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Podcast Episode

Why Couldn’t Moses Enter the Promised Land?

So far in the second movement of Numbers, the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel have rebelled against Yahweh, the people have rebelled against Yahweh, and even the Levites have rebelled against Yahweh. In fact, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb are the only people that haven’t rebelled. So what happens when those closest to Yahweh fail to obey his word, too? In this episode, Tim and Jon talk about Moses’ rebellion, the high cost of leading God’s people, and humanity’s deep need for a more faithful representative to intercede on our behalf.

Episode 6
56m
Sep 5, 2022
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Show Notes
Episodes

QUOTE

What God is after is a human partner whose heart and desire and will is the same as the divine will—a human partner for whom God’s will and their will are the same thing ... When a human partner of God will carry out the divine will, it leads to life for others. But if we don’t have that mediator, even Moses can’t rescue us, much less ourselves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Each of Israel’s rebellions in the second movement of Numbers, at its root, has to do with a failure to trust God’s word.
  • After Moses strikes the rock Yahweh told him to speak to (Num. 20), the way that Yahweh responds to him reveals that Moses’ choice was intentional rebellion.
  • The second movement of Numbers concludes with Balaam’s poems, pointing us once again to God’s grace for humanity. Even as the Israelites continue to grumble and wonder if God is really with them, Yahweh blesses them and promises future deliverance and blessing in the form of the coming Messiah.

Failure to Trust God’s Word

In part one (00:00-14:55), Tim and Jon review the plot of the Numbers scroll, which is composed of three movements.

In the first movement of Numbers, the Israelites get ready to leave Mount Sinai, where they’ve been camped for a year. They arrange themselves in concentric circles with the tabernacle at the center and then head out into the wilderness. In the second movement, the Israelites move through the wilderness en route to the promised land, and during that time they rebel against Yahweh seven times. Notably, the rebellions cycle through the circles of Israel’s camp, starting with the outer ring of Israel’s tribes, followed by a rebellion of the Levites, and finally ending with the inner circle and Moses himself in rebellion.

Each of these rebellions, at its root, has to do with a failure to trust God’s word. Numbers 13-25 is one large chiasm: the rebellion of the twelve spies in Numbers 13 occurs at Kadesh, which is spelled with the same letters as the Hebrew word for “holiness,” kadosh. It’s an intentional play on words to indicate that the spies are selected and sent out from God’s holy place, but they fail to trust his word and so they are excluded from the promised land. After this, the Levites rebel. When we get to Numbers 20 we’re back at Kadesh, and this time Moses rebels and is forbidden to enter the land because of his unbelief in God’s word.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, its authors organize stories and tell them in such a way that they create repeated literary patterns so that readers will compare and contrast stories with parallel themes.

Kadesh Again

In part two (14:55-39:37), Tim and Jon begin exploring Numbers 20, which opens by identifying both Kadesh and the wilderness of Zin, the very same locations mentioned in Numbers 13, linking the two stories together. The journey to the promised land should have taken eleven days, but Israel has wandered for forty years by this point.

Conflict arises between Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel when they once again find themselves without water. The same problem occurred in Exodus 17. The people of Israel complain against Moses and Aaron and accuse them of leading them into the wilderness just to die, so Moses and Aaron ask the Lord what they should do.

Numbers 20:8

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.

Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses strikes it (as he did in Exodus 17), but it still works and produces water. Not only does Moses do something other than what God told him to do, he suggests that he and Aaron are responsible for producing the water (Num. 20:10). While the incident may seem relatively small, the narrator is highlighting for us that Moses is standing in the tradition of Adam and Eve (and every chosen one ever since) who failed to do what God said. God’s word is life for humanity and to ignore it brings death. The way that Yahweh responds to Moses reveals that Moses’ choice was intentional rebellion, and Yahweh forbids them from entering the promised land (Num. 20:12).

The point of this story is not for us to walk on eggshells with Yahweh because he might punish our smallest mistake. Rather, it's about Moses' intentional choice to ignore God's word. Remember, Moses is not an average person. He's God's chosen representative. The closer you are to Yahweh (both metaphorically and, in Moses’ and Aaron’s case, literally), the higher the stakes of responsibility.

Blessing Instead of Curse

In part three (39:37-55:08), the guys forge ahead into a series of stories where the opposite of what we expect occurs. Instead of allowing the people to experience the consequences of their complaints and rebellion in Numbers 20, Yahweh continually blesses Israel.

In Numbers 21, Yahweh gives Israel victory over an opposing Canaanite king, he again provides water for them in the wilderness, and then he gives them another victory over two giant kings.

Numbers 22-25 is the account of the Israelites’ interaction with Balaam, a sorcerer who was so well-known he appeared in Canaanite literature as well (see “Deir Alla inscription” in Referenced Resources). The king of Moab hires Balaam to curse Israel, but Yahweh turns his curses into blessings three times. When all is said and done, Balaam pronounces seven oracles that predict a messiah-king who will come from Israel to reign over all nations.

The second movement of Numbers concludes with Balaam’s poems, pointing us once again to God’s grace for humanity. Even as the Israelites continue to grumble and wonder if God is really with them, Yahweh blesses them and promises future deliverance and blessing in the form of the coming messiah.

