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"And Aaron the priest went up into the Mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord,
and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of
Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month" (Numb. 33: 38).
Miriam dies without entering the promised land; Aaron dies without entering; and so
does Moses, although the death of Moses is deferred until later. The men that were
twenty years old and upward who had seen the mighty work of the Lord, and who had
nevertheless refused to go up at the leading of the Lord, were now all dead.
The children that they had said were to be a prey in the wilderness had been
miraculously preserved, and were now about to go into the land. The fact that these
repeat the sin of their fathers removes all idea that they were essentially different from
their parents; their entry is still of the grace of God. Moses called them rebels, and so
they were; nevertheless, in that, and in his angry striking of the rock, Moses failed. The
comment of Psa. 106: 32, 33 should be remembered:--
"They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their
sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips."
Let none think that we comment on Moses' lapse in any self-righteous spirit. Who
amongst us would have endured one year, let alone forty years, of this people's manners
and ways?
There is perhaps a closer link between minister and people than at first appears. Paul
said to the Thessalonians:--
"For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy . . . . . when
Timothy . . . . . brought us good tidings of your faith . . . . . we were comforted . . . . . for
now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord" (I Thess. 2: 19 - 3: 8).
To the like intent we read I John 2: 28 and II John 8:--
"And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
"Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
receive a full reward."*
There is, moreover, another reason for the death of Moses and Aaron before entry into
the land of promise. Both stood for a failing law and failing priesthood. Law was to be
dead and buried before Joshua (whose name is the same as Jesus) should rise and lead the
people over Jordan. God had forgiven many sins of Moses and Aaron, and could have
forgiven many more. It pleased Him, however, to prevent the representative of the law
from crossing the Jordan, and we do well to learn both the personal lesson for ourselves,
and the doctrinal lesson for the church.
[NOTE * - Some texts read "ye", but we do not feel that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the
alteration. If "ye" had been originally written, who would want to alter it to the more difficult "we"?]