Why was Moses not allowed to enter the Promised Land?

There can be no repetition of the death of Christ; and hence Moses was wrong in smiting the rock twice with his rod — wrong in smiting it at all. He was commanded to take "the rod," Aaron's rod — the priestly rod, and speak to the rock. The atoning work is done, and now our great High Priest has passed into the heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for us, and the streams of spiritual refreshment flow to us, on the ground of accomplished redemption, and in connection with Christ's priestly ministry, of which Aaron's budding rod is the exquisite figure.

Hence, then, it was a grave mistake for Moses to smite the rock a second time — a mistake to use his rod in the matter at all. To have smitten with Aaron's rod would, as we can easily understand, have spoiled its lovely blossom. A word would have sufficed, in connection with the rod of priesthood — the rod of grace. Moses failed to see this — failed to glorify God. He spoke unadvisedly with his lips; and as a consequence he was prohibited going over Jordan. His rod could not take the people over — for what could mere authority do with a murmuring host — and he was not suffered to go over himself because he failed to sanctify Jehovah in the eyes of the congregation.

The reader will do well to ponder deeply the subject of grace and government. It is indeed a very weighty and practical theme, and one largely illustrated in scripture, though but little understood amongst us. It may seem wonderful to us, hard to be understood, that one so beloved as Moses should be refused an entrance into the promised land. But in this we see the solemn action of the divine government, and we have to bow our heads and worship. It was not merely that Moses, in his official capacity, or as representing the legal system, could not bring Israel into the land. This is true; but it is not all. Moses spake unadvisedly with his lips. He and Aaron his brother failed to glorify God, in the presence of the congregation; and for this cause, "The Lord spake to Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." And, again, we read, "The Lord spake to Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there."

All this is most solemn. Here we have the two leading men in the congregation, the very men whom God had used to bring His people out of the land of Egypt, with mighty signs and wonders — "that Moses and Aaron" — men highly honoured of God; and yet refused entrance into Canaan. And for what? Let us mark the reason. "Because ye rebelled against my word".

But here Moses, completely losing sight of the infinite grace of God in this wondrous transaction and provision for His people, and falling back on the principle of judgment, misrepresented the God that he had sought to magnify, and whose grace it was his greatest joy to reflect. It was not so now, and hence a grievous failure. It became sin to death to Moses, for God most of all resents a grave misrepresentation of Himself on the part of one who ought to have known Him well. It was precisely because Moses and Aaron were so near to God, because they had entered (Moses particularly) into the grace of Jehovah, that now under these circumstances total failure on their part became the occasion for setting aside Moses as a vessel that had done its work. He was not fit to lead them into the land — the goodly land. It was a sore trial; it was a deep pain, you may be sure, to Moses's heart, though he never distrusted Jehovah after this, I am persuaded, but bowed with beautiful grace to His will, as we shall see in the history that follows. At the same time Moses felt and was meant to feel it all. But it is a sorrow that one who had conducted them so truly according to God, and who had stood so firm in circumstances yet more trying, should have failed, as it were, when close to the very brink of the land — when drawing near to the point from which they were to enter on the Canaan of Jehovah's choice. But so it was. Moses failed, departed from the rich grace of God, fell back on judgment; and judgment accordingly dealt with him. Moses did not act according to Jehovah. He lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice. Jehovah did not withhold the supply. The water came out abundantly; but this was to God's own praise, and in nowise an endorsement of Moses's failure. "And Jehovah spake to Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."

But Moses and Aaron at this moment stand apart from the congregation; not in faithfulness as on previous occasions. They do not apprehend the sovereign grace of God. It is now their testing time; and they both fail, for neither had learnt the import of "the" rod. In anger Moses took his own rod, but what right had he to be angry when God would show only mercy? Both he and Aaron must die in the wilderness. "Because ye believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." How did they fail to sanctify God? Not doing as commanded. The truth of priesthood as taught by the rod was set aside as if of no avail for the people, and with no more significance than confirming Aaron in his office, or in fact merely of use as a "token" against the rebels. But God is most jealous of all and every thing that interferes with His grace. God remembered mercy, Moses thought of their sin. God looked at the rod as a pledge of grace, Moses saw only the "token." Not seeing the mercy side of the rod, what wonder that he took his own rod, symbol of the righteous government of God and said "Hear now, ye rebels" — a word that Jehovah did not put into His mouth?

