In my Bible Recap readings I’m just finishing Deuteronomy and the story of Moses. As you probably remember, Moses was the leader of the Israelite nation from the time they left slavery in Egypt, through the forty years of wandering in the desert, up to the point in which they entered the Promised Land. Have you ever felt like someone kind of got “screwed” out of what they deserved? After all, Moses had led these stiff-hearted, rebellious people for forty years, and more than once had kept God from destroying them forever because of their sin. He had listened to their grumbling and complaining and watched in horror when they committed idolatry. He had lived with their bad attitudes for a long time, all with the understanding that he was leading God’s people to their Promised Land. Then in one tiny moment of frustration, his personal hopes for entering the Promised Land were dashed. Numbers 20 tells the story this way:
In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh…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!”
Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting [with God] and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 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.” These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.
The people are whining and complaining – yet again – so Moses goes to God. God’s glory appears to Moses and gives him directions to “speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.” So Moses went back to the people, called them rebels, and struck the rock twice with the staff. Water came out and the people and livestock drank. What’s the big deal?
It was a big deal to God. He told Moses, “You broke faith with Me among of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat Me as holy among of the sons of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 32:51 AMP). Other translations say that Moses and Aaron were unfaithful toward God, sinning or trespassing against God, and even refusing to obey him. Ultimately, Moses and Aaron did not honor God as holy in front of the people. Again, why does this matter?
Obviously, whether by Moses or an average person, willfully sinning against God is not good. Yet, even after years and years of revelation from God, service to God, and worship of God, Moses lost his opportunity to live in the Promised Land. WHY? This seems so unfair to me. Or at least it did until I thought about the role Moses had. He was the spiritual leader of somewhere between 30,000 and 2 million Israelites. He had experienced God in ways no one else had – not even Aaron. I believe that God held him to a higher standard because he’d called Moses to a high place of leadership. When you are in that place of important spiritual leadership, your life must reflect the choices and calling upon it – and the holiness of God. Easy? Not necessarily. But, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and in context of a good community, it can certainly be done.
This brings me to an important thought: We need to pray for the spiritual leaders among us because they will be held to a higher standard by God.
Whoever aspires to be an overseer [leader] desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach… (1 Timothy 3:1-2 NIV)
Not many of you should become teachers [or other spiritual leaders], my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach [and lead] will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1 NIV)
The weight of God’s glory upon these leaders’ lives is real – and so are his higher expectations for them. Let us pray today for the spiritual leaders among us so they are able to enter their Promised Lands.
Shepherding God,
Thank you that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank you that you are the Good Shepherd who gave up his life for us on the Cross so we could know eternal life in you. Thank you that you know those who are yours and they know and recognize you. Thank you for the many men and women you have put into places of leadership in your Church. Thank you for all those you have appointed with your Grace to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. We pray that by the power of Holy Spirit they would be able to fulfill their calling to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry so the Body of Christ is enlarged and built up. We pray that each of them would have hearts that are set on You. May their relationships with spouses be pure and godly. May they be sensible, well-behaved, self-disciplined, hospitable, not lovers of money, patient, kind, generous, and gentle. May their hearts be set on guiding their households and their local churches with wisdom and dignity, bringing up physical and spiritual children to worship with devotion and purity. Protect them from falling into pride or greed or ay other sin that would damage and disgrace their testimony. We pray for those in Church leadership who are struggling with fear, sin, discouragement (even despair) and/or overwhelming circumstances. We pray for Holy Spirit to pour out upon them the grace, strength, courage, wisdom and discernment they need. We know that your weapons of warfare include your divine power to demolish strongholds, arguments, and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. So, we pray in the name of Jesus that you would break the power of every wicked stronghold, burden or scar in their lives. Take every thought and action captive to you, and help them to come out of the darkness into the fullness of your love. Give them encouragement, peace, and joy as they go about the ministry work you have set before them. We pray that the blessings of divine grace and supernatural peace that flow from God our wonderful Father, and our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, be upon their lives and ministries, in Jesus’s name. Amen and Amen.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)
I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep….I alone am the Good Shepherd, and I know those whose hearts are mine, for they recognize me and know me, just as my Father knows my heart and I know my Father’s heart. (John 10:11, 14-15 TPT)
And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12 TPT)
If any of you aspires to be an overseer in the church; you have set your heart toward a noble ambition, for the word is true! Yet an elder needs to be one who is without blame before others. He should be one whose heart is for his wife alone and not another woman. He should be recognized as one who is sensible, and well-behaved, and living a disciplined life. He should be a “spiritual shepherd” who has the gift of teaching, and is known for his hospitality. He cannot be a drunkard, or someone who lashes out at others, or argumentative, or someone who simply craves more money, but instead, recognized by his gentleness.
His heart should be set on guiding his household with wisdom and dignity; bringing up his children to worship with devotion and purity. For if he’s unable to properly lead his own household well, how could he properly lead God’s household? He should not be a new disciple who would be vulnerable to living in the clouds of conceit and fall into pride, making him easy prey for Satan. He should be respected by those who are unbelievers, having a beautiful testimony among them so that he will not fall into the traps of Satan and be disgraced. (1 Timothy 3:1-7 TPT)
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)
May the blessings of divine grace and supernatural peace that flow from God our wonderful Father, and our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, be upon your lives. (Philippians 1:2 TPT)
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.
Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreledwith 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!”
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. 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.”
These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them. (Numbers 20 NIV)
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. (1 Timothy 3:1-8 NIV)
(Prayer originally published February 18, 2021.)