“End of an Era”
Life in the Wilderness
May 20, 2007
Numbers 20:1-29
Do you remember what I have titled this series of messages on the book of Numbers?
“Life in the Wilderness” is the title of this series of messages.
It could also be called “Death in the Wilderness.” Because Israel was supposed to get organized and march up into the Promised Land to conquer it, but they disobeyed God at the Retreat of Unbelief and have been sentenced to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. And the death of an entire generation during those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
Now at chapter 20, we reach what I’m going to call today, “The End of An Era.”
The strangest thing I learned about this chapter this week as I was studying for this message is that beginning here in chapter 20, the 40 years are now up!
Moses doesn’t tell us much about what happened during those 40 years of wilderness wanderings. He doesn’t tell us what it was like for approximately 42 men to die every day for 40 years.
We went from chapter 19 into chapter 20, and all of a sudden, God has brought us to the “End of an Era.”
In chapter 20, Miriam dies. Aaron dies. And Moses is told that he will not lead the people into the Promised Land.
You know why? Because Moses rebels against the Lord.
Didn’t think we’d see that did you? But the era ends with the disobedience of Moses.
And as we look into the End of an Era, we’re going to learn some simple, valuable lessons about obedience and disobedience. V.1
“In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.”
It doesn’t say which year this is the first month of, but when you compare this with other scriptures (esp. Numbers 33), it appears that this is the last year of the 40 years of wilderness wanderings.
And after 39 years, the people of Israel are back where they started: Kadesh.
Kadesh was where they decided to disobey and not enter the Promised Land.
Now they are back at Kadesh. And here Miriam dies. The sister of Moses who connected him with Pharaoh’s daughter. The prophetess who composed the Horse and Rider Song after the Red Sea Rescue. And the woman who challenged her own brother’s authority and contracted leprosy. Miriam died. The end of an era. V.2
“Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.”
Uh oh. Do you get the feeling of deja vu?
Not only are they back at Kadesh, but they’re out of water. Like they have been a number of times in their history.
And have they learned their lesson? What to do when you run out of water?
Trustingly call upon the Lord? No.
They are still grumbling. V.3
“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 desert, 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!’”
They haven’t learned a thing!
They still think that having died is better than living with trouble.
They still think that Egypt was a smorgasbord like Hoss’s.
And they’re complaining that the wilderness isn’t as good as the Promised Land that they had rebelliously decided not to go up and take!
And the worst thing to think about is that these are mostly the children of the generation that died in the wilderness.
The children are acting just like their parents did.
Moses and Aaron have gotten used to falling facedown when this sort of thing happens. They do it again in v.6.
“Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.”
And what do you think is going to happen?
Are the children of Israel going to get it? Is it judgment time? V.7
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘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.’”
Grace! Instead of a judgment, God promises to graciously grant the people drinking water.
Deja Vu all over again, Moses is to take his staff, gather the people at a nearby rock and the rock will produce water!
That’s what happened back in Exodus chapter 17. Water from the rock.
But there’s a difference this time. What is it? What is Moses supposed to do to the rock?
In Exodus 17, he was supposed strike it with his staff.
Now, he’s just supposed to talk to it.
What do you think he’s supposed to say? “Open Sesame?”
How about, “God says give us water. Please do it now.”
But unfortunately, that’s not what Moses does. V.9.
He starts out obediently. “So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron [they’re together on this] gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them [he speaks to the people, not to the rock], ‘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.”
Dramatic! And God was gracious. Water came out and hundreds of thousands of people and livestock drank from it.
But Moses had disobeyed, hadn’t he?
He spoke in anger. He spoke in judgmentalism. Yes, they were rebels, but Moses didn’t need to say that to them. He was supposed to talk to the rock.
He spoke as out of his own frustration. “Must WE bring you water out of this rock?”
