That's So Unfair God! Let Moses Enter the Promised Land!

We have been studying life in the desert.  We have travelled with the Israelites and watch them time after time grumble against God about His lack of provision, Moses intercedes and God comes through, meeting their needs.

Numbers 20 has an interesting aspect to Moses striking the rock and the water gushing out for the people to drink when they arrived at the Desert of Zin.  Water is conspicuously absent, and the people let Moses know in no uncertain terms their upset. Moses and Aaron hear the people's grumbling and retreat to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.  God appears in His glory and then gives them specific instructions:  

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, 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 that 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 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.

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.

God is very specific in His instructions to Moses and Aaron on how to proceed in meeting the needs of the people.  God is always specific with His people.  I cannot think of one time where God was vague with His expectations.  God's Word is a kind of sacred algebra:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deut. 30:11-20)

God is telling His people that, 

• If you obey all of the crystal clear instructions I have set before you, then you will be blessed.  I am not asking you to go find it--it is right before you, explicated by My Word. I am very specific about what I mean by "obedience."  I am equally specific about what I mean by "disobedience."  I give you a choice.  Each choice has its consequences: either blessings or curses will be your lot. Choose wisely.

But Moses is not exempt from being obedient, either.  God expects the same level of obedience from anyone who calls upon His name, whether it's a prophet, a priest, a king or a child of Israel.  Same God, same law--no exemptions or exceptions.  But God is, above all, an egalitarian:  He has no favorites, and His servants are all required to uphold  His Word.

At the end of the day, we sin against God.  Yes, we hurt others, and yes, we hurt ourselves, but God is the one we have so egregiously offended. That is why David lamented: 

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. (Ps. 51:4)

He sin included Bathsheba, her husband, his men and his nation, but ultimately it was God to whom David committed the greatest offense:  sinning as if God didn't exist.

That's one way to look at sin.  We act as if the universe is vacant.  No one is there to be accountable to.  No one is there to look upon what we've done.

It's just us.  

And we don't care.

For the moment.

But then, through the Holy Spirit, we realize how our sin is a kind of eclipse, covering the face of the Son. But His radiance still escapes the darkness, and shines even brighter in contrast.  When we confess our sin, the darkness moves away, once again revealing His light in our lives. 

God doesn't allow Moses the freedom to disregard the very things he is ordained by God to proclaim to the people. God is very specific about how Moses is to get water from the rock: 

1) Take the staff (the very one that turned the Nile to blood, the Red Sea to part--a symbol of power given to you by Me).

2)  You, Aaron and everyone gather together.  

3)  Once everyone is settled, and they are watching (so there is no doubt as to Who is making this miracle possible), speak to the rock.

4)  Because I am the all-sufficient Provider, the water will come out of the rock, because I ordain it to be so.  There will be no other explanation.  Without Me, it's just two old men, an old stick and a bunch of people with nothing to recommend them standing and staring.   

5)  The water will be for everyone and their animals.  

6)  Dusted and done. 

Now, let's follow Moses' process, and how it violated God's instructions:

1)  Moses leaves God's presence.  (So far, so good, or is this a commentary that Moses left God's presence in terms of his obedience?)

2)  Moses and Aaron gathered everyone together.  (Good.)

3)  The Moses lets fly angry words and lumps himself, Aaron and God into this miracle, excoriating them as he does so.  It's as if he is so angry that  he's saying, You losers!  You want a miracle, I'll give you one!  I am so sick of your grumbling and bad attitude, I'm going to show you who's boss! (Not good.) 

4)  He strikes the rock. In his anger, Moses hits the rock as if he'd rather hit the people.  His anger has blinded him to how God is the One who is in control of the people, with their good, bad and ugly behavior, and how God is teaching them to be obedient.  You don't demonstrate obedience by being disobedient.  (Our  anger never accomplishes the righteousness of God.)

5) Water comes out, but Moses is standing there, sneering at the people, and self-righteously judging them for the losers they are. (No. God is our Judge. We are His servants.) 

6)  Busted and undone. 

What is God's response?  

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.

Can you just hear Moses?  Was he thinking, deep inside: 

• Wait a minute, God!  Even You get tired of them grumbling!  They are such an  ungrateful bunch!  They try You patience, so I thought I'd show them a lesson!
• I have honored You every other time!  I have been obedient!  I blew it, but hey, I am so sick and tired of these people, I lost my temper. 
• I am sorry I didn't honor You, but I have tried to.
• Yes, You still met them with grace, even when I didn't. 

You notice that Moses does not argue with God.  He knows God is right. 

Sin is sin. Whether or not we agree with God's assessment right away or come to it over time, sin is sin.

But before we think God's grace has an expiration date on it, or He exercises it a limited number of times, let's fast forward to a day in the life of Jesus: 

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:1-5)

Moses did get to see the Promised Land and the Promised One.

God's love never fails, even when we do.