The Resurrection of Moses

Shawn Brummund: Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sabbath School Study Hour. We are just so grateful that you have decided to come and join us here, as we come together in our local church, which is the Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh Day Adventist Church here in the greater Sacramento area of Southern California, USA. For those of you who are joining us locally, it's nice to be able to have you, as you're plugging in livestream across the country, across different countries of the world.

For those of you who are watching through our various television networks, it is good to be able to have you join us here over the next hour, as we worship, as we study, and as we grow in the faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, looking at His Word. Today is a bit of a milestone Sabbath in the fact that it is our last study, our last weekly study on this particular topic and quarterly which we've been looking at for three months now, which is that of the book of Deuteronomy. And so, one of the most powerful, fundamental books that we could find in all of Scripture, and we are looking at lesson number 13.

And so, please, if you have a quarterly lesson, go ahead and grab that. Of course, most importantly grab your Bible. The Bible is our main textbook for today's study, and we're looking at the resurrection of Moses. What are the implications of that? What does the Scripture say both in Deuteronomy and outside? And so, we look forward to you to study with us here today.

Now, before we go ahead and invite our singers out to lead us in worship, I want to invite you to take advantage of a free gift offer that we have for you here this morning, and that is entitled, "The Day of the Lord," amazing facts about the return of Jesus Christ. And so, this is one of the most comprehensive studies and resources that you can find in concern to the Second coming of Jesus. What does the Bible teach on that? Go ahead and take advantage of that. All you have to do is dial 1-866-788-3966, and we will be happy to send that out to you. Ask for Offer #825. That's #825 when they go ahead and answer that call. And we'll send it out to you.

If you're in North America-- that's Canada, U.S., and different U.S. Territories-- glad to be able to get that to you. Now, if you'd like to get a digital copy of that, and you are in the North American continent, we're happy to be able to have that available to you as well. And so, just go ahead and text that. You want to text that to the information that is on the screen, and we'll be able to-- you'll be able to get a free digital download for that.

I want to invite you to join me, as we ask the Lord to be with us in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity to be able to be here this morning. For those of us who are in the church and for those of us who are watching online or on television, we want to pray, God, that you will bless each and every one of us as we open your Bible. We claim that promise, that your Holy Spirit will come upon us and lead us and guide us into all truth, to give us spiritual discernment. And we pray again, Lord, that you will fulfill your promise and send that to us even now. Please be with our teacher, Pastor Doug, as he brings the Word to us; and, of course, be with his heart, his mind, his lips as he brings to life and explains the Word of God for us again today. In Jesus's name, we pray these things, God, amen.

Doug Batchelor: Good morning. Good to see each of you here, and I want to welcome again those who are watching. We know that there's always a lot of people from a kaleidoscope of different countries around the world that are studying with us for our Sabbath School Study Hour. And I'm almost going to have to learn how to do this again. It's been so long since I've taught the lesson, because we just came off doing this evangelistic program, and there was a lot of other things going on. And I'm kind of sad because Deuteronomy is my favorite book in the Bible, and I've only been able to teach about three or four of these lessons; but I'm glad that I get to come here for the finale and study this with you.

Moses is probably one of the most central characters of the Bible. Of course, not only did he write six books-- now you're thinking six-- you've got, you know, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Job would be number six. But he really is the great lawgiver in the Bible that God spoke to. He's the one who was the doctor that took care of the birth of a nation. He was there when Israel was brought out. He's a great savior. And Moses is such a unique character because, of course, he's born as a slave, but he's adopted, through miraculous means, raised up in the palace of the most sophisticated country in the world at that time. So, he received the best education available in his day, and then he goes from the palaces; and, you know, he kills that Egyptian, has to run out into the wilderness. And he ends up spending 40 years following around those sheep and goats in a desert. And he probably figured that's how he would end his days.

But at 80, God calls him again and says, "I've got another big job for you." Just an incredible life that Moses lived. Now, Moses's life is divided in an interesting way, three generations. You have the 40 years of Moses's life where he is in Egypt. Then you have the 40 years where he is in the wilderness. And then you have the 40 years where he is leading people from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land. So, this is at the birth of the nation. When Israel was finally settled in the Promised Land, they have three 40s. You've got the 40 years of King Saul, the first king. He starts to deliver them from the Philistines. Then you've got 40 years of David's reign. And then you have 40 years of Solomon's reign. And then the kingdom is divided. So, you've got 40 is sort of like a generation in the Bible. And that's why I think it's interesting that Jesus said in about 30 AD, speaking of the destruction of the temple, He said, "There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown away. This generation will not pass away--" Jesus makes that prediction in 30 AD; and 70 AD, 40 years later, the temple is destroyed. So, even the numbers connected with the life of Moses are amazing.

