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Moses pleaded to God to be allowed to enter the land. He has come so far and he wants to enter in.
““But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.”
Deuteronomy 3:26 NASB
In a sense, Moses is taking the fall with the first generation. This is a part of the hope of the resurrection. Jude later tells us about how Moses’ body was contended for and that he would not remain in the grave forever.
Commenting on this verse, David קמחי Kimhi (Kimchi or Qimchi), a French rabbi of the 10th and 11th centuries known by the Hebrew acronym “Radak,” pointed to Moshe’s psalm (Psalm 90) in suggesting that the harsh punishment Moshe received was because of the high position Heaven gave him.
“As Ps. 90:11 tells us, ‘Your wrath matches the fear of You’—the more one fears God, the more one faces His wrath for even the smallest sin. Had someone other than Moses committed this sin, the Holy One would not have paid any attention to it.”
David Kimhi, A.D. 1160–1245
Moses did not escape the fate of the generation who was to be left behind in the desert. The fear of the Lord is more than knowing He exists, it’s to know that He is right next to you. He was not just leading them, He was right amongst them.
This hubris of leadership shows up in other places. Hubris of leadership in the House of God is something the prophets and Mashiakh warned against.
- Jeremiah 12:10, 13 (cf. Matt. 13:24-30)
- Ezekiel 34 (cf. Luke 15:4-7)
- Matthew 13
God judges the leadership more strictly than he judges the followers. He judges the shepherds more harshly than He judges the sheep. The leaders bear a huge responsibility and when it goes wrong, it causes calamity, even more so if they don’t follow after the ones they have scattered.
We keep the commandments, then we are to teach them to others. The Orthodox Study Bible says, “He who ‘does and teaches’ has wisdom and understanding, which will convert the Gentiles to the true God. To teach but not do would be hypocrisy in their sight, and rightly so.”
Will the real shepherds please stand up!
In contrast, Scripture reveals the “shepherd” like Moshe and Yehoshua that Heaven seeks.
- Jeremiah 3:15—shepherds are to feed their sheep with knowledge and understanding. (cf. John 21:15-17)
- Jeremiah 23:3–4
- Jeremiah 31:10
- Ezekiel 34:23–24
- John 10:11–18
- Ephesians 4:11–12
Here’s some food for thought moving forward. Given the severe punishment given to Moshe as the appointed leader for not holding the promises of Heaven in highest esteem, what would have Yeshua received if He had taught against “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” as is commonly taught with the Six Antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount (“you have heard it said … but I tell you”)?
Yeshua spoke only the words the Father gave Him to speak. He walked in perfect humility and obedience to the Father.
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”
Deuteronomy 4:2 NASB
A Spanish rabbi from the 10th and 11th centuries — Moses ben Nahman, aka Nahmanides or “Rambam” — drew from this verse a warning that prophets, sages and even synagogue leaders had to be careful when introducing things that didn’t have Torah authority.
“When the Sages ‘add’ to the commandments by creating a ‘fence’ around the Torah (for example, by extending the laws of incest), this in itself is the fulfillment of a Torah commandment—though it is very important to distinguish between such rulings and the actual Torah declared by the mouth of the Almighty.” Moses ben Nahman, aka Nahmanides or “Rambam”
‘Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’
The educated people in Yeshua’s time knew the distinction between the fences and the Torah. Over 1,000 years earlier, Yeshua the Mashiakh drew from the prophet Yeshiyahu (Isaiah 29:13) to make a similar point in Mark 7, with this punchline to His teaching on whether His students were required to wash their hands.
“And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.”
Mark 7:6–10 NASB
We hear a similar warning against adding and taking at the end of the book of Revelation.
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Revelation 22:18-19
How does the Torah move from tablets of stone to our hearts (the New Covenant promise: Jer. 31:31–34)? This happens when you get very close to it. When you are willing to give your all to follow it, to keep it and teach it.
Greatest commandment: Love the LORD, holding nothing back
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶךָ“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
Deut 6:4–5 NASB
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Hear [sh’ma] — Literally, pay attention and obey. Both responses require humility.
Yisra’el — Those who struggle with God (and prevail).
the LORD — He Who was and is and is to come always will be there.
our God — He’s not some other deity.
is one [ekhad] — “One,” the same as Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden and as Yeshua was with His Father.
- Deut 4:35, 39
- John 10:30
- “You are elohim”
- “sons and daughters of God”
- “Are you part of this family? Better start acting like it!”
- 1Cor 8:4
- Eph 4:6
love [ahavah] — Love is an action, a commitment.
with all — Hold nothing back.
heart [levav] — The center of feelings of attachment.
soul [nefesh] — The center of motivation. God’s “wind” (רוח ruakh, “spirit, wind”) moves us.
strength [me’od] — The power to put our attachments and motivations into action.
We have to have the heart, soul and strength to follow God’s commandments. The rich young ruler Yeshua spoke to had the heart and soul but since he was so bound up in his riches, he didn’t have the strength to follow God fully and completely and walked away from Yeshua sad.
Following God’s commandments can’t be something we do only in fleeting moments. There are times we don’t want to do the right thing, our feelings can lead us astray. When we feel like not doing the right thing, we have to return back to our first love (Rev. 2:1–7).
Second-greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as you do yourself
לֹא־תִשְׂנָא אֶת־אָחִיךָ בִּלְבָבֶךָ הוֹכֵחַ תּוֹכִיחַ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶךָ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂא עָלָיו חֵטְא׃ לֹא־תִקֹּם וְלֹא־תִטֹּר אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ אֲנִי יְהוָה׃
“ ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.’ ”
Leviticus 19:17–18 NASB
your neighbor [re’ah] — Literally, your close companion. Yeshua expanded on this to mean those put close to you by accident or happenstance, not necessarily those we like. Loving a “neighbor” like that takes a new nefesh and new me’od.
Israel is special only because the LORD called and Israel answered.
Summary: Tammy.