Moses: Learning To Trust The God Who Leads - Part 9
Numbers 20:1-3; Exodus 17
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
My name's Andrei, one of the pastors here. And just as my life has looked a little bit different in the last month with working at the hospital a lot, I truly have this new perspective. I love—I already love Sundays—but I really love Sundays even more now, getting to spend more time with you and being here and being with the church family. So, we were just talking in youth group last Monday about community. Pastor Lorne was talking to the youth about the need for community and how God created the church to be that Christian family for ourselves, and for... and we're not meant to do this life by alone. And so, just been reflecting on that, and, and living that is so encouraging and needed. And so, I'm just so thankful to be in front of all of you today.
We are winding down our Moses series. We've gone through eight weeks. This is week nine of Moses, and then next week Pastor Lorne's gonna close us in our Moses series, but we've gone through a journey of examining Moses' life and his journey and learning to trust God along the way. We've seen God ordain Moses for the monumental task of leading his people. We've seen God use every part of Moses' life, from identity issues to moments of weakness to the frustration that the Israelites caused, all to form Moses, to draw Moses near to him. And as Moses learned to trust God more and more, we see him lead God's people in righteousness and in wisdom. And hopefully, our prayers throughout this whole series, we too have been encouraged in our relationship with God to learn how to trust Him more as He leads us in our day-to-day lives.
And so today's passage is continuing Moses' formation and picks up towards the end of his life. Let me just remind us of where we're at. Moses has led the people out of Egypt. He led them through the Red Sea and into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Along the way, they've stopped at Mount Sinai, where they received God's commandments that helped them—make them into a nation—and gave them instruction on how to live for God. They have—the Israelites have—complained over and over and over again along the way, and Moses has had to deal with that. He's appointed leaders to delegate responsibilities and to help the people follow God. They came to the edge of the Promised Land, and the spies were sent out, and while the land was just as good as God had promised, they did not trust and believe that God could give them the victory.
And so now they have to wander for 40 years in the wilderness until that entire unbelieving generation dies off. When we stop to think about that, I think there should be a weight that we feel—that this entire generation of slaves freed from Egypt with the promise of experiencing this land that would have been the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham—that because they complain and complain and they rebel against God, and at the doorstep of that fulfill... that fulfillment, God shows up. He showed up; He never breaks that covenant. He continues to provide a way to make that happen, but they say they don't believe. And so after 40 years, and that entire generation passing away, this younger generation now has the chance to believe and follow God, learning to trust God, led by Moses, to go back to the Promised Land.
And that's where we're at. We begin our chapter in the 40th year of Israel wandering the desert. And it's widely believed at this point that that previous generation is passed. And so this is the new generation of Israel. And we're going to begin our passage, which is in Numbers 20, with a similar pattern, unfortunately, that we know about Israel. And Israel is going to be in this place of need. They do need something, but they're also complaining. They're complaining once again. And so let's read in verse—that'll be up on the screen, but I'm going to read aloud. It says in verse 1: "In the first month, the whole Israelite community arrived at the desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, 'If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord. Why did you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?' Place. It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."
If this sounds familiar, it should, because it already happened to all their parents and the previous generation. When they were brought out of the Red Sea and into the wilderness, they also had a similar moment of saying, "Why are we here? We're thirsty." And the truth about this situation—it was for them earlier on in Exodus, and it's true now—is that they are thirsty. That is a reality. They have no water. Their complaint is valid. The reason for the complaint. But it's the way they come before Moses and God to ask for water that is a bit irksome, right? I'm sure you parents can relate. If a child asks for something that they need, we have no problem that they're voicing their need, but it's how they ask that also matters. If they are whining or complaining or feeling entitled or demanding something, this generation of Israel seems not to have yet learned how to communicate their needs to God.
Verse three it mentions the people that had just died, and that's referring to a couple chapters earlier in verses or chapters sixteen and seventeen where the people rebelled against Moses and God, and God had some of them swallowed up by the earth—just opened a chasm in the earth and people fell in—and then there was a plague that came out, and about 14,000 Israelites died. And now these people who had survived that, got to continue to provide for them—they survived. Now they're saying, "We would have rather died and been like those people who died from the plague and died by being swallowed up to the earth rather than die this slow death of having no water." Again, not the right way to ask for water, really. Trying to ask for water. And they too repeat the same words as the generation before them: "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? God, why did you save us?"
