Holy Spirit has a way of grabbing our attention as we read the Word.  It may be a scripture we’ve read for years to the point of overlooking it altogether.  But He will stop you on one word or one phrase, and you see it as if it is the first time.  That’s what happened to me a week ago. 

Part of the reading assignment our pastor gave us was Holy Spirit has a way of grabbing our attention as we read the Word.  It may be a scripture we’ve read for years to the point of overlooking it altogether.  But He will stop you on one word or one phrase, and you see it as if it is the first time.  That’s what happened to me a week ago. 

Part of the reading assignment our pastor gave us, was Deuteronomy 34.  It’s the last chapter in Deuteronomy where it describes Moses going from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Nebo. 

Here are the first 4 verses:

 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”

Let’s go back and see what happened that caused God to make this decision. 

Numbers 20:1-13    Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.

2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.

10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.

Now this seems like a fairly hefty punishment.  Moses had been the one leading these three million Jews out of Egypt to the Promised Land.  He had been through so much, experienced so many miracles and trials, and now for this one angry action, God was keeping him out of going into the Land Moses had pursued with everything he had.

But let’s consider this:  Moses was the leader, yes.  But he wasn’t just any leader.  Let’s look at this description from Numbers 12:6-8, when God spoke to Aaron and Miriam.

Numbers 12:6-8     Then He said,

“Hear now My words:

If there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;

I speak to him in a dream.

7 Not so with My servant Moses;

He is faithful in all My house.

8 I speak with him face to face,

Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;

And he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

To speak against My servant Moses?”

There wasn’t any other prophet or leader who had this kind of relationship with the LORD.  Plus, any action he took was sure to influence the entire multitude he was leading, who witnessed this failure. 

When you are a leader, a prophet, or a teacher, you are held to a higher standard because of the influence you carry.

Let’s read the rest of Deuteronomy 34:5-12

 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor  diminished. 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.

9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

This was a sad ending for a power-filled life. 

What gripped me and sent me to tears for Moses were verses 5 and 6.

  5So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. 

Not only was Moses banned from the Promised Land God didn’t even allow him to be buried there.  He was buried in a pagan land.  Such a load of regret and sorrow for such a great leader. 

There is a price to pay when we don’t do what God has specifically tells us to do.  His promises to us are compromised by our disobedience. 

Holy Spirit led me on some personal soul searching.  What has God told me to do that I have questioned, weighing with my worldly thinking that surely this cannot be God? How many promises have I shut down from activation by my disobedience? 

I found this interesting gem in Jude 9:

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Rather than give in to his anger and lash out at the devil, the archangel Michael turned it over to God to do the rebuking. 

Paul wrote the following in Philippians 2:8 about Jesus:

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Abba, please forgive us for lashing out at others without going to You first,  without seeking Your counsel, and following Your directions.  Help us to humble ourselves, submitting every action we take and every word we speak to You. 

This old prayer chorus came to me that morning.  It is a good one to use every day.

“Create in me a clean heart, oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord

And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation

And renew a right spirit within me.”

Let’s all press into God’s promises by following His instructions.

Shalom ❤