Death of Moses

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. Jocobed and Miriam hurried to the shore, their feet slipping on the wet reeds. The baby was nestled in the basket, his tiny face serene despite the danger that surrounded him. Jokobed's hands trembled as she placed the basket into the water, her heart breaking with each breath. 00:00:25 Speaker 2: My sweet boy, my child, Hey, pray that our God will protect you. 00:00:31 Speaker 3: I fear I can't anymore. 00:00:33 Speaker 2: I have to believe there's something greater for you, my son. 00:00:37 Speaker 4: I have to believe. 00:00:39 Speaker 3: All the newborn sons in Goshen have been thrown into the Nile, yet this boy remained. He is a gift, a symbol of victory. 00:00:50 Speaker 4: What will you name? 00:00:51 Speaker 5: His name shall be Moses. Because I drew him out of the water. I will strike dull, bless us. My chosen will know my hand and my heart. No rise, Moses, for it is you that I have chosen to send. 00:01:15 Speaker 3: Who am I to do this task? 00:01:18 Speaker 4: I'm a rogue Egyptian and a former prince. 00:01:22 Speaker 6: They won't follow me there, Ah, I'm look good for this. 00:01:27 Speaker 4: You're the wrong man, Rameses. 00:01:31 Speaker 3: This is not a request. 00:01:33 Speaker 4: Let my people go. 00:01:37 Speaker 6: Look at them, Look at the Egyptians hungry for your flesh. After this day you will never see them again. Stand firm, reject the fear gripping your hearts. Stand firm and behold the salvation of the Lord. 00:01:56 Speaker 7: He will fight for you. 00:02:01 Speaker 1: Moses opened his eyes, planted his foot firmly on the rock below, and raised his staff. The breath of God blew from behind his chosen people. The wind cut through the sea like a razor, dividing the waters into two great walls, with dry land between them. 00:02:23 Speaker 6: Run stepid of freedom. 00:02:28 Speaker 1: Moses found that unbidden, As if drawn by some force, his gaze kept returning to the mountaintop that loomed before their camp. It was the mount that stood between their camp and the land of Canaan Mount Nebo, Is it. 00:02:47 Speaker 7: Time enough? 00:02:52 Speaker 1: The warm breeze of the morning again tickled Moses's face. He closed his eyes, leaned into it, touch again, and waited for the Lord's response. 00:03:04 Speaker 5: Yes, Yes, the time is drawing near Moses. 00:03:14 Speaker 2: The promised land is so close that Moses could almost touch it. But this is where his journey ends. Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel, i'm l Extein with the international Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. Moses, the man who spoke to God like one speaks to a friend. The man who led an entire nation out of Egypt, through the wilderness, through rebellion, and through doubt and anger, is about to meet his end. We find him here on the cusp of the Promised Land. Moses can see it, but he won't enter. The end of his journey is not the same as the Chosen People's. The end of the story of Moses as a reminder that life isn't always about getting somewhere ourselves. Sometimes life is about helping others to get there. 00:04:10 Speaker 1: Moses final song and blessings to the twelve Tribes of Israel were still ringing in Joshua's ears as he watched the lone figure walk shore and steady toward the mountain. Joshua sat perched on a boulder just outside of the camp, where the looming peak of Nebo invaded the entire expanse before him. His hands itch to grab his dagger and find something to carve, anything to keep his hands busy, and his mind distracted from the foreboding grief straining to be released from the depths of his soul, but he forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on what would be the last glimpse of his beloved friend and mental Joshua strained his eyes until they hurt to keep the diminishing speck on the horizon in view, but finally he had to admit defeat. Moses was gone. Long after Moses disappeared, Joshua stayed. The sun dipped below the horizon, hurling the world into darkness. Long shadows stretched and reached for Joshua on his perch, and the absence of the sun's rays brought a sharp late spring chill that sat the strength from his bones. The grief that had been pressing against his resolve all day again threatened to break free from the careful restraints he had set up to keep his composure around the others. He should go back to the warmth of the fires and the comforting presence of his friends, but he could not bring himself to move. Instead, he embraced the sadness, the loneliness. He didn't want to hold back his hom motions any longer, and it was only out there in solitude that he could truly feel the depths of his pain. Tears held at bay fell freely now, and Joshua buried his head in his hands. Moses last public words to him reverberated in Joshua's mind over the sound of his gasping breath and sobs. 00:06:25 Speaker 6: Be strong and courageous, for you will go these people into the land the Lord swore to give to their ancestors. 