In Deuteronomy, chapter three, verse twenty-five, Moses seriously disobeyed God and was told he would not be allowed to enter Canaan because of how he went about the command in Numbers twenty, verses eight through twelve. Yet he pleaded with God to change His mind and allow him to cross the Jordan river and enter the promised land. God refuses Moses to continue with the Israelites in verse twenty-six of that same chapter to teach that sin by a spiritual leader has grave consequences and will incur a stricter judgment.
Spiritual leaders of God’s people can disqualify themselves from areas of ministry if they seriously fail to be examples of obedience. The situation seems unfair because Moses was a servant of God, following the instructions until now. So what happened as to why Moses did not carry out the commandment of the Lord properly? The pressure of the people and their reaction to follow coupled with their ungodly ways. The Israelites kept complaining about every little problem they encountered along the journey, and it was getting to Moses.
In verse twenty-four, Moses was praying to God, pointing out the great demonstration beginning to emerge on their journey to the promised land. Commenting about no other god can do what the Lord has done, complimenting to such an extent only to pardon himself as a leader to continue with the people of Israel. However, Moses still received the same answer because the Lord was angry that He would not listen during the time of the command. Moses said to the Israelites that the Lord was angry with Him because of them. The constant murmuring by the Israelites prompted Moses to fail God in a situation that mattered the most. The same people he set out on this journey from Egypt, where they experienced the hand of God in their midst time and time again, failed Moses, who let down God for him not to go over.
Today, we have believers in the same position as others in our society. Followers of God daily attempt to uphold God’s Word by living in righteousness and simultaneously experiencing the pressure of the ungodly with their responsibilities to fulfill. Each day believers should ask the Lord before they start the day for strength to overcome adversity and not succumb to such pressure that would cause them to disobey God.