52. Moses’ last words before death. When did Moses enter Canaan?
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“Let us taste your lovingkindness in the morning, so that we may rejoice and rejoice all our lives. Grant us as many years of suffering and affliction as long as you bring us joy. May your deeds be revealed to your servants, and your majesty to their descendants. ” [Psalm 90:14-16]
On the first day of the eleventh lunar month, forty years after Israel left Egypt, east of the Jordan River, on the green plains of Moab, the crisp gloom of winter brought a unique tranquility to the Israeli camp.
Moses gathered all the Israelites. Moses knew the time to pass had come. Although he was already 120 years old, his mind remained clear, his hearing and vision sharp, and his strength undiminished.
Moses divided the land of the two kings of Amorite among two and a half tribes of Israel: Rebene, Gad, and half of Manasseh. Reus was Jacob’s eldest son, and Gad was Jacob’s first son born from Leah’s maid.
Manasseh was Joseph’s eldest son. The sons of two and a half tribes would first settle their wives and children in their lands east of the Jordan River, but would join other tribes in campaigns in Canaan, and would return after subduing the region. God commanded Israel not to disturb Edom, Moab, or Ammonites, because they were the lands of Jacob’s brother and the two sons of Abraham’s nephew Lot.
Although the Moabite king had the prophet Balaam curse the Israelites, God did not punish Moab for the time being. Israel, stationed east of the Jordan River, thus has no war and no future threats.
So Moses gathered the assembly of Israel. The elders and leaders of each tribe sat around Moses. The successor Joshua and the priest Eleazar sat behind Moses. Moses sat high above, watching the new generation of young people. Time flew by, and more than eighty years ago, he was just as young and handsome as they were, living a life of luxury in Egypt’s palace.
Who would have thought God would change his fate so much? First, after fleeing for forty years, at the most desperate moment, he took on the most unlikely mission: to lead two million Israeli slaves out of Egypt and bring them into Canaan. Forty years later, this mission is about to be fulfilled, but it is the moment he leaves. The peaks of the distant mountains shimmer with snow, and the winter sunlight shines on you, driving away the morning chill.
Moses looked around at the people around him, his white beard and hair trembling in the breeze, and said loudly, “Men of Israel, now come and hear the statutes and ordinances I teach you to obey, so that you may live and receive the land the LORD the God of your ancestors has given you.”
Be careful, and guard your hearts, so that you do not forget what you have seen with your own eyes, or that these things will leave your heart while you are alive; You must pass these things down to your children and grandchildren. “Be careful and guard yourselves, lest you forget the covenant the Lord your God has made with you.
Do not make idols for yourself, do not make any idols; this is what the Lord your God commands you never to do, for the Lord is a blazing fire, a God who fears evil.
“When God brought you out of Egypt, you saw with your own eyes how He fought for you and performed great and awesome miracles. At the foot of Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with you to make you His people. You have heard and seen with your own ears and eyes the glory of God, yet you are still alive. Since God created man, where has such a thing ever happened!
This is shown to you so that you may know that the Lord is God; there is no other god besides Him. “The Lord your God will lead you into the land He swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; There are tall and magnificent cities there, but they are not built by you; There are mansions filled with furniture, but not those you purchased; There is mellow, sweet well water, but it is not something you dig for; There are lush and verdant orchards, but they are not planted by you.
When you have received it, do not be arrogant or forget your roots, do not be arrogant, do not kneel to false gods, but steadfastly fear the Lord your God and serve Him wholeheartedly.
“When the Lord your God brings you into the frontier of Canaan, he will drive out from before you—seven great and powerful nations: the Hittites, Geggashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When the Lord gives them to you, you must completely destroy them, do not make a covenant with them, do not marry with them, but tear down their altars, break their pillars, and burn their idols.
Do not covet or possess gold or silver from the statue, lest you fall into a trap. Because of all the abominations that Jehovah detests, these nations do everything, even burning their own children with fire as offerings to their false gods. ”
At this point, Moses paused, looked around at the people, and earnestly warned the Israelites not to repeat their mistakes and follow in the footsteps of those nations, or else God’s punishment would surely come. Over the past forty years, the generation of Israelites who died have witnessed God’s actions with their own eyes, but have not only rebelled three or four times.
The current generation will rely on Joshua to lead. Will they remember the lessons of their fathers and today’s teachings? He was about to die, but who else could lead Israel besides God?
Since God predicted today’s events four hundred years ago, how could He simply abandon what comes next? After Himself, there is Joshua, and after Joshua, God will raise up a new prophet. At this thought, a memory from forty years prior surfaced in Moses’s mind. Greatly comforted, he spoke a prophecy aloud to the people: “At the foot of Mount Sinai, because you were afraid of the glory of God, the Lord said to me: ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.’”
Therefore, God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers, and you must listen to him. ”
After Moses once again told the people God’s law one by one, knowing it was time to say goodbye, he said to them, “I am now one hundred and twenty years old and can no longer lead you.”
The Lord also said to me: You will not cross this Jordan River. The Lord your God will personally lead you there, and God has chosen Joshua to personally lead you there.
Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or afraid, for the Lord will never forsake you or forsake you. After saying this, Moses handed the written book of the law to Joshua and Eliazar and told them to place it beside the Ark of the Covenant inside the Tabernacle. In front of everyone, Moses blessed Joshua, then led him into the tabernacle.
God’s pillar of cloud rested above the Tabernacle, and God instructed Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, for you will lead the Israelites into the land I swore to promise them, and I will be with you.” ”
Moses and Joshua came out of the tabernacle. Moses was about to leave alone. He looked around at the crowd and blessed each tribe one by one, just as Jacob had done before his death.
Everyone received the blessing, tears in their eyes, reluctantly seeing Moses off again and again, all the way to the foot of Mount Piskah in the Nebo Mountains. Moses ascended the mountain alone, just as he had climbed Mount Sinai forty years ago. God met him on the top of the mountain and showed him the future territory of Israel west of the Jordan River. This time, Moses did not come down again; he died at the summit.
Israel mourned Moses for Moses at the foot of the mountain for thirty days. 1,500 years later, Moses met with the prophet he had prophesied atop a high mountain in Israel west of the Jordan River and discussed Israel’s fate together. Because God’s prophecies will not fail.
