Why was Moses not allowed to enter the promised land?

[Fenris]

Readying the laser...

[Rebecca]

Goodness you are touchy. My implication:  different forms of Christianity on forums are sorta like the zillion grains of sand in the box.

No, not "touchy"... trying to raise the standard by which Christians communicate with one another and with non-believers.

Fenris referenced only THIS site and his now 15+ years of interaction with several of us old-timers.  You then expressed, with more than a bit of distain and dismissiveness, and with a rather broadbrushed stroke, a poor analogy that has no bearing on Fenris' comment.

It is no wonder that non-Christians do not take our apologetics seriously when we are so poor at it.

  Well I am here . Without meaning to seems  what i write is offencive to your understanding. As you are who you are i am who  i am. Kinda get the 'feeling' you are protecting Fenris , no  need, i respect what he has to say he seems true to his beliefs.   Wishing i was not offensive to you.

[Fenris]

Kinda get the 'feeling' you are protecting Fenris

I patrolled the mean streets of the Bronx, you know.

[RabbiKnife]

He don’t need no stinking’ badges….

[Fenris]

Also OBL threw a skyscraper at me. I was not too happy about this, as one may well imagine.

[Athanasius]

Understanding Christian theology from the forums ?  Thats like understanding building from the sandbox. 

You'll find that sandboxes are good places to learn fundamental architectural principles (like, don't build castles out of sand if you want it to last). You don't know who any of us are, our backgrounds, or who we eat lunch with. Your comment was a misstep that came across as a dig.

Let's move on from it.

[Rebecca]

Kinda get the 'feeling' you are protecting Fenris

I patrolled the mean streets of the Bronx, you know.

you're tough

[Fenris]

you're tough

Like everyone else, only when I need to be. And I don't need to be here. We are amongst friends.

[Sojourner]

Returning to the issue of the OP, a few points were not discussed. First, both Moses and Aaron lost out on entering the Promised Land because of Moses' poor judgment. Secondly, consider what Moses said just before striking the rock: “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Not only did Moses not correctly follow the Lord's instructions, he essentially made Aaron and himself the benefactors who would supply the water. God graciously sent the water gushing out of the rock, but He was very displeased. At any rate, both brothers paid for the error, and neither one entered the land.

[Fenris]

Returning to the issue of the OP, a few points were not discussed. First, both Moses and Aaron lost out on entering the Promised Land because of Moses' poor judgment.

I don't like the phrase "poor judgement". Nobody did more for the Israelites than Moses. When God threatened to destroy the people, Moses told Him to strike his name from the bible if God did that. Moses was a product of his generation. He was the person who could bring the Israelites forth from bondage. He was the one who brought down the law to them. He led them through trying times in the desert for 40 years.

He was just not the one who would enter the land with them. That was left to another.

Secondly, consider what Moses said just before striking the rock: “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Not only did Moses not correctly follow the Lord's instructions, he essentially made Aaron and himself the benefactors who would supply the water.

Yes, and some Jewish biblical commentators have pointed this out as Moses's main mistake.

God graciously sent the water gushing out of the rock, but He was very displeased.

I'll repost from the original post-

Another way to look at it entirely: In Exodus 17, when the people asked for water, God instructed Moses "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Here Moses is instructed to speak to the rock. What changed? The people changed. In Exodus 17, Moses was dealing with the generation born in Egypt. In slavery. They had a slave mentality and physical inducements was part of that. Moses striking the rock made sense to them. In Numbers 20, we are dealing with the generation born in the desert, in freedom. And free people are not to be struck to gain obedience. They must be spoken to and convinced. Which is why Moses was instructed to speak to the rock.

And this is why Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land. He was not the man for that mission, and so that was not his mission. His was to take the Hebrews out of Egypt, and he did that and did it well. But it would be up to another person to lead the generation born free into the land of Israel, to conquer and build a state.

[Sojourner]

Hey, I have nothing but high regard for Moses. God required of him a task that I'm sure frequently drained him physically, mentally and emotionally, and he endured it every step of the way--even at 120 years of age. No servant of God labored harder and persevered more than Moses. But I think letting anger cloud his thinking to the point of disobeying God with his words and actions can certainly be described as a lapse in judgment. The same is true of killing the Egyptian. And neglecting to circumcise his son. God came close to killing him over that. To whom much is given, much is required, and God's punishment is commensurate--mitigated of course, by His mercy.

[Fenris]

But I think letting anger cloud his thinking to the point of disobeying God with his words and actions can certainly be described as a lapse in judgment.

That is certainly one way to look at it, and who am I to say that it's wrong? I'm simply observing that there are other ways to view the incident.

[Sojourner]

But I think letting anger cloud his thinking to the point of disobeying God with his words and actions can certainly be described as a lapse in judgment.

That is certainly one way to look at it, and who am I to say that it's wrong? I'm simply observing that there are other ways to view the incident.

Can you elaborate?

[Fenris]

Can you elaborate?

I've said it already.

In Exodus 17, when the people asked for water, God instructed Moses "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Here Moses is instructed to speak to the rock. What changed? The people changed. In Exodus 17, Moses was dealing with the generation born in Egypt. In slavery. They had a slave mentality and physical inducements was part of that. Moses striking the rock made sense to them. In Numbers 20, we are dealing with the generation born in the desert, in freedom. And free people are not to be struck to gain obedience. They must be spoken to and convinced. Which is why Moses was instructed to speak to the rock.

And this is why Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land. He was not the man for that mission, and so that was not his mission. His was to take the Hebrews out of Egypt, and he did that and did it well. But it would be up to another person to lead the generation born free into the land of Israel, to conquer and build a state.

[Sojourner]

Can you elaborate?

I've said it already.

In Exodus 17, when the people asked for water, God instructed Moses "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Here Moses is instructed to speak to the rock. What changed? The people changed. In Exodus 17, Moses was dealing with the generation born in Egypt. In slavery. They had a slave mentality and physical inducements was part of that. Moses striking the rock made sense to them. In Numbers 20, we are dealing with the generation born in the desert, in freedom. And free people are not to be struck to gain obedience. They must be spoken to and convinced. Which is why Moses was instructed to speak to the rock.

And this is why Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land. He was not the man for that mission, and so that was not his mission. His was to take the Hebrews out of Egypt, and he did that and did it well. But it would be up to another person to lead the generation born free into the land of Israel, to conquer and build a state.

I understand what you're saying about the difference in the people, and I can agree that it was time for God to hand the reigns of leadership over to Joshua. But that doesn't explain why Moses struck the rock in anger instead of speaking to it as instructed, nor does it mitigate his accountability. God clearly stated the reason Moses and Aaron would not enter the Promised Land was because they did not do as He instructed regarding the rock:

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 20:12)

And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence. Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it. (Deut 32:50-52)