Surprise! Surprise!

Moses deserved better! At least it appeared that way at the end of his story. He had reluctantly accepted God’s assignment to lead his people out of Egypt into Canaan; what must have appeared to Moses to be a short leadership term in comparison to how it actually turned out. He spent 40 years leading God’s stubborn and disobedient people through the wilderness. He judged their disputes, oversaw the building of a tabernacle, and skillfully directed and taught these thousands of Israelites as they traveled.

Now came the time for Moses to finally cross into Canaan—the long awaited dream. In Moses’ own words: At that time I pleaded with the Lord: “O Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand…let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country AND LEBANON”...″That is enough,” the Lord said, “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, SINCE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CROSS THIS JORDAN.” (Deuteronomy 3:23f—NIV emphasis mine). See, Moses had disobeyed the Lord in anger at one point, and God had told him he had ruined his chances for going into Canaan.

But, imagine Moses’ surprise when almost two thousand years later he stood in the Holy Land for the first time at Jesus’ Transfiguration. We recognize Peter, James and John’s astonishment over the events of that day. But, consider Moses! He appeared there too. Bible scholars believe the mountain on which they stood was Mt. Hermon which stands in northern Israel overlooking Lebanon.

Maybe you think a dream of yours will never come to pass. Or, that God can’t or won’t fulfill some promise you have waited and prayed and believed for. Remember, he is the God of the Ages. He sees far more than we ever can, and has wonderful plans for all of us that will surprise us!