A leader, parent, or teacher knows the importance of discipline in helping someone grow. But the effectiveness of the discipline depends on how the person responds to it. Today's passage explores two responses to God's discipline. First, when the people of Israel ″rebelled″ against God's command to go north and conquer the land (Deuteronomy 1:26), God disciplined them by forfeiting their privilege of entering the land. In response, the Israelites accepted that they ″sinned″. But then they ″rebelled″ against God's discipline, which prohibited them from travelling north (vv. 41-43). In defiance of God, they went to war and were badly defeated (v. 44).

Confessing sin and receiving forgiveness might not necessarily heal the weakness that caused the sin in the first place. God needed to discipline the people to address the root issue of their sin. This is not always easy to stomach. Consider this scenario: a worship team member was discovered to be rude and insulting to her husband. To help her learn to control her tongue, her team leader decided to discipline her by stopping her from being on the platform for a few months. What if another church found this out and invited her to join their worship team? If she accepted, her chance of healing her weakness would be jeopardised.

Second, Moses was disciplined for reacting excessively when the people grumbled about being thirsty at Meribah (v. 37). God asked him to speak to the rock, but he spoke rash words and hit the rock (v. 37; see also Numbers 20:8-13; Psalm 106:32-33). As a result, God prohibited him from leading the people to the land beyond the Jordan River. And Moses humbly accepted the discipline, and mentioned it several times in Deuteronomy as a warning to the people.

The punishment given to Moses seems to be severe considering that he had been a faithful leader for a long time. I believe the reason for this is that leaders are supposed to be examples, and therefore they are judged more severely than others.

It is so important for leaders to exercise control in their responses to the sins of those they lead! Their credibility can be ruined by sudden outbursts of anger. It is for good reason that Paul's list of qualifications for leadership includes being ″self-controlled″ (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8) and ″not quick-tempered″ (Titus 1:7).

It is worth noting that Caleb, the spy who gave a minority report and urged the people to conquer the land, was spared from the Lord's discipline. He was different from the others ″because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly″ (Deuteronomy 1:36; see also Numbers 14:24 and Joshua 14:14). This description of Caleb can literally be translated as ″he completely filled himself after the Lord″. Caleb was so saturated with God that he was able to obey God fully. As a result, unlike the men of his generation, he had the privilege of seeing the promised land (Deuteronomy 1:35-36).