00:06:33 Speaker 5: You will enable them to tea or this. The Lord is the one whom God he will be willing. 00:06:42 Speaker 7: He will not mean or about you. 00:06:45 Speaker 5: Do not be really discouraged. 00:06:48 Speaker 1: They were the words Moses knew Joshua needed to hear. He had found his identity in following Moses for many, many years. He must have known that without him, Joshua would feel lost, and so Moses reminded him that it was the Lord had always been the Lord who was going before them. Moses hadn't listed all of Joshua's accomplishments or all he had learned that would qualify him for this mantle, only that he was to follow the Lord, and that Joshua could do. Joshua had spent his life being faithful to moses mission and had no intention of setting it aside. He would not be afraid. He would not allow himself to be discouraged. Moses had spent his final hours with his sons, their wives, and their children. Joshua imagined that Moses took solace in seeing Israel's bright future reflected in his grandchildren's faces. Joshua desired the vision that Moses had painted for the men and women of Israel, for all of their children to be a holy nation, prospering, multiplying, and thriving in the land their God had given them. Moses met with his council one final time before he departed for the mountain. He ensured that the law and all that he had spoken to day to the crowd was recorded, and then. 00:08:20 Speaker 3: That was it. 00:08:21 Speaker 1: He said farewell to each of them in turn, Joshua last of all, and then he left. Moses embraced him like a son, and there was an understanding and profound love between them. There would always be more to say, more to do, but moses mission was now complete. All that was left for him to do was to go to the mountain, as the Lord instructed him, and there he would behold the land that was to become Israel's forever possession. Moses seemed at peace, almost excited to at last see the land they had all been dreaming about for the last forty years. The crunch of approaching footsteps shook Joshua out of his memory. Before lifting his head, he had a feeling he knew who it was. 00:09:15 Speaker 7: You are. You are with brother. 00:09:19 Speaker 1: Joshua nodded curtly to buy himself another moment to compose himself, and did not meet his eyes. Caleb, loyal as ever, nodded in understanding, and Joshua felt him come to stand comfortingly by his side. After clearing his throat and wiping away the tears, Joshua finally looked at Caleb. In his arms were kindling for a fire and a wool blanket. The sun had fully set by now, and the stars smiled down on them. It was almost as if they too were moved by this thoughtful gesture. Joshua rasped out his thanks, a little embarrassed by how weak his voice had been made from the tears. 00:10:04 Speaker 3: Thank you, Caleb. 00:10:05 Speaker 1: Caleb gave him a warm smile, weaker than his usual winsome grin, But they had never experienced a day quite like this before. Joshua was not sure of what to say, or even what to talk about. He felt wrung out and exhausted. The weariness of grief so strangely familiar to the depletion one felt after a battle. But instead of the ravenous hunger that accompanied physical exertion, he felt empty. He felt hollow. But Caleb mercifully did not ask Joshua anything. He placed the blanket next to Joshua on the rock, a passive gesture. He was allowing Joshua the space to decide whether he wanted to accept this kindness or engage at all. He then set to wordlessly building a fire before them. The sparks quickly sprang to life under Caleb's deft and careful hands. Caleb took a step back when it was roaring, and again stood at Joshua's side. The fire's light drew both men's gaze, and they stared into its warmth for a while. Caleb sat heavily sighing. After a few more moments of comfortable silence between two dear friends, Joshua spoke at last. He answered Caleb's unspoken question to the fire before them, without looking up at him. 00:11:32 Speaker 3: I suppose I thought I would feel different. I felt our guard in a way that I've never experienced before. When Moses laid his hand on me before the people. Even now I feel an acute awareness of his presence within me. It is comforting. 00:11:47 Speaker 1: But Caleb waited patiently for Joshua to continue. 00:11:51 Speaker 3: But all the wisdom from Heaven hasn't made this any easier, even knowing the day would calm I. I've never known a grief like this. 00:11:59 Speaker 1: Caleb nodded in quiet solidarity, though he didn't understand the full breadth of what Joshua meant. No one truly ever would. That was perhaps the most isolating realization of all. There was no one to share this mantle with. The Lord had tasked Joshua with this next mission, and Joshua alone, stepping into the colossal legacy Moses had left in his wake was overwhelming. 