Question for christians: Why does god refuse to let Moses and Aaron into the land he promised to the descendants of Abraham and Isaac? [Spirituality & Religion]

In Numbers we see that the people are thirsty and god tells Moses to speak some water out of a stone for them.
Moses gathers the people and strikes the stone with his staff and water gushes forth.

God calls this rebellion and says Moses and Aaron will never enter the promised land.

But then in Deuteronomy, Moses says that god was angry with him because of the actions of the isrealites and that's why he was not allowed in.

So what's the deal? Is it because the isrealites lost faith that god punished Moses? Or is it really an inexcusable act of rebellion to produce water from a stone by hitting it instead of speaking to it?

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

LeopoldBloom · M

In Howard Fast's monumental study [i]The Jews - History of a People[/i], he describes an ancient tribe, the Habiru, who lived in the desert between Egypt and the city-states to the east. Their mythology eventually included a period of wandering followed by their conquering the land their deity had promised them, from which their ancestors had come. It's not that different from the legends of the Kiowa and their journey from Montana to the Great Plains, which happened in comparatively recent times.

Obviously, water would have been important for a desert people, so blaming the long period of wandering on a mythical leader offending a deity wasn't that far-fetched.