God’s Will——-Anointing A Successor

Text: Deuteronomy 31-34

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 31:1-8; 34:1-10

We have a great pastor and he is a great preacher but the work of God is greater than any one individual man.

Because, As we live, we will surely one day die, unless the Rapture comes during our lifetime.

Israel had been blessed with great leaders like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob who had come before Moses and great men would follow after Moses in the history of Israel.

Another thing we should realize as we close out these lessons in Deuteronomy is that as we come to the end of the life of Moses, it was Moses that had written the first five Books of the Bible we have been studying for several months now.

We have a record of the 120 years that Moses lives and we can be sure that in the 40 years in the wilderness Moses had spent much time, led by the Holy Spirit to write down God’s Word for us.

God had promised Moses that a successor like unto him but greater than him would come. God was not talking about Joshua at this time:

Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deu 18:19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

This great prophet would be from the Jews and He would bring God’s Word of truth that could not be ignored.

God said this prophet was Jesus Christ:

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

God knew that Moses would be considered a great man so God said Jesus was much more worthy than Moses:

Heb 3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2  Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Heb 3:3  For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4  For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

God knew that it was possible that there would be some that considered Moses greater than all the High Priest of Israel, so God said this:

Heb 8:4  For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

In fact God said that the New Covenant would replace the covenants made in the time of Moses:

Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

What Moses had done for the worship of Israel was to show and teach them a pattern of the truth that was to come by Jesus Christ:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

The Law given by Moses was just a shadow of the good things to come in the name of Jesus Christ:

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come,  [and not the very image of the things], can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

God says that Jesus Christ is the “One” to establish the second covenant of eternal life:

Heb 10:9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

As Moses went on to be with the Lord, we should be encouraged to know that God will place someone else to carry on the work.

But we should also realize that Satan will even try to take advantage even at the death of a great man of God:

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

That’s the reason that only God would know where the body of Moses was buried!

*****Our Text:

Deu 31:1  And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
Deu 31:2  And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Moses said to Israel, “I am getting old”, “I cannot do the physical things I have been doing”. It was time for Moses to step aside and not interfere with what God would do with Joshua. Moses was still physically fit for many things but it would take many years of war in the Promised land and he was not able to do these things.

God had chosen Joshua to lead Israel.

There is also another reason for choosing Joshua:

In Hebrew the name “Joshua” means “Jehovah is salvation”.

In Greek the name “Jesus” means Joshua.

God was teaching Israel and all who study the Bible, the greatest principle in the Bible.

Moses was the great Lawgiver but God was teaching that Laws can only take you so far and that only Jesus could take us to the Promised Land.

Israel has not learned this lesson yet!

To “go out and to come in” are that activities of a leader and Moses could no longer be the leader of Israel much longer even though he still had some physical strength.

*****Deu 31:3  The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.

It was not Moses that had chosen Joshua! God had chosen Joshua! As a warrior it would seem that Caleb would have been a better choice.

We must not ever feel like we are something great in our service to Our Lord. None of us are essential to God’s program. God prepares and uses us at His own will. That is why it is such a privilege to serve God.

It is a great privilege to be chosen to be in God’s service!

But if we will not serve after being chosen, God will find some one else to give blessings He would have given to you!

God would use Caleb and many others but Joshua was to be the leader!

*****Deu 31:4  And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
Deu 31:5  And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
Deu 31:6  Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Moses took the time to encourage not only Joshua but all the nation of Israel. They would have to trust that God would deliver them from all their enemies in Canaan Land and they would have to trust that Joshua was God’s chosen man for this time.

When we know we are following God’s chosen men we also need to be firm in our trust in the Lord. Moses had trained Joshua much like Jesus had trained His 12 disciples. Every generation must prepare the next generation for the work of the Lord. The greatest test of a good leader is what he leaves behind to carry on the work of the The Lord.

Not only are our national leaders failing us at this time but those behind the pulpits of America are also failing us now.

Praise God for Gethsemane, our church, but we must still contend for the faith to hold onto what we have, even in our place of worship.

*****Deu 31:7  And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Moses stood Joshua up before all the people and then encouraged Joshua. This showed all the people that it was Joshua that was chosen by the Lord and accepted by Moses.

Every good leader should know when to step aside when their task are complete.

When our work on this Earth is complete, God can take us home. Heaven is our home and that’s where we will be at full rest. Moses work was complete and the work of Joshua was just getting started.

John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and Jesus must increase”. Moses had reached this point in his own life.

*****Deu 31:8  And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

We must always remember, no matter who our leaders are, It Is God That Sits On The Throne!

God does not get sick, and God does not die.

God is continuously working in this world and will have His Will done in the end!

