Pisgah

Lately, I’ve been seeing variations of the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

I’ve been woken up at 1:23 in the morning several times, and last night I woke up at 12:23 for no logical reason. Every afternoon, I look at the clock at just the right time to catch 1:23 pm.

And every time I see the variation of 123, I ask God what He’s trying to say. I tried looking it up in the Bible through different verses, and I couldn’t find anything that really resonated with me. Reading about it through online searches didn’t hit home either. So I’d pretty much just given up on understanding the reasoning behind this repetitive number.

This morning, as I gathered my things for work, I felt God wanted to say something, so I grabbed my Bible.

A few days ago, I’d read how Aaron, Moses’ brother, was 123 years old when he died, so I looked up the passage in Numbers, which somehow led me to Deuteronomy, where I landed on chapter 3, verse 27, where God tells Moses to go to Pisgah.

Believe it or not, Pisgah is not a Christian curse word; it’s actually a prominent ridge and cleft on Mount Nebo that was used as a lookout point, offering quite the view. Standing proudly in modern-day Jordan (Moab in the Bible), at over 2,500 feet, Mount Nebo is the final resting place of Moses.

Deuteronomy 3:25 & 27 (NIV)

“Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon”...”Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.”

In this last-ditch effort, we see Moses begging God to see the Promised Land, to which God says, “No, you can’t enter, but I will show it to you; I will let you see it from afar.”

Moses goes up to Pisgah, and from there, as far as the eye could see, it was all land that God had promised Moses. He would have been able to see places like Jericho, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea. Moses’s view of the Promised Land was so vast that the end could literally not be seen.

I always thought Moses’ life ended sadly. For 80 years, he led the people of Israel and was a vital vessel that God used many times to showcase His power, yet he didn’t get to enter Canaan. There was a consequence for disobeying God, and I get it, but it just seemed to be such a harsh punishment.

I truly felt sorry for Moses, but today, I saw God’s grace at work even in the last moments of Moses’ life, and it really overwhelmed me.

Deuteronomy 32:48-52 (NLT)

“That same day the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river, and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own special possession. Then you will die there on the mountain. You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

God takes Moses to Pisgah and tells Moses to look out over Canaan. He didn’t have to, but out of grace, God literally gives Moses this high-level overview of the promise. And within moments, everything Moses had worked for throughout the last half of his life was finally visible.

And while I’m not Moses, I can imagine the tears streaming down his face as he looked out and saw the fulfillment of God’s promise.

I can imagine Moses being completely undone with grief and sadness, yet full of hope for Israel and their future.

Moses would have died knowing that Israel would be okay, not because Israel was doing everything right, but because God was faithful.

I’m speechless that the same God who made the heavens and the earth and flung the stars into the sky had enough grace for His servant Moses, as He took a moment to quite literally show Moses that He is faithful to keep His promises, despite human error.

Moses saw Israel struggle with faith from the moment they left Egypt. Yet, time and time again, God showed up for them. Whether it was a sea being split in half, manna magically falling from the sky, a pillar of fire leading them at night, or a cloud leading them by day, or even their clothes and shoes never wearing out for the entire 40 years of their desert experience, God was faithful.

Yet, somehow, Israel still doubted God.

As Moses hiked up the mountain, he must have been worried about Israel’s future; he warned them not to forget the goodness of God, for he truly knew their weakness.

Moses had seen the well-established pattern. I can imagine him being concerned, knowing that his time of leadership and influence was over. He knew Joshua would be a great leader, but would Israel listen? Would they obey? Would they actually have all that God had promised?

And so God takes Moses to a lookout point and reminds him of His faithfulness. He reminds Moses that HE is God and that no man can stop His plans.

Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”

Pisgah represents multiple things. It’s a place of hope for the future, a reminder of God’s faithfulness, and a place of transition as Moses dies and Joshua takes over.

It’s a place of endings and new beginnings.

And as I’m writing some notes in my Bible, I remember the scripture “He who promised is faithful.” I can’t remember the exact location, so I look it up, and it’s Hebrews 10:23 (another variation of 123).

Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

It’s a challenge to persevere in faith, even when we can’t see it. And as I’m reading this, it hits me that all this time I kept seeing 123, God was simply reminding me that He is faithful.

Proverbs 25:2 (NIV)

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings”.

It is our job to search for understanding when we see signs, and don’t be fooled, God loves a good puzzle.

And this puzzle, the whole reason for seeing 123, made me cry. Because as I walk out my hard season, as I struggle to believe the promise, as I doubt my strength and ability to keep standing for the promise, as I feel exhausted every day that the promise doesn’t happen, as I’m desperate to see God move in my situation…God is waking me up in the middle of the night, God is stopping me in my tracks every afternoon to simply say, “Rachelle, I’m faithful. I will keep my promises.“

Every day, God is taking me to my Pisgah and reminding me to look out over the promise. He’s saying, “See the promise, visualize it, embrace it. You’re here; it’s a time of transition. And despite your mistakes, despite people messing with your life and trying to interrupt My plan, I will finish what I start, and you will have everything I’ve promised, not because you’re perfect, but because I am.”

How overwhelming it is to know God loves me enough to wake me up and remind me with a simple whisper, “Rachelle, I’m faithful”.

At the beginning of the year, I felt strongly that I should keep a journal of my walk throughout 2025, and I knew it was so I could re-read it later and marvel at God’s faithfulness. This journal is my Pisgah; it’s what I will come back to when I’m having a moment of doubt.

When life is hard, and I’m questioning whether God will ever show up and intervene in my situation, He will take me back to Pisgah. God will have me review the track record of His faithfulness in my life, and He’ll say, “Rachelle, I’ve been faithful before, and I’ll be faithful again.”

He’s going to challenge me to trust Him again because Pisgah is also a place of surrender. It’s a surrender of our doubt and fears; it’s letting go of what we can’t control.

Moses had to let go of Israel; he had to surrender what he could no longer influence.

So, as you go about your day, perhaps wondering when you’ll see the fulfillment of God’s promises in your own life, go to your Pisgah. Pause for the cause and go look out over your promise and remember the faithfulness of God that got you to Pisgah.

Rest at Pisgah; feel the hope that comes in that moment. Know that you’re right there at the edge of transition from what was to what is. Let your faith in God be renewed.

I don’t feel as sorry for Moses as I used to; what a stunning way to end his journey. It was the second-best ending for him.

But how beautiful it is that Moses’ journey ended in the presence of God; it ended full of hope; it ended remembering every faithful thing God did to get Israel, and even himself, to where they were.

It ended at Pisgah, where God reminded Moses that He who promises is faithful.

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