2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
Moses Strikes the Rock
10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice,and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah,[a] where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
So, we find ourselves here again. The people of Israel show, yet again, how little faith they have in the God who has provided and protected them all along; especially these near forty years in the desert. They complain. Yet again. They ask why couldn't they have stayed in Egypt (where they complained and lived in slavery). They are obsessed with their physical demands. I would like you, as I do often, to look at yourself and ask how much are you like them. I know, often times, I find myself worried over these things. Nonsense.
The people need water. Moses falls before God and listens to His instruction.
Look back at verses 6-9. Notice the key word: tell.
God tells Moses to tell the Rock to yield its water. Now, lets backtrack a little bit to help make sense of this.
Exodus 17. We find a situation just like this. People need water. They complain. God tells Moses to strike the Rock and it will bring forth water. Before Moses goes God tells Him, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.”
God makes it clear that it isn't the rock that Moses is striking or the rock that is bringing forth water, but He Himself.
Moses knew this. This is why He acted in obedience.
Back to Numbers 20.
God tells Moses to speak to the Rock, not strike it- for the Rock has already been struck and the gift is now ours if only we ask. (Matthew 7:7) (John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”)
Go with me, to verse 11 of Numbers 20. Moses, knowing the command God gave, disobeys by striking the Rock rather than speaking (asking God).
God, rightly so, is very unhappy. Moses has disobeyed the command of God.
Sin. That's what Moses and Aaron did. They sinned. As the highest leaders in Israel, they knew they were held to a higher standard, a fact that remains true for leaders today (James 3:1).
It doesn't matter how minor the offense may seem to us, because we aren't God. We did not and do not have the right or power to say what is right or wrong. Only God, the giver of live, purpose the the law has that right.
In verse 12 God tells Moses and Aaron "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."
That's it. This mistake.
But that's it. Look at what God says. "you didn't uphold me as holy..." Being holy means that you are completely set apart -perfect. God is holy. Perfect.
There is no mistake. Not one. So, even if you only mess up once, you have still messed up. You've fallen short of God's holiness and are therefore guilty in sight of Him.
You, by your actions, have rejected God and embraced yourself.
Wow.
So, we sin once and we are destined to separation from God for eternity? No promise land? No joy? No peace?
Not quite.
It could be that way.
Quite frankly, it should be,
BUT.
BUT.
God loves you.
Why?
Because He does.
He doesn't have anything to gain from it.
He just loves you.
Listen to His good news:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called greatin the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, youwill never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-20
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh,could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:1-4
Christ knew you and I couldn't fulfill the law. Sin has beaten us and separated us from fellowship with God. Christ came. He lived perfectly. He died in your place. Stood before God with the sins of the world on His file. Faced the judgment and punishment we deserved, and then by the power of the Holy Spirit, defeated death and sin.
The work has been finished. The law has been fulfilled.
Christ has won.
He wants you on His team.
He has your jersey, it's the freshest white.
All you have to do is accept what He has to offer.
All my love,
Michael.
No comments:
Post a Comment