Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17, and Matthew 22:41-46
The Saturday before last, a fire started at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright on the grenade launcher range. As we all know, fire suppression was difficult due to strong winds at the time, and 4 service members died, with 27 more remaining hospitalized in serious condition. While I prayed for the victims and wondered how I could help, I saw an advertisement. I am not a healthcare professional, but I thought donating blood would still let me support them. So, for the first time since coming to Canada, I went to the Canadian Blood Service and donated mine. The strange thing is that most of them assumed I was a student and asked who recommended it. However, when I told her I was the pastor of Knox Church downtown and had come to help the soldiers, she thanked me and said his parents were also members of our church 15 years ago. I was grateful for that time, as relationships mysteriously connected one by one, and I learned more.
Beloved, how was your past week? Did you feel peaceful? Or were there many things that distracted your mind and made you anxious? Perhaps, as we go through life, not as many things go according to our plans and intentions as we think. Especially during election season, conflicts or wounds from the results sometimes surface after the announcement. This is true in both society and the church. Even when the results differ from my will, it is not easy to pray and accept them, but I hope the entire process goes well. And it would be good if we could meditate on Moses’ heart together at such times.
Deuteronomy 34 describes Moses ascending Mount Nebo and looking out over the land of Canaan. This mountain rises 700 meters above sea level and lies in present-day Jordan, east of Israel, offering a good view of Jericho and Jerusalem. Like today, Canaan was very fertile. Sweet fruits and food, including date palms, were more abundant than elsewhere. Living to age 80 with scarce medical facilities is a great blessing. However, at that age, he led over 2 million people to Canaan, 300 km from Egypt. It is about the distance to walk from here to Lake Louise. But as we all know, they marched 1,200 km over 40 years, guided by pillars of fire and cloud, with no shortcuts. It is about the distance from our church to Vancouver or Winnipeg. Walking is difficult, but enduring the time is even harder. It is a whopping 40 years. It is even recorded that all the people who came out of Egypt died, and only a new generation born in the wilderness, along with a small number of leaders, entered Canaan.
Let us meditate together on Moses’s life. He was born to Amram and Jochebed of the Levi tribe, and to escape Pharaoh’s order to kill Hebrew male children, he was placed in a basket made of reeds and cast into the Nile River, where an Egyptian princess rescued him. The name Moses comes from the Hebrew word “Masha,” meaning “to be rescued.” He was educated as a prince at the royal palace until the age of 40 and lived without want. At the age of 40, he killed an Egyptian official who was harassing the Israelites and fled into the wilderness. He went from prince to criminal and fugitive. He fled from Egypt to the wilderness of Midian in northwestern Saudi Arabia. He got married there and spent 40 years as a shepherd. God called him while he was looking at the burning bush on Mount Horeb. In that moment, the fugitive’s identity changed to that of a called-out leader of the people. Empowered by God’s authority, he opposed Pharaoh, led his people, and escaped to the Promised Land. The people were not entirely obedient. There were many twists and turns. He, too, sometimes disobeyed God, resented the Creator at the Waters of Meribah, and could not control his anger. Despite 40 years of hard work and devotion, he ultimately could not enter the land of Canaan. The Bible describes Moses’s end in this short, simple way amid the long Exodus journey. How disappointed he must have actually been? He has suffered so much and survived several near-death experiences, and has come a distance that he could reach on foot in a day, but now he must stop. Furthermore, God declares that Moses cannot go to Canaan and that his life will soon end. That is a bolt from the blue. However, he obeys and hands over the leadership to the next leader, Joshua, by laying his hands on him.
It is unfortunate if I look only at the human side. However, from the perspective of the time God granted him, the story is different. God prepared and trained him throughout his entire life. He also had signs and wonders performed before the Pharaoh. During the 40 years in the wilderness, he experienced God with him 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was a dreamlike time. Now, only the place where he stands has moved from the plains of Moab to God’s side. He left this earth 3,400 years ago, but he rests today in God’s Time Zone. And we can vividly remember and imagine his actions.
Beloved, we are no different from Moses. The time we have now is the time God has granted, and it is the time of life. At the same time, we are all in God’s Time Zone. The same is true of David’s confession that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel of Matthew. This passage quotes Psalm 110, in which David confesses the words God spoke to Jesus. The periods in which David, who ruled Israel around 1000 BC, and Jesus were active are distinctly different. However, in God’s time, David could meditate on and anticipate Jesus coming to earth as the Messiah. Through his poems, Jesus wisely defended against his opponents’ attacks. This was possible because Jesus, Moses, and David were all within God’s work and in the Creator’s bosom.
So, I am praying for these. I hope you will live in holiness within the Lord’s time today as well. I also pray for generous Christians who care for the weak as they spend this time with God’s perspective. May God give eternal peace and comfort to Private. Shaun Farrell, Private. Aidan Goulding, Private. Hayden Lykkemark and Sergeant Morgan Wong. Amen.