And so Moses and Aaron take it before the Lord. In verse six, it says: "Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell face down. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, 'Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.'" So we see God's instruction to provide for Israel and for their needs. God instructs Moses and Aaron to assemble the community to be united in witnessing God's divine power and provision. And to me, it reads with a tone of mercy and compassion that God sees their need, even in the complaining, but He's going to address their need.
And God's actual instruction was to speak to the rock, not to strike it, right? That's from the earlier passage in Exodus, the first time in the previous generation, and God said he would provide water if Moses struck the rock. But this time he says, "Just speak to the rock." And I think in this, God is showing his character, what he shared with Moses all those years ago atop the mountain in Exodus 34, when God explained who he was to Moses, says the Lord—the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger. Children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. That phrase in God's description of Himself, "slow to anger," in the Hebrew it means "long of nose," which is a saying that just means it takes a lot for God to get mad. It takes a lot. He's got a long, long fuse before he gets upset. And I get the sense that God is taking this complaint from Israel in stride. He's saying, "Okay, I hear them. They're, you know, they're a little hangry right now. I'm going to be patient. I'm still just... but I'm patient, and we're going to give them water."
Moses, on the other hand, seems to be in a different place. Verse 9, it says: "So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence just as he commanded him. 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?'" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. We see Moses have a moment of disobedience here. He starts off right, and he quickly strays from God's instruction and just goes rogue. So if you had a checklist of what God instructed and what Moses did: he gathers the assembly. Check. Good. That's what God said. He gathered them; he did what's right. He addresses the people. Okay, not in the plan, but maybe Moses is going to say something nice, some edifying words, some words of wisdom, further lifting up God, helping them understand that He's their savior, He's their provider. Except he doesn't. And he says, "You rebels," which, if we were to say that today, it'd probably be not "rebels," probably "you idiots." "Must we bring you water out of this rock?" And we are no longer in accordance with God's plan.
He's already strayed; he's doing his own thing. And the "we" here is Moses and Aaron. I think that's... that's important to point out. "Must we—me and my brother—bring this water out of the rock for you?" And in a moment where Moses is supposed to sanctify God in the eyes of the people—meaning to make God holy, revealing him to be holy to the people—he instead elevates himself and Aaron as the savior and provider of the people. And he strikes the rock twice. Again, not what God had commanded. I think we can infer it and see some of his emotion in this moment. He's had that previous generation and all of their failure and the mess of the Israelites trying to get them, pointing them, leading them to God and to what God has planned. And then he's just spent 40 years with this younger generation. And I wonder if he just feels, "Man, we're still here. We're still here."
And yet water gushes from the rock, providing life for the people and their livestock. And we know that God is the one doing it, not Moses. And in that moment where we see that God is still providing in a divine way, it also feels like it reveals Moses' sinful heart and what's inside. Speaking to the group, striking the rock while they aren't what God asks, and they are in disobedience—they aren't the entirety of Moses' sin. An equal part of the issue is with Moses' heart. And God sees that inside is a lack of faith. Faith and trust. And so then we see the consequences for Moses and Israel. It says in verse 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.' These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and where he was proved holy among them."
Moses did not trust in God enough to make him holy in the sight of the people. As we read this, I mean, there's just a heaviness in this passage of Moses. It's Moses. This is the one who God had chosen, who had led the people, who had been faithful. Who throughout all of Israel's messiness since Egypt, Moses has been this light, this guide, and he's had some moments, but now he gets this sentence. That just seems so heavy: "You too, Moses, will not enter the Promised Land." Paul tells us in the New Testament in Romans that the proper response to hearing God's word is faith and obedience. And the opposite of faith in response to God's word is rebellion or disobedience. And one theologian states that because of this, thus, Moses' failure to carry out the Lord's instruction precisely was as much an act of unbelief as the people's failure to trust God's promises instead of the spies' pessimistic reports.
