Principle: We will answer.

Text: 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” (Dt 34:4, ESV).

Context: It’s the last chapter of the Pentateuch, Moses’ five books. But what it’s most known for, chapter 34 anyway, is that it’s the death chapter. It records the death of the great man of God, Moses.

Here’s where I wanted to end this part five/five on Moses. I don’t know how one can have been with Moses’ story and be unmoved by the rebuke God levies upon His prophet/shepherd. He (God) won’t let him (Moses) enter.

Just think of that. Moses had shepherded a people for decades, nearly four decades of putting up with and trying to teach hard-hearted, recalcitrant, willfully ignorant, stubborn people who fancied themselves ‘God’s people’.

And yet he, God’s shepherd for this epoch, was banned from entering the land promised. Why?

The answer is clear: Moses was a sinner, and God didn’t forget. In short, we all will answer. We’ll give an account.

**After we got back from a supper of Mexican food and some time to pick up some shorts and sandals for an upcoming trip, Carrie Jane and I came home. She sat with on the couch with her pretty brown toes underneath the pink blanket on the couch, and I sat in her chair to read and write some, and the deer grazed behind the house, and the dogs and cat lay about like royalty, and all appeared well, but in the back of my mind was this reality: I will stand before the Judge of all the earth. To answer. And whether you believe it or not, well, is quite beside the point. It’s true, whether you believe it or not. We’ll have our Deuteronomy 34 moment, dear ones.

Takeaway: Moses was there, on the mountain, looking at a land promised to those who believed God. But he (Moses) was barred from entry. He entered heaven ultimately; we know this from the New Testament. However, even Moses was denied entry into this blessing. Why? Because of his own sin. He could not lay it at the feet of another; it was his own. And he answered for it. If you’re like I am, you have much for which to answer. Per Scripture, dear ones, we will answer.

The beauty of the gospel is that the entry of each and every sinner who comes to Christ does enter the ultimate land of promise, but it’s all due to the work of the One who was made sin for us so that we sinners might be declared righteous (2 Cor 5:21).