Denied Right of Ways

Numbers 20:14-29 

    14 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us, 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers. 16 When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ ”
    18 Then Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”  19 So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”  20 Then he said, “You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
    22 Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 23 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: 24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

Here we see two denied right of way incidents.  The first was Edom not allowing Israel to pass through their land despite nearing witness to God’s deliverance and the people’s hardships along the way to His promised land.  This old feud between the brothers Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom) over the despised and sold birthright and only partially-resolved relationship passed to their descendants.  The descendants of Israel were not allowed to go that way, and God then added to the dismay by pronouncing that Aaron would now be denied the right of way into that promised country by death due to rebellion and contention against God at the incident of Meribah.  Aaron handed over his priestly clothing and gave them to his son, then went up on the mountain and died.  Israel would journey on a different way as God led.  We see the consequences of sin as well as the sovereign direction of God here.  Similar incidents from Acts show the sin and consequences of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:3, 5, 9-10), as well as Paul being denied the right of way (Acts 16:6-7) to Asia.  There is grace and forgiveness for sin, but there are also consequences which may deny the right of way to us.