So just like last week, as Pastor Chris talked about Israel's failure in trusting God and the spies that came back and the punishment that Israel had to face, Moses has his own moment. And he too, just like that generation of Israel, will not enter the Promised Land. And it ends with our verses one through thirteen—it kind of bookmarks our passage—are the deaths and the... or the forecast of death of this trio of leaders we've seen, the really the only leaders that Israel has ever known, this nation of Israel. Miriam, Moses' sister, passes away. The one who was there leading them in song after the Red Sea. And now Aaron and Moses both will not enter the Promised Land. And so a generation of leaders dies. And this will be the first time for Israel as a newly gathered nation, newly formed nation, that they will have to learn to trust God—the God who leads—but in a new way. As their human leaders are no longer there, they will have to trust that God will be in that transition of leadership. And the hope is that Israel will come to see and understand and know that Yahweh is their God. It is always there for them; it is unchanging, is steadfast from generation to generation. And that unlike the generation before, they would trust God with everything that they have. That's the hope.
As I was reading and preparing for this sermon, there's a part of this passage that just kept eating away at me. And it was: why is the punishment for Moses so severe? Some of you may think that's completely fair. That's just... that's good. And by the way, you're right. While others, like me, feel like, "Man, but it just feels harsh." It just feels not fair and, and so heavily weighted against... so why did God feel the need to take such a heavy stance against Moses, the one who he called, the one who stayed most loyal compared to most of the Israelites? And as I contemplated this question this week, what I realized is that my lack of understanding God's decision came mostly from my own insecurity. And the real question became: if Moses faced such a heavy consequence as being kept from the Promised Land, should I too be worried about the consequences of my sin? And will I be kept away? Am I being kept away from what God wants of me and where he wants me to go?
I mean, Moses—I consider him up here in the ranks of the Bible, and it's in our history as a church and as a people—how many times do I commit sins greater than what Moses did? Would I consider worse? How many times do I think of myself as equal to God? Don't even consider his plans, or I doubt him, or I don't trust him enough, or I take credit for something that I should really be giving to God? And then as I worked through that thought, it was the truth of the gospel, the message of Christ, that became brighter and brighter in front of me. Because what happens to Moses here really highlights the reality of sin for humanity and the saving grace and the miracle of salvation that we have in Christ.
And a passage came to mind to help understand maybe why the punishment is what it is, and to help me see that it's the punishment that God has levied to those who have not trusted Him and rebelled against Him. And it's the passage of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 through 3 that kept coming to mind. You see, Adam and Eve's sin is thinking themselves as equal to God, and even the... that they could do things maybe possibly better than God. And their response to hearing God's word was a lack of faith and disobedience. And their punishment was a banishment from the garden, because there was no room for sin to be in the perfect presence of God. And they both faced the consequences of their sins. Will also continue to receive provision from God, just not in the garden.
And in our passage, Moses' sin: thinking of himself on the same level or even better than God, hearing the word of God, and then being disobedient, not making God holy before the people. And his punishment is to be kept out of the Promised Land. And their Promised Land is... is was Eden-esque in their minds. They... they knew of their... they knew of God and the creation and Eden. And this was a land that was since Eden the next best thing that has existed. And obviously, sin is still a part of the world, but it's a place where Israel was supposed to live in harmony with God, not in rebellion. Because there's no room for rebellion as God is going to establish his people. The people that had just rebelled, and their punishment is "you can't come in." And now it's the same for Moses.
And God is completely just. His ruling is perfect. And if it seems unfair, well, we... we may just have to sit in that tension and invite God to help us understand and have perspective and to trust him until we do. But it's not that God is unreasonable. It's simply the reality of sin and the consequences of sin. And the story of Adam and Eve and the entering of sin into this world points forward to God's plan of redemption. And the story of Moses and his disobedience and failure also point forward to God's plan of redemption, which comes... which comes... comes to fruition at the cross. So the severity of the punishment isn't about Moses being worse than any of us. It just shows how seriously God takes sin, even in the ones closest to him. Even after all those years, 40-plus years of Moses following, walking with, talking to, being the closest relationally to God. Even he failed, fell short, and sinned, and had to face the consequences of his sin.
I've been following Jesus for 29 years of my life, ever since I was baptized at a lake in 1997, and I too have failed. And I know that all of you have failed. Isaiah 59 says, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that you will not... that he will not hear." And Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That is our reality. We are sinners. And as you think about your life today and maybe some of the current failures you are experiencing or working through, maybe you have failed in your job. Maybe you have failed in your marriage. Maybe you have failed as a parent or as a friend. Maybe you failed in your... your relationship with God. And like Moses, you will have to face the consequence of that failure—reprimanded at work or even fired. Maybe there's some hard conversations that you have to have with your spouse, some reconciliation, some counseling. And maybe you have to apologize to your kids and rebuild some trust. And we certainly have to repent to God for our sins that we commit against Him.
