Several times, the angel of death sought to take Moses’ soul, but Moses survived. Ultimately, he understood that his time had come, and he accepted God’s judgment.

“This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel with before his death” (Deuteronomy 33:1). What is the meaning of “before his death”? The Rabbis said: What did Moses do? He took the angel of death and cast it before him to prevent it from killing him, and he blessed each and every tribe according to its blessing.

Rabbi Meir said: The angel of death went to Moses, and said to him: The Holy One, blessed be He, sent me to you, as you are departing this world today. Moses said to it: Go from here, as I wish to exalt the Holy One, blessed be He…It said to him: Moses, why are you being arrogant? He has those who can exalt him; the heavens and the earth exalt him all the time…Moses said to it: I will silence them and exalt Him….

The angel of death came to him a second time. What did Moses do? He invoked the ineffable name and it fled…When it came to him a third time, he said: Since your coming is from God, I must accept His judgment upon me. From where is this derived: “The Rock, His actions are perfect” (32:4). (Devarim Rabba 11)