Numbers
20 records for us the reason why Moses was not allowed to participate in the
crossing into the promised land. That incident took place at Meribah, where the
people of Israel quarreled with him and Aaron for lack of water. He was
instructed by the Lord to speak to the rock to bring forth water for them. He
did not obey the Lord and chose instead to strike the rock twice and angrily
exclaimed, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out
of this rock.” What he did was a show of contempt for God. So in Numbers
20:12 God said to Him, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as
holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this
assembly into the land which I have given them.”
Now
as Moses was encouraging Joshua who was taking over the helm to lead the
people, he could sense the excitement. The more he talked to him about the
Lord, the more he could feel the great things that were about to happen. So his
heart was so stirred that he pled with God to let him have a part in what was
soon coming. He said, “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your
servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in
heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? Let me,
I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the
Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.” He was hoping that God
would revert His decision and allow him to participate in what He was about to
grant His people.
But
God would not listen to his plea. What Moses did at Meribah was a serious
matter. His show of contempt for the Lord must be a downright disrespect for
God. This is especially so for him as the leader who was called to set an
example for the people. So he needed to learn to accept the consequence of a
wrong action. So in verses 27, Moses was told to “Go up to the top
of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east,
and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this
Jordan.” God’s word to him was final. Moses was told instead to encourage
Joshua in his task to bring the people into the promised land. For sure,
it was a hard lesson for him, but he must submit to God. Like Moses, we also
need to submit to God’s dealing, even though our experience may not be like his.
The
lesson for us to learn is the finality of what God has said. We are brought
back to the words of Balaam in Numbers 23:19. “God is not a man,
that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has
He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will
He not make it good?” The strong
assertion here is that God's will is final. He will not renege on His words. It
will do us well once we have ascertained the truth, to act on it. Let us learn
to rightly handle the Word of Truth! For it is not worth having to bear
the consequence of misstep!
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