BETWEEN THE NUMBERS
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
NUMBERS 20
***This message tagteam preached with Billy (layperson in our church)
INTRODUCTION - VERSE 1 (ERIK)
-Everyone has funny things that gets said in their house with no one else around.
-For years one of our family jokes came from my wife Laura.
-When the kids were whining about doing chores, or if I was whining about doing chores she had this kind of shut down saying she’d use.
-“Why should I have to vacuum, or clean toilets, pick after the dog?”
-And Laura would say three little words, “I GAVE BIRTH!”
-It’s pretty hard for me to compete with that! If the world was a fair place mother’s might be exempt from bad chores for life because they gave birth.
-But you can only rest your laurels so long. You can only appeal back to previous good deeds so many times before people start saying, “That was a long time ago.”
-What have you done for me lately?
-In our Numbers story today we’re looking at critical chapter in the story of Israel’s Exodus.
-There has been one family that has been prominent in the leading of God’s people.
-MOSES, AARON AND MIRIAM HAVE BEEN GOD’S CHOSEN LEADERS FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS.
-They were mostly faithful people with a few hiccups along the way.
-They were key people that God used at key points to accomplish his purposes.
-But as we begin chapter 20 we see their season of leadership is beginning to wind down.
1 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.
-Miriam, the sister of Moses passed away after many years of service.
-God had said that only Joshua and Caleb would enter the Promised Land, but we’d kind of assume that Moses and his family would also make the cut.
-But Miriam’s time came. And in the midst of dealing with that loss, the people decide it’s been a while since their last rebellion and they begin another episode of faithless outbursts.
2 There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron.
-This wasn’t the first time they had rebelled against Moses.
-And this wasn’t the first time they’d complained about water. If you look way back
EXODUS 17 WAS THE FIRST TIME THE PEOPLE WERE CRYING OUT FOR WATER.
-Being really thirsty can make people cranky...they were talking about killing Moses if he didn’t find some water. That’s why our church has a water fountain right down the hall!
-God didn’t bring the Israelites out of Egypt just so they could die of dehydration.
-The first time God told Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and out came water.
-The people had more than enough water for themselves, their kids, their livestock.
-It was a miracle! God provided water out of nowhere.
-So here they are again, needing water and they’ve seemingly forgot about God, his power, his providence...but they hadn’t forgotten how to whine.
-Almost 40 years had past since that first incident, and once again the people need water, and once again they are mad at Moses.
-”We know we got water last time Moses, but what have you done for us lately?”
VERSES 3-8 (BILLY)
- Let’s set the scene a little bit before heading into verse 3.
- Imagine this: you and your family are going to live like nomads for a while: full-time camping
-No hotels. No showers. You are staying in tents. And on top of that you’ll travel to 42 different camping locations. 42.
- So there is a lot of stuff that you take with you, and you know we always take too much.
- Car is all loaded up with tent, food, clothes, dogs, camping equipment, probably an ipad, fishing poles and equipment.
-That is just a small list. Many of us tow a little trailer with even more in it.
-Now you get to the campsite and what do you have to do?
- Set everything up so that you can enjoy yourself!
-What is the least enjoyable time of a camping? Setting everything up!
-And just when you have everything set up, it’s time to take it down and move on.
-Repeat these steps again at the next stop
-You repeat this 42 different times
-You might have been excited with a giant smile on your face at the beginning of this adventure
-You were going to be out in nature, spending time with family, sleeping under the stars and roasting marshmallows (manna)
-But each stop along the way, that smile would grows more and more weary and the excitedness has begun to fade.
-Even if your wife and kids had shared your excitement and joined you on your nomadic adventure, they now are ready to steal the keys from you and leave you survive on your own.
-That’s just a glimpse of what it might have been look for Moses, Aaron and all Israel.
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!”
- We now see how they responded to having to set their dang camp up 42 times
-Their camp is not just a tent with some sleeping bags and a dog.
-They have all their belongings and livestock with them
-And when you are out in the desert walking around, you need water
-I bet even they knew somehow, that you can’t live without water for more than 3 days
-We start to do desperate things when we are faced with something difficult
-How did the people act from our story in their time of desperation?
- Who do they attack? The ones that brought them out there.
- But, do you think their fear is justified knowing that God has provided for them before and had been providing for them?
