Honoring God
I made a trip to the State Capitol in Denver today. It was good to be in the midst of all the activity of this time of the legislative session. I was testifying on a bill related to physical therapy reimbursement rates. The hearing last much longer than anticipated and I was the last one to testify.
The bill was actually laid over for action to a later day, so I will need to wait to see what the outcome will be. However, it was good to see many from the legislature, government departments and the lobby corp that I have not seen in a while. It was also good to meet some new Representatives and to find some who had followed my illness.
It looks like I will have a trip back to the Capitol over the next two weeks. Tomorrow I have my next fitness center workout with my trainer. I will see how I fare later tomorrow as far as my level of fatigue.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “The Lord said to Moses, “Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink.”… Moses said, “Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?” Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.” Numbers 20:7-11)
I must admit that I feel sorry for Moses. Putting up with the challenges of leading this large mass of people to the land the Lord promised was not easy task. The challenges were great. The people constantly complained, whined and wanted to return to Egypt. There were always on the verge of rebellion and continued to disobey the Lord regardless of the miracles that they saw.
Yet we see that the Lord is “no respecter of persons.” When it comes to issues of His holiness and trust in Him, He will not “share His glory with another.”
In this situation the people again are complaining because of the lack of water. Moses and Aaron intercede before the Lord and the Lord gives Moses His instructions. “Speak the Rock”. I recall reading how that shepherds in the dessert could find the right type of rock and break it and allow water that was trapped to flow out and water their flocks. Moses as a shepherd for 40 years would have been familiar with this practice.
But the Lord was not asking him to rely on his background or knowledge, but to do something completely different. Something that would require complete trust in the Lord and would honor the Lord before the congregation, because the people would know this was a provision of the Lord.
I’m not sure what Moses was to speak to the rock, but we do know what he spoke to the people. “Do we have to get water out this rock for you?” He then struck the rock, twice and the water flowed. Who provided the water? In the eyes of the people, Moses did.
The Lord’s rebuke to Moses was, “Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them.” (Numbers 20:12)
Knowing human weakness, the punishment may seem severe. Knowing the holiness of God, the consequence may have been an act of mercy.
As the account of scripture progresses we see that Moses was lead by the Lord to the top of the mountain, where he could survey the promised land from a distance. And then we read in the gospels that on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus there appeared, Moses and Elijah. (Matthew 17:1-4) Someone pointed out, “see Moses finally made it to the promised land!”
What can we observe? God’s holiness and instructions are to be followed. Trust, obedience and faith are to guide our actions and guard our lives. We can be thankful that while our human failures may have consequences, they don’t cause the Lord to abandon us and don’t have the final say over our service to the Lord. Our failures are not fatal. Let us always point people to the Lord for who He is, as the One who alone is to be worshiped above all others.