Moses was destined to rescue his people. At 40, he had to flee. At 80, God called him to meet Pharaoh, work miracles, and deliver God’s people. They crossed the Red Sea and spent forty years in the desert. Finally, it was time to enter the Promised Land—but God told Moses he would not be going!
How would you feel about that? Moses’s entire life was leading up to this. He was the man God used to deliver Israel out of slavery and into the Promised Land. But at the last minute God said, “Sorry. You crossed the line when you lost your temper. So you’re not going.”
How would you feel? Would you beg? Argue? Try to make a deal?
Here is Moses’s reaction:
So Moses appealed to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the community who will go out before them and come back in before them… so that the Lord’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Numbers 27:15-17.
Moses was devastated. Raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, his life was special. God spent 80 years preparing him for a legacy that would last thousands. But then God forbid him entering the Promised Land. Good stories—good lives—are not supposed to end that way. Why did Moses’s life end OUTSIDE the Promised Land? If anyone deserved to enter it, he did. He should have blown out his 120 birthday candles, tucked himself into the bed, and died in his sleep—in the land God promised Abraham 400 years before.
But Moses accepted it. He asked God to change His mind (see Deuteronomy 3:25), but He accepted God’s decision. Then he prayed for the people, that God would send them a great leader. Moses was concerned about the nation.
As a great leader, his heart was burdened for those he led. Does your heart carry burdens for those you lead? Can you pray for them as you pray for yourself? That is mature and godly leadership. Dear God, make us more selfless.
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