10 "And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now,you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you DID NOT BELIEVE Me, to HALLOW Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
What does it mean to portray God as "A Holy God?" Based on the passage above, how did Moses portray God? As loving? As Kind? As Gracious?
No. He yelled at them--for the first and last time--called them a bunch of rebels and gave them the impression that God was angry with them because of all their murmuring and complaining; 40 long years of it.
Was God pleased with Moses? Based on what happened to him, I'm guessin' NO, He was most emphatically NOT!
The people knew they had sinned against God. They knew they murmured and complained, all of which is sin; yet God did not want Moses to reprimand them.
Why?
You've probably been under preachers like that who condemned you before a "ho-o-oly" God saying things like "Be sure your sin will fi-i-i-i-ind you out! Don't you think you can hide from a Ho-o-o-oly Gawd! What you sow is what you shall reap!".....totally misquoting the Bible, by the way......ONCE AGAIN.
Or how about this famous one: "Your rooster will come home to roost one of these days!" etc, etc. Blah, blah, blah.
Sounds kinda like the same tactic that Moses used, doesn't it?
First of all, HOLY simply means "set apart." Also, FYI, in the New Testament sewing and reaping IN CONTEXT is referring to a one's "generosity," NOT YOUR SINS. So stop holding your breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop because you're afraid of what you think you "sowed." You"ll just turn blue.
Remember what God said to Moses? "Because you DID NOT BELIEVE Me, to HALLOW Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
God was very displeased by what he did, i.e. yelling at the people. He was so displeased, in fact, that He did not allow Moses to enter the promised land! WOW! Moses was only supposed to "speak to the Rock," hold out Aaron's rod--you know; the one that budded, a picture of grace and resurrection--and THEN water would flow out of the rock.
What did he actually do? He yelled at the people and struck the rock with his own rod--TWICE. Moses' rod was the one that turned the waters of the Nile into blood, a picture of God's judgment.
What's the big deal? He hit a rock. So what?
What is this rock and why was God SO upset?
This "rock" was a picture of Jesus. It's was a "type" as Paul brings out in his letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 "1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST."
By hitting "The Rock" Moses was hitting Jesus in the "type" of the rock. This particular rock was a portrayal of Jesus as our exalted High Priest, after His ascension into heaven. The word in Hebrew is "tesla," a high cliff or rocky precipice. You see, Jesus was already "hit" at the cross. He is NEVER to be "hit" again. Moses destroyed the type by doing what he did.
You'll notice that God allowed water to flow from the rock anyway even though Moses disobeyed. That's because He loves the people! But it is clear that He holds leaders to a little bit different standard.
God was angry at Moses for reprimanding the people because he had misrepresented Him to the people and hit Jesus. He had wanted to show Himself as loving and gracious despite their sin. By hitting the rock, Moses did just the opposite.
So, if reprimanding your people by saying, "Be sure your sin will find you out--blah, blah, blah"--is not portraying God as a "Ho-o-o-oly Gawd," as most preachers seem to think, then what is? That's what this part of Moses' story unveils.
He is not pleased with leadership today that scolds His people; in other words, that hits Jesus' body, meaning US--instead of feeding and edifying them and unveiling Jesus.
But regardless of how harsh the leadership, God blesses the people anyway. Blessings being accorded to the flock, though, are not necessarily an indication that a given ministry is an anointed one. NO WAY. It is proof, however, that God is good to His people, "leadership" notwithstanding.
That is how He wants to be portrayed to us today; as gracious ; loving; forgiving; not as angry, vengeful and judgmental; not even mildly disappointed. quite the contrary: He is WELL-PLEASED!
In case you were unaware, ALL GOD'S JUDGMENT FELL ON HIS BELOVED SON, JESUS. Your "ROOSTER" got ROASTED at the CROSS! It ain't coming home to roost! GOD righteously and judiciously will never EVER impute your sins to you--past, present OR FUTURE. It would be unjust to Jesus. What He did was FAR BEYOND COMPLETE.! Amen!
Our job is to portray God as loving and gracious, full of mercy and compassion; not angry and vengeful, even to the UNsaved.
I hope that understanding Moses' mistake will help put an END to this satanic practice.
And that, Church, is how you portray to His people, HIS BELOVED, that GOD IS A HOLY GOD.
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