Deuteronomy 34:1-12: a reflection

1Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. The LORD showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan, 2and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Western Sea, 3and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. 4The LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD’s word. 6He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. 7Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his strength gone. 8The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended. 9Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. The children of Israel listened to him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. 10Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11in all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

At the end of his life, Moses climbs Mount Nebo, and God shows him the whole Promised Land, spread out before him, the land he had spent forty years leading the people toward. And then God says: this is the land I promised; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. Moses, who gave his whole life to the journey, dies within sight of its goal, without setting foot in it. And God himself buries him, in a valley, and no one knows the place to this day.

Notice the poignancy and the tenderness together. Moses did not get to enter the land, to see the fulfillment of the very thing he had labored and suffered for; he saw it from a distance and died. It is the lot of many faithful servants: to work toward something they will not live to see completed, to pour out a life for a fulfillment that comes after them. Yet Moses' labor was not wasted; the people did enter, under Joshua, and the work went on. And notice how God cared for his servant at the end: he buried Moses himself, tenderly, personally.

There is comfort here for anyone who fears their life's work will not be finished in their lifetime, who labors for something whose fulfillment they may never see. Moses did not enter the land, and yet his faithfulness was honored and his work bore fruit after him. You may not see the completion of what you give your life to; few do. But faithful labor is not wasted, even when the fulfillment comes to others, and the God you serve tends you to the end, as he buried Moses himself. Serve faithfully, and leave the harvest, and your own end, in his hands.

Lord, Moses saw the Promised Land but did not enter it, giving his whole life to a fulfillment he would not live to see, and you buried him yourself. When I fear my life's work will not be finished in my lifetime, remind me that faithful labor is not wasted even when the harvest comes to others, and that you tend your servants to the end. Help me serve faithfully and leave the fulfillment in your hands.