Moses. The punishment.

My eyes were opened to an entirely new culture when I began Bible study groups.

I used to have no idea what was written within the pages of the Bible other than (what I thought at the time) was the fact that I was surely not going to Heaven.

Now I can attest to having actually been involved in conversations that included statements such as, "I can't believe Moses wasn't allowed into the Promised Land!" the same way I've heard, "How was he not a unanimous All-Pro selection?"

Well, tonight I actually read the final words God spoke through Moses with the conclusion he would not be entering the Promised Land.

How does this relate to my "Big Question"?

It poses the question of why God had to be so harsh and whether He is so harsh today. Moses was definitely a faithful servant. He led a bunch of whiners (aka common people) for 40 years. That would drive anyone crazy.

His mistake happened in the face of that craziness, in fact.

Moses had reached the end of his rope.

After the 5,000th ungrateful, whining statement by the Israelites, he snapped. God had told him to "speak to the rock" to bring forth water. Well, in the midst of his frustration, Moses hit that rock twice with the rod he carried.

God was not pleased. He condemned Moses to never entering the Promised Land he had been leading the Israelites to. But even though Moses wasn't to enter, he would continue leading. What the heck?

I can truly attest to losing my cool with my kids at least 5-10 times last week. If I were to be punished so harshly for that all the time, I wouldn't have much left.

So, it results in confusion for me.

My intellectual self looks at the situation and thinks, "Well, Moses was a man to whom much was given. Therefore, he is punished harshly. He didn't give God the glory - one of God's major pet peeves - which resulted in a harsh punishment. There."

My emotional self isn't quite sure what the think. There are so many layers to the Moses-God relationship that I wouldn't know where to begin in terms of analyzing it ... and there are so many unknowns.

But one thing I absolutely love about the Old Testament is the nuances that jump out when you really dig into it.

Looking at my intellectual analysis, Moses was, in fact, the greatest prophet who ever lived.

But even the greatest prophet who ever lived was told it wasn't his responsibility to judge and condemn others.

Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He took it upon himself to kill and hide the Egyptian - executing right and wrong at his own hand.

Ultimately, he was condemned for it and he had to flee.

This is specifically placed at the beginning of Moses' story. He wasn't to execute right and wrong at his own hand. Perhaps that's something that is steering so many people wrong in this day and age.

Those who are considered today's prophets are condemning others at their own hand. I think it's safe to say that us "common" people are like sheep when it comes to a lot of things. We are swept up by culture and many aren't paying a lot of focused attention on God.

As it pertains to my "Big Question", I am not going to say this passage speaks to anything other than those highly regarded by God not specifically condemning others.

I don't believe it is the job of anyone to declare someone unworthy of Heaven or God's love or anything of the like, but those in power have an even greater duty to abide by this.

While this fits into the puzzle of the answers I am seeking, I have to make sure I don't try to draw too much from a single excerpt.

For now, though, I will say that leaving condemnation to God is a must for Christ-followers. We can't allow ourselves to believe that it is our duty to punish anyone - that is God's job, and we must leave it to Him.