KNUTSFORD METHODIST CHURCH

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Egyptian face profile Memoirs of Moses
Part 10 - I face the end

I was coming to the end - to the end of the wanderings, and to the end of my life. I did not regret the former, but I very much regretted the latter. Even though I was 120 years old, I was still as fit as a young man and my eyesight was as good as ever. But Yahweh had spoken and I had learned by now He means what He says. But first I had to prepare the people to enter and conquer the land.
After the incident with the seduction of my young men by the girls of Midian, I had taken a census of the people. There were 625,030 men in the camp besides women and children. That is a lot of people, so under Yahweh's guidance I instructed the people that they must completely drive out the Canaanites from the land. Besides making enough room it would prevent there being any contamination of the worship of Yahweh by residues of the evil Canaanite religions. I remembered Yahweh's words to Abraham over 400 years before. He said that Abraham's descendants would not occupy the land until the wickedness of the Canaanites was such that they deserved to be destroyed. From what I had heard about them that day had clearly come.
But who was to lead the invasion? Of the men who had left Egypt, only me, Joshua and Caleb remained alive. Both Joshua and Caleb were competent people and I could not choose between them. So I went apart up a hill and prayed. Yahweh said Joshua was to lead them. When I told the people, Caleb graciously accepted the decision. So I took Joshua and, before Eleazor (the priest), I lay my hands on him and formally made him my successor.
There was also the question of dividing the land between the tribes - so I appointed a panel of men to decide, one from each of the tribes who would live west of the Jordan. I also stated that the Levites were to have 48 cities scattered around, 6 of which should be cities of refuge where people under threat could find refuge from that threat.
There were lots of other details both big and small. For instance, one small detail concerned the daughters of Zelophehad. He had died in the wilderness, leaving 5 daughters but no son. Up to now, inheritance had always been through the man, and the occasions when a man had no sons did not really matter. But now with the division of the land imminent, it became important.
These 5 girls came to me asking that they should inherit that portion which would have come to their father had he lived. I did not know what to do, so as usual I prayed. Yahweh said their request was right, so I amended the law to allow inheritance through daughters if there was no son. This had repercussions later when tribal leaders came and said that if these girls married into another tribe, their original tribe would loose that land. So I had to pray again - and Yahweh guided me to amend the law to say that land must always belong to the tribe it was originally assigned to. Therefore, when daughters inherit they must marry within their own tribe. The 5 girls agreed to this and eventually married their cousins.
I gave that example to show how law develops from a simple principle to a quite complex body.
Before I died I wanted to review the situation with the people to remind them how Yahweh had led and cared for them, and how they should live to ensure they always received His blessings. So I prepared a long speech and delivered it to them. It took all day! The speech is recorded in my book of Deuteronomy.
I also wrote a song for them to sing, which was really a prophecy for them to ponder over - and I gave an individual prayer of blessing over each tribe.
Then I was ready to go to Yahweh. He allowed me to ascend a nearby mountain, Mount Nebo, from which I could see most of the Promised Land. It was the first and last time I saw it. The sight was glorious. Vast ranges of hills covered with greenery with the deep verdant valley of the Jordan in front of me. Truly it was a land flowing with milk and honey. A home fit for the people of Yahweh.
Having seen the land I am now preparing to lie down and face the greatest adventure of all - death...
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FOOTNOTES

From Joshua - Moses simply lay down and went to sleep just as Aaron had done. And, just as with Aaron, those of us who were present had that deep sense of awe, the feeling that some part of Moses had left the body and gone somewhere else. We felt as if Yahweh and all the angels were gathered to welcome him home. I can only hope it will be like that when I die. I buried his body on the mountainside in view of the Promised Land.

From the editor - In the New Testament, the book of Jude states that Michael, the archangel, disputed with Satan over possession of Moses's body. We can deduce that Michael won, because Moses appeared to Jesus and three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.

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	Memoirs of Moses Part 10 - I face the end
I was coming to the end - to the end of the wanderings, and to the end of my life. I did not regret the former, but I very much regretted the latter. Even though I was 120 years old, I was still as fit as a young man and my eyesight was as good as ever. But Yahweh had spoken and I had learned by now He means what He says. But first I had to prepare the people to enter and conquer the land. After the incident with the seduction of my young men by the girls of Midian, I had taken a census of the people. There were 625,030 men in the camp besides women and children. That is a lot of people, so under Yahweh's guidance I instructed the people that they must completely drive out the Canaanites from the land. Besides making enough room it would prevent there being any contamination of the worship of Yahweh by residues of the evil Canaanite religions. I remembered Yahweh's words to Abraham over 400 years before. He said that Abraham's descendants would not occupy the land until the wickedness of the Canaanites was such that they deserved to be destroyed. From what I had heard about them that day had clearly come. But who was to lead the invasion? Of the men who had left Egypt, only me, Joshua and Caleb remained alive. Both Joshua and Caleb were competent people and I could not choose between them. So I went apart up a hill and prayed. Yahweh said Joshua was to lead them. When I told the people, Caleb graciously accepted the decision. So I took Joshua and, before Eleazor (the priest), I lay my hands on him and formally made him my successor. There was also the question of dividing the land between the tribes - so I appointed a panel of men to decide, one from each of the tribes who would live west of the Jordan. I also stated that the Levites were to have 48 cities scattered around, 6 of which should be cities of refuge where people under threat could find refuge from that threat. There were lots of other details both big and small. For instance, one small detail concerned the daughters of Zelophehad. He had died in the wilderness, leaving 5 daughters but no son. Up to now, inheritance had always been through the man, and the occasions when a man had no sons did not really matter. But now with the division of the land imminent, it became important. These 5 girls came to me asking that they should inherit that portion which would have come to their father had he lived. I did not know what to do, so as usual I prayed. Yahweh said their request was right, so I amended the law to allow inheritance through daughters if there was no son. This had repercussions later when tribal leaders came and said that if these girls married into another tribe, their original tribe would loose that land. So I had to pray again - and Yahweh guided me to amend the law to say that land must always belong to the tribe it was originally assigned to. Therefore, when daughters inherit they must marry within their own tribe. The 5 girls agreed to this and eventually married their cousins. I gave that example to show how law develops from a simple principle to a quite complex body. Before I died I wanted to review the situation with the people to remind them how Yahweh had led and cared for them, and how they should live to ensure they always received His blessings. So I prepared a long speech and delivered it to them. It took all day! The speech is recorded in my book of Deuteronomy. I also wrote a song for them to sing, which was really a prophecy for them to ponder over - and I gave an individual prayer of blessing over each tribe. Then I was ready to go to Yahweh. He allowed me to ascend a nearby mountain, Mount Nebo, from which I could see most of the Promised Land. It was the first and last time I saw it. The sight was glorious. Vast ranges of hills covered with greenery with the deep verdant valley of the Jordan in front of me. Truly it was a land flowing with milk and honey. A home fit for the people of Yahweh. Having seen the land I am now preparing to lie down and face the greatest adventure of all - death... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FOOTNOTES From Joshua - Moses simply lay down and went to sleep just as Aaron had done. And, just as with Aaron, those of us who were present had that deep sense of awe, the feeling that some part of Moses had left the body and gone somewhere else. We felt as if Yahweh and all the angels were gathered to welcome him home. I can only hope it will be like that when I die. I buried his body on the mountainside in view of the Promised Land. From the editor - In the New Testament, the book of Jude states that Michael, the archangel, disputed with Satan over possession of Moses's body. We can deduce that Michael won, because Moses appeared to Jesus and three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.