Deuteronomy 32:(Maftir) 48 That same day Adonai said to Moshe, 49 “Go up into the ‘Avarim Range, to Mount N’vo, in the land of Mo’av across from Yericho; and look out over the land of Kena‘an, which I am giving the people of Isra’el as a possession. 50 On the mountain you are ascending you will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
34:1 (vii) Moshe ascended from the plains of Mo’av to Mount N’vo, to the summit of Pisgah, across from Yericho. There Adonai showed him all the land — Gil‘ad as far as Dan, 2 all Naftali, the land of Efrayim and M’nasheh, the land of Y’hudah all the way to the sea beyond, 3 the Negev, and the ‘Aravah, including the valley where Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, as far away as Tzo‘ar. 4 Adonai said to him, “This is the land concerning which I swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.”
5 So Moshe, the servant of Adonai, died there in the land of Mo’av, as Adonai had said. 6 He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P‘or in the land of Mo’av, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moshe was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished. 8 The people of Isra’el mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo’av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.
9 Y’hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Isra’el heeded him and did what Adonai had ordered Moshe.
10 Since that time there has not arisen in Isra’el a prophet like Moshe, whom Adonai knew face to face. 11 What signs and wonders Adonai sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land! 12 What might was in his hand! What great terror he evoked before the eyes of all Isra’el!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
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At least from the time of the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3), and probably even earlier, Moses had a God-given vision: living in the Promised Land. Before his earthly life ended, God gave him a mountaintop view of the place he’d hoped and dreamed of. It seems likely that as Moses died he held in his mind that vision of the Promised Land’s beauty. Israel mourned, and remembered their great leader. But Moses’ story wasn’t over. He reappeared centuries later in the Bible’s story. If anything, now he had a greater honor—he was encouraging Jesus, the LORD he’d served all his life, as Jesus prepared to face the cross on which he would save the whole world (cf. Matthew 17:3).
• Moses was not alone in dying before his grand, God-given vision was fully realized. When Abraham died, the “great nation” God promised he would become was just one person—
his son Isaac. King David dreamed of building God a beautiful Temple, but his son, King
Solomon, got to build it. After listing many heroes of faith, the letter to the Hebrews said, “All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith” (Hebrews 11:39). The true Promised Land, toward which all God’s people
journey, is not in this dark, broken world—it is God’s eternal realm of light and unending
life, seen in vision in Revelation 21-22. What are your biggest God-given dreams? How can you pursue them fearlessly, knowing that beyond the limits of this world they will all come fully true in God’s eternal kingdom?
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for Moses (and your faithful servants who wrote and transmitted his story). Let me live my life energetically for you, with my ultimate hopes fixed on that wonderful day when both Moses and I can praise you in your eternal kingdom. Amen.
Family Activity: One way we experience a relationship with God is through Scripture. Create a box filled with Bible verses. Using colored paper, markers, ribbon, magazine cut-outs, family photos and other fun materials, decorate a shoebox or photo box to represent your family and your faith journey. Write some favorite Bible verses on colorful strips of paper and place them in the box. (Psalms is a great place to find many verses of praise and thanksgiving, as well as promises from God.) Once a day, maybe at mealtime, pull a strip from the box and share the
passage aloud. Ask older children and youth to join you in adding Bible texts to the box. Thank God for the gift of being in relationship with God and God’s Word.
-------
Insights from Liz Gyori
Liz Gyori serves as the Group Life Training Program Director at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
“That’s not fair!”
Have you ever heard that sentence uttered (or yelled) in your house? As the mother of three, I’ve heard it many times over the years, and I won’t repeat my responses here. But after reading these passages, I want to stomp my foot a little bit and exclaim “That’s not fair!” myself.
It doesn’t seem fair that Moses wasn’t able to spend any part of his earthly life in the Promised Land, after faithfully leading God’s people for decades. But I think I’m “projecting” here, assuming that Moses felt disappointed or slighted. There is nothing in this scripture to indicate any disappointment on Moses’ part. He obeys God and hikes up to the mountaintop, where he gets to enjoy the spectacular view and some good one-on-one time with God. Perhaps he smiles as he pictures the lives his descendants will enjoy down in those plains and valleys. He doesn’t say, “Gee, if I had known I wouldn’t get there, I would have never done this.” No, he dies, peacefully it seems, leaving the rest of the story up to the younger generations.
Regarding these passages in Deuteronomy, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the noted scholar and former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth, wrote:
Are you undertaking a journey, or are you standing still? What are the issues that are breaking your heart, and what are you doing about them? They will not solve themselves. Your actions now could help blaze a trail to the Promised Land for someone else. You may not single-handedly solve the world’s migration crisis or the racial tensions in this country, but you can begin something great that others will continue. Do not stand still.
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Shane Presley and family on the death of his grandmother Betty Curtis, 9/20
• Beth Hartwell and family on the death of her sister Jenny Wallace, 9/17
• Jeff and Jan Marrs and family on the death of their daughter Lane Marrs, 9/16
• Nancy Spoolstra and family on the death of her sister Carol Walker, 9/15
• Randall Rock and family on the death of his mother Emma Rock, 9/15
• Keith Erich and family on the death of his uncle Eldon Erich, 9/11
• Jeff Locklear and family on the death of his mother Mary Ann Locklear, 9/10
• Richard Messerschmidt and family on the death of his father Eldon Messerschmidt, 9/9
• Mike Patton and family on the death of his mother Betty June Patton, 9/8
• Debbie Noblitt and family on the death of her mother Eileen Smith, 9/7
-------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
-------
34:1 (vii) Moshe ascended from the plains of Mo’av to Mount N’vo, to the summit of Pisgah, across from Yericho. There Adonai showed him all the land — Gil‘ad as far as Dan, 2 all Naftali, the land of Efrayim and M’nasheh, the land of Y’hudah all the way to the sea beyond, 3 the Negev, and the ‘Aravah, including the valley where Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, as far away as Tzo‘ar. 4 Adonai said to him, “This is the land concerning which I swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.”
