Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Into this mount


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 27:12–14, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”
Moses wanted to enter the Promised Land but the Lord told him that he couldn’t do that. However, the Lord allowed Moses to see the Land and appreciate all it beauty before he died. This is why the Lord took him up to the top of Mount Abarim. He could see the Promised Land from there and get a good idea of what a wonderful land it was. Aaron had already died and been buried, his role as high priest was taken over by his son, Eleazar (Numbers 20:25–26, “Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.”) Moses wasn’t replaced by his son. Moses had two sons Gershom and Eliezer (1 Chronicles 23:14–15, “Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.”) and they became part of the tribe of Levi and followed that calling. Joshua replaced Moses as the leader of Israel, to take them into the Promised Land (see Deuteronomy 34:9, “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” and compare Deuteronomy 31:14, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.” for example). Even though Moses was being punished it was much better for Joshua to be given the leadership role without Moses looking over his shoulder. Joshua was faithful and fulfilled his role as he was commanded as well (Judges 2:7, “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.”)

No comments:

Post a Comment