-You know,
IT’S SURPRISING SOMETIMES HOW FAST PEOPLE CAN TURN FROM GOD
-Think about when you get the mail and there is an unexpected bill in there
-What’s the first thing that we do? We tend to get all stressed out and worried, maybe get angry and try to figure out some way to solve the problem.
-We think, why me and what have I done to deserve this?
-I wonder what it would look like if we had just a bit more faith?
-What if we looked back and remembered all the times God had been there before?
-With that in mind...we might give the problem to him and allow him to solve it or help us solve problem
-But, that tends to be one of the last things we think do
-As we read the next verse, listen to what Moses and Aaron did.
6 Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where they fell face down on the ground.
-Moses and Aaron turned to the one that had been providing for them. GOD
-They didn’t even hesitate as to where to turn.
-They knew from experience that God would provide.
-They had seem him provide time after time...and so have we
-But the people tended to focus on the problem forgetting what God had done in the past
Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, 7 and the Lord said to Moses, 8 “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.”
-Moses and Aaron knew exactly where to go with this.
-They had faith in God and did not hesitate to go to him knowing that they would get some direction in how to handle this problem.
-Who are we like in this story? The faithless Israelites or the people who always think, “God will provide!”
-WHERE DO WE USUALLY TURN WHEN WE ARE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?
-Sometimes we turn to ourselves, world, other people, Google
-Sometimes we try everything else first, and then as a last resort, we fall to our knees and turn to God
-And then it’s almost like a huge weight is lifted off of our shoulders
-The problem doesn’t even have to be solved, but that weight is lifted off of our shoulders
-We know that God has the power to handle anything and everything that life throws our way
-We can all look back and remember times when God has really shown up
-When we are in a tough situation we should take our cue from Moses and Aaron.
-Things got tough, but as people of faith, they knew where to turn.
-They took their problems to God in prayer. That still works today:
-James 5:16 - “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
-John 15:7 - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you
-Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-These are just a few examples out of our bibles.
-God wants us to go ahead and not be afraid to pray to him for help and answers
-To have the faith that the God who has always been there for us, will be there once again.
VERSES 9-11 (ERIK)
-My grandfather was in the Navy in WWII and all throughout my childhood he always had a boat. He’d go fishing in the ocean, fishing in the Columbia, fishing in the lakes.
-He had this old Bell Boy boat that was white and baby blue.
-And water would collect in the bottom and so Grandpa, who was kind of creative, figured out a little trick. Instead of putting the drain plug in the outside where it goes, he put it in the inside.
-When he’d fire it up in the morning Grandma would drive, and he’d walk back and pull the plug and all the water would drain right out and then he’d plug it back in.
-Once while they were camping at Lake Coeur d'alene he tied the boat up at the dock with the drain plug inside as usual.
-In the morning he came back and found it was still tied to the dock, but it was also under water
-Because of the wind and waves, that drain plug had worked it’s way out overnight, and the boat had filled up and sank.
-Drain plugs are supposed to go on the outside of the boat for a reason.
-Like many things in life, the death is in the details!!!
-When you’re reading the account of Moses and the water crisis you may not think much about the details. But they are important.
-In Exodus 17 God had told Moses to strike the rock with his staff.
-And the account says that Moses struck the rock with his staff.
-So here we are again in a different place with a different rock and a different set of instructions
9 So Moses did as he was told.
-Let me pause here for a second and talk about Moses.
-Moses is what we might call a “company man.”
-Moses did what he was told to do; often times he was the only one doing what God said to do.
-WHILE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD A TENDENCY FOR DISOBEDIENCE, MOSES TENDED TO OBEY.
-In Numbers 1 God said take a census...Moses did it.
-In Numbers 2 God said organize Israel’s camp...Moses did it.
-In Numbers 3 & 4 God said organize the priesthood...Moses did it.
-In Chap 5 & 6 God told Moses to lay down guidelines for purity and purification...Moses did it.
-This is the pattern we see throughout Moses’ leadership of the people.
-When the people complained about the food in chap 11, Moses didn’t.
-When Miriam & Aaron grumbled against Moses he prayed for them.
-When the people were terrified to enter the promised land, Moses was one of four men who wasn’t panicked, and was prepared to follow God’s instruction.
-We could all learn from the example of someone who knows how to follow God.
-Moses was a faithful, obedient man.
-So as we continue reading, we expect to see that Moses followed God’s instructions.
9 So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. 10 Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock.
-At first glance it seems that everything is going as planned.
-Water is going to come out just like in Ex 17, it’ll be yet another miracle from God for Israel.
