For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel. [Deuteronomy 32:51-52 (NLT)]
The Israelites had been away from Israel for less than two months when they arrived at Rephidim. With no water to drink, the people complained, questioned whether the Lord was with them, criticized Moses, and then threatened him. Fearing for his life, Moses asked God what to do. Instructing him to strike a rock with his staff, God promised that water would come gushing out and, as promised, it did. The miracle was memorialized by the name given to this location, Massah (meaning testing) and Meribah (meaning quarreling.) Unfortunately, that was not the last time the Israelites tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses.
While still at Rephidim, Israel was attacked by Amalekites. Joshua led the men against their foes and Moses, Aaron, and Hur watched from a hill while holding that same staff high for Israel to see. Israel was victorious that day. In acknowledgement that their victory actually belonged to God because He was the source of their strength and courage, Moses built an altar and named it Yahweh-Nissi, meaning the Lord is my banner.
Nearly forty years later, a new generation of Israelites arrived in the wilderness of Zin to camp at Kadesh. As happened at Rephidim, there was no water. Apparently forgetting that their 38 extra years of wandering were because of their and their parents’ testing and quarreling, the people rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The brothers wisely took the problem to God who again gave them specific instructions. This time, however, Moses was to take the staff, speak to the rock, and watch as the water poured out. Rather than follow God’s directions, however, Moses angrily spoke to the people, “Must we bring you water from this rock?” and then struck the rock twice with his staff. Despite his disobedience, God graciously provided water and the people drank their fill. But, because Israel quarreled again with the Lord, this place also became known as the waters of Meribah.
Because Moses and Aaron had defied a direct command from God, they were punished and neither man was allowed to enter the Promised Land. Granted, Moses was tired, frustrated, and annoyed. He’d spent a third of his life leading over two million of these “stiff-necked people” and now, with the end in sight, they again complained, protested his leadership, and doubted the Lord. Perhaps it was his frustration and anger that led him to disobey God.
On the other hand, perhaps it was his pride. Nearly forty years had passed since bringing forth water from the rock at Rephidim and Moses may have forgotten whose power brought about that miracle as well as their victory over the Amalekites. In those decades of leading the people through the wilderness, had Moses forgotten who actually provided forty years’ worth of guidance and miracles? Had he mistakenly come to think that he and his staff held the power? By saying that he and Aaron would bring the people water, Moses appears to have thought the miracle would come from him rather than God! Once in sight of the finish line, the men showed too much faith in themselves and too little faith in God.
God is quite direct when telling us what to do and how to do it. He expects us to do it His way and we break faith with Him whenever we disobey. We also break faith with Him when we fail to acknowledge His presence and power. “To God be the glory,” are not to be empty words. God told Isaiah, “I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.” [42:8] He’s certainly not about to share it with mere mortals either!
Although Moses saw Canaan from a distance, he and Aaron missed the blessing for which they had waited forty years. We don’t want just to view the Promised Land; like Moses, we want to enter it! Let’s never forget who actually provides us with the guidance, wisdom, strength, and ability to attain whatever success we have on our journey through life. Like Moses’ staff, we are merely God’s instruments; both the power and glory belong to Him.
The book of Leviticus outlined several things that could make someone ceremonially or ritually unclean. These things included bodily discharges, touching a corpse, and skin infections, as well as contact with any unclean person or thing. By Jesus’ day, even entering a Gentile’s home made someone unclean. Anything and anyone an unclean person touched became unclean and, anyone who touched them or what they touched also became unclean.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul refutes the message of those who preached that adherence to Jewish laws was required of all believers. His are harsh judgmental words from a man who never even walked with Jesus on earth. Why was Paul’s Gospel the definitive one rather than the one the Galatians heard preached by the Judaizers? For the first two chapters of his letter, Paul explains the source of his apostolic authority.
Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, thirteen are attributed to the Apostle Paul. We know he wrote another letter to the Corinthians and the prolific letter writer probably wrote letters to believers in places like Damascus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem, but these thirteen are all that remain. Considering Nero’s persecution of Christians, the violence during the Jewish revolt, and Domitian’s persecution of Jews and Christians, all of which happened before the end of the 1st century, it’s a wonder that any of Paul’s letters survived! God, however, saw to it that these thirteen ”God-breathed” epistles were preserved and became part of the Christian canon.
Whenever we play Yahtzee, my younger grands blow on the dice to ensure their good luck. Like Yahtzee, life often seems a game of chance where sometimes we’re lucky and sometimes we’re not. Luck, however, has nothing to do with it. For example, King Ahab seemed to have incredibly bad luck when a soldier randomly shot an arrow and accidently hit him right between the joints of his armor. In spite of appearances, however, that wasn’t because of Ahab’s bad luck. Before going into battle, God had pronounced the evil king’s doom through His prophet Micaiah.
By now, the visiting family has returned home; the jelly beans, Peeps, and chocolate eggs have been eaten; the Easter lily has wilted; the baskets and bunny décor are back in their boxes; and the hardboiled eggs are long gone. While Easter has been put away for another year, its message didn’t end with the resurrection.
Devotions of the Heart 