Disregarding God's Directive ...

Disregarding God’s Directive ...

Numbers 20:1-20:13

Also Exodus 17:1-7

Golden Text - The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron , Because ye beli...

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see Something that’s above you”

Pride is something else in our life that has to go before pressing into God’s best. “Why is that?” you may ask. It has been said, “In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.” If pride does not die we could make an unwise, non-Spirit led decision, and deviate off course from God’s will and His best. Pride takes our focus off of God and results in our ignoring His guidance,,,,Thus Disregarding God’s Directive (amen)

Without looking ahead for God’s guidance as He leads the way, we will not see the path ahead as clearly as we ought. Looking down on people and things could cause us to trip and fall spiritually. Proverbs warns us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:8).

When I was a young boy,,, I was informed that while walking I needed to stop looking down so much, before I tripped... I was advised to keep my head up and see what’s in front of me.

This is some good spiritual advice and application as well. We are not to hold our heads up high with pride, but spiritually we should be looking upward unto the Lord who prepares the way (Numbers 9:15-23). As we look to God we are reminded of His holiness and we gain a proper perspective of who is in charge,,,and,, and whom we should be seeking to please ,,, and glorify...

In our lesson this morning we will see how Moses and Aaron took their eyes off of God in a moment of pride and failed to glorify the Lord; thus resulting in these two brothers never ,,, entering the Promised Land.

A Frustrating Situation (vv. 1-5)

Have you ever been in a place where it seems as though nothing is going right; and you just can’t seem to kick Murphy,,, (Murphy’s Law) to the curb?

This,,,this, is what Moses and Aaron were experiencing; and we too will have days or seasons like this while pursuing God’s best, as the devil seeks to hinder what God is purposing to do in and through us. Moses had lost his sister,,, in her passing; they,,, were in a place where there was no water for the people of Israel; and the people began complaining and becoming afraid ,,, agian....

There is no doubt that Miriam’s death created a fear of dying in the wilderness and resulted in the onset of panic among the Israelites,,, Moses was probably hurt, bitter and angry about losing his sister. He may have even blamed God for allowing it to happen; and he was no doubt frustrated by the people who were complaining to he and Aaron. It would be an understatement to say that Moses and Aaron, as leaders, were having an extremely bad day!!!

Jack Hayford informs us, “A bad day can blur your perspective and muddy your speech. It can fog the mind and bring uncertainty to your heart or tempt you to mutter words of dubious wisdom....” Both the leaders and the people, because of frustration, had lost perspective on their situation.

When the people complained against Moses and Aaron they were actually complaining against the Lord, and they certainly “muttered words of dubious wisdom.” Elsewhere in Scripture,,,when ,,, when,, the Israelites complained to God’s leader Samuel, the Lord told him, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me” (1 Samuel 8:7). The people were not rejecting Moses and Aaron...

The bottom line is they did not trust the Lord, and we read where they were looking back to Egypt once again, feeling as though it would have been better for them to remain there; and they were disappointed that God had not yet brought them to the abundance of the Promised Land. They called the place where He had led them an “evil place” (v. 5). The Hebrew word for “evil place” can also be translated as “worse than,” and is a comparison , showing how they believed the place where they presently found themselves was “worse than Egypt.”

What was really better - to be bound to cruel bondage, being beaten daily, or walking in freedom being led by the Lord? God had not let the people go hungry or thirsty yet...

So what was the real issue?

While residing in Egypt the Israelites had steady provision of food for nearly four hundred years, and now they had to have faith in an unseen God to provide food for them. God tested their faith here, as we shall soon discover, and the test they had to undergo resulted in blurred spiritual vision and lost perspective.