Moses is one of the most fascinating characters in the Old Testament. His story of miraculous survival as a kid, murder of an Egyptian soldier, his meeting of God in the desert, gaining the trust of the Israelites, challenging Pharaoh, the plagues and exodus, the Red Sea, 10 Commandments, his leadership of the people in the wilderness, his failures and ultimately his inability to lead the people into the Promised Land make his life one that is filled with interest.

It wasn’t a dull life!

Today I was reading the incident which ultimately seals his fate as a leader. His disobedience in this moment is what stops him from setting foot in the Promised Land, at least until the transfiguration. If I’m being honest I’ve always found this moment pretty harsh. In my human opinion I feel that Moses had given up so much. He was a reluctant leader happy in the wilderness, God called him into what looked like an impossible task, he led a people who were difficult to lead, and after all of that he didn’t get to go into the Promised Land because of this one mistake.

I decided to look over the mistake again to spot what he’d got so wrong. We’re picking it up in the book of Numbers, in the Bible, in Chapter 20. They have just reached Kadesh, in the wilderness.

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink! ” Numbers 20:2-5

Moses and Aaron’s backs are up against the wall with the people here. I can’t imagine how difficult this must have been for them. How do they react? We are told that they throw themselves facedown before the Lord and His glory appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses in this moment.

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.” Numbers 20:8

The instruction here was 3 fold

• He was to take the staff, the one the Lord had given him when he called him.
• They were to gather the assembly of people together
• In front of the assembled he was to speak to the rock in front of them

After he had completed all of that water would come out of the rock and the community, along with their livestock, would be able to 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. Numbers 20:9-11

We can see from the passage that he completed step one and two of Gods instruction well. He took the staff that he had been given and along with Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock that God had told him would pour out water. It’s in step three that things don’t go according to plan. Instead of speaking to the rock he struck it with his staff twice. The water gushed out but the last step wasn’t what God had asked.

Did that really matter?

We live in a culture where results are deemed more important than the process. The how seems less important than the what. In this instance because water came out of the rock we might have concluded that what Moses did was ok. The issue at hand was water and the fact that it came out surely means God was pleased with Moses. The fact that water came out of the rock at all was miraculous – we’d conclude that it couldn’t have happened at all if God was not pleased.

As we read on we find out it really did matter.

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 20:12

Ultimately what we realise is that it was Moses’ heart and his trust that were the issue. Let’s give a little context here. Earlier in the Israelites journey from Egypt, probably in the first year, they hit a similar problem when it came to water. The people complained in the same way we read about in the passage in the book of Numbers. Here’s what the Lord did when Moses came to Him with that problem.

The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front 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.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5-6

This moment is practically identical to what happened in Kadesh, except for one thing – the Lords exact instruction. This time Moses is told to strike the rock and water came rushing forth. This time he obeyed what the Lord had told him.

Moses experienced something in this moment which can happen to any of us when we do, see, or experience something that seemed impossible – he saw the impossible become possible. His mindset now believes that it is now possible to strike a rock with the Lords power and see water come forth.

Go forward to the moment in the book of Numbers when the same issue is facing them.

Moses relies on what he knew was possible instead of stepping into the obedient impossible.

This time the instruction wasn’t to strike but to speak. That felt like a whole other level of impossible for Moses. So, instead of stepping out like he’d done earlier, he ‘settled’ for what he knew was possible, and it achieved the result he knew it would get.

This whole episode highlights how much obedience counts when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. Results, amounts, breakthroughs, signs and wonders, are all great, but our obedience in participating in those moments is what He looks for first.

Our obedience to God is a marker of our trust in God.

When we trust Him fully we will obey Him fully. A deviation in our obedience is a sign of a deficit in our trust. When we fully accept and trust that He is who He says He is then why would we not bring our total obedience to Him? In this instance Moses didn’t trusted the Lord, if He did He would have done exactly what God had told him, just like he had in the past. It seems strange given all that he had seen the Lord do in the past but it serves as a lesson to us that trust is a muscle that strengthens or weakens rather than a bone that is formed and fixed.

The how matters more to God than the what. We’d do well to remember that in our results orientated world.