The wilderness generation is led to comdemnation because of their inability to see God’s grace given to them and their constant refutation of His will. They complain incessantly and do not listen to Moses. Their ungratefulness leads to their condemnation. Moses’ downfall is questioning God and trying to bargain with Him and getting caught up in the “red tape” of how society is structured. For example, God says He will destroy the people Moses led out of Egypt due to their unfaithfulness, and Moses counters by telling God why He shouldn’t do that, but instead should destroy the people not all at once. By doing this Moses is questioning God and telling Him how to act. Moses also becomes disheartened and asks God to end his life and duty to the Israelites, so in this way he is not being his brother’s keeper, so to speak.
I think the Pentateuch closes with the death of Moses outside of the Promised Land as a symbol that man lives by God’s will alone. Moses was God’s elect chosen to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, but Moses did not complete this task single-handedly. It was only through God that the Israelites were led to the Promised Land, and God completes this point by ending Moses’ journey before entrance into the Promised Land.
Joshua is like Moses in that he leads the Israelites and carries out God’s will to bring this group into the Promised Land. God also appears to Joshua, and much like Moses, tells him to remove his sandals because he stands on holy ground. Deuteronomy 34 prefaces the happenings in Joshua by saying that “Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him…” (34:9). This phrasing indicates that Joshua becomes wise as a successor of Moses only due to Moses’ blessing. God works through Moses and also through Joshua, but Deuteronomy 34:10 states that “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face….” This sets up our reading of Joshua by saying that while Joshua was very important and also leads the Israelites into the Promised Land, he is not on the same level as Moses, with whom God interacted with face-to-face.
Kelsey's Foundations of Theology Responses 
I really liked your analysis of why Moses was eventually “condemned.” It is interesting to think about how such a powerful and respected prophet still possesses the pitfall of human nature: such as doubt, fear, and hubris. To me, it is actually comforting to see Moses’ human, relatable side because it gives us hope that we too could become as close to God as Moses was.
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I like your use of the idea of “red tape” in this discussion. I also like how you pointed out Moses’ blessing of Joshua. I think sometimes the blessings from the Esau and Jacob story go over our heads. Blessings are essential to the line of salvation history.
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I like the connection between Joshua and Moses that you mentioned. I agree that they are different but it is interesting to see the meaning behind the blessing of Joshua.
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