Deuteronomy 34
The Death of Moses
34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan, 34:2 and all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the distant sea, 34:3 the Negev, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of the date palm trees, as far as Zoar.
Many Bible students miss the miracle of this passage. Moses could not see all of this land naturally, but he could see it supernaturally. God had to give him eyes to see and ears to hear, just as He does with believers. Grace, or God's kindness to reveal Himself to us, is a gift of God to the believer.
34:4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there.”
God reminded Moses that even though he could not enter the Promised Land, God would still keep His promises of the Abrahamic Covenant.
34:5 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said.
Moses died as a servant of Jehovah. He transferred from the material earth to the heavenly kingdom. His spirit is now with God. His earthly body is in the grave. At the beginning of the rapture, Moses and the Old Testament saints will first have their natural bodies join in perfect unison with their spiritual bodies. Moments later, those believers living on the earth will go through this same transformation, or metamorphous. The worm will become a butterfly.
34:6 He buried him in the land of Moab near Beth Peor, but no one knows his exact burial place to this very day.
No one knows the burial place of Moses. If they did, they would most likely worship the body and the spot.
34:7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, but his eye was not dull nor had his vitality departed.
Forty years of wanderings in the desert and 120 years of age did not wear out the eyesight or vitality of Moses. Moses died as an extremely healthy person.
34:8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the deserts of Moab for thirty days; then the days of mourning for Moses ended.
The normal mourning period was seven days.
The Epitaph of Moses
34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.
God gave Joshua the supernatural skills to lead Israel into Canaan.
Charismatics improperly use this verse to justify their false doctrine of gaining spiritual power by the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands here was a symbol of the transfer of Israeli leadership, nothing else. Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because he had mastered and applied the Bible doctrine which was available to him at this time.
34:10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face.
Moses was different than the other prophets. He did not receive his prophecies by dreams or visions. He received his prophecies directly from God, face to face.
Many modern prophets claim that they saw God and were given new prophetic information. According to this verse, these men are false prophets. No prophet ever knew the Lord "face to face," except for Moses.
34:11 He did all the signs and wonders the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land,
Moses performed signs and wonders all through Egypt and the wilderness. None of the other prophets could perform similar types of miracles.
34:12 and he displayed great power and awesome might in view of all Israel.
Israel saw the miracles of Moses. In the future, they would look for another prophet “like Moses.” This prophet “like Moses” would be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Appendix
Was Jesus a socialist?
Liberals who are ignorant of the Bible like to claim that Jesus was a socialist, but this is simply not the case. Jesus is God. He established the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was based upon capitalistic principles. For example:
1. Each family was given land. They could earn as much money as they could. If they went into debt, they had to lease the farm to the lender for seven years and work as a servant to the lender to pay off the debt. Weak capitalists found themselves as servants in this kind of system. Strong capitalists made even more money.
2. The poor were not given free handouts from the government. They had to work and glean the fields.
3. There was no graduated income taxes which punished the capitalists who worked harder and made more money. Every family paid the same amount--one shekel per year.
4. Widows and orphans were not funded by the government. Families were to take care of them or be executed by God Himself.
5. Expensive jail and prison systems were not supported by the government. Debtors lost the use of their land for seven years, criminals were beaten publicly, and thieves lost their hands. Adulterers, murderers, blasphemers, occultists, homosexuals, lesbians, and even disobedient children were executed. These types of punishments cost the tax payer nothing.
6. Jesus condemned the unbeliever (socialist) who buried his five talents. Jesus praised the other two believers (capitalists) who doubled their talents. The believers used their talents to produce divine good. The unbeliever buried what he had been given and refused the gospel.
The purpose of socialism is for government control of everything. Socialists usually outlaw the Bible, because of its capitalistic values. The Antichrist will be a socialist, because this is an anti-biblical government. Socialism does succeed in making everyone equal. Socialism makes everyone equally poor. Russia fell, because there was no motivation for the socialistic work force to work hard and produce more product. They were paid the same salary whether they manufactured five cars per day or one hundred cars per day. Socialism produces a lot of frustrated and lazy workers.
The Antichrist will prove this theory to the entire world in the very near future. Those capitalists who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be viewing the one world global socialist government from the sky boxes in the heavens for seven years. Those socialists who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will wear the socialist mark on their hand or head here on earth for seven years. The goal of the satanic world system is socialism. Liberals like socialism as it is the government of their father.