“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?’ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. The Lord said to Moses.., ‘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.'” Numbers 20:10-12
“Now [Jesus] took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-31
Moses, in all of his hard obedience, wilderness walking, and deep communion with God, had dishonored Him at the rock, and he would bear the consequences. It seems a harsh punishment for one who led Israel faithfully for so many years, but God would not be mocked. The honor of His holiness took precedence over His friend’s happiness. But Jesus also redeems, and Moses’ presence at Jesus’s transfiguration in the promised land, centuries after his death, is evidence of the lavish grace of God. (Exodus 33:11; Galatians 6:7)
Foolish in rebel thoughts and impertinent impulses, we too are destined to wander, exempt from God’s holy heaven. But because the Lord Jesus made a way to usher us into God’s presence forever, we too will make it, by grace through faith, to Him. Sins bring internal and external consequences, but if we are in Christ, not eternal. (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9)
We may be suffering from past sins, personally committed or done against us, over which God has worked conviction and forgiveness. We may carry deep regret or painful, even if fading, scars. Some agonies are hard to shrug off, even when we know the Lord’s cleansing and redeeming love. Turning from difficulties we wrestle with to the Lord Jesus who wrestles on our behalf ameliorates our perspective. God’s promised land is certain, and He appears in glory to meet us in every situation. Eternal separation from all sin’s fallout is our sure hope. (Psalm 32:1-2; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:1; Revelation 22:1-5,14)
Where are we making our dwelling? Are we wallowing with dread and without hope in a desert of regrets, missed opportunities, foolish actions we cannot retrieve or undo? Or will we go to our Savior on the heights, intent on His glorious presence and provision? Every strike of the rock by way of thoughtless gesture, grave immorality, or coddled sin habit, He has covered by His grace-blood, and we are free to draw nigh. If we believe His promise, what difference is it making today?
“O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” ~Robert Robinson (1758)
Amen, to Your honor and praise.
As the rain and snow 