I have learned to be reserved in my judgments when I hear people say they’re Christians or they read their Bibles. When you talk to them and ask even the most basic of questions, what you’re liable to hear is “Well, I feel that …” or “In my view, God wouldn’t do _______” or “I think that God is _______.” And what you learn is that their view of God is based upon their feelings, their wants, their desires, and not upon the actual text of the 66 books comprising Scripture.

When I talk to my wife, however, I don’t get that. Follow me as I let you in on a recent conversation we had about Moses, his denial by God, and yet his (Moses’) commendation.

For as long as I can remember, my wife has loved the book of Deuteronomy. It’s the Old Testament book most often quoted by Jesus in the New Testament, of course. It’s the last book of the Torah, the Pentateuch, penned by Moses. Moses was, to be sure, unique and mighty, a mighty man of God.

Anyway, the conversation with my wife went like this:

CJ: I just cried this morning as I finished Deuternonomy again.

Me: Why?

CJ: Moses. He was up on Mount Nebo. After all the struggles he’d put up. After all the years leading the people. And he was allowed to see the Promised Land. But God wouldn’t let him enter … because of his sin. And it just killed me. This was Moses. I just broke down and cried.

Me: I know. It’s heartbreaking.

CJ: All because Moses sinned in his striking of the rock. He didn’t want to give God the glory that time. And God kept him out of the very place to which he’d led the people.

Me: I know. It’s staggering.

CJ: And Moses is called great in the New Testament. We’re told he is in heaven, that he was one of the greatest of men.

Me: Yes, exactly.

CJ: I just love Moses. And I don’t want to be told “No, You can’t enter,” like Moses was. (She cries some more.)

Me: You know this, but I’ll say it anyway. That’s why we flee to Christ. He’s the greater exodus. He’s the One who brings Moses in, who brings any and all in who flee to Him in the gospel. It’s God’s grace from beginning to end. That’s the point: It’s not a human work; it’s a 100% divine work of God’s grace towards sinners.

Encouragement: I have been married several decades now to the same woman. She’s in the Scriptures every day. She’s steeped in prayer every day. And we have such conversations sometimes where, well, all I know how to do is write and try and share the story. And my hope is that you’ll see the encouragement here, and flee to the gospel. We are told that he who finds a wife finds a good thing. When I hear my wife’s tears over the phone, of where she’s been so moved by the closing chapter of Deuteronomy, when Moses’ life was taken by the Lord he served all those years, and yet we’re told in the NT that Moses was a saint, uniquely used by God in his generation, it moves me. And it summons from my heart of hearts one banal but sincere phrase: Thank you, Lord.