Deuteronomy 31:6-7 "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. (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 is now one hundred and twenty years old. He has been faithful to his
people and we can also say he has been faithful to God. In fact, we saw that
was true when we studied the book of Hebrews. Let me refresh our minds.
"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a
testimony of those things which were to be spoken after" (Hebrews 3:5)
Yes, we know that Moses allowed his anger to get the best of him when he struck
the rock instead of speaking to it. But haven't we all allowed that to
happen? You see this is the danger of thinking the land of Canaan represents
heaven. If we think the Promised Land of Canaan is representing heaven, then we
have to be careful that our anger, envy, jealousy, and other sins could keep us
out of heaven. We are told by Jesus Christ Himself that nothing nor
anyone can pluck us out of His hands. Paul, by inspiration of God, tells us
that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
If Canaan does not represent heaven, then what does it represent? I
submit to you the Promised Land represents the kingdom of God (kingdom of
heaven) here on earth. What is that kingdom? Paul tells us in Romans
14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." I believe I can tell you
with full authority of God's Word that Moses is in the eternal heaven today. We
know that from his presence with Elijah and Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration. Moses was not allowed to see the power of God in
defeating the enemies of Israel and the destruction of those great walled
cities, such as Jericho. But ultimately, I believe Moses fulfilled the purpose
that God had given him. If you go back and read, you will see God never told
Moses to bring the people into the promised land. His command to Moses was to
bring the people out of Egypt.
I know I have wandered from the text today, but this is the direction the Lord
took me. The law was given to show us the direction out of bondage. The
law was given to teach us of our sinful nature and of our need for THE
SAVIOUR. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:24, "Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith." The law was not given to bring us into the kingdom. Moses
could not take the people into the promised land, but he was given to them to
direct them through the wilderness. The law directs us through the wilderness
times of this life. But it is grace, and only grace, that directs us into the
kingdom of heaven, both here in this world and also the eternal kingdom.
We can become frustrated with the law because it shows our frailties and our
inability. We can never become frustrated with grace because it shows the
perfection and complete work of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
In today's text, Moses was saying, "I'm not going any farther with you,
but Joshua will lead you to the Promise." The law only takes us so
far, but grace will lead us on. "T'was grace that taught my heart to
fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I
first believed." We will look at the verses more on tomorrow, but for now
Moses told the people and Joshua: "Be strong and of a good courage."
Grace allows this to happen.