Well, we're coming to the end of Moses's life, but it actually is kind of ending on a happy note. The title of the lesson is, "The Resurrection of Moses." And we have a memory verse. The memory verse is from the book of Jude, and this is verse 9, because there's only one chapter in the book of Jude. If you have your quarterly with you, you can find this in your Bible. I'd encourage you, just say it out loud with me. This is Jude verse 9. Here in your lesson, it's from the New King James Version. You ready? "Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but he said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'" It's talking about some contest between Michael the archangel, and the devil, and the body of Moses. And so this comes up a little later in the lesson, so we'll take a closer look at that.

But if you go to section one, it talks about the sin of Moses. Now, Moses, while he was a man, in many ways it was a type of Christ. He was a human. How many humans have sinned? All. Just the right side of the auditorium? Just the left? Some of you 50/50 down the middle? It's everybody. You can even look at the person on the left and the right and say, "You know, you're a sinner," and you'd be telling the truth. Don't do it, but you could. So, we're all sinners except one person. Who is it that lived a life without sin? Jesus.

So, even though Moses was a great man-- and do you know there's some Bible characters, you don't really find a record of the sin of Daniel in the Bible. But you know, Daniel in chapter 9, he says, "While I was confessing my sin and the sin of my people--" He saw he was a sinner. Joseph, I mean Joseph, he was so obedient, but you don't really find a record of any sin in Joseph's life, but even these godly people-- Elijah, we read that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. He struggled. He got discouraged and afraid he might die.

So, they were human. So, don't get discouraged. But Christ was sinless. Even Moses, he made some mistakes along the way. And if you look in your lesson, the first section here talking about the sin of Moses-- before I get to that, we're not going to get to the big sin that kept him out of the Promised Land. First you read in Exodus 2, verse 11, "It came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, and he went to his brethren, and he looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. He looked this way and that--" He knew he was going to do something to that taskmaster. So, he looked around to see if there were any witnesses. "And when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."

Maybe he thought this was going to be the first step in launching a revolution to help all the slaves rise up and help him overwhelm the Egyptians. He had a sense that God wanted to use him somehow to deliver his people from the Egyptians, but that wasn't God's plan. He kind of acted on his own, committed murder in the process. You go to Exodus 4. And when God calls him-- this is after the 40 years in the wilderness- God calls Moses and says, "I want to use you," and he starts to equivocate and make all these excuses. And this is Exodus 4:13. "He said, 'O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever You will send. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses."

Now, would God get angry with Moses unless Moses had done something wrong? Does that make sense? So, Moses sinned. He had said, "No, I don't want to do it, and you get someone else. And look online, you'll find somebody. I haven't spoken Egyptian in years." And God said, "Who made man's tongue?" And then you read in Exodus 4:24, "And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him." Now, this is--we always get questions about this interesting little episode. You just, you read the word, "The LORD sought to kill him," and it's almost like God swung, and He missed. If God wants to kill you, can He kill you? No, it means that He was-- He had judgment. He had, like, the sword of Damocles hanging over him, kind of like Balaam, an angel with a sword. And he said, "If it wasn't for the donkey, I would've slain you." And so, you know, sometimes God shows you're on the verge of disaster, because Moses was disobeying when it came to the covenant of circumcision. And so, we see that, you know, in the life of Moses, that he was a person, he loved the Lord, he wanted to serve the Lord, but he made mistakes.

But then finally, unfortunately, near the end of his life, he's just about brought the people to the borders of the Promised Land. Moses became exasperated. And you feel for him, because you think, after all he's been through, to kind of lose it on the borders of the Promised Land like that, how tragic. Now, you read about this in Numbers chapter 20, verse 7. "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation--'" Now, this is happening because they're out of water again. "'Gather the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes.'" What were they to do? To speak. And they were not to shout, and they were not to beat the rock, they were to "'Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water.'"

Now, this evidently had happened several times because, you know, when they first came out of Egypt, they drank water at the springs of Marah, and then they went further in the desert, and they had no water, and they cried unto Moses, and Moses, he struck the rock one time. Water came out of the rock, and that was a type of Christ. That was only supposed to happen one time. Jesus was only smitten once for you, meaning, you know, there was only one judgment of Christ. And but as they went from place to place, it seems like this miracle was repeated, because Paul says, "The rock that followed them was Christ." And it talks about this rock that living water came out of.

And so, this had to happen more than one time. "'Speak to the rock, and it will yield its water; and you'll give the congregation to drink and their animals.'" So, it must've been quite a bit of water. "So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as the LORD commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, 'Hear now, ye rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock?' Then Moses lifted up his hand, and he struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'Because you did not believe Me, to hallow or to honor Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.'"

Ooh, that's a pretty heavy judgment. I mean, your whole life mission has been to be used of God, to bring the people into the Promised Land, and you're not far from the borders of the Promised Land. You lose your temper, and you sin. And now what was the sin of Moses in this event? Some people think the Lord is being pretty harsh on Moses. I mean, if you had to lead this-- the Bible says they were stubborn and stiffnecked people. Several times, Moses said, "Lord, why do you have me responsible for all these people?" He said, "Did I bring them forth? I'm not their father. Why have I got this burden?" And 40 years of judging the people.

