SUMMARY
Despite Moses’ pleading, God confirms that MosesProphet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai. will die outside of the Promised Land.
ANALYSIS
Moses twice reaffirms here (Deuteronomy 3:26, 4:21) that God was angry with him on account of the Israelites, and again says nothing about striking the rock (Numbers 20:11-13), an event that was at least the proximate cause of his exclusion from the Promised Land.
Here, however, Moses appeals God’s decision. Moses has begun to see the greatness and strength of God, and would like to see more, if he could only be allowed into the HolyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine Land. God responds that Moses has pleaded enough, and God would not like to hear any more on the topic. As a sort of compromise, God instructed Moses to climb to the top of Mount NeboNebo is a mountain in Jordan. It is known as the promontory from which Moses, at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, observed but did not enter the Promised Land. According to tradition Moses is buried on Mount Nebo, though the biblical record states... and view the land. Moses was allowed to see the land with his own eyes, but still prevented from entering it (Deuteronomy 34). JoshuaThe successor of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan., instead, was to lead the people into the land.
The author of Hebrews perhaps thought of Moses, as well as the other named examples earlier in the chapter when writing, “All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
