Jacob Chanikuzhy

“If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success,” wrote American author Stephen Covey. Although most of us do not want to die, many would like to have a solemn burial once dead, and eulogies delivered during the ceremony. One of the tragedies in life is that we reserve our best compliments for others till their death. Normally, the grandeur of the funeral corresponds to the greatness of the diseased. Moses, the greatest prophet of Israel, however did not have a solemn funeral procession. Neither did anyone speak anything on the occasion of his funeral nor did anyone know even the place of his burial! According to the narrative of the death of Moses given in the Book of Deuteronomy 34, Moses died all alone on a mountain top.
The moments of the death of Moses should have been moments of joy and sorrow. Moses had a lot of things to rejoice. His entire life shined like a miracle having mythic elegance. God had done marvelous deeds through him. Moses should have felt a sense of accomplishment as he was able to lead his people to the boundaries of the promised land. All throughout his life, he was physically fit. Bible attests that Moses was 120 years old when he died. Psalm 90,10 estimates human life span as 70 or 80. But God granted him a longer life span. Dt 34,7 adds that Moses’ eyes were not weak. In the Bible, fine eye sight is the metaphor for excellent heath. The greatest blessing Moses enjoyed was his close relationship to God. Now, as Moses neared his death, he was given another special blessing – God allowed him to see the entire promised land. It is not possible for a normal human being to see clearly a landscape of around 56000 square miles. So, God must have specially enabled Moses to see the entire land towards which he was leading his people. No doubt, Moses must have been extremely happy.
Nevertheless, the very sight of the beautiful land just in front of his eyes must have filled him with sorrow too. Why doesn’t God allow him to gloriously enter that land with his people. After all he had toiled the last forty years for God and his people. Just a couple of days more, he would reach the peak of his achievement. He is fit and healthy as he climbed the mountain top of Nebo without anybody’s help. He was faithful to God all throughout his life albeit with occasional failures. In spite of all these, and in spite of God’s great regard for Moses, God did not allow Moses to enter the promised land; and Moses most humbly complied.
Moses shines as a model for the leaders even at his death. A leader should fulfill his duties at the best of his abilities when the leadership is entrusted to him. He should also retire gracefully when the leadership is entrusted to someone else. A genuine leader like Moses will not consider himself inevitable or irreplaceable. He will not think that he is the one and the only one who can do everything for his people. A genuine leader gracefully gives way to his successor just like Moses did for Joshua.
In fact, it was not at the end of his life that Moses realized that he would not be the one who would be credited with leading the people to the Promised Land. He knew it already near the waters of Meribah. He knew that it was God’s punishment for him. Still he did not keep any grudge against God. Nor did he stop leading his people. One might continue one’s role as a leader if it gives him perks of pleasure. For Moses, to be the leader of the people of Israel was most of the time a hard and thankless job. Still he faithfully carried out the tasks entrusted to him by God. Moses was ready to forgo all personal gains and glory in favour of the interest of his people. Hence he continued his difficult race only to enable Joshua, his successor, to raise the trophy of the champion. Moses thus became the real hero in his death as well as in his life.