MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."  (Hebrews 4:9).

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."  (Joshua 1:1-5).

The Lord chose Joshua to lead the Israelites into the land of promise because Moses had lost patience with the people at the waters of Meribah.  It was there, in his frustration and anger, that Moses had struck the rock rather than simply speak to it as God commanded to bring forth water for the people to drink.  As a result, God told Moses that he could view the promised land from a nearby mountain, but he wouldn't be allowed to enter in.  (Numbers 20:11,12). (Deuteronomy 32:51,52).  In the above verses, God confirmed the promises to His servant Joshua that He had spoken to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. 

Besides being an account of Israelite history, this story also forms one of the most beautiful allegories in the Bible of God's work of grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  It not only illustrates clearly the futility of the law to achieve righteousness through our own works, but it also reveals Christ's ability to wholly sanctify His people and bring them into the fullness of God's promises.  I pray this new series of messages will bless and inspire you to a deeper devotion and a fuller freedom in the Spirit through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Moses represents, and is a type and shadow of, the law.  It was he who brought the law from Mt. Sinai and delivered it to his people the Israelites.  He also pronounced God's judgments on them when they failed to obey that law.  Moses had never been to, nor seen, the land that God promised to him and his people.  Forty years he spent wandering around the deserts of Sinai, leading the children of Israel, but never entering into the promised land himself.  Moses, in the end, was unable to lead the people into the promised land.  In fact, they could not enter in at all until he died.  As long as Moses lived, the people could not enter in.  It was not just Moses who could not enter into the land of promise however.  The entire generation of Israelites had to die before Joshua could lead their children over Jordan.  Once Moses died, then God said to Joshua, "Now therefore arise."  Now is the accepted time.  Now is the day of salvation.  Now that the "law" has been dealt with, it is possible to arise and enter in to the promises.

The law stands in the way of our inheriting the promises of God.  The law surely defines the righteousness of God, but it is incapable of working that righteousness in us because of the weakness of our flesh.  "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."  (Galatians 2:21).  The law works wrath.  The law works fear.  The law brings condemnation and judgment.  Through the law, our best hope is to wander all of our lives as if in a wilderness without ever realizing God's promises.  It is not until the law is dead, that we are free to enter in; and since the law is not about to die, than we must die to the law.  "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. . . for when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."  (Romans 7:4-6).  It is for this reason that we are buried with Christ in baptism.  By entering into the likeness of His death, we are freed, not just from sin, but also from the law.  "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God."  (Galatians 2:19). 

The law, then, serves as a school teacher to bring us to Christ.  What does it teach us?  It teaches us the utter futility of trying to achieve righteousness through our own works.  The law, though holy, just, and good, produces all sorts of evil lusts in man because of the sin that it reveals.  Anyone who has raised or been around small children understands that when you tell them no, their desire for that thing is intensified; and only some form of punishment will then deter them from fulfilling their desire to have what is forbidden.  This is called the carnal nature, and everyone is born with it.  We inherited it from our ancestor Adam. 

The law has power to bring sin to light, but it is helpless to change the flesh.  (Romans 7:7-13).  You see, the law is not of faith.  It only demands works, and works breed pride.  If I can work my way to heaven, I do not need a Savior.  The promises of God, on the other hand, are all about faith.  They cannot be realized otherwise.  Out of Moses' generation, only two men were able to enter the land of promise: Joshua and Caleb.  They were able to enter because, when they went in to spy out the land and saw its beauty and riches, they were ready to go in immediately regardless of the obstacles that the other ten spies feared.  Everyone else shrank in fear at the thought of giants and walled cities.  "Without faith it is impossible to please Him [God]."  (Hebrews 11:6).

This is Part 1 of a four part series exploring, not only the law and grace, but also the Promised Land and its relation to the rest that God calls His people to enjoy today.