Why Didn't Moses Enter the Promised Land?
Moses did not enter the Promised Land because in a moment of impatience he did not take the Word of God properly. Consequently, he failed to recognize the holiness and glory of God before the people.
The biblical text that explains why Moses did not enter the Promised Land is recorded in the Pentateuch, in the Book of Numbers. The Bible says that once, during the wanderings of the people of Israel through the desert, there was no water to drink, and the Israelites were very angry.
Then quickly they began to murmur and to oppose Moses and Aaron. Ungrateful for the deliverance that God had given them by bringing them out of Egypt, and unbelieving even after so many demonstrations of God's power, the Israelites began to speak that Moses and Aaron should not have led them into the wilderness.
According to them, it would have been better to have stayed in Egypt rather than to die in the desert of hunger and thirst (Numbers 20:2-5). The truth is that whenever the Israelites encountered any difficulty, they complained to Moses and Aaron, questioned their leadership, and regretted not having remained in Egypt.
Moses' Sin and the Lord's Discipline
When the people complained, Moses and Aaron fell down at the door of the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then God commanded Moses to take the rod and, together with Aaron, gather the Israelite community. Before the people, they had to speak to a rock, because water would flow out of it to satisfy all the people and their flocks (Numbers 20:8).
The problem was that Moses and Aaron gathered the people together as the Lord commanded, but they acted recklessly. The biblical text records Moses' statement: "Hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water out of this rock and give it to you?" (Number 20:10). Then the biblical text of the Book of Numbers says that Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his rod, and water gushed out of the rock, quenching the thirst of the people and their flocks (Numbers 20:11).
Soon after Moses' reckless attitude, God's rebuke also followed. The Bible says that the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to honor my holiness before the children of Israel, therefore you did not bring this people into the land that I have given them” (Numbers 20:12) .
Moses did not enter the Promised Land
The Lord's disciplining statement helps us understand why Moses did not enter the Promised Land. First, Moses let his impulse take the lead in his faith. When this happens, man is vulnerable to the point of failing at his strongest point. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on earth; but at that moment meekness justly lacked (Numbers 12:3).
Second, Moses did not obey the Lord's command. God had told him to speak to the rock, but he did it differently. He acted violently and struck the rock twice. Then, thirdly, by his attitude Moses was not only disobedient and impatient, but also dishonored the holiness of God before the Israelites.
This point is best understood in light of the rock symbolism in connection with the Lord. Earlier God had already symbolically identified himself with a smitten rock to quench the thirst of his people (Exodus 17:6). And the New Testament interprets the rock smitten by Moses at Mass as a figure of Christ who bore the punishment on behalf of God's people (1 Corinthians 10:4).
That is why later the attitude of Moses when he struck the rock with violence when God had told him to only speak to the rock, despised the deep meaning of the manifestation of the Lord and did not honor his holiness.
Consequently, Moses ended up usurping God's place by doing as he pleased. Before the entire congregation of Israel, Moses spoke as if he and Aaron were truly responsible for quenching the people's thirst by bringing water out of that rock. This means that he inevitably glorified himself instead of glorifying the Lord.
So considering all these factors, we can understand why Moses did not enter the Promised Land. Even the fact that God rebuked Aaron on the same occasion indicates that he was also involved in his brother's act.
SOURCE: https://estiloadoracao.com/por-que-moises-nao-entrou-na-terra-prometida/
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