, yet he died in the wilderness. Notice what the Word teaches us about that. Heb 3:16-19 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. I have the upmost respect for Moses and truly believe he was a man after God's heart but I also feel God used Moses to teach us all a tremendous lesson. In the Gospel of John we find Jesus talking to the Pharisee and saying, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life," John 5:39-40. The Scripture at that time was the "Torah" or the Pentateuch which contained the first five books of the Bible. When Jesus told them to search it was in these books He was refering to. Therefore, in these books the principle of Christ and life through Him is taught. What part does Moses play in this scenerio? A large part for the lesson God would have us learn. First, let me set the stage. We have the Israelites in bondage in Egypt. We have the Red Sea, a Wilderness, the Jordan, and Canaan the land of promise. These were all different environments Israel was placed in. In Egypt we see bondage, slavery under a taskmaster, centuries of struggle. The Red Sea presents to us deliverance from that place of bondage, death to the taskmasters and a new life to Israel. The Wilderness reveals a wandering in an effort to reach the place God had promised for His people. The Jordan, a place to relearn what should have been learned at the Red Sea. Canaan, the land God promised His people that they should possess it. (The Jordan crossing does not represent death nor does Canaan represent Heaven and was never intended to.) After 40 years of leading and teaching the Israelites, all Moses could do was get a glimpse of the promised place, Deut 34:4 Then the LORD said to him, "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 let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." Num 20:12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "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 which I have given them.". He was able to bring the people out (of bondage) but not able to bring them in (the promised place) because of his unbelief, lack of trust. What occured to Moses is very relevant to Christians today. Let us consider... THE WILDERNESS The wilderness represents to Israel a new life of freedom with Moses to lead them.The events that transpired following the miraculous crossing of the Red sea should speak volumes to us, today. I will suggest that as God gave Moses to deliver and lead the Israelites, He also gave pastors and evangilists to deliver and lead their Christian "flocks" (Ephe.4:11-16). What happened in the wilderness, continues to happen today. Moses, the called man of God, was able to deliver God's people out of the life of bondage in Egypt, but was not able to bring them in to God's promised place of possession. Likewise, God has given to the church leaders in order to not only deliver them from the bondage of their sin nature, but lead them into that spiritual live, (the promised possession Jo.3:16; 10:10). Why is that? THE ROCK IN HOREB Exo.17:6 He was to strike the rock to get life giving water. This rock is representative of the smitten Savior, crucified Redeemer who gave His life that we may have life. Notice that immediately after came Amalek, the enemy of God's people and Moses fought him. Likewise, when we accept the Smitten Rock as our redeemer, the enemy comes to contend with us. Being under the BLOOD, we are able to fight him. THE ROCK AT KADESH Num.20:8 Here, Moses was to SPEAK to the rock and it would provide life giving water. This rock is representative of the risen Savior, because He lives we can live also. Christ died once and will not died again. Moses disobeyed God and smote the rock instead. He apparently new nothing of the saving life of Christ. Likewise, many preachers, pastors preach only of the crucified Savior and not of the Risen Lord. Notice the different response in verse 14, rather than fight Moses came to terms with the enemy and pleaded for passage. What happened to the "Rod of God?" When we in our wilderness have nothing to fill the gap we tend to become accustomed to our wilderness. Have we experienced the resurrected Lord, the saving Life of Christ. Moses, for 40 years led a group of crying, complaining, Israelites. In other words, Moses only had half a message, only did half a job and wound up with a bunch of "spiritual babies. His unhappy task was filling their bottles and push them around the wilderness. Today, if all we preach is Christ crucified, we only have half a message. We may succeed in getting people out, (saved) but fail to bring them in (new life in Christ). In Numbers 20:12 we see an "unbelieving believer" - the sin of Moses was that he broke the first principle of victorious Christian Living, "Christ in you the hope of Glory". Many of us have become accustomed to the wilderness being surrounded by so many wilderness Christians. We never get beyond Christ crucified - heaven someday but the wilderness now. The passage leads us to think that Moses may have been the problem or we may ask did the Israelites really want to go in. They sent out twelve spies and only believed ten of them so they were reluctant. The real question is, did they want to get out? Exo 14:11-12 Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? "Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." The answer is NO, they did not want to get out. Moses was able to give them saving faith to GET OUT but not living faith to GO IN. THE JORDAN CROSSING The Jordan represents that rekindled step of faith. The lesson given at the Red Sea here is relived. Notice at the shore of the Red Sea they were on land and told to "stand still and see the salvation of God." They witnessed God's miraculous deliverance from the enemy. At the Jordan they had to "step into the water" before it parted. The Jordan was at flood tide so this required a "step of Faith." Notice also that it was the feet of the priest's carrying the Ark of the Covenant that were to go first. Pastor's must be the first to "step into the water". Josh 1:2 "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them; the children of Israel. Joshua was to lead by example, by faith. So must we. THE PROMISED LAND This is the possession God had promised to His people. They were to go in and take possession of it. It is not a picture of heaven for there are no enemies or battles in heaven, see Num.33:50-55. We, too, must live by faith and mortify the deeds of the body. We must drive out the inhabitance of this new land. The things of our prior life or they will come back to "haunt us". Are we committing the same sin as Moses? Are leading about spiritual babies who are continually crying and complaining rather than growing in the joy of the resurrected Christ? By His death and shed Blood we have the forgiveness of sin but by His LIFE we can enjoy the abundant life the Father has promised us. To pastors and preachers I exhort you to SPEAK to the ROCK not smite it twice. Expound on the saving Life of Christ. To Christians, although you may possess a Christian Life you have not yet begun to live it. I encourage you to rediscover what God in Christ has already given you. May the Father richly bless you. I trust this may have helped and encouraged you to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Home