Now, the Bible tells us that Moses sat as a judge. First, he was judging every little case, and then he got some elders to help him, but he still was sitting as sort of the supreme court, all their disputes. You know what a judge has to do? He's got to listen to problems all day long, and he's got to find solutions. Can you see where Moses would get tired? And how many times did they lose faith? God, you know, saves them from Egypt, through all the plagues. Then they lose faith there at the borders of the Red Sea. And then God parts the sea for them, which would, you know, probably stick in my mind. Then they run out of bread, and they say, "The Lord doesn't love us. He brought us out here," to kill them. God gives them bread. Then they run out of water. God gives them water. Then they're attacked by their enemies. God delivers them from their enemies.

You think, time after time-- they said, "Oh, we need some meat." God sends them quail. Time after time, when a miracle arose, and God answered their prayer, you think they'd finally start behaving. But this goes right up to the borders of the Promised Land. And can you understand maybe why Moses would become exasperated?

Now, are we a lot better than the children of Israel? How many of you have had God perform miracles of provision for you in your life? Have you sometimes forgotten His provision? When something goes wrong-- you know, five minutes of listening to the devil, you can forget all of God's miracles and blessings in your life. It's just amazing how that works. And Moses, I don't know what happened. He was tired. He was exasperated. And he and Aaron, they got so angry, they struck the rock. They sort of berated the people. "You rebels." He struck it twice. God didn't tell them to strike it at all. And evidently, he had just lost his temper. Probably Moses had lost his temper with some righteous indignation when he killed the Egyptian earlier in his life. And yet, the Bible says he was the meekest man that ever lived.

So, what was the sin of Moses? I've got four things here that I identify in this experience. One, God had commanded him to take the rod in his hand, and to speak to the rock. Moses disobeyed, and he smote the rock. Secondly, he struck the rock twice, which indicated an anger of spirit and a want of attention to the presence of God. He forgot that he was a messenger for God, and God was there. Three, he permitted his spirit to be overwhelmed by his sense of the people's hardness of heart; and thus, being provoked, was led to speak unadvisedly with his lips. "Hear now, ye rebels." That's not what God told him to say. And four, he did not glorify God, but he took the glory and the honor for this miracle on himself. He said, "Must we bring you water out of the rock?" Moses was not a magician.

Now, the interesting thing about this is even though Moses did all of those things wrong, did God still bring water out of the rock? I wonder how many times God has answered our prayers, even though we pray wrong. And sometimes God has blessed, even though the messenger is flawed. I remind myself of that frequently, that the Word of God has inherent power. And even though I could be a flawed vehicle, God can still perform a miracle for you.

I remember meeting a man that said he came to the Lord at listening to an evangelistic program by an evangelist that was later arrested for living a double life. But while the evangelist was up preaching, he was saying things that were true. This man gave his heart to Jesus. Even though the evangelist, at the very time he was preaching, was misbehaving badly with finances and with girlfriends, and that struck me. This was years ago, when I was pastoring in New Mexico. This guy, he just said, "You know, his sermon brought me to the Lord." I thought, the Lord used him. And then I remember God can speak through a donkey, right? So, God performed the miracle because He's God, even though Moses did not go about it the right way.

So, Moses sinned, and there are severe consequences for that sin. What did God say? "You will not bring the congregation into the land." There probably couldn't have been any keener punishment. He was looking forward to making the final delivery of the package, if you know what I mean. So, this was a great disappointment. In Deuteronomy 1, verse 36, Moses now is rehearsing the experience of the children of Israel, and he said that no one's going to enter the Promised Land from that original group that are over 20 years of age, "'except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, to him and all his children I'm giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD.' The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, 'Even you shall not enter in here. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he will go in there. Encourage him, for he will cause the children of Israel to inherit it.'"

There's several things I want you to notice here. First of all, it might have been a little bit hard when you know somebody is replacing you because you've performed poorly. And then the boss says, "I want you to train them and tell them everything you know 'cause they're gonna take your place when you're fired." How do you like that assignment? "We've hired your replacement. Encourage them. Teach them, train them 'cause you're not going into the Promised Land. You don't get your retirement." But he took that well.

The other thing is don't miss the Word. Do you have your Bibles open? I want you to highlight a verse, if you do. If you look here, I read through it, but I don't know if you caught it. Deuteronomy 3, verse 26. "But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me." Who does that remind you of? Who took the anger of the Lord on our account? Jesus. Moses is the great mediator. He is one of the most powerful types of Christ in the Bible. Did the devil try to kill Jesus as a baby? Did the devil try to kill Moses as a baby? He did. Did--was Moses born among slaves, but he was never a slave? Jesus was born among sinners, but He was never a sinner. Was Moses the great mediator that went between God and man? A mediator, of course, is, you know, a go-between. Moses said, "I'll speak to the Lord, and then I'll come and I'll speak to you, and then I'll go back and speak to the Lord." Went up the mountain. And Christ is our intercessor.

