Deuteronomy 34:5-7
”Moses the servant of the Lord died…, according to the Word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab…, but no man knows of his sepulchre…. And Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated!’
Deuteronomy 34:5-7.
Commented Calvin: “‘So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died’…. Moses was buried by divine means, for it is said that his sepulchre is unknown…. God buried him…. It appears to have been God’s intention, to prevent superstition…. ‘Moses was 120 years old’…. All the senses of Moses remained unimpaired to extreme old age, in order that he might be fit for the performance of his duties…. God did not permit him to fail. He showed wonderful consideration for the people’s welfare. Mention is specially made of his eyes…. He was neither imbecile nor feeble, for neither were the faculties of his mind exhausted nor his body dried up…. Our dead are…to be buried…so that our grief may be restrained, by the hope of resurrection…revealed by the coming of Christ!”
In his Sermons on Deuteronomy, Calvin added: “Look what our life is! Although we have been strong, yet do we decay in the twinkling of an eye when we once pass threescore years…. But now, whereas it is reported that Moses attained to double those years — thereby it appears that God strengthened him above the common rate of men…. Here we see a wonderful goodness in God. For seeing that the people…were condemned to die in the wilderness, it had been a great discomfort to them if Moses should have died out of hand. But God reserved him!…
“Whereas in such old age men are wont to be drooping and half dead, or at least in such case as they can scarcely crawl and are half doted — yet Moses continued still in his perfect state…. We must acknowledge such a benefit — unless we wish to be condemned for unthankfulness!… “We know that the life and death of men is in God’s hand. Now, if He calls us away — it behoves us to go without any gainsaying….
“They that outlive us, must not sorrow for our death…. When we seen any man dead, God shows us…that we be all of us cursed…because of Adam’s sin…. When God takes away a man that was able to do service in His Church…, we ought to be sorry for it…. If there be a good shepherd, a good prince, a good magistrate, a man of counsel or any other that is fit to serve the whole body — and God takes him away — we ought to be sorry for him, and not without cause…. Our Lord takes away the righteous…. He calls away His servants, to rest….
“Paul tells us that when we mourn…for the death of our friends and kinsfolk or of such as served in the Church, we must not resemble the unbelievers who…have no hope (First Thessalonians 4:13)…. Paul does not say that it is sin to weep…, but he shows that our sorrowing must be moderated. Because God gives us comfort, by calling us to the hope of heavenly life wherein we shall be renewed…. God of His infinite goodness pities us still, and will not have us to perish in death but rather that it be to us a passage into everlasting life…. This hope is enough to comfort us in the middle of all our heaviness…. Our Lord Jesus Christ shows us that as He Himself is risen to glory, so we also shall be made like His image.” Moses died when 120, in his full strength!
