A Close Friend Just Died
Wow. I feel today
like a really close friend just died. Day
51 of this year was when we began walking with Moses as He was born and placed
in the Nile. Here we are on Day
185. We’ve spent 134 days with
Moses. That’s what … 4 months? Like I said, I feel like a close friend has
died.
What’s really cool about this is that I’ve never felt this
way about anyone in the Bible except Jesus – and most of the feelings with
Jesus are based on the fact that he dies for me and I totally don’t deserve
it. Sure, Jesus is my friend and I learn
so much from His stories as one would expect.
But here with Moses’ death, I feel like a close “totally-human-friend”
who I greatly respect has been taken out of my life. I need to acknowledge that. I’ve been mourning slightly for the last few
days knowing that this chapter was coming up.
Moses was a great leader.
He walked with God.
Walked With God
Wait a second. Let’s
stop there. He walked with God. He talked to God. He was face-to-face (or as face-to-face as
anyone could get) with God. His epitaph
reads that there is no greater prophet than Moses. Moses was just that close to God. I am in awe of Moses’ relationship with
God. I’m not jealous of that
relationship, I am in awe of it. I don’t
even think that I can understand his relationship with God – that’s how deeply
he walked with God.
Oh yeah. Moses also walked
with the people. When they rebelled, he
loved them.
Moses Loved the People
Wait, let’s stop there, too.
Moses had every opportunity to loathe the people. Moses had every opportunity to take God up on
His offer to destroy the people and start over with Moses. But Moses loved them. Again, I am in awe of the love that Moses
exuded because he walked so closely and so deeply with God. It’s just amazing, really.
The Biggest Smallest Funeral To Ever Occur
I think one of the coolest things I can say about God’s
relationship with Moses is this. When
Moses died, there was only 1 attendee to the funeral: God. God was the last one to be with Moses. Here’s a biggie: God buried Moses. How cool is that?!? God – the Creator – buried Moses. That shows how close Moses was to God. Again, I am in awe of Moses’ relationship
with God.
I used to think of myself as a disciple of Paul’s style of
ministry. Granted, I am a disciple of
Jesus where it counts, of course! As
Paul says, it is neither Paul nor Apollos that matters, but God who
matters! So I don’t mean that comment in
a ‘salvation’ kind of way. But I always
think that as far as fully-human beings go, Paul was the guy in the Bible with
whom I identified the most. But over
these 134 days I have developed a kindred feeling for Moses as well. I could stand to emulate Moses much more than
I do; and I believe that in emulating Moses I will even more importantly be
learning how to emulate Jesus Christ.
Rest in God, Moses. May we visit
one day in the presence of God and celebrate the kinship we share in Christ.
God Worship
Lest you think this post is a ‘Moses-worship’ post, let me
clear that up, too. How great is God who
can do what He did in Moses? We know
from Paul’s writings that only through the Holy Spirit can we praise God. Without the Holy Spirit I can do nothing – I
cannot even lift up my praise for God.
Moses’ life is a testimony for the power of the Holy Spirit who was
working through Him. Everything I said
above about Moses was really a testimony to what it looks like when a person
allows themselves to be fully indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
A person walks that closely with the Lord only when the Holy
Spirit is that alive within them. All
glory, power, and honor be to God. As
great of a spiritual leader as Moses was, it was only ever possible through God
in the first place.
Joshua
That provides us with a great transition to Joshua. Notice what is important about Joshua and his
ability to lead? Joshua was full of the
spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid hands upon him. Joshua was full of the Spirit! Not quite like Moses, of course! Notice that it is not Joshua’s intelligence,
wit, charisma, or anything else that is lifted up. What is significant is that the Spirit was
within him.
For anyone out there who longs to be like Moses, that piece
of information should bring us comfort.
We matter not. What matters is
that God is within us. With God within
us, God can bring us to walk with Him as God did with Moses and even Joshua.
Tomorrow we begin our last book in the Hebrew Scriptures for
a while. We will begin Joshua
tomorrow. Today, let’s focus on what it
is like to be filled with God’s Spirit as Moses was filled.
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