Wall painting in a Roman Catacomb. 4th century
In Numbers 20, Moses is commanded by God to speak to the rock and bring forth water for the thirsty people of Israel at he end of their forty years of wandering.
But he doesn’t speak to it, he strikes it. And for that offense, both he and Aaron are barred from entering the Promised Land with their people.
There have been many attempts to explain God’s judgment here. One answer is that when Moses struck the rock he said, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” We, not God. They took credit for Yahweh’s work. Big mistake.
But another one I recently read was that the Jewish Sages say that anger is a form of idolatry. If God is in charge, then everything that happens is His will, whether good or bad. Anger is a statement that you are not happy with His will, that you think you should be in charge, that you know better than God.
For Moses, the leader of God’s chosen people, this was an even more grievous offense than for most. He was God’s friend, he spoke to him face to face, and to display such an idolatry before the people was to desecrate God’s name.
It’s especially interesting to me that whatever the theology behind the decision, Moses never questions it. He accepts God’s judgment without question, without tears, without whining. He realizes his error and accepts the consequences.
He had a number of good excuses. His sister had just died, and he very likely was still distraught over losing her. And the people were once again grumbing and complaining and demanding to go back to Egypt (even though most of them at this point had never lived there). But to trot out justification at this point surely would have defiled God’s name even more.
So after 120 years, forty of them just waiting due to a sin that was not his, Moses accepted the fact that he would not see Canaan. Instead he would see God.
To me, not a tough call.