Deuteronomy 3:23-29

Introduction

Moses is preparing the people of Israel to enter the Promised Land. He has recounted for them God’s faithfulness in the past and their unfaithfulness. He has reminded them of God’s present faithfulness in the conquering of King Sihon and King Og whose territories were just outside the Promised Land.

Soon, they would crossover, but would Moses go with them? If not, why not? And if not, who would lead them?

Deuteronomy 3:23-29 answers these questions for us.

Because of his sin, Moses would not enter the Promised Land, but he was to charge, strengthen, and encourage Joshua crossover with the people.

Let’s begin in v. 23...

[READING - Deuteronomy 3:23-29]

Deuteronomy 3:23–29 NASB95

23 “I also pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27 ‘Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28 ‘But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’ 29 “So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

[PRAYER]

[TS] We want to think about this passage in three PARTS...

Major Ideas

Part #1: The Problem (Numbers 20:2-12)

Numbers 20:2–12 NASB95

2 There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 “Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? 5 “Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Numbers 20 is a bad chapter of Scripture for Moses. His sister, Miriam, dies in v. 1; his brother, Aaron dies at the end of the chapter; and in between Moses sins against God and therefore isn’t allowed to crossover into the Promised Land.

The grumbling began because of a lack of water. The people were thirsty and began to say what they often said whenever anything went wrong in the wilderness, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord,” (v. 3)!

Their brothers perished before the Lord In Numbers 16 when Korah and his supporters staged a coup trying to remove Moses from leadership.

Long story short, God caused the ground to open up and swallow the households of Korah and some of his followers. Fire consumed 250 others.

The Israelites in Numbers 20 said that would have been better than dying of thirst.

It was a dramatic statement, but also an unbelieving one.

God had never failed to provide His people in the wilderness. They didn’t always have what they wanted, but they always had what they needed. Even in this case, despite their grumbling, God would provide water for His people.

He told Moses to take the rod—i.e., the staff of God that Moses used in performing the miracles of the Exodus; he used it to strike the Nile turning it to blood; he even used it once (Exod. 17:6) to strike a rock as God commanded in order to bring forth water for God’s people.

God stood before Moses as he did so, and Moses did it in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The command from God is different this time, however. God told Moses to take the rod but Moses isn’t to strike a rock to bring forth water, instead he is to speak to the rock that it may yield its water so the congregation and their beasts may drink.

But, as you know, Moses disobeys. He doesn’t speak to the rock as commanded but strikes the rock as he had before.

We might wonder why Moses did that: Why did he disobey God? Was he trying to steal God’s glory for himself? God gives us the answer in v. 12...

Numbers 20:12 NASB95

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

You remember when Israel first stood on the verge of entering the Promised Land, twelve spies were sent in to investigate the land. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, came back with a good report, but the ten other spies convinced the rest of Israel that they could not possess the land.

Although God had commanded them to take the land; although God had promised to fight for them; and although God had proven His power and faithfulness to them through the Exodus—they didn’t believe God.

God said in Numbers 14:11...

Numbers 14:11 NASB95

11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?

Their unbelief kept that wicked generation from ever entering the Promised Land.

And in Numbers 20, it was Moses’ unbelief that kept his from entering the Promised Land...

Numbers 20:12 NASB95

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

See how important it is to believe God.

It was unbelief that kept that wicked generation of Israelites out of the Promised Land.

We might say, “Well, of course, it did. They were always grumbling and complaining.”

But the grumbling and complaining were just symptoms; the sickness was unbelief.

But also, it was unbelief that kept Moses out of the Promised Land.

And to this we might say, “But wait, Moses did most everything he was commanded. And he put up with a lot of complaining and grumbling! Surely he deserves to get in!”

But all our doing for God amounts to nothing if its not accompanied by belief in Him.

On one level, the Bible defines believing God as believing that God exists.

Hebrews 11:6 says...

Hebrews 11:6 NASB95

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

But believing that God’s exists is not enough (even the demons believe and shudder—James 2:19), but the one who believes God must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

So, the rest of Hebrews 11:6 says...

Hebrews 11:6 NASB95

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

So, how do we seek Him?