But you see, consequence and belonging aren't opposites. Moses lost the land—that's the consequence—but he remained with God, and God with him. We have to face the consequence of our sins, but through Christ, we don't lose eternity with God. It's like those moments as a parent where you have to discipline your child. You gotta take... they've acted out, they've done something, and so you can no longer go to the park with them. But you still hold their hand on the way home. Our sins separated us from God, but then God made a way back to him. And he sent his son; John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life." And in Christ, we have someone who would bring us back to God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
I love that as we read through Moses' failure, we can see so clearly God's love for Moses still. And like I said, while he lost the land, he didn't lose connection with God. The waters still flowed for the people. Moses was still God's chosen. And we get a full circle moment in Matthew 17 on the Mount of Transfiguration where it says, "After six days, Jesus took with Peter with him—Peter, James, and John, the brother of James—and led them up to a high mountain by themselves, and there he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. And then there appeared before them Moses [and] Elijah, talking with Jesus." Jesus up on a mountain, Moses standing beside him. Because God's care and calling, well, they survive our human failure. God's covenant to us, his faithfulness and his love, are not affected by when we have moments of sin. And when we come up short. And God's love for us is seen through his only son, Jesus' death and resurrection, and the salvation of the... that he alone can give.
And so I want to ask: is there sin in your life that is keeping you from where God wants you to go? Maybe there is sin in your life that is keeping you from being who God wants you to be. Maybe there is sin in your life that has created some distance between you and God. Maybe there is sin in your life based on disobedience to God's word to you. Maybe like Moses, the biggest failure you're... or facing is not sanctifying God in your life, making Him holy, revealing His holiness to the world around you—be that in front of others, your family, your workplace, your friends. Are you choosing your own desires, maybe based off of your own emotions, instead of lifting up God, revealing him and who he is, and instead of living a life of a...
And so I want us this week to contemplate something. And you have on your programs an action step there. I'm inviting you to do this, to be intentional, to be thoughtful about your life this week. Will you sanctify God this week, revealing Him as holy wherever you go and with whom... to whoever you're with? Where is God calling you to make him holy, to reveal him as holy, to a people, a community that you're around, to a place? And I don't want to fill in the blank. I just want you to sit with that. I don't know what that looks like for you. But I'm going to trust that the Holy Spirit is going to reveal that to you. And if not today, then in the perfect time that you would feel the nudge from God to say, "Hey, I'm at the center of this, and it's up to you to let other people know who I am, to give me the glory, to give me credit, to point people to me right now."
And the prayer is that we learn to trust God more, that we trust him and obey him, and we would live each day in harmony with his spirit, and that his will will become our will, his desires become our desires. And just as he is compassionate and loving and steadfast and forgiving, we too are compassionate, loving, steadfast, and forgiving. And if and when people say something about the way we live, that we would not say, "Oh, thanks. Yeah, I'm just trying really hard. I'm, you know, trying to be my best," but that we would give glory to God and say, "This is the work of the Spirit in me. This is God doing work in me. I would not be able to do this apart from Him."
So this week, go about your days as parents, as laborers in the workplace, as students—students in school—as friends, and go forward in faith, full of hope, trusting in God with everything that you have, fearing nothing, desiring only to sanctify His name in all that you do and say. And may you do so knowing that you serve the God who is sovereign over all, friend of the lowly, the bringer of justice, the compassionate one, the one who is above all else, and your Savior. May we learn from Moses and in moments, whatever moment it is, be it easy or hard, may we lift up God and make him holy in the eyes. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the work that you are doing in our lives. And it is an ongoing work. God, we thank you for your patience and compassion. As we strive to follow you to the best of our ability, but inevitably we fail, we sin, we fall short. That God, your response is one of compassion and kindness and forgiveness. We thank you and we praise you for that. And I pray that this week, through your spirit, that we would be made aware, that we would have eyes to see the work that you are doing and be quick to give you the glory. God, we know that all that is good comes from you. And the good in our life that comes from us too still comes from you. So, God, I pray that you would help us to be more selfless, to surrender our lives to you, to give you everything that we have, and to worship you with our lives, our whole entire being, that you would use us for your glory, for your kingdom. Make us quick to praise you. We pray this in your name. Amen.