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.”
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.
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.”
Why did Moses disobey God’s Command? Why do we disobey God’s instructions? Three things caused Moses to sin in this manner:
- Anger – Moses had a weakness in controlling his anger. His anger was justifiable and even understandable as thousands of people were rebelling against him, almost to the point of wanting to stone him. However, anger can lead to ungodly actions. Even when we get angry, it should not cause us to disobey God.
- Pride – Moses may have assumed that everything was done by his own ability.
He struck the rock, following his own way, instead of relying on God’s way, an element of pride. - Lack of faith – By striking the rock instead of speaking to it, he did what he thought logical. He struck the rock previously in Exodus chapter 17 and water came from it. So he trusted more in logic (or memory) than in God. This ultimately led to disobedience.
HOW THEN CAN WE DEAL WITH ANGER, PRIDE AND LACK OF FAITH?
- Make a conscious decision to distance yourself from thoughts of anger.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
2. When angry, don’t let your rage continue past the day. The Bible cautions us that this is sinful
“In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
3. Ask for God’s wisdom. This wisdom comes from the Spirit of God, and from the Bible.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
4. Ask God for self control, especially when you’re really annoyed. Some = of the fruits of the Holy Spirit are patience and self control.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
5. When angry, don’t be quick to act in that moment of anger.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…
6. Remember to be compassionate and to love fully. When Jesus got angry, He did not sin. instead, He did good. Endeavor to act like Christ
2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored…