34 Then 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 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 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 one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 And Joshua the 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 and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Section Overview: Death of Moses
The book concludes by developing various themes already introduced. These include Moses’ being able to view the Promised Land, though unable to enter it (3:25–26), the death of Moses and the succession of Joshua (Deut. 31:1–6), and the superiority of Moses as a prophet (18:15–18). The book began with the last words of Moses spoken in the fortieth year (1:3) and has brought all of his words to conclusion (32:45). The narrator now concludes with the actual events that have been anticipated since he first introduced the setting of the end of Israel’s journey.
Section Outline
Response
Psalm 90 is the only song in the Psalter with the title “A Prayer of Moses.” It is the first song in the fourth book of the psalter, which exhibits a distinct shift in the songs of redemption. Beginning with the anointing of the Messiah in fulfillment of the Davidic promise in Psalm 2, the psalter is organized around the theme of kingdom. The prayer for the king in Psalm 72 concludes book two of the psalter, while the prayer for fulfillment of the covenant with David in Psalm 89 concludes book three with many questions about the future of the Davidic covenant in light of the apparent rejection of the Davidic king. Book four includes psalms of redemption that celebrate the exodus and is appropriately introduced with a Prayer of Moses.
Psalm 90 divides into three sections. The first section laments the brevity of human life, which, unlike Moses’, typically last about seventy years—in contrast to the eternal purposes of God (vv. 1–6). The second section laments the sorrows of life caused by human sin, in contrast to the holiness of God (vv. 7–12). The final section is a prayer for the mercy of God (vv. 13–17). The first petition is for mercy that corresponds to the struggles of each day (vv. 13–15). The second petition is a prayer for fulfillment, that God would take the work of our hands and make it part of his work (vv. 16–17). Both of these petitions are particularly appropriate to the life of Moses.
The Song of Moses is a reflection on his life, most of which is spent in alienation. The first forty years are in the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter, where he is quite aware of being alienated from his people and feels called to be their liberator. His attempt to become their leader results in forty years sidelined as a shepherd somewhere in the land of Midian, married to the daughter of a Midianite priest. At age eighty he likely is not considering the possibility of fulfilling his original vision, but he is called to do exactly that. Yet the result of his faithfully leading his people on an exodus out of Egypt is that, within eleven days of leaving Mount Sinai, he is doomed to roam the wilderness at the head of a cantankerous and rebellious people until the time of his death. In the end he dies in the valley below Mount Nebo, having been able only to view that land he has longed to enter for about 120 years.
What does Moses hope for in the first forty years of wilderness wandering? How does he expect God to take the work of his hands and use it? When the condemnation of another forty years of wilderness wandering comes at Kadesh-barnea, what does Moses hope his life will be? Is there some sort of fulfillment in all this?
The tribute at the end of Deuteronomy is the only way Moses is remembered most of the time. He is the great prophet who has spoken with God face to face and granted us the revelation that is the beginning of the redemption story. He is the prophet of Israel. One might not think that the prophet of Israel should have spent his entire life in wilderness and in alienation, but even that experience points forward to and anticipates the life of the promised Messiah (cf. Phil. 2:6–8). The life of Moses testifies to the truth that what God demands of everyone is what Moses teaches: trust in the face of adversity. The Lord God asks his people to love and fear him, to live with a circumcised heart. Such love and fear might mean eighty years in the wilderness. God does not bring about his redemption in the most understandable manner. Yet in the end God has a glorious redemption planned for his people, which finds its goal and climax in the person and work of Jesus Christ.