00:12:30 Speaker 7: None of thus have non grief quite like this. To us, Moses was more myth than ma'am. He was a relief to our bondage, an answer to our prayers. We are all that's left from that time. We better than anyone else, understand a signific of what Moses did for us, and so God has tasked another to continue what Moses started. God has tasked you with this mission to carry us into the next stage of this journey. 00:13:19 Speaker 1: Joshua nodded his head at Caleb's words and drew his legs into his chest. He felt the tears he thought were spent well up again. He kept his silver lined eyes fixed on the dancing flames before them. 00:13:35 Speaker 7: But that is tomorrow's task. Today, today we grieve. We grieve for the man, not the myth. For the Lord's mission will continue without Moses. Nothing can stop the will of God, but we would We would be remiss if we didn't take the time to grieve his absence from our lives. I know you, you knew him better than most. You sighe unguarded moments. The man beyond the speeches and the miracles. You will be remembered for all of that. And then, sir, but tell me, tell me of the man that you lie. 00:14:39 Speaker 1: Joshua's throat tightened again with grief. He was grateful for Caleb's patient tactics of steering him back to acknowledging how truly deep this paternal loss was for Joshua. Another silence stretched between Joshua and Caleb. The fire crackled in the quiet, and Caleb stood to play another log on it to keep feeding its hungry blaze. Caleb broke the silence as he sat back down beside Joshua. 00:15:10 Speaker 7: Do you know what I keep thinking about whether or not I could accept not being allowed to enter Canaan? And I don't. Moses said he had, and I believe him the more more for myself. Could I accept it? We watched an entire generation parish before we even reached the shores of the borderlands of Canaan. Our faith was our salvation, But would our confidence be as strong if we didn't have that reassurance from God? How would I feel about the journey if I didn't have the promise of the reward at the end. 00:15:55 Speaker 3: This is surprisingly introspective of you, Caleb. 00:16:00 Speaker 7: Ha ha ha. Do I not have the capacity for doubt? The same as any man? I know? I know it was my faith that saved me, but I still wonder at the possibilities of what could have been if I'd allowed the fear of the others to rattle me. Ah ah, how different my life would have been from my wife, from my daughter. 00:16:31 Speaker 1: Hum Joshua watched as Caleb shouted at the thought. Caleb and his wife finally conceived a child after many, many years of barrenness, born into this new wilderness generation. His daughter, Axar was the light of his life. She was her father's daughter in many ways, irresistibly, likable, and clever. Joshua considered how to respond to his friend's heavy questions. 00:17:00 Speaker 3: Well, I suppose if we knew that there was a reward for keeping our faith, it wouldn't have required faith who were true? And I suppose that acceptance is found in what you told me earlier. Moses told us in his speech to day that God only gave him one command, go before Pharaoh and lead his people out of Egypt. You and I may struggle with it, but appears that Moses accepted that he was ultimately faithful to what God called him to do. That's all any of us can do, be faithful to what's in front of us, all without the guarantee of what is to come next. 00:17:38 Speaker 1: Caleb smiled that Joshua's wisdom. He then recited a different portion of Moses' speech, the very part Joshua had been reflecting on before Caleb arrived and built the fire. 00:17:50 Speaker 7: The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or abandon you. 00:18:04 Speaker 1: A smile pulled at Joshua's lips, and he finished moses words, so. 00:18:09 Speaker 3: Do not be afraid or discouraged. 00:18:12 Speaker 1: Joshua and Caleb kept their somber vigil late into the night, sometimes talking, sometimes not, until the hesitant pre dawned sunlight began to gently outline the mighty mountains before them. They both watched as the pink orange hue steadily expanded into the sky, as if the mountain itself was the foothold of its ascent into the heavens. Moses had paused to catch his breath on his long trip to the top of Mount Nebo. He was winded, but to his amazement, no more winded than he was when he climbed Mount Sinai, or even Mount haw where he buried his brother Arreth. God had kept his mind, eyes, and bo sharp all these years, despite his advanced age. But Moses was tired. He was ready, He was at peace, but he had enough vigor to reach this mountain summit, to behold Israel's future. Moses leaned into his staff and resumed his climb just as the top of his head crested the last peak, and the ground before him leveled out. The sun's light exploded into the eager morning sky. The timid rays had been steadily saturating his surroundings for the last few minutes, but now the sun had risen in earnest. Moses staff clunked as it hit the rocky clearing of the mountain summit, a natural viewing platform for the land below. As Moses saw the land below, his mouth fell open and his hard