Copyright © 1999 by Calvary Baptist
Theological Seminary, cited with permission;
digitally prepared
for use at
The Fall of a Great Leader
as
Illustrated in the Life of Moses
Vince
Sawyer
Pastor,
One distinctive feature that sets
the Bible apart from other
historical writings is its relentless willingness
to mention the
transgressions of its heroes. Even
Moses, who without a doubt, is
regarded as the greatest and most dynamic of the
OT prophets and
leaders, does not have his failures omitted. He
was one who was
tremendously used of God and yet one
who fell into sin. Lessons
can be learned from the sin of Moses for the
benefit of God's
leaders today. Such lessons will aid the leader
when pressures
mount; will guard against the hideous sin of
unbelief; will reveal the
increased demands that come with the title
"leader;" and will warn
against the high cost of disobedience paid by
God's leaders who sin.
The Pressure of Difficulties on Leadership
In Difficulty
People-Pressure is Inevitable
In Numbers 20:1-5, Moses the leader faces the
pressure that
comes when difficulty arrives. After 37 years had
passed, the stage
seems set for history to repeat itself, when the
second generation
appears no different from the first in their
complaint about a lack of
water at Kadesh. Why did
God allow the situation regarding the
lack of water to occur in the first place? What was
His purpose?
Sawyer / Moses 13
First, the second generation was to be put to
the test in order to
find out whether it was
better than the first; second, Yahweh's
greatness and might were to be
impressed upon them by His
ability and readiness to help
them in their hour of need in order
to prove Himself as the
God of their covenant. By purposely
creating a situation in which
the people lacked water (a most
precious commodity in the
desert), Yahweh causes the second
generation to realize their dependence
upon Him, as well as His
readiness to help them as He had
done to their fathers.1
Difficult times tend to come all at once. This
appears to have
been the case with Moses. At Kadesh,
Moses experienced pressure
from all angles. In verse one, Miriam's death no
doubt was a
burden to Moses. The absence of water not only would
cause
irritation among the nation of
Moses and Aaron (v 2). The effect of this
great need was collective
opposition (v 2b) and verbal strife (rib).
This opposition apparently was initiated by
"ringleaders" who
called and assembled the people together. Moses faced
verbal
complaint in verse three by the people who cried
out, "If only we
had expired or breathed out (gara') our lives when our
brethren
died before the Lord!" In other words, they
were implying that
“anything would be better than this!" More pressure is
added in
verses 4 and 5 as Moses' motives are questioned and he
is credited
(blamed) for a work that he did not do. It was God not Moses
and
Aaron who led
of
years; it was not Moses' fault. Moses also faced
internal pressure
as he recalled the last experience at Kadesh 37 years earlier. He
was very concerned that
incur God's judgment again and restrict him from ever
entering the
land as he so greatly desired.
In Difficulty God's
Prescription is Indispensible
The leaders, Moses and Aaron, did what all of
God's leaders
should do in times of pressure and need--they entered
God's
presence and sought Divine answers (v 6).
"They fell upon their
faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto
them." God then
gave Moses and Aaron exact prescriptions (commands)
which in turn
demanded exact obedience (v 8). Moses is
explicitly told 1) to take
14
/
the rod, 2) to assemble the congregation, and 3)
both Moses and
Aaron
were to speak to the rock.2
It is interesting that God told Moses to take
"the rod" with him,
since he was not to use it, though he did use his rod
in other
miracles involving water (Num
"Moses
took the rod from before the LORD." This phrase points
to the same rod that budded in order to vindicate
the Aaronic
priesthood. After this event, it was then kept
"before the testimony
to be kept as a sign against the rebels" so
that God might put an
end to
again, so God tells Moses to get the rod to remind
the nation about
her former sin of grumbling.
Moses did obey with exact obedience on two of
the three
commands. He took the rod (v 9) and he with Aaron
gathered the
congregation together to witness the
miracle that God intended to
perform. If Moses had obeyed the third command
exactly, it would
have been a testimony to the people who witnessed.
The act of
speaking to the rock by its unusual nature would
draw attention to
the rock and not to Moses. This indeed was God's
intention, for
the NT describes this rock as none other than Jesus
Christ (I Cor
10:4).
Thus "speaking to the rock" would reveal the rock as being
the source of water and not the efforts of Moses.
Moses, however,
failed in regard to the third imperative.
