Sometimes one decision we’ve made seems to have the power to derail many more things in our life than we thought. A word spoken in anger, a bad choice that was exposed, an investment that seemed like a sure thing but then quickly went south without so much as an apology. Most of us can look back over the course of life and think of at least 2 or 3 choices we made that we’d love to have the chance to go back and change if we could.

Moses understands.

Moses’ future was tragically altered by his decision to strike a rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:10-13). This seems trivial in a way, until it is clear that Moses’ interaction with the rock was not the real issue; his interaction with the instructions and word of God was actually the problem. It’s always important to see what our issues really are. My anger at a person might have very little to do with that person and everything to do with my own internal battles. And until I know where something is coming from I don’t have access to the places where lasting change happen. Pruning weeds is time consuming and pointless, but many of us never pursue our own motivations far enough to live out any change.

When Moses disobeyed God it resulted in a premature ending point to his journey. Though he should have been the one to lead Israel across the Jordan River and into the land of promise, he – like so many others of the “Egypt generation” – passed away in the wilderness without setting foot in Canaan. But the Lord did give Moses the opportunity to see Canaan from afar.

There is a side point here that should not be ignored: even in the wilderness there are still high places. In the deserts of life, in the midnights of our circumstances, in the barren places of our experience there are places of elevation that give us the opportunity to see what’s coming. We might feel the pressure and weight of the season we are in, but even there God can lead us to places of perspective. the Bible describes this trip as moving from “the plains” to the top of the mountain.

In Deuteronomy 34 this moment is recorded.

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land… – Deuteronomy 34:1

So Moses was granted the opportunity to see the land from the mountain and then, despite his vigor and sharpness of vision (Deut. 34:7), the Bible says he “died there in the land of Moab.” However, depending on how we read tradition, this might not be the end of the story.

In chapter 17 of Matthew’s Gospel (Luke and Mark also record this) there is an important scene in the life of Jesus. Here Jesus takes Peter and John up a mountain where He is transfigured – which is a word that simply means to move into a different form or appearance. At this moment the glory of Jesus is see by Peter and John in an unprecedented way. They fall to the ground in worship and it is a unique and special moment. But there’s a unique aspect to this story, namely the “other” attendees who show up on the mountain that day with Jesus, Peter and John.

The Bible says that none other than Moses and Elijah got an invite – two of the most significant people in the history of God’s people, but also two who had already been gone from the world for many centuries. And this is where some of church tradition makes a difference in the way we read Deuteronomy 34. 

The Bible does not name the mountain of transfiguration. But historically there are two mountains that are included in the conversation: Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon. Tabor is the earliest location cited by the church fathers, and while I do not intend to “die on this hill” of opinion, I favor Mt Tabor as the site.

With this in mind there is something truly beautiful about the moment recorded in Matthew 17. Moses is there. Moses is in the Promised Land. Mt Tabor is not very far from the Sea of Galilee in the northern Region of Israel.  And in this land that Moses gazed at from the top of another mountain, Moses now stands.

So, even if Tabor is not the mountain, the grander point still stands. Moses is in the presence of the grandest promise ever fulfilled by God: the glory of the Messiah on earth, the Savior in the place which needed saving. 

So Moses was in the Promised Land and in the presence of the Promised One despite the disciplinary sentence God laid upon him in the wilderness. What a beautiful resolution to this story! It almost seems Hallmark-ish in the way the bow of a happy ending is neatly tied for us. But if we only see the product and not the process we miss the opportunity to glean wisdom from this long-running picture the Bible presents to us.

How did Moses go from uninvited to red carpet guest in the Promised Land? Simple. He died.

It wasn’t the modification of Moses’ behavior that gave him access to the place he was destined to go. It was the laying down of his life, the exhaling of his final mortal breath and the burying of his bones that changed the situation.

Moses was one good funeral away from having everything he’d been hoping for. And often times, I think we are as well.

God told Moses he wouldn’t be going into Canaan with the people because of his disobedience. But as Moses was laid into the grave the punishment was satisfied. Which meant the sentence of discipline was no longer binding. After his death Moses was fully welcome to walk in the Promised Land! And in Matthew 17 we see this powerfully recorded.

What makes this even more beautiful to me is why Moses finally gets to walk in this land. It’s because of Jesus. 

Maybe I’m stretching this a bit, taking a bit of interpretive license, but I like imagining Jesus personally inviting Moses. “I’m here now, and because I’m here I want you to be here as well. Because where I go, I make ways for my people to go with Me.”

Obviously this isn’t in the Scriptures and it’s just my own imagination running with things. But what I do know the Bible says is consistent with the bigger picture.

I couldn’t walk in the promises of God without two deaths.

First, I have to see that Jesus has died for me and His death is the access point through which I have to walk if I ever hope to encounter the promises and prosperity of God for my life!

Second, I have to die to myself. Moses was kept out of Canaan until he died, and I have to wonder how many of God’s promises and blessings we are separated from because we refuse to put to death our own agendas, our own opinions and our own desires to be in control.

This sounds tough. It even sounds a bit morbid perhaps. But only if we choose to focus on the death. Every time we take up our cross, every time we choose to die to ourselves, every time we intentionally focus on the “once-for-all” sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we are not simply staring death in the face – no, we are watching the prerequisite for resurrection! And this is the amazing resolution of Deuteronomy’s record of Moses’ death: IT WASN’T THE END.

And this gives us the great hope that whatever we watch pass away, and whatever we willingly lay down on an altar we can be certain it will be raised in glory and power and joy and blessing! Whatever happens to the bones of what our rebellion tried to destroy, it’s no match for the power of Jesus to invite us into places of new life and resurrection in His presence, surrounded by His glory.

So, have the funeral. Lay down the life. Bury the bones.

But don’t believe it’s over with. In God’s presence the moment of laying down is where things begin, not where they end.