Title On Mount Abarim... (Numbers 27:12-23)
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God declares death to Moses, who had led them spiritually well, although the Israelites were really chaotic people who had always lived with complaints and resentment for 40 years.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of Abarim, and see the land I gave to the children of Israel.
How did Moses feel when he climbed Mt. Abarim, looked at the promised land that he had so longed for and hoped for, and heard from God that he could not enter the land and that he had to die in front of it?
"God is so great. How can I have been faithful for the past 40 years, and now you have abandoned me. Look at those people. How have I brought them here because they are so disobedient and filled with only their own interests and greed?" , that you took my life for one disobedience. Truly God! You are so great."
It seems that he will protest against God like this, but Moses never complains to God or puts forth his credit.
Rather, he now pleads with God to raise up a new leader who will be responsible for the final entry into Canaan after his death (verses 15-17).
This kind of Moses teaches us a lot of lessons to our society and our community where the image of a true leader has collapsed. He did not assert his allegiance until the very end. He didn't even ask me to tell you how hard it was for me to do the hard work. It was only once, but he did not lose the image of a true leader who took responsibility for his disobedience and trusted his beloved people to God.
Looking at Moses like this, we are reminded of the image of our Lord.
Our Lord, who had to suffer an unfair death that had nothing to do with his own fault, did not complain or protest a single word to God until the end, but instead entrusted the people to God, saying, “Forgive their sins.” took up the cross.
What do you and I look like?
In the community I serve, in what form and for what reason are we serving the Lord? Even if there is no benefit to me, on the contrary, even if I suffer anger and injustice because of my service and devotion, am I just looking to the Lord and patiently putting up with it? Can you give up on yourself for those you love to the end?
A true leader, true devotion, does not assert his or her loyalty to the end or ask for recognition like our Lord, like Moses. Even if there is no reward or compensation given, even if you feel resentful, unfair, or suffer because of it, if it is a task that the Lord has entrusted to you, then silently accepting the task is true devotion and service.
Today we too should "go up Mount Abarim" and check once again where our devotion and faith are now.