Passing It On to the Next Generation – October 25, 2020

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Scripture: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12

[Then Moses said,] “Israel, listen! Our God is the LORD! Only the LORD! Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children… In the future, your children will ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, the regulations, and the case laws that the LORD our God commanded you?” tell them: We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-7)

God shows Moses the Promised Land, though he is not allowed to enter it. That honor is reserved for Joshua, who was ordained by Moses to follow him. It seems likely that as Moses died he held in his mind that vision of the Promised Land’s beauty. Israel mourned, and remembered their great leader. But Moses’ story wasn’t over. He reappeared centuries later in the Bible’s story. If anything, now he had a greater honor—he was encouraging Jesus, the LORD he’d served all his life, as Jesus prepared to face the cross on which he would save the whole world. Moses was a reluctant prophet, but set a course to follow God at all costs, a course we can still follow today.