Moses sin that prevented Him from entering the promised land and how pastors and church leaders can escape following after his example.

Believers, twice the Lord brought water out of the Rock for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the above, let's see who this Rock is. We see this in 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul writes about the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness:

1"I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that traveled with them, and that Rock was Christ."

That Rock was Christ.

The first time God supplied water to His people from the Rock is recorded in Exodus 17. This happened not too long after their freedom from bondage in Egypt-

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. 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.”

Notice the Lord said to Moses "your rod"? He told Moses to strike the Rock (a picture of Christ) with his (Moses) rod - the same rod that became a snake when Moses threw it on the ground; the same rod that was used to turn the Nile into blood. This rod belonged to Moses. It was a rod of judgment. It struck Christ the Rock and water flowed freely for the complaint-filled and stiff-necked children of Israel.

But the second time that God supplied the people with water in the wilderness, the Lord did not tell Moses to take "your rod" neither did He command Moses to strike the Rock. See what the Lord said and what transpired in Numbers 20. This second "water from the Rock" incident happened in their 40th year of wandering, not too long before they entered the promised land:

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.” 

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.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

Believer, every single word in the Bible is "God breathed" -  this "the rod" that Moses took from before the Lord was not Moses rod. Moses and Aaron had to go into the presence of the Lord to get this "the rod." Know that God is neither frivolous nor careless as to mix up His use of "his" and "the" in telling Moses which rod to use. The first time, He told Moses:

"...Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 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.” Exodus 20:5-6.

The second is in Numbers 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.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

There were TWO RODS. One "your rod"  for the striking of the Rock. The other "the rod" where only speaking is necesary.  One - "your rod" - belonging to Moses. The other- "the rod" - taken from before the Lord. 

Remember,  Numbers 20:9 - "So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

So where did this "the rod" that Moses took from before the Lord come from?  It was Aaron's rod that budded, blossomed and bore fruit after Korah's rebellion (Numbers 16-17.) How do we know this? God's word says so-  Aaron's rod that budded was the only rod that was "before the Lord" in the Holy of Holies where the Lord said He would meet with Moses - see Exodus 25 where the Lord gave instructions concerning the making of His tabernacle and His meeting with Moses:

21 "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel."

The Lord spoke with Moses from above the mercy seat. When the people complained of thirst the second time, Moses and Aaron went before the Lord - before the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle. Before the Ark of the Covenant. Three things the Lord told Moses to put in the Ark and cover with the Mercy Seat: Hebrews 9:4-

"In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant."

For anyone who might need an Old Testament reference for Aaron's rod being put in the Ark of the Covenant, see Numbers 17:10. This happened right after Aaron's dead rod sprouted life- 

"And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”"

Aarons rod was "the rod." It was the only rod that was "before the Lord." And just three chapters later in Numbers 20, the Israelites complained of thirst. Moses and Aaron did this after they complained:

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.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

This was the second time that God was going to bring water from the Rock for them. "The rod" that the Lord told Moses to take and which Moses took "from before the Lord" was the rod of Aaron that blossomed. Recall Numbers 10:17-

"And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels...."

But Moses didn't do as the Lord said. He took "his rod" and not "the rod" as the Lord commanded. He struck the Rock instead of speaking to Him as the Lord commanded - Numbers 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.

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.”

The Lord told Moses to take "the rod" aka Aaron's rod that budded and "speak" to the Rock. Moses didn't. Instead, Moses (with Aaron) stood before the Rock, called God's people "rebels," acted like he and Aaron were the ones bringing water from out of the rock, made it look like God was angry with the people and struck the Rock with his own rod! Moses totally left Aaron's rod out of the picture - Aaron's rod that budded here is a picture of all believers having Christ as our High Priest who gave Himself as atonement for our sins. 

And God was angry with Moses. With regard to His people entering the Promised Land, He replaced Moses with Joshua. 

Believers, especially pastors and leaders, today, the Lord says: "Take the rod" and "speak to the Rock." Recall 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul writes about the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness tells us-

"My dear fellow believers, you need to understand that all of our Jewish ancestors who walked through a wilderness long ago were under the glory cloud and passed through the waters of the sea on both sides. 2 They were all baptized into the cloud of glory, into the fellowship of Moses, and into the sea. 3 They all ate the same heavenly manna 4 and drank water from the same spiritual rock that traveled with them—and that Rock was Christ himself. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their dead bodies were scattered around the wilderness.

6 Now, all these things serve as types and pictures for us—lessons that teach us not to fail in the same way by callously craving worthless things"

Believer, these things are types and pictures for us. They are lessons to keep us from making the same mistakes as the Israelites died in the wilderness - their mistake of unbelief in the goodness of God. Also Moses who is an example of pastors and church leaders today- but we'll get to Moses sin in a bit.

Christ is the Rock. From Him flows God's abundance of Grace and His endless blessings that refresh our lives. Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. The Israelites deserved to die of thirst for their sins. But God poured out His abundance of Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) on them, as He does on all who believe in Jesus Christ the Rock today.

Moses' rod represents God's judgment for our inability to keep the Law of Moses. Christ has been struck with this rod of God's judgment for our sake ONCE. The wages of sin is death. One death. Christ died that death ONCE for ALL. He died the death that the Law demanded of us, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again, be angry with you or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour. 

