The Torah section of Vezot Haberachah recounts the blessings that Moses gave to each of the twelve tribes of Israel before his death. Echoing Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons, Moses assigns and empowers each tribe with its individual role within the community of Israel.
The Parsha then relates how Moses ascended Mount Nebo from whose summit he saw the Promised Land. “And Moses the servant of God died there in the Land of Moab by the mouth of God… and no man knows his burial place to this day.”
Let’s read from our parsha:
Deu 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,
Deu 34:2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,
Deu 34:3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
Deu 34:4 And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”
Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD,
The following is based on FFOZ Torah Club Volume 5:
From atop mount Nebo at the heights of Pisgah, Moses was granted a glimpse of the Promised Land for which he had longed all of his life. Keen and eagle eyed, he looked out across the whole of Canaan and the LORD Himself showed him the lay of the land. It is said that on an exceedingly clear day, one can stand on mount Nebo and catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea in the west, Mount Hermon in the north, and the Dead Sea in the south, even as Moses did so long ago.
It is the end of Moses’ journey and at the end he obtains only a glimpse of that which he has traveled so far to find. The Hebrew of 34:2 literally says that God showed him the land as far as ‘the last sea’. Keep that in mind.
For us as well, we have come to the end of a journey of sorts. We stand at the very edge of the scroll, peering at a vision seeming very lofty and unattainable. After completing our studies we might be tempted to suppose that we have attained the Torah. That is not so. At the end of the cycle we are forced to admit that we have only glimpsed it, as it were, from the top of Nebo. Far in the distance, we have seen a glimmer of light reflecting on a white foam wave as it washes on the shore of the last sea. But, we have not yet walked those shores or felt the sand between our toes. The scroll lies before us, but we see only glimpses of it, brief flashes of color and inspiration that blaze for a moment and then fade in the distance. We have not yet walked the length and breadth of God’s revelation. We have not yet tasted the abundance of its harvest, nor have we sat in its shade. We have only surveyed it from afar, from atop Mount Nebo.
This can be compared to a king who hired two workers to fill up a pit. The first looked into it and said, “I will never be able to fill it up!” And so he departed. The other said, “It does not matter whether or not I finish the job. The king pays me for my labor. Let me rejoice that I found employment!” Thus the LORD says, “The Torah is infinitely wide and deep, but that is not your concern. You are a day laborer hired by Me. Accomplish your daily task!”
One day the trumpet will sound. Moses will arise and enter the land. The king will wear his crown and we will all wade in the waves of the Last Sea.
End of FFOZ commentary.
If I may, I’d like to speculate for a moment. The Torah reading states that God showed Moses everything – as far as the last sea. It is written in the Gospel of Matthew:
Mat 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Mat 17:2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Mat 17:3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
Is it possible that before his death, God took the spirit of Moses forward in time to see the One who was to come, the Messiah, the one who is the salvation of Israel? Of course its possible, God is not bound by time. If this is the case, then the decree of death against Moses is easier. Moses could have died satisfied having seen with his own eyes the salvation of Israel. It’s just a thought.
Now, before we even have time to properly grieve the death of Moses, we rewind the scroll and read the narrative of a new beginning, a new creation, a new Heaven and a new Earth, a new man into whom God breathes the soul of life. The kiss of death and the breath of life are from the same mouth. A pattern is established. The ending gives way to the beginning. Death gives way to life. With God, an end is not the end, it is a new beginning. So:
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
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Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
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Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Let’s experience the new beginning together as we again read through the Torah cycle. It’s God waiting to reveal Himself to us.
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