The consequences of sin. Moses without a doubt was one of the best men to have ever lived. We can see how God felt about him in Numbers 12 After God brought the Israelites out of Egypt they came to Mt Sinai. This is where God gave them the Law of Moses. While they were here Miram (Moses sister) and Aaron (Moses brother) began to make accusations against Moses. 1
Nu 12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) Nu 12:4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. 6 Then He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. 2
God tells Miriam and Aaron that the normal way I communicate with my prophets is thru dreams and visions. This is no doubt the way God had communicated with Miriam and Aaron. But, Moses was special. Nu 12:7 Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. Nu 12:8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses? God spoke to Moses directly and plainly. He didn t use visions and dreams to communicate with Moses. Moses had also seen some type of a physical manifestation of God in Exodus 33 3
There is no doubt that Moses was very special to God. Now, I want us to look at another event in the life of Moses that we need to learn a lesson from. Ro 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness they often complained about their circumstance and made terrible accusations against God and Moses. We have one of these times recorded for us in Numbers 17 Ex 17:1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?" 4
Ex 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me! 5 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Ex 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. When Moses struck this rock with the rod of Aaron then water came out. Not just a little water but enough water for over 2 million people and all of their livestock. What an amazing demonstration of the power of God! 5
This was the second time God had provided water for them after crossing the Red Sea God had made the bitter water at Marah fit to drink by having Moses cast a tree into the water. God had demonstrated time and time again in Egypt and in the wilderness that He was going to take care of them. There was no reason for them to think otherwise. In spite of all the evidence they still complained against God and Moses. I want us to look at one more time that the Israelites complain against God and Moses because of a lack of water. It is during this event that I want us to learn a lesson from the life of Moses. This took place about 40 years after they came up out of Egypt During this 40 year period God had fed them, made sure they had water to drink and their clothes and shoes did not wear out. 6
God had taken care of them! Listen to what happens in Numbers 20. Nu 20:1 Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. 2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. Nu 20:3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 "Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 "And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." 7
We can understand how this might have angered Moses. He had been listening to these people murmur and complain for 40 years. Now they are complaining and making these terrible accusations against Moses and God. Nobody likes to be around someone who does nothing but complain. Let s read on. Nu 20:6 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. 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." 8
God tells Moses to do something very similar to what he had done before. The first time, Moses was to take Aaron s rod and strike the rock for water. This time, Moses is to take the rod and speak to the rock for water. Let s see what Moses does. Nu 20:9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. Nu 20:10 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?" 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. Moses, out of anger, says and does something in this instance that he should not. 9
Look at what he says: Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Moses claims to have some part in bringing the water from the rock when in truth it was the power of God alone that brought forth the water. Look at what he does: Instead of speaking to the rock as God said he struck it twice in order to get the water to come from it. This may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, especially considering how much God loved Moses. But God calls what Moses did rebellion. Nu 27:14 "For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes." (These are the waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.) 10
If we go back to Numbers 20 we will see the punishment God brings on Moses because of this sin Nu 20:12 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. This had to be devastating news to Moses. His mission over the last 40 years had been to get himself and the Israelites into the promised land. This one event was going to keep him from reaching his goal. In spite of him being the leader of God s people and someone who God spoke to directly, he was not going to be able to enter the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What lessons can we learn from what happened to Moses? 11
The first thing we can learn is that sin has consequences even for good people. For Moses it had physical consequences for us it can have spiritual consequences. Eph 5:3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. Eph 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. If we engage in these sin and others we will not make it into our promised land. 12
Another lesson we can learn is to control our emotions especially anger. Moses in his anger got involved in sin. How many times in history has this happened? Men have become angry and then said and done things they should not have done. Becoming angry is not the problem. Sinning because we are angry is. Eph 4:26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, The final thing we will mention today is: we must remain faithful. No matter how faithful a Christian we may have been in the past if we don t continue on that path then we won t make it into the promised land. God teaches a principle in Ezekiel 18 that still applies. Eze 18:21 "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 13
Eze 18:22 "None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live? This principle applied to them in a physical way but to us in a spiritual way. When the wicked turns from his sins and obeys the Gospel he will have eternal life. Eze 18:24 "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. When the Christian forsakes God and turns back into the world all of the good he has done in the past will not be able to save him. 14
Conclusion Moses was one of the best men to have ever lived but sin kept him out of the promised land. We need to understand that sin has consequences for us as well. Sometimes in our physical life but always in our spiritual life if it is not forgiven. We need to control our emotions and not let them lead us into sin. We must remain faithful unto death 15