You see a picture of Joshua leading the children of Israel into battle with the Amalekites, and Moses was standing on the mountain with his arms outstretched. And as long as the people see him with his arms stretched out, interceding for them, they're victorious. When his arms get tired, and they go down, they lose. So, Aaron and Hur lift his arms back up, they win. There's lose, win; lose, lose, lose, lose; win. But they noticed there was a connection. What does that say to us? When we see Jesus on that hill, on the cross, with His arms stretched out, and we know that He's interceding now with His hands stretched out before the Father, that it is encouraging us in the battle against the enemy, amen? So, he says, "The LORD was angry with me on your account."

You know, even though there's great people in the Bible, sometimes they don't always get everything they may have wanted. What was the big desire of David's heart? He wanted to build a temple for the Lord. And he had been a shepherd living in tents, and he saw the tabernacle of the Lord was in a tent. But finally, David became king, and he had a beautiful house, but the tabernacle was still in the tent-- or the ark was still in a tent, and he wanted to build it. And first Nathan said, "Go for it. The Lord is with you, David." Then God spoke to Nathan the prophet and said, "Go back, tell David, 'No, you're a bloody man. You cannot build it for me, but your son-- his name is Solomon, or peace-- he will build me a house. Your son will build me a house that will last forever.'"

Jesus is the Son of David who built the house for the Lord. David didn't get to fulfill his promise of doing it himself. So, he made every provision for his son. Moses did not get to bring the people into the Promised Land, so he made every provision for Joshua. And the book of Deuteronomy was sort of the final message of encouragement, rehearsing the history. I think I told you it's one of the most important books, because it's the book Jesus quotes from three times when He's tempted by the devil. All three times, He quotes from Deuteronomy. When the nation of Israel had lost the Word of God, and Hilkiah the priest was cleaning out the temple, he says, "We've found the book of the law." They had found the book of Deuteronomy, and that brought about a revival.

So, the message here is very powerful. Moses writes that book after he knows he's not going to make it into the Promised Land physically. So, then we've got the next section, the sin of Moses, part two. Deuteronomy 31, verse 1 and 2, "Then Moses went and spoke these words to all of Israel. He said to them: 'I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross over this Jordan.'" Moses was realizing his limitations. And he said--now, when it says he's 120 years old, and he said, "I can't go out and come in,"

I don't think it means that Moses was feeble. Because you read later, before he died, he climbs a mountain, and the Bible says his natural force was not abated, and his eyes had not dimmed. I think he's telling them, you know, "I can't go into the Promised Land. I can't continue to go out and come in and lead you anymore," as he had done. He had been going in and coming out to the tabernacle as their representative, and the time was going to end. Deuteronomy 34, verse 1, "Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali."

Now, why does God show him this? You know, God said, "Look, I know how much you wanted to lead them into the land, but I'm going to give you a vision of the land." Now, we've been in that country before. And from the top of Mount Pisgah, or Nebo--and when you sing in your hymnal, you'll be surprised there are several songs that talk about from Pisgah's lofty heights, or something like that. It's referring to the mountain where Moses saw the Promised Land from this mountain. But you can't see all the places that are mentioned here with natural eyes. If you've got eagle vision, you can't see all these places, because they were hidden by other mountains.

So, when it says God showed him this, he saw it in a supernatural vision here. He says--let me go back here to Deuteronomy chapter 4, and you can read here, and it says it showed him the land across the land of Gilead as far as Dan. That's way up in the north. All of Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea. Now, for one thing, had the children of Israel had their land divided to them yet? No, the land had not even been divided.

So, how is it God's showing him the land of Judah, and He's showing him the land of Manasseh. They hadn't even cast lots to figure out whose land was whose land. God is showing Moses in a vision the land. You know, it's kind of fun. How many of you have a drone? One, two, three, four, five, six. I don't have a drone. Amazing Facts has a drone. They're really neat because you can get an aerial perspective. And they're using drones for all kinds of things. And you know, people get lost in the woods, they're sending up a drone to go find them now. And if folks are hiking down a trail, and they don't know which way to turn, they send the drone up, and they go look around. And movies are almost exclusively using drones, where they used to use helicopters to get these great shots. It's really great 'cause it gives you an interesting perspective. On the website of our church, you'll see the opening shot is a video. It's a flyover of the church with a drone. Well, God actually gave him sort of, like, a drone shot of the Promised Land, but He didn't show it to them the way it was. I think He showed them the Promised Land at its zenith of glory, the land flowing with milk and honey.

