¹⁰ 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?” ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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.” ¹³ These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. (Nu 20:10-13)

I have often struggled with how to understand this passage. It is commonly interpreted by stating something along the lines of “YHWH demands to be kept holy, and Moses and Aaron (who knew this better than anyone) fell short. Their punishment was to die with the rebellious wilderness generation, never to enter the Promised Land.” There tends to be a focus on striking the rock instead of speaking to it, and discussions about whether striking the rock twice represented misplaced anger, a physical action when verbal was commanded, or something else. While I don’t believe these to be irrelevant issues, they do seem a bit petty, don’t they? They feel a little thin–a little lacking, a little bit of an abbreviated answer to a difficult dilemma, a leap from step A to step D. Striking a rock equals denial of entrance to the Promised Land? I’ve always had trouble connecting those dots. As my high school calculus teacher might have said: “I need to see some work here.” So, let’s show a little of the work.

A Little About Moses

Moses was faithful, let’s not forget that. Moses was faithful when no one else was–he opposed Pharaoh, interceded for a stiff-necked people, and often, stood alone in the gap for Israel. At one point, YHWH was willing to wipe out Israel and re-establish the chosen line with Moses and his seed (Ex. 32:11-14)—for someone so faithful, how does one failure deny him his most desired of experiences—entering the Promised Land? It doesn’t feel as if the punishment at Meribah fits the crime, nor does it feel as if we see a similar punishment to so faithful a servant anywhere else in Scripture.

Two events in particular, this one in Numbers and the death of Moses in Deuteronomy, have been on my mind recently—probably due to a combination of studying in Deuteronomy, interest in the Old Testament, and a general love of Biblical Theology. And I have come to—I believe—a richer understanding of Moses’ sin and why YHWH punished him the way he did.

From Mediator to Provider

Moses states in verse 10, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Of course, Moses could not bring water out of a rock—he knew that–but YHWH could and did, despite Moses’ arrogance. It is not Moses nor Aaron who had the authority or ability to achieve such a miracle. Thus, I argue that Moses’ sin was primarily one of idolatry–of elevating his self from mediator to provider. By asking if they (“we”) should bring forth water, Moses and Aaron elevated themselves from the roles of mediators between YHWH and Israel to providers for Israel. This is, in purest form, idolatry: establishing themselves as a source of provision for Israel. And while the people may have missed the subtle shift, YHWH, of course, recognizes the comment for what it was, and states that they failed 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” (Num 20:12). YHWH was not upheld as holy (sacred)—Moses and Aaron elevated themselves in the eyes of Israel, categorizing themselves as providers and, in doing so, violated the 1st Commandment.

The Bigger Picture

That is the narrow view of the scene—Moses who was “like a god” before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:1)—made the mistake of elevating himself “like a god” before Israel. So, now, let’s “show our work” and see how this understanding of Moses’ sin connects the dots to the end of the Moses narrative. Look at Deuteronomy 3:23-28:

²³ “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’

As Moses stands on the edge of the Promised Land, he is recounting to the people how he asked YHWH one more time to be able to enter the land, and the answer was a definitive “no.” Why was YHWH so firm and unrelenting in this punishment when he has been so forgiving and long-suffering with so many others? Had not Moses faithfully served after the events in Numbers 20, earning the blessing to die in the Promised Land? For some, this helps fuel the narrative that the God of the Old Testament is harsh and overly demanding. But I believe the bigger picture must include the nature of Moses’ sin at Meribah: idolatry.

Moses and Aaron had elevated themselves to the status of gods before the people— “Must WE make water come from this rock?” On the edge of conquest, Israel is being sent into the land of promise with instructions to eliminate any and every form of idolatry in the land. This land was to be a holy land—a dwelling place for YHWH. It was sacramental: it was a means through which the presence of YHWH would abide with his chosen people, and as such, it was to be pure; purified upon entry, and kept pure of competing idols entering in. Moses, through his actions at Meribah, had elevated himself to a god-like status before the people—he was the one doing mighty wonders before their eyes. His sin had caused irreparable damage because Israel now saw him as a god.

This may feel a little harsh or somewhat of an overstatement: surely not? A god? But, in Deuteronomy 4, Moses begins an exhortation to Israel, based upon his theological narrative re-telling the story of Israel’s history from Horeb (Sinai) to their second approach to the Promised Land. One of Moses’ major concerns was that Israel abstain from all forms of idolatry. Deuteronomy 4:15-31 are dedicated to warnings against idolatry. And right in the center of this section, we read:

Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.¹

Moses places his sin, the event that barred him from the Promised Land squarely in a passage warning against idolatry. We should not miss this: Moses never worshipped another god. Moses only worshipped YHWH unless, in a moment of anger and weakness, Moses’ pride allowed himself to elevate himself to god-like status before Israel. The placement of this event certainly adds credence to my argument.

Add to this, the concern that YHWH took for Moses’ body. Look with me at Deuteronomy 34:1-6:

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 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 the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.

