Dirty Water
This week is on Numbers 20:6-12:
A good part of the Israelites journey from Egypt to the promised land consisted of them just freaking out and attacking Moses and Aaron, threatening to leave, causing drama and distress, and longing for the steady paycheck they used to get when they were slaves. In these verses, they were running out of water in the desert, and had no hope of ever being able to have staples and luxuries like grapes, pomegranates etc. Once again, they were in full revolt, smashing shop windows, stealing TVs, etc.
Moses and Aaron beg God to help. Faces to the ground is a position of desperation. As always, God pulls through with a solution. If they speak to the rock, water will pour out and people will have stuff to drink and can calm down. It's a clean elegant solution to the problem at hand.
Moses and Aaron, however, approach it with all of the finesse of a sixth grader being asked to quiet the other sixth graders down so they can have recess. "You guys all suck! We should be having fun but instead I am forced to beat this rock to get water out for you!" It still works, but God is not pleased with the ad-libbing. His clean direct act of love has been muddied by Moses' indignation and posturing. Moses is no longer allowed to be the one leading them into the promised land.
God's plan was an act of love and grace and a demonstration of his power. The Israelites didn't deserve a special water break. At other times, God was ready to kill them for how badly behaved they were. Yet because Moses and Aaron asked him, God was willing to make a miraculous exception. He gave Moses the authority to command the rock to produce water.
Imagine being an Israelite watching God's plan unfold. You're thirsty and tired and ready to kill, and as you're gathered, Moses speaks to the rock and water gushes out. There's no way it can be anything but a miracle! Your rioting must be forgiven for God to have allowed the rock to yield its water so gently. Your needs are provided for, and you realize how stupid you were to worry and rise up against God's plan in the first place.
Instead, with Moses' remix, you're made to feel guilty and ashamed for receiving a miracle. And the miracle looks like a cheap magic trick! "Presto magico *smack* *smack* (there we go) Water!!!" So now you're not sure if God provided the water or if Moses has a magic staff or found a special rock, and you feel sort of dirty and ashamed for taking as much as you need because it was made out to be such a pain to provide it.
God's issue with Moses is that he doesn't trust him enough to show him as holy. Did Moses think the rock wouldn't yield unless he added something of his own? And did he think God's love was so fickle that he had to lecture people before releasing grace? We don't know. But along with being a great demonstration of how seriously God takes love, it's kind of a sobering glimpse at how serious our attitude towards ministry should be.
Ministry and charity should never be viewed as duty. They're not some kind of community service plea that gets us out of our sin charges. They're acts of love, and if you fake it people will know. Imagine showing up to a holiday soup kitchen. You're so lonely, and you thank the guys serving the food for being there and one of them says "Yeah you'd better be thankful. I could be watching football right now but instead I'm giving free food to lazy deadbeats like you!" Technically he was doing ministry and being charitable, right? But where was the love? You would have been better off staying home than getting "served" like that!
Moses made the mistake of viewing God's act of charity as another duty. His sullen attitude and lack of trust caused him to do more harm than good. If we're not careful, we could pollute God's holy water through insincere service that doesn't love the recipient and doesn't trust the giver. In acting on God's behalf, ask yourself where the love is, and leave as much room as he gives you for a miracle to take place.
So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”
So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.”
A good part of the Israelites journey from Egypt to the promised land consisted of them just freaking out and attacking Moses and Aaron, threatening to leave, causing drama and distress, and longing for the steady paycheck they used to get when they were slaves. In these verses, they were running out of water in the desert, and had no hope of ever being able to have staples and luxuries like grapes, pomegranates etc. Once again, they were in full revolt, smashing shop windows, stealing TVs, etc.
Moses and Aaron beg God to help. Faces to the ground is a position of desperation. As always, God pulls through with a solution. If they speak to the rock, water will pour out and people will have stuff to drink and can calm down. It's a clean elegant solution to the problem at hand.
Moses and Aaron, however, approach it with all of the finesse of a sixth grader being asked to quiet the other sixth graders down so they can have recess. "You guys all suck! We should be having fun but instead I am forced to beat this rock to get water out for you!" It still works, but God is not pleased with the ad-libbing. His clean direct act of love has been muddied by Moses' indignation and posturing. Moses is no longer allowed to be the one leading them into the promised land.
God's plan was an act of love and grace and a demonstration of his power. The Israelites didn't deserve a special water break. At other times, God was ready to kill them for how badly behaved they were. Yet because Moses and Aaron asked him, God was willing to make a miraculous exception. He gave Moses the authority to command the rock to produce water.
Imagine being an Israelite watching God's plan unfold. You're thirsty and tired and ready to kill, and as you're gathered, Moses speaks to the rock and water gushes out. There's no way it can be anything but a miracle! Your rioting must be forgiven for God to have allowed the rock to yield its water so gently. Your needs are provided for, and you realize how stupid you were to worry and rise up against God's plan in the first place.
Instead, with Moses' remix, you're made to feel guilty and ashamed for receiving a miracle. And the miracle looks like a cheap magic trick! "Presto magico *smack* *smack* (there we go) Water!!!" So now you're not sure if God provided the water or if Moses has a magic staff or found a special rock, and you feel sort of dirty and ashamed for taking as much as you need because it was made out to be such a pain to provide it.
God's issue with Moses is that he doesn't trust him enough to show him as holy. Did Moses think the rock wouldn't yield unless he added something of his own? And did he think God's love was so fickle that he had to lecture people before releasing grace? We don't know. But along with being a great demonstration of how seriously God takes love, it's kind of a sobering glimpse at how serious our attitude towards ministry should be.
Ministry and charity should never be viewed as duty. They're not some kind of community service plea that gets us out of our sin charges. They're acts of love, and if you fake it people will know. Imagine showing up to a holiday soup kitchen. You're so lonely, and you thank the guys serving the food for being there and one of them says "Yeah you'd better be thankful. I could be watching football right now but instead I'm giving free food to lazy deadbeats like you!" Technically he was doing ministry and being charitable, right? But where was the love? You would have been better off staying home than getting "served" like that!
Moses made the mistake of viewing God's act of charity as another duty. His sullen attitude and lack of trust caused him to do more harm than good. If we're not careful, we could pollute God's holy water through insincere service that doesn't love the recipient and doesn't trust the giver. In acting on God's behalf, ask yourself where the love is, and leave as much room as he gives you for a miracle to take place.
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