Unfortunate Consequences

[et_pb_section bb_built="1" _builder_version="3.0.47" custom_padding="4px|0px|0px|0px"][et_pb_row custom_padding="0px|100px|0px|100px" _builder_version="3.0.47" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" _i="0" _address="0.0"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_image src="https://drwadearnold.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mt-Nebo-1.jpg" _builder_version="3.0.77" /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding="27px|50px|3px|50px" _builder_version="3.0.77"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.0.77"]

The Quesion

What sin did Moses commit that he was not allowed into the Promised Land?

Who was Moses?

Moses is a patriarch of both Judaism and Christianity. He was God’s personally chosen person to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. God used Moses to deliver the Ten Commandments and to establish the Law. Authorship of the first five books of the Bible are attributed to Moses (though his authorship is frequently called into question). Were it not for the leadership of this man, our lives would be quite different. His leadership was truly world-shaping.

At the end of his life, however, he experienced and incredible personal disappointment. Near the end of his life, Moses was speaking to the people of Israel and gave this report found in Deuteronomy 3:22-3:27 (NIV):

At that time I pleaded with the LORD: “Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 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.

After suffering through the desert for forty years, Moses was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land. After leading a very difficult group of people to lead for forty years, he did not experience the promise that God had made to Israel. In fact, despite all great things he had done, he suffered the same fate that all the other adults who had left Egypt with him suffered (except Caleb and Joshua): he died before entering the Promised Land. The adult Israelites didn’t enter the Promised Land because of their failure to believe the report of Joshua and Caleb after their reconnaissance mission (see Number 13-14).

Moses' Sin

Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because he and Aaron, his brother, committed a grave sin at Kadesh-barnea. Here’s the account from Numbers 20:7-12:

The LORD said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

Moses engaged in two behaviors in this episode which proved tragic. First, God commanded him to speak to the rock, but rather than speak to the rock, he struck it with his staff—twice! Second, and most importantly, Moses and Aaron indicated they were the source of the water rather than God. “must we bring water out of this rock?” In this one instance, Moses and Aaron failed to recognize that they were simply conduits through which God was working. They were taking credit for what God was doing.

Our Take Away

There are several lessons for us in these passages. First, we must believe God promises. God has promised us salvation in Jesus Christ. He has promised all humanity this salvation. But that salvation is contingent on faith in Christ.

Second, we can never take credit for what God is doing. Our job as the people of God is to give God the glory that is due him. We are to live our lives with Him at the center. Our lives revolve around him.

Third, the question that inevitably follows is “God has promised me salvation by faith in Jesus. But, if I’m disobedient, will God deny me His promise?” While a full explanation of this aspect of salvation is beyond the scope of this article, I will answer briefly. God will always be faithful to His promises. The only way that we will not experience salvation in Christ once we have professed belief is to reject the faith we once professed. If we don’t want His salvation in Christ, he will not force it on us.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.0.77" background_layout="light" border_style="solid"]

What do you think? Leave a comment below!

If you like what you have read and would like to be notified when I post new content,
please subscribe to my blog by filling out the form in the right-hand navigation bar.
Use the social media buttons at the top and the bottom of the post to share with your friends.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]