The Sin of Disbelief by Leadership
Attitude: Disbelief
Manifested in Mood
In the Bible, God speaks of leaders who had
moments of
unbelief. Such lack of faith manifested itself in
despair, such as
Elijah
who fled from Jezebel and John the Baptist who had moments
of doubt concerning Christ. In Numbers 20:10, God
records Moses
as one who also manifested a lack of complete
trust in Yahweh by
the attitude he displayed. In this verse he
"shows his exasperation,
his famous temper (cf Exod
"The
faithful servant of God, worn out with the numerous
temptations, allowed himself to be overcome, so that
he stumbled,
and did not sanctify the Lord."4
Moses, who needed at this point to
fully trust God for patience and self-control did
not.
Moses was about to sin internally which like
'slippery steps'
would lead to outward disobedience. In verse 10, he
displays three
Sawyer / Moses 15
sinful attitudes: 1) impatience, 2) anger, and 3)
pride or self-
exaltation. His impatience is evidenced by his
abrupt appeal for
Though
his description was accurate and true, his tenor was one of
anger. Psalm 106:32-33 describes Moses as having been
"provoked
to wrath at the waters of Meribah
. . . [and] because they were
rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with
his lips." A man's
anger never exhibits the righteous behavior that God
expects (James
pride and independence by his question, "Shall
we bring forth water
for you out of this rock?" Moses' downfall
began when he took
additional presumptuous action and spoke to the
people (v 10) about
their quarrels, threats, and unjustified arguments,
rather than doing
exclusively what God said; namely, "speak to
the rock" (v 8).
Presumption: Disbelief
Manifested in Word
Moses' "rash words" mentioned in Psalm
106:32-33 are the words
reflected in his implication that he and Aaron had
the power to
provide water out of the rock. Such pride by its
very nature fails
to foster true belief in and reverence for Yahweh.
Many argue that
the word "we" in verse 10 refers not to
Moses and Aaron but to
Moses and God. The most obvious
antecedents to the plural
pronoun "we" however are Moses and
Aaron. The "we" is
blasphemous, nonetheless, whether Moses intended it
to refer to
himself and Aaron or even to himself and God.
The Bible is clear
that it was God not Moses, who provided the water
out of the rock.
In
Psalm 78 it is evident that God "split the rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
He brought
forth streams also from the rock, and caused waters
to run down like
rivers" (vv 15, 16; cf Isa 48:21). Moses not only usurped God's place
in word ("we") but this led also to deed
("he smote the rock").
Disobedience: Disbelief
Manifested in Action
In the Bible, God shows no distinction between
faith or trust
and obedience. Faith always results in obedience
and unbelief
always results in disobedience. Such was the case with
Moses. In
Numbers
20:12, God's response to Moses' disobedience reveals his
disbelief. The Lord said, "You did not
believe [trust in] Me."
Commands
omitted.
The external manifestation of Moses' sin
was two-fold: 1) He did what he was not told to do
--- he struck
16
/
the rock, and 2) He did not do what he was told to
do --- speak to
the rock. Omitting from God's commands is just as
dangerously
wrong as adding to them.
It is important to note that an omission will
eventually pave the
way for an addition. Because Aaron was Moses'
translator (Exod
his words loud enough for all of the people to
hear. The sin was
not merely in Moses' striking of the rock, but in
both his and
Aaron's failure to "speak to" it. If the sin was
exclusively in Moses'
striking of the rock, the transgression of Aaron
could not be
explained (v 12). This truth reveals that sins of
omission are just as
costly as sins actually committed outwardly.
Sins
committed.
Along with Moses' failure to speak to the rock
as commanded (v 8) his disobedience is seen in his
action of striking
it. God by commanding Moses to speak to the rock
"before the
eyes" of
abundant water and to
doubly and trebly rejoice at
the knowledge that their God is with
them and is showing Himself
by one of his happiest miracles. It
is this circumstance which
Moses, in a fit of indignation, turns
into a bitter denunciation;
he curses the people, and in smiting
the magic rod against the
rock, destroys the hallowed moment
that God had so clearly
intended.6
In order to honor God as "being holy,"
trust or belief is a
prerequisite. The idea in the
original is that Moses did not have
enough trust in God to treat Him as being holy (v 12).
