A Private Graveside Service

 I  read this morning about a famous national leader who died and nobody attended his funeral. It was shocking. This man led millions. He became a national hero. He also became a feared military leader. His writings are still read today. This man's influence surpassed his lifetime. 

Nobody attended his funeral. No preacher. No priest. No family members. No citizens of his nation. No dignitaries or politicians could be found. It is not unusual for people to have private graveside services for family. On rare occasion a preacher may be called to preach such a service for a homeless person. Nobody attends the service but the funeral director and a pastor. 

It is downright astonishing that a man of such a magnitude would not be honored at the end of his life. Well, there was one in attendance. No one else. Who is the only one who attended this funeral? You may find it shocking. Yahweh. God. God is the only one to be found when His servant Moses died. 

Go ahead. Read it for yourself. 

Deuteronomy 34:4-6 (NASB)
⁴  Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."
⁵  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
⁶  And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. 

Did you catch that? "He buried him." "No man knows his burial place to this day." God held a private burial service for Moses. He called Moses up on a mountain and God buried Moses Himself. He carved out the final resting place for the body of this great man. In a grave known only to God. Nobody knows where. It is not marked for the human eye to see. No visitors can stop by to remember this great man. God preserved the last moments of Moses' life for Himself. My mind wonders about those last moments of communion. What did they say? How gently and tenderly did God lay Moses down? How precious did God view the death of Moses. See Ps 116:15.

Moses had a close relationship with God. They talked often in the tent of meeting. Moses talked to God and more importantly God talked to Moses. That relationship went all the way back to a burning bush experience. From that encounter, Moses witnessed moves of God that still are amazing to read about. What would it have been like if we had actually witnessed them. 

Moses hungered for God. At one point, he pleaded with God to show His glory to Moses. God hid in the cleft of a rock and passed. Moses only saw the backside of the glory of God. His face glowed after that encounter with God. People knew He heard from God. It was to this servant God entrusted the law. God gave him the huge assignment to deliver Israel and lead them. Moses was a man of uncommon prayer. 

Therefore, God buried Him in an uncommon way. He reserved the burial of His servant for Himself. He did not allow one other person to attend. Even with all that, Moses was not perfect. At one point he tried to steal God's glory by saying he and God had provided the water out of the rock, when it was only God who did so. The consequences for Moses was to be excluded from ever setting foot in the long awaited Promised Land. God let him see it from atop that lofty mountain from a distance but did not let him enter. 

This story fascinates me. A man of Moses of magnitude would have had thousands upon thousands attend his funeral. No doubt numerous stories would have been told. People would mourn. God did not allow anyone else to attend. 

I recently preached a funeral where every seat was taken and numerous people stood along the walls of both sides of the sanctuary. It made me wonder how many would attend mine. Then I read this story. If God was the only one in attendance at my funeral that would be more than enough. I desire to be closer to Him than any human relationship including my wife and children. 

We should all want death to be our liberation to know God more fully without the hindrances of our body. Do we yarn to know God like Moses did. To consistently meet Him in the secret place. To embrace death when it comes at the door through which our communion with God will be enhanced and intensified for eternity. 

I am thankful for a little jaunt through Deuteronomy this morning and for reading about a private graveside service. There is so much untapped truth in the Bible. May we all meet God in the pages of tattered and torn Bibles from much use. May we learn more of Him. May we encounter Him in Bible stories that soak the soil of our souls.