And he struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it. V.12
“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.’ These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
Moses had finally had enough. Maybe it was the death of his beloved sister. Or maybe it was anger at God for not judging the people, but instead graciously offering water to them for only a spoken word to rock.
Or maybe he was just fed up. Whatever the contributing reasons, Moses disobeyed.
And it cost him dearly.
I want to point out 3 lessons for us from story about obedience and disobedience.
Here’s the first one:
1. OBEDIENCE COMES FROM FAITH; DISOBEDIENCE COMES FROM UNBELIEF.
Notice closely what God says to Moses in verse 12.
“But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron [Aaron was in on this,too], ‘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.’”
Notice that God doesn’t say “Because you didn’t obey me.” Well, he didn’t. That’s why he’s receiving this discipline.
But there is a deeper reason for Moses’ disobedience and that is unbelief.
In other words, “Because you did not trust in me, you didn’t obey me.”
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
Do you ever wonder why you sin? It’s not because you’re having a bad day.
Ultimately, we sin because there are still pockets of unbelief, un-trust, inside of us.
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
If I trust God then I will obey Him.
If I don’t trust Him, then I won’t.
Does that make sense?
It’s really a fundamental principle, but we often miss it.
Why don’t we obey?
It’s because we do not trust the Lord.
If the Lord says to share you faith with unbelievers, why don’t you do it?
Fundamentally, it’s a matter of trust. Do I really believe that God will save people that I talk to?
Do I really believe that God is worth talking about?
Do I really believe that God is enough even if I am rejected?
If I believe, I obey.
At this moment, Moses didn’t believe. And he didn’t obey.
Was there anything hard about God’s command?
Physically, no. It isn’t hard to talk to a rock. I’ve done it many times myself!
But there was probably something hard about just talking to the rock when you felt like smashing it!
God’s commands normally aren’t that hard to do physically. They’re hard to get up the trust to do it.
What is God asking you do? What area of your life is God calling you to a deeper obedience in?
In that area, He’s calling you, right now, to a deeper faith.
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
#2. OBEDIENCE HONORS GOD AS HOLY; DISOBEDIENCE TREATS GOD AS WORTHLESS. Also from verse 12.
“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.’ These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
Do you see that?
God says that Moses’ disobedience did not honor Him as holy.
Obedience Honors God as Holy.
It says that God is amazingly awesome in every way, so perfect and spotless and righteous and beautiful and separate and hallowed, that whatever He asks should be done just as He asks it.
He is worth it! He is worthy of obedience.
Obedience Honors God as Holy.
Does that make sense?
So disobedience does the opposite. Disobedience Treats God as Worthless.
When Moses was more concerned about “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” than he was about obeying God, then he was treating God as less than holy–worthless.
Strikeable even!
Last time, when Moses was supposed to hit the rock, it was clear that the LORD was right there. In fact, the text might indicate that Moses had to go through the LORD to hit the rock.
In the New Testament, we find out that the rock was, in some way, Christ! And the striking of the rock was like the striking of the Good Shepherd on the Cross.
So, it would have been terrible imagery to strike the rock a second time, wouldn’t it have been?
But that’s exactly what Moses does. Twice!
Obedience Honors God as Holy; Disobedience Treats God as Worthless.
Who cares what He says?
What is God worth?
Don’t we do that all of the time?
When we decide that we know better than God and do things our way we are not trust God, and we are not honoring God as holy.
Is there an area of your life where you are walking in disobedience?
Where you are saying, in effect, “I know better than God.”
“I’ve got something more important than God going on here.”
Maybe it has to do with a relationship. Someone you need to forgive?
Maybe it has to do with a habit. Something you need to drop?
I don’t know what it is, but I’ll bet that you if you ask God to “search you and try you” that He’ll put His big finger on it.
Because He opposes it. He deserves and desires to be honored as holy!
That’s why He gave Moses this sentence. “You will not bring this community into the land I give them. [v.13] These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
That’s God’s goal: shown to be holy.
