Moses’s and Jesus’s Final Speeches
Photo by Matthew Jungling on Unsplash.
What does God want for us to do, and to look forward to, in anticipation of his leaving and his returning again?
When God called his people out of slavery in Egypt and used his servant Moses to lead them to the promised land—their new home of blessing, peace, and provision—Moses sinned against God and was told he would not enter the land of promise. At the end of Moses’ life, he gave a final speech to the Israelites, God’s chosen people, encouraging them to love God and to keep his commandments.
In Moses’s last speech, the Book of Deuteronomy, he spoke to the people of God in several places, saying:
“You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.” (Deuteronomy 11:1, ESV).
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16, ESV).
In John’s gospel account, Jesus captures the essence of this final speech of Moses in his own final speech to his disciples, when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, ESV).
The promised land is a metaphor for home; a new creation; a new Eden; a restored creation; a place where God would dwell with his people in God’s shalom—God’s perfect peace.
Jesus had just promised his disciples that he was preparing a place for them, when he said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3, ESV).
May we take courage in Jesus’s final speech which promises us our heavenly homecoming and our dwelling with God and his children.
A Prayer for the Coming of God’s Kingdom: “Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom; and grant that we your servants, who now live by faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty; even Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.” (#115, Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Begin the month with a #dailydevotional. I have created a #devotional book for each month, a devotional for every day of the year, and offering them for #free by subscribing. Get a link to #Grow365: #May2022—A #Daily Devotional here: robbiepruitt.com.
Photo by Matthew Jungling on Unsplash.
