Moses VIII: The End of An Era

Thanks to Rev. Matt Wolfington for his commentary on Moses.

The song of Moses has 4 sections and pretty much tells the story from exodus to the current biblical time:

32:1-4 God's Character
32:5-14 God’s kindness to His people
32:15-25 God’s faithfulness to correct His people
32:26-43 God’s wrath against His adversaries

Moses is hoping to remind them of God’s greatness and therefore they will not turn from him. He reminds them of their ways (once again) and how God has continually redeemed them. Moses is telling the people to pass along the story and the wisdom of their learning so no one will ever forget the greatness of God. Moses reminds them that because they are God’s children, he corrects them. Moses shows that God ultimately redeems the people by destroying enemies. But while the Song of Moses is a great lesson in history and divinity, his final words to the people are full of grace. I think what sticks out for me is the constant calling of Moses’ forthcoming death and the fact that he could not enter the promised land. I asked yesterday if the punishment was greater than the sinful offense committed by Moses? Moses in his own words remembered the greatest moment of his life was when he was with God on Mt Sinai. Yet, he sinned against God and God punished him. Did God forgive him? Certainly, He did. However, there are still consequences and accountability of our sins, even in forgiveness. That’s God’s way.

Mt. Nebo is only about 6 miles from what we think is the border of the Promised Land. Moses could see it, literally, and God made it to where he could see all of it. However, he died on that mountain. Think about this though: Matthew 17:1-3 and Luke 9:28-31 tell us that Moses, along with Elijah, appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. It also says they were talking with Jesus about “his departure.” Some translations state they were talking about “his decease,” or in other words, the exodus of Jesus on the cross at Mount Calvary. Moses did finally make it to the Holy and Promised Land and I would say that he had much to offer in a conversation about an exodus.