No doubt, it was a fresh lesson of mercy and forbearance, and deeper than Moses had yet seen, for his rod must give place to the intercessory power of the priest. He was told to "speak" to the rock; but he "smote" the rock and in his anger smote twice. Moreover, so jealous was he for authority that he for the moment forgot his own place as servant. "Must we fetch you water out of this rock?" Where was the honour due to God in his saying "WE?" None so meek as Moses; but here he failed and did not sanctify God in the people's eyes. His own place and authority filled his mind: there was no room at that moment for the thought of grace; yet had he not learnt enough of the people and their sin, that nothing but grace could bring them through the wilderness? His indignation might be righteous but his words were hasty, and the gravamen of his sin was interfering with God's grace. God would be sanctified according to His grace, not then by judgment. Therefore Moses could not enter the land. He mourned over this exclusion to his last days. "I must die in this land." Did he fully judge his own failure as the righteous reason why he should not pass the Jordan? "The Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee, speak no more unto me of this matter" (Deut. 3:26; 4:22). But God lays it upon him and Aaron, "Because ye trespassed against me." The people no doubt were the occasion, but the trespass was their own; Moses and Aaron, in a certain sense, we would say it with submission, disobeyed too (Num. 20:24; Deut. 32:51).

Let us look at the three instances to which I refer. The first is Deuteronomy 3:23-27. "I besought the Lord at that time, saying, O, Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand; for what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me; and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan."

"I besought the Lord:" it is very remarkable; almost the very same words as those used by the apostle in the Epistle to the Corinthians. But his earnest prayer was not granted; the only answer was, "Speak no more unto me of this matter." There was a double reason, no doubt, why His servant Moses should not cross the Jordan and enter the land of Canaan. Dispensationally the law could never bring the people of God, such as they were, into the rest of God; it remained for Joshua, the type of Christ in resurrection, to do this. And the moral reason, of course, every one is acquainted with; "he spake unadvisedly with his lips." You may ask, How did God do a better thing for him than giving him his request, when He took him up to the top of Pisgah, instead of letting him go into the land, allowing him to see it all, which could only tantalize him? But do you not remember how in the New Testament, we read, that when the Lord Jesus Christ was seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses was seen there with Him; there he stood in the land; he saw it in company with Christ in glory, and was not that far better than if in Israel's days he had crossed the Jordan? He did not say one word about it now; he could only speak about Christ. He got a far better thing than his heart could have conceived or his lips uttered. And it is just the same principle with God and His people now.

CANAAN. Moses could not lead Israel in (1) because of his personal failure (Deut. 1:37); (2) because the law is unable to bring men into blessing (Rom. 8:3). Joshua — type of Christ acting by His Spirit — the leader into Canaan (Deut. 1:38). AMORITES' iniquity now full (Gen. 15:13-14). The land vomited them out (Lev. 18:25-28) Israel God's scavengers.

Mark the words, "for your sakes." It was very needful to remind the congregation that it was on their account that Moses, that beloved and honoured servant of the Lord, was prevented from crossing the Jordan, and setting his foot upon the land of Canaan. True, "he spake unadvisedly with his lips;" but "they provoked his spirit" to do so. This ought to have touched them to the quick. They not only failed, through unbelief, to enter in themselves, but they were the cause of his exclusion, much as he longed to see "that goodly mountain and Lebanon." (see Ps. 106:32.)