Now, whenever you say that-- if you've ever been to Israel, and you know-- I remember reading in the Bible about this land flowing with milk and honey. And then you read the stories in the Bible. You know, Absalom's riding through the woods, and he gets his head caught in a tree. And Jonathan's going through the woods, and honey is dripping from the trees. And you hear about the woods. And then you go to Israel, and it's a lot of desert, and you don't see a lot of honey, and you don't see a lot of milk, and you don't see a lot of woods. And you're going, what happened? Well, this has been one of the most conquered lands in history. I'll tell you a little secret that one of our tour guides told us is there was one ruler. I don't know if it was Suleman the Magnificent, but one of the Muslim rulers that he decided to tax people based on how many trees they had on their land. Well, what would you do if you're being taxed on the number of trees you have on your land? They cut them down. Do you know why the homes are so narrow in Holland? Because they taxed people based on how much street frontage they had. So, you know what the people did? They built their houses where they were 8 feet wide and 7 stories tall. It's interesting what people do to avoid taxes.

So, they cut down all the trees in the Promised Land, and then they were conquered by a couple of nations who came through, and they sowed salt in the land, and it destroyed the farming ability. And so, the land you see now is not like the land there was then. Indeed, you read about Job. Job talks about his flocks, and his herds, and his camels, and his sheep, and his donkeys, and all the livestock he had. Job lived in an area that is desert now.

So, the climate has changed in the last 2000, 3000 years, from the time of Moses 3500 years ago. Things were different back then. And God showed him this land that was beautiful, farming land, springs of water, lots of vegetation, forests, a beautiful land. There was fruit. They had grapes that were so big, it took two men to carry one cluster of grapes back then. That's before the Jews even started farming it. So, it must have been a beautiful land. So, God shows him this because He loves him. And it says, "I cause you to see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there." So, God gives him this beautiful vision of the land, but God tells him then he's got to climb the mountain.

And you can read here in Numbers chapter 21, verse-- Numbers 20, verse 1. "The children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there." Who's Miriam? Moses's older sister who had saved him. Numbers 20, verse 23, "And the LORD spoke to Aaron, Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the borders of the land of Edom, saying: 'Aaron shall be gathered to his people, he shall not enter the land that I've given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the waters of Meribah.'" So, not only Moses, but Aaron was there with him, he could not enter.

And then with everyone watching, Aaron now takes off his regal robes, and he gives them to his son. Aaron is basically stripped, and he has to now pass the baton on to his son, just as Moses later does with Joshua. And it says, "Now Aaron died, and the house of Israel mourned for him for thirty days." Now you go to the death of Moses. We can't have the resurrection of Moses until we have the death of Moses. Deuteronomy 34, verse 5, "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there on top of Mount Nebo." Now, that, he climbs this mountain alone. That must've been a lonely situation.

You know, in the book, "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 440, the author there comments on this. "Moses knew that he was to die alone. No earthly friend would be permitted to minister to him in his last hours. There was a mystery and an awfulness about the scene before him, from which his heart shrank. The severest trail was his separation from the people of his care and his love, the people with whom his interests and his life had so long been united. But he had learned to trust God. And with unquestioning faith, he committed himself to Him and His people to His love and mercy."

Jesus was separated from the Father for our sin, and Moses was separated from the people for their sin. And he died alone. But you know, it's beautiful when you think about it. There's a couple of services pastors perform, and you've got the baptisms, got marriages, you have funerals. Having baptism today. Who performed the first marriage? God did for Adam and Eve. Says he presented Eve to Adam. Who did Moses's funeral? It says the Lord buried him. Wouldn't that be something, as the angels look on? This faithful servant, after all those years, we read that God is the one who performed the service. It says, "According to the word of the LORD, he died there, and He," verse 6 of Deuteronomy 24, "He buried him."

You know, you see a picture of God taking the earth and making Adam. Here you've got God taking the earth and covering it over Moses. "He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows of his grave to this day." Why? God did not want them to make it a shrine that they would worship at. That's the last thing that Moses would've wanted as well. So, He hid it. "Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains thirty days," like they did for Aaron. "So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended."

By the way, do you realize there's a 100% death rate? If Jesus doesn't come, and you're not translated, you'll die. But there are good ways to die, and there are bad ways to die. You ought to do everything you can to die like Moses, where you don't die over the last 20 years of your life because of bad living habits. You know what I'm saying? And you're debilitated, you're not functioning. You want to be able to be busy 'til the last day.

In the little church that I used to pastor up in the hills of Covelo, this church was really founded by a bunch of retired people, but they were all very, very dedicated, and they lived a long time. We had one member 111. And it was interesting that they kind of like fell over in their gardens, 95 years old. "Yeah, we found Monte." "Where was he?" "In his garden." You know, they were busy to the end. I thought, "That's how you want to go," amen? Take care of yourself. And then the Lord buried him.