His striking
the stone revealed a lack of faith. It had been
striking the rock that
brought results the last time God provided water
for the people
(Exod 17:6). Consequently, this time, rather than obeying
God's new
directions and "speaking to it," Moses
struck it and for good measure
he struck it twice. Moses' act of striking the
rock twice was so done
as if producing water "depended upon human
exertion, and not upon
the power of God alone."7 Moses'
disobedience revealed his failure
to trust God's faithfulness to His word.
In summary, Moses' sin was an unbelief that
manifested itself
in: 1) mood, 2) words, and 3) action. His anger,
which served as a
catalyst, prompted him to utter words he was not
to speak. Moses'
pride underlies his question "must we bring
forth water. . ." and
detracted from Yahweh's exclusive ability to
provide the necessary
Sawyer / Moses /17
water. His forceful striking of the rock twice
indicates his continued
anger as well as his lack of faith in regard to the
ability and good
will of God to provide water the way He intended.
Moses' reaction
as a whole was diametrically opposed to the plan
and intention of
Yahweh
which Moses was made to understand very clearly.8
The Increased Demands of Leadership
Leaders are Responsible
to Pay for Their Own Sin
Deuteronomy
time Moses' sin and restriction from the land took
place. In this
verse Moses says, "Also the Lord was angry with
me for your sakes,
saying, Thou also shalt not
go in thither." In the context (vv 34-40)
of verse 37, Moses is basically recalling the
unbelief coupled with
grumbling and complaining of
land after hearing the bad report of the ten spies
(Num
At
that time God took an oath saying, "Not one of these men, this
evil generation, shall see the good land which I
swore to give your
fathers" (Deut
Joshua
(v 38); Moses was not even included as one of the
exceptions. Although Moses did not have part in the
unbelief
evidenced at the time
27),
the implication from verse 35 is that God in His foreknowledge
knew Moses also would not enter the Promised Land.
Though the
announcement of Moses' exclusion
from the land occurred 38 years
after that of the Israelites at Kadesh,
the reason for the exclusions
was the same --- unbelief. While
word at Kadesh (Num
believe God's word by the waters of Meribah at Kadesh (Num
The phrase "for your sakes" (v 37)
still needs explanation. The
phrase, which occurs two other times in Deuteronomy (
seems to show that Moses is shifting the blame for
God's anger and
judgment toward him. The questions that must be
answered are:
When
was God angry with Moses because of
God
say, "not even you shall enter there"?
Basically two views are
held to by theologians brave enough not to by-pass
this perplexity.
One
view bases its position on the proposition that leadership
bears full responsibility for the sins of the people
it leads. For
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example, an employer whose worker makes a
mistake stands fully
responsible for that error.
The reason for Moses' exclusion from the promised land, in this
context (Deut.
responsibility for the Israelites
(i.e. “on your account ") before the
Lord. Although Moses was personally without
blame for the
failures of the Israelites at Kadesh-Barnea, his identification with
the people as their leader
meant that he also accepted with them
the result of their
failure.9
This view asserts that Moses' restriction from
the land was
because of corporate guilt, not individual
guilt. That is, Moses as
the representative of
the land while at Kadesh-Barnea
(Num
and declared to be individually guilty by his own
personal unbelief
and rebellion 38 years later (Num
this interpretation make the application that sin
affects others.
When
the ten spies lacked faith and sinned,
national sin left its toll on Moses who was
forensically restricted
from entering the Promised Land "on account of”
Whereas, in I Kings
leader's apostasy, in
Deuteronomy 1:37,
punished because of the peoples'
lack of faith. This truth, is
further evidenced in II Kings
8:19, where
God “on account of David
His servant's sake."10
While
this view does contain elements of truth, it conflicts with
God's
principle that "everyone shall die for his own sin" (Jer 31:30;
Ezek
18:19-24).
According to a second view, in Deuteronomy 1:37
it, at first
glance, appears that Moses was forbidden to enter
consequence of the people's disobedience at Kadesh in the second
year of the Exodus. This problem is easily resolved
when it is
remembered that the context is primarily hortatory
and secondarily
historical. Keil and Delitzsch state the following:
We are not to infer from the close connection in
which this event,
which did not take place
according to Numbers 20:1-13 till the
second arrival of the
congregation at Kadesh, is placed with the
earlier judgment of God at Kadesh, that the two were
Sawyer / Moses / 19
contemporaneous, and so supply, after
"the Lord was angry with
me," the words
"on that occasion." For Moses did not intend to
teach the people history and
chronology, but to set before them
the holiness of the
judgments of the Lord. By using the
expression "for your
sakes," Moses did not wish to free himself
from guilt.11
Moses
says "because of you" not to blame-shift, but to warn
not to sin in the same way she did before.
