HE DIDN'T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS AND HE LOST HIS WAY!

On three different occasions while wandering through the wilderness, Moses and the children of Israel had to deal with the issue of there being no water. Being in the desert with no water is definitely an issue! Actually, Moses had to deal with it — while the children of Israel grumbled and complained.

The first time was right after the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 15:22-26). Three days into the wilderness they came to an oasis called Marah, but they could not drink the water there because it was bitter — and the people got upset. Moses cried out to the Lord God showed him what to do. After Moses did it, the water became drinkable (see verse 25). Then the Lord spoke again to Moses and said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer” (verse 26) and God was not just talking about physical healing!

The second time is later that year when the whole Jewish nation was deeper into the journey and arrived at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7). There was no water of any kind to drink and this time the people argued with Moses and demanded that he “give us water to drink” (verse 2). The people were grumbling, complaining, and questioning if God was really with them in their journey. Does that sound familiar to questions you have had when things have not gone as you hoped and you have asked, “God, where are you?” Again Moses cried out to God saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me” (verse 4). God told Moses to strike the rock with the rod and water would come. Moses did as God instructed him and the water gushed forth.

The third time was about 38 years later at Kadesh. The children of Israel were still not in the Promised Land and when they arrived at Kadesh, there was no water and, yes, they began to grumble and complain about why Moses had brought them out of Egypt. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the Lord and God told Moses to speak to the rock (Numbers 20: 2-13).  God’s answer and instructions were explicit but instead of speaking to the rock, Moses took it upon himself to take his rod and strike the rock, not once but twice, in anger. Moses had an unresolved anger issue but I will write about that at another time.

Moses did not follow God’s directions and it cost him dearly. Water did come out of the rock in abundance and that is a wonderful picture of grace — but Moses was in error. God said to him, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them” (Numbers 20:12).

Moses never got to go into the Promised Land — he never crossed the Jordan to set foot in the land God had spoken to Him about. Why was God so severe with Moses and what does that have to do with us today?

While we are not supposed to sin, false teaching on grace says it does not really matter if believers behave badly. The prostituted teaching on grace says that adultery, or stealing, or whatever you might do that is not right,  simply do not do it again and grace has you covered. It is true that our bad behavior, as children of God, will not cost us our salvation but there will be consequences — because God demands it.

 

God does not wink at bad behavior in His children and say, “Oh, they are just kids and you know how kids are, they’ll grow out of this stage in their life!” God is a loving Father who is teaching His children how to triumph and He will teach us not to do those things again. In Moses’ case, however, it cost him the fulfillment of the promise (Hebrews 12:5-6).

God’s message to Moses after he struck the rock helps us to see why He responded to Moses as He did. This is the way He responds to us when we do not follow His directions. Here’s what God laid out for Moses — and what we should understand.

     1.   Moses’ bad behavior, his failure to follow instructions, stemmed from unbelief. “Because you did not     believe in me” (Numbers 20:12). When Moses disregarded God’s clear instructions and did things his own way, he was expressing unbelief. Moses was elevating himself and his disregard, his disrespect, was a form of unbelief.

     2.   Unbelief diminishes God’s glory; it diminishes God in the eyes of others. “You did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel.” What a terrible thing to have God say to you. “You did not think highly enough of Me and of My instructions, so you showed your disrespect publicly by doing things your own way. You diminished Me in the eyes of the people of Israel.”

     3. There are consequences to not following directions. “Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

We ask the Lord for clear direction on how to achieve the best for Him and He gives it to us. We get our direction through His Word, or it comes in prayer or through the counsel of trusted friends whose counsel is in harmony with His Word. Or God may order the circumstances of our life to show us His path. He speaks clearly to us but when we put our own spin on it, we are left wondering why we do not quite get where we thought we would.

If we do not follow the directions, we will not get where we are supposed to!