Finishing Well

Two of the signers and framers of the Declaration of Independence - men who contributed their devotion, their wisdom, their courage to the cause of freedom - both died on the 50th anniversary of that momentous day!

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third presidents of our nation both died on the 4th of July, 1826, just hours apart - patriotic to the end!

I thought about them as I was reflecting on something a ran across in preparation for our Sunday School class last week. I will lead into it with this question:

Imagine that you had taken on an "Indiana Jones-like" quest to find the long lost tomb of Moses; where would you begin to look?

Many folks will remember the story of Moses in the Old Testament, how he behaved poorly during one of his numerous trials with the wandering nation of Hebrews, and was thus prohibited from entering the famed Promised Land.

You know how at the end of the story, God was unrelenting - still would not let Moses set foot in the Promised Land. But he did let him go up on one of the highest peaks in the Pisgah mountain range - Mount Nebo - and view the land and then he died. 'Remember that? Well if you don't, some of the details can be found in Deuteronomy 34.

From that information, many of you Indiana Jones wannabes would smile quirkily through your scruffy, 2-day beard and deduce that Moses died and was buried there on Mount Nebo.

Now before you flip down the brim of your Fedora and board a plane to the Middle East, perhaps you better read that source document one more time.

There in Deuteronomy 34, in the 5th and 6th verses is a surprising statement:

So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said. The Lord buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place. [emphasis mine]

This was something of a shock to me when I read that verse the other day. I have always assumed that Moses got all emotional over the Promised Land and just keeled over there on the top of that mountain. But apparently God had a little more traveling for him to do.

The thought was kinda' sobering to me. I like the idea of "finishing well", "going out with a bang" and such. I wanted Moses to die at the pinnacle, but instead God had him trudge back down the mountain.

It's really sad to see good people - Christian people - digress into a pathetic state before the die. It's sad to see anyone - good or bad - in that state, but we'd like to think of Christians as being most triumphant when they come to the end of their days here.

My Dad is not - I hope - at death's door, but he has gone down hill rapidly over the past two years. Physical health problems and some real deterioration of his mental capacities have taken away his confidence, his desire, his life. I and my family have prayed for his healing and we still hope, but things do not appear to be going in the right direction.

I had rather him be strong and courageous til the end - picking on the grandchildren, arguing relentlessly whatever point he has espoused or taking his turn in the kitchen, throwing various and sundry food items into a skillet and topping them with a generous portion of cheese (Dad - like me - thinks cheese will improve most any dish). But instead he sits quietly or tells the same anecdotes over and over and talks about how he just doesn't feel like doing anything these days.

Naturally, I drew a comparison between Moses and my Dad, and I didn't like the idea of the hero of Biblical proportions dying in a valley. In fact some believe it was worse than that. It is believed that he died within a stone's throw of a temple dedicated to an idol; idol worship: the very enemy he faced down most of his life!

But this place was significant. And I will tell you why in my next post.

... To Be Continued ...

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved