Partial Obedience = Disobedience! numbers 20:2-13
Then I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying: O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon. But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: "Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgan, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. deuteronomy 3:23-27 (NIV)
God allowed Moses to lead the Israelites right up to the edge of the promised land, but God would not let Moses enter the promised land because of an incident just the year before at Meribah, described below.
Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their 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 their animals. So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them. Numbers 20:2-13 (NIV)
It amazes me how Moses, the most humble man who lived, leads a horde (imagine forty NFL football stadiums filled to the brim) of short whining jews on foot, along with cattle and sheep and belongings that can be dragged, though a desert and the wilderness, and not be infected by their constant bickering and complaining. So after thirty nine years of incessant whining, we all get to Meribah . . . and the Israelites are complaining how there isn't any water (okay, so there isn't) and how there aren't any fruit trees (what would you expect in the wilderness?) and how they wish that they could die back in Egypt (after everything that God had done for them, and even protecting them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night) . . . so Moses entreats God, and God instructs Moses to gather the people and speak to the rock, which will then yield water for everyone. This could have been another wonderful miracle, maybe as great as the crossing of the Red Sea, if God's word is honored . . . any Moses did just about everything right but instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock with his staff.
So I keep thinking, why is that such a big deal? Why would God be angry at Moses for that and deny Moses from entering the promised land? And then I realized that I'm still trying to look at the situation from a human viewpoint and not through God's eyes. Okay, Heavenly Father please take off my spiritual blinders and show me the lesson you have for me that I may walk before you with clean hands and a pure heart, in Jesus' name, amen.
God had given Moses some rather precise instructions. And God's instructions were for the benefit of the crowd of Israelites. God knew in advance that He was going to provide for all of the needs of His chosen people, but He wanted to draw attention to Himself and He wanted to receive glory and praise from the people. Moses, on the other hand, couldn't see it . . . Moses fell into the mental trap of "this is another one of those things that I gotta do for these ungrateful jerks". So when he struck the rock, Moses was acting out of a sense of duty rather than obedience and trusting reverence and honoring God's instructions with an expectation of God's providence. God first encountered Moses forty some-odd years earlier by instructing Moses to remove his shoes because he (Moses) was standing on holy ground (in the presence of the Most High God). How dangerous it is when being able to have an open invitation to enter the presence of the Master Designer become commonplace and mundane.
Lord God, please help me to have reverence for You and all that You are working together in Your master plan. Lord, as You find a place for me to share in Your activities, let me not take You for granted. Let me not get a big head or act upon my selfish emotions, but Father I ask that You quickly rein me back in so that all glory and all praise and all blessings and all recognition flows to You . . . You, who alone is worthy . . . now take this day ahead of me, Heavenly Father, and You use it as You desire, and I thank you in advance for whatever role You have for me today. Please open my eyes that I may see Your handiwork and strengthen me to join Your success. In Jesus precious, precious name I pray, amen.
© S. Chan 2004. All Rights Reserved.