And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
Moses has died, and the leadership of a whole nation passes to Joshua. This verse says where Joshua's wisdom came from, how Moses marked him out, and why Israel followed him.
The wisdom here is not general cleverness. It is fitness for one job: taking Moses' place.
God had prepared Joshua to succeed Moses. He gave him a spirit of wisdom for the service he was now to take up. That service was plainly different from the service of Moses, yet Moses stood in full fellowship with him. Moses had laid his hands on Joshua, and the act identified him with Joshua as the new leader of Israel (v.9). Whatever service needs to be done, only the person God prepares for it will be able to do it.
Joshua was not empty until Moses touched him. The Spirit was already in him. One writer places Joshua among other men whom the Spirit equipped for a set task, starting with the builder of Israel's tent of worship.
The Spirit now showed His activity and power in several new ways. Bezaleel is an example of a man filled with the Spirit of God — in wisdom, understanding and knowledge — for the work he was given to do in building the tabernacle (Ex. 31:3; 35:31). The Holy Spirit was in Joshua (Num. 27:18). Moses laid his hands on him, and so he was full of the spirit of wisdom (Deut. 34:9). The Spirit rested on the elders, to fit them for their duties among the people.
One writer follows the Hebrew word for "lay" into its other uses.
The Hebrew word for "lay" is the same as in Deut. 34:9, where Moses laid his hands on Joshua. It is the same in Num. 8:10, where the Israelites laid their hands on the Levites. In each case it expressed fellowship or identity for special service.
But the hands of Moses did not create the ability. They pointed to what God had already done.
Working beside Israel's leader had certainly fitted Joshua to carry on the work Moses laid down. Moses might well have chosen Joshua as his successor himself. But the point is that he did not. He left the choice entirely to God. He knew that human hands cannot give wisdom and power for such a responsibility. They must come from God alone, in whom all power is.
The fullness in this verse came at the end of long training. God matched it with a word spoken straight to Joshua.
Joshua's faith was fully answered. Now he is "full of the spirit of wisdom," prepared by all these years of discipline. Moses laid hands on him and ordained him. But the Lord also commissioned him in person and encouraged him for this high and honourable mission. The Lord's word to Joshua now was that every place the sole of his foot trod on, He had given to him.
One writer reads the handover as a picture. Moses dies; Joshua leads the people into the land.
Moses is dead, and Joshua takes his place. That is, both men picture Christ — the one who died and the one who lives… Here it is Christ leading the people into the land now, in Spirit. It is the power of the Spirit of God, who answers to Christ's glory. So He enables Christians today to take hold of their place in heaven, where He is, and to know it.
Israel obeyed Joshua, and what he commanded was still what the Lord had commanded Moses. The nation had lost its greatest leader.
It has been well said that God buries His servants and carries on His work — the servants may be great, but they are not indispensable. So we can take courage.
- Prepared — God fitted Joshua for a job unlike Moses' job. Only the person God prepares for a work can do it.
- Filled — the Spirit was in Joshua before Moses ever touched him, as with Bezalel for the tent of worship and the elders for their duties.
- Identified — the same Hebrew word appears when Israel laid hands on the Levites. The act showed fellowship and identity for special service. It did not hand over ability.
- Commissioned — Moses ordained Joshua, and the Lord Himself commissioned and encouraged him.
- Continued — Moses dies, Joshua leads, Israel obeys. What Joshua commands is still what the Lord commanded Moses. God buries His servants and carries on His work.
And there arose no prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah had known face to face;
Deuteronomy closes with a verdict on the man who wrote it. No one in Israel ever matched Moses, because the LORD never dealt with anyone else in that way. That raises two questions. Who could write such an epitaph? And would anyone ever fill the gap it describes?
The verse looks back over Israel's later history, so it need not have come from Moses himself. That is no threat to the book being his own. Inspiration did not end with him.
There is no need at all to take Deuteronomy 34 as written by Moses before his death. Others followed who were inspired as he was. The testimony to the blessed man of God, as in Numbers 12:3, better suits the successor to whom it was given by God.
The verse does not praise Moses for what he did. It names the way God dealt with him, and that is what set him apart from the other prophets.
Moses was a picture of our Lord as our prophet, or the prophet of heavenly things (see Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 34:10). He stood apart from the ordinary prophets. God speaks to them by visions and dreams, but to Moses "face to face," or openly. Moses had access to all God's house. His place was in the Most Holy Place, as well as in the courts of the tabernacle.