He deserves and desires to be honored as holy! That’s why we need to obey.
And #3. OBEDIENCE LEADS TO BLESSING; DISOBEDIENCE LEADS TO DANGER, DIFFICULTY, AND DEATH.
I’ve said this time and time again. I’ll say it again and again.
With obedience comes blessing. With disobedience comes danger.
The verdict on Moses was that he wouldn’t bring the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Do you think that’s too harsh?
I mean, all he did was hit the rock! (Twice.)
God deserves and desires to be shown as holy.
And there are consequences to our disobedience.
God is all wise, and He determined that the best discipline for Moses’ disobedience here was to not get the honor of taking the next generation into the Promised Land.
And it will be hard to get there all around. That’s what the next section is all about. V.14
“Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: ‘This is what your brother Israel says [Edom comes from Esau and Israel comes from Jacob, this is what your brother says]: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us. Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, but when we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. ‘Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your country [to get into the Promised Land]. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. [We’ll be good boys and girls.] We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ But Edom answered: [No!] ‘You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.’ The Israelites replied: [C’mon!] ‘We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot–nothing else.’ Again they answered: ‘You may not pass through.’ Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. [And Israel got the point.] Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.”
Now, it doesn’t this directly, but I think that this kind of hardship wouldn’t have come upon them if Moses had just obeyed.
Instead, they have danger and difficulty. And death. V.22
“The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.’ Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar [Eleazar is now the high priest.]. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.”
The End of an Era.
The death of the first High Priest. And the reason?
Disobedience.
Obedience Leads to Blessing; Disobedience Leads to Danger, Difficulty, and Death.
Eventually, Moses will die, as well. And he won’t be allowed into the Promised Land.
All because of disobedience.
Do you see what a big deal obedience is?
Jesus told us that the mark of a disciple is first that they are baptized and then that they are taught to OBEY everything that He has commanded.
Obedience is a big deal.
And it’s only good for you!
Obedience Leads to Blessing; Disobedience Leads to Danger, Difficulty, and Death.
Which do you want?
It’s actually stupid to be disobedient!
The smart thing is to obey.
I know that it doesn’t always feel like it.
Satan is a master at making the opposite feel true.
It often feels like obeying God would just about kill you and ruin your life.
But that’s a lie.
With obedience comes blessing. With disobedience comes danger, difficulty, and death.
Which do you want?
Again, where is God asking for your obedience in your life right now?
Where are you tempted to go for what seems to be the easier route?
It’s not. There is danger there.
But there is blessing with obedience.
Here we are the End of an Era.
40 years of dying Israelites.
All three major leaders of the Israelites are not going to enter the land.
Miriam is dead.
Moses has rebelled.
And Aaron, the High Priest, has also died.
And it seems like there’s very little hope.
If even Moses can’t keep the law and keep his head and do what’s right, what hope is there for the people? If the children act like their parents, then what hope is there for the people of God?
Well, eventually God put to death another High Priest.
And His death was the result of disobedience, but it had a whole other effect.
When this High Priest died, He paid for the disobedience of all who trusted in Him.
When this High Priest died, He paid for the rebellious sins of those who didn’t trust God enough to honor Him as holy.
And after this High Priest died, He came back to life bearing gifts!!!
Jesus Christ obeyed where Miriam, Araon, and Moses did not.
Jesus Christ perfectly trusted God.
Jesus Christ perfectly honored God as holy.
Jesus Christ perfectly deserved blessing and honor Himself.
And He gives us His perfect obedience when we trust in Him and in His Cross.
Because the End of the Era was not the end of the story.
Jesus Christ is the end of the story!
And for all who trust in Him, we get the imputation of His obedience to our account.
That’s the gospel! And it’s the greatest news that ever was!
It not only saves us, but it actually gives us the power to begin to obey.
To trust and obey because there is no other way to be happy in Jesus or to honor Jesus and holy than to trust and obey.