Moses here is a picture of pastors and leaders who are wielding the rod of Moses (a picture of God's judgment that Christ bore for our sake) over their congregation- including the judgment of generational and other curses. Like Moses did, such leaders present God to the people as an angry Taskmaster who is just waiting to catch His people in sin so that He can punish them and unleash the devourer on His own children. Such strike the Rock with Moses' rod of judgment again when the word of the Lord to all who have Jesus Christ as our High Priest is "take the rod" and "speak to the Rock." 

These are church leaders who tell their congregation that God demands some human striving- seeds, fasts, tithe, obedience to the Ten Commandments, penance and all sorts of human effort-driven activites before He will meet your needs or unleash His abundance of Grace on you through the Rock that is Jesus Christ! None of these things did the Israelites have to do before the Lord abundantly met their need with water from the Rock. 

But many leaders crucify Christ again by striking the Rock with their own rod of Law, misrepresenting our heavenly Father in Christ to the assembly by threatening His people with judgment for the punishment of sins that Christ our Rock was struck with to save us and telling the flock that God will not freely bless unless one first does something by human effort. Such see as 'rebels' God's people who are being transformed by His Spirit, tell you that God is angry with you and turns His back on you when you sin and levy the flock with all sorts of demands for the abundance of refreshing water that God freely gives through Christ.

God was angry with Moses for wrongly presenting Him to the Israelites in this manner. He said to Moses and Aaron in Numbers 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.”

See the New Living Translation:  "But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to demonstrate My holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”"

Moses was like many leaders today: having confidence in the rod of judgment (law) but skeptical about trusting God to demonstrate His goodness without human effort being involved and without making the assembly bear some guilt by themselves. 

Because of the way that they presented God to the people of Israel, they did not bring the people into the promised land. Joshua did. See this in the words of Moses concerning this incident in Deuteronomy 3:26-

23“At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said? 24 ‘O Sovereign Lord, You have only begun to show Your greatness and the strength of Your hand to me, Your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as You do? 25 Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’

26 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and He would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ He declared. ‘Speak of it no more. 27 But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. 28 Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’"

Notice the Lord was angry with Moses because of the same people that Moses called "rebels" in anger. But wait. Moses was also angry when he came down from the mountain to find the people with the golden calf. He broke the two tablets of stone on which the Law was written in anger. God was not angry with Him then. How come God was angry when he called the people "rebels"? It is because there was no high priest's "the rod" involved during the golden calf episode. Moses anger was in line with God's anger. There was no rod belonging to the high priest who makes atonement for the people involved. Three thousand people died.

At the first provision of water from the Rock, the Rock Himself was struck with the rod of judgment instead of the people. At the second provision of water from the Rock, "the rod" of the high priest had entered the picture. For we who believe in Jesus, Christ Himself is our High Priest. Isaiah 53 tells of His suffering and death for us while Isaiah 54 chronicles the benefits that we have as a result of His sacrifice. See one such blessing in Isaiah 54:9-

"Just as I swore in the time of Noah

    that I would never again let a flood cover the earth,

so now I swear

    that I will never again be angry and punish you."

At the second provision, Moses made the people believe that God was still angry with them when God was not; just as many church leaders today make their congregation believe that God is still angry with believers whose sins God has utterly punished in the body of His own beloved Son  - Jesus Christ our High Priest.

So Joshua led the people into the promised land. Joshua in Hebrew is the name "Yeshua" meaning "Salvation." The name "Yeshua" is what we know as "Jesus" in the English bible. It is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ our Rock and our Salvation from whom every blessing of God flows FREELY to all who believe Him. Romans 8:32 says of God's heart towards all who believe in Jesus:

"He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Pastors and leaders, by God's grace, don't strike the Rock again like Moses. His sin was misrepresenting God to the assembly. He presented the Lord to His people as angry with them for their sins and rebellion,not a God who knows and sympathises with the weaknesses of His people and who FREELY gives to all who come to Him through the Rock (Jesus Christ) to quench their thirst.

God must be properly represented to His children in Christ and this happens by Grace alone. The arm of flesh (human striving at attaining godliness) will fail so utterly depend on the Lord Jesus Christ alone and ask Him to take charge regarding how you present Him to His assembly.

Believers, God is not a hard Taskmaster who is just waiting in the wings to catch us in sin so that He can punish us, let the devil have a go at us, call us "rebels" or yell angrily at us before He brings water out of the Rock for us. He knows how frail and screwed up we can be. He helps us in our weaknesses always. In fact, His strength is made perfect in weakness. Matthew 1:21 says of Him:

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

For we who believe in Jesus, the Lord God Almighty is our Daddy; He is "Abba, Father" who loved us so much, even in our sins, that He sent His own Son to die our death that His Law demanded. He corrects and disciplines us but never with the earthly ills and death that Christ suffered and died to free us from. Hebrews 12 tells us that His correction is that we might live, for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness (we have none of ours) and that we might live right. And all through the finished work of Christ for our salvation. Only through Him do we have God's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness. Only through Him do we have Rest from sin and all earthly ills.

Many people think that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ that He lavishes on us in our physically imperfect walk will make people go on sinning sprees, but His word says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

Right believing always produces right living.