This closeness was not his from the start. It came after Israel broke the covenant at Sinai by worshipping the golden calf.
Israel sinned at the foot of Mount Sinai. That sin broke the covenant and forfeited the blessing. It put Moses back into that same heavenly position. There Moses meets Him, and meets Him in a new way, "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." This had not been so before.
Prophets kept coming after him. So what did Israel lose when he died?
For centuries the authority exercised in Israel was of that same kind, but its power declined. Those who held it were far weaker in faithfulness and in force.
Moses had promised that God would raise up a prophet like himself, and the people must listen to Him (Deuteronomy 18:15). Verse 10 explains what that likeness means, so it points past every prophet who came after.
Moses, the lawgiver, made one special prediction. Both Peter (Acts 3:22-23) and Stephen (Acts 7:37) quote it. It foretells the coming of a Prophet like him, to whom they were to listen. Deuteronomy 34:10 explains that likeness. Its fulfilment waited for the coming of Christ. For fifteen centuries no prophet in Israel, however great, ever thought of claiming that distinction for himself — to be known by God face to face. The mediator of the old covenant and the Mediator of the new are the only ones of whom that has been true.
Moses stands above every prophet in Israel. But one comparison is left to make.
True, he was "faithful in all God's house." But set him beside the Son of God, and the glory of the man is completely eclipsed. Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a Son, and we are His house. So the greatness of Moses vanishes before the infinite glory of the person of the Son of God.
- Written after — the chapter is an inspired postscript. The tribute fits a successor better than Moses himself.
- Known, not just used — what set Moses apart was God's way with him. Other prophets got visions and dreams. Moses got open speech.
- Given in ruin — that nearness came after the golden calf, when Israel had forfeited everything. God's answer to the collapse was friendship with Moses.
- Never repeated — prophets followed for centuries, but the authority declined. No one else ever claimed that God knew him face to face.
- Filled in Christ — the promised Prophet like Moses is the Mediator of the new covenant. Beside Him, Moses is a servant in the house and Christ is the Son over it.
according to all the signs and wonders that Jehovah had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;
The first five books of the Bible end with an epitaph for Moses. It does not measure him by his own achievements, but by the signs and wonders God sent him to do in front of Pharaoh.
So which works does the verse have in view? One writer lists them, and adds how Israel treated the man who did them.
The verse mentions all the signs and wonders that God sent him to do in Egypt. That would include the ten plagues on Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea (v.11). The wilderness years also showed "mighty power and great terror," such as the destruction of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Num. 16:28-35). Through all of this Moses remained the faithful, humble servant of God. He never exalted himself or boasted in his prominence. Yet Israel dishonoured him far too much throughout his life. Since his death, however, Israel has held him in great esteem! Such is the sad perversity of the human heart!
(The ESV renders that phrase "mighty power and all the great deeds of terror.")
The verse says the Lord sent him to do these things. Moses brought no power of his own.
The Lord would take him just as he was, and use what he had in his hand. He had tended Jethro's sheep with that rod. Now it would deliver the Israel of God and punish the land of Egypt. It would open a way through the deep for the ransomed of the Lord to pass over. It would bring water out of the hard rock to refresh Israel's thirsty crowds in the desert. God takes up the weakest instruments to bring about His mightiest ends. People imagine that splendid ends can only be reached by splendid means. That is not God's way.
The verse widens the target from Pharaoh to his servants to all his land. Commentators see purpose in that spread.
The character of the plagues displays the wisdom of God. They were suited to humble Egypt and its king. It was not just a blow to the land, with the pain and anguish that followed for the people. It was a solemn contest between the Lord, the true God, and the false gods of Egypt. God aimed His judgment at these false gods which the Egyptians worshipped. It stained their boasted glory and made them an object of loathing and disgust... The worship of Egypt was that of Apis — the sacred bull.
Egypt and Israel both watched these signs. Seeing them and being changed by them are not the same thing.
The most astounding miracles and signs may pass before us, and leave the heart untouched. These things may produce a passing effect on the mind and on the natural feelings. But no lasting result is reached unless the conscience comes into the light of the divine presence. The heart must also come under the direct action of the truth by the power of the Spirit of God... A faith founded on miracles may leave people unsaved, unblessed, unconverted — under terrible responsibility, no doubt, but wholly unconverted... There must be a new life, a new nature; and miracles and signs cannot give this.
