Numbers 20 - The Death of Aaron and Miriam

Numbers 20 relays the deaths of Moses's siblings, Aaron and Miriam. And it seemed to me that this chapter begins to set the tone for the shift in narrative that is approaching. After years and years of sojourning through the barren desert, enduring the people's seditions and murmurings, Moses and all the children of Israel reach the outskirts of the Promised Land. It is very obvious to the reader that there is only one thing that can happen next -- the entering of this Holy Land by God's chosen people. Yet, I've always found it fascinating that God did not intend for Moses to enter this Land himself. Moses, a figure unlike one the world had ever seen, had been doing God's work for quite some time; he had assisted in God's plan to free the Israelites from the bonds of Egypt; he had worked miracles in the desert in order to convince the multitude of God's divine plan; he established the Law that would change the world. And yet he was not admitted entrance to God's Promised Land. And neither were his siblings, Aaron and Miriam.

I think what's so fascinating about this is the symbolism. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam represent, clearly, the Law, the priests, and the prophets of the Old Testament. These things could get the people only so far. They could not, of themselves, open the gates of the true Promised Land.... heaven. Only one person could do that -- Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Old Law and all its accouterments was meant only to bring the people to the brink of the Promised Land, and the New Law, i.e., Jesus Christ, was meant to spiritually and physically lead us into the Promised Land in full glory. The symbolism is immense, especially when one considers the fact that Joshua, the illustrious figure who would physically lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land, is a symbol of Christ. Therefore, we begin to see this immense symbolism play out with the deaths of Aaron and Miriam in Numbers 20. Moses's siblings, though noble and virtuous, cannot enter the Promised Land. They will have to join their deceased brethren and await the coming of Christ from a place not of this world.