When God Says No to Moses: Faithfulness, No Partiality, and Hope Beyond Failure

Three Periods of Forty Years Each

The book of Deuteronomy is sad from the beginning and sad in the end. Before we can understand why, we need to understand who is speaking. Let us take Moses — beside Yeshua, the greatest prophet and leader of the people of God. He had invested so many years of his life to bring the children of Israel out of bondage and slavery. He had been a prince of Egypt for 40 years, living in one of the most luxurious palaces in human history. The word "luxurious" came from the city of Luxor — where Moses was raised in the palace of the Pharaoh.

He then spent 40 years doing what the Egyptians considered the most abominable job possible — shepherding sheep. The last 40 years of his life he led a rabble of around 2,000,000 ex-slaves through one of the harshest deserts in the world, the Sinai Desert. Then Moses is about to go up Mount Nebo, and die a physical death. The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' last and longest speech to the people of Israel and to the world. And it ends not with triumph but with rejection.

Get Up and March — Says the Man Who Cannot Come

There is a painful contrast at the heart of the first two Parashot, Devarim and Va'etchanan. Moses gatheres Israel on the shore of the Jordan and reviewing where they had come from and what was ahead. He appointed leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens — a whole structure of administration for the new life ahead. He prepared them for everything. He stands before the people like a US Marine Sergeant and essentially says: "Get up, pack up, and start marching to the land of Canaan. There is work waiting for you — you have all the land God promised your fathers, all the way to the river Euphrates!" This is Moses in encouragement mode — the football coach pumping up his team before the biggest game of their lives.

And then, a few lines later, Moses is begging God to let him in with them.

The coach who trained everyone else to win the land cannot enter it himself. It is one of the most human and heartbreaking moments in all of Scripture.

Moses took it. He swallowed hard. He kept speaking. He delivered 34 chapters of guidance, law, blessing, and warning — and then he climbed the mountain and died. That is faithfulness. That is what it looks like when a man of God continues to serve even when God has said no to his deepest personal desire.

I am sad for Moses not entering into the land that he waited 40 years to enter. Yet I am more sad for the answer he received from the Lord God of Israel who is described as "merciful and gracious and longsuffering" — those are the Lord's own words about Himself in Exodus 34:5-6.

God's Mercy Despite the 'No'

But then, if I analyze the text carefully, I see that God actually gave Moses a quarter of what he asked to receive. Moses asked:

God said: you will see the land from the top of Pisgah — that Hebrew word means the top of the mountain, the peak — but your foot will not stand on that land.

And there is this: Quite some time ago I was with a group of students on top of Mount Nebo, at the Pisgah, and the Lord did not smile on us. That afternoon was cloudy and hazy, and we could not see very far into the land of Canaan, and we could not see Jerusalem from the other side of the Jordan. I am sure that for Moses the air was crisp and clear, and Moses could see the promised land all the way to Jerusalem, and maybe all the way to Lebanon. That clear day was God's mercy inside the no.

Now, God also did not want Moses standing on the banks of the Jordan River watching the hundreds of thousands of children of Israel crossing while he stayed behind. He sent Moses up to Mount Nebo to die first — before He gave Joshua the marching orders.

It was out of pure mercy and consideration for the feelings of His servant Moses.

Moses received no favoritism — but he received mercy.

Actually though, Moses even entered the land eventually — but not in the flesh. When Moses and Elijah had their meeting on top of the mountain with Yeshua in what is called in Christian theology the Transfiguration, Moses set foot in the land of Israel. I say Moses didn't cross the Jordan River "in the flesh" — because in the spirit, he did enter.

But on the plains of Moab, in the body, he was the coach who gives the speech and stays behind.

How Would You Feel?

How would you feel if the Lord would deny you something you have worked for and labored for so long? This Moses is the same Moses to whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

He is also the same Moses about whom God said that:

And yet God told him: "Enough. You are not crossing the Jordan River."

