Elder's Devo - Dec. 2020
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A Much Needed Caution
Numbers 20 - Moses Strikes the Rock
4 - Contributing Factors
Weariness / 120 years & here we are 40 years later:
Exact same place - Meribah
Ex. 17 - 2-3 months out of Egypt
Spies brought back bad report
Korah’s rebellion: Numb. 16:41
But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”
Exact same situation
No water to drink - even tho God had led them there
Ex. 17:1-7
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 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.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Numbers 20:2-5
Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 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.”
Personal sorrow - 20:1 / Miriam dies
Defensiveness: “Why have YOU made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?”
Discouragement: Same stuff after 40 years of faithful ministry, manna, miracles and the Law.
It was like they hadn’t made an inch of spiritual progress in the past 40 years - irrespective of all that they had witnessed and experienced.
Weariness
Personal sorrow
Defensiveness
Discouragement
Led to: Responding in anger, when God expressed none. They did not uphold the Lord as holy - as separate from themselves. And it cost them dearly.
He superimposed His emotions on to God, and instead of speaking to the Rock - displaying God’s continued patience, mercy and grace toward the People - Moses made God out to be as exasperated as he was.
Numb. 20:10-13
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?” 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. 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.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
Does this seem harsh? It is the most important lesson on grace we can learn.
No matter how used by God.
No matter how gifted by God.
No matter how perfect our service to God.
No matter how exalted.
No matter how long we've served.
We are not perfect. And Heaven, is the gift of grace, not how much or how long or how well we've served. No human goodness or performance outweighs our sin.
Only the imputed righteousness will do.
And this - is the Gospel we must continue to proclaim and live - no matter how aggravated, justifiably we may be.
We must deal with the utmost caution right now. Lest we find ourselves similarly chastened.
It does not mean inaction.
But it does mean we need to truly humble our hearts before the Lord as we consider what action to take, when and how.
God still gave water to the people - but Moses suffered for it.