Referenced Resources

Show Music

  • “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
  • "Spiritual Mind" by C Y G N
  • "Easy Chair" by Tyler Bailey

Show produced by Cooper Peltz. Edited by Dan Gummel, Tyler Bailey, and Frank Garza. Show notes by Lindsey Ponder. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by MacKenzie Buxman.

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Scripture References
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 49:8-12
Exodus 17
Numbers 20
Numbers 13-25
Numbers 1-12
Numbers 20:2
Numbers 20:6
Numbers 20:9
Numbers 20:12
John 6:38
Numbers 22-25
Numbers 24:5
Numbers 24:17

10 Episodes

Episode 10
What Do Moses and a Rock Have to Do With Jesus?
Are numbers in the Hebrew Bible literal? Is it dangerous to adapt God’s laws? Does Israel’s conquest of Canaan justify other historical conquests? In this episode, Tim and Jon explore audience questions about the Numbers scroll. Thanks to our audience for your insightful questions.
1hr 9m • Oct 26, 2022
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Episode 9
Entering the Promised Land
After years of wandering in the wilderness and what seems like way too many rebellions against Yahweh, Israel has finally arrived on the edge of the promised land. What could possibly go wrong now? And yet even here, two of Israel’s tribes rebel, repeating the sins of Adam and Eve and dividing themselves from their brothers. Join Tim and Jon as they wrap up the Numbers scroll.
1hr 3m • Sep 26, 2022
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Episode 8
Joshua: The New Adam and Moses
As Moses’ death draws near, Yahweh selects Joshua to lead the people of Israel. What made Joshua uniquely qualified to lead? How does his leadership differ from Moses’? In this episode, join Tim and Jon as they discuss how the Hebrew Bible depicts Joshua as a new Adam, a new Moses, and a precursor to the Messiah himself.
1hr 5m • Sep 19, 2022
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Episode 7
Five Women and Yahweh’s New Law
In the third movement of Numbers, five sisters approach Moses with a legal case not covered in God’s laws: Without any brothers to inherit their father’s land, their family inheritance will be lost unless women are allowed to receive an inheritance too. Yahweh agrees with these five women, setting an important precedent for not just how Israel was to engage the laws of the Torah but for later followers of Jesus as well. Join Tim and Jon as they discuss the story of Zelophehad’s daughters and Jesus’ fulfillment of the law.
1hr 12m • Sep 12, 2022
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Episode 6
Why Couldn’t Moses Enter the Promised Land?
So far in the second movement of Numbers, the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel have rebelled against Yahweh, the people have rebelled against Yahweh, and even the Levites have rebelled against Yahweh. In fact, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb are the only people that haven’t rebelled. So what happens when those closest to Yahweh fail to obey his word, too? In this episode, Tim and Jon talk about Moses’ rebellion, the high cost of leading God’s people, and humanity’s deep need for a more faithful representative to intercede on our behalf.
56m • Sep 5, 2022
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Episode 5
Yahweh’s Judgment and Mercy
God chose the Levites to take care of the tabernacle, and, within the tribe of Levi, he picked Aaron's family to have the special duty of offering sacrifices and burning incense. In Numbers 16, a Levite named Korah and 250 Israelite leaders accuse Aaron and Moses of setting themselves above everyone else. What’s going on here? In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the story of Korah’s rebellion, God’s judgment and mercy, and the responsibility of the leaders God chooses.
43m • Aug 29, 2022
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Episode 4
Twelve Spies and the Promised Land
We’re looking at a story about God’s chosen ones facing a test with fruit trees in a beautiful garden—sounds like Genesis 3, right? Surprisingly, this is a story from Numbers 13-15, with another tree and another test. In this episode, Tim and Jon dive into the second movement of Numbers and the choice Israel faces when they reach the border of the promised land. Will they choose to trust their wisdom or Yahweh’s?
1hr 5m • Aug 22, 2022
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Episode 3
There Isn’t a Law For That
How do God’s people follow his will in situations where there are no explicit rules or laws given? At the conclusion of the third movement of Numbers, the Israelites don’t know how God wants them to respond to a situation. Join Tim and Jon as they explore Numbers 6-9 and how followers of Jesus today can learn to understand the will of God.
1hr 7m • Aug 15, 2022
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Episode 2
What’s a Nazarite Vow?
Confession of sins, strange water rituals, Nephilim, and Nazarite vows—Numbers 5 and 6 might feel like a confusing mix of laws, but the scroll’s author is cleverly reminding us of the Hebrew Bible melody we first encountered in Genesis 1-9. In this episode, Tim and Jon talk about four odd laws that are part of the intricate story we’ve been following through the Torah.
58m • Aug 8, 2022
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Episode 1
What Made the Tribe of Levi Special?
The scroll of Numbers can be difficult to make sense of without context, and there’s a reason for that. The scroll was never meant to be understood on its own. Numbers picks up where Leviticus leaves off and mirrors the scroll on the other side of Leviticus (Exodus). To fully understand all of these scrolls, we need to read them together. Join Tim and Jon as they dive into Numbers, trace the theme of the temple, and discuss the unique role of the tribe of Levi.
59m • Aug 1, 2022
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