Mount Nebo is found in modern-day Jordan (In Biblical times, it was often referred to as Moab). The mountain is 700 meters (2,297 ft) and is part of the Abarim mountain range. Mount Nebo is a well-known mount to Bible readers. It is the mountaintop where Moses died. Deuteronomy 34 describes for us the death of Moses:
Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo...There the Lord showed him the whole land…This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him…Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
Why then if Moses had not lost his strength nor had he grown weak and old did he die? The answer to that is found in Deuteronomy 32 (the full account can be found in Numbers 20). God reminds Moses:
On that same day the Lord told Moses, “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Moses disobeyed God and sinned against God at the waters of Meribah Kadesh. First, instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded, Moses in his frustration (and probably anger at the Israelites constant complaining) struck the rock like he had in the past. Second, Moses took credit for God’s miracle. “Listen, you rebels, must we (Moses & Aaron) bring you water out of this rock? (Numbers 20). Immediately God told both 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.”
Moses was an impressive man. He is described in Numbers 12 Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. And his epithet in Deut. 34 reads: Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Yet, even Moses was a man and he sinned. The consequence for claiming God’s power as his own was that he would not be allowed to enter the promised land. God still loved Moses even after his sin. We can see this in fact that God buried Moses. Moses was forgiven of his sin but still faced earthly consequences for it.
Moses allowed his emotions and the circumstances to cloud his thinking and judgment. In a haze of frustration and anger, Moses sinned and it cost him dearly.
We need to remember that when we sin in this life that there are consequences. While some may not be as devastating as Moses’, some will. We must learn from Moses. Moses did not question God about his decision to punish Moses. He never complained about it. He did not lose trust or faith in God. Nor did he stop loving God even though God was taking from Moses his life goal – entering the Promised Land. Moses continued to serve God faithfully until the end.
🏔️ Sin has consequences.
🏔️ If we repent of our sins, while we may face earthly consequences we will also still receive our eternal reward just like Moses.
🏔️ If we do not repent of our sins, then while we may not face earthly consequences, we will face eternal consequences.
🏔️ If we allow the consequences of our sin to shatter our relationship with God, then we will also face eternal consequences for abandoning Him.
We all sin – even Moses. But we must decide how we are going to handle the consequences of our sins when we do. Are we going to repent and keep serving God – working toward our eternal rewards? Or, we will become bitter and angry and forsake God – allowing the temporary consequences of sin create eternal consequences for our soul?
Let Moses’ climb of Mount Nebo be a lesson to us all on how to face the consequences of our sin. #MountainsOfGod #MountaineeringForGod
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