(369) – THE SIN OF MOSES

Jehovah condemned Moses to death to prevent him from going into the land of Canaan. That was not, therefore, a natural death, but a condemnatory death, because otherwise he would go in. Let us read the text: “Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. Jehovah showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the hinder sea, and the South, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. Jehovah said to him, ‘This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your seed.” I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor: but no man knows of his tomb to this day’” (Deut. 34:1-6). It is obvious in the text that Jehovah killed and buried him, and Satan knew where was the body of Moses (Jude 9).

It is proven that Jehovah killed Moses to prevent him from going into the Promised Land, Canaan. In the messages of all Christian religious currents Canaan is a figure of heaven. There is a hymn that declares this, saying: “Here I go, walking to Canaan; Glory be to God, here I go to Canaan.” Now, if Canaan is a figure of heaven, Moses, being forbidden to go into Canaan, indicates that he is not in heaven. And the way by which Jehovah forbade the people to go into the new land is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which says: “With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?” (Heb. 3:17,18). Death prevented Moses from going into rest, and this was by the wrath of Jehovah. Moses declares it, saying: “Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘You also shall not go in there’” (Deut. 1:37).

If Jehovah were God the Father, Moses would be eternally in hell, in the hands of Satan; and this is what happened. When Jesus, who loved Moses, sent for him after the resurrection, found him in hell, in the hands of Satan. The text says: “But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, ‘May the Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9). Jehovah condemned Moses; Jesus Christ raised him; therefore, Jehovah is not Jesus, or the Father. Jehovah killed and condemned Moses to hell. Jesus, full of the love of the Father, went after him in hell.

The New Testament reveals that Moses, the servant of Jehovah, was a legitimate Christian. Let us read the text: “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:24-27). Moses was 40 years old (Acts 7:23-29). Moses stayed in the desert for 40 years more. When he was 80 years old, Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire, in a bush of thorns, and said to him: “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him, ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled, and dared not look. The Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground’” (Acts 7:30-33). Through the revelation of the apostle Paul we get to know that the sandals of Moses, which Jehovah asked him to take off, were the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15). So, as Jehovah was going to give the law, which is incompatible with the Gospel, he told Moses to take off the gospel of peace, which he had put on when he was 40. Let us read the text that proves that the law of Jehovah is incompatible with the gospel: “Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:1-4). This proves, then, that the law of Jehovah is the greatest hindrance to the free salvation through Christ.

Moses believed in Jesus Christ and chose to be mistreated together with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of Egypt; and after serving Jehovah for 40 years, he fell in disgrace and was sentenced to death so as not to enter into the rest together with the cursed generation that left Egypt. As Moses was raised up by Jesus and delivered from the power of Satan, as we read in Jude 9, turning up alive and in glory on the mount of transfiguration, it becomes evident that he was saved (Luke 9:28-31). The word of Paul was fulfilled in Moses, which says: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

Let us analyze how Jehovah looked at Moses. Miriam and Aaron set themselves against Moses, who, gentle as he was, was silent. Jehovah took his side and said to them: “If there is a prophet among you, I Jehovah will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Jehovah’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? The anger of Jehovah was kindled against them” (Num. 12:1-9). Some other time three young men went against Moses: Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Jehovah defended Moses again, and opened the earth. They all went down to the sepulcher alive with their wives and children (Num. 16:32-34). And the fire of Jehovah consumed 250 men, leaders of the congregation, who followed those who died into the pit (Num. 16:1-2,35). We can measure the greatness of Moses in the sight of Jehovah. The Jewish people were in sin, and Jehovah said to Jeremiah: “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth” (Jer. 15:1).

Now, Jehovah rejected Moses and forbade him to enter into Canaan, killed him, and sent him to hell. What was the great sin committed by Moses against Jehovah, that he should be delivered to Satan? (Deut. 34:1-6; Jude 9). The unpardonable sin that Moses committed against Jehovah, which cancelled 40 years of faithful service, was the love for his people. Moses loved his brothers. The people in the desert asked Aaron to make him a golden calf, and Jehovah, full of anger, decided to destroy the entire nation. Moses entreated Jehovah on behalf of the people in such a way, that Jehovah heard him (Ex. 32:10-14). After wandering for 40 years in the desert, twelve men were sent to spy the land. When they returned, ten of them said evil things about the land, and the people cried and murmured. Again, Jehovah, full of fury, decided to destroy them. Again, Moses, full of love, interceded for the people with such passion, that Jehovah repented (Num. 11:20).

The difference, therefore, between God the Father and Jehovah is the following: To the Father, whoever loves his brother, has eternal life; and to Jehovah, whoever loves his brothers more than him, dies (1 John 3:14). Also, for the Christian to show that he loves God, he has to love his brother; and in the Old Testament, if Jehovah is against someone, we have to be against that one, too. Luckily, in the New Testament God is love, and does not hate anyone.

David, a character of the Old Testament, loved of Jehovah, said: “Jehovah, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies” (Ps. 139:21-22). But we, Christians, love even our enemies and persecutors.

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira

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