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In the scriptures, the first five books of the Old Testament, or the Pentateuch, are sometimes called "The Law of Moses" (e.g. Luke 2:22; 24:44), and the book of Deuteronomy has the traditional title of "The Fifth Book of Moses." Fundamentalists therefore often hold that Moses is the author of Deuteronomy. But as has often been pointed out, if that were so, Moses would be said to have written the account of his own death. We know, further, that the list of the tribal boundaries in this text are later than the time of Moses. Therefore, while many of the Old Testament's laws come from Moses, scholars generally agree that the core of Deuteronomy dates from the seventh century B.C., while this chapter is from the hand of the Deuteronomic editors of about 550 B.C. We have no reason to doubt, however, that Moses was forbidden to enter the promised land, that the site of his grave is unknown, and that Joshua was his successor.

Moses has led his people out of Egypt, borne with them through their complaints in the wilderness, represented them in the establishment of the covenant relationship with the Lord at Mount Sinai, delivered the Ten Commandments and the Covenant Law to them from God, and traveled with them as far as the land of Moab on the eastern side of the Jordan opposite Jericho. In addition, he has delivered the three long sermons that we find in Deuteronomy, presenting the final pre-exilic form of the torah to his people and entering into a covenant renewal ceremony with them.

Now the elderly lawgiver is commanded by God to ascend Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in Moab (Deuteronomy 42:48-49). He does so and then crosses a mountain saddle to climb up to the tip of Mount Pisgah, from where the Lord shows him the promised land laid out before him. Moses sees it all, from the territory in the north where Dan will reside to the southern regions that will be Judah's home, and then beyond, even to the desert of the Negev and the southern tip of the Dead Sea. Finally the homeland toward which Moses and his people have struggled for so many years is in sight. But Moses is not allowed to enter into it. Why?

There are two reasons given in the Old Testament, although one of them is obscure. Both Numbers 20:10-13 and Deuteronomy 32:51 say it is because Moses "broke faith" with God at Meribah and did not revere God in the eyes of the people. There have been numerous attempts to explain what that means on the basis of the stories in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20, but the explanation remains unclear.

The other reason, however, is not a puzzle. Moses takes the sins of the people upon himself and dies outside of the promised land in order that Israel may enter into it (Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:26; 4:21). Repeatedly, the people have not trusted the Lord and repeatedly his anger has risen against them for their faithlessness. But also repeatedly, Moses has interceded with God for his sinful people, asking that God forgive them. As we heard two Sundays ago, Moses has been the intercessor before the Lord for his faithless folk, fulfilling the function of a true prophet. But because prophets are intercessors on account of sin, they are suffering intercessors, bearing in themselves instead the punishment that God would otherwise bring upon his covenant people (cf. Hosea's marriage to a harlot, or the command to Jeremiah not to marry or to attend a party or a funeral, or the commands to Ezekiel to eat unclean and rationed food and water, or the Sufferings Servant's abuse and death -- all are substitutions for what God would have done to sinful Israel). So it is too in the New Testament that the One who fulfills all the prophets bears our sins on his cross and dies the death that we should have died, in order that we may have life.

Our text makes a point of saying that no one knows where Moses is buried. The Israelites are thereby prevented from making pilgrimages to Moses' grave, from worshiping the dead, and from giving their loyalty and adoration to anyone but the Lord. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and all are to live to him (Luke 20:38).

The spirit of wisdom to lead was passed on to Joshua when Moses laid his hands on him (Deuteronomy 34:9). Joshua can successfully lead the people into the promised land only by the power of God's Spirit that was first given to Moses. Human abilities will not suffice. This is God's enterprise, and not man's (cf. Joshua 1:1-9).

Moses was a towering figure in Israel, and because he was the prophetic mediator of the Word of God and the suffering intercessor for Israel's sins, for centuries after, Israel expected that the new age of the kingdom would be ushered in by the appearance of a new "prophet like Moses" (Deuteronomy 18:15). Repeatedly, the New Testament reflects that expectation (John 1:21, 15; 6:14; 7:40), but it was not until Jesus of Nazareth appeared that Peter and Stephen could preach that the new age had broken into history and that the new Moses who suffered for the sins of the world was Jesus Christ, who was not only the expected prophet, but also God's Messiah and Son.


Lutheran Option: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18


Among the commandments that Moses gave to the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness, we find Leviticus 19:11-18 which is known as the Levitical Dodecalogue and which is part of the Holiness Code of Leviticus 17-26. Leviticus 19:1-18 form the priestly version of the Ten Commandments, and concern the subjects contained in that Decalogue.

The aim of this material is to make Israel a holy people, as God is holy (v. 2), and the passage gives numerous examples of the holy manner of life. Verses 3-8 concern holiness in relation to God. Verses 9-18 deal with holiness in human relationships. It is from verse 18 that Jesus takes the second great commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31 and parallels), which Paul sees as the summary of the law (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; cf. James 2:8).

We have repeatedly said that to be God's holy people means to be set apart for his purpose. But how are we to live in that separateness? What are the covenant people and we, as new persons in Jesus Christ, supposed to do? This text gives very concrete illustrations, and the preacher can use any one or several of them to deal with the congregation's daily living. These are very practical commandments and obviously they can be followed. But two emphases assert themselves.

First, the holy life is one of growth in sanctification, in holiness, in goodness. No one of us is good all the time, and indeed, goodness no longer seems to be a goal in our society. We want to be rich, slim, beautiful, admired, accomplished, fun, talented. But good? How many of you sincerely want to be good? How many of you want to grow daily in goodness? That's kind of out of fashion in our society, isn't it? But we are not slaves to the ways of our society; we are slaves of Jesus Christ, as Paul says (Romans 6:16-18). And part of our discipleship for Christ is growth in goodness. Well, Leviticus here gives us some ways to grow.

These commands are laid upon us, in the second place, not as rules of human society or as mere suggestions for our conduct or as tips on how to make friends and influence people. These are commands of the Lord our God, teachings about how to have his abundant life, directions about how to walk in our daily paths according to his will and not our own. "I am the Lord your God" occurs eight times in Leviticus 19:1-18, emphasizing over and over that these commandments concern the will of God. We sometimes ask, "How do we know what God's will is?" Here is part of the answer. Here are concrete descriptions of what God wants and does not want us to do. And because we love God, and because he has given his Son that we may have eternal life, we strive for holiness, and in overwhelming gratitude, we obey this merciful guidance of our Lord.