Exo 34:29-30
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the
testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know
that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses,
and behold, the skin of his face shone, and
they were afraid to come near him. Moses is a
transformed man. But what was the reaction
of the people?
Once again the people respond with fear. Fear is keeping
these people from
experiencing everything of God that they could have.
Numbers 14:13-18
Num 14:13 But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the
Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and
they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this
people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before
them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then
the nations who have heard your fame will say,
'It is
because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore
to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.' And
now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 'The LORD is slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear
the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' Please
pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness
of your steadfast love, just as you have
forgiven this people, from Egypt until now." Then the LORD said, "I
have pardoned, according to your word.
Once again,
Moses pled for the people, based on God’s glory, that Egypt would speak badly of Him,
but this time, he had new revelation of God. He plead with God based on His
character. God had told Moses that He is slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love. He prays based on that, and once again, God pardons the people.
We need to see
Moses one transgression that caused him to not enter the land with the people.
Numbers 20:6-12 Then Moses and
Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of
meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,
and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the staff, and assemble the
congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes
to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give
drink to the congregation and their cattle." And Moses took the staff from
before the LORD, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the
assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you
rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" And Moses lifted
up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out
abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said
to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as
holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this
assembly into the land that I have given them."
This seems like
such a small matter, but God took it very seriously. It seems that Moses
finally just lost it with the people. "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring
water for you out of this rock?" God took offense to this. Every other
time, Moses honored God. This time, he takes credit for it himself. God told
Moses to speak to the rock, but he struck it, instead. Although Moses did not
obey completely, and he dishonored God, God still provided the water. As Paul
said, “If we are
faithless, he remains faithful—for He cannot
deny himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13).
Moses suffered the consequence of his action, he was not allowed to enter the
promised land.
At the end of the 40 years of wandering, the
people are ready to enter the land. Moses reminded the people of their history,
and warned them to be obedient to God. After his final address to his people,
God called him.
Deuteronomy 32:48-52
That very day the LORD spoke to Moses,
"Go up this mountain of the Abarim,
Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land
of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die
on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your
brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
because you broke faith with me in the midst
of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of
Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of
Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into
the land that I am giving to the people of Israel."
Moses final day showed a continued intimacy
with God.
Deut 34:5-7 So
Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the
word of the LORD, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite
Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye
was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses
in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for
Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom,
for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did
as the LORD had commanded Moses. And
there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew
face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD
sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to
all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror
that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Moses died
in the arms of God, and God buried him. His epitaph was that he was strong and
vigorous, a unique prophet that the Lord knew face to face.
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