Moses and the Promise Land: Rash Words

“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” Numbers 20: 10?

I’ve always thought that Moses’ sin here that prevented him from entering the promise land was the fact that he struck the rock rather than speak to it as God commanded. To read the passage for context, click here.

His Spirit was Bitter

But psalm 106: 33 has a very interesting commentary on this passage. “For they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips”. This, according to this psalm is why trouble came to him and he was not allowed to bring the people into the promise land.

It was not only because he struck the rock, but because “he spoke rashly with his lips”. The rash words are captured in the Numbers passage above.

I believe God wanted Moses to vent his frustration by speaking to the rock, not the people. Then God would’ve dealt with the people for their rebellion. But Moses instead spoke to the people and struck the rock.

Moses Sinned with his Mouth

Moses sinned with his mouth. James 3:2 has some revealing things to say about this: “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body”. 

And James 3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell”.

Finally, James 3: 9, 10: “With it [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers these things ought not to be so”.

These passages shed some light on the rash words of Moses. James tells us if a man sins in what he says he’s not perfect or mature. Are we to assume from this that Moses, the man of God was not mature?

Moses and the Promise Land: Was He Immature?

Well, let’s look at the evidence.

He didn’t make it to the promise land. Verse 12 seems to make clear that bringing the Israelites into the land was part of his call. But because of his immaturity, he lost this privilege.

Psalm 84:11 says “No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly”. This word uprightly means perfect, mature, complete according to James 1: 2,3.

He was impatient to fulfill his call when he killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2: 11, 12).

And then there’s Zipporah, the Cushite woman he married. She was a foreigner, not a Hebrew. If Marion and Aaron knew this was an infraction, surely Moses did too (Numbers 12: 1). Was it an act of impatience on his part? Should he have waited to marry a Hebrew woman? I don’t know.

Moses and the Promise Land: Should He have Waited?

All we know for sure is that his siblings complained about it, and that the marriage ended in divorce (Exodus 18: 2). Did God have something better in mind for Moses, but he was too impatient to wait for it?

And then there’s the incident where Joshua and the Israelite army were fighting against their enemy. They were winning as long as Moses kept his hands up. But he lacked endurance (or patience). He needed his brothers to come along beside him to help him (Exodus 17: 8-13).

All these things seem to suggest that Moses had not reached maturity. And that’s why he was not able to enter the promise land. According to James 1: 4 patience (or endurance) is what makes us mature. So, if we lack patience, we are not yet fully grown.

Was he faithful? Yes! Was he humble? There was no equal! Was he a man of God? No doubt! But the evidence seems to suggest he didn’t reach maturity.

It’s also interesting to note that in Deuteronomy 1: 27 and 3: 26 he actually blames the Israelites for not being able to enter the land:

“Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there’. . . 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”. 

Moses Blamed the Israelites

A mature person is full of love. And love is patient and kind. Does Moses blaming attitude suggest love? Or when he called them rebels at the rock. Is this consistent with love? It’s true they provoked him. But ultimately, he was responsible for his own actions. I think we see evidence of immaturity in these verses.

So, then question is, why didn’t he mature? Let’s go back to the Cushite wife for a moment. Perhaps this marriage wasn’t God’s perfect will for Moses. The Israelites were forbidden from marrying foreigners. Maybe he should’ve waited.

If so, that explains why the marriage was apparently hard enough to cause the Man of God to divorce her. Even if the marriage wasn’t God’s best for him, I don’t believe it was God’s will for him to divorce her either.

If impatience caused him to make a wrong choice, then the difficulty in the marriage was intended to root that impatience out. And produce patience or endurance, which eventually produces maturity. Perhaps marriage to a Hebrew woman would’ve been less trying.

Moses and the Promise Land: Did He Learn Obedience?

And if he would’ve had the patience to wait, he wouldn’t have needed as much “trying” to begin with. I believe a major purpose of marriage is to “learn obedience through what we suffer. And be made perfect,” Hebrews 5: 8, 9. 

Marriage is not easy because it involves constant compromise, unselfishness and hard work. And the purpose of all this is to enable us to grow up. But Moses divorced himself, quite literally, from this relationship that was intended to do this for him. And prepare him for the promise land.

God, in His mercy still made sure Moses had plenty of difficult relationships. But apparently it wasn’t enough. Maybe this is part of what God meant when He said “it is not good that the man should be alone “Genesis 2: 18.

Admittedly, I’ve had limited exposure to people that never married, but of the three I knew, none appeared to be very loving. They were a little cantankerous to tell the truth. I think there’s something powerful in the Genesis 2 statement.

Those Who Need Trials the Most Least Likely to Put Up with Them

And this is what immature people do. They throw off the very restraints and hardships that God is wanting to use go develop them. Unfortunately, those who need trials the most are often the least likely to put up with them. Because putting up with trials requires patience and endurance.

To reiterate, I think it’s plausible to conclude that Moses was impatient for at least three reasons:

1. He stumbled with his tongue. And James says the mature person does not do this.
2. He didn’t make it to the promise land or fulfill his call completely. Psalm 84: 11 (and many others) tells us “no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly”.
3. He didn’t always walk in love. Maturity is the perfection of love. We see this in his name calling and blaming attitude towards the Israelites.

God Is No Respecter of Persons

Although this might be a painful reality, I love that it shows God is no respecter of persons. The most humble, insignificant Israelite made it to the promise land if he was mature, where Moses didn’t.

This truth can also be seen elsewhere in scripture. Adam and Eve had the tree of wisdom withheld because they were not yet upright. They hadn’t learned obedience or been made complete by what they suffered.

The basic principle is if your character lacks, your life will lack. And if your character doesn’t lack anything, neither will your life. This is the idea behind 3 John 1: 2 “may all go well with you and may you be in good health, as it goes well with your soul”. 

To read another post related to Moses and the Promise Land: Rash Words, see The Narrow Path Meaning (Think the Wilderness).