Moses Requests a Successor

The LORD sends Moses up the mountain to see the land and tells him he will then be gathered to his people, as Aaron was. His coming death is tied to the rebellion at the waters of Meribah.

T¹²hen the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites. ¹³After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was; ¹⁴for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.

Moses appeals to the God who gives life to all flesh to appoint a man over the congregation. He asks for a leader who can go before them and guide them, so Israel will not be left like sheep without a shepherd.

¹⁵So Moses appealed to the LORD, ¹⁶“May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation ¹⁷who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”