Don’t stop a few steps short from all God has in mind for us

By Michael Gunnin

A few years ago, I spent a week in Amman, Jordan on a work trip. The week ended with a tour of a few historic sites, including the expected stops at the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Jesus’ baptismal site, and of course, a few souvenir shops.

I had relatively low expectations for one of our last stops: Mount Nebo.

 It is just a few hundred yards from the parking lot to the summit of Mount Nebo. I wasn’t expecting to see much. I assumed there would be another vista overlooking more sparce desert and the obligatory monastery that exists at most holy sites. We’d snap some pictures, meander around for a few minutes, and then load back into the bus and go on to the next location.

Instead, of all the places in the world I’ve been privileged to visit, Mount Nebo has impacted me the deepest.   

Questions from the mountain

In Deuteronomy 34, we see God taking Moses to the top of Mount Nebo in the region of Moab just before his death to allow him to see the Promised Land. From atop Mount Nebo, Moses gets to view the entire region of the Promised Land, but God wasn’t going to allow Moses to enter it. Moses dies and is buried there in the region of Moab.

The heaviness of that spot was overwhelming to me. In addition to the “so-and-so from the Bible might have stood right here” commentary common at Holy Land locations, I found myself trying to imagine what Moses experienced and felt at Mount Nebo.

Mount Nebo. Photo by Berthold Werner via Wikimedia Commons

Moses’ life was marked by much faithfulness. Was he perfect? Of course not. But given the scope of his responsibilities, he seemed to live a life that honored God and accomplished his purposes. Moses was bold in standing up to Pharoah. He was courageous in taking God’s people through the Red Sea. He was steadfast in leading the people out of captivity. Moses was the one God called up the mountain at Sinai. And for 40 years, he led a group of people whose own stubborn hard-heartedness caused them to forfeit the promise of God in their life.  

And after all of that, his journey would be cut short of the promised destination.

I stood on Mount Nebo wondering what Moses felt. Disappointment? Rejection? Failure? Anger? Resentment?

And quickly I began to think about my own life. My faith. My ministry. My calling. There was a myriad of emotions. There was fear that I’d get right to the edge of God’s calling in my life only to forfeit how God intended to bless me. I sensed in a new, profound way a heaviness of serving in Christian ministry.

Quite frankly, I even felt irritation that after a lifetime of service, poor Moses wasn’t able to walk a few more steps to just experience the destination he had been traveling to for 40 years. Somehow it didn’t seem fair or gracious.

A miracle and a mistake

The incident recorded in Numbers 20 tells us why Moses’ journey to the Promised Land was cut short. The Israelites were once again complaining, this time for lack of water. Moses and Aaron prostrate themselves at the entrance of the tabernacle and cry out to God for help (v. 5). God gives specific instructions for Moses to miraculously provide water from a rock (vv. 6-7). 

But Moses deviates from God’s instructions. At first, they are small deviations. He addresses the people as “rebels,” which is a word of judgment (v. 10). Moses also adds an interesting pronoun, “we,” in describing the anticipated miracle (v. 10). And Moses strikes the rock twice after God’s instruction to speak to it (v. 11). Why did these small deviations in God’s instructions result in such severe discipline?

God’s judgment and punishment of Moses is both interesting and instructive: “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them’” (Numbers 20:12).

 Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy.

 Moses’ lack of trust in God shifted the focus, the attention, and the glory away from God.

 Moses sought his own glory. He trusted in his own ability. He neglected the holiness of God.

And this holy God—who had rescued His people from captivity, led them through the desert, drowned their enemies in the sea, descended on Mount Sinai with the Law, and miraculously provided for them again and again—would be the only One to get the glory for it all.

So, Moses forfeited experiencing everything that God wanted to give him.

Leading in light of the holiness of God

For all of us, but especially those who lead in Christian ministry, the question emerges: Am I trusting God in a way that honors him as holy?

Whose glory are we seeking as we lead and work to accomplish all that we’re called to do? Whose strength and power are we trusting to achieve our dreams? When people see our lives, are they impressed with us or are they in awe of our God?

Photo by kilarov zaneit on Unsplash

Moses cut short the blessing of God in his life. I don’t want that for you or for me. The reminder that God does not appear to tolerate it when we seek our glory and neglect his holiness is particularly timely, especially with the growing list of public Christian leaders who have seemingly forgotten this.

God was gracious in letting Moses view the Promised Land before he died. And even with Moses’ sin and mistakes we see in Numbers 20, God still used Moses to get the people to the edge of their inheritance. This gives me great comfort.

But it also serves as a healthy reminder to live and lead with the goal of people seeing the holiness of God—his work, his glory on display, His provision for the people, his victory over enemies, his victory over sin.

And then, by God’s grace, maybe we can bypass our own Mount Nebo and walk with joy into everything he has set aside to give us.

Michael Gunnin serves as executive vice president and chief growth officer of Walk Thru the Bible, a ministry working in 140+ countries to help ignite passion for God’s Word. Michael is married to Molly, and they are raising three sons. He’s the creator of several Walk Thru the Bible resources, including Bible Study Simplified and otPANORAMIC.  

To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.