When was God angry with Moses? And when did God
restrict
him from the land? It was not at Kadesh-Barnea when
sinned; rather, Numbers
account of Moses' own presumptive anger and
disobedience at the
same spot, but on a different occasion 38 years
later.
God's divine commentary on the sin of Moses in
Psalm 106:32-
33,
provides an indisputable answer as to when Moses sinned and
faced the judgment. of God.
In Psalm 106 God describes
rebelliousness in chronological order.
7),
through the
to Sinai (vv 19-23), and then to Kadesh-Barnea (vv 24-27), and Baal-
peor (vv 28-31). After God
had already mentioned
to enter the land at Kadesh
(vv 24-27), in verses 32-33 God
introduces a distinct account; namely that of Meribah, where it is
said that "it went hard with Moses because of
them." This context
clearly states that it was at Meribah that "they [
Moses to wrath. It was at Meribah where it went "evil [hard, bad,
troublesome from ra'a]
with Moses."
In other words, it was at this
point that Moses sinned and received the consequences
for it. It
was at this time, when the provocation to wrath and
evil was
"because of them." In verse 33, God gives the reason why
it was
"because of them" (v 32) that Moses was provoked to
wrath and evil.
He
states that they (
the result that Moses "spoke rashly with his
lips."
Deuteronomy
Moses.
The word used is 'amnap
which literally means "to breathe"
or "to emit breath through the
nostrils." As a verb it occurs only
in the figurative sense "to be angry."12
In both Deuteronomy 1:37
and
action of showing Himself angry with Moses. A very
clear statement
in Deuteronomy 32:51 records God telling Moses
that he would die
as Aaron did (v 50) "because you (plural)
broke faith with Me in
20
/
the midst of the sons of
Me as Holy in the midst of the sons of
Leaders are Prone to Sin
like the People They Lead
In Numbers 27:14 God clearly reveals that Moses
sinned just
like the people did. In addressing Moses and Aaron,
God said, "You
disobeyed [rebelled, plural from marah] My command
in the Desert
of Zin in the
disobedience [marah]
of the congregation." Moses'
failure to carry out the Lord's instructions
precisely was as much an
act of unbelief as the people's failure to trust
God's promises instead
of the spies' pessimistic reports (Num
Like Moses the sin of
95:7-11),
manifested itself in their speech (they "murmured" Deut
to obey the command to enter the land, Num
disobedience was also like that of
Moses in that they presumed upon
God
when they later attempted to take the land in their own
strength (Num
While Moses' sin matched
distinction is seen in the duration (quantity)
involved. Moses' one-
time act of unbelief and disobedient rebellion is
contrasted with the
continual sin of
calling them "you rebels." The phrase
"you rebels," a masculine
plural Qal participle of marah, literally
"the rebelling ones" describes
their rebellion as a permanent condition. Hebrews
Psalm
95:10 to describe the first generation of the Exodus as ones
who "always go astray in their heart." It
is further evident that
had persisted in her unbelief. In Deuteronomy
is used with the negative ("you were not
believing") to indicate that
the nation's unbelief was continual. When
Barnea, God pointed to their continual disbelief and
unfaithfulness
(v 51). He declared that they put Him to the test ten times
(v 22)
in only two years. Apparently those times were: 1)
at the
(Exod 14:11-12); 2) at Marah (Exod
of Sin (Exod 16:2); 4)
and 5) in connection with Manna (Exod
8)
at Taberah (Num 11:1); 9)
the complaint of the mixed multitude
(Num 11:4); and now 10) at Kadesh-Bamea
(Num 14).
While God, on the one hand, declared that
"all the men. . .
[who] have put Me to the test these ten times and have not
listened
Sawyer / Moses / 21
to My voice, shall by no means see the land. . ."
(w 22-23), on the
other hand, Moses their leader sinned at Meribah one time and was
restricted from entering the land.
Leaders Face Stricter
Judgment than the People They Lead
Judgment on leadership is more strict because of
the fact that
of all people leaders should know better. James
3:1 says, "Let not
many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing
that as such we
shall incur a stricter judgment." Jesus declared
the principle that "to
whom much is given much shall be required"
(Luke
While
and unbelief, Moses did so for his one-time act.
