Numbers 20:12

12. Because ye believed me not Or, rather, trusted not in me. Belief relates to the intellectual assent to the truth, while trust signifies reliance on a person. Self-confidence was in excess, and humble reliance on Jehovah was deficient. These, usually, are present in an inverse ratio, so that God is greatest when self is least in our esteem. As trust in God is the root of all the virtues, its absence is the source of all evil qualities in human character; hence the following complaint against Moses:

To sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel Jehovah had not been magnified as the source of all power. Self-trust had robbed him of his glory before Israel. The absence of trust in God caused the removal of that imperturbable repose, that tranquillity, which neither wind nor wave can disturb; hence the impatience of Moses, his angry spirit and hasty words. As a leader he represented Jehovah to the Hebrews. Their conceptions of God’s moral character would be derived from the conduct of the man who was so intimate with him. Thus a wrong temper, an unadvised word, reflects on God’s honour in the eyes of men. This is true not only of Moses and Aaron, but of all who profess to be godly, (godlike,) especially ministers of the Gospel of Christ.

Ye shall not bring this congregation into the land They had not forfeited heaven, but Canaan. Jehovah still loved them, while he set the mark of his displeasure upon this fault, so great in his eyes, and yet so trifling in men’s esteem that they are not agreed respecting the nature of the offence. The punishment was grievous. For many years had they looked with longing eyes toward the Land of Promise. Thirty-eight years they had uncomplainingly endured the hardships of the wilderness, cheered by the hope of eventually enjoying its rest. But now the finger of hope no longer beckons them on. They must die in the wilderness. We can give no explanation of this sin of distrust. All sin is inexplicable and causeless. To give a good reason for sin is to justify it. There is no reasonable ground for unbelief. The Saviour’s question, Wherefore do ye doubt? is still unanswered. It is possible that there was a more grave defect than a momentary wavering of faith. There may have been a slow decay of Moses’s confidence during the term of the penal wanderings, and of great apostasy from Jehovah. It is very difficult to maintain a degree of faith far above the average of those around us. Lesson: No Christian, however eminent in usefulness and piety, can ever in this life become impeccable. He may talk face to face with God on the mountain top, and come down with a shining countenance, and then forget his might and doubt his truth.

“What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” Thus Moses and Aaron knew Jehovah’s “breach of promise.” Numbers 14:34. In all God’s promises of good to individuals there is a tacit condition of continued fidelity. This decree was irrevocable. Moses prayed that it might be recalled, and that he might “go over and see the good land.” “Speak no more unto me of this matter, for thou shalt not go over this Jordan,” is the reply. Deuteronomy 3:25-27.