Daily Devotional | A View of the Promised Land

Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest composers of all time. While he was regionally famous as an organist and technician in his lifetime, he was not well known for his work as a composer. But about one hundred years later, his music was rediscovered by Felix Mendelssohn. After this, Bach achieved worldwide fame and acclamation.

Moses’ life goal since he met God at the burning bush had been to lead Israel to the Promised Land. He had spent forty years wandering in the desert and led the people right to the cusp of a land that he would never get to experience himself. As an act of grace, God allowed Moses to glimpse the Promised Land before his death (v. 4).

In some ways, much of the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) can be viewed as a biography of Moses. We are first introduced to him in the account of his miraculous deliverance at birth (Exodus 2). He has been the main human character throughout the rest of Exodus–Deuteronomy. We have seen him learn and grow into his role. As D. L. Moody memorably put it, “Moses spent forty years thinking he was a somebody; forty years learning he was a nobody, and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.” Certainly, after he killed an Egyptian and fled for his life, it did not look like he would amount to much (Ex. 2:11–24). Yet, God called him to lead His people out of Egypt.

Throughout it all, Moses was a faithful servant (v. 5). He was not perfect, but he led Israel, revealed the Law, and pointed people away from himself and to the Lord. His life pointed beyond himself to a future Prophet and Redeemer who would do for Israel and the rest of the world what Moses could not—provide forgiveness of sin and new life in the Spirit (Acts 7:37).