Core Bible Study Deuteronomy 3:23-29 October 8, 2014 “Let ...

Core Bible Study October 8, 2014

Deuteronomy 3:23-29 "Let me cross over and see!"

I. "The future is set before them" ... but Moses won't get to see it.

A. Moses' prayer:

1. He had already been told that he would not be allowed to cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land: the generation that refused to enter Canaan would not "see" the land much less enter it, Moses would get to see it, but he would not be allowed to enter it.

2. It matters too much to him not to plead with the Lord to change his mind: Moses had devoted his life to the fulfillment of God's promise to deliver his people out of slavery into the Promised Land ? how can he bear not see it brought to fulfillment? What a great tragedy after he has gone through that: "I will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this good land." (Deut. 4:22)

3. He describes to the people how he pled with the Lord:

a. "Pleaded" = "a solemn request for the Lord to be compassionate." (Craigie, p.126)

b. "Sovereign Lord" = (all-powerful King, Lord of the Covenant) a respectful and deeply personal name for God used only twice in Deuteronomy ? both times in a prayer of Moses.

c. "Your servant" Moses acknowledges that he is entirely the Lord's servant, in submission to his will entirely, and yet he has a bold relationship with the Lord.

d. "What God is there ... who can do the deeds you do?"

Echoes of the great rejoicing of Israel on the other side of the Red Sea when Moses was full of joy: "Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?" (Exodus 15:11)

e. "Let me pass over that I may see the good land." Let me see the vision completed, let me see the fulfillment of over forty years of suffering and faithfulness and passionate desire.

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B. The Lord's Answer:

1. "He became furious with me" an absolute and angry response

2. "He would not listen to me" Moses' pain doesn't seem to move the Lord an inch.

3. That is enough! He closes the door on the subject, period.

II. "Why in the world, after everything Moses did for the Lord . . .

would he hold that one sin against him and not let him go into the promised Land?!" (asked by Bob while standing on Mt. Pisgah looking across the Jordan to Israel)

A. Moses' guilt

1. What happened at Meribah

Num. 20:7, 10-11 "Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water" ... He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank."

Num. 27:12-14 "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes."

2. Moses the "Paradigm Prophet"

"A prophet indicates what will happen to his community by experiencing himself those things himself, symbolically or literally." (Williams, p. 90)

3. Who was the Rock?

"That Rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:3)

B. The provocation of the people:

Deut. 1:37 "Because of you the LORD became angry with me"

Deut. 3:26 "But because of you the LORD was angry with me"

Deut. 4:21 "The LORD was angry with me because of you"

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Psalm 106: 32,33 "By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips."

C. Identification with the people: "He carried the guilt of Israel to his grave." (Harman, P. 54)

D. Moses is completely identified with the Covenant of Law ? which fails because of the sin of the people and necessitates the New Covenant.

III. To understand what it all means we have to trace the story to it's fulfillment

After the return from exile "Israel continues to hope for a future salvation based on the Abrahamic covenant and a glorious restoration like that envisioned by her earlier prophets." (Waltke, p. 549)

A. The veiled meaning: It's all about Jesus.

2Cor. 3:13-16 "We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."

B. The True Exodus:

Moses set foot in the Promised Land ? on the Mount of Transfiguration where he talked with Jesus about his coming "exodus"

C. The True Joshua:

Heb. 4:8 "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day." Joshua was a "type" of the one who fought and defeated our enemies and brought us into our inheritance.

D. The True Heir(s):

Galatians 3: 16-18 "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise ... If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

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E. The True Land ? the ultimate inheritance

Heb. 9:15 "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance --now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."

Matt. 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."

Questions to think about:

1. What does Moses' request reveal about his heart and character? Is it the whole picture?

2. What does the Lord's refusal reveal about his heart and character? Is it the whole picture?

3. Think about Moses complete investment in God's plans and purposes. What about your own investment?

4. How have you seen and hope to see the completion of what the Lord began at the exodus?

Bibliography

Brown, Raymond, The Message of Deuteronomy, The Bible Speaks Today Series, Inter-Varsity Press: Downers Grove, 1993. Craigie, Peter C., The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the OT, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, 1976. Harman, Allan, Deuteronomy ? The Commands of a Covenant God, Christian Focus Publishing, Ltd: Great Britain, 2001. Kline, Meredith, Treaty of the Great King, Wipt & Stock: Eugene, OR, 1963.

Waltke, Bruce, An Old Testament Theology, Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2007. Williams, Michael J., The Prophet and His Message, P&R Publishing: Phillipsburg, 2003.

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