A Land of Pure Delight

20 January

And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people.

Deuteronomy 32: 48-50

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Philippians 1:20-24

We naturally fly from death; no one hastens toward it of his own accord. Thus Moses would never have voluntarily entered the tomb unless he could hope for a better life to come.

Wherefore, though our carnal sense may be averse to death, let our faith prevail to overcome all its terrors, for, as Paul teaches, God’s children, who desire not to “be unclothed,” still long to be “clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of life” (2 Cor. 5:4). Even so, Moses’ obedience was remarkable; he prepared himself no less willingly for death than as if he had been invited to some joyful banquet. He and other holy men had so consecrated themselves to God that they were ready to live or to die according to God’s pleasure.

Note the consolation that is referred to here; the pain of Moses’ death was alleviated by the permission he received from God to behold the land of Canaan. For this reason Moses was commanded to go to the top of the mountain. Though Moses would have been satisfied with the mere promise of God and even the deprivation of this blessing, he may not have been made more cheerful at the thought of leaving his people on the threshold of their inheritance. Faith does not altogether deprive God’s children of human feelings, but our heavenly Father in His indulgence has compassion on their infirmity. Thus, though Moses was sorry to be withheld from entering the Promised Land, he was supported by a seasonable remedy, that he might not be hindered in his course by this impediment.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Isaac Watts writes, “Could we but climb where Moses stood/ And view the landscape o’er/ Not Jordan’s stream nor death’s cold flood/ Should fright us from the shore.” How do we view death? Does a glimpse of the Promised Land ease our fears as we approach our end?

365 Days with Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke