The Passing of the Torch
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note: This is the last sermon I preached as Pastor of First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita.
Introduction: These last four sermons before my retirement have been quite varied. The one on Ecclesiastes 12 incorporated a lot of humor–of necessity because of the subject matter–aging. If we didn’t laugh many of us would have to cry. The one on John 9 was a serious sermon, enhanced immeasurably by the participation of Sanford Alexander and his dog Ringer. Last week the Job 38 sermon was a very emotional one, for me, and the painting that Audrey Schultz did during the service will be a cherished memory for all of us. And the musical worship this whole month has been powerfully focused on the theme of each sermon. Today I want to speak to you on a favorite passage of mine that addresses better than any other I know the issue of transition in the lives of God’s people.
I want to read the Word of God as found in Deuteronomy 34. Please follow in your Bible as I read from the ESV.
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Let me quickly clarify a few things about my choice of this text for my last sermon as Lead Pastor of First Free. I am certainly no Moses; nor am I planning to die anytime soon; and furthermore, your next pastor is probably not going to be a Joshua. Well, yes, he is a Joshua, but you know what I mean. My point this morning is not to draw comparisons between the character of the men in our text and myself or Josh. But I still think there are some great principles in this Scripture passage that can help all of us process the transition we are all about to go through.
Moses was easily one of the greatest men of the Bible, or of human history, for that matter. He had a memorable start in life, floating in a basket on the Nile and then being reared in the royal court of Egypt! He experienced an amazing call from God! He performed remarkable miracles by the power of God. He suffered an unprecedented series of trials and rejections! And he accomplished an incredible feat in welding several million disorganized, rebellious, and discouraged slaves into a nation and leading them for 40 years to the very door of the Promised Land!
This morning I want us to look at the last days of Moses’ life and the passing of the torch of leadership to Joshua. The scene is unique in pathos and poignancy, and it gives us dramatic insight into certain timeless spiritual principles. I want to start with this one:
Communion with God is the greatest privilege anyone can enjoy. (34:10)
If one verse were to be picked out of the entire Pentateuch to serve as Moses’ epitaph, it would probably be Deut. 34:10: “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” Moses was unequaled in this regard in the Old Testament, or perhaps in the whole Bible.[i]
What effect does intimate communion with God have upon a person? I think several results can be cited and illustrated from the life of Moses.
1. It molds a person’s character. In Numbers 12:3, in the middle of the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam against Moses’ authority, we read this statement concerning the character of Moses: “Now the man Moses was very meek (or humble), more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
The point I would like to emphasize is that Moses wasn’t born that way. No truly meek and humble person is. Of course, a person may be naturally bashful, reserved, or introverted, but that is not the same as humility. Humility is a fruit of the Spirit that must be planted by God in a person’s heart, then watered, cultivated, and pruned.
When Moses is first introduced as an adult in the book of Exodus he was ill-tempered, proud, and self-sufficient, perhaps the least humble of men. It wasn’t until he was well past the prime of life, perhaps 90 years old, that it was said of him that he was the humblest man on earth. What produced this monumental change? I believe it was regular communion with the living God!
Friends, if our ill temper is as bad today as it was ten years ago; if our gossipy tongue and biting criticism are as evident; if our spiritual laziness and apathy are as pronounced; if our selfishness and pride are as much a barrier to effective ministry, then we have not communed with God as we should. Oh, we may have frequented His house; we may have uttered lots of fine prayers; we may have even sung in the choir. But we haven’t known Him face-to-face. Character development always results from communion with God.
2. It infuses a person’s ministry with power. Our text notes in verse 11-12 that there was “none like him for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do . . . and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” From the time of creation until the incarnation of Christ no one, not even Elijah or Elisha, was used by God to perform the kinds of miracles Moses did. He knew God intimately first; he demonstrated power in ministry as a result.
I do not mean to suggest that everyone who learns to commune with God will become a great miracle-worker. Even in biblical times there were only three great periods of miracle. But I am suggesting that when we have been communing with God, our ministry (whether it be preaching or teaching or counseling or hospitality or just loving our neighbors) is going to show results in changed lives, in people coming to Christ, in relationships being healed, in hearts encouraged. Communion with God infuses a person’s ministry with power. Moses is a man who knew God face to face, and his character and accomplishments demonstrated it.
Unfortunately, men and women who are capable of great virtue and achievement are also capable of great error. And Moses was no exception. So he is also the premier illustration of our second timeless principle, namely:
The consequences of sin follow a person to his grave. (34:4)
I suspect the most bitter words Moses ever heard were the ones spoken by God in verse 4, “you shall not go over there.” You will not go into the Promised Land. Those words rival what King David heard from the prophet Nathan after his sin with Bathsheba, “Your son shall die.” But we tend to empathize more with Moses. He didn’t murder another man and steal his wife. All he did was get angry at the Israelites for their umpteenth rebellion, struck the rock when God told him to speak to it, and then said, “Shall we (he and his brother Aaron) bring water for you out of this rock?” Of course, disobedience and robbing God of His glory only seem insignificant because we have such an inadequate view of God’s holiness.
There are several important corollaries related to the principle that “the consequences of sin follow a person to his grave” that I think we need to consider.
1. Sin plays no favorites. By that I mean, sin is not a problem unique to any one class or gender or race. It affects the great as well as the small, the rich as well as the poor, the educated as well as the ignorant, clergy as well as laity, those who live in nice communities or in the slums, and its side-effects are the same for all. God’s greatest servants – Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Peter – all learned that giftedness and success and prominence are no protection from the tragic effects of sin.
2. Pardon and forgiveness are abundantly available. In Isaiah 55:7 there are some marvelous words about God’s forgiveness:
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
The NT conveys the same theme: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What these verses are saying is that the guilt which accrues to any person’s account because of violation of God’s Law and God’s character can and will be removed upon true repentance. Though we deserve to die spiritually because of our sins, we are instead granted eternal life through the substitutionary death of Christ when we commit our hearts and lives to Him. And there is no sin that is not pardonable other than the sin of unbelief. However, God has never promised to reverse the natural consequences of sin in this life.
3. The effects of sin are irrevocable in this life. I constantly see Christians ignoring this truth. I have ignored it. And so I share it once more for all of us: while repentance and confession will result in pardon and forgiveness from sin, it will not erase the consequences. An alcoholic who repents and receives God’s forgiveness does not receive a new liver. The teenager who violates the sanctity of his or her sexuality can be forgiven by God but they don’t have their purity restored. [ii]A man or woman who gossips and distorts the truth and, in the process, destroys another’s reputation can receive God’s pardon but can’t retrieve their evil words or heal the damage done by them.
Not even tears and begging will reverse the consequences of sin. As you may remember from Deut. 3 Moses begged and pleaded with God to reverse His ruling that he could not go into the Promised Land, but to no avail. Finally God had to tell him, “Do not speak to me of this matter again.” David also fasted and prayed, pleading for the life of his baby boy, but to no avail.
Friends, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are an exception to this principle. You are not. If one act of disobedience and anger placed Moses, the friend and servant of God, in a mountain grave outside the borders of the Promised Land, what may it do to you or to me? If one act of lust and violence cost David, a man after God’s own heart, the life of his son, what may it do to you or me?
4. Yet, thankfully, God often graciously eases the pain of sin’s consequences. We must never think that God delights in the discipline of His children, or that He enjoys the pain His people experience because of their disobedience. He does not. But what He often does is to ease the pain of discipline through some undeserved kindness, like any loving father will do.
If we set down rules of conduct for our children but establish no sanctions for violating those rules, that would be to say to the child, “Here’s how I want you to behave, but if you don’t, it won’t make any difference.” No, discipline must follow violation if the child is to grow up and prosper. But there’s no better time than when he’s undergoing discipline to give him a hug and say, “I love you anyway,” or to just sit down and talk.
Moses had to suffer the consequences of his sin, but God in His grace said, “Moses, I want you to come with me up to the top of Mt. Nebo, to the peak called Pisgah, and I want you to feast your eyes upon the Promised Land. I want you to revel in the fact that you and I brought this great nation all the way from Egypt to the verge of Jordan.” Sure, Moses would have given his right arm to set foot on that land, but he was grateful for the privilege of seeing it with his own eyes.
Often, I think God comes and symbolically puts His arm around us and says, “You blew it. You made an awful mistake. It’s necessary for you to learn that disobedience results in discipline, but I haven’t abandoned you. Let’s see if we can make something beautiful out of an ugly situation.”
One’s death corresponds to his life. (34:5-7)
The death of Moses was a unique event. Can you see in your mind’s eye God and Moses standing on the top of that mountain discussing the Promised Land and the future of Israel? Can you see God pointing out the city of Jericho just across the Jordan and telling Moses that in just a few short weeks its impenetrable walls will fall down flat without any physical attack. Then He points out the city of Jerusalem to the northeast which will one day become the capital of a great nation and the home of the most magnificent temple ever to be built on planet earth?
Can you hear Him telling Moses about the future conquests of Joshua and David, about the exploits of Samson and Deborah, about the tragedy of the divided kingdom and eventual captivity of both Israel and Judah, but also about the eventual regathering of the nation under faithful servants like Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Can you hear Him describe the future incarnation of His one and only Son in the womb of a peasant girl from Nazareth, His perfect obedience to the law of God, His incredible teaching and miracle working, His death as a common criminal to pay the penalty for sin, and His powerful resurrection to demonstrate victory over sin and death.
Can you see God directing Moses to a nearby valley, and after a final farewell hug with His invisible arms of love, instructing him to lie down in a meadow where Moses takes a final breath. Then God Himself picks up his friend and carries him to a nearby cave and buries him where no human eyes have peered. I suspect a specially designed earthquake covered the mouth of that cave for good.
Why do you think the Lord Himself buried Moses? To my knowledge this is the only time God ever did such a thing. I suspect He did it to show honor to this great man. But there’s probably something more to it. I want to read a paragraph from F. B. Meyer that may have the answer for us:
Few men have had greater claims on their fellow-man than Moses. He had sacrificed his high position in Pharaoh’s court to bear his people as a nurse through the ailments of their childhood. He had enjoyed unparalleled opportunities of fellowship with God. He had wielded uncommon power: at the bidding of his faith winds had brought meat; rocks had gushed with water-springs; the sea had parted and met; the desert-floor had been strewn with food. Is it not more than likely that, if the Lord had not concealed his grave, the valley of Bethpeor would have become a second Mecca, trodden by the feet of pilgrims from all the world? It was best to make such idolatry impossible. The hidden grave forced the people to turn from earth to heaven.
By the way, there’s a strange and cryptic reference in the NT book of Jude that lends credence to what we have just read. There we are told that the Archangel Michael was involved in a battle with Satan over the body of Moses! Could it be that Satan wanted to reveal the tomb of Moses for the very purpose of veneration while Michael was assigned the task of keeping him away from it?
But the point that I earnestly desire for us to see is that a man’s death is in keeping with his life. It is vain to live “the life of a reprobate,” and yet expect the “death of the righteous.” I have stood by the deathbed of dozens of people and have officiated at hundreds of funerals over the last four decades. And I’m here to tell you that there is a profound difference between the death of a godly person and the death of an unbeliever, or even an ungodly believer.
An ancient Roman writer, when asked what he thought was the greatest distinctive of those who belonged to the sect known as Christians, responded, “Christians die well.” They do indeed, and their believing relatives respond to death well. They are the only ones who know that separation is not final. They are the only ones who know that to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord. They sorrow, but they do not sorrow as those who have no hope.
When God’s servants pass from the scene, God’s work goes on. (34:9)
I don’t know how many times I have heard these words and even spoken them myself: “How will we ever fill his shoes?” Or,“No one can take her place.” I said it myself about dear friends who left First Free in 1978 to plant West Church and others who left in 1981 to plant East Church. I said it about Gene Nelson and John Gee, about Linda Hanneman and Anita Bengtson. I said it about scores of others who were in important positions of leadership in our church but then moved away from Wichita or experiences the Homegoing of the believer. I thought, “Lord, why do we have to lose people like these?”
But God’s work is greater than any person. Do you know something? When God’s servant leaves, nothing of God leaves. Let me repeat that, because it’s the theme I want you to take home with you today and to never forget: When God’s servant leaves, nothing of God leaves. Again, there are several important subsidiary principles which help us understand the reason why God’s work goes on.
1. While every believer is invaluable, no one is indispensable. Do you know that God doesn’t need you, and He doesn’t need me? He doesn’t need Billy Graham or Charles Swindoll or John Piper. God is not greater because of our service to Him, nor would He be any less God if we didn’t even exist. Acts 17:24-25 reads: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
None of us is indispensable. But friends, that’s not a detraction from our worth; in fact, it’s exactly there that we find our greatest worth and value. Though God doesn’t need me, He nevertheless has chosen me and stoops to work by and through me.
2. God is a specialist at filling shoes, though He never clones His servants. When Elijah’s ministry was finished, God raised up Elisha to take his place. When Daniel died, Ezra was ready to step into the gap. Before Ezra died, Nehemiah was already on the scene. When Paul was martyred Timothy and John Mark and Epaphroditus were ready to assume his duties.
In more modern times the great Dwight L. Moody was considered by many to be indispensable to the great Moody Memorial Church he founded in Chicago. But in the years after his death such great pastors as James Gray, Alan Redpath, Harry Ironside, Warren Wiersbe, and now Irwin Lutzer have followed in his train.
When Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia, his young associate, Dr. James Montgomery Boice was called by God to succeed him, and Philip Ryken after him. Now that Dr. Ryken is President of Wheaton College I am sure his successor at Tenth Pres will be no less effective.
And you know something? It’s amazing how frequently God fills empty shoes to overflowing. By that I mean the one deemed irreplaceable is succeeded by one who turns out to be a person of greater gifts and even greater success than the one he replaced. Anytime we deem any Christian leader indispensable, we are giving that person a place of prominence God never intended him to have.
Moses was a great servant of God; no one can take that from him. But by all accounts, Joshua was a fitting successor to Israel’s greatest prophet. He filled Moses’ shoes very adequately. Of course, they didn’t fit perfectly, for God never clones His servants. There was only one Moses, only one Daniel, only one Esther, only one Paul. And that’s all God ever intended for there to be. In a sense the whole notion of trying to fill another man’s shoes is mistaken. We should, speak instead in the biblical language of building upon another’s foundation.
And that brings us to a requirement that God lays on the people in order for His work to go on:
3. The torch must be passed to a person of the Book. Turn with me to the very next words after the end of Deuteronomy, Joshua 1:1-9.
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua isn’t asked to be another Moses or to copy his methods and mannerisms. But he is asked to build upon the same foundation Moses laid – the foundation of God’s Word.
Joshua is to talk about God’s Word. When major decisions must be made by the people, Joshua is to read or quote relevant portions of the Book. When he is counseling, he is to do so from the wisdom granted in the Book. When it comes time to discipline someone, the nature and severity of that discipline (and the subsequent restoration) is to be determined by the Book. Joshua is to be the mouthpiece of the Lord, not giving his personal opinions but speaking God’s truth from the Book.
He is to meditate on it. “Meditate on it day and night.” God’s Word is not like other books. Most human books we read once, twice at the most. Once you know how the story ends, what’s the point of reading it again? But God’s Book is unique in that the more one reads it and meditates upon it, the greater the appreciation of its wisdom and insight. Meditation, of course,, is not daydreaming. It involves searching for meaning, applying the meaning to one’s life, and seeking to bring glory to God from it. But talking about the Book and meditating upon the Book, as important as they are, are not the bottom line. Practicing it is.
He is to practice it. Verse 7 reads, “being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” Most of us here this morning find it natural not to go left. We’ve seen what liberalism has done to Christianity, how it has taken over some of the great seminaries in our country and reduced some once-great denominations to a mere shadow of their former selves. The only gospel many of them preach today is a Gospel of relativism, humanism, and tolerance of what God calls sin.
But God also forbids us to move to the right, and there are scores of issues where conservative Christians have historically staked out positions that are to the right of the Scriptures; i.e., they are more conservative than God. For example, no divorce and no remarriage for any reason, or no dancing, or no alcohol. But friends, if we can’t prove our views from Scripture, then what place should they have among our convictions? Oh, it’s fine to have them as opinions. In fact, I would say it’s even OK to have them as personal practices. But we have no right to require them of others or criticize them if they disagree.
