“Moshe was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished. The people of Israel mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo’av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended. The people of Israel mourned Moshe on the plains of Moav for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.”-Deuteronomy 34:7-8
Verse 7 (and remember 7 is the number of completion) tells us that Moses passed away when he was 120 years old.
We’re also told he was in good health and that his eyesight was still strong.
In other words, technically speaking, Moses didn’t really die of old age.
He died because the Lord had deemed his time had come.
Recall this statement from the book of Genesis.
“Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'”-Genesis 6:3
Although we find many people in Scripture who lived longer than 120 years, it appears that 120 years is held up as the ideal and perfect length a human being should live.
Therefore, it makes sense that the Lord had Moses live exactly that long and not any longer.
After Moses died, we’re told the people mourned for him for the traditional 30-day period.
During the mourning period, all the people stayed huddled together inside the camp at Moab as they awaited orders from Joshua, their new leader.
On that note, take a look at verse 9.
“Y’hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Israel heeded him and did what Adonai had ordered Moshe.”
This is another one of those verses that is often misunderstood.
When you read it, you get the idea that the Spirit of Wisdom filled Joshua because Moses laid his hands on him.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Moses did NOT supernaturally put the spirit of wisdom in Joshua.
It was a standard custom for an outgoing leader to place his hands upon the incoming leader to symbolize the transfer of authority from one man to another.
Understand that ONLY God can put His Holy Spirit inside of man.
And yes for all you Christians out there, this is something God did a billion times BEFORE the day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts ever happened.
In fact, it’s made quite crystal clear in the Scriptures that God imparts His Spirit of Wisdom into all His chosen mediators and leaders.
First, Joshua officially became the new leader of Israel when Moses laid his hands on him and then God filled him up with His Spirit of Wisdom.
I’m done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Yeshua, full of the Holy Spirit,
left the Jordan and
was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness.”
-Luke 4:1
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