Today’s Reading: Numbers 19; Numbers 20; Psalm 28; Mark 5
Scripture: Numbers 20:7-12
7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water..."
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
Observation: The Lord told Moses and Aaron explicitly what to do to address the ministry crisis that they were facing. There were three basic steps followed by the response from God which was the solution that they needed. Step one: "take the staff". Step two: "gather the assembly together." Step three: "speak to that rock before their eyes." And the promised result: "it will pour out its water." This is so simple and so straightforward. But for whatever reason, Moses deviated from the instruction. He completed steps one and two just fine, but when it came to step three, instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to the people in a harsh way and then hit the rock two times with the staff. This is inexplicable to me.
Moses had seen the deaths of Nadab and Abihu who had been killed by the fire from God as a result of offering unauthorized fire before the Lord, i.e. freelancing in their ministry. And Moses had explained to Aaron the reason why. (Numbers 10:3)
Here Moses does his own freelancing by: 1) speaking to the people instead of speaking to the rock, 2) rebuking the people and implying that he and Aaron were the ones who had the ability to and were being coerced to bring forth water from the rock (robbing the credit and the glory that belonged to God), and 3) striking the rock twice with the staff (a kind of dramatic performance that turned this solemn miracle into something more like a magic show).
God's response is twofold. First, in spite of the lack of adherence to his explicit instructions, he does release the flow of water from the rock (enough water to supply a nations of millions!). Second, he gives a sentence of punishment on Moses and Aaron: they will not be allowed to enter into the land of promise. How sad.
Application: The lesson here is simple: if you are in spiritual leadership, stick to the play book that the Lord has given you. He is the Lord, he calls the plays, we carry them out. If we begin to think that we can freelance, doing whatever variations we choose rather than sticking exactly to the instruction of the Lord, we are endangering ourselves, our ministries, and those whom we lead. The Lord gives no margin for disobedience to those who take up the call to serve in Kingdom leadership. Stick to the play book. The alternative is nothing but bad.
Prayer: Lord, help me to have clear hearing and close obedience to you and your word. I want to hear what you say, to know your will and ways, and to follow you closely in my leadership. Help me to always stay submitted to you and to never forget that I work for you and belong to you. All that I am and all that I have are yours. May I ever live to please you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