Friends, the end of all Bible study should not be that we become more conservative, but that we become more holy. If our Bible reading or studying or memorizing is not resulting in greater conformity to the Word, then we are prostituting its purpose.
Joshua, by the way, remained a “man of the Book” throughout his life, and when it came time for him to deliver his own farewell address, it contained this same warning (Joshua 23:6): “Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left.”
The final principle I want to offer you this morning is this:
God promises help to His people in a time of transition.
I see God’s help coming to Joshua and the people in three ways, and all three are crucial if he is going to be successful in building upon Moses’ foundation.
1. God’s promises are the same even though the times change. In Joshua 2:3 God lays this promise on Joshua: “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” It’s as though God were saying, “Joshua, my promises aren’t conditioned by time. They are not grounded in Moses; they are grounded in Me!” How grateful am I today that the promises of God are still as reliable as they were when first given. It is still true that
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.”
“My grace is sufficient for you.”
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
2. God’s presence is the same, even though the human instruments change. In Josh. 1:5 we read, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Moses didn’t have any exclusive contract on God’s presence. Joshua was eligible for the same.
3. God’s precepts are the same even though the circumstances change. God says, in effect, to Joshua, “I gave some precepts, some basic moral laws to Moses. He’s now gone, but the instructions came from Me, and I’m not gone. You must obey them.” There are those today telling us that the moral precepts of the Bible are outmoded or outdated. Lying, stealing, immorality, marriage, sexual orientation all need to be redefined in order to be relevant to man in the 90’s. Baloney! God’ precepts are the same even when circumstances and culture and politics change.
Joshua was learning that his success and prosperity would never come through competing with Moses but rather through getting to know Moses’ God, becoming a man of the same Book, believing the same promises, experiencing the same presence, obeying the same precepts.
I’ll tell you something else that hasn’t changed and never will–and that is the Gospel, the plan of salvation. Though every one of us is a sinner, God sent His one and only Son to die on the cross. At Calvary we view a sight never seen before or since in human history. The Judge of the Courtroom, knowing that the defendants before Him are guilty, refuses to pronounce them guilty but instead steps down from the bench and surrenders Himself to pay the penalty of the defendant’s crimes. Since the crimes were worthy of capital punishment, He surrenders to the death of a common criminal. And because the crimes have been paid for, He offers a verdict of “not guilty” to anyone willing to come over to His side. It doesn’t get any better than that!
Conclusion: On a monument to John and Charles Wesley in Westminster Abbey, the following words are attributed to the great English revivalist of the 1700’s: “God buries his workmen but carries on his work.” God wasn’t looking for another Moses. He was, however, looking for someone with character, faith and zeal, who would carry on the work. He found one in Joshua. He’d be delighted to use you, too.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the powerful truths in this passage of Scripture, and the thousands of passages we have studied together over the past four decades. Lord, help all of us to be people of the Word, turning neither to the left or the right. Keep us wholly devoted to You. Thank you for providing us a Joshua to lead us. Help us to realize that the most important thing about Josh Black is not his personality; it’s not his vision; it’s not his leadership; it’s not even Maggie and his beautiful family. It’s that Josh is a man of the Book. May he always be that. Thank you most of all for Jesus, Your one and only Son, who died on the Cross to save His people from their sins. Amen.
DATE: July 31, 2011
[i]. It is intriguing to me that the intimacy spoken of is not Moses’ knowledge of God
but the Lord’s knowledge of him– “the Lord knew him face to face.” Many people speak glibly of “knowing God,” but how much more important it is to be known by Him, to have our name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! In 1 Cor. 8:2-3 we read, “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” Moses was a man who loved God and the Lord knew him face to face.
[ii]. I appreciate the good intentions of those who speak of secondary virginity, but I’m not sure it’s a valid concept. I absolutely believe that sin has a cumulative effect, so the sooner we stop it, the better our lives are going to be, but we cannot go back to where we would have been.