October 5, 2003
Morning Worship
Text: Numbers 20:1-13
Subject: Water from a rock
Title: Participate, Don’t Anticipate.
As members of the human race, there are things that we share in common. We like to remain comfortable. We are resistant to change. We like to have an indication of what the future will bring. When Charlotte and I used to help put on retreats for catholic youth, one of the things we used to tell them (the invariably wanted to know what was going to happen next) was, “Don’t anticipate! Participate, ”. For some reason we feel more at ease when we know what is going to happen next. It has been said that those who do not remember history are destined to repeat it. Those who do remember will find some other way to mess up.
Today we are going to look at the nation of Israel. For forty years now they had been wandering around in the wilderness because they were not willing to get out of their comfort zone. Now, God had brought them back to the same place that they were when the spies were sent out to investigate the land of promise. Now we have different players. Most of the old generation had died. Moses and Aaron remain as the spiritual leaders of Israel. A new generation has arrived at the place where their fathers had rejected God’s promises. The results? Let’s look at the story and see some of the spiritual principles that are available to us today. I believe that we are turning a corner in this church to be all that we can be in the name of Jesus. I want you to be aware that this is not just a history lesson today. God has a special message for you that will change your life if you let the words settle into your hearts.
I. The Same Test. (1-5)
A. The nation of Israel was in a time of distress. Actually, they found themselves in the same situation that their fathers were in a generation before. Only here we find their need for water compounded by the loss of one of their leaders. Miriam, the prophetess - the one who watched over Moses as he floated down the river; the one who approached Pharaoh’s daughter about a nursemaid for the baby; the one who had led them in worship for forty years – had died. Yet, apparently, rather than mourn for her and attempt to console Moses and Aaron, they gathered against them. I want you to take notice here that God’s word always prevails. God doesn’t make special exceptions for people of high rank. God said that only Joshua and Caleb would survive from the previous generation. Not Miriam, not Aaron, or even Moses. It is funny how some people think that they have things all worked out with God. Me and the “Man upstairs” have things worked out. If having it all worked out doesn’t include a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then it isn’t worked out. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of destruction.” (Proverbs 14:12)
B. People like to complain. Look at the words that are used here to describe discontent. “they gathered against Moses and Aaron” and “they contended with Moses and Aaron”. If you don’t think that children learn from their parents then think again. Turn over to Exodus 17:1-3. Same situation – same response. Different generation. Do you know what is happening here? God gives each generation the opportunity to overcome the mistakes of the previous one. What does that mean to you? For Americans we see that the previous generation allowed God to be taken out of our schools. You can put Him back. The previous generation has allowed immorality to be broadcast over the airwaves and projected on TV screens. You can put an end to it. The previous generation of fathers relegated themselves to being the breadwinner instead of the spiritual head of the household. You can take back your biblical position. The previous generation has allowed 30+ million children to be killed. We can bring and end to the carnage. God is the God of second chances. We don’t have to make the same mistakes that we made before or the ones the previous generation made. Paul wrote that the examples of the Old Testament of those who were judged for their complaining, idolatry, sexual immorality are “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages has come”.
C. It is easier to blame others than take responsibility for yourself. “Why have you brought us up into this wilderness that we and our animals should die here?” Have you ever gone through a spiritual wilderness? I have. And I have spent a lot of time blaming other things for my lack. I’m too busy. I’m too tired. I just don’t feel like it. God seems so far away. I have been to the point where I just felt like I was dying a spiritual death. And I can blame things, or take responsibility for myself. If I am too busy to find time to pray and study, the problem isn’t the amount of work I have. The problem is where I have placed my priorities. Jesus gave a clear answer to the problem. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” even tough the Lord told them that He would lead their generation into the Promised Land; they never accepted responsibility for their own actions. “Why have you made us come up out of Egypt?”
D. Sometimes you have to go through the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. “It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink.” Human nature tells us that what we want we want right now. It does not work that way. We built a house for some folks and the contractor I worked for allowed the homeowners to order some of the finish materials for themselves. We knew that you needed to order many of the products 3-4 weeks in advance. The homeowners didn’t understand that. They thought they could go to the lumberyard or lighting store, order it and pick it up the next day. There needed to be some planning. This new generation of Israelites did not understand the planning behind their wilderness journeys. God was preparing them for the future where they would need to trust in Him and Him alone. They were about to come to the point of receiving the promise given their fathers. Deuteronomy 8:2;18, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” God’s timing is always right. You must always be ready to accept God’s will for your life.
II. The Same God. (6-9)
A. Seek God’s face. Did you ever wonder how Moses could put up with all the complaining and rebellion for forty years? With authority comes responsibility. Luke 12:48 says, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Moses was God’s man of the old covenant; the one who interceded for Israel even though they were a contentious bunch. Moses could not have done it had he not realized that God was there with him everywhere he went. Whenever there was a problem, Moses simply sought God’s face. Verse 6 says, “they fell on their faces. And the glory of God appeared to them.” The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in 33:3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Moses and Aaron did not know what to do for the complaining multitudes, but they knew the One who did know. So they went to the Lord in prayer.
