When God Is Robbed Of His Glory, Evans Olang

Numbers 20:1-13, “12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

The challenge we have as believers especially leaders is constantly walking in humility obeying God. The struggles comes when people are pushing you out of God’s will because they want you please them whatever the cost, or sometimes you are punishing God’s people because of their struggles.

In this chapter, as always, the Israelites complained of lack of water. Moses had been patient with them, always pleading with God for them. Vs. 6, “So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.” He and Aaron went before the Lord to intercede for the Israelites as always and vs. 7-9, “7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him”. God graciously heard their cry and promised to provide with simple instructions, “speak to the rock…” and more than that “…before their eyes”. This is significant as we will see shortly.

Vs. 10, “And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Even in the midst of complaints of the Israelites, God always did great things, not because the Israelites were awesome but because God was awesome. Just as He did to demonstrate His power and glory unto Pharaoh, He was destined to do the same with the Israelites through Moses. But Moses was so disgusted with people that he forgot that the miracle was not about him or the people but about God. His talk to the people left out the most important person in the miracle, God. When God is left out of the picture only flesh will rise.

Vs. 11, “Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank”. I think this is the tragedy of our day, especially ministers doing things and though they sometimes work, they are still disobedient to God. Just because something works does not mean that is how God intended it for it to work. God will still do things for His own name sake but you will be out of His will . Moses had clear instructions, he failed to execute it, blowing his chances of making it to the promised land even though he had come this far with the Israelites. Paul was doing God’s work and he wanted to make sure he was not living in disobedience especially in preaching the gospel, he says 1Corinthians 9:27, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified”,

Vs. 12, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” They did not doubt the power of God, but of His will to meet this need. Maybe they did not want the Israelites to be blessed. “To Hallow Me” was to give glory of His power in doing this miracle, and of His truth in punctually fulfilling His promise, and of His goodness in doing it. “…In the eyes of Israel” – in spite of the Israelites rebellion, God always left a monument of His work in their midst for His glory.

The sin of Moses and Aaron was that they did not hallow God in the miracle. The action robbed God of the glory He could have gained in this opportunity that presented itself. How about you, are you about pleasing people or God?, Are you about answering your own prayer than trusting God to direct you?, Are you distancing yourself from what God wants to do through you in the midst of the rebellion that you wished nothing good would happen to them?, if you are dealing with any of this, then God is robbed of the glory He deserves in your life. Blessings Ev

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