Israel complained. They did so a lot. They complained about not having meat and God sent them quail. They complained about not having food and God sent them manna. They complained about not having water and God brought them water.
On one such occasion in the Wilderness of Zin the people could not find water. They started complaining against Moses. They accused Moses of leading them there to die. Moses and his brother Aaron left the people and went to the Lord's presence at the tabernacle. God met them and spoke to them.
Numbers 20:6-9 (ESV)
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,
7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”
9 And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
So far so good. Once again God was about to do a miracle for Israel. Only something is about to happen. It may seem like a small thing but small things can be big things in the eyes of God. Let's keep reading.
Numbers 20:10 (ESV)
10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
There! Did you see it? Did you take notice? Moses in his frustration sinned. He sinned with one little word. The word "we." "Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" Moses did not say, "Shall HE bring water for you out of this rock." The difference between "we" and "He" is immense. It also proved extremely costly to this devout servant of the LORD.
Moses did not have the power to make water come from a rock. Moses and his staff were used in several miracles going all the way back to Egypt. Huge miracles like the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. God did them. Not Moses. Moses was a prophet. An intercessor. NOT A MIRACLE WORKER. God did the miracles. In this one instance, Moses took His eyes off God and took some of the credit for the water coming from the rock. He did not give all the glory to God. He did not put all the focus on God.
You and I might say, "That is a little thing. Moses was just frustrated with the people. It was a slip of the tongue. No big deal. So he made a mistake."
God had other ideas. The miracle still came and the water flowed from the rock when Moses struck it with his staff. But read what God said to Moses afterward.
Numbers 20:12 (ESV)
12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
God's indictment to Moses. "You did not treat Me as holy in the eyes of the people.You did not uplift Me in the eyes of the people." In other words, you did not give me all the glory. You did not point the people to God as the source of water coming from the rock. You wanted to take some of the credit. You tried to exalt yourself subtly before the people instead of humbling yourself and exalting Me. It was the sin between "we" and "He."
Do we do that too? Do we try to take credit for the things God does? I hear pastors say all the time, "My church. My people." That has never set well with me. It is not their's. The Spring Creek flock is not mine. It is God's entrusted to me to watch over. It is His church. Not mine.
We like to get the applause of men. We enjoy being highly esteemed in the eyes of others. We want to be recognized for our accomplishments. It is God who deserves the glory. Let me illustrate. Perhaps you boast in your education. You worked hard to achieve a degree. You are proud of that degree. What did you do at birth to be blessed with the ability to reason, think, formulate ideas. That was a gift from God that had nothing to do with you. You had no say in the matter. At any given time your heart could quit beating. You don't think about it during the night or much during the day. It just ticks one beat after another. Another gift from God. You breathe. You inhale oxygen keeping you alive. That's God again. You are protected from bacterias and diseases. Who keeps harm away? God. On any given day your car could malfunction or someone driving near you causing an accident ending your life. Who protects you? God again. You boast in your accomplishments at work and yet God gives you wisdom, creativity, skill and leadership abilities. Need I go on?
I have pastored numerous churches in my ministry. I have seen this repeatedly. There have been ministries God blessed. He worked. He drew people to Himself. He grew the churches. He saved the lost. He provided abundantly. I have also seen ministries where His hand seemed withdrawn. Where the people did not come. Where the church did not grow. Where the finances dried up. In both cases I prayed. I studied. I worked. I know it is God when it is blessed. It is not me. Any ministry God blesses has nothing to do with me, and, therefore I can take none of the credit. NONE. It is not my preaching. It is not my praying. It is not my teaching. It is not my writing. It is not my leading. I practically killed three churches in my 30 years of preaching. The ones that have grown have been blessed of God. I just got to the vessel. He did the work not we.
We versus He. Because of that one sin Moses did not get to enter into the Promised Land with Israel. God let him see it from a distance but refused to let him enter. God takes stealing His glory seriously. May we not offend Him by doing likewise.
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