Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20020717.htm

DEUTERONOMY: GETTING OTHERS TO BE VICTORS, NOT CASUALTIES
Part III: Teaching Others Not To Fail Where We Have Failed The Lord
(Deuteronomy 3:12-29)
  1. Introduction
    1. Parents, teachers, adults, church leaders, business overseers are all examples for better or for worse!
    2. As Christians who have made mistakes that we hope subordinates will not emulate, we may wonder how to teach subordinates NOT to follow our BAD choices.
    3. Moses exampled for us how to teach others not to fail where HE HIMSELF failed the Lord as follows:
  2. Teaching Others Not To Fail Where We Have Failed The Lord, Deuteronomy 3:12-29.
    1. Moses had failed the Lord by elevating himself (with Aaron) before the people at the cost of God's glory:
      1. Back in Numbers 20:1-13, Moses had become frustrated with the repeated complaining of the people of Israel, and so let his anger get the best of him. In the heat of the moment, he said he always had to provide for the people, and struck the rock to yield the water against God's call to speak to it, 20:7-11.
      2. Well, in reporting he always had to acquire their livelihood needs, Moses incorrectly glorified himself instead of the Lord, Israel's True Provider, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Numbers 20:8.
    2. Accordingly, God judged Moses and Aaron who had joined him in this sin not to bring the nation of Israel into the Promised Land, Numbers 20:12.
    3. Later, when Moses gave his address to Israel which comprises the book of Deuteronomy, he recounted the event in a way that would DISCOURAGE his listeners from failing as he had, Deuteronomy 3:12-29:
      1. In recounting to the people their journey from Egypt to the current position of preparing to enter the land, Moses recalled the time the 2 transjordan tribes requested and gained their inheritances:
        1. Moses told how he had given the transjordan lands to the 2 tribe, Deuteronomy 3:12-17.
        2. He recounted how he had told these tribes their inheritance was conditioned upon their fighting men entering the land to conquer the Promised Land along with their brethen, Deuteronomy 3:18-20.
        3. Moses then had charged Joshua to trust the Lord's help in conquering the land based upon God's precedence of helping Israel defeat Og, king of Bashan and Sihon king of Heshbon, Deut. 3:21-22.
      2. At that time, apparently longing to have his own wishes come true as had the 2 tribes, Moses reported begging the Lord to change His stance on not allowing him to enter the Promised Land in keeping with the desires of the 2 transjordan tribes, Deuteronomy 3:23-25:
        1. In the process of seeing the 2 tribes ask and receive from the Lord their desired lands, and in the process of encouraging Joshua to take the land, Moses apparently felt strongly the desire to ask God for his own entrance into the Promised Land that he greatly desired to enter, Deut. 3:23 & context.
        2. Accordingly, he sought to counter his past, sinful failure of taking God's glory to himself by couching his request for God to let him enter Canaan in exalting GOD'S greatness, Deut. 3:24.
        3. Then, Moses made his request not to inherit, but just to enter the Promised Land, Deut. 3:25.
      3. However, as Moses informed Israel, God would not let Moses even enter the land to see it from there, but told him no longer to mention his request to enter the land; all Moses could do was view the land from the transjordan hills and prepare Joshua to lead the people into it in his place, Deut. 3:26-29.
      4. Accordingly, Moses publicly shared his private grief in NOT being able to enter the land for his failure as a device to MOTIVATE the people of Israel not to fail the Lord as he had!
    4. [Graciously, God placed Moses in the Land in his post-death, glorified state at the transfiguration of Jesus, revealing the ultimate conquest of guilt for the glorified believer, cf. Matt. 17:1-3. But even there, when Peter errantly suggested three tabernacles be built to honor Moses and Elijah when only Christ as God deserved such glory, an error recalling Moses' prideful sin that kept him out of the Land, the Father interrupted Peter to honor only His Son, Matthew 17:4-5!]
Lesson: Moses was able to dissuade his hearers from failing God the way HE had by reporting the PERSONAL COST he had paid in FAILING the Lord to MOTIVATE them to AVOID his failure.

Application: We can dissuade subordinates from heeding our FAILURES by telling them the COST of those failures! That can MOTIVATE them to learn from OUR failures what NOT to do for blessing!