Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

power was within themselves. Moses had lost sight of his Almighty
Helper, and left to himself, had marred his record by human
weakness. The man who might have stood firm and unselfish to the
close of his work had been overcome at last.
This time God did not pronounce judgments on those who had
so provoked Moses and Aaron--all the reproof fell on the leaders.
Moses and Aaron had felt that the wrong was against them, losing
sight of the fact that the complaining was not against them but
against God. Looking to themselves, they unconsciously fell into
sin, and failed to lead the people to see their guilt before God.
"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.'" They must die before the crossing of the Jordan.
They had not sinned willfully or deliberately--they had been
overcome by a sudden temptation, and their repentance was
immediate and heartfelt. The Lord accepted their repentance, but
because of the harm their sin might do among the people, He could
not cancel its punishment.
Moses told the people that because he had failed to give the
glory to God, he could not lead them into the Promised Land. He
asked them to notice the severe punishment given to him, and then
consider how God must regard their complaints in blaming a mere
man for the judgments that they had brought on themselves. He told
them how he had pleaded with God to cancel the sentence and had
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