Deuteronomy 34: The death of Moses

Synopsis:

Moses goes up to Moab and is shown the land that God promised to give the children of Israel. He dies at the age of 120 and is buried in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth peor, but no man knowleth of his sepulchre (Deuteronomy 34:6). Everyone mourns for 30 days and Joshua takes over the tribe.

In other words:

Moses dies at the age of 120 and is buried somewhere in Moab. Joshua takes over.

Favorite bit:

Deuteronomy 34:6 – this is  a very specific geographic description of where he is buried. Surely someone should be able to find his grave.

2nd favorite bit:

Deuteronomy 34:7 – And Moses was 120 years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

3rd favorite bit:

Deuteronomy 34:10 – An there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, where the Lord knew face to face.

What I liked the most:

Honestly? That it was a short chapter. I also liked that it was a nice homage to Moses and that it is clear, his story is over and we can move over to other stories. The extensive repetition of this story over and over and over was – repetitive. After all Deuteronomy is the 5th book of Moses. He’s dominated the story enough. Time to make room for someone else.

Moral Lesson Learned:

Even the best stories have to end sometime (Deuteronomy 34)