At our church we have begun a 42 week series where we will be doing an over-view of all of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation! Throughout these 42 weeks we are encouraging the people at Bethel to follow the Bible reading plan which will bring us all through the whole Bible chronologically over the next 42 weeks! Each week at Bethel the texts that we read during the week is what the sermon will be based on. As a part of this series we are giving people opportunities to ask questions about what they are reading that they would like answered. So every Thursday on this blog myself, alongside the elders, will seek to answer those questions the best we can! So here we go for the questions we received on Genesis 1-11.
Question #1: In Numbers 20, why was this incident the thing that kept Moses and Aaron out of the promise land? Aaron had done several others things that seem worse (Answered by elder Bob Burke).
My take on the situation is that Moses' and Aaron's pride, irritation, and disobedience prevailed in the situation and that they robbed God of the Glory due only to God. He and Aaron started out well. They consulted God, saw the glory of the Lord (v6) and had clear instruction of what to do (v8). They even started out well by taking the staff as God commanded them to do (v9) and assembled the people. Verse 10 is the telling verse. Somewhere in the time between seeing God's Glory and watching all the grumbling Israelites gather for assembly, pride and anger got the best of them. In verse 10 they impatiently call the Israelites "Rebels" and claim "we shall bring water for you out of the rock." Moses reverted to the habit of Ex 17:6 when God commanded him to strike the Rock at Horeb like he had struck the waters of the Nile. God showed Grace by still giving water, but it was God not a magic show by Moses.
Robbing God of the Glory due Him is a more serious offense than any other trangression Moses and Aaron could make. Akin to the Serpent's temptation in the Garden and Lucifer's famous saying, "I will be like the most high." (Isa 14:14) , the action of striking the rock shows the core issue of sinful pride in the nature in all humans. Contrast this to the account of Paul and Barnabas after the healing of the crippled man at Lystra (Acts 14:8 -18). When the crowds said, " the Gods have come down" Paul and Barnabus tore their clothes, ran into the crowds saying that they were not God, but men like all others, and gave the Glory to God (v14, 15). The key lesson is to acknowlege God's gracious hand in our lives and not take personal credit for His work In Numbers 20: 12 God had the final word, "12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
As we move through this series please keep the questions coming! You can ask questions on the connect card attached to your bulletin on Sunday's, by emailing me at
joshrobetson52@gmail.com
We certainly don't have all the answers and at times will not be sure how to answer but seek the one who grants wisdom to help us understand what we can. At the end of the day it is not about having greater knowledge, or to simply know more stuff, it is to know more by which we can continue together to strive to Exalt God's Name, Equip God's People, and Evangelize God's World in our homes, communities, and world.
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