Today’s Reading Numbers 18-20
Focal Scripture: Numbers 20:12 “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”
Here we see a major lack of trust on the part of Moses and Aaron. The people were complaining about not having enough water. So Moses went to the Lord and he was instructed to speak to the rock and water would flow from it for the people. However, Moses went in front of the people spoke to them, then struck the rock twice. Water flowed from the rock but Moses and Aaron did not do as they were asked.
The consequences for their actions would be severe. Neither of them would be able to enter the promised land. God told Moses that he did not trust God to complete the task the way he said. Moses, instead decided to take the tasks into his own hands. Not trusting in God lead to a severe consequence for Moses and Aaron.
What should church leaders and believers learn from this story. The biggest takeaway is that we must have a trust in God’s commands and promises. God does not want us to change his design or his plan. He wants us to follow what he has for us because he needs to get the glory, not us. I tell people all the time that you can find out quickly where a pastor or church stands. Listen to how they talk from the stage. The majority of the message and content should focus on God not on individuals in the pew. It is God’s word that changes people. God must always be the focal point of everything during a service.
The next big takeaway is that not trusting God can lead to consequences. We may not die because of those consequences but we definitely can suffer because we do not listen to what God is telling us to do. This happens all the time. God gives clear directions and people wont follow them. It might be because of fear, pride, or another reason. Maybe a ministry will not be as successful as it could be because leaders will not follow God’s direction.
The point is that we cannot just disobey God and believe that correction will not come. God loves us to much to allow that to happen. He also loves other people to much to allow disobedience in his leaders to go uncorrected. So today is a good day to search yourself and ask if you are following what God has asked you to do in your life. It is also a good time to examine if some of the trials you are going through stems from disobedience to God’s commands.
Submit your wills to the Lord. It changes everything.
Tomorrow I plan on reading Numbers 21-22
