Moses was 80 years old when God called him to lead a large noisy squandering complaining ungrateful ambivalent crowd of 1 million Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land – Canaan. For 40 years, he strived with them, stretching his patience to uncommon limits. Yet when the time came when the Israelites were just about to reach Canaan, when they were just a stone’s throw away from the Promised Land, the Lord – Moses’ Friend – reminded Moses: “Sorry friend, you cannot go with them.” Heartbroken as he was, Moses knew the reason why. This can be traced from an earlier part of the journey where in Moses disobeyed God’s command (Numbers 30:1-13). Here’s the story. . .
When the Israelites were at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin and when their supplies of food and water were already depleted, they were pretty darn tired and thirsty to the bone. So they did what they do best; they did the most effective and most logical thing to do for them; with one voice, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying: “Why the heck did you bring us up from Egypt to this terrible place!? There’s no food to eat and no water to drink! D*mn it!
So Moses and Aaron consulted the Lord. The Lord commanded them to speak to a particular rock, and that rock will pour out its water. However, when Moses and Aaron faced the mob, the pressure brought about by the people and the hot temper of Moses got the better of Moses. Instead of speaking to the rock to yield its water, Moses raised his staff, and hit the rock instead. The community was able to drink, but the Lord was not pleased. He was not pleased at all.
As a verdict, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not trust 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.” So to make the long story short, the next generation of Israelites – under the leadership of Joshua – did reached the Promised Land. But as for Moses and Aaron – with that single and seemingly simple act of disobedience – they never got a taste of Canaan. Moses was not able to reach his dream land.
With these thoughts in mind, I asked the Lord: “Is it actually possible that Moses died with despair? Can a man of God die with despair?"
The answer came rather quick. . .
continue. . .
When the Israelites were at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin and when their supplies of food and water were already depleted, they were pretty darn tired and thirsty to the bone. So they did what they do best; they did the most effective and most logical thing to do for them; with one voice, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying: “Why the heck did you bring us up from Egypt to this terrible place!? There’s no food to eat and no water to drink! D*mn it!
So Moses and Aaron consulted the Lord. The Lord commanded them to speak to a particular rock, and that rock will pour out its water. However, when Moses and Aaron faced the mob, the pressure brought about by the people and the hot temper of Moses got the better of Moses. Instead of speaking to the rock to yield its water, Moses raised his staff, and hit the rock instead. The community was able to drink, but the Lord was not pleased. He was not pleased at all.
As a verdict, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not trust 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.” So to make the long story short, the next generation of Israelites – under the leadership of Joshua – did reached the Promised Land. But as for Moses and Aaron – with that single and seemingly simple act of disobedience – they never got a taste of Canaan. Moses was not able to reach his dream land.
With these thoughts in mind, I asked the Lord: “Is it actually possible that Moses died with despair? Can a man of God die with despair?"
The answer came rather quick. . .
continue. . .
© 2009, Karl
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