Moses and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here's an interesting parallel between Moses and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both Moses and King go to the mountain top, view the Promised Land and then die.

MOSES

From the last chapter of Deuteronomy.

“And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 34: 1-5)

DR. KING

The following is from the transcript of the very end of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “I've Been to the Mountaintop”

“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!

And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!” -END-

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated the very next day.

Both Moses and King, “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.” (Hebrews 11:13-14).

Please do not misinterpret my intent. I am not trying to make Dr. King a saint or some 20^th century Apostle or prophet. The purpose of all this is to demonstrate that both Moses and King saw a better place for their people. They spent their lives leading people to that better place. Everything they did they did in faith in God. We need to do the same thing.

Any better place will be by the design of God. Any pathway to that better place will be by way of righteousness. Sharing the vision with others and leading people to that vision is the purpose of the leader. This is what both Moses and King did.

The purpose of leadership isn’t self-serving. The goal is not to get people to follow you. The objective is to get to that Godly place in a Godly fashion. This is what both Moses and King did.

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.” (Joshua 1:1-2)

God gave us Joshua to take up the mantle held by Moses in leading God’s chosen people to the Promised Land.

We’re still looking for a Joshua to take up Dr. King’s mantle. We’ve had several charlatans and false prophets attempt it. But just judge the fruit that these “trees” have produced.  Our current status of race relations and progress is in many ways worse now than it was before Dr. King ever got involved.

The reality of the situation is that we don’t need to wait around for a civil rights leader or a community organizer to appear. Each of us can march on towards the Promised Land of freedom and equality. Just do what King did and follow God’s plan.  

God shows no partiality to race, creed or color (Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11). It doesn’t matter to God if you are male or female, rich or poor, slave or free, what your nationality, ethnic background, none of that matters (Col. 3:9-11, Gal. 3:28).

Most important to understand is that God created man in His own image (Gen. 1:27). We are God’s children (2 Cor.6:18). All we have to do is to act like children of God. Obey the Father. Love Him with all of our heart, soul, spirit, strength, and mind. Finally, we need to love our neighbor as our self. “POOF!” Things like racism disappear!

Dr. King saw the Promised Land of all men created equally by God. He chose a righteous pathway to that objective. King knew he wouldn’t get us all there. This is what is so significant about drawing a parallel between him and Moses when he said he had been to the mountain top and, “I've seen the Promised Land”. King knew he wouldn’t be able to complete the vision. And you know what, I don’t believe Dr. King was expecting a Joshua to follow up behind him either. I believe that Dr. King was expecting all of us to pick up his mantle and move on, keeping God as our guiding light.

Bill Hitchcock