How does Moses' death connect to Jesus' fulfillment of the Law? The servant’s earthly story ends “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.” (Deuteronomy 34:5) What Moses’ death reveals about the Law’s limits • The greatest law-giver could not cross into the inheritance because one act of unbelief (Numbers 20:12) broke the very Law he delivered. • His literal death outside Canaan pictures the Law’s inability to carry sinners into God’s promised rest (cf. Galatians 3:10; Hebrews 4:8). • By burying Moses where no one could venerate his grave (Deuteronomy 34:6; Jude 9), God underscored that the Law was never meant to be worshiped as an end in itself. Jesus completes what Moses could only begin • “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) • “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) • “Christ is the end of the Law, in order to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4) A change in leadership: Moses to Joshua—Law to Yeshua • Joshua (Hebrew Yehoshua, “Yahweh saves”) shares the same root as Jesus (Greek Iesous). • Moses dies; Joshua leads the people across the Jordan. The Law stops where the Savior’s namesake starts. • Hebrews 4:8–9 notes that Joshua’s conquest pointed ahead to a fuller rest that only Jesus can give. The mountaintop handoff • At the Transfiguration, “two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with Jesus” about His approaching “departure” (Luke 9:30-31). • The Father’s voice then centers all attention on the Son: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7). • Moses fades from view; Jesus alone remains (Matthew 17:8). The Law’s witness stands complete, fulfilled in the radiant Christ. Superior covenant, superior mediator • “Now Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house… But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:5-6) • “Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15) • The Law pointed forward; the cross sealed the promise; the risen Jesus escorts believers into the inheritance Moses could only view. Living in the fulfillment today • Trust the finished work of Jesus; He did what the Law, weakened by our flesh, could not (Romans 8:3-4). • Walk in the Spirit rather than striving to justify yourself by rule-keeping (Galatians 3:24-25; 5:16-18). • Enjoy the “Sabbath rest” that remains for God’s people—a life anchored in Christ’s completed redemption (Hebrews 4:9-10). |
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