If we\u2019ve come to love Moses, flawed as he may be, over the course of the four books in which he figures prominently, it\u2019s no surprise that this tableau is bittersweet for us as well as for Israel. It\u2019s tempting to shout out to the page, if not to God, about the leader\u2019s treatment at the LORD\u2019s hands. And our feelings are merely stoked if we go back and read the mystifying story in which Moses receives his sentence (Numbers 20:1-13). But this passage is not without internal reflection on the matter. The writer wants us to notice that Moses \u2013 who, after all, did those \u201csigns and wonders,\u201d \u201cmighty deeds,\u201d and \u201cterrifying displays of power\u201d according to God\u2019s own instruction, help, and encouragement \u2013 is obedient to the last. He even dies \u201cat the LORD\u2019s command.\u201d If Moses\u2019s \u201cunimpaired sight\u201d was impressed by this mountaintop panorama, we may still assume that the view was as nothing compared with the privilege of knowing God \u201cface to face.\u201d Perhaps this story is a reminder that our ultimate rest is not in an earthly or even heavenly Promised Land but in God\u2019s very self.<\/p>\n\n
On vivid display in this psalm is our human finitude, especially compared to God\u2019s eternal strength and reliability. Particularly lovely and terrifying to me is the idea that God \u201csweep[s] us away like a dream\u201d (verse 5). I think what the psalmist is trying to capture is that strange contrast between the realness of our immediate experience in dreams and the way that, almost to a one, they somehow fade from our memories like the altogether less important minutiae of our everyday lives. \u201cHow can such substantial experiences, and how can our very lives, be like unto dust?\u201d the psalmist asks. Verses 13-17 sound to me like a prayerful poet\u2019s faithful response in the face of such questions.<\/p>\n\n
God is at the center every step of the way in this letter. In the previous chapter, Paul notes that the Thessalonians have been \u201cchosen\u201d by God \u201cbecause our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction\u201d (1:4-5). God is \u201cliving and true\u201d (1:9), and it is God\u2019s divine activity at work in the world and in the lives of these Christians to which Paul appeals. God gives Paul the \u201ccourage\u201d to \u201cdeclare \u2026 the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.\u201d God has \u201centrusted\u201d Paul with this mission of proclamation, and God will test his heart. Most moving, then, is what follows: \u201cSo deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.\u201d When we become aware of God\u2019s activity in our lives, when we get caught up in God\u2019s mission in the world, the experience inspires our personal investment. The work we do and the people we serve become \u201cvery dear to us\u201d indeed. Thanks be to God.<\/p>\n\n
In these short exchanges, we and the Pharisees encounter Jesus the playful and discerning teacher and interpreter of scripture. The second (verses 41-46) reminds us of other clever maneuvers designed to both make a point and silence his critics (see, for example, the \u201cQuestion about Paying Taxes\u201d earlier in the chapter). But more profound is the first exchange. When asked about \u201cthe greatest\u201d commandment, he gives a safe answer by quoting Deuteronomy (6:4-5). Indeed, this is the answer that the people of Israel were to keep in their hearts, recite to their children, and talk about at all times and in all places (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). But then he says that a second commandment \u201cis like it\u201d: \u201cYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d As he says, much \u201changs\u201d on these two commandments and their interrelatedness.<\/p>\n\n
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 If we\u2019ve come to love Moses, flawed as he may be, over the course of the four books in which he figures prominently, it\u2019s no surprise that this tableau is bittersweet for us as well as for Israel. It\u2019s tempting to shout out to the page, if not to God, about the leader\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[111],"class_list":["post-766587","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-25a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":111,"label":"Proper 25A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952258,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766587\/revisions\/952258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}