Moses, famously known for the miracles God did through him in the Old Testament, was the man tasked to lead Israel out of Egypt where they were held in slavery. Although he did lead Israel into the wilderness, God did not permit him to enter the Promised Land. Why is this?
It's because he did not hallow the LORD.
Just that reason?
In Numbers 20:7-12 we read God's instruction to Moses, who came to Him in behalf of His people who are complaining about their provisions:
"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.
"And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
"Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.""
Webster's dictionary defines "hallow" as "to reverence" or "to honor as sacred." Moses failed to honor God in front of the people by not "believing" in God, or taking Him at His word. For this reason, God did not allow him to enter the Promised Land.
Seriously?
Well, some will consider God very strict. The truth is, we should all be hallowing Him. He is God, and we are but man. What He says, we believe. Regardless of who we are and what we do, whether we pastor a large congregation or simply sit in the pews on Sundays, God is still God.
Moses' very act showed utter disrespect for God. For us to understand this, we have to take into account another scenario that happened previously. In Exodus 17:1-7, we read a time when Israel complained (pretty good complainers, ey?) about their lack of water. At the time, God told Moses to strike the rock in order for it to release water.
In Numbers 20, however, God's command to Moses was to merely speak. In Moses' anger, however, he repeated what he did a time ago according to Exodus 17, striking the rock.
Water did come out from the rock the second time such an incident happened, but Moses disrespected God before it happened. Moses failed to honor God's command and displayed irreverent attitude and behavior that displeases Him, something that He doesn't want.
What it means for us
Many people today do not understand what it means to honor God. Some people say doing something "in the name of the Lord" is good, even though what is done is not exactly what God wanted in the first place.
We do this thing, thinking it will please God, but we are mistaken. Not everything we do "in the name of Jesus" is pleasing to Him. God is holy, and we must revere Him.
God wants men to hallow Him (see Exodus 20:3; Matthew 6:9). Moses' act would pass on a wrong attitude to the next generation of Israelite leaders and men of God: that they could not hallow Him. This is wrong.
We must all learn to hallow God, to reverence and honor Him as God. While He is loving and gracious to us, we must never forget His holiness.
