4 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. (Deuteronomy 34: 4)

It is one thing to see and it is another thing to enter

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, And He buried him in the valley of the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. (Deuteronomy 34:5-6)

Why keep the location of Moses’ grave a secret?

That may have been because of the exalted position Moses held in the eyes of the people. He was the only leader the Israelites had ever had. Most of them had been born or had grown up under his rule. And though the people often whined and complained about what he did, after his death they would no doubt have wanted to honour him in a special way.

We get some inkling of that in Deuteronomy 34:8 which tells us the Israelites wept and mourned for him for a month after his death. It's quite possible they would have wanted to carry the body of Moses with them into the land of Canaan (as they did that of Joseph), bury him, and erect an elaborate shrine over his remains.

It is easy to see how this could have deteriorated into a centre for idolatrous worship. After all, Second Kings 18:4 reveals that the Israelites had carted around the bronze serpent Moses had erected in the wilderness at God's command (Num. 21:5-9). Then they set it up on the Promised Land and began to worship it! (They'd even given it a name!)

Finally, how does the devil figure into this? He seems to have attempted to get the body of Moses for himself, or at least find out where it was buried. If the devil had had his way, the body likely would have come into the possession of the Israelites. And he would have tempted them and seduced them to misuse it. But Michael, being a very powerful angel, prevented this from happening.

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (NASB) Jude 9

It appears from Jude 9 that God commanded Michael, the archangel, to bury him.

Apparently, the dispute between Michael and the devil occurred at the time of the burial. We do not know what the dispute was about because scripture never tells us. There are references to this event in a non-biblical book entitled the "Assumption of Moses." The book does not speculate about the reason for the dispute either.

And Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the Israelites listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses. (Deuteronomy 34:9)

I believe spiritual gifts can be imparted through the laying on of hands.

It depends much on who is laying hands. Scripture clearly emphasizes that is was ‘Moses’ who laid hands on Joshua.

Apostle Paul named the laying on of hands as one of the six basic fundamental doctrines a Christian should understand. This places it in the very foundation of our Christian beliefs.

In many circles of the modern Church, impartation is ignored, if not denied all together. However, in the first century, it was considered a foundational truth:

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrines about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of…the laying on of hands…” (Hebrews 6:1-2).

Apostle Paul also thought of impartation as part of the process of becoming established. He spoke of imparting spiritual gifts to the Roman believers:

“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established…” (Romans 1:11).

Timothy was deeply impacted by impartation. Specifically, as a result of impartation, he received a spiritual gift through the laying on of hands and prophecy by a prophetic presbytery of elders:

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6).

Chapter 34