Moses' Rocks - Trust And Obey

God's people need to do things God's way for his glory.

Numbers 20:1-5 In the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. While they were there, Miriam died and was buried.

2 There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people blamed Moses and said, "If only we had died in the LORD's presence with our brothers! 

4 Why have you brought the congregation of the LORD's people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!"

Every since God redeemed his people from the kingdom of darkness they have refused to react to difficult situations with any degree of faith in him. You can't help seeing the evidence of God's love and his power long before their dramatic exit from Egypt and then again when God showed up for his people again right after that with the miraculous Red Sea crossing. (Exodus 14:31)

Seems like God's people would respond better after all of that but the display of God's love and his power to save didn't keep his people from doubting him. You can see how fickle they are by noticing the scripture address for each of these events, it is one verse or one chapter right after the other., God's people quickly went from singing his praises (Exodus 15:1-21) to grumbling about Moses leadership and the lack of food and water. (Exodus 15:24, 16:1-3)

God was testing their faithfulness to him, all they had to do is:

1. "Listen to the voice of the Lord and do what is right" (Exodus 15:25-26) 
2. "Follow my instructions." about the food that God rained down. (Exodus 16:4)

God told them that he was testing them and he told them what they needed to do to pass the test. Sounds very fair, shouldn't be too difficult to pass. But while they were being tested by God, as Moses put it, they were also testing God. (Exodus 17:2) After all of the works of God that his people have seen on their behalf they still didn't get it. 

Fifteen months later when they safely reached the edge of the Promised Land, they still didn't trust and obey, that's why they are on a 40 year trip extension. If they had moved into their new land they wouldn't be here complaining about the lack of water.

God's people failed the test

1. They are still blaming Moses for doing all of this to them.
2. They wish that they had died along with their rebellious relatives that God already killed. 
3. They wish they had stayed in Egypt. 

Instead of remembering how bad it was at the end of their stay, they seem to be recalling the good old days when they first got to Egypt. These people are probably not old enough to remember the day when the Egyptians treated them good.

Moses and Aaron responded well to the complaints of the people, they went to the Tabernacle and God showed up and tells them how to provide water. Moses and Aaron didn’t try to solve the problem on their own or argue with the complainers. Instead, they went to the Tabernacle, sought God’s presence, and received divine guidance. So far, so good, but wait.

Numbers 20:10-11 Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. "Listen, you rebels!" he shouted. "Must we bring you water from this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

Moses didn't respond well to God's instructions, the great way that Moses reacted to the people didn't last for long. Moses didn't follow the details of God's instructions, he has made water before, it involved a rock but the details were more important than he thought. In order to get God's blessing you need to do things they way he tells you.

Moses seems to be frustrated with the people he was called to lead, he seems to lose his composure and lashes out at the rock instead of simply speaking to it. To make it worse it seems like Moses is taking credit for providing the water instead of giving God the glory. 

You see, it isn't just the nation that struggled, the leaders of God's people have their own fears, doubts and frustrations with God and with his people. God has dealt with Moses as he has with the rest of the nation, with patience and grace, but this time Moses will have to face serious consequences.

God's leaders fail the test

After everything that Moses has been through with these people it seems harsh to us that God tells Moses that he will not lead Israel into the Promised Land. The next time they reach the border Moses would get a preview but he will not get to enter.

We want to defend Moses and tell God that it isn't fair to treat him so severe, that's a natural reaction that comes from our own experience with God, we all know that we have been worse than Moses and we got away with it. We know that there are plenty of times when God didn't give us what we deserved.

When Moses failed earlier in life God gave him grace but as Moses grew in his faith God's expectation that he would grow in faith and obedience. 

Numbers 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!"

God requires the leaders of his people to be held to a higher standard and they often experience greater consequences that are a lot more severe. (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9, James 3:1)

A leaders faith and failures affects other people, when their faith is strong it is a blessing to those under them but the opposite is also true. When they fail they can ruin their own lives and the lives of the people they are supposed to influence for good.

If you think about it, the severity of God's punishment to Moses and Aaron in this situation is similar to the punishment when God's people refused to trust and obey and enter the Promised Land.

The death penalty is the result in both the failure of God's people and the failure of their leaders. The people that voted to not go into the promised land died as a result of wandering in the wilderness and the leaders that failed also died in the wilderness because they didn't trust God.

Just before God allows the next generation to enter the Promised, Moses warns them that they must choose for themselves, he reminds them that trusting and obeying are often linked to God's blessings. (Deuteronomy 28:1-68)

I need to see the ugliness of my sin in light of God's holiness, I need to remember that living in grace is not a license to sin, I will not have prosperity, peace, and divine favor if I live like the world. (Psalm 1:1-3, John 15:10-11)

I need to be careful to trust and obey in times of prosperity and also when I am walking through the wilderness, especially as a leader in the church. As a child of God, my story should bring glory to him, without shame.

I need to give God the glory for the great things he has done. (Deuteronomy 8:17)

RELATED ARTICLES

Broken Leadership (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Timeline - Israel In The Wilderness (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

God Does It And I Should Too

Slow to anger, quick to forgive

Psalm 30:5 For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Psalms 103:8-10 The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

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My God is an emotional being and one of those emotions is anger, God has been wronged more than any of us, and he has every right to be angry but instead of keeping score he shows us a better way.

God is slow to anger and his anger last for a brief time, look at his patience with people throughout the Bible and through all of time. God's first reaction is to show compassion and mercy, he deals with us in kindness that is undeserved, and when he does get angry it is for our own good. So many times we decide that we are going to stay mad and we are certainly not going to show any love to the person that has hurt us, but God has set an example that we must follow, if he can forgive for the huge things that we have done then certainly we need to forgive for the little things that happen to us.