-Moses didn’t do what God said. He started to. He may have meant to. But he didn’t.
10b “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.
-Did you catch what just happened? Many people read this and don’t realize something major just went down.
-I think Moses got a bit worked up here. The 40 year punishment was almost over, and they started acting up again. He’s ticked. He shouted at them. He called the “rebels!” (which they were)
-And in the midst of this angry outburst, notice where the credit goes?
-Moses said, “Must “we” bring you water from this rock?”
-That was a major mistake for Moses. He took credit for something God was going to do.
-Again, he probably didn’t intend to, but he did.
-It might have been a slip of the tongue, but when it came out he didn’t correct himself.
-Aaron was standing right there, he was the high priest, and he didn’t call him on it.
-IN A MOMENT OF FRUSTRATION AND EMOTION MOSES ACTED SINFULLY.
-I’ve certainly done that before and so have you. And sometimes we immediately recognize our error and change courses, and sometime we are completely oblivious!
-It was God’s power and God’s providence that worked this miracle.
-And on top of taking the credit, Moses double tapped the rock with his staff but God had told him to simply speak to the rock.
-Moses had confidence in God. He had a track record of obedience and faith.
-But in a moment of anger and frustration he just stepped out of line.
-It may not seem like too big of an offense to us. But often time the outward manifestation of sin is nothing compared to the ugliness of the sin inside our hearts.
-Sometimes people who love God, and follow God, and accustomed to following God, get a little too casual, a little too cozy, and start believing their own hype.
-Then insidious sins like pride and self-righteousness can creep in.
-And then we find ourselves a place of self-reliance instead of relying on God.
-Church people often do this. We’ve been following God for years, we don’t count ourselves among the rebels and the crowds.
-But watch out, if it can happen to Moses it can happen to us.
-Hebrews 3:12 “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.”
-It doesn’t matter what we have done in the past, how good, or how faithful we’ve been.
-God can ask us the same question the Israelites were asking him. What have you done for me lately? I know you’ve been a mostly faithful person at times in your life...but what about now?
-In one moment of indiscretion, vanity, or ego things can take a drastic turn.
-One false move can discredit your whole witness. (Reputation as a Christ-follower)
-One moment of indiscretion can seriously damage your marriage.
-Take your eyes off Jesus at a key juncture, and find yourself reeling.
-Moses strolled out the in front of the crowd as though he was the great provider.
-He spoke to them as though they were his people not God’s.
-And he did not follow the specific instructions God had given him.
-And unfortunately for Moses, this sin would cost him dearly.
VERSES 12-27a (BILLY)
- Do you know how many times I have started the eat healthy kick?
-About every 3 days. 3 days good and then a bad day comes right in there.
-Start over and repeat. It’s almost like a recipe. Except every now and then, something strange happens and I make it 6 days.
-Man that feels great and then I feel great physically.
-Feeling like a finely tuned machine that could do many things. Feel like nothing thrown at work will stop me.
-Then guess what happens on day 7?
-Oh sweet ice cream, maybe a pepsi, probably some M&M’s, and pizza for dinner. Not just a couple of pieces, but 4-5.
-How many times do we have the best of intentions and get tripped up somewhere?
-That’s what happened to Moses
-Lets look at verse 12
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!” 13 This place was known as the waters of Meribah (which means “arguing”) because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.
- Moses and Aaron got their consequences for not following what God had told them to do.
-They made it about them. “Must we bring you water from this rock”
-God had asked them to just talk to the rock
-Not only did Moses not do that, but he struck the rock twice with his staff.
- Who was really getting credit for water coming out of the rock?
-Now was Moses a bad person? No. Was he forsaken? No not at all.
-This is one of those moments where we could ask, “Who do you think you are?”
-Moses had clear instructions from God. Very specific instructions.
-God said do it this way...and Moses just decided that he was going to do it his way.
-WHY DID MOSES, AND WHY DO WE SOMETIMES, THINK THAT IT’S OK FOR US TO DEVIATE FROM GOD’S PLANS?
God is the boss, we’re supposed to do what he says.
-This is something that happens at my job all the time.
-The fire service is very paramilitary, meaning it’s a top down service
-The Chief is on top and new guy on bottom
-When you are on the bottom, you really don’t add your comments and or thoughts
-You really almost don’t talk unless talked to. Especially when the top guys are there.
-And it happens all the time.
