Deuteronomy 32:48

GOD SUMMONS MOSES TO HIS DEATH (Deuteronomy 32:48-52)

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses that self-same day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, into mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession; and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel."

This is an infinitely sad passage. The long and brilliant career of the great Lawgiver terminates here. The blunt message of his impending death must have been a shock even for Moses. Why could he not enter Canaan? (For a full discussion of the event mentioned here, please see our comment in Vol. 3 of the Pentateuchal series, under Numbers 20:10ff.) "This same episode is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:26; 4:21; and in Numbers 27:12-14)."[22]

The quibble about the two names for the mountain is unimportant. Pisgah is merely one of the older names for Nebo, and as Keil said:

"The paragraph here concerning Moses' ascent of mount Nebo differs in form from the previous mention of it in Numbers 27:12-14, partly in the fact that the situation of mount Nebo is more fully described, and partly in the use of the imperative, and a few other trifling points. These differences are all explained from the fact that the account here was not written by Moses himself."[23]

Moses was one of the great O.T. types of the Son of God, and his leadership of Israel in the wilderness is typical of Jesus' leadership of Christians in the wilderness of their probation (in the church during this present dispensation), but great as Moses was, he could not lead the people over the Jordan (typical of death) into Canaan (typical of heaven). Only Christ could do that. Therefore, it was necessary that Moses die before Israel entered Canaan.