“And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.”
One of my biggest beefs with God is the fact that Moses never made it into the Promised Land. If you are not familiar with the story, you can find it in Numbers 20. On a few occasions during the Israelites’ journey through the desert, the people had no water and God told Moses to hit a rock to obtain water. Moses would hit the rock with his special staff and water would flow from the rock. In Numbers 20, God tells Moses to speak to the rock instead. In front of all the people in quite a display, Moses struck the rock. Water still came gushing out, but God was not pleased. Moses’ act was one of distrust — he did what was safe and familiar instead of listening to exactly what God said. As today’s passage says, Moses was not able to enter God’s rest because he had unbelief.
Does the punishment fit the crime? Moses had led the people through the desert for 40 years and had obeyed God so much, yet he misses out on the Promised Land after all that? To me that has always felt harsh, but I trust in the goodness of God and he certainly has a better sense of justice than I do. Ultimately, God doesn’t weigh our good versus bad and see if we come out on top. Distrust and disobedience always carry us farther from God and prevent us from entering true rest with him.
The Christian life is a radical one. This entire chapter is a warning about what happens when we fall away from God. Plenty of people start the spiritual journey in a sprint, but they don’t make it the distance. What’s going to get you through all of life’s challenges? What is going to hold you firm in trusting God no matter what your circumstances tell you? Faith. Unswerving, unshakable faith in the goodness of God. Hold tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.