WEBVTT 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:07.440 Hello everyone. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.960 This is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.080 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.519 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:20.079 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.280 Please join me in this prayer of illumination. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:29.359 God of mercy, the covenant promises in your eternal word do not change. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:39.280 Holy Spirit, enable us to respond to your gracious promises with faithful and obedient hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:55.439 And the people stayed in Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:02.560 Now there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:09.519 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, Would that we have perished when our brothers perished before the Lord? 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:16.480 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.799 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:26.879 It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:33.920 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:46.480 And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:52.560 So you shall bring water out of the rock for them, and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.239 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, and he commanded him. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:05.200 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? 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:13.919 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. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:25.360 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as the holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:32.319 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:33.759 This is God's word. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.759 But um, no, I'm co-founder of Crosstown Ministries. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:03:01.360 Many of you know that, but uh again and again, there are always numerous new people here at New City as we continue to grow, though we preach on numbers. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:14.879 Um and uh so uh but one of the kingdom partners of New City, and so always want to take this opportunity to um say thank you because uh without New City there would be no crosstown ministries. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:20.159 And so uh thank you, thank you for your support as a kingdom partner, thank you for bringing snacks. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:25.759 Um thank you for those of you who've who volunteer, who come read with our students, all the things. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:31.680 Um as time goes on, we just want to continue to grow relationship uh here at New City. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.719 And so uh I just wanted to say uh thank you from the bottom of my heart uh for that. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.240 So um Numbers 20. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:50.000 Um when I read this passage, uh the question that comes to my mind first is um is the wilderness necessary? 00:03:50.000 --> 00:04:01.199 Uh we've been in this uh book, obviously, for the past uh several weeks, and uh you're in this wilderness and it just continues to go on and on, it seems like. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:02.560 And so is it necessary? 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:04.560 And and if so, why? 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:09.840 Um when you read this passage, uh there's a whole lot of tragedy, really. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:19.360 There's uh a lot of struggle, and and maybe you might even think, man, it's a little bit unfair uh the judgment that uh God has uh for Moses. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.959 So you might be sitting here and you feel a little bit like Moses. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:29.279 Um he's a leader, uh he's a he's a leader of God's uh people, but maybe you're a leader. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:36.000 Uh maybe you're a leader in a business, maybe you're uh a leader um in your uh home, maybe you're a leader at school. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:36.959 Um I don't