Moses - Refused Entrance

1. Moses - Refused Entrance Moses possesses a singular place with God. The facts regarding this man speak very favorably and reveal many good traits.

2. “10: And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face….” (Deut. 34). “22: For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23: And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3).

3. “24: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25: Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26: Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28: Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them”(Heb. 11).

4. Moses - Refused Entrance Moses is seen as special from the very beginning.

5. “23: By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment” (Heb. 11, cp. Ex. 1).

6. Moses - Refused Entrance God miraculously expressed his approval of Moses and commissioned him to free His people.

7. “4: And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5: And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6: Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7: And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8: And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians…., 9: Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10: Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Ex. 3).

8. Moses - Refused Entrance Moses climbed to the top of Mount Nebo and stood alone upon the height and looked at the land of promise. Far in the north, he could see the white crown of Mt. Hermon, far below the river Jordon was winding it away to the dead sea. Across the river, at the foot of the mountains, was standing the city of Jericho. Here, on top of Mt. Nebo, Moses died.

9. “1: And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, 2: And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 3: And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 4: And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5: So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD” (Deut. 34).

10. Moses - Refused Entrance Why was Moses not allowed entrance into the promised land? Did he commit wanton murder, steal a vast amount, or cursed God? What terrible sin could have prevented his entrance?

11. “48: And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying 49: Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: 50: And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: 51: Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 52: Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel” (Deut. 32).

12. “7: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8: Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9: And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10: And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11: And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12: And the LORD spake unto 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” (Num. 20).

13. Moses - Refused Entrance Wherein was Moses’ sin?

14. Moses - Refused Entrance “…Moses lost his temper and in the irritation of the moment, spake and acted in such a way and in such a spirit as to dishonor his Master and to impair the good effect of Divine beneficence. It is quite likely that the repeated striking of the rock was one sign of the anger to which Moses gave way…that he called the people ‘rebels’ was unseemly. Not because it was an uncalled-for term of reproach, but because he himself was at that very moment a rebel, and disloyal in heart to his Master” (The Pulpit Commentary).

15. Moses - Refused Entrance God was explicit and Moses elected to not submit to God’s authority. Hence, the lesson is one of authority. Also, Moses’ sin was public and demanded serious attention and penalty (cp. Gal. 2: 11-14).

16. “11: If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever…” (I Pet. 4). “9: Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10: If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John).

17. Moses - Refused Entrance Express command 1. Acts 15: 19, 20.

18. “19: Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15).

19. Moses - Refused Entrance Approved example 1. Acts 15: 9, 12.

20. “9: And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith….. 12: Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them” (Acts 15).

21. Moses - Refused Entrance Necessary inference 1. Acts 15: 8.

22. “8: And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us…..” (Acts 15).

23. Moses - Refused Entrance The things written aforetime were written for our learning (Rom. 15: 4). Let us, therefore, learn the lesson of authority and submission to that expressed authority.