Life in the Wilderness
May 20, 2007
Numbers 20:1-29
Do you remember what I have titled this series of messages on the book of Numbers?
“Life in the Wilderness” is the title of this series of messages.
It could also be called “Death in the Wilderness.” Because Israel was supposed to get organized and march up into the Promised Land to conquer it, but they disobeyed God at the Retreat of Unbelief and have been sentenced to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. And the death of an entire generation during those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
Now at chapter 20, we reach what I’m going to call today, “The End of An Era.”
The strangest thing I learned about this chapter this week as I was studying for this message is that beginning here in chapter 20, the 40 years are now up!
Moses doesn’t tell us much about what happened during those 40 years of wilderness wanderings. He doesn’t tell us what it was like for approximately 42 men to die every day for 40 years.
We went from chapter 19 into chapter 20, and all of a sudden, God has brought us to the “End of an Era.”
In chapter 20, Miriam dies. Aaron dies. And Moses is told that he will not lead the people into the Promised Land.
You know why? Because Moses rebels against the Lord.
Didn’t think we’d see that did you? But the era ends with the disobedience of Moses.
And as we look into the End of an Era, we’re going to learn some simple, valuable lessons about obedience and disobedience. V.1
“In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.”
It doesn’t say which year this is the first month of, but when you compare this with other scriptures (esp. Numbers 33), it appears that this is the last year of the 40 years of wilderness wanderings.
And after 39 years, the people of Israel are back where they started: Kadesh.
Kadesh was where they decided to disobey and not enter the Promised Land.
Now they are back at Kadesh. And here Miriam dies. The sister of Moses who connected him with Pharaoh’s daughter. The prophetess who composed the Horse and Rider Song after the Red Sea Rescue. And the woman who challenged her own brother’s authority and contracted leprosy. Miriam died. The end of an era. V.2
“Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.”
Uh oh. Do you get the feeling of deja vu?
Not only are they back at Kadesh, but they’re out of water. Like they have been a number of times in their history.
And have they learned their lesson? What to do when you run out of water?
Trustingly call upon the Lord? No.
They are still grumbling. V.3
“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 desert, 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!’”
They haven’t learned a thing!
They still think that having died is better than living with trouble.
They still think that Egypt was a smorgasbord like Hoss’s.
And they’re complaining that the wilderness isn’t as good as the Promised Land that they had rebelliously decided not to go up and take!
And the worst thing to think about is that these are mostly the children of the generation that died in the wilderness.
The children are acting just like their parents did.
Moses and Aaron have gotten used to falling facedown when this sort of thing happens. They do it again in v.6.
“Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.”
And what do you think is going to happen?
Are the children of Israel going to get it? Is it judgment time? V.7
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘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.’”
Grace! Instead of a judgment, God promises to graciously grant the people drinking water.
Deja Vu all over again, Moses is to take his staff, gather the people at a nearby rock and the rock will produce water!
That’s what happened back in Exodus chapter 17. Water from the rock.
But there’s a difference this time. What is it? What is Moses supposed to do to the rock?
In Exodus 17, he was supposed strike it with his staff.
Now, he’s just supposed to talk to it.
What do you think he’s supposed to say? “Open Sesame?”
How about, “God says give us water. Please do it now.”
But unfortunately, that’s not what Moses does. V.9.
He starts out obediently. “So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron [they’re together on this] gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them [he speaks to the people, not to the rock], ‘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.”
Dramatic! And God was gracious. Water came out and hundreds of thousands of people and livestock drank from it.
But Moses had disobeyed, hadn’t he?
He spoke in anger. He spoke in judgmentalism. Yes, they were rebels, but Moses didn’t need to say that to them. He was supposed to talk to the rock.
He spoke as out of his own frustration. “Must WE bring you water out of this rock?”
And he struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it. V.12
“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.’ These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
Moses had finally had enough. Maybe it was the death of his beloved sister. Or maybe it was anger at God for not judging the people, but instead graciously offering water to them for only a spoken word to rock.
