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Bible story · Deuteronomy 34:1–12
From the Top of Pisgah
Read it yourself in the King James Bible: Deuteronomy 34:1–12 ↗
“And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.”
Deuteronomy 34:4 (KJV)The Story
For forty years, Moses had led Israel through the wilderness. He had stood before Pharaoh, raised his staff over the Red Sea, climbed Mount Sinai, and carried the people’s complaints and sins before God. Now he was 120 years old, and Israel was camped on the edge of the Promised Land.
But Moses wouldn’t go in. Years earlier, at Meribah, he had disobeyed God, and God had told him he would not lead Israel into the land.
So on his last day, Moses climbed Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah. And God showed him the whole land: Gilead, Dan, the hill country, all the way to the sea, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees.
“This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob.” I have let you see it with your own eyes.
Moses died there, and God Himself buried him. The Bible says his eyes were not dim, and his strength had not faded. And “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”
Reflection
This is a bittersweet story. Moses gave his whole life to bringing Israel to this land, and he only saw it from a mountaintop.
More Bible stories from Deuteronomy. More about: Waiting on God · Grief and Loss · Moses
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Day 10 of Book 6
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