| “So Moses the servant of the Lord died … and Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (Deuteronomy 34:5, 7). |
| We could say many more things about Moses, for his was a long and interesting life. However, we want to leave room to speak about other people, so let us pass on to see how he died. We read here that he was 120 years old, yet his eyes were not dim, and he still had the strength he had when he was younger. At that age he was able to climb up to the top of Mt. Nebo (it is about 800 meters high, which is over 2600 feet) and view the whole land of Canaan. If you read the description of what he was able to see, it seems that the Lord allowed him to see about 100 miles both north and south. This is amazing! In order to see that far, you would normally have to be in a plane, about 30,000 feet above the earth, which is about 9,000 meters. |
| Then, on the top of that mountain, he died, and the Lord buried him. No one knows where he is buried except the Lord, but we know that he appeared on the mount of transfiguration in the New Testament, along with the prophet Elijah. You can read about this in Matthew 17. |
| Probably none of us will live to be 120 years old, and when we get older, we tend to lose the good eyesight we had when we were young. Most of us wear glasses by the time we are middle aged. Also we get weaker, and find it harder to run fast, do hard physical work, or climb up steep hills. But the Lord is able to give us the strength to do whatever He wants us to do. |
| Although he was only 55 years old, the well-known gospel preacher George Whitefield was not well. He had a wonderful gift from God in being able to speak loudly. He could preach to crowds of 30,000 in the open air, and everyone could hear him, even though there was no loudspeaker or microphone! He preached for the last time in an open field near Newburyport, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in the year 1770. Apparently he preached a powerful sermon, and died the next day. The Lord gave him the strength for that last sermon. He will give you and me the strength to do His will, whatever our age. |