Now we've got the resurrection of Moses. Jude verse 9, "Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, he dared not bring against him a railing or reviling accusation, but he said, 'The Lord rebuke thee.'" Now who else rebuked the devil when they were tempted? Jesus did. Michael the archangel. Who is Michael the archangel? We've got to talk about that before we talk about the resurrection of Moses.

Now, I always address this with some trepidation; because when you tell people what the Bible says on this, it can kind of shock them. And a lot of people, especially in the Catholic world or the orthodox churches, they talk about these angels, and they've got Michael, and they've got Rafael, and there may be some others. And they've named these angels, and they worship them. They've got statues of them, and they think they're angels. Well, nowhere in the Bible is it telling us that there are multiple archangels. The word archangel means the highest, or the chief. It's like you've got--the word archangelos in Greek, it means the highest. An arch, a Roman arch, you've got the keystone at the top. It was the highest. And this is a description of Christ. The word angel means messenger.

Now, alert, now hear this. I am not saying that Jesus is an angel. Jesus is not a cherub. Jesus is not a seraphim. The Bible is telling us that one of the titles for Christ, when He would appear in the Old Testament in the form of an angel, Christ, it's called a Christophany. All theologians agree with that, that when the Lord spoke to Abraham--here's one example. When Joshua is fighting against the people of Ai, it says he saw this man of war. And Joshua said, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" He said, "Neither, but I've come as the Commander of the Lord's host." He said, "Take your shoes off your feet; for where you stand is holy ground." Same thing He said to Moses. That was the same Lord who appeared to Moses in the burning bush when he took his shoes off the feet. Joshua falls down to worship Him and addresses Him as Lord, but He appears as the angel of the Lord's army. That's Michael the archangel. That's Christ. Even Moses said, "The angel that will lead you through the wilderness." And he said, "The Lord will raise up a servant like me. Him you will hear." That's Christ.

Now, let's look at some of the evidence that helps us understand this. First of all, the Bible tells it pretty clearly in Hebrews, that Jesus is much higher than the angels. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Are you all listening very carefully? And especially folks who are watching. We're not saying Jesus is an angel. We're saying that one of the titles for Christ in the Old Testament was Michael the archangel. The very name Michael means, "Who is as God." The greatest messenger who is as God, that's Jesus.

You read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel." Who has the voice of the archangel? The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, the voice of the archangel. Daniel chapter 12, "At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince that stands for the children of thy people." It means He stands in our behalf, stands as our intercessor. Who is the great prince that stands as our intercessor? It's Jesus, right? That is, when Christ stands up, and He ceases His intercession as--when a judge stands up, this great time of trouble begins.

Then you also read that it says that Michael comes to resurrect the body of Moses. Now, there's no record in the Bible of this event. There is a Jewish tradition that's probably based on truth, that three days after Moses died, the Lord raised him up. It's in a book called, "The Assumption of Moses." Sometimes it's called, "The Testament of Moses." This is an extrabiblical book that's probably written during the Babylonian captivity. They don't know, but it was based on some traditions. And it says after three days God raised him. That part's probably true. And how do we know that Moses was raised? You read about him appearing, and we'll get to that in a moment, in the Mount of Transfiguration experience you find in March chapter 9.

So, Revelation chapter 12, verse 7, it says, "Michael fought and his angels, and the dragon and his angels fought." Now, who is the dragon? Is the devil really a dragon, or is the word "dragon" a symbolic name for the devil? Dragon is a symbolic name. Then why would we be surprised if Michael is a symbolic name for Christ?

So, when you're reading about Michael in the Bible, this is usually a preincarnation title for Jesus, the great messenger to our world. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is divine. He's eternal. We believe that. But in the Old Testament, he's sometimes referred to as Michael. And by the way, this is not theology of our church. Charles Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, many of the great commentators, they say the same thing, because they have done the detective work. They've put the pieces together. So, when Jesus comes for the body of Moses after three days--another way in which Christ is similar to Moses or Moses to Christ, the devil says, "You can't have him." Says, "He sinned." And Michael doesn't engage him. He says, you know, "He's repented of his sin. The Lord rebuke thee." And he raises him up.

You know, the devil is the accuser of the brethren. The devil is the one who stood there and accused Joshua the high priest and said, "Look at his filthy garments." The Lord rebukes him and gives Joshua clean garments. The devil is not wanting you to go to heaven, but the Lord rebukes the devil, and by God's grace and through faith, Moses had repented of his sin, amen? So, the Lord can save him. And then Moses is raised up.

Now, I want to read to you 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And this is under "The Resurrection of Us All." What happened to Moses is something we're all looking forward to. Can you say amen? 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Now, Paul had a lot of problems with the Corinthian church. Among them, they had struggled to believe in the resurrection, or they thought it was already passed, or that there was no resurrection. Paul says, "If there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty."

