Yahweh Complains at Moses and Aaron Because They Have Not Sanctified Him in the Eyes of Israel and Punishes Them by Exclusion from The Land (Numbers 20:12).
‘And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” '
God then made clear to them how desperately wrong their behaviour had been. It was not so much the people who were in the wrong, and who were rebels, it was Moses and Aaron. They, His trusted leaders, had flouted His will and disobeyed Him. They had demonstrated that they no longer willingly did His will. They had shown total lack of control and a totally wrong attitude towards the people. They had dared to misuse the sacred rod which had come from ‘before Yahweh', the instrument of His authority and of His Name, which to take in the hand indicated that they were the especial chosen of Yahweh. And they had shown that they themselves were no longer fitted to lead the people of God into the land, that they could misuse the holy. It was a wonder that they were not struck down on the spot as others had been before them (Numbers 16:35; Leviticus 10:1-2).
Sadly what had been apparent about the fathers of these people at the beginning of the thirty eight years was now equally apparent of Moses and Aaron at the end. It had become apparent that they would not be able to cope with the entry into the land. They had excluded themselves. They were no longer fitted for it, and it would have to be made the responsibility of someone else.
For instead of performing the wonder with a word as they were commanded they had done it by twice smiting the rock. They had forgotten themselves. They had overlooked who and what they were, servants of God from whom obedience was required. They had misused the rod of God and the authority that had been given to them. Instead of demonstrating His gracious power, they had revealed reluctance of spirit. Instead of showing His lovingkindness they had revealed anger. The people had gained the impression that Yahweh resented giving them water, and that the gift was in the end due to the rod in Moses' hand, which he could use as he pleased, and not to Yahweh Himself. Why the claim had even been made that it was ‘they' who had produced the water. It was almost unbelievable.
Perhaps also He knew that Moses was in such a state that he had not fully believed that the water would come out with only a word. That he had struck the rock in a kind of unbelief, remembering the previous incident at another Meribah (Exodus 17:1-12). It demonstrated that Moses' faith was no longer up to the task ahead. He was no longer obedient. He was not listening carefully. He was doing his own thing. Whatever it was these two men had marred the image that God was seeking to represent. And it had been because of their lack of faith. So God would now need to seek a new leader for the entry into the land, one who would be obedient to His will, and would trust Him and obey Him fully.
It is the great danger for all Christian leaders that they can begin to think that God's work is in their own hands. They can begin almost to think that they can choose to do whatever they want, that God is subject to their whim. And even the greatest can wane in their behaviour and faith, and begin to magnify themselves. It is one of the greatest dangers facing Christian leaders. It is then that they have to be set aside to be replaced by those more trusting and obedient. God will not give His glory to another. While Moses was meek, God glorified him. Now he had become overbearing, God would replace him.
Note the accusation. ‘Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel.' It was their attitude towards Yahweh that was at fault, an attitude that was far worse than the people's. They may have been justified in their view of the people, but they were not justified in their attitude towards God's orders. And that attitude had resulted in their totally misrepresenting God, and reducing the presentation of His glory, and violating the rod of Yahweh. Moses and Aaron had an attitude problem, and they had suggested that Yahweh had one as well.
“Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” The land was only available for those who would trust and obey God. That had been the theme right from the beginning. Thus the lesson had to come over strongly that those who would not trust and obey could not enter the land, whoever they were. That this gave Moses a huge jolt is unquestionable (Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 4:21-22). But his exclusion from the land was certain from that moment on. And yet he undoubtedly became a humbler and a better man for it, and learned the humility that would enable him to better prepare the people for that entry, as Deuteronomy reveals. In his diminished dedication God had had mercy on him. Without this lesson he may well have had to be replaced earlier. And as a result, while he could not enter the land, he was able to possess it with his eyes. But in the end even Moses was only a man.
Another at another time would endure a ‘contradiction of sinners against Himself' (Hebrews 12:3). He too would be faced with the question of obedience to the will of God in the light of an ungrateful people. He too would be tested to the very edge of man's ability to cope. But in His case He would reply, ‘not my will but yours' (Mark 14:36). And through full obedience to God's will in the face of all provocation He would be proved fit to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, thus demonstrating that He was not only a man but God's Instrument in the fulfilling of His will (see especially Hebrews 10:5-10).