My sadness is mitigated only by the fact that I know I am only a servant of flesh and blood, and that God is the master and father and creator of the universe, and I trust that He knows what is right and wrong and what is best for me. This is the only mitigating factor in this situation — and it was good enough for Moses, and it ought to be good enough for us when God tells us "No."

The end of the book of Deuteronomy is even sadder than the beginning. Before Moses goes up the mountain, God tells him what will happen after:

When God hides His face, it means that their communication will not go up even above the ceiling of their homes. How much sadder can it be, when a man's career looks like a total failure after years of suffering and investment? God tells Moses that the nation he invested his life for will do these terrible things. But just to end with a positive note: read Ezekiel 39:22-27 and you will understand that in the end all will be good and all Israel will be saved — see Romans 11:25-27 — and God will restore Israel and reveal His face to them.

Moses Is Very Normal — and That Is Comforting

Notice something about Moses in this farewell speech. When he explains to the people why God won't let him cross the Jordan River — Moses blames the people.

Moses, the man who spent 40 days and nights face to face with God on the top of Mount Sinai, is doing what normal human beings do. He is looking for someone else to blame.

I feel much better now knowing and remembering that God also told Moses, the great Moses, "No!"

My problem is that I don't have anyone to blame except myself. I could have blamed Marcia my wife, but no one will believe me, and God would be even more angry with me and may increase the punishment. So when I make a mistake, it is best to swallow hard and say, "Thank you God, for your mercy endures forever." Moses is a lot like me. And I am so glad to learn this fact.

Vitamin P Does Not Work With God

There is a lesson here for every spiritual leader, pastor, teacher, elder, and everyone who feels close to the Lord and considers themselves a successful servant of God. God shows no partiality toward spiritual leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, or deacons. On the contrary, God judges those who are close to Him and serve Him more strictly than regular people.

In Israel, the most important vitamin is Vitamin P — for Protection. You can get so much more done and receive benefits if you know the right person in the government or in some important office. THIS DOESN'T WORK WITH GOD. EVEN FOR MOSES, GOD DIDN'T BEND THE RULES.

As mentioned before, Moses is the only person in all of Scripture to whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

And still God said:

Moses had the most intimate relationship with God of any human being in history. And it did not get him special treatment.

Leaders among God's people are judged more, not less. This is on the paradigm of "whom God loves, He also punishes harshly." There is no room for partiality in God's Kingdom. The letter of James makes this rule very clear — it's important to read James chapters 1 and 2, especially for preachers and pastors in churches and in synagogues.

Joseph Would Have Jumped Into the Well

The best demonstration of God's "no" as love is the story of Joseph. Can you imagine how depressed Joseph must have been when he was put in the well in the valley of Dothan and sold as a slave to the Amalekites and Midianites and to Egypt? If he had known the end of the story at that moment, Joseph would have been happy and glad that his brothers rejected him. He would have gladly jumped into the well. He would have been happy to be sold to an Egyptian master, and he would have been happy to go to jail.

This event — God saying "No!" to Moses — helps me put my own desires and appetites in check and submit them on God's altar with thanksgiving. From my own personal experience with the Lord, I have paid a very high price when I was stubborn and did not accept the "NO!" that God gave me. I forged ahead to do what my stubbornness dictated instead of graciously submitting to the Lord's "NO!" Had I the wisdom to say, "OK Lord, I accept your refusal," today I would be far ahead of where I am now.

Our ambitions and desires and appetites are not always good for us. A good father does the same to his children and tells them "No!" As children, we don't understand this when it happens. But years later, we see the wisdom and love behind it. When we quote Romans 8:28 —

— we often take the words out of their natural context and make them a carte blanche for all occasions and for all people. But the more correct meaning is that the LORD makes all things that fit and equip us for our own good, because we love the Lord and because we are called to live and serve according to His purpose. The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, interceding for the saints according to the will of God. He knows what we need better than we do.

May we take these lessons to heart, serve faithfully even when God says no, and trust that His justice, mercy, and promises are always good.