A common misinterpretation views God as unfairly punishing Moses for the Israelites' sins alone, portraying divine justice as arbitrary or holding leaders vicariously accountable without personal fault, which overlooks Moses' specific act of unbelief and dishonoring God by striking the rock (Numbers 20:12); another error applies it legalistically to suggest all leaders suffer for followers' failures regardless of context, ignoring the passage's purpose in Deuteronomy 4 as an exhortation to heed God's commands faithfully to possess the land, rather than a blanket rule on leadership accountability.
Deuteronomy 4:21
King James Version (1769)
21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
In this passage, Moses reminds the Israelites of God's righteous judgment against him due to their rebellion, particularly his own disobedience at Meribah where he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as commanded, resulting in his exclusion from the Promised Land despite the people's eventual inheritance; it underscores the seriousness of sin's consequences even for faithful leaders, God's unwavering faithfulness to His covenant promises to Israel, and the call to obedience to avoid similar judgments while entering the land God prepared for them.