B. After you call, you must be able to hear. That requires listening. When you go to the Lord in prayer you have to take time to let Him speak back. Prayer isn’t a monologue. If you just pray without expecting to hear an answer, what is the purpose? James 5:16 tells us that, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” We also know that He wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” We ask and do not seek God’s will. We don’t take the time to listen. So when we wait and do hear from God what is next?
C. We obey. God gave strict instructions to Israel at Saul’s coronation, “If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice (that requires listening), and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.” When God gives instructions, He does it for a reason. He wants you to do His will. In verse 8 the Lord spoke to Moses, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before heir eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and to their animals.” What a glorious picture of a church. Continually hearing God’s voice. But, I can picture a church now. “Bless God, we really heard God speaking to us at church today. We’re a blessed church….” A church that hears God’s voice without obeying is playing games. James said, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” That is our responsibility as a church; to hear His voice and be prepared to do what He says, because He is doing something new and we don’t want to miss it. “Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.”
III. A New Method. (10-13)
A. Deja’ vu. Can’t you just imagine what must have been going thorough Moses’ head? This bunch is no different than their fathers. Whining and complaining all the time. They always want something from me. They never do anything right but want me to fix it. Whenever there is a problem they come to me. I’ve heard it all before and done it all before. Things haven’t changed in forty years. Don’t you know that forty years of complaining would eventually wear on your nerves? For most of those years Moses would do anything to protect the people. When they made the golden calf God was ready to destroy them and make His covenant with Moses alone. He interceded for them. When Miriam became leprous after her dissension, he pled for her health. Again, the people complained that Moses and Aaron had killed their brothers and God sent a plague upon them. Once more Moses stands in the gap. He seemed to know that as long as there was someone to stand in that gap there was hope. But after forty years there seems to be a change in Moses. Maybe it was that he was getting tired of being the deliverer of this people. Maybe he was fed up with their foolishness and complaining. Maybe he just thought he knew the mind of God and what was coming next. He’d done this before. And maybe it was that he had just given up being a babysitter for the so-called people of God. Whatever it was, we now see a different attitude in him, even if just for a short time.
B. He became an angry servant. Verse 10, “Hear now you rebels! Must I bring water for you out of this rock?” When we act out of anger we miss God. James 1:19-20, “so then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Whenever we are dealing with people, we must have patience. At no point should we ever make the decision that someone has gone so far that they are hopeless. That is God’s decision to make. Never give up praying for lost souls. Never stop sharing the love of God with others. Never refuse the gospel to the hopeless; it is just what they need. Never get to the point where you think that you know what God wants to do. He’ll surprise you. God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would flow from it. But Moses knew better. He had struck it with the rod before and that is what it would take this time. So he hit it twice. I don’t blame Moses for his actions. I might have done the same thing. After nearly forty years of going through the same motions and praying for the same type of people, I have to believe that his spirit might have been a little on the stale side. He didn’t fully listen and obey God’s word to him. And it cost him his final victory. Not only does the church need to hear and obey God’s voice, the leaders of the church, pastors, evangelists, prophets, deacons etc. are expected to do so even more. Our frustration and anger should never interfere with our ability to hear and do God’s word.
C. He is a holy God. God did not ask Moses to speak forth water out of the rock so that people would know what a great guy he was. The whole purpose of the exercise was that God would be glorified. That is our purpose. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Moses was God’s representative to the people of Israel. We are the same. If we are to represent God then we must take on His nature. “Be holy as I am holy”. God, in His holiness, will use whatever means He needs to in order that the world can see His glory. But Pastor Mike, we have been in church for a lot of years and it seems like God always does the same thing - Singing, preaching, maybe a message in tongues and interpretation, a good altar call – we’ve been around long enough to know what is going to happen. If we are of that mindset, I guarantee that we are going to miss God. He is holy. He expects us to glorify Him. But the thing that glorified Him last year or last week may not be what He wants today. God is expecting you to listen carefully and be prepared to step out in faith to a new thing that He might be doing in our midst. The apostle Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” We must always be aware that God may want to do something different in order to save someone or edify the body, or just bless someone. All these things are done that He might receive all the glory.
It does seem like the life of a church runs in cycles. Especially a small church like ours. We can be up one week and then down the next. We may run into the same problems and it may seem like we’ve been in the wilderness too long. We often need to go through the desert to get to the Promised Land. It causes us to rely on God and not self. But it is God who is taking us to the Promised Land.
We know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is His nature – He never changes. Yet, His mercies are new every morning. He calls us to sing a new song. He is doing something new in our midst daily. So, it becomes necessary that we pay very close attention to what the Lord is speaking to us as individuals and as a church. And after we hear, to obey.
God uses new things to bring glory to His name. We must remember our purpose on earth – to glorify the Lord in all things. We must never try to read God’s mind, but instead, seek to hear His voice. We never anticipate what God is going to do. We should have great expectations that He will perform what His word says He will do. But anticipation brings frustration. Anticipation puts a time limit on God. Don’t anticipate! Participate! Participation brings fulfillment. Participation is obedience. Participation in God’s plan brings glory to His name.