The Bible teaches us:

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

And again:

Ecc 3:11  He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

We will not know until we get to Heaven and have the mind of Christ, what great things God has done around us while we lived in this flesh.

*****Our Text:

Deu 34:1  And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
Deu 34:2  And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
Deu 34:3  And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
Deu 34:4  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.
Deu 34:5  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6  And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

Even in death, Moses would be a type of Christ Jesus. Moses had began as a lonely shepherd caring for
sheep. Now at His death, he was leaving the sheep in the hands of Joshua and going up to the top of Mount Nebo to be alone with God.

But what we read is more about Moses not going into the promised land than about his death. If the burial place had been made known, his bones would have been dug up and brought into Canaan Land just as the bones of Joseph.

We know that Moses did make it into the Promised Land but not the way he expected.

Both Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration!

Their conversation with Jesus was about the Cross:

Luk 9:30  And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31  Who appeared in glory, [and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem].

What we should notice is that the Law could not bring Moses to the Promised Land but it was not a problem for Jesus!

Moses was God’s chosen leader of His people! Moses was the Lawgiver! Without Moses or someone like him there could have been a nation we know of as Israel.

Moses presented the Word of God which began Judaism.

God never intended for Israel to ignore the prophesies of the Church Age and the Messiah!

Moses was a great man but when God equips His great men, God also expects more from them.

Moses had failed to glorify God:

Num 20:10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Num 20:12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

God forgives all our sin but God will also allow our sin to work out it’s consequences in our lives!

This comes with that freedom of choice God has given to each of us!

When we choose wrong we will suffer for it but it will not keep us out of Heaven!

Only rejecting Christ Jesus can keep us out of Heaven!

God allowed Moses to see the whole land that was to be Israel. Israel does not possess all the land mentioned in these verses at this time but it is still their land and does not belong to any other people.

After seeing the land, Moses died. According to the Bible, The Lord and the Archangel Michael buried him on Mount Nebo:

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

No one has ever found the grave site of Moses, not even in our day!

If we learn only one thing from this verse in the Book of Jude, we should learn that we should never speak against God’s Chosen. This includes every believer. Jude says not even an angel would speak against God’s Chosen people.

If an angel will not, out of respect for the Lord, then we certainly should not.

Moses died according to God’s Word and we need to realize that we will all die according to God’s Word!

Every Saint that dies is precious to Him:

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

But while we are alive we have another responsibility:

Psa 116:18  I will pay my vows unto the LORD [now in the presence of all his people],

*****Our Text:

Deu 34:7  And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
Deu 34:8  And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

We will die just as God’s plan for us is real:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

This plan of God began before He wrote this Book we call the Bible and it cannot change!

We cannot live beyond the time that God wrote down for each of us, while in this flesh. But this same Word of God says we will never die in what is the real person we are, “if we know the Lord Jesus Christ as Our Savior”.

When we are disobedient, God allows us to see how we have in our foolishness, hastened our own death!

Moses did not die a lonely death because The Lord was with Him and also an Angel.

God is no respecter of persons so it is a great privilege to know that no matter our condition at our death, The Lord will be with us until He takes on Home!

We will not die alone!

Deu 34:9  And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deu 34:10  And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

Moses was a faithful person but his house was not to be in the land of Canaan. Until the Lord Jesus came not one Old Testament saint could be a house of God:

Heb 3:5  And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6  But Christ as a son over his own house; [whose house are we], if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

But because Moses had faith in Jehovah God, he has given us a great example of what “Faith” is all about.

Moses spake openly to God as a man speaks to his friend. This is exactly how God wants to speak to each one of us!

Moses had said that He had no abilities to serve the Lord but we see how The Lord can equip each of us to be mighty in His work.

Moses was known as the most humble man of that time, which teaches us that we need to walk humbly with The Lord.

Moses listened to what God said and Moses obeyed what God said to do.

Moses was devoted to God’s People.

Moses was willing to lay down his life for God’s People.

If we cannot be somewhat like Moses who could not be a Christian because Christ had not yet come.

HOW CAN WE CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS IF WE CANNOT BE MORE LIKE THE EXAMPLE MOSES GAVE US!

The Lord spent 80 years preparing Moses to lead the nation of Israel. God is patient to spend whatever time it takes to make each of us worthy servants.

How can we not serve Him.

Moses finished the work God gave Him to do.

Would it not be great to know that when God’s calls us home we will know that we have finished the work that He gave us to do!

Jesus Christ is our only perfect example to live by but the Word of God shows us that imperfect people are what God has to work with to get His message out to the world. We will make mistakes but God will never leave us and we should never leave Him.

Let’s Pray!