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Deuteronomy 3:23-29 – Praying through the Bible #56 – A Prayer for a Second Chance
God cannot be put into a box, although we try. “God is only,” “God will always,” “God would never” is too limiting except when affirming God’s holiness (Heb 6.18) which includes punishing sin. Even “God is love” is not “God is only love” or “God is always love.” That last statement is troublesome. Troublesome statements make us think. While God never stops loving, His other attributes can also be His ruling reasons. God does not always punish out of love (Nm 14) although sometimes He does (Heb 12.6). We box God in out of good intentions and ignorance, from selfishness and human limitations. We box in needing to know why, because boxes are safe.
I comfortingly teach, “God is a God of second chances.” Such is true, but not always. Moses finds sometimes “no” is not “maybe later.” Moses prays for a 2nd chance after failing to prove God is holy and trusting Him (Nm 20.12). God’s servant begs, praising Yahweh’s “greatness and power,” even affirms, “for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can perform deed and mighty acts like Yours?” (Dt 3.23-27). Because God is holy, He is not buttered up by praise. This time God is a God of Consequences.
When thinking life is not fair, even wondering if God is fair, our mind asks why. We want boxes. Why is Moses punished so severely, but Israel is not? It’s not our place to question God; yet there is a difference between asking God a question, versus questioning God (Lk 1.18-20; 34-38).
Unable to definitively say why doesn’t stop us from wondering. One, God expects higher standards for leaders. “Judaism teaches that the greater the man the stricter the standard by which he is judged, and, if he does not measure up, the greater will be his guilt and punishment.” (The Torah, A Modern Commentary). Jesus’ brother teaches the same (Jms 3.1). Two, it is with Biblical precedent Moses suffers in Israel’s place, typical of Christ. “But the LORD was angry with me on your account” (Dt 3.26 NASB). This could simply mean God was angry at Moses for his reactions; but scripture also says, “They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account (Ps 106:32 NASB). After disciplining Moses, God, “proved Himself holy among them” (Nm 20:13 NASB). Ultimately, we see this substitution in Christ (Rom 3.21-26). Considering Moses acts as Israel’s mediator, this is not improbable. Three, in our limited understanding of fairness, we are looking at this too softly, too humanly. Instead of wondering why God doesn’t show grace, we should be awed knowing God doesn’t always punish sin directly and immediately only because there is the cross. One commonality exists among all three of these: Accountability. That is one box we don’t like to put ourselves in.
Prayer Challenge: All of us are leaders, whether in church, of little ones, in families, or to the world. Pray to accept accountability. Pray our questions never question God.
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