Moses' unbelief was not a total distrust in the
omnipotence of
God, but rather was a momentary wavering of that
immovable
assurance, which the two heads of
the nation ought to have shown
the congregation, but did
not show.14
Moses'
transgression was extremely serious because it was committed
in public. In front of the entire congregation of
"broke faith" with Yahweh (Deut 32:51). The phrase
"broke faith"
is derived from the verb m'l meaning "to act
treacherously" or "to
be faithless."15 The fact that it is a
perfect verb points to Moses'
one-time act of faithlessness "at the waters
of Meribah." The verb
translated "treat Me as Holy" kiddashetem again
points to the one-
time incident when Moses and Aaron failed to
"set God apart" by
their disobedience.
While
faithlessness and failure to uphold
the holiness of God, Moses as
the public leader faced a stricter judgment, when
he received the
consequences for his one-time sin.
This should serve as a sobering
warning to anyone who is leading God's flock
today.
The High Cost of Disobedience in Leadership
Failure in Testimony is
the Result of Disobedience
A testimony
fails despite pragmatic results. When Numbers
20:8
is compared with verse 11, one finds that although Moses totally
disobeyed God's instructions, God still provided
abundant water.
Moses'
disobedience still brought about results. Though Moses'
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striking of the rock brought forth water, it was
not produced in the
divinely intended way. This sin marred Moses' testimony
as he failed
to sanctify God "in the eyes of the children
of
lesson for contemporary leaders and preachers to learn
is that the
end does not justify the means and that results do
not justify
disobedience.
A
testimony fails despite the fact that God still receives glory.
God
is concerned that His leaders uphold Him as trustworthy and
holy in the midst of His people, because His
reputation is vitally
important to Him (Deut 32:51; Ezek 36:16-38).
Moses' failure in
preventing the full power of Yahweh from becoming
evident in the
eyes of
Him. The miracle would have been more impressive if
Moses spoke
to the rock rather than striking it as he had done
before in the
presence of the elders (Exod
17:5-6).
However, in contrast to Moses' faithlessness God
demonstrated
His faithfulness because the waters flowed
"abundantly." God
received glory even though it was not through His
leader Moses.
Numbers
On
the one hand, while God said that He was not shown to be Holy
(qadash)
by Moses; Yahweh proved Himself holy (qadash) among
the people (v 13).
The meaning of [yqdsh] here is not passive, but
reflexive, "He
made Himself holy";
within this context, "He showed, proved,
asserted His sanctity";
more accurately, "He reasserted it after it
had been desecrated."16
Deuteronomy
32:51 reveals in an interesting play on words that it
was at Kadesh (qadesh) that
Moses failed to uphold God as holy
(qiddash).
And yet it was at Kadesh where God received glory
even
through man's disobedience (Num
Restriction in Blessings
is the Result of Disobedience
The result of Moses' disobedience was a
limitation on the
blessings he could have received. While God no
doubt had a desire
for Moses to enter the Promised Land, because of
sin he was now
restricted to merely seeing it from afar. He saw it
from "Abarim,"
the range of mountains east of the
(Numbers
27:12; Deut 34:4-5). Moses is limited to a "look" at the
land. In Deuteronomy 32, God commands him to go up
Mount
Sawyer / Moses / 23
Nebo
and "look at the
at a distance, but you shall not go there" (vv
49, 50, 52).
Desecrating Yahweh's name is extremely serious
as evidenced
by the magnitude of the restriction. "The retribution
stands in direct
relation to the nature of the transgression and
its enormity."17 It is
also very important to note that the severity of the
discipline is
matched to the sin based on Moses' position as
the leader of the
people.
The regret of a leader. The result of disobedience is always
regret. The regret of Moses is evident by his repeated
statements
that he would not enter the land (Deut
is also evident by his pleading with God to enter
the land (Deut
land, I shall not cross the
In Deuteronomy 3:23-29 the lesson to be learned
is that sin
leaves lasting scars (consequences). In this section
Moses unveils, in
his personal testimony, his earnest desire to enter
the Promised
Land. Moses testified that he pleaded or quite
literally "sought favor
or grace" (qnn) with Yahweh to enter the
land. "The verb used
(qnn)
is a strong one, implying a solemn request for the Lord to be
compassionate (see Psa 30:7-8 for a similar use)."18 In verse
24
Moses
addresses God as "Master Yahweh" or "Lord Yahweh"
('adonay yhwh) a name or title for God
used only twice in
Deuteronomy in prayers of Moses (cf
indicative of a deep personal tone of request.