5 So Moshe, the servant of Adonai, died there in the land of Mo’av, as Adonai had said. 6 He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P‘or in the land of Mo’av, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moshe was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished. 8 The people of Isra’el mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo’av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.
9 Y’hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Isra’el heeded him and did what Adonai had ordered Moshe.
10 Since that time there has not arisen in Isra’el a prophet like Moshe, whom Adonai knew face to face. 11 What signs and wonders Adonai sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land! 12 What might was in his hand! What great terror he evoked before the eyes of all Isra’el!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
-------
At least from the time of the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3), and probably even earlier, Moses had a God-given vision: living in the Promised Land. Before his earthly life ended, God gave him a mountaintop view of the place he’d hoped and dreamed of. It seems likely that as Moses died he held in his mind that vision of the Promised Land’s beauty. Israel mourned, and remembered their great leader. But Moses’ story wasn’t over. He reappeared centuries later in the Bible’s story. If anything, now he had a greater honor—he was encouraging Jesus, the LORD he’d served all his life, as Jesus prepared to face the cross on which he would save the whole world (cf. Matthew 17:3).
• Moses was not alone in dying before his grand, God-given vision was fully realized. When Abraham died, the “great nation” God promised he would become was just one person—
his son Isaac. King David dreamed of building God a beautiful Temple, but his son, King
Solomon, got to build it. After listing many heroes of faith, the letter to the Hebrews said, “All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith” (Hebrews 11:39). The true Promised Land, toward which all God’s people
journey, is not in this dark, broken world—it is God’s eternal realm of light and unending
life, seen in vision in Revelation 21-22. What are your biggest God-given dreams? How can you pursue them fearlessly, knowing that beyond the limits of this world they will all come fully true in God’s eternal kingdom?
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for Moses (and your faithful servants who wrote and transmitted his story). Let me live my life energetically for you, with my ultimate hopes fixed on that wonderful day when both Moses and I can praise you in your eternal kingdom. Amen.
Family Activity: One way we experience a relationship with God is through Scripture. Create a box filled with Bible verses. Using colored paper, markers, ribbon, magazine cut-outs, family photos and other fun materials, decorate a shoebox or photo box to represent your family and your faith journey. Write some favorite Bible verses on colorful strips of paper and place them in the box. (Psalms is a great place to find many verses of praise and thanksgiving, as well as promises from God.) Once a day, maybe at mealtime, pull a strip from the box and share the
passage aloud. Ask older children and youth to join you in adding Bible texts to the box. Thank God for the gift of being in relationship with God and God’s Word.
-------
Insights from Liz Gyori
Liz Gyori serves as the Group Life Training Program Director at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.“That’s not fair!”
Have you ever heard that sentence uttered (or yelled) in your house? As the mother of three, I’ve heard it many times over the years, and I won’t repeat my responses here. But after reading these passages, I want to stomp my foot a little bit and exclaim “That’s not fair!” myself.
It doesn’t seem fair that Moses wasn’t able to spend any part of his earthly life in the Promised Land, after faithfully leading God’s people for decades. But I think I’m “projecting” here, assuming that Moses felt disappointed or slighted. There is nothing in this scripture to indicate any disappointment on Moses’ part. He obeys God and hikes up to the mountaintop, where he gets to enjoy the spectacular view and some good one-on-one time with God. Perhaps he smiles as he pictures the lives his descendants will enjoy down in those plains and valleys. He doesn’t say, “Gee, if I had known I wouldn’t get there, I would have never done this.” No, he dies, peacefully it seems, leaving the rest of the story up to the younger generations.
Regarding these passages in Deuteronomy, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the noted scholar and former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth, wrote:
For each of us, even for the greatest, there is a Jordan we will not cross, a promised land we will not enter, a destination we will not reach…. What we began, others will continue. What matters is that we undertook the journey. We did not stand still.
“What matters is that we undertook the journey.” As Christians, we are meant to do the hard things, the right things, even when we may not benefit from the fruits of our labor in our lifetimes. Even when problems seem insurmountable, when there is no clear path laid out, when people don’t act as they should, when the dust storms of life pin us down and leave us exhausted – even then, we are called to get up and head for somewhere better.Are you undertaking a journey, or are you standing still? What are the issues that are breaking your heart, and what are you doing about them? They will not solve themselves. Your actions now could help blaze a trail to the Promised Land for someone else. You may not single-handedly solve the world’s migration crisis or the racial tensions in this country, but you can begin something great that others will continue. Do not stand still.
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Shane Presley and family on the death of his grandmother Betty Curtis, 9/20
• Beth Hartwell and family on the death of her sister Jenny Wallace, 9/17
• Jeff and Jan Marrs and family on the death of their daughter Lane Marrs, 9/16
• Nancy Spoolstra and family on the death of her sister Carol Walker, 9/15
• Randall Rock and family on the death of his mother Emma Rock, 9/15
• Keith Erich and family on the death of his uncle Eldon Erich, 9/11
• Jeff Locklear and family on the death of his mother Mary Ann Locklear, 9/10
• Richard Messerschmidt and family on the death of his father Eldon Messerschmidt, 9/9
• Mike Patton and family on the death of his mother Betty June Patton, 9/8
• Debbie Noblitt and family on the death of her mother Eileen Smith, 9/7
-------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
-------
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