Also, consider a non-canonical Hebrew tradition that comes from a document called “The Assumption of Moses.” Here, Joshua is speaking after realizing that Moses will not lead the people into the Promised Land:

5. And now what place will receive thee? 6. Or what will be the sign that marks (thy) sepulchre? 7. Or who will dare to move thy body from thence as a man from place to place? 8. For all men when they die have according to their age their sepulchres on earth; but thy sepulchre is from the rising to the setting sun, and from the south to the confines of the north: all the world is thy sepulchre. 9. My lord, thou art departing, and who will feed this people? 10. Or who is there that will have compassion on them and who will be their guide by the way? 11. Or who will pray for them, not omitting a single day, in order that I may lead them into the land of (their) forefathers? 12. How therefore am I to control this people as a father (his) only son, or as a mistress (her) virgin daughter, who is being pre- pared to be handed over to the husband she will revere, while she guards her person from the sun and (takes care) that her feet are not unshod for running upon the ground. 13. And how shall I supply them with food and drink according to the pleasure of their will? 14. For of them there will be 600,000 men, for these have multiplied to this degree through thy prayers, (my) lord Moses.^[1]

In Deuteronomy 34:1-6, the specific burial place of Moses would be left mystery. According to the Assumption of Moses, the words placed in the mouth of Joshua convey a people who see no way forward without Moses. Dennis Olsen also sees this god-image in Moses, “Did Moses have to die outside the land as a reminder that he himself was not a god, an object of worship for the people? Moses’ death shifts Israel’s allegiance from a human like Moses to Yahweh, the true God of Israel.” These observations may not solidify the argument that Moses was seen as holding god-like status, but they definitely help us see how essential he was in the eyes of Israelite tradition, potentially becoming a crutch against Israel’s ability to fully depend on YHWH. Israel needed to trust YHWH without Moses—it was part of their development as a people of the Lord.

With these things in mind, there is a good case to be made that the reason the body of Moses was unable to be found—the reason YHWH buried Moses in an unknown, unmarked location—was because Israel would worship him at his burial site. In other words, his grave would be seen as a talisman of sorts. We know the locations of the other patriarchs, even some of their wives. Moses is a significant figure to leave out. Later, Israel will worship the bronze serpent once raised up in the wilderness (2 Kings 18:4), all of Israel will whore after the ephod of Gideon (Judges 8), and let’s not forget the golden calf in Israel’s recent past (Exodus 32). As noted, it seems that Moses himself even alludes to the danger of his grave (or anything else) becoming a site of idolatry in Deuteronomy 4:22-24.

Putting it all together.

In putting it all together, here is what we can see:

1. Moses elevated himself from mediator to provider, establishing himself as a god in the eyes of Israel. This was his sin of not upholding YHWH as holy: idolatry.
2. The Promised Land was to be a land pure of idolatry—no idols could remain, and none could enter in. Thus, Moses must remain outside the Promised Land as a result of his self-disqualifying sin.
3. In YHWH’s mercy, he allowed Moses to look into the land, but held firm to his judgment.
4. YHWH then takes Moses’ life and buries him in an unknown location so that his body might not become a place of idolatry for Israel. 

In summary, the sin of Moses was that he set himself up as a competitor with YHWH, directly violating the 1st Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.” And while this may not have been the intent, it was the reality—Israel had come to see Moses as a god, and Moses himself reinforced that perception at Meribah. Some sins have life-long and disqualifying repercussions—this was the case for Moses.

Epilogue 

But we are left with the question: does this make YHWH harsh? How has this perspective changed our view of YHWH or has it? Many have been forgiven for what seems like much worse transgressions—after all, wouldn’t David’s son Solomon (the result of David’s his marriage to Bathsheba) rule Israel? Let’s consider an intriguing (yet unproveable) idea:

The Scriptures state that Moses died while still strong and able:

⁵ 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 the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. ⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. (Dt. 34:5-8)

Moses was clearly not a man on his deathbed. Why would YHWH “put him down” with so much vigor and youth still in his bones? Add to this that there are two and a half tribes remaining outside the Promised Land—Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (Num. 33)—why couldn’t Moses have lived out the remainder of his life with them—close to the Promised Land, but not in it?

If you consider the life of Moses, he really had two significant requests of YHWH. The first was to see the face of YHWH (Ex. 33:18-23), but the request was denied, “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex. 33:20). The second request was to enter the Promised Land, and as we’ve seen, Moses disqualified himself from that possibility. But I believe that YHWH, in denying Moses the second request, gave Moses his first request: seeing the face of YHWH. I believe Moses died on the mountain because YHWH revealed his face to him out of sight of the people. Of course, as YHWH has already said, no man can live after seeing YHWH in his unveiled glory.

And this becomes a beautiful end to the story of Moses: a sinful man longing to see God’s glory, to honor him, and to see others honor him. Of course, he falls short—we all do—and in a period of weakness, he fails to uphold God as holy, and misses out on seeing the fruit of his life’s work. His public sin disqualifies him. But YHWH is a merciful God who rewards his faithful servants—and while he must remain just, he offers Moses the first desire of his heart: to see the face of YHWH. So ends his life, so ends his work. Now, Israel must wait for another (Deuteronomy 18:15), who will be God himself, who can be both mediator AND provider, who will lead his people to the Promised Land where there will be no idolatry; who is worthy to be worshipped—but not worshipped at his grave, for he would overcome such a state—but in heaven after he defeats death. Israel must wait for Jesus Christ, the greater Moses, the only true and worthy god-man.

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^[1] The Assumption of Moses, XI.5-14. Translated by R. H. Charles (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1897)

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^[2] I am grateful to my friend Logan Mattox for adding another thought to this: “Israel really hadn’t trusted YHWH up to that point but had trusted Moses.”

1. Deuteronomy 4:15-31 (ESV) ↩︎