The verse says no one has matched Moses. One writer sets that greatness beside a greater one.
Moses was a servant in God's house. The Son is over God's house... And He is over such a house as Moses never knew. Moses was faithful for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later. He foretold the coming of the Prophet, directing all to expect Him, whom we know as the Son. As a servant in God's house he stayed; he never rose higher, and he could not.
- Sent. The epitaph does not praise Moses' talent. It lists what the Lord sent him to do — the ten plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea — and names the One who sent him.
- Weak. The instrument was a shepherd's rod. God takes up the weakest instruments to bring about His mightiest ends, because splendid ends never needed splendid means.
- Aimed. The signs fell on Pharaoh, his servants and his land. They were a solemn contest between the true God and the false gods Egypt worshipped.
- Not enough. Miracles can pass before the eyes and leave the heart untouched. Signs reach the senses; only new life reaches the soul.
- Surpassed. Unmatched among prophets, Moses was still a servant in God's house. His own testimony pointed forward to the Prophet who would come as Son over it.
and according to all that mighty hand; and according to all the great terribleness that Moses had wrought in the sight of all Israel.
Deuteronomy does not end with a promise or a command. It ends with an obituary. Its last line is a list: the power and the terrifying deeds Moses did while the whole nation watched. So the book's final word about Moses is a summary of what God did through him. That leaves one question hanging. Would anyone ever match him?
The verse looks back over a whole career, not one event. One writer names both halves of it, the signs in Egypt and the acts in the wilderness, and then adds a sad note about how Israel treated Moses while he lived:
Verse 11 mentions all the signs and wonders that God sent him to do in Egypt. Those would include the ten plagues sent on Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. The wilderness years also carried "mighty power and great terror," such as the destruction of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Num. 16:28-35). Through all of these things Moses remained the faithful, humble servant of God. He never exalted himself or took pride in his high place. Yet all through his life Israel dishonoured him far too much. Since his death, however, Israel has held him in great esteem! Such is the sad perversity of the hearts of people generally!
Moses did the deeds, but the strength behind them was never his own. One writer makes that clear with two blunt questions:
No one denies that Moses stands in the front rank of great men and good men. But it is God who made His presence clearly known and respected in what He did through him — mainly through him, though sometimes without him — in that long stretch of wilderness patience and of power, full of wonders and rich in instruction… What could Moses have done in the desert without God for one day, not to speak of forty years? What wonders and signs could he otherwise have done in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea?
The book ends by speaking about Moses rather than by him. One writer says what that closing sounds like:
May we not say that the postscript of his great book is like an epitaph inscribed on his monument — the record of his great life!
The same chapter that lists his power also records that he died outside the land. One writer explains why:
The great plea for God is finished. The life-work of Moses is over. Nothing now remains but for him to show, in his own death, the unbending justice of the law he had mediated and explained. He must come under its severity himself. By being shut out of the promised land, he shows that "by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight."
That was not the whole story. Another writer points to what God gave Moses on Mount Pisgah:
But, as we have said, Moses was under God's grace as well as under God's government; and that grace shines with special brightness on the top of Pisgah. There God let His honoured servant stand in his Master's presence and survey the promised land in all its beauty, with undimmed eyes. God let him see it from a divine viewpoint — see it not just as land Israel would hold, but as land God had given.
So would anyone ever match him? One writer answers:
Joshua succeeds him as Israel's leader. But as a prophet, called into that nearness to God, Moses had no successor. He had none until He came who stood alone in His own Person, in life and in death. He filled all the types that pictured a mediator, and went beyond them by the full measure of His infinite glory. Only in His light do they shine at all.
- Sent. God supplied the power seen in Egypt and in the wilderness. He worked through Moses, and sometimes without him.
- Served. Through forty years of signs and terrible judgments, Moses stayed a humble servant. He never used his high place to lift himself up.
- Slighted. Israel dishonoured him while he lived, then held him in great esteem once he was dead. That is the sad perversity of the human heart.
- Shut out. The man who held all that power died outside the land. His own case shows that the law justifies no one.
- Surpassed. No prophet filled the gap Moses left. It waited for the One who fills every picture of a mediator and goes far beyond them all.