Even with all the wrong that I have done my God deals with me with compassion and mercy, I deserve to be treated harshly but God shows me a better way, his anger last for only a moment and then it is gone.

Thank you Lord for the gift of forgiveness, it is a gift that needs to be regifted to those around me, help me to give it out generously.

Love Your Savior And Your Neighbor

The simple way to please God

Mark 3:1-6 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched Him closely. If He healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse Him of working on the Sabbath.

3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand in front of everyone." 4 Then He turned to His critics and asked, "Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer Him.

5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.

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They just didn't get it, over and over Jesus told the religious leaders how wrong they were, they just wouldn't listen. Occasionally in the scriptures we get a glimpse of Jesus humanity and we can see that he had to deal with his emotions.

He told them that all of the law and the prophets could be summed up with just two simple commands:

Mark 12:30-31 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

It all seems so straight forward to us, how simple is that, but I know that we are just as bad as they were, Jesus is looking at me and he isn't happy all of the time. This man has been dealing with a physical handicap, the handicap didn't get treated as well as they do in our society, he probably cannot get a job, but all the Pharisees were interested in was for Jesus to fall in line with their rules.

I need to remember that every day is a good day for good deeds, if I love my Savior and my neighbor then it will be easy to do good deeds and please God.

Romans 7:4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

I pray that you will be pleased with the way that I live Lord. I want to love you more and do good to others so that they can see the love and forgiveness that they need and they are looking for.

Bad Things Happen, What Are You Going To Do?

My attitude when things go wrong.

Genesis 44:9-17 If you find his cup with any one of us, let that man die. And all the rest of us, my lord, will be your slaves." 10 "That's fair," the man replied. "But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free."

11 They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. 12 The palace manager searched the brothers' sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack! 13 When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.

14 Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. 15 "What have you done?" Joseph demanded. "Don't you know that a man like me can predict the future?" 16 Judah answered, "Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves--all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack." 17 "No," Joseph said. "I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace."

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The second trip to Egypt is proving to be just as much trouble as the first trip. The first time around they had to leave Simeon behind in jail, there is no telling how long they left him there while the rest of the family is at home enjoying the food that had been purchased in Egypt.

Benjamin's sack has the silver cup that belongs to Joseph, maybe Joseph is using this opportunity to test his brothers, will they stand up and protect Benjamin or sell him out like they did to Joseph. After all Benjamin was the new favorite son since Joseph had been presumed dead.

Notice the attitudes, Joseph's attitude and the brothers attitudes.

Joseph's brothers were determined to protect their younger brother at any cost, they seemed to be repentant for the harm that they had done to Joseph and didn't want to treat Benjamin the same way.

Joseph's attitude was not anger or resentment but instead he looked to the greater good that came out of the trouble that he went through.

When I am wronged I need to see beyond the offense and focus on how God can use my troubles for good.

Lord I pray that you will help me to see that even when life gets tough, you are still at work for my good. Thank you for using me and for using the difficulties that I have been through.

Time Out For Anger

Count to ten, maybe that's not far enough.

Psalms 4:1  Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2 How long will you people ruin my reputation? How long will you make groundless accusations? How long will you continue your lies?

3 You can be sure of this: The LORD set apart the godly for himself. The LORD will answer when I call to him. 4 Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.

James 1:20  Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

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David was a man that had many troubles in his lifetime, many times he was hunted down or mistreated and had many false accusations made against him, and he could have had a bitter spirit and allowed his actions to be ruled by anger.

It is easy to give into the temptation to allow anger to control our behavior, it is part of wanting to control our life and the lives of those around us, but in the face of the opposition David reminded himself to keep himself in check and refuse to let anger control how he behaved.

"Think about it overnight" he says there is a good chance that you will realize how insignificant the problem is, or maybe we will realize the problem is with ourself, if that is true then its a good thing that you didn't act out and make the problem worse.

Numbers 14:18  'The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.

If the Lord, who has every right to be angry, can be slow to anger then there is no reason that I cannot be forgiving for the minor things that upset me. I need to remember how many times he has forgiven me and follow his example when dealing with others.

Help me Lord to be patient and kind in spite of opposition or if things don't go my way.

Grieving The Holy Spirit

scripture

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Ephesians 4:30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

observation

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“Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live”
It may seem difficult to live the way that we are supposed to live but if it sinks into your head that you were bought at a high price and that now you are a part of God’s redeemed then you will want to live your live so that God will be pleased. If we have truly repented from our sin and acknowledged that we need a Savior then we must realize that our old sin nature cannot be in charge of the way that we live anymore.

“Therefore we should imitate God”
How many people live with that goal in mind? Do we think that it is such a high and lofty goal that we shouldn’t even bother? Again, If we truly understood our situation when we were saved and how bad off we were then we shouldn’t mind the sacrifice of self and our sinful pleasures and getting rid of “all types of evil behavior” to live so that we do not bring “sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit.”

God is holy, he is righteous, God is the ultimate example of love that you read about in 1Corinthians 13, he is forgiving and we are called to be just like him in every way.

application

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I must remember that Christ brought me out of a desperate situation that I could not get out of on my own. There is no good reason that I should be going to heaven other than the love that God has for each and every one of us. God’s command that I live to please him is not much to ask in return and since his way is the better way then I need to live for him through the Holy Spirit’s assistance.

prayer

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Thank you Lord for your salvation and for giving me a better way to live. I pray that the Holy Spirit will not be grieved by the way that I live. Thank you for the change in my life.