“Numbers 27:15-16: “And Moses spoke unto the Lord saying: ‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation.”

 

Since we were introduced to Moses in the Book of Exodus, there is one phrase that is repeated over and over.  In fact it is repeated 175 times.  That is the phrase: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses.”   Now here we are at the end of the life of Moses, the nation is about to enter the promise land.  Suddenly, we hear something very different. It is not “The Lord spoke unto Moses” but it is “Moses spoke unto the Lord.”   The word spoke is that word devar which are words that are spoken from the heart.

 

There is a word used here that is not really translated out as it is difficult to put it into a translation, so many translations just ignore it.  That is the word paqed which is the word for a custodian, or overseer.  Moses is saying that God is the overseer or supervisor of man’s spirit.  The word for spirit is ruch not nepheshRuch is that eternal part of you. In Theology we learn that God is infinite, but man’s spirit is eternal.   Infinite has no beginning or end, eternal has a beginning but no end. Moses is recognizing that God is the ultimate responsibility for the fate of the spirits that He created with a beginning but no end. If He is a God of perfect love, then He must live with the fate of the eternal beings He created.  If their existence is just simply ended with physical life, then that is no so bad if some suffered and others don’t.  But if that suffering is to go on for eternity, as a God of love He must live with that.

 

How can a God of total love live with Himself, knowing that billions of spirits he created will suffer an eternity in hell.  We can give all sorts of reasons for our personal sufferings and heartaches.  Yet, a more deeper question is how can a God of love sit back and let us suffer.  I have walked this earth for over three scores years, like many, I have trampled on a few hearts.   I find that very difficult to live with, and a day does not go by that I do not think about the pain I brought into another’s life.  If I have difficult living with that, then how can a God of perfect love live with the cries of billions of spirits that he created that are living in torment.   I can figure a lot of things out, but there are some things, you just can never figure out.

 

Yet, it seems that Moses, in this last moment of his life, caught a glimpse of the heart of God.  He could sense God’s longing to give the best He could for His people.  Maybe Moses realized his own shortcomings, maybe he realized he was not the best man to take the nation into the promised land.  After all, where was Moses when Joshua and Caleb said: “We don’t care about giants, God gave us the land, let’s go get it.”  Why didn’t Moses put his arms around them and say: “I’m with you boys, let’s do it.”  Why did Moses strike the rock rather than speak to it like God commanded?   Maybe Moses knew he could not reach that level of faith to take the people into the land. Maybe Moses wasn’t telling God what to do but he was giving his resignation.  We learn that at the end of his life he was strong like a bull. Physically, he could have finished the job. God called him to finish this job and lead the people into the land. But he turned in his resignation.   It’s very unlikely that that Moses was giving God advice.  More than likely he saw the heart of God and he knew that God was ultimately responsible for the fate of the spirits of man and thus he was willing to step aside and let God choose one who was able to walk in the faith that he could not walk in to accomplish the job.  It was his way of protecting God’s heart. He had to willingly resign from his calling.

 

We face many decisions in life, many decisions in relationships and we ask God what His will is but our decisions usually reflect what is best for us.  Perhaps, like Moses we need to not seek God’s will in what is best for us but in what will protect God’s heart.  What will protect God’s heart, may not always mesh with what we want.

 

 

 

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