February 28, 2024 Bible Study — Moses Paid a Price for Allowing Himself to Be Provoked

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 3-4.

Every year when I read this I am struck by the fact that Moses says that God refused to allow him to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land because of the rest of the Israelites.  I am struck by this because in Numbers 20, God told Moses that he would not enter the Promised Land because he struck the rock when God had told him to speak to it.  What Moses says here is not exactly wrong, because he struck the rock, rather than just speak to it, because of his frustration with the Israelite complaining.  I wasn’t sure where I was going with this as I wrote it, but I realized what an important lesson it is about controlling our anger.  Moses allowed his anger at the people to get the better of him, and he suffered the consequences.  Moses failed to faithfully follow God’s command, which meant that he was never able to enter the land of Canaan.  No matter how much we feel that we have been provoked, God will hold us accountable to faithfully follow His instructions.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.