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.
The people were confused about the truth of the situation. For them the truth appeared to be that food and water was found back in Egypt, not in the barren wasteland before them. They thought they would die of thirst; but what was the truth of the situation? Henry Blackaby points out an important fact demonstrated by Jesus in the gospels. There is a story of how Jesus told His disciples to get into a boat so they could cross over to the other side of the sea. While in transition a storm arose that beat upon the boat, rocking it back and forth, threatening to capsize them all. The Scripture tells us while this was taking place Jesus was in the back of the boat asleep on a pillow. The disciples came running to Him saying, “Lord, save us! Do you not care that we are perishing!” Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41). If you had asked the disciples what the truth of their situation was they would have said, “We are going to die!” What was the reality of the situation? Jesus, the very Son of God was in their midst to rescue them. Truth was in the back of the boat all along (John 14:6). So what was the truth concerning Israel’s situation?
The Israelites felt much like the disciples and were probably thinking, “Lord, do you not care that we are dying?” The truth for the Israelites is they too had Jesus in their boat, so to speak - and believe it or not! The apostle Paul said Jesus, long before He was ever revealed, actually followed the Israelites in the wilderness journey. He said, “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers . . . ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1a, 3, 4). Matthew Henry said of the rock that it, “typified spiritual blessings, for that rock was Christ.” The Israelites didn’t know about the Messiah or Jesus Christ at that time and could not understand this particular truth; however they knew about God. Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (John 1: 1, 14). They should have at least recognized by this time that God was in their midst all along. The same God who was with them at Marah and met their thirst then (Exodus 15:22-27), was the same God who would provide for them now. The Israelites’ frustration and fear made it so they could not see the truth that God was right there with them, ready to provide once again. The Israelites’ perspective was skewed and therefore they did not trust the Lord; and Moses and Aaron could not reason straight during this intense scene because of their frustration. This confusion would lead to Moses and Aaron taking matters into their own hands.
Watch Out for Pride (vv. 6-11)
In verse 6 we see that when Moses and Aaron were perplexed they went to the right place for an answer - they went directly to the Lord. They sought God’s advice on how to find water, however they were unwilling to receive what He told them. The Lord said, “Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water” (v. 8b). Wow, speak to a rock! Moses and Aaron must have thought this was crazy! It is apparent they felt this way by how they responded next. In verse 10 Moses began God’s miracle all wrong, for he shifted the credit to himself saying, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” He may not have even been inferring that he or Aaron could perform a miracle, but perhaps he thought bringing water from the rock could have been done by shifting some stones with his rod until a natural spring opened up and bubbled forth. Instead of speaking to the rock, as God said, he struck the rock instead. The Lord didn’t want Moses to touch the rock at all with the staff. When Moses did so the people could have easily thought Moses pried some rocks lose from a spring, and that it was nothing miraculous, just a little human ingenuity.
If he had only spoken to the rock the miracle would have surely been granted to God, but since Moses did it by his own actions the miracle, or the credit, could have easily gone to Moses; but thankfully it didn’t. Moses’ attitude and actions were the result of pride. He was tired of the constant grumbling from the people, and he demonstrated he had a chip on his shoulder when he said, “Must we provide water to you rebels!” He also thought he knew better than God, and that’s why he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. It seems Moses was also angry for he struck the rock twice, as though he was taking out his temper. Moses was looking down on the people, and down away from God, and his pride became his undoing. Even though Moses disobeyed the Lord, somehow the people knew God was the one who had provided for them, and the Lord was not going to punish the people for Moses’ mistake. If we read ahead in verse 13 we see how God was hallowed among the people anyhow, and this is why in verse 11 he allowed them to have the water for themselves and their livestock.