The Rock is Christ, as the One who was bruised as an atonement for sin, because you remember, on the first occasion when Moses smote the rock, it was a type of Christ lifted up on the cross; I allude to the 17th of Exodus, "Smite the rock and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink," — because you can have nothing, no good, no blessing, neither salvation nor sustenance, that does not spring out of a smitten Christ — if there is water to come forth from the rock to satisfy the thirst of Israel, typically Christ must be smitten. When I speak of the rock, I speak of Christ as the One who was an atonement for sin. He is the One out of whom everything comes, by Him sin is removed, by His precious death the barrier is removed, and now everything fully comes out; it is not that God had it not in His heart, He had, but righteousness barred the way, and the moment sin is removed all comes out righteously; refreshment, pardon, liberty, in fact, everything. If you trace everything up to its source, you will find all in heaven or on earth, all flows from Christ crucified; He is the Rock, and in another sense the One on whom the heart builds for eternal security. But now the Rod is Christ, though in another aspect of His glory, even Christ in the exercise of His priestly grace as the One who is in the heavens because He is a priest in heaven, not on earth, and He is exercising the functions of His priesthood in heaven. "He is a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" that is His order, the functions are Aaronic. The Rod then is typical of priesthood founded upon death and resurrection; and so these are the two things that remain amid all the vicissitudes in Israel's journey, the Rock and the Rod. What a blessed thing it is that no one will ever go to Mount Hor and see Christ strip Himself of His priestly robes and put them upon another! No eyes will ever look upon such a sight as that. Moses himself afterwards must toil up the steep incline of Mount Pisgah to die in the Mount, having first feasted his eyes upon that which death shut him out of. What a blessed thing it is that we shall never do that! Christ never commits His office to another. He holds it eternally. That is the great and blessed fact in this chapter. As we go through the wilderness, what God would lead us into is, the sufficiency of Christ. He is enough — we constantly say He is enough, but then all the way we are proved as to that. The Rock and the Rod are not enough for Israel, and they are ready to malign God who had brought them through, up to that moment. Have our hearts known the sufficiency of Christ? Is all the fulness and the blessedness in Him our competency, so that when we are tested, it may be by the passing away of some creature mercy, it may be by the withering of some gourd, it may be by being stripped like a tree, Christ is enough for us? That is the test; it is in the complete death and desolation of everything here; am I then able to say Christ is enough? He is sufficient, all fulness is in Him; it is not a question of having our needs met, or getting relief. I do not deny that He ministers relief, I know He does; but that is what Israel's heart was always upon, they were hungry or thirsty, and they wanted relief, they were in that sense always on relief. I don't deny that God gives relief, but I do say there is a higher thing than that, there is the exercise of the heart that it may know, before the relief comes, the need of continued dependence which the hunger and thirst were designed to promote. If Christ is our resource, then we can endure until relief comes and do you think the relief is less sweet when it comes if I have been proving the sufficiency of the One whose hand is stretched out to give it me? On the contrary, it enhances the gift, and in place of measuring His heart by your need, you measure it by His own heart. Christ's own heart is the only measure of itself. If it were otherwise, supposing your necessities are not very great, then the proportion of what is in His heart will be very small; and am I not to know Him beyond the mere extent of my necessities and needs? Am I not to know Him on His own side? I am speaking now of what is individual, of what is to be known in the wilderness — a resource, so that if death and decay be on everything around us, we can turn to all and say, "Thank God, there is the Rock and the Rod, and nothing can touch them."

I would glance a moment at that wherein Moses's failure consisted at this time. It was this — in giving a false representation of God to Israel — that was simply his sin, he misrepresented God to a rebellious people. Jehovah had said to him, "Take the rod," i.e. Aaron's rod, symbolical, as I have pointed out already, of priestly grace, "Take the rod, and gather thou the Assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes." Now observe how different that is to Jehovah's word to Moses in Exodus 17:5, "And thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand and go." That was the first occasion; here he was to take "the rod," and speak to the rock. That is, God was acting in reference to Israel in the unbounded grace of His own heart; it was grace, and priestly grace too, because it is only priestly grace that can bring a murmuring people through the wilderness; whereas Moses, instead of taking the rod, takes his own rod, the rod of judgment and government — thus he misrepresented God in every way, he denied in type the one sacrifice of Christ by smiting the rock twice, and he misrepresented the voice of God in speaking to Israel as he did; he stood before the people the very contrast to that character in which God was dealing with them. It is a solemn reality for us at this present moment, in our actings, conversation, and ways down here in this world, that we give a proper representation of Christ; because that is what we are left here for. Are we really exercised as to this manifestation of Christ to men?

But the divine ideal was not realized; the patience of the most patient of men was exhausted — the meekness of the most meek had failed him. The angry eyes of the people caused his eye to flash upon them, and he spoke to them and not to the rock. "Hear now, ye rebels," he cried; "must we fetch you water out of this rock?" and as voice and eye overcame his arm, "he smote the rock twice." Thus in his own way, and not in God's way, did he fetch them water out of the rock. He sanctified not Jehovah before them, he transgressed His words, and thus lost the honour of leading Israel into rest.

But here a difficulty may arise in the minds of some who have not learned to distinguish between God's government of His people on earth, and their eternal salvation and glory hereafter. In the O.T. there are cases in which this distinction may be clearly seen, while in the N.T. it is as clearly taught. The subject is one of great practical importance to every child of God; but in an elementary paper (the designed character of this series), a single example from each must suffice. Of the eternal salvation of Moses, by grace, there cannot be a question: the testimony of God and the scene in the holy mount prove it; yet, for trespass against the Lord at Meribah-Kadesh, he was not suffered to enter the land, but died in the wilderness under the government of God (Deut. 32:50-52). In 1 Cor. 11:28-32 the teaching is unmistakeable, that our Lord Jesus chastens those in the church who will not judge themselves, and that by the inflictions of weakness, sickness, and even death; but it is expressly said that he does this that they may not be condemned with the world. In the case of Eli (of whose eternal safety there should be no doubt, terrible as was the judgment that came upon his house), we must also remember that, dispensationally, he was under the law, but according to the name of the Lord as proclaimed in Ex. 34:6-7, a fact not to be lost sight of in connection with all His dealings with Shiloh — dealings that He would not allow His people, as under the law, to slight or forget (Jer. 26:6).