Go to verse 20. "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death--" Now, why does it say Christ is the firstfruits, if Moses had already been resurrected? Firstfruits does not always mean the first in sequence. Firstfruits also means in priority. The Presidents' wife is called the First Lady. It doesn't mean she was the first lady that made it to North America. It means that she's given a position of honor, of high esteem. So, Christ, the firstfruits of those who slept. "For since by man, Adam, death came, by Man also, Christ, came the resurrection of the dead. For in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But each one in his own order."

Some people think you die and go right to heaven. Moses had a special resurrection. But how does it happen for most people? Those that are Christ's, afterward at His coming. When are they raised? Afterwards. And where are the dead now? Sleeping. Do they know they're sleeping? No. If they're saved and they're dead, for them the next conscious thought is the presence of the Lord. To be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord, but they don't feel that now because it hasn't happened. We live in time.

And then finally, you've got it in Mark chapter 9 also. I'm going to read to you from Luke chapter 9. "Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, He took Peter, James, and John and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered. His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, and they were Moses and Elijah." Jesus, no doubt, addressed them by their names. "--who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which He was about to accomplish."

Here now comes Moses to encourage Jesus, who's going to go to the cross. Isn't that something? And when Moses had to die and go through his isolation, Jesus was there to encourage him. Now Moses is coming to encourage Jesus in His sacrifice. Because what's going to happen to Moses and Elijah in heaven if Jesus is not sacrificed? Do they get to stay? You can see why they would be very motivated to encourage Jesus. And it says that "He was about to accomplish His sacrifice in Jerusalem. But Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it appeared, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah,' not knowing what he said."

Moses is in heaven now. Matter of fact, he can be listening to this lesson right now. Isn't Moses in heaven? Yes. He's where you and I want to be; and, of course, Moses is a symbol for the Word of God, the Old Testament. Elijah is talking about He's a great prophet, so you get the law and the prophets in those two who appeared to Jesus to encourage Him.

We're out of time, but I hope you learned something. I've really enjoyed this book of Deuteronomy. If you missed it at the beginning, we have a special book for you, a special free color magazine called, "The Day of the Lord." We will send you a free copy, if you simply ask. You can all 866-788-3966. That's 866-Study-More. And if you want, we can also text this to you, or you can get it through texting. In the U.S., text "SH108" to 40544, and we'd like you to be blessed by this magazine. Read it and share it with someone else. God bless you, friends. We'll look forward to studying with you again next week.

Announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource. Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device. To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address shown on your screen. And be sure to select the digital download option on the request page. It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want; and most important, to share it with others.

Announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives.

Female: I always wanted to be a daddy's girl, from the time I was very small. I saw other girls that had fathers around, and I always felt different. My natural father left when, I believe, I was four months old. And I did not have a relationship with him; and deep down, honestly, I always felt like, "What did I do? Why didn't he love me?" And that's soul-shattering for a child. My stepfather came into the picture when I was two years old, and he was sexually abusing me, physically abusing me, and psychologically abusing me for many, many years.

The biggest thought that I can remember back then is having my first thought of suicide when I was ten years old. And being so afraid all the time, but it was causing stomach pains, that I would literally be doubled over. I just kept thinking, "Why doesn't anyone know what's going on in this house? Can't they hear him screaming at me? You know, don't they notice that something is wrong? Don't I seem different? I'm not right. I'm ten, and I feel like I'm dying. Can you not see me?"

And out of self-preservation, I finally just blocked it out of my head for many years and just didn't remember anymore. It was very, very lonely. I did start drinking when I was 14 years old. What had happened was I had a flashback of being molested, and it shattered me, and I did not know how to cope with it, so I started mixing all different kinds of hard alcohol together, and smoking weed, and being sexually promiscuous. And that was just the beginning of many years of hell.

It wasn't until several years later, I realized that I needed to get help in order to stop using the drugs, because I had been separated from God at that point. And I knew that if I didn't get help, that there was not going to be God for me anymore, that I was going to completely take myself away from Him. And something just clicked inside me. All my life, I felt like God wasn't there for me, and what I realized was that He was.

I'll never forget the time that I was sitting there in church, and there was a silk lithograph of Jesus Christ up on the altar, and I could not even look at it. Because in my soul, I knew that what I was doing was wrong, and I couldn't stop. Not even talking about what it was doing to me physically, but that brand-new friend that I had found in God, I was pulling myself away from Him. During that time, off and on, I'd turn on the TV, and Pastor Doug would be there. And one thing that he always said that caught my eye is he always said, "Don't take my word for it. Go check your Bible.

Amazing Facts helped saved my life. It took me years, but I finally found, I finally found God. I finally healed. That little girl that was so shattered, that had no self-esteem, that all her innocence had been taken, God gave back everything and then some. And I go through trials. I'm a single parent. I'm a recovering addict. I have MS, and I have fibromyalgia. And I am blessed. I am blessed because I am so mighty with the Lord. Everything that was ever stolen from me, God gave back. And on top of that, He gave me forgiveness, and that's what I want everyone to know. He took a broken, broken woman and turned her into a warrior. ♪♪♪

Announcer: Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us today? Thank you.

Announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives.

Gary: Early 1980s, all the Baby Boomers were turning 21. The nightclub scenes were exploding, and I started an entertainment lighting company.

Female: I was the President, and there were six divisions. Doing the raves in the '80s and '90s, you know, in some warehouse, we were setting up lighting and fog and, you know, who knows what's going on in there? And nightclub, nightclub installations. I loved it, and it was who I was.

Gary: Bought a new house out of town, and we moved about two or three times, but we were always going to different churches. We were in a Lutheran church, and then we were in a Methodist church. I think we were in three different Baptist churches. My wife was raised Catholic. I was raised Methodist. Currently, I've been reading all the Hal Lindsey books, and watching all the "Left Behind" movies, and so I really wanted to understand what the book of Revelation was all about, but nothing really ever made sense to me.

Female: One day, Pastor Lloyd Logan came knocking, and he had that Net 99 flyer.

Lloyd Logan: We were preparing for an evangelistic series, and different people were going different directions with handbills to invite people to the meeting.

Female: I saw that coming at me, you know, all the colors, and I thought, "Oh, no, this is some kind of cult thing."

Lloyd: And she said, "Thank you very much." She said, "I'm not much interested myself, but my husband likes that kind of thing."

Female: And Lloyd said, "Would you give it to him, please?" And I said, "Okay, I will." So, I took the pamphlet, and I put it on the counter. Gary came home, and he walked by it.

Gary: Ran to the kitchen to quickly eat and take a shower and go back out and work a show.

Female: Two or three days went by like this, and I had moved that brochure from the counter, put it on the dining room table, put it back on the counter. I actually threw it in the garbage. As I threw it in that garbage can, I could hear him and see his face, saying, "Would you give it to him, please?" And I actually took the garbage out. And that night, lying in bed, I kept seeing his face and hearing his voice and thinking, "Oh, boy, I've gotta get that brochure out of the garbage. And I took that, I put it right underneath the remote control. Bright colors, he'll see it.

Gary: So, finally, sat down in my living room, and I picked up the remote, and I saw that angel holding up that scroll.

Female: "Whoa, cool! What is this?" And I was in the kitchen cooking, and I thought, "Oh, no."

Gary: And I looked at it, and I turned it over, and then I saw a little building, a little church building, and it wasn't too far away. It was about six houses down, and it said, "Friday Night."

Female: And I certainly wasn't going. I mean, it wasn't my intention to go.

Gary: I didn't have any shows going on that night, and so I thought it was a one-night deal. I went, and I heard about the Millennium Man. I was just blown away. I didn't want it to end. I knew what I was hearing was all from the Scripture, and it wasn't based off Hollywood movies or other books that were written. They said, "Come again tomorrow night." And I thought, "Wow, great! Two nights." So, I tried to tell my wife about it, and she still wasn't interested. And then she decided to come.

Female: I started to hear the truth, you know, and I started to get fed.

Gary: Every night after the seminar, they would hand us an Amazing Facts Study Guide. I couldn't do those fast enough.

Female: The business kept us going seven days a week, and it was night and day.

Gary: Crews working all around the clock. And so, when we finally heard the Sabbath message, you know, so far everything's been true, based on the Bible.

Female: Church on Saturday, no work. Anyway, it all clicked.

Gary: Both our heads turned at each other. Our jaws dropped open.

Female: I said, "We can't do that."

Gary: And the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "We have to."

Female: I knew that it would be a sacrifice, and I was in fear about it.

Gary: We didn't know how we were going to do it, but we talked to the pastor about it, and the pastor said, "Well, just pray about it, and God will open doors.

Female: I didn't want to give up all the connections I'd made, all the networking, all the money, all the investment.

Gary: We went to the board and asked them if they would consider closing on Saturday, and they agreed to. So, we closed the storefront on Saturday, but we were still doing productions, and that kind of bothered us. So, a couple of months later, God opened the door for my wife. She exited the company. I prayed about it, and God opened the door for me, too.

Female: Gary, shortly after, was offered a job being paid more money than he made as an owner of the company.

Gary: They said, "I'll give you a $1000 raise, and you will never work another weekend."

Female: And we were able to keep the Sabbath and enjoy the wonderful blessings that God had for us on Sabbath Day.

Gary: My kids never again had to say, "Quit talking about work." After the seminar was over, my wife and I and my children were all baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Even if I gave up everything, I knew that God would have something better.

Female: I have much more understanding, and there's much more depth in my Christian walk with the Lord.

Gary: We started an Amazing Facts Bible School at our church. It allows anybody to understand the Scriptures, understand the end times. Church changed my life dramatically, and I'm very happy and excited to be a part of it.