Seek to Honor the Lord (vv. 12-13)
The Scripture is very clear on two big mistakes made by Moses and Aaron. The first mistake was unbelief. The Lord said, “Because you did not believe me” (v. 12a), revealing how they thought God was crazy with the idea of speaking to the rock, and felt that it wouldn’t work. The second mistake was failing to honor the Lord. God said, “Because you did not . . . hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (v. 12b), meaning they failed to bring glory to God through their actions. These were such serious mistakes that God reminded them of their failure more than once. In Numbers 27:14 we read where the Lord recalled, “For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” God also told Moses and Aaron in Deuteronomy 32:51, “You trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel.” We must be careful to trust the Lord and bring Him glory in all He commands, for mistrust, disbelief, and failing to honor God can lead to missing God’s best.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron in verse 12, “Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” What the Lord was saying is that Moses and Aaron would never enter the Promised Land - even after working so hard to obey God and to deliver His people. The Lord was gracious enough to allow Moses to at least see the land of Canaan. In Deuteronomy 32:52 the Lord told Moses, “You shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.” In Deuteronomy 34:1-5 we find a very detailed story of how God led Moses to the top of Mount Nebo to the lofty heights of Pisgah to view the land of Canaan, and how after Moses descended from there he died. Moses had already been informed in Numbers 27:13, “When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered” - referring to being gathered with the other Israelites and Aaron in death. Moses was allowed to see the Promised Land, however Aaron was less fortunate. God stated in Numbers 20:24, “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.” Aaron also died before entering the land of Canaan; however he didn’t even catch a glimpse of the land. Failing to honor God is a huge mistake, and could lead to missing God’s best.
Pride is at the heart of failing to honor the Lord. Our pride causes us to seek to either honor ourselves, or to do things our own way as we believe we know better than God. Our pride sometimes causes us to play the part of God. Allow me to share an illustration told by pastor Rick Warren: Captain James Cook was an English explorer and navigator from 1728-1779. He is the man credited with discovering Hawaii. When he first landed on those Pacific islands the natives thought he was a god and gave him divine treatment. He did nothing to discourage their perception; he embraced the role of god. All worked well for Cook until he left the islands. A storm forced him to sail back to the island for shelter. The natives believed no god would be hindered by a storm, so they felt betrayed and killed Captain Cook for pretending to be a god. When we assume the role of deity our destiny is death. In Genesis chapter 11, when the people out of pride erected the tower of Babel to make a name for themselves and become like God, the Lord scattered the people dumfounded their speech. In Isaiah chapter 14, when the angel Lucifer out of pride sought to exalt himself above God, he was kicked out of heaven. Truly pride goes before a fall!
In verse 13 we read, “This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord.” What does Meribah mean, and what is the significance here? In Hebrew, Meribah means, “quarrel” and “strife.” This was the place where the people quarreled with both God and Moses, and where Moses was at strife with both the people and God. Meribah actually has another name. Exodus 17:7 says, “So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord.” The other name for Meribah was Massah, and this word means “testing.” Deuteronomy 6:16 says, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.” At Meribah, or Massah, the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and tested his patience and goodness. If we waste our time fighting with God we could easily miss a blessing. Also, as with the people complaining to Moses and Aaron, if we waste our time arguing with other believers about God’s will and fight among ourselves we could miss the chance to reach a lost and dying world with the gospel. Too many times believers fight amongst themselves and become detracted to God’s best, and when this goes on for too long of a time a group of believers can forget God’s direction altogether.
At Meribah the people tested God; however this was also another place where God tested the people. The Lord said in Psalm 81:7, “I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Moses declared in Deuteronomy 33:8, “You put them to the test at Massah and struggled with them at the waters of Meribah” (NLT). As with the Oasis of Marah seen in Exodus chapter 15, their thirst at Meribah was an occasion for God to test the people’s faith once again. God wanted to see if anything had changed since that time; whether they had grown stronger in faith or weaker in faith. Whether we are in the middle of a test from God, or whether we are going through intense opposition from the enemy, the Lord is watching how we respond in these times. Moses and Aaron did not believe the Lord or glorify His name (v. 12), and therefore lost the blessing of entering God’s best in the Promised Land. The Israelites, even though they questioned the Lord, still wound up seeing the miracle of the water from the rock, and believed in Him, thus hallowing His name (v. 13). Even though they struggled, they still believed, and therefore they continued in the journey to God’s best.
Time of Reflection
I will say yet again that pride is something that has to go before pressing into God’s best. If the Lord has asked you to go in a specific direction, or asked you do a certain thing, are you responding in obedience? You may be questioning what God is asking of you, or even doubting Him, but as we have seen today God is big enough to handle our questions. The Israelites questioned God, but because they believed Him and gave Him glory in the end they were still allowed to press on toward His best. However, if our questions lead to such doubt that we disobey the Lord, this could lead to serious consequences. For Moses and Aaron it meant missing God’s best and never entering the Promised Land. Don’t allow pride to fool you into believing you know better than God; and especially don’t allow pride to lead you into actions contrary to what God has specified. We need to live and walk in the Lord as we read about in the lyrics of the old hymn “Trust and Obey.” In this hymn, John H. Sammis wrote, “But we never can prove the delights of His love, until all on the altar we lay. For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
Min. Johnathan Hester
