As Moses approached the end of his life, his focus wasn’t on regret, bitterness, or personal loss—it was on God’s people. In Numbers 27:15-17, Moses prayed that the Lord would appoint a leader to guide Israel so they wouldn’t be “like sheep without a shepherd.” Despite his mistakes and missed opportunities, Moses left a legacy of faith, humility, and care for God’s people. This devotional reminds us that true spiritual leadership looks beyond ourselves and points others toward the ultimate Good Shepherd—Jesus—who leads us into rest, protection, and eternal promise.

✨ Highlights

• Moses’ selfless prayer — Even at the end of his life, Moses was focused on God’s people, not his own loss

• A legacy of faith — Despite failure, Moses’ life still pointed others toward God’s promises

• Jesus, our ultimate Shepherd — The fulfillment of Moses’ prayer is found in Jesus, who leads us to spiritual safety and rest (John 10:11)

• Kingdom perspective — God calls us to live with an eternal mindset, thinking beyond our present circumstances and investing in future generations

• Carrying God’s light — As Christ-followers, we are called to shine His light wherever we go and leave the world “better than we found it”

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Full Transcript Below:

15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Numbers 25:15-17, NIV

A recent guest on the Faith Over Fear podcast shared how his wife, when battling illness that placed her on bedrest and fearing for her future, encouraged him not to wait too long, once she passed, to marry someone else. Needless to say, this completely shredded his heart, in part because he was dealing with his own fears and grief regarding his wife’s illness, but he was also deeply concerned for her, and empathetic toward her anguish. 

Thankfully, she is doing much better—no longer on bed rest, able to go on vacations with her family, and enjoying her 11 grandchildren. But her statement highlights something. Love thinks beyond today and certainly beyond how things affect us personally. 

Often, when we consider the last year of Moses’ life, we fixate on his mistake—the moment when he acted out of pride and a brief lapse of faith and forfeited entry into the promised land. That had to sting. But as today’s passage indicates, it also greatly concerned Moses—but notice, as his life neared its end, he wasn’t focused on himself. He could’ve been. Frankly, had I been him, I probably would’ve been battling guilt, shame, sorrow and regret. And maybe even a tinge of bitterness or despair. I mean, the man had spent 40 years trekking through the wilderness, leading a massive group of individuals who did not make Moses’ role easy. At one point, they even threatened to stone him.

For four decades, Moses had served God well—humbly, faithfully, sacrificially. But then, like I said, in a moment of weakness, or frustration, or maybe both, he blew it at the cost of entry into the promised land. 

It’s important to note, however—his sin didn’t cost him his relationship with God or entry into heaven. Based on what I read elsewhere in Scripture, he still received entrance into the ultimate promised land—eternal paradise. 

But he wasn’t able to lead the ancient Israelites, people for whom he deeply cared, during what would be their greatest, most exciting and, likely frightening, transition of their lives. And in today’s passage, we catch a glimpse of how much this concerned him. It’s like he’s saying, “Lord, don’t let them suffer because of me. Bless them. Watch over them and raise someone else up to lead them.”

When I read his prayer in Numbers 27—his request that God would bring someone to lead His people that they might go in and go out and not live like sheep without a shepherd, I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in John 10, when He declared Himself our Good Shepherd who leads us, that we might go in and out and find pasture. 

He is the ultimate leader Moses’ life, and to whom all of the Old Testament points. And He is the One we are to follow and point others to as well.  

Intersecting Life and Faith

Love looks beyond our present circumstances and how things affect us to consider the lives, blessings, and spiritual health of those who’ll remain on this earth once we’re gone, and the generations yet to come. 

That’s our call as Christ-followers. Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter Danny Gokey has a song titled, “Better Than I found it,” and it reminds us all of our call to play a part of bringing a bit of heaven to earth. 

According to a sermon I once heard, that’s what it means to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus said that you and I are the light of the world, because we carry the light of Christ. Wherever we go, and in every encounter, we have Holy Spirit power to shatter this world’s darkness with God’s light. 

Imagine, for a moment, what our world might look like if we cultivated the same attitude and perspective demonstrated by Moses, a man who, yes, messed up, but more importantly, left a powerful, God-led legacy that played a major role in showing us all what it means to live in an ever-deepening, dependent relationship with the Lord. 

Further Reading:

Matthew 5:14-16

Matthew 28:19-20

Psalm 78:4

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