soared at the panorama view. In all their people's stories, the bards attempted to describe the beauty of Eden. Moses knew that humanity would pine and long for the beauty and purity of Eden from now until eternity. But Moses imagined that it may have looked something like this. A glimmering blue expanse on the horizon dominated the furthest reaches of the landscape, the great sea. It seemed boundless. It stretched the length of the land before him, on and on and on. It seemed to go on forever to Moses. Left to the south, a rolling hill country gave way to the vast arid desert, the Negev, the desert that contained all the Israelites, wandering, suffering, refining, and rebuilding their furnace and grinding stone, a place of many failures, but also where hope was forged through countless trials. To Moses. Right to the north, a mountainous region was nestled between the Great Sea and a smaller body of water that fed the Jordan River, the Sea of Kinnareth. On the eastern banks of the Jordan stretched the highlands, the rugged terrain eventually giving way to distant mountains on the northern horizon. In the center of the land, what would be the heart of Israel, or gently rolling hills the created natural steps in the earth. Moses kept turning over his right shoulder to the east and what now lay behind him, and saw fertile land the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manassa claimed as their inheritance above the Moabite plains. He could understand why they greedily wanted to claim it for themselves. The land was good, but they didn't grasp that waiting to enter the promised land would be worth it, for what awaited them was great. The rushing Jordan River out in front of moses vantage point, fed streams and watered the land in the valley, making it a vibrant, lush green that sustained the cities and towns below. Teeming with the promise of abundance. A great walled city adorned with palm trees stood regally in the heart of the valley, just a short distance from the mighty River, the famed city of Jericho. The river divided the land from the plains of Moab, seeming to guard the promised land as its branches flowed north to the mountains and south to feed the salt sea. Moses staggered back to see the land of promise was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. He stretched out his arms in one un staff clattering to the ground, and spun slowly in a circle to marvel at all of it once more. In this moment of ecstasy at what awaited his people, the familiar and beloved voice of the Lord came to him. 00:23:19 Speaker 5: This is the land I promised Abraham, I seek and Jacob, and I will fulfill that promise by giving it to your people, the descendants of my servant Abraham. 00:23:33 Speaker 1: Moses dropped to his knees and bowed low before the Lord. Breathless, he struggled to express his gratitude of being granted access to this invigorating vision. 00:23:45 Speaker 3: I have had a loss for words. 00:23:50 Speaker 5: Thank you. 00:23:51 Speaker 1: Regretted this repris, Moses felt the Lord's compassionate and merciful acknowledgment. He then spoke again to this servant. 00:24:02 Speaker 5: I have now let you see it with your own eyes, and you know you will not cross into it. I have also appointed Joshua, son of Nune, to leave my people in your stead. I have placed some of your authority on him so that my people will obey him. I have even filled him with my spirit of wisdom. I have delivered my Lord to my people, and my priests are teaching them my ways. My task for you is now complete. Come now rest with your father's and come be with me, for it is where you belong. 00:24:46 Speaker 1: The truth of the Lord's words echoed in Moses's heart like joints fitting together, or yarn spun into a fine tapestry. This was always meant to be. Mos was so overwhelmed by the completeness, the rightness, the wholeness he was experiencing in the presence of his God that he found there was nothing left to say on this side of heaven. He released his grip on life and fell into the loving embrace of the God who had called him by name a lifetime ago. The words of his song, the song he sang before all of Israel on his last day, ran out over the mountain and were carried by the wind as it swept through the promised land. 00:25:38 Speaker 4: Pride will blame the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God. He's the word, his word, his perfect were. All his ways are justice. A god of truth and without injustice, righteous. 