The New Under Ground Church-THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD: Ability To See

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Ability To See

Posted on December 6, 2014 by nhiemstra

As you know, I love to study and meditate Torah, the first five books of the the Bible. The reason is that it has become so vibrant and life-giving for me. I have been so honored for the Holy Spirit to guide me and reveal so much that I had previously skimmed over, and never fully understood.
I am once again going through the books when I “stumbled” on the thirty fourth chapter of Deuteronomy:

Then Moses went up on Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab. He went to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:1)

You have to realize that this is the last chapter, of the last book in Torah, and you can think of it as a memorial service for Moses. I say that because the people are now going to say goodbye to this “man of God,” but when we do this, it is with a celebration of his life! While death can certainly be unspeakably painful for the loved ones left behind, Psalms 116:15 declares:

Precious in the sight of Yahweh
is the death of his faithful ones

Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“Having finished his work and pronounced his last blessing, the prophet cheerfully climbs towards heaven, Death to the saints is an ascent. Alone he pursued his upward pathway, but the Lord was at his side, and thus when earthly companions shall bid us adieu, we shall find the Lord at our right hand.”

Then the story teller goes on and says:

Yahweh showed him the whole land. He could see Gilead as far as Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the territory of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev, and the Jordan Plain—the valley of Jericho (the City of Palms)—as far as Zoar (Deuteronomy 34:1-3)

I love passages like this because they remind us how gracious, merciful, compassionate and kind our God is. It is almost as if Yahweh had allowed Moses to have the best of both worlds! What I mean is that He shows Moses the Promised Land, before he enters into His presence. You see, I am one of those who believe that it is virtually impossible to overstate the grace of God in the life of a believer. As the song writer cries, it is Amazing Grace! But I sadly admit that if you have never tasted the sweetness of that Grace, you can never understand its wonder. But to be honest, even those of us who have experienced our Lord’s Grace, will never fully understand it all. I think that is when we just have to have faith.
But if we don’t “read between the lines” here, we will miss something. Did you notice that the Lord shows him “all” of the land? Not just a portion of the land or even most of the land. The verse reads, “Yahweh showed him the whole land.” I believe this illustrates how much our Lord desires to show us all of His promises.

Then Yahweh said to him, “This is the land I promised with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I said I would give it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you may not go there.” (Deuteronomy 34:4)

Now we could think that was rather mean of his God, to show him the fulfillment of the promises He made. But then again maybe not. He showed Moses the fulfillment, then said, “But you may not go there.”
Moses: “But why Lord? I have been faithful and true to your calling . . .”
YWHW: “Yes you have, so I am going to fulfill another promise: you are going to come with me.” Wow! From our perspective the Lord was being harsh with Moses, but in reality, it was a much better deal! Like Paul said, “To be with the Lord is better . . .” Yeah, it sure is!
But there are two other things in this verse that we can apply to our own lives. Both of them have a very powerful and profound meaning. First, it confirms our need to “walk by faith and not by sight.” Yahweh tells Moses He will allow him to “see it with your own eye.” His faith had become sight!
Hebrews 11:1 explains that “Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.” There will come a time in our walk of faith that we will be able to “see with our eyes.” We will see what our faith has assured us of; things we have expected and the things we have been convinced of. Leonard Ravenhill glibly stated that a man with an experience in never at the mercy of a man with an argument. Once you have “seen with your own eyes,” through your faith, you can never deny its reality.
Secondly, the detail regarding a very specific land geographically, indicated that Yahweh was going to deliver and fulfill everything that He has promised to do.
As one commentator put it;

The invitation to Moses to view the land was not merely a kindly provision of God to allow His servant to view Israel’s inheritance. It may have had some legal significance. There is some evidence that this was part of a legal process. A man ‘viewed’ what he was to possess.

What is fascinating is that the last thing Moses would have viewed with his own eyes right before his death was the Cross! That is why you have to read between the lines. As he stood on the high mountain, he was able to see the camps of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. And they were divided into four camps. With the tabernacle at the center, and four camps with three tribes each, camped east to west, and north to south . . . and what did he see? the shape of a cross!
Did he understand what he saw? Certainly not, but often, neither do we when the Lord begins to show us the plans he has laid out for our lives. But, our faith assures us of those things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see!
Nickolas

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