Because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel — the reason for Moses' exclusion from the land is stated with the same spare language as in Numbers 20:12 and 27:14: breaking faith (ma'al) and failure to sanctify the LORD (lo-qiddashtuni) before the congregation at Meribah-kadesh. The Hebrew ma'al carries the sense of covenant treachery — a violation of trust within the covenant relationship — a remarkably strong word to use of the greatest prophet Israel ever knew. The phrase in the midst of the people of Israel appears twice, emphasizing that the failure was public: it was the communal nature of the event that made the stakes so high, since the holiness of God must be upheld before the entire covenant community. Moses dies knowing why — there is no ambiguity or arbitrary divine caprice — and the clarity of the reason is itself an act of divine faithfulness, even in judgment.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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