HOW GOD DEALS WITH THOSE HE TRULY TRUSTS
DECEMBER 2012
by Lisa Maki
For you disobeyed My order in the Wilderness of Zin during the strife of the congregation to uphold My sanctity (by strict obedience to My authority) at the waters before their eyes (Numbers 27:14).
Let us refer back to what happened during that time.
There was no water for the congregation and the people gathered against Moses and Aaron and started complaining.
Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock twice. And the 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 (rely on, cling to) Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you therefore shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” (Num. 20:6-12)
What made Moses do what he did? I don’t think he intentionally disobeyed God or that he didn’t believe in Him.
Two things may have prompted Moses to react the way he did:
In both instances, Moses’ sin can be rooted to his bondages … his old nature and ways, and his attachment to things.
As a result, he took the glory from the Lord by showing to the people that it was his rod that provided water for them.
Pride is the root cause of all our sins. We can say we love the Lord with all our hearts and still have this sin of pride … just like Moses.
And God did not take this sitting down. He didn’t just brush it aside and said, “Well, Moses has been a faithful servant anyway so I don’t take this against him.”
Instead, God was angry with Moses and took away from him the most important thing that Moses was holding on to … the promise of getting to the promised land. What a consequence!
Maybe we will even think that God was not fair with Moses … that He could have been more compassionate with the man.
God loved Moses so much. He defended and exalted him in the presence of Aaron and Miriam when they grumbled against him. God even punished Miriam for what she did. Let us go back to Num. 12 …
Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth. Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting. And the three of them came out. The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the Tent door and called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward. And He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream. But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house. With him I speak mouth to mouth (directly), clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed.
God defends those whom He truly trusts but He also punishes them for their mistakes. In fact, He expects more from these people.
Imagine how Moses felt. He sacrificed so much to lead his people out of Egypt into the promised land, and yet he himself will not even get there. It was even the people’s complaining, grumbling, and ungrateful spirits that provoked Moses’ anger.
Moses could have complained to God and negotiated with Him. He could have blamed other people. Yet, he just accepted his punishment and continued with what he was doing. He even trained Joshua. He could have envied Joshua and felt bitter towards him, but he did not.
Until the end, Moses proved how humble he really is. He may have lost his opportunity to reach the promised land, yet I believe that God had a bigger reward for him in heaven.
Let us refer back to what happened during that time.
There was no water for the congregation and the people gathered against Moses and Aaron and started complaining.
Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock twice. And the 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 (rely on, cling to) Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you therefore shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” (Num. 20:6-12)
What made Moses do what he did? I don’t think he intentionally disobeyed God or that he didn’t believe in Him.
Two things may have prompted Moses to react the way he did:
- His anger towards the people (which ruled over him and therefore he acted on impulse); and
- His being so used to using his rod (and therefore it became an immediate response) (check Exodus 17).
In both instances, Moses’ sin can be rooted to his bondages … his old nature and ways, and his attachment to things.
As a result, he took the glory from the Lord by showing to the people that it was his rod that provided water for them.
Pride is the root cause of all our sins. We can say we love the Lord with all our hearts and still have this sin of pride … just like Moses.
And God did not take this sitting down. He didn’t just brush it aside and said, “Well, Moses has been a faithful servant anyway so I don’t take this against him.”
Instead, God was angry with Moses and took away from him the most important thing that Moses was holding on to … the promise of getting to the promised land. What a consequence!
Maybe we will even think that God was not fair with Moses … that He could have been more compassionate with the man.
God loved Moses so much. He defended and exalted him in the presence of Aaron and Miriam when they grumbled against him. God even punished Miriam for what she did. Let us go back to Num. 12 …
Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth. Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting. And the three of them came out. The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the Tent door and called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward. And He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream. But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house. With him I speak mouth to mouth (directly), clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed.
God defends those whom He truly trusts but He also punishes them for their mistakes. In fact, He expects more from these people.
Imagine how Moses felt. He sacrificed so much to lead his people out of Egypt into the promised land, and yet he himself will not even get there. It was even the people’s complaining, grumbling, and ungrateful spirits that provoked Moses’ anger.
Moses could have complained to God and negotiated with Him. He could have blamed other people. Yet, he just accepted his punishment and continued with what he was doing. He even trained Joshua. He could have envied Joshua and felt bitter towards him, but he did not.
Until the end, Moses proved how humble he really is. He may have lost his opportunity to reach the promised land, yet I believe that God had a bigger reward for him in heaven.
Lisa Maki is the founder, publisher, and editor of God'z Gurlz. More about Lisa at ...
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