Overall Question: What was the sin of Moses and Aaron? How did it affect themselves and others?

Memory Text: Deuteronomy 3:27 KJV “Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold [it] with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.”
Ellen G. White, Ministry of Health, p. 508 – “Before he laid down, with his life, his burden for Israel, God called him to the top of Pisgah and spread out before him the glory of the Promised Land.”

Sunday – When Giants Fall
Numbers 20:1-13 NIV “1 ¶ In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! 4 Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!" 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink." 9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them." 13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
Numbers 20:8 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN Take the rod--which had been deposited in the tabernacle (Nu 17:10), the wonder-working rod by which so many miracles had been performed, sometimes called "the rod of God" (Ex 4:20), sometimes Moses' (Nu 20:11) or Aaron's rod (Ex 7:12).
Numbers 20:11 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY Part of the sin of Moses lay in the double striking of the rock, for God had not told him to strike it. In addition, Moses forgot the patience of God in His dealings with the people, which should have been reflected in his own attitude and demeanor. He spoke and acted as if the murmurings were against himself…God met the situation with an abundant supply of water, in spite of the attitude of Moses and Aaron.

Monday – Death of Aaron
Numbers 20:23-29 NRSV “23 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24 "Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up Mount Hor; 26 strip Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar. But Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there." 27 Moses did as the LORD had commanded; they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation. 28 Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.”
James 4:13-15 20th Century NT “13 Listen to me, you who say ‘To-day or to-morrow we will go to such and such a town, spend a year there, and trade, and make money,’ 14 And yet you do not know what your life will be like to-morrow! For you are but a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing. 15 You ought, rather, to say ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’”

Tuesday – The Sin of Ingratitude
Numbers 21:1-5 KJ21 “1 ¶ And when King Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. 2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, "If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." 3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And he called the name of the place Hormah [that is, Utter Destruction]. 4 ¶ And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."”

Wednesday – The Fiery Serpents
Numbers 21:5-9 Holman “5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. 7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so that He will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake /image/ and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.”
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 428 – “Every day of their travels they had been kept by a miracle of divine mercy. In all the way of God’s leading they had found water to refresh the thirsty, bread from heaven to satisfy their hunger, and peace and safety under the shadowy cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Angels had ministered to them as they climbed the rocky heights or threaded the rugged paths of the wilderness. Notwithstanding the hardships they had endured, there was not a feeble one in all their ranks. Their feet had not swollen in their long journeys, neither had their clothes grown old. God had subdued before them the fierce beasts of prey and the venomous reptiles of the forest and the desert. If with all these tokens of His love the people still continued to complain, the Lord would withdraw His protection until they should be led to appreciate His merciful care, and return to Him with repentance and humiliation.”
Numbers 21:9 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY The people knew that the serpent was a symbol of the coming Saviour. They also realized that it was not sufficient simply to look at the serpent, but that the looking must be accompanied by faith, since there was no healing in the serpent itself. It was possible to gaze at the image without being healed, if there was no exercise of faith in God as the divine Healer.
John 3:14-15 ESV “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Thursday – Early Conquests
Numbers 21:10-33 God’s Word to the Nations “10 ¶ The Israelites moved and set up camp at Oboth. 11 Next they moved from Oboth and set up camp at Iye Abarim in the desert west of Moab. 12 From there they moved and set up camp at the Zered River. 13 They moved from there and set up camp on the other side of the Arnon Valley in the desert that extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon Valley is the border between Moab and the Amorites.) 14 This is how it’s described in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: "…Waheb in Suphah and the valleys, 15 Arnon and the slopes of the valleys that go down to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab…" 16 From there they went to Beer [Well]. This is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people, and I will give them water." 17 Then Israel sang this song about the well: "Make your water spring up! Sing to the well, 18 the well dug by princes, dug out by the nobles of the people with their scepters and staffs." From the desert they went to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where Mount Pisgah overlooks Jeshimon. 21 ¶ Then Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon of the Amorites, 22 "Let us go through your country. We won’t go through any of your fields or vineyards or drink any of the water from your wells. We’ll stay on the king’s highway until we’ve passed through your territory." 23 Sihon wouldn’t let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his troops and came out into the desert to attack Israel. When Sihon’s troops came to Jahaz, they fought against Israel. 24 But Israel defeated them in battle and took possession of their land from the Arnon Valley to the Jabbok River. They stopped at the border of the Ammon because it was fortified. 25 Israel took all those Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages, and lived in them. 26 Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had fought the former king of Moab and had taken all his land up to the Arnon Valley. 27 This is why the poets say: "Come to Heshbon! Rebuild it! Restore Sihon’s city! 28 Fire came out of Heshbon, flames from Sihon’s city. They destroyed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s worship sites. 29 How horrible it is for you, Moab! You are destroyed, you people of the god Chemosh. Chemosh let his sons become refugees and he let his daughters become prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. 30 But we shot the Amorites full of arrows. From Heshbon to Dibon they all died. We destroyed everyone and everything between Nophah and Medeba." 31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its cities and villages and forced out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and followed the road that goes to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his troops came out to fight the Israelites at Edrei.”
Numbers 21:10-20 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY We have here the removes of the children of Israel, till they came to the plains of Moab, from whence they passed over Jordan into Canaan. The end of their pilgrimage was near. "They set forward." It were well if we did thus; and the nearer we come to heaven, were so much the more active and abundant in the work of the Lord. The wonderful success God granted to his people, is here spoken of… In every stage of our lives, nay, in every step, we should notice what God has wrought for us; what he did at such a time, and what in such a place, ought to be distinctly remembered. God blessed his people with a supply of water. When we come to heaven, we shall remove to the well of life, the fountain of living waters. They received it with joy and thankfulness, which made the mercy doubly sweet…God's favours must be expected in the use of such means as are within our power, but still the power is only of God.

I have thought a lot on how serious this sin must have been, as the punishment was very serious also. Moses had suffered so long with that people...

Agreed - just think of putting up with a million or so people in rebellion!

How many SDAs are there?

About 16 million at least on the books.

"The great sin of Israel was their jealousy that God meant them harm; that he was restricting their liberty, and surrounding them with denials and severities". It is mistake to entertain the thought that God is pleased to see his children suffer. All Heaven is interested in the happiness of man. It is in the path that leads away from God to darkness and death that there are pains and griefs, disappointments and sorrows. These are placed by the hand of Infinite Love to warn man not to go on in disobedience and destroy themselves." Signs of the Times, Oct 21,1880

Isn't that some thought about what was happening in Israel? ... and then they were finally overwhelmed with the sin of ingratitude.

Just a point of view regarding this weeks question.

The sin of Moses was far more than hurt feelings, I think.
1. He took away glory from God'
2. He rebelled against God's command.
3. The people could now find pretext for rejecting all the reproofs that God had sent
them through His servant.
4. It gave the people a chance to excuse their own sin.
5. The people now had opportunity to question Moses' past course as having been under
the direction of God.
6. Moses was angry (as God had been sometimes), but he lost self-control.
7. Moses did indeed speak with irritated feeling.
8. God really does ask for unmitigated obedience - and Moses was disobedient.

This is not to say, that I could do one wit better!

Happy Sabbath everyone!

And none of us will do any better than Moses. It shows that we are all sinners even the leaders of our church. But praise God for his Grace and the cover of His Robe each time we sin. Yes, we may have to suffer on this earth for our sins. But we will live in eternity and say that it was all worth the price.