Sometimes LIFE just says, "No."
In Numbers 20 things don't go much better from Moses' failure to the next scene. Miriam dies in verse 1, Moses fails to honor God and loses out on the Promised Land and now another setback looms on the horizon. Moses has to lead the people of Israel through the territory of Edom. These are the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. Most are familiar with the heated nature of that relationship but also how the two brothers resolved their differences in the end. Moses knows well this tenuous relationship and acts incredibly diplomatic sending a nicely worded transcription to Edom's leaders. Numbers 20:14–17 (ESV) Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the Lord , he heard our voice and sent an angel and brough...