Lent day 13

The Death of Moses

34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then theLord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.6 He buried him[a] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Another day another mountain .  With no nice tarmac surfaced road for the 120 year old Moses to take to the top.   Just himself and a walking stick and the voice of God calling him up.

I wonder how long it took the old man to climb up to get the stunning views from the top.  It probably seemed like a lifetime.

Our lives here on planet earth are, for the most part, a long haul and hard work.  Punctuated by pleasant stops along the way - relationships, jobs, travel, children.... etc etc  - the nice things which make the slog worthwhile.  But mostly we are putting one foot in front of the other, paying the bills, keeping the rules, living quietly boring lives in anticipation of something much better coming next.

Moses gets to the top and looks out over a land of promise.  Where his children will be safe and their desert wanderings will be over.  He must have been delighted to finally see the land he had been heading for all those years.   I wonder if he felt sad or bitter knowing that he could have been there so much sooner were it not for the people he had taken with him.   I suspect he was just glad to have made it.   Most of us will be just glad to have made it through to the end of our lives with our faith in God intact,  still being on talking terms with Him.  And maybe even having a glimpse or two of heaven before we join Him there.