00:25:56 Speaker 3: And unrightn is he. 00:26:04 Speaker 2: Moses, the man of God who led an entire nation from slavery to freedom, finds himself looking at a land that he will never enter. After all the battles and all the miracles, after such intimacy with God, this is how it ends for Moses, and yet there's something strangely peaceful about it. It's not the end that we expect, but maybe it's the end that Moses needed. There's a tension here between disappointment and fulfillment, between judgment and mercy. It's not just the loss, it's a lesson in surrender. We all have plans, dreams, promises that we think that we're owed. What if not getting what we long for is its own kind of gift. Today's episode marks the conclusion of the Torah, the five books of Moses, and after all the battles and all the miracles, such intimacy with God. This is how it ends for Moses. Here we find him a mountain Nepo, gazing at the land promised to our ancestors. And then Moses is gone, but not before we are given this beautiful, almost haunting description of his final day. This is what it says. Quote Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. Yet his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. End Quote. Moses, after all the trials, after forty years in the desert, with the stubborn and weary people, dies full of vitality. His vision is clear, his body is strong. Who wouldn't want to end their days like that? So what was his secret? 00:27:50 Speaker 7: Eating? 00:27:50 Speaker 2: Right, plenty of exercise? No, just two verses earlier were told. The Bible calls Moses the servant of the Lord. And there it is. That's the answer to the question. Moses was a servant. The word for servant in Hebrew is evid. Moses's life was one of service pouring himself out for God and for the chosen people, from facing down Pharaoh to leading a nation of wanders through the wilderness. You might expect that by the end of his days Moses would be drained, then he would be empty. But no, he was an evid a servant until the last day, and it's because of that that he stayed renewed each day. Here lies the mystery. Here lies the paradox of service to God. You give and in return you are filled. You pour out, and somehow you are never empty. As Isaiah reminds Us, he says, quote, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. End quote. This is exactly the life that Moses lived. Now, I want to go back to that verse and doudrod me thirty four, verse five, where the Bible tells us and Moses, the servant of God, died. Now, Moses had written down the entire Torah, right, it was dictated to him by God himself. But we have to ask who wrote that verse and the verses after it, the verses that end the Torah Well. Jewish tradition offers two opinions. The first is that Joshua, Moses's appointed successor, took over and wrote the last few verses. But there's another opinion, one that I find very beautiful and that I'd like to share with you. This second opinion suggests that it was actually Moses himself who wrote those verses, and he wrote them not with ink, but with his tears. Now, Moses had so many reasons to shed tears. He was leaving this life, as we all must do someday, and Moses was leaving the Chosen People, the people that he loved so much, the people who had guided with every ounce of his strength. But perhaps some of these tears weren't of sadness, but of joy, because of what Moses had given to the Chosen People and to the whole world. He gave the world the Word of God, the Law of God, and Godliness itself. He taught us what it means to be holy. As we embrace the Five Books of Moses and the life of Moses, I pray that we too will embrace the call to serve God with all of our strength, trusting that He will renew us and As we end the five Books of Moses the Torah, we come to the end of the cycle of Bible reading the Jewish people have been practicing for thousands of years. At the end of the high holy days, we end our yearly Torah reading and immediately begin it again. This all happens on Simchrat Torah, a holiday whose name literally translates to the joy of the Torah. On this joyful day, our synagogue service is much longer than usual, even for a festival. Much of the time in synagogue on Simhrat Torah I spent singing and dancing with the tourus scrolls. There's an atmosphere of celebration and festivity. Children are even more present than usual, and candies symbolizing the sweetness of the Torah are distributed freely, to the disappointment of many of the moms, but the joy of many of the kids and the cause for all of this celebration, it's that we completed reading the Torah cycle, that we finished it, and that we get to start again. But we don't wait for the next week to start again like we usually do. We usually just take out the Torah three days a week and read a Torah portion on Shabbat, but a Torah right when we finish the final verses of Deuteratomy, we immediately open up to Genesis and begin the Torah anew, we begin this annual cycle all over again. And so the reason we celebrate isn't because we're done with the Torah and it's over. Rather, our celebration is all about the love of God and his word that we can't wait to start reading it again. 00:32:42 Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Pray dot Com app today. This prey dot Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max bod Zak, She and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yiele Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvado, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.