Till Moses’ dying day he blamed his fellow Israelites for not being able to enter the Promised Land.
Moses was unique before God. When God communicated with other prophets he spoke in dreams and visions, but with Moses He spoke face to face (Numbers 12:6-8).
Moses loved God and Israel with all his being. When God wanted to abandon Israel because of their sins, Moses interceded for them and changed God’s mind. The Psalmist shows the heart of Moses:
“Therefore God said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them” (Psalm 106:23).
Through good times and bad, Moses stood as all leaders should—firm and faithful to the end.
But it was at the “Waters of Meribah” that all hopes of Moses entering the Promised Land ended. When Israel complained about a lack of water, God told Moses to “speak to the rock” and water would come forth (Numbers 20:8). Moses, interpreting their complaints as rebellion against the Holy Spirit, allowed his emotions to get the better of him and “spoke rashly” (Psalm 106:33), and “struck the rock.”
If we can be certain of one thing about Moses, it is this: God knew his heart to be pure before Him. In our age where we take pains to excuse sin in each other with the magic words, “God knows your heart,” we find it difficult to grasp why “it went hard with Moses on Israel’s account” (Psalm 106:32). God punished Moses with these biting words, “You will not bring this community into the land I give them” (Numbers 20:12).
Moses was a holy man. But he allowed his righteous indignation to get in the way when “the Lord showed Himself holy among them” (Numbers 20:13).
John Staiger
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