I used to preach funerals with a local pastor, who was asked to preach a lot of funerals. The reason he was invited so frequently was that he preached everyone into heaven. That made it difficult for me when I followed this local pastor in the funeral service and did not preach that person into heaven when there was no fruit of salvation in his/her life. I preached the gospel.
In this obituary about Moses in Deuteronomy 34, God does not have to preach Moses into heaven, because Moses’ life had already preached his funeral, and everyone knew Moses was in heaven.
Obituaries are like eulogies at funerals. Steven Cole, in a sermon “If God Wrote Your Obituary (click to open), referred to a funeral in which three daughters “got up and read a eulogy about ‘we remember dad.’ They recalled, ‘We remember dad going to the bar and buying a round of drinks for all his buddies. He loved going to the bar! We remember dad going to the market and flirting with all the cute young checkers.’ Basically, they fondly remembered dad as a dirty-minded old drunk!”
Who wrote Moses’ Obituary?
Many have questioned who wrote Moses’obituary in Deuteronomy 34, since he was dead at the time it was written. The simple answer to the question “Who wrote the obituary of Moses?” in Deuteronomy 34 is God. All Scripture is inspired by God the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16). The more difficult question to answer is, who did God the Holy Spirit use to write this Scripture? The doctrine of dual authorship teaches, as in 2 Peter 1:21, that God used human instruments to write His Word. There was the Divine author and a human author, superintended by the Holy Spirit, in the writing of Scripture.
Conservative Bible students believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch. I defend Mosaic authorship in this blog post (click to open). For example, Jesus said that Moses wrote Deuteronomy 24:1-4 in Matthew 19:8. But who wrote Deuteronomy 34? Let’s examine the chapter that records Moses’ funeral.
Moses saw what might have been (34:1-5)
On Mount Nebo, “the Lord showed him [Moses] all the land of Gilead” (34:1). Then the Lord added, “but you shall not go over there” (34:4). God was brutally honest with Moses in Deuteronomy 32:50-52. God informed Moses that He was not going into the Promised Land “because you trespasses against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh” (32:51). Numbers 20:8 records that Moses, in anger, struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock as God had instructed.
Warren Wiersbe noted, “Because of that burst of temper, it cost him a trip to the Holy Land.” Moses saw what might have been had he been more obedient! We want to come to the end of life and be able to say with Paul just before his death: “I have fought the fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course, henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteouness” (2 Tim 4:5).
Moses was buried by God (34:6-8)
It is said in Deuteronomy 43:6 that “he” buried Moses, that is, God performed the grave side. God greatly honored his servant.
Perhaps God buried Moses where no one knew, so the Israelites would not exhume the body and carry it over to the Promised Land. Some argue that Moses could not have written his own funeral because he would not have known that God would bury him, so that the Israelites would not have known where the body was buried, nor that they would mourn his death for thirty days, when seven days was the norm (Gen 50:10; Job 2:17). If God revealed all of Genesis 1:1 through Exodus 1 to the birth of Moses, surely God could have revealed his death, burial, and funeral.
Richard McDonald wrote, “It’s not far-fetched to think Moses wrote the account of his own death and burial, particularly since God revealed his word and works to Moses (Ps. 103:7). There are other examples in Scripture that lend some credibility to the idea that Moses saw his coming death and wrote about the circumstances. That would be consistent with God’s revelation of future events in other places. God previewed his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham (Gen. 18:17-33) (Richard McDonald, Who Wrote Moses’s Obituary in Deuteronomy 34? (click to open) The Gospel Coalition, June 13, 2019). I know it is not the same, but it is a good idea to plan your funeral. The plan includes who will preach and who will sing. What songs you want sung. Who the pallbearers will be.
Moses was eulogized by God (34:9-12)
Some argue that Moses would not have written this account of his death because Moses was too humble to heap up such great accolades upon himself. In Numbers 12:3, Moses, writing inspired Scripture, declared himself the most humble man on the planet. So God could have been eulogizing Moses and not Moses bragging.
Moses prepared his successor, Joshua. Many contend that Joshua wrote the last chapter concerning Moses’ death. After all, Joshua 24:26 records that Joshua wrote in “the book of the law of God.” This is Walter Kaiser’s view (click to open).
This is a legitimate opinion held by many conservative scholars. I also think it is possible. What is very important not to overlook is the fact that Moses prepared his successor. John Maxwell, as well as Peter Drucker, contend to leaders that there is no success without a successor. Here is a review of Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (click to open). Maxwell calls this the Law of Legacy. Henry Blackaby added, “Leaders lead followers. Great leaders lead leaders.”
Does it matter who was the human author of Moses’ obituary?
Richard McDonald wrote Who Wrote Moses’s Obituary in Deuteronomy 34? (click to open) and gave the possible candidates for the authors of Deuteronomy 34 and Moses’ obituary: Moses, Eleazar, Ezra, Samuel, and, lastly, Joshua, whom McDonald prefers. McDonald then asks, “Does it matter who wrote the obituary?” He quoted John Calvin: “Many follow Calvin’s wise advice and leave ‘the matter of no very great importance undecided.’” Whoever wrote the obituary of Moses wrote inspired Scripture. Someone besides Joshua wrote his obituary in Joshua 24. Paul is clear in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable.” David did not write all of the Psalms (Moses wrote Psalm 90). Solomon did not write all of the Proverbs (See Proverbs 22:17-24:30, which record The Sayings of the Wise).
God wrote Moses’ obituary!
Ultimately, God wrote Moses’ obituary. Again, what would He write in your or my obituary? In Habit #2 of Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he challenges you and me to imagine we are meeting with all our family members and friends for the funeral of a person we all know … that person is you! It’s the day of your funeral, and all these people have come to honor your memory.
During the ceremony, four people are going to speak about you:
A close family member;
A dear friend;
A work colleague;
Someone from a club or association [church] you were involved in while alive.
They share with others all the things they want to remember about you. Think deeply … What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? Which values, contributions, and achievements do you want to be remembered for? What difference would you like to have made in their lives? If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.
Kent R. Hughes agreed: “When we go to funerals, we should think about our reputations” (Kent R. Hughes, The Pastor's Book, Crossway. Kindle Edition, 184).
What would God write in our obituary?
As important as what all these people would say about us at our funeral, what God will say is eternally more important. Hopefully, He will say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord” (Matthew 25:23).