A Stint of Pride(?): A Perspective.

It's here on Mount Hor, in Numbers 20:28, "Aaron died there on the top of the mountain". And in an other incident, Deuteronomy 34:5, "... Moses the servant of the Lord died there (Mount Nebo) in the land of Moab". Why did they die without entering the promised land? We all know the answer it's because of their "disobedience". Numbers 20:24 reads, "... because you both rebelled against my command at the Waters of Meribah". Is it just the disobedience or is there anything else that God was not satisfied with both of them?

Let's jump in and look at the contexts. We are going to look at two different incidents which we all well aware of: the first context is from Exodus 17:5-7; the second context is from Numbers 20:7-11. Of these two incidents one took place at Rephidim (Ex 17:1), and the other near Kadesh (Num:20:1). In both the incidents the people of Israel started complaining and quarreling with Moses and Aaron about no water for them and for the livestock as well (Ex 17:2; Num 20:3). In both the incidents Moses and Aaron did the miracle with the Staff that God used to part the Red Sea (Ex 17:5; Num 20:9). In both the incidents the people drank the water and were satisfied (Ex 17:6; Num 20:11). You might be thinking, why are we going through all this stuff when we already know that in former incident Moses and Aaron hit the rock as was commanded by the Lord (Ex:17:6); and in the later incident instead of speaking to the rock as commanded, they hit the rock twice (Num 20:11). Do you think the cause of disobedience made God angry at Moses and Aaron? Might be. But according to my perspective this is not just the only thing that made God angry at Moses and Aaron. There is still an other act by Moses and Aaron that made God angry.

Exodus 17:6 reads, "Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel". This shows that they were obedient towards God and His commandment. But in Numbers 20, rather than speaking to the rock as commanded, they hit the rock twice (Num:20:8,11). If we take this as disobedience, for which they faced the consequence, then we need to be more keen while reading (meditating) our Bible. There is a much more gravest thing that these two people committed. It's pride. God hates pride. "...I hate pride and arrogance, evil behaviour and perverse speech", Proverbs 8:13 and in Proverbs 16:18 we read, "Pride goes before destruction..". When we look into Numbers 20:10, "...Moses said to them, Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?" The pronoun "We", is the crux of the problem. In the former incident, Moses and Aaron did exactly as was commanded by the Lord and moreover they gave glory to the Lord which can be inferred in Ex 17:7 "..the Lord (is) among us..". But here even after the consultation and as adviced by the Lord, they did what they wanted to, and at the same time they tried to prove before the assembly that they were capable of bringing out the water from the rock rather than glorifying the Lord for His miracles all through their exodus. This is the gravest thing that should have been avoided. Is it an attempt of self-glorification? Is it a deliberate attempt or is it out of innocence? Does they gave a deaf ear to the God's commandment? Or is it just sheer negligence as they had to re-act the former situation which they already have dealt with? Whatever might be the reason, our "Lord will not share His glory with the others, nor will resist profanity" (Isaiah 48:11; 42:8).

In spite of continuous showing obedience towards God, a little disobedience made the greatest patriarchs Moses and Aaron pay their toil. The price was too high. Moses wanted to step into the promised land, but he had to satisfy himself by overseeing it from Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1-6). "Because you did not trust Me to demonstrate My Holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given to them" (Num 20:12). That's the resultant of pride. Pride stands one among the Seven Deadly Sins that God hates: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth (Laziness), Wrath, and Envy. At the end it's one's own personal choice to be humble and obedient or to be rebellious and arrogant.

*Art by Yossi Rosenstein.