The rest of Hebrews 11 describes people of old who had assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen—things which were promised by God but not yet realized by God—and because of that assurance and conviction, they obeyed God

Unbelief will keep us out of the Promised Land, but if we truly believe God, we obey Him; and the belief or faith that leads to obedience or good spiritual fruit or good works is a saving belief.

It was unbelief that caused Moses’ disobedience in Numbers 20.

It was unbelief that kept Moses of out of the earthly Promised Land.

Don’t let unbelief keep you out of the heavenly Promised Land.

[TS] That’s The Problem. Let’s look at The Plea…

#2: The Plea (Deuteronomy 3:23-27)

Deuteronomy 3:23–27 NASB95

23 “I also pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27 ‘Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.

Moses isn’t disinterested. He’s emotionally engaged. He is pleading with God to enter the Promised Land.

He begins with a declaration of God’s greatness and strength—a greatness and strength that God was just beginning to put on display in the defeat of King Sihon and King Og.

He then declares the uniqueness of God, “...for what god is there in heaven or earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?” (v. 24)

And then he makes his request in v. 25...

Deuteronomy 3:25 NASB95

25 ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’

For 40 years, the Promised Land has been the dream that kept hope alive among the likes of Caleb, Joshua, and Moses. It’s no wonder then that Moses once again asks God if he can crossover and see that land—referring to the hill country and Lebanon, which refer to the region of Galilee.

God, however, says, “No.” And He says it with authority. “Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter,” (v. 26).

Then, in terms similar to what he used with Abraham, God told Moses that he would see the land—to the west and north and south and east—but he would not cross over the Jordan.

See that the holiness of God makes no exception for sin.

Again, we might think that Moses deserves to enter the Promised Land, but we only think that way because we are sinners like Moses.

We think, “Hey, I mean, come on, everyone makes mistakes;” but God doesn’t.

He doesn’t mess up.

He doesn’t fail.

He doesn’t have accidents.

He doesn’t sin.

And His holiness will allow no exceptions for such things even when they are done by someone like Moses.

We might wonder then, “If God’s holiness will allow for no exceptions for sin, then how are we to be saved?”

The Bible says that, while God can overlook a sin for a while, His holiness will not allow Him to overlook it forever. He doesn’t have to demand payment for sin immediately, but one day payment will be required.

The Bible also makes clear that God cannot simply shrug off sin and basically say to sinner, “Don’t worry about it.” Again, His holiness will not allow that.

If God were to do that, He would not be righteous.

And in reality, God’s justice demands that offences against His holiness be paid for.

Romans 3 talks about this in terms of God’s justice. Listen to Romans 3:23-26...

Romans 3:23–26 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God has not overlooked our sins. He hasn’t excused them. His holiness wouldn’t allow that, and He wouldn’t be righteous if He did that.

Instead God has paid the price for our sin against Him by sending His Son Jesus to take our sins upon Himself and give us His perfect righteousness in return.

God is both just (i.e., He calls sin to account) and justifier (i.e., He pays the price for sin) of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Moses would enter the Promised Land many years after his death. On the Mount of Transfiguration as Jesus’ divine glory was revealed, Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke to Jesus, signifying that all the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus.

But something else was signified as well—obviously if Moses appeared in the Promised Land speaking to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, then he too had believed on Jesus as Messiah.

So God is just and the justifier of one—even one like Moses—who has faith in Jesus.

[TS] Finally tonight, The Plan…

#3: The Plan (Deuteronomy 3:28)

Deuteronomy 3:28 NASB95

28 ‘But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’

Moses would not be leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land, but they would have a leader. Moses was to charge Joshua with the task, encourage him with the task, and strengthen him for the task.

Joshua will do what Moses’ sin prevents him from doing.

See that Jesus is better than Moses.

Jesus bore our sin on the cross and was buried. But because He had no sin of His own, He was raised from the dead in righteousness and ascended to the Father’s right hand.

And everyone who believes Him follows Him into that heavenly Promised Land.

First Peter 1:3-5 says it like this...

1 Peter 1:3–5 NASB95

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.