 Moses is remembered in the Bible with great favor as a servant of the Lord. Moses was a faithful servant of God, used mightily. But why then could Moses not enter into the Promised Land? A lot of times in the Bible it doesn't seem like God meets out his punishment fairly. Some person might be treated a little bit more favorably with a little more mercy, sometimes a little more harsher. You see that picture even more so when it comes to Moses who was faithful, who has even tolerated these hard-headed people, and because he did something, God seems in many people's eyes to have reacted kind of harshly. He tells Moses, you will not enter into the Promised Land. So let's figure out what's going on. Was God being harsh? What was the whole reason behind that? So let's go to Deuteronomy 32 first. Let's start in verse 48. Then the Lord said to Moses that very same day saying, Go up to this mountain of Aberene, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for possession. Then died on the mountain where you was sinned, and be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother died on Mount Orr, and he was gathered to his people. Because you have broke faith with me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Mirabakodesh in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel, for you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there into the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel. Which is interesting because the sons of Israel, the children of Israel, the original group that came out of Egypt that Moses brought them out of, they didn't. They didn't come out. Why? Because of their lack of faith and because of their idolatry. And so they didn't see the Promised Land. You would have thought though that Moses, God's entrusted servant, would have seen the Promised Land. He's bringing them out, but he did not make it as well. Is that a bit harsh, the treatment that God gives him? Let's go and see what actually happened. In Numbers 20, let's start in verse 6. Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the Tenen meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Take the ride 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 beast drink. So, see what God is telling Moses to do. Now Moses is getting ready to do it. So Moses took the ride from before the Lord, just as he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the ride, and he said to them, Listen now you rebels, shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and the water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beast drank. 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. Those were the waters of Meribah because the sons of Israel continued with the Lord, and he proved himself holy among them. Wait a second. Why God is Moses not allowed to go in? This can be a bit confusing. Was it that Moses struck the rock twice? Was he angry? What was the issue? And even still whatever it was, why so harsh for treatment? Why does he who's been clearly a servant of yours not get to go in where there are people who are not as godly, who are not as faithful, who is not as devoted, as Moses they get to go in? Well, first of all, the promise that God made to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob was not so that Moses would go in. The promise was that Abraham's descendants would go in. This was the land that God promised that Abraham's descendants would get in, so it's not so much about Moses or any one person. That part needs to be understood. And oh, by the way, we're going to find out, though, that Moses's ministry is not over just yet. But we'll come back to that in a little bit. We've got to figure out why in the world would God do this to Moses. Well, is it because he struck the rock twice? Maybe not. Maybe because he struck the rock to begin with. Let's go back to the passage. God told him, let's go to verse 8. He said, Take the rod, and you and your brother Aaron assembled the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield water. So God says, just speak to the rock. God is going to bring forth water. Now, by the way, this is not a natural occurrence whether you speak to the rock or whether you strike a rock. We do that. Water's not coming out. But God says, speak to the rock. He did not tell Moses to strike the rock, but what did Moses do? Moses goes and he strike the rock. He strikes what? Twice. And he strikes it twice. Now, well, there's some attitude, some anger, what have you. That could also be an issue as well. But notice something that Moses says. He says in verse 10, he says, Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? Moses, where is this we coming from? There is no we. This is God who is going to do this. And so maybe Moses was being a little too presumptuous. Maybe Moses was getting a little too big worth of bridges. Who knows? But for you to say, shall we? Well, maybe it's more proper to say, shall God, shall the Lord, not we. There is no us in doing this. You are not cracking this rock open and causing water to come out. God is doing. You are the vessel that's being used. And so maybe that's the issue. But let's dig down a little bit deeper and we'll see more to the point. As a matter of fact, it was stated in this passage as well as in the passage of Deuteronomy verse 12. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you have not, look what he says, believed me to treat. Now it's not the belief part. Somebody may focus on it. Well, you didn't believe God. Well, he believed God. But look what he says, believed me to treat me as holy in the sights of the sons of Israel. Then we go back to Deuteronomy 32 because you have broke faith with me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters. And look what he says, because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. There is the issue right there. That's a greater issue. You did not treat me as holy. What does that mean? Well, to give an example of this, Moses should know this, by the way. Matter of fact, Moses and Aaron both are thoroughly familiar with what happens to someone who does not treat or regard God as holy. How do we know? Well, let's go to Leviticus. This happens as the law is being given. Nadab and Bihu, who are Moses's nephews, who are Aaron's sons, they go and they bring this strange offering, this strange fire to the Lord. And then look what after they were consumed. Look what it said. In verse three of Leviticus 10, then Moses said to Aaron, it is what the Lord spoke saying, by those who come near me, I will be treated as holy. And before all the people, I will be honored. Before the people, I will be honored. Moses, you didn't honor me. You did not treat me as holy. One, you cannot approach the Lord in any old fashion, especially then. And what does God going to do, make a public specter with Nadab and Bihu? He clearly made a public spectacle of them to demonstrate vividly. By fire coming down, you will not treat me as unholdable for the people. You will, as he says, let's put it back on the screen. By those who come near me, he says, I will be treated as holy. You are going to view me as holy. I'm not like somebody else. I'm not your friend. I'm not your cousin. I'm not your buddy. I am God. You will remember that. If you don't remember that, then I will remind you, you will treat me regard me as holy. And before all the people, I will be honored. So what did Moses not do? Moses did not treat me as holy. We don't even have to guess that, because God literally says that you did not treat me as holy. You did not, now, though you bowed your head, but the attitude, the anger, how you did things. One, you didn't obey me completely, because I never told you to strike the rock. That could be one. And then you did so twice. Again, never told you to strike the rock, but then you do it not once, but twice. And there's something in your attitude, in your heart, and something that makes it look like that you're angry with me, or you're bothered, or whatever it is, you did not come to me in this holy, God-honoring fashion. So because of that, you shall not enter into the Promised Land. Now, does that mean that Moses's ministry was over? No. God still loves Moses. Remember, in Hebrews 11, he is considered somebody who has faith in what we call this Faith Hall of Fame of Hebrews 11. But remember, Moses is not through. So here he says in Matthew 17,1, we see Moses show up again. This is where Jesus's Transfiguration shows, and who shows up? Moses and Elijah. So just because he didn't enter the Promised Land, remember, the more important place to enter in is this eternal rest, which is going to be heaven. Moses, without question, enters there. And so I think that Moses would much rather be there than in the Promised Land. But as for us, we can learn a lesson about how we ought to regard God, how we should treat him, when we go to praying, when we go to reading his word, just in honoring him, sanctifying him as holy in our hearts. As a matter of fact, the Bible says, sanctify Christ in your heart and always be ready to give a defense of those that ask you. The first thing to do, sanctify Christ, sanctify the Lord in your heart. Sanctify Moses, sanctify, set apart, regard as holy God. We should do the exact same thing. And in this way, we could ensure that we will enter the true Promised Land, that is heaven. Amen.