Deuteronomy 34. This final chapter of the book of Deuteronomy describes the death of Moses. Moses went up Mount Nebo, where God showed him all of the lands that make up the Promised Land. God said "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." Then Moses died and was buried in the valley of the land of Moab, but no one knows of the exact place of his burial to this day. He was 120 years old when he died, but still vigorous. All of Israel wept from Moses for thirty days.

Moses knew he would not get to enter the Promised Land after his failure to trust the Lord at Maribah and Massah. But God loved Moses greatly, and rewarded him for all of his efforts by blessing him with this last comforting sight. Moses got to see all of the land that would be Israel and got to hear God's promise once again. And then he died, peacefully, and was buried and mourned greatly. Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land, it is true, but he also did not have to undergo any of the remaining struggles and battles that would be necessary to get there. In all, this is a rather peaceful and just end of his life.

In our current struggles, as the world undergoes many difficult chastisements and punishments, it is so easy to lose sight of the fact that this is all leading us to our own Promised Land, our own era of peace in the Divine Will. It will be so marvelous when humanity gets there, but many of us alive now will not be here to see it. That is okay, though. We have a different mission, we are part of the group that is leading the people through the desert of this time. As long as we've done God's will to the best of our ability (and yes, we will all make mistakes sometimes, just as Moses did), we can be assured that this era is coming, and we can die with the same peace that Moses had.

Maybe God is saving those whom he takes before the new era from some of the future struggles and hardships that will be necessary to get there. But either way, whether we are alive here or in heaven, we will all see the joy and glory of the coming era of peace, and we will rejoice in it.