I pondered lately on the reasons why God had to punish Moses after his 'selfless' service to Him and the Israelites. For just this incidence, God told Moses that he will no longer be permitted to bring the people into the Promised Land. Too bad! What exactly did he do?
But wait!
Thirty-nine years earlier, the first time the Israelites were in need of water, God had indeed instructed Moses to strike the Rock.
But this time the instructions were different, and Moses failed to comply. Too bad!
But why?
If striking the rock was so awful, why was it okay so many years earlier?
Why did this seemingly minor offense have such severe consequences? It's seem minor, huh?
Why didn't Moses (regarded as God's most loyal servant) follow this simple instructions?
Its okay to say, "Moses was disobedient." "Moses was punished because of anger." "Moses smote the Rock twice..." "Moses was angry"... Bla bla bal.
The elements that resulted to his fall is still an issue today. Many Christians - "fired-up" as professed - are not in their promise lands because of these. And many are guilty as Moses. This calls for learning and reflecting.
Be aware & Beware!
In my course of study, the Holy Spirit showed this to me. Not with the eyes of symbolism, or allegories but something different.
Granted, there are as many interpretations as there are biblical commentators for this. But the conventional explanation - Moses was commanded to talk to the rock to bring forth water, and instead Moses struck it - can not be denied.
Read on and learn!
Lets look at the first scenario in Exodus.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." - Exodus 17:5-6
The above passage was the first case when Moses followed God's instruction and God provided water for the children of Israel from the Rock.
He obeyed every detail. He was to smite and he did smote the Rock as instructed before the people. God was please with that.
Thirty-nine (39) years later, same situation occur. But this time the instruction was different.
Numbers 20:8, "Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink"
This instruction was simple.
Let’s read through our bible passage and examine what Moses did, instead of following God’s instructions:
Numbers 20:9, "And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him."
Moses makes a great start to obeying God just like many believers out there. He is loyal!
But his ending was lousy and really bad.
Don't forget Moses abused the people - “rebellious rebels”.Numbers 20:10, "And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?"
When did God tell Moses to speak to the people after they were all gathered together? Did God tell Moses to preach to the congregation? No!
But my message today is not concerning that. That would be for another day.
Let's continue reading in the next verse we will see what Moses did next:
Numbers 20:11, "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 beasts."
What was Moses fault?
Numbers 20:12, "And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."
Very clear!
"...because ye believed me not to sanctify, glorify me in the eyes of..."
God reveals the reason Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock, as being a case of his unbelief.
Unbelief?
Yes, unbelief!
How possible? From someone like Moses?
Yes!
He held on to the old pattern even when God had moved. He never evolved in this regard with all due regards to the prophet. The old pattern was for babies in the Lord!
Moses did not believe that God could bring the water out of the rock like that and hit it himself. He thought that his staff held some special Mosaic power and he was the key to the equation.
"...must we fetch you water out of this rock?" vs10. Many believed that observing a religious ritual is the focal point. They have ritualized and idolized a certain pattern and turn them into doctrines.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth." - Exodus 20:4
God negates our attachment to any particular theophany.
All these are hindering the move of God in our days. Don't ritualize or idolize:
laying of hands,
water,
handkerchief,
oil,
stickers,
banners,
soaps,
creams,
saints,
names of angels,
etc.
"See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah)." Colossians 2:8 AMP
As a result of this, we, in most cases display a classic example of lack of faith when God's ways do not sound reasonable to us. We are mortal. We are clay for goodness sake. He is Almighty, what do you expect.
What do you expect from the one who knows the end even before the begin began?
He doesn't see things the way we see things, because He is not affected by time, space and matter.
When He instructs, many decides, "no, that'll never work" and do something that they thinks would work better, such as striking the rock to get water out of it.
Remember, it is not about you!
Its not about your religious jingoism and patterns.
Its not about your activities!
It's not about your 25 days fasting and other rituals!
It's about Him!
Someone wrote: "God was trying to teach His servant Moses a valuable lesson about the spiritual law of words. Words have authority and power behind them and God was attempting to raise Moses’ expectation level and spiritual awareness."
Why didn't he just obey! The Creator said speak, then speak!
I’ll bet you on this, a lot of Christians are still like Moses today. They are born-again, spirit-filled as supposed, and longing for service. But they hold on to that old baby-patterns, which only result to superstitions, rituals and religion.
With all certainty, it is generated from unbelief.
"If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules and regulations?—such as] Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],..." Colossians 2:20-21
The error of many: "I did it this way last time, so therefore I must do like that again." "it was laying of hands, so it must be laying of hands." Even when God is saying, "It should be this way!" We use our human reasoning to do otherwise. God should be the focus!
"In the days of primitive humanity, when superstition was universal, there prevailed innumerable techniques and methods...The irrational reverence for idols, talismans, bones of saints, relics, etc., brought about...due to blind faith." - Joseph Murphy
Look at the case of Naaman in the bible, 2 Kings 5:1-14. He was in need of healing. And he was healed in a rather unusual way. That way and that healing changed his life forever. That story will remind you that God's ways are not our ways, but following them can change one's life forever.
We need to focus on Him. We need to be obedient to Him."The problem of believers today is that they fail to realize that the POWER is not in the water or other materials, but is manifested in the water by doing what God says." - Apostle Julius Ikhide-Iyke Etaifo
Spirituality and spiritual experiences can not be explained with this material world. So when God speaks, we are to obey and never to try to ponder how it will be done. If we do, we will fall into the same trap Moses found himself. God's works are beyond what our brain can reason...
Don't forget He made us!
"I wonder though, if speaking to the rock is just the example we are to follow. Striking the rock is so our own works." - Anonymous
Be aware and Be warned!
Apostle Julius Ikhide-Iyke Etaifo
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