Deuteronomy 3:23 – 29 “At that time I also pleaded with the LORD: “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours? Please let me cross over and see the beautiful land beyond the Jordan—that wonderful hill country and Lebanon!”
But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter. Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.”
So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.”
Poor Moses! After all the struggles, all the suffering, all the rebellion, death threats, not to mention disappointments and discouragements, after all these things, God still refused to allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. Why did God do this? Why was God so cruel to Moses?
For the answer to this question, we have to go back to Numbers 20. The Israelites had entered the Wilderness of Zin, and there was no water. Per usual, the whole bunch immediately began whining and complaining and insulting Moses and Aaron. When Moses and Aaron went before the Lord, He ordered them to speak to a large rocky outcropping and water would come forth. Unfortunately, Moses was furious and resentful at his followers. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses stood before the Israelites and said, ““Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (Numbers 20:10 – 12)
Forty years of ministry – forty years of attempting to be faithful – forty years of waiting to enter the Promised Land, the goal of all that suffering – Moses and Aaron both lost their chances to set foot on the soil of the Promised Land through a single act of arrogant disobedience. God wanted Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock and not to touch it so that God could do something truly magnificent and be glorified. But God had Moses strike a rock the first time He brought forth water,and Moses was not thinking clearly. Aaron, of course, was willing to go along with whatever Moses did because Aaron was a follower and not a leader. It’s likely that once Aaron and Moses left the Tabernacle, they actually intended to obey God. But on the way to the rock, the Israelites began jeering until all the two men could hear was the roar of the crowd. By the time Moses and Aaron reached the rock, all Moses could think of was all the abuse that Aaron and he had already taken from these people. Moses was furious, and in his fury, he called the Israelites rebels and then acted as though Aaron and he were the ones bringing forth water from the rock, striking the rock with his rod. It only took a few minutes for Moses to lose the chance of a lifetime through his anger. James 1:20 says, “Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
God was merciful to Moses and allowed him to ascend Mount Pisgah and see the Promised Land from there. But once Moses glimpsed the Promised Land, he would die on the mountain. Moses did humble himself and beg God to allow him to enter the Promised Land, but it was too late. Now Moses’s main job was to commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, so that Joshua would be prepared to lead the people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.
APPLICATION: Psalm 37:8 says, “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” By the time Moses made this tragic mistake at the waters of Meribah, he had already taken a huge amount of undeserved abuse. Very few of us would be able to stand the strain as well as Moses did. But Moses’ problem was compounded by the fact that he did not get rid of his anger and that he remained offended. All it took was a crisis to trip the trigger on Moses’ anger.
Ephesians 4:26 tells us, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger…” When we fail to deal promptly with anger and a spirit of offense, we leave ourselves open to spiritual corrosion. The longer we hang onto our anger, the worse things become. Someone who is easily offended can also be easily manipulated; all you have to do is to push in the right direction and boom! that person is off on a tangent. If disappointment is one of Satan’s biggest tools, our own anger is another.
When we fail to face our anger and resentment and to confess them as sin, we leave ourselves open to satanic attack. We are literally handing Satan our heads on a platter. How can we deal effectively with this problem? First, we must recognize that we are angry and offended. We may well feel that we have a right to be angry, that we have been insulted and vilified. But if we truly want to behave as children of God, we must give up our right to be offended. Jesus Christ was insulted, beaten, and crucified; yet, as he was dying on that cross, he begged his heavenly Father to forgive the very men who were crucifying him.
Second, we must ask God to help us forgive those who have hurt us and who are continuing to hurt us. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves, because those who are offending us generally remain untouched by our anger. Our resentment does nothing but cloud our judgment.
Third, we must keep short accounts; that is, we must train ourselves to forgive as quickly as possible. I have previously told the story of a church leader who sat on a platform while a guest speaker insulted him in front of his congregation. One of the other speakers overheard this leader saying, “I will not be offended. I will not be offended!” That man knew the secret of dealing with anger and offense and was not even waiting until the end of the program because he knew that he would not be able to minister effectively if he did not forgive quickly.
Don’t be like Moses! Moses forfeited his biggest dream because of one act of anger. Ask God to help you, for He will gladly do so.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to learn to forgive quickly and completely so that we are not carrying around toxic emotional waste. Thank You for Jesus, who went to the cross for our sins and who prayed for his tormenters even as he was dying. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment