Had not the life of Moses been marred with that one sin, in failing to give God the glory of bringing water from the rock at Kadesh, he would have entered the Promised Land, and would have been translated to heaven without seeing death. But he was not long to remain in the tomb. Christ Himself, with the angels who had buried Moses, came down from heaven to call forth the sleeping saint. Satan had exulted at his success in causing Moses to sin against God, and thus come under the dominion of death. The great adversary declared that the divine sentence--"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19)--gave him possession of the dead. The power of the grave had never been broken, and all who were in the tomb he claimed as his captives, never to be released from his dark prison house.

Hvis Moses' liv ikke var blevet skæmmet af den synd, han begik ved at undlade at give Gud æren, da vandet strømmede ud af klippen i Kadesj, ville han være kommet ind i det forjættede land og senere blevet optaget til Himmelen uden at dø. Men han skulle ikke ligge i graven ret længe. Kristus kom selv ned fra Himmelen sammen med de engle, der havde begravet Moses, og vækkede den hellige mand af hans søvn. Satan havde jublet, fordi det var lykkedes ham at få Moses til at synde imod Gud, så Moses var blevet dødens bytte. Den store modstander hævdede, at det guddommelige dekret: "Støv er du, og til støv skal du vende tilbage!" (1. Mos. 3, 19), gav ham magten over de døde. Gravens magt var aldrig før blevet brudt, og Satan gjorde gældende, at alle de, der lå i graven, var hans fanger, og at de aldrig skulle frigives fra deres mørke fængsel.