Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 3:23-29
Moses' Plea To Be Able To Enter The Land (Deuteronomy 3:23).
But one of the things that grieved Moses most was the fact that through his own sin of impatience, carelessness, petulance and uncontrolled anger in smiting the rock at Meribah when he had been told only to speak the powerful word of Yahweh, and as a result cloaking Yahweh's act of compassion and mercy in providing water in a garb of petulance and anger (Numbers 20:1), he was to be prevented from entering the land by death.
He and Aaron had come from the presence of Yahweh having successfully been promised His mercy. But instead of approaching the people with joy over God's provision, and rejoicing over His mercy, he and Aaron had been possessed by a spirit of animosity, anger, petulance and superiority, and even of arrogance, at a time when Yahweh was seeking to reveal love and compassion. They had given the people the impression that he and Aaron were the ones who were in control, and who were dispensing the gift, and not Yahweh, and that Yahweh was reluctant to offer His mercy. They had besmirched the holiness of God (see Deuteronomy 32:51). It was a sign that they had grown too big for their own positions. They had become too important in their own eyes. No longer was Moses meeker than any other man on earth (Numbers 12:3). No longer did he fully represent Yahweh before the people. And God had clearly recognised that this was a permanent defect which now rendered them unsuitable for the next stage in His great deliverance. They would need to be replaced by those who were more submissive, and more obedient. It proved that no one is indispensable.
Those who are appointed to the highest positions in His service should ever be aware that they have the greatest responsibility. They must never treat God's work as though it were their own. And that is what Moses had done. Great privilege requires great responsibility. And Moses was now reaping the consequences of irresponsibility. He explains how he had sought to reverse God's sentence, only to be told that it could not be.
We may analyse this passage as follows:
a Moses besought Yahweh ‘at that time' (Deuteronomy 3:23).
b He declared how Yahweh had begun to show him His greatness and ability to do what He would (Deuteronomy 3:24).
c He pleaded with Yahweh that he might go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:25).
d But Yahweh was angry with Moses for their sakes and would not listen (Deuteronomy 3:26 a).
d He said, Speak no more to Me of this matter' (Deuteronomy 3:26 b).
c Yahweh commanded Moses to climb to the top of The Pisgah so that he may see the land in all directions, but he would not be allowed to cross the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:27).
b Instead he was to charge Joshua and encourage and strengthen him with his vision of Yahweh for he would go over and cause the people to inherit the land which Moses would see from afar (Deuteronomy 3:28).
a So they remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor (Deuteronomy 3:29).
‘ And I sought the mercy of Yahweh at that time, saying,'
He explains how he had come to Yahweh to plead for mercy and a reversal of the sentence. ‘At that time' may indicate the same time as he had given his charge to the two and a half tribes about their necessary cooperation in possessing the land, compare ‘at that time' in verse 18. The one having brought the other to mind. But it probably rather means simply at the time when he did it, whenever that was.
“ O Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand, for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts? Let me go over, I pray you, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.”
Indeed, he had humbly approached Yahweh exulting in what God was doing, in the greatness that He was revealing, and the strong hand that He was laying bare, demonstrating His superiority and that there was none like Him. There was none on heaven or earth, no spiritual being of any kind, who could do what He could do, and reveal the power that He would reveal (compare Exodus 15:11). And he had declared his desire to be a part of it.
He had pleaded that he might be allowed to cross the Jordan and see the ‘good land' for himself, the goodly hill country and that which was beyond.
“O Lord Yahweh.” He had come in submissiveness recognising God's sovereignty and great power. See Deuteronomy 9:26; Genesis 15:2; Genesis 15:8.
“That goodly mountain.” The central part of Canaan consisted of the great mountain range that stretched from Galilee down to the Negeb.
“Lebanon.” This indicates the remainder of Canaan stretching northwards. Lebanon, like Gilead, can, depending on usage, indicate a particular part of northern Canaan which includes the valley of Lebanon, or a larger area going northwards, or the land to the north of Canaan. We must not assume that all geographical terms were too precise in those days.
“ But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and did not listen to me. And Yahweh said to me, “Let it be sufficient for you. Do not speak to me about this matter any more. Get yourself up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.”
But Yahweh had firmly refused. He had been ‘angry' with Moses, that is an anthropomorphism indicating that He looked on His sin and had a righteous aversion to it. We are probably to see in this that by his action at Meribah Moses was seen as having identified himself with the people in rebellion against Yahweh to such an extent that he had therefore to suffer the same fate if Yahweh was to be just. Yahweh could not judge them and yet let Moses be spared. That would indicate favouritism. Thus Yahweh could not listen to his plea. As far as He was concerned the matter was settled. However He showed His compassion by being prepared to let him see for himself the land for which he had sacrificed so much. He was to go to the top of Pisgah from where he would see it stretching before him. Thus having had a foretaste of the deliverance in the defeat of Sihon and Og, and the taking over of their land, He was to be allowed to see the full land that was to be Israel's.
Various views are taken of what ‘the Pisgah' (always with the article) represents, varying from ‘the Pisgah' as the height above the precipitous slope going down into the Jordan valley, or the ridge at the top of a mountain, to ‘the Pisgah' as a range of mountains which included Mount Nebo.
Paradoxically Moses probably intended this refusal to allow him to enter the land, while allowing him to see it from afar, to be seen as a further guarantee that the land would be given to Israel as a possession. His alone being forbidden indicating that those who were not forbidden would enter it.
“ But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will go over before this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”
However, although he was not to be allowed to enter the land himself, he had still been given a great responsibility. He had been told to charge Joshua with his responsibility, encouraging and strengthening him for the task ahead. For he was the one who would now go over before the people in Moses' place, and it was he who would cause them to inherit the land which Moses would see from the Pisgah.
‘ So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.'
At this point then they remained for a time in the valley over against Beth-peor.
Thus Israel were in many ways given the firm assurance that the land of Canaan would soon be their possession. This had been confirmed by reference to:
1) Three related nations, Edom, Moab, and Ammon, who had already been given land by Yahweh for the sake of their forefathers and had possessed it by defeating Anakim (Deuteronomy 2:4).
2) The land that they now already possessed which had previously belonged to Amorites, the peoples who had previously driven Israel back and from whom they had to seize the land (Deuteronomy 2:24 to Deuteronomy 3:17).
3) The rallying of the troops of the two and a half tribes who were to go over with the invaders, with the promise that they would return when the task was completed (Deuteronomy 3:18).
4) The command to Joshua and the people to go forward without fear because Yahweh fought with them (Deuteronomy 3:21).
5) Moses being granted the right to see the land from afar as an earnest of what was to come (Deuteronomy 3:23).
6) The fact that they had as their leader Joshua to whom the promise was given that he would possess the land (Deuteronomy 3:28). All the signs were good.