Or maybe he was just fed up. Whatever the contributing reasons, Moses disobeyed.
And it cost him dearly.
I want to point out 3 lessons for us from story about obedience and disobedience.
Here’s the first one:
1. OBEDIENCE COMES FROM FAITH; DISOBEDIENCE COMES FROM UNBELIEF.
Notice closely what God says to Moses in verse 12.
“But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron [Aaron was in on this,too], ‘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.’”
Notice that God doesn’t say “Because you didn’t obey me.” Well, he didn’t. That’s why he’s receiving this discipline.
But there is a deeper reason for Moses’ disobedience and that is unbelief.
In other words, “Because you did not trust in me, you didn’t obey me.”
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
Do you ever wonder why you sin? It’s not because you’re having a bad day.
Ultimately, we sin because there are still pockets of unbelief, un-trust, inside of us.
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
If I trust God then I will obey Him.
If I don’t trust Him, then I won’t.
Does that make sense?
It’s really a fundamental principle, but we often miss it.
Why don’t we obey?
It’s because we do not trust the Lord.
If the Lord says to share you faith with unbelievers, why don’t you do it?
Fundamentally, it’s a matter of trust. Do I really believe that God will save people that I talk to?
Do I really believe that God is worth talking about?
Do I really believe that God is enough even if I am rejected?
If I believe, I obey.
At this moment, Moses didn’t believe. And he didn’t obey.
Was there anything hard about God’s command?
Physically, no. It isn’t hard to talk to a rock. I’ve done it many times myself!
But there was probably something hard about just talking to the rock when you felt like smashing it!
God’s commands normally aren’t that hard to do physically. They’re hard to get up the trust to do it.
What is God asking you do? What area of your life is God calling you to a deeper obedience in?
In that area, He’s calling you, right now, to a deeper faith.
Obedience Comes from Faith; Disobedience Comes from Unbelief.
#2. OBEDIENCE HONORS GOD AS HOLY; DISOBEDIENCE TREATS GOD AS WORTHLESS. Also from verse 12.
“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.’ These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
Do you see that?
God says that Moses’ disobedience did not honor Him as holy.
Obedience Honors God as Holy.
It says that God is amazingly awesome in every way, so perfect and spotless and righteous and beautiful and separate and hallowed, that whatever He asks should be done just as He asks it.
He is worth it! He is worthy of obedience.
Obedience Honors God as Holy.
Does that make sense?
So disobedience does the opposite. Disobedience Treats God as Worthless.
When Moses was more concerned about “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” than he was about obeying God, then he was treating God as less than holy–worthless.
Strikeable even!
Last time, when Moses was supposed to hit the rock, it was clear that the LORD was right there. In fact, the text might indicate that Moses had to go through the LORD to hit the rock.
In the New Testament, we find out that the rock was, in some way, Christ! And the striking of the rock was like the striking of the Good Shepherd on the Cross.
So, it would have been terrible imagery to strike the rock a second time, wouldn’t it have been?
But that’s exactly what Moses does. Twice!
Obedience Honors God as Holy; Disobedience Treats God as Worthless.
Who cares what He says?
What is God worth?
Don’t we do that all of the time?
When we decide that we know better than God and do things our way we are not trust God, and we are not honoring God as holy.
Is there an area of your life where you are walking in disobedience?
Where you are saying, in effect, “I know better than God.”
“I’ve got something more important than God going on here.”
Maybe it has to do with a relationship. Someone you need to forgive?
Maybe it has to do with a habit. Something you need to drop?
I don’t know what it is, but I’ll bet that you if you ask God to “search you and try you” that He’ll put His big finger on it.
Because He opposes it. He deserves and desires to be honored as holy!
That’s why He gave Moses this sentence. “You will not bring this community into the land I give them. [v.13] These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.”
That’s God’s goal: shown to be holy.
