This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. – Deuteronomy 33:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 26, 2018): Deuteronomy 33

On October 22, 2018, Eugene Peterson finished his long obedience in the same direction. His last words were apparently “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Let’s Go.” According to his family, the last few days of his life were spent in a thin place where heaven and earth meet. He was having conversations with people welcoming him to the other side. Eugene Peterson was a “shepherd’s shepherd.” He was a man of encouragement and love who spent his last days in hospice care, suffering from heart failure and dementia. And yet, in the end, he knew his purpose – and blessed us once more before he left this plane. Author Winn Collier shared these words on his Twitter account. “My dear friend and pastor Eugene Peterson has died this morning. The lantern is out, but the joy he carried with him to his final breaths endures. Eugene is now with the Triune God he has loved his entire life. Memory eternal.” To the very end, Peterson was the image of faith, and he encouraged the rest of us with his joy that carried him throughout the entire length of his long obedience.

And this might be a very appropriate description of Moses. No, we know of no heart condition – and Moses did not seem to be suffering from dementia. But he knew that he was not going to be entering into the Promised Land. This was the end.

So, with his final breath, be blessed Israel. He had had a relationship with the Holy One of Israel; he was the one who had walked with God. There had been times of frustration, and times when he wondered if this stiff-necked people God had placed under his leadership would ever get to the place God had directed them to go. But now they had arrived. Moses was not going to able to enter the land with them. But his blessing could go with them.

Moses wanted to remind Israel exactly who they were; they were chosen to be the blessed of God.

Blessed are you, Israel!
  Who is like you,
     a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper
    and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
    and you will tread on their heights” (Deuteronomy 33:29).

And I can almost hear Eugene Peterson’s words coming out of the mouth of Moses. “Holy, Holy, Holy. Let’s go.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 34