Friday, February 08, 2008

Striking the Rock (Again)...

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."

Numbers 20:7-12

I have heard some very effective teaching on the passage above as regards Moses' disobedience in striking the rock in opposition to the command of the Lord, which was that he speak to the rock. Because he disobeyed God, Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land with the Isrealites. The lesson, as I have been taught, was that Moses' actions were an angry response to the Isrealites grumbling, and his reacting in anger was the reason for the punishment.

In my daily reading several days ago I came across something interesting. If we back up to Exodus 17, we find that the community had been in this place, Meribah, before. On their last visit, they had also grumbled about a lack of water. When Moses went to the Lord to complain about the people, the following took place:

The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Exodus 17:5-6

This got me to thinking - was it really Moses anger which made God unhappy? The passage in Numbers certainly indicates that Moses was tired of the people's complaining, but really doesn't indicate that he reacted out of anger. It seems just as likely to me that Moses disobedience may have been something we are all guilty of from time to time - he fell back on a proven method to accomplish God's work instead of heeding the specific instruction of God at the moment. If striking the rock had worked once, why not do it again?

If God gives us specific instruction in any given situation, he expects us to follow that instruction. It is easy for us to get in a rut and try to apply the same solution to a challenge time and time again. We have entire churches built around "methods" of attracting and discipling people. But if you look into the Word of God, you will see that there are often subtle differences in the way God works - even in similar circumstances. If we are going to allow Him to work through us, we must not allow ourselves the luxury of "doing it how we've always done it". We must be sensitive to His every leading regarding the situation at hand.