He deserves and desires to be honored as holy! That’s why we need to obey.
And #3. OBEDIENCE LEADS TO BLESSING; DISOBEDIENCE LEADS TO DANGER, DIFFICULTY, AND DEATH.
I’ve said this time and time again. I’ll say it again and again.
With obedience comes blessing. With disobedience comes danger.
The verdict on Moses was that he wouldn’t bring the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Do you think that’s too harsh?
I mean, all he did was hit the rock! (Twice.)
God deserves and desires to be shown as holy.
And there are consequences to our disobedience.
God is all wise, and He determined that the best discipline for Moses’ disobedience here was to not get the honor of taking the next generation into the Promised Land.
And it will be hard to get there all around. That’s what the next section is all about. V.14
“Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: ‘This is what your brother Israel says [Edom comes from Esau and Israel comes from Jacob, this is what your brother says]: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us. Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, but when we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. ‘Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your country [to get into the Promised Land]. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. [We’ll be good boys and girls.] We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ But Edom answered: [No!] ‘You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.’ The Israelites replied: [C’mon!] ‘We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot–nothing else.’ Again they answered: ‘You may not pass through.’ Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. [And Israel got the point.] Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.”
Now, it doesn’t this directly, but I think that this kind of hardship wouldn’t have come upon them if Moses had just obeyed.
Instead, they have danger and difficulty. And death. V.22
“The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.’ Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar [Eleazar is now the high priest.]. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.”
The End of an Era.
The death of the first High Priest. And the reason?
Disobedience.
Obedience Leads to Blessing; Disobedience Leads to Danger, Difficulty, and Death.
Eventually, Moses will die, as well. And he won’t be allowed into the Promised Land.
All because of disobedience.
Do you see what a big deal obedience is?
Jesus told us that the mark of a disciple is first that they are baptized and then that they are taught to OBEY everything that He has commanded.
Obedience is a big deal.
And it’s only good for you!
Obedience Leads to Blessing; Disobedience Leads to Danger, Difficulty, and Death.
Which do you want?
It’s actually stupid to be disobedient!
The smart thing is to obey.
I know that it doesn’t always feel like it.
Satan is a master at making the opposite feel true.
It often feels like obeying God would just about kill you and ruin your life.
But that’s a lie.
With obedience comes blessing. With disobedience comes danger, difficulty, and death.
Which do you want?
Again, where is God asking for your obedience in your life right now?
Where are you tempted to go for what seems to be the easier route?
It’s not. There is danger there.
But there is blessing with obedience.
Here we are the End of an Era.
40 years of dying Israelites.
All three major leaders of the Israelites are not going to enter the land.
Miriam is dead.
Moses has rebelled.
And Aaron, the High Priest, has also died.
And it seems like there’s very little hope.
If even Moses can’t keep the law and keep his head and do what’s right, what hope is there for the people? If the children act like their parents, then what hope is there for the people of God?
Well, eventually God put to death another High Priest.
And His death was the result of disobedience, but it had a whole other effect.
When this High Priest died, He paid for the disobedience of all who trusted in Him.
When this High Priest died, He paid for the rebellious sins of those who didn’t trust God enough to honor Him as holy.
And after this High Priest died, He came back to life bearing gifts!!!
Jesus Christ obeyed where Miriam, Araon, and Moses did not.
Jesus Christ perfectly trusted God.
Jesus Christ perfectly honored God as holy.
Jesus Christ perfectly deserved blessing and honor Himself.
And He gives us His perfect obedience when we trust in Him and in His Cross.
Because the End of the Era was not the end of the story.
Jesus Christ is the end of the story!
And for all who trust in Him, we get the imputation of His obedience to our account.
That’s the gospel! And it’s the greatest news that ever was!
It not only saves us, but it actually gives us the power to begin to obey.
To trust and obey because there is no other way to be happy in Jesus or to honor Jesus and holy than to trust and obey.
