READING: Numbers 20-22, Mark 7:1-13
“. . . therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Numbers 20:12
Even leaders of God’s people sometimes make choices that cost them much. To be honest, that truth alarms me and challenges me.
Moses and Aaron had led God’s people toward the Promised Land. They had worked through other difficulties and distractions by following God’s plan precisely, but not this time. The people were thirsty for water, and God told Moses to speak to a rock, from which water would come: “tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water” (Num. 20:8). Instead, he struck the rock twice. God graciously sent the water anyway to meet the needs of the people, but He also judged Aaron and Moses by forbidding them to enter the Promised Land.
Scholars differ as to why God reacted as He did. Perhaps it was as basic as the fact that Moses, who previously had done exactly what God commanded, now chose his own plan to bring water from the rock. Maybe it was that he was expressing anger toward the people and toward God by striking the rock. God Himself said that He judged Moses “because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel” (Num. 20:12). By disobeying God’s command, Moses treated Him as less than holy. Aaron’s judgment shows that he, too, was complicit in the wrong.
Likewise, both men would not enter the land God had promised to His people. Moses would see it only from a mountaintop, and Aaron would die before then; they would suffer the same penalty that the wandering generation of Israelites suffered. A single wrong act resulted in a sad ending for two leaders who started well – and that’s what gives me pause today. It doesn’t always happen this way, but it’s possible that one act of rebellion against a perfectly holy God can leave a scar on an otherwise strong ministry.
Leaders who end well don’t wait until the end to make that decision. They decide TODAY, and then again tomorrow, and each day after that for the rest of their lives, to be fully obedient to God. Ending well tomorrow requires living well today.
ACTION STEPS:
- Be sensitive today to any tendency you have to ignore God’s commands and make your own plans.
- Serve God fully today. Rest well tonight because you have followed Him today.
PRAYER: “Father, I want to be completely obedient to You today. Grant me grace to do that.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Numbers 23-25, Mark 7:14-37