Moses in desperation
appealed to God's character to His greatness,
strength, uniqueness,
and mighty works. He appealed saying that he as
Yahweh's servant
had only just begun to see all that God would do (v
24). Moses'
request shows the deep sorrow and tragedy in his
life.
He had begun to see the marvelous works of the
Lord, from the
Exodus to the conquest
of the lands east of the
just when the climax was
drawing near, he would be unable to see
the Lord's fulfillment of
the ancient promise. It was a promise to
which he had devoted his
whole life, and the thought that he
would not see its fulfillment
was too much for him to accept
without question.19
In verse 23, Moses next appealed to God's
emotions, begging
Yahweh
to allow him to cross over and see the "fair land" beyond
the
24/
pleading, however, was to no avail. Because God
had declared that
Moses
would not enter the land, He would not so much as
listen
to Moses' plea. But God in reply said,
"Enough! (rab) Do not
continue to speak to Me anymore about this
matter."
Leaders need to be on guard for the
unintentional misplacing of
priorities. Moses' persistence in intercessory
prayer for
a great quality he possessed. His request for God
to alter His
prohibition by His grace was probably not in itself
illegitimate either.
However,
Moses' persistence in requesting a reversal of God's
prohibition in a sense reflects a slight shift in
Moses' focus. The
vision of the promise had become a consuming passion
to set foot
in the land, but the vision had slipped from the
Lord of the promise
to the promise itself. Moses had taken his eyes
off of the God of
The removal of a leader. Disobedience brings its own
consequences. That God was now ready
to remove Moses from his
position of leadership is evident by His stern
words, "You shall not
bring this assembly into the land" (Numbers
hear and heed Moses' proposal in Deuteronomy 3:23-29
reveals the
tragic result of sin.
Forgiveness of sin does not always carry with it
alleviation of the
consequences of that sin. While sin
can be removed, its scars very
often cannot be. For example, when God restricts a
divorced man
from holding the office of pastor or deacon (II Tim
3:2,12) this does
not imply that such a sin is unforgivable. What it
does mean, as
with Moses, is that the scars of that sin are not
removed. The
leadership of Moses faced a restriction and God's
leaders must be
devoid of such restrictions to remain qualified to
serve in an official
capacity.
Does God's refusal to restore Moses to the
former privilege of
entering the land mean that God did not forgive
Moses for his sin?
No!
David, who sinned with Bathsheba (II Sam 11:1-13) and
murdered Uriah her
husband (II Sam
12:1-15;
Psa 51). But it is vitally important to note that the
repercussions, the after-effects,
never were removed. Nathan the
prophet told David, "Now, therefore, the
sword shall never depart
from your house. . . The child also that is born to
you shall surely
die" (II Sam
that "Whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap" (Gal 6:7)
was again proven true.
Sawyer / Moses / 25
The result of Moses' disobedience was a
premature death.
Moses
would be gathered to his people, just as Aaron was, even
though he might have enjoyed many more years of
leadership. This
is evidenced by the words following the account of
his death,
"Although
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he
died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor
abated" (Deut 34:7).
The replacement of a leader. No leader is
irreplaceable. Even
though Moses was the most uniquely privileged human
leader to
ever live (Deut 34:10-12), God replaced him with the
faithful man-
Joshua.
As "great" a shepherd as Moses was, he was not
indispensable. Yahweh saw fit to
remove Moses and replace him.
God,
foreknowing the damage one sin could cause, was not found
"short-changed" to meet the need that resulted from sin
in the life
of His leader. The same truth applies today. None
of God's
preachers, teachers, etc. are irreplaceable. While
it is never God's
will for one of His representatives to be
disqualified, God in His
holiness demands that His standards be upheld (I
Tim 3:1-7) and
replacements be made as necessary.
The sheep learn by watching the shepherd.
Therefore, the
shepherd's life is to be a model for them to
follow. When a leader's
testimony fails he then becomes incapable of
credible teaching. For
the welfare of the people he must step down so that
God can
replace him as was necessary in the case of
Moses (Num 27:18-20).