-Now if the new guy just keeps his mouth shut, his day goes great
-But since that does not usually happen, there is some attention brought to him and some form of penalty is being paid. Usually it has something to do with cleaning the toilets.
-We don’t take time off from following God.
-We can go Monday thru Friday doing everything right. Does that mean on Saturday that we can have the day off and veer from Gods word?
-Moses and Aaron were normally faithful guys, but the had to pay for what they had done.
-Regardless of what excuses they had or we could make for them.
- God did not forsake them though. It did not mean that they were rejected. It did not mean they were bad people. They had a slip up that needed to be addressed
-We have those days where we get a little separated from God. That does not mean that he has left us. He is still there. Sometimes he shows that to us by giving us a little nudge or sometimes a big nudge, saying “Hey goofy, why don’t you just come back here.”
-My basketball coach told me once, “Billy if I did not talk to you, yell at you, make you run for your mistakes, or call you out when you do something wrong, that would mean I don’t care about you!!!
-It is hard for us, especially me, to think about getting some constructive criticism or punishment and think that it is good for us.
-I can tell you what my response to that is sometimes……….anger and withdrawal
-This sometimes happens with us and God
-We kind of get into that spiral out of control and continue to create some distance between us and God.
-I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that part of the reason for some of that spiral is us being upset with ourselves, feeling sorry for ourselves, or just thinking that maybe we are not good enough for God because of whatever mistake we have made.
-Can I offer a little advice…………..get up and rub a little a dirt on it!
-When my daughters go down on the soccer field, or one of their friends go down, I just say rub some dirt on it and get going
-Other parents look at me funny, but the kids do it and get right back after it
-How do you think Moses dealt with his failure?
-Our story takes a surprising a turn here. We started this chapter with the death of Miriam and now look at verse 24:
24 “The time has come for Aaron to join his ancestors in death. He will not enter the land I am giving the people of Israel, because the two of you rebelled against my instructions concerning the water at Meribah. 25 Now take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor. 26 There you will remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on Eleazar, his son. Aaron will die there and join his ancestors.”
-God decided to take Aaron home before he got to see the Promised Land.
-That left Moses alone without his sister, and brother...but he still had God.
-What do you think your response would be if you were in Moses’ shoes?
-How do you respond once you find out that you do not get to do something or get something that you wanted?
-What do you suppose Moses did after being told he would not see the Promised Land?
27a So Moses did as the Lord commanded.
-I think that last part read speaks volumes
-Here it is again…….So Moses did as the Lord commanded
-Instead of Moses going and crawling up in a hole because he messed up, or turning away from God because he was feeling not worthy enough
-He still was turning to God
-More importantly what did God do?
-God didn’t leave. He didn’t stop talking to Moses.
-He went right back to giving new instructions to Moses. Never missed a beat.
-Man how great is that?
-God did not even hesitate to get right back to Moses and utilize him
-He was not holding ill feelings or shutting him out
-I tell you what, that excites me!
-That should excite you and give you comfort
-I will have some mess ups, and will be held accountable
-But I’m always able to turn to God knowing he will still be there
CONCLUSION (ERIK)
The three of them went up Mount Hor together as the whole community watched. 28 At the summit, Moses removed the priestly garments from Aaron and put them on Eleazar, Aaron’s son. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar went back down. 29 When the people realized that Aaron had died, all Israel mourned for him thirty days.
-As Billy and I studied, and prayed and wrestled with this passage it interesting to think about the perspectives of both God and the Israelites.
-On the one hand the Israelites had completely forgotten about all that God had done for them in the past.
-They had needed water before, and God had provided before.
-But in a moment of fear and desperation they were a bit ungrateful and were asking “what you have done for me lately God?”
-Some of us might be treating God with that same kind of faithless contempt today.
-In the middle of our latest struggle or pain we may find ourselves forgetting all that God has already done. Forgetting all the times he’s been there before.
-If anyone should be confident in God’s provision it should be us:
-Romans 8:32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
-Now on the other had, Moses was so used to God showing up for him, that he got a little too casual and made a big mistake.
-He had been a faithful guy, but in a moment of frustration and anger and thoughtlessness he stepped across a line.
-And it cost him. And when it happened there was no card to play in his defense.
-He couldn’t say, “I gave birth”. He couldn’t say “I led the Exodus”.
-None of his past accomplishments exempted him from the consequences of sin.
-We may have done many things for the Lord, and those have not gone unnoticed by God.
-But what you have done for God lately?
1 Corinthians 10:12 “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.”
