Critics say that the books of Moses were not written by Moses because the thirty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy describes his death; and no man could recount the story of his own death. But the book ends this way, And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel. Deuteronomy 34:10–12. I believe that a prophet like that could easily write down the last chapter.
Peter knew the time of his departure was at hand, when it was short, he said, “knowing shortly I must put off this tabernacle, but while I’m still around I want to remind you of certain things.” II Peter 1:13–15.
Paul said he knew the time of his departure was at hand, and it was going to be like a poured out offering unto the Lord—meaning he would be beheaded (II Timothy 4:6).
Many of the great men of God have known the time of their departure. I have such a great reverence for the Scriptures; I believe that it is divine because every time I read of these similarities, something of God seems to lodge in my heart.
In this last story about Moses it says, And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah. Deuteronomy 34:1, 2. That was quite a sightseeing tour; he viewed it all, One hundred and twenty years old, really spry, when he died his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated (Deuteronomy 34:7). He looked over the whole land, miles and miles of territory in every direction, and the Lord said, I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. Deuteronomy 34:4b–6.
No one knows where he is buried. That is good, because through the years a shrine would have been made of it and it would have become an idolatrous thing. I am glad that we don’t have a sepulchre at which to worship, either. All Christianity has is an empty tomb. He is not here, He is risen.
Can’t you see Moses in that last speech: not stooped, but standing, grey beard waving in the breeze, no P.A. system, his natural force not abated, his eye not dim? He was called the meek man in the Bible, but I think that there was also a boldness in him. The end of his speech reads: The eternal God is thy dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy from before thee, And, said, Destroy. And Israel dwelleth in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; Yea, his heavens drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: Who is like unto thee, a people saved by the Lord, The shield of thy help, and the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall submit themselves unto thee; And thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33:27–29.
Moses made his way up to the mountain at God’s invitation: it was time for him to die; because God was going to lead the children of Israel in and He had not given Moses the promise that he would go in. He said, “I’ll let you see it all, I’ll give it to them,” It had been a decree of God for many years that he would not go in, because of a disobedience of Moses that occurred earlier. But I believe Moses fulfilled everything that God had for him to do, and he left with one message, “God is your dwelling-place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust the enemy out from before you.”
It is true that you seem to engage the enemy, but the truth is that you never encounter an enemy until the Lord has assured his defeat. You are fighting shadows and illusions that are not real, for what is real is that God says, “I’ve thrust out the enemy—he is defeated.” Principalities and powers were spoiled by Christ upon the cross. This is the assurance that we have. We are not warring to attain a place of victory—in Christ Jesus we have been made more than conquerors and we are warring from a place of victory. It is one thing to go to court and sue to get money when there has been no decision made; and it is another to sue to collect what has already been declared to be yours.
In all of our contending before the Lord, it is not to possess something that is not ours, it is to possess our possessions; it is to walk in our victories; it is to come against the enemy, knowing that the Lord shall thrust him out from before us. It is a land of grain and new wine that God sets before us. And He says, “Go in and get it, it is yours. I am your dwelling-place. Underneath are the everlasting arms.” How the Word of God incites us to claim that which is really ours.
The natural heritage of a Christian is victory. In Christ you are born victorious. Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. II Corinthians 5:17. We are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37). The heritage of a saint, as he comes into Christ, is to possess the victories and all the labors of Christ in his behalf: the shedding of Christ’s blood means the forgiveness of your sins; and the whipping post means that by His stripes you were healed (I Peter 2:24). He gave Himself for us that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4). By one sacrifice, He has forever perfected them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Even our perfection is involved in it. If all this is our heritage, then why are there so many defeated Christians? They work hard at being defeated. They think defeat, act defeated and accept defeat. And the enemy defeats them because they don’t know that their heritage is victory, to possess that which God has for them.
There will be a tremendous battle in the end-time; but God is our dwelling-place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. If we are drawn into conflict with the enemy we are often defeated by it. If we can be distracted and harassed by circumstances, instead of taking our place of victory, those circumstances become real and valid things to chain us and hold us back. Many of the things that we have faced are not really valid. I command you not to be afraid: I want you to understand that you are a victorious people. Many things, such as earthquakes, are going to happen all around you, again and again. Get used to it. Become acclimated to the fact that God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. It doesn’t make any difference if the earth be removed into the sea, for He is your refuge, and you must open your heart to trust Him. You had better live that way, because that is the way it is going to be. Open your heart to the Lord and say, “Yes, Lord, I am more than a conqueror.”
We speak of the army of the Lord, but don’t think for a minute that this army is raised up to win the war; but we will win the victory. There is a difference. The book of Revelation tells of the great one who comes upon the white horse, that had a name written, the Word of God, and following Him are all the armies of heaven. But there is no record that they do any fighting. It is that sharp sword that goes out of the mouth of the Christ that slays the antichrist, the beast, the false prophet (Revelation 19:11–16). This is what you have to understand. There was no other way that God could bring you into victory over Satan.
It is essential that you understand the reasoning of this. You couldn’t cope with even a small spirit. If you were going out to battle, how could you fight a spirit? You couldn’t. How could you fight Satan? God puts boundaries, as the book of Job describes: he is in thy hand; only spare his life. Job 2:6. The devil went just as far as he could. If God didn’t lay the boundaries down, Satan would destroy every one of you. God ordained the evil that Satan and all of his hosts of evil spirits have done to this earth. But sometimes it looks like a one-sided affair: just sweeping men right into hell, by the millions.
From the very beginning when He said, “The seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent” (Genesis 3:15), God ordained that Satan would be defeated through a human channel. That is why Christ had to come and defeat Satan on a human level. He opens the door for this by our believing into Christ, so that we can be the ones that execute—we are the executioners. It shall please God to bruise Satan under your feet shortly (Romans 16:20). The reason that you are engaged in all of this is so that Satan will get what’s coming to him. You are the ones to stomp on him. You can’t do that yourself, that is why you have to stay in Christ. Because the minute that you meet Satan on a human level in your own self, you are defeated; but when you sense that Christ won the victory over him for you, and you are executing the victory, then you are moving in Christ’s victory. That has become your inheritance.
God says that He will thrust out the enemy from before you. He is the one that is giving you the victory. You are not engaging to win a victory, but you are coming to claim the victory. but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:57. That is a beautiful thing to remember. If you keep that in mind whenever the forces of evil come against you, you don’t engage in it yourself but you let the Christ within you manifest His victory over the enemy.
The Scripture says, greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world. I John 4:4. Let the Christ within you manifest the victory. There is a story of a girl who said, “It used to be, before I let Jesus in my heart, that the devil would come and knock at the door and I was always helpless, I did what he wanted. But now when the devil knocks at my door, I say, ‘Jesus, would you please answer the door?’ And when Jesus answers the door, the devil runs away.”
The victory is by casting yourself upon the Lord. There is more to that than you know. We struggle and struggle and don’t win anything, and when we relax into God and trust Him, everything is ours. It is like floating—if you stiffen up you go right to the bottom, but if you relax and let the water hold you up, you will float because the human body is more buoyant. So that’s what you do: cast yourself upon the Lord and He will sustain you. Do you feel that you have been kicked around enough? Is it time that you let Jesus open the door?