Deuteronomy ends with the final words, and then the death and burial, of Moses. How fitting that the Pentateuch's bookends are Adam and Moses. One was responsible for man being cast out of Paradise. The other responsible for leading God's people to the Promised Land. At God's command, Moses teaches the people a song that they are to sing and to teach to the generations that follow. It is a song of God's anger and the consequences of the Israelites' eventual turning away from God, which God has foretold. It is a song of bitterness and regret. He commissions and consecrates Joshua as his successor, at God's command. Then, in a poignant moment, Moses ascends Mt. Nebo in order to view the Promised Land, which he is forbidden from entering. Moses gives a final blessing to the tribes, except the tribe of Simeon. (Why that tribe is omitted, I cannot tell.) And then he dies and is buried and is mourned. Thereafter, his successor, Joshua, "is filled with the spirit of wisdom" and the Israelites give him their obedience.
The book ends with a short, yet powerful, statement of praise for Moses, which in part reads: Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. None until Jesus.
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