Moses’s Unfinished Journey: Death and Work Left Undone

God’s promises to Moses came true, but only after his death. This truth should encourage us because God’s promises to us do not die when we die. Joshua chapter one opens by telling us that Moses was dead and Joshua was to take over and lead the people into the promised land. Moses had worked for 40-plus years leading the people. The Lord had even promised Moses that the people would enter their rest, but Moses never saw it.

Through the work of the Lord, Moses’s leadership was awe-inspiring, and he was extremely humble on top of it all. However, one day, he sinned against the Lord and struck the rock instead of speaking to it so that the Lord could provide water for his people. It may seem like a little thing to us, but it was a direct affront to God. Because of this, God said Moses would not go into the land with the people.

Moses’s sin and mortality made it so he could not finish the job he had spent most of the latter years of his life working toward. We are not all that different. The Lord has given us all work to do in this life and for his Kingdom. Though we may all do a decent job sometimes, we all struggle with our own sinfulness. And even though we are justified in Christ Jesus, we too will someday face death.

When the day of our death arrives, every single one of us will have uncompleted work to do. We will have tasks unfinished, goals not yet met, and purposes left unfilled, but every one of God’s promises to us will not fail to come to pass.

If done correctly, our work has always been about making this world a better place. Whether you cobble shoes or run a large organization, you work to provide something this world needs. Sure, there are obvious sinful exceptions, but as Christians, we all work to see the Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. In this light, all work is spiritual.

We will all likely die before that day arrives, but we have blessed others with our work. Christ has already consummated his Kingdom, though it is not yet fulfilled; we live in the world of the already, but not yet. Make no mistakes about it; his Kingdom will come, and we will all enter that rest, even if we have already died.

-D. Eaton