It seemed like a little thing, but how could it be when the revelation of God’s character was at stake?
Without question, Moses was one of the greatest men ever. “The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:11). Yet “The man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num 12:3). He was given the privilege of leading God’s people out of Egypt. He had the honor of writing the first five books of the Bible. He was given the blueprint for God’s home on earth, the tabernacle, which itself was a model of heaven. Moses constructed the name of Jesus when he renamed Oshea to be Je-hoshua, meaning “Jehovah is salvation.” This became Jesus in the Greek language. He also gets to write one verse of heaven’s theme song: “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Rev 15:3). Yet for all that, “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Go up into this Mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people…For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes’” (Num 27:12-14). So Moses puts up with grumbling people for 40 years, and for one mistake he’s kept out of Canaan? I’m afraid so. You see, this was to be one of God’s best pictures of His Son. “That Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). He only had to be struck once, at Calvary. Now all we have to do is speak to Him for blessing. Moses, by losing his temper and striking it again, perpetuated the common religious idea that people must be saved over and over. All Moses could do now—by being kept out—was to picture the fact that, as the Lawgiver, he couldn’t lead the people into rest. They would need a Joshua (Jesus) to do that!