In Numbers 27:16-17 Moses demonstrates his
concern over his
failure in his responsibility as leader by
requesting that the Lord
place a spiritual man over the people. In his concern
"that the
congregation of the Lord be not as
sheep without a shepherd" (Num
27:17)
Moses demonstrates the compassion of a great leader. Even
though the people had provoked Moses to sin at Meribah and he
had missed his heart's desire to enter the Promised
Land, Moses still
had a loving concern for the people. This same type
of concern is
demonstrated to an even greater
degree in Matthew 9:36 and Mark
was about to die prayed that a replacement for
himself be given to
an unworthy people, Jesus Christ knowing of His
approaching death
and of the desperate need "was moved with
compassion" and asked
his disciple to pray for workers to be sent out
into the harvest fields
(v 38).
spiritual leader among the nation. In fact the
leaders of the
theocratic kingdom at this time were so totally
corrupt that when
26
/
Jesus
saw the multitudes, "he felt compassion for them, because they
were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a
shepherd" (Matt
Even though
he did not let this heart-breaking personal loss
keep him from being
faithful to fulfilling his task. Moses was
obedient in proclaiming
God's
Word to
people are being prepared to enter the land, Moses
gives them
God's
Word and warns against the greatest danger they will face. In
Deuteronomy
4:21-22 he warns the people to take notice of his own
fate which was the result of divine chastening for
disobedience. The
people, having been reminded of the result of Moses'
disobedience
in leadership, that is, his restriction from
entering the land, are
warned not to forget the covenant (v 23). Such
forgetfulness would
lead to disobedient idolatry (v 36b) and result in
God's judgment,
that is, expulsion from the land (vv 26-27). The
strong warning is
based on the fact that "the Lord your God is a
consuming fire, a
jealous God" (v 24). Because the covenant
relationship was one of
love, initiated by the love of God and responded to
by the love of
of the Israelites had been forgotten and to this
the response of the
Lord
would be jealousy."20 In the twelfth chapter of Hebrews after
describing the chastening or discipline of. the believer (vv 3-11) and
the moral purity demanded by a Holy God (vv 12-27),
the Lord
commands the believer to show gratitude and awe
(v 28), based on
the fact that "our God is a consuming
fire" (v 29).
Conclusion
Just as Moses and the nation of
that it was impossible to escape divine discipline
for sin, the NT
believer, especially the leadership, is also
warned that divine
discipline for sin is inescapable. "If those
did not escape when they
refused Him Who warned them on earth, much less
shall we escape
who turn away from Him [Jesus Christ] who warns
from Heaven"
(Heb
12:25). With a new covenant, more revelation, and greater
benefits having been provided by Christ, much
more is expected of
Christians
today than was expected of Moses and the nation Israel.
Christ's
leaders today must not depend upon their experience or age
Sawyer / Moses / 27
to keep them from sin and its resulting
disqualifications. Moses' sin
came at the end of a life of great spiritual
victories, faithful service
and astonishing miracles. In spite of all this he
was still disqualified
because of his sin. If you are a leader today
"take heed lest ye fall."
Leaders
should dread the thought of being "a castaway" of being
rendered useless; of being disqualified for
service (I Cor
believer's and especially the leader's goal ought
to be that stated by
the apostle Paul, who when ready to die said,
"I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith!"
Notes
1 M Margaliot,
"The Transgression of Moses and Aaron Numbers 20: 1-13" JQR
74-2
(1983) 217-218
2 Note the plural verb
form dibbaretem.
3 Eugene Arden, "How
Moses Failed God" JBL 76 (1957)
52
4 Keil
and Delitzsch, "The Pentateuch" Commentary on the OT (
Eerdmans, 1985) 1:131
5 Literally "you continually disobedient
ones!"
6
7 Keil,
Pentateuch, 131
8 Margaliot,
"Transgression of Moses," 218
9 Peter C Craigie, "The Book of Deuteronomy" in NICOT ed by RK
Harrison
(Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976) 105
10 Thomas W Mann,
"Theological Reflections on the Denial of Moses" JBL 98
(1979)
490
11 Keil,
Pentateuch, 289
12 F Brown, S R Driver, C
Briggs, The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius
Hebrew and English
Lexicon (Peabody,
Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979) 60
13 Gordon J Wenham,
"Numbers" in Tyndale OT Commentaries (Downers
Grove,
14 Keil,
Pentateuch, 130
15 Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, 591
16 Margaliot,
"Transgression of Moses," 226
17 Ibid 228
18 Craigie,
Deuteronomy, 126
19 Ibid
20 Ibid, 137
This material is cited with gracious
permission from:
www.cbs.edu
Please report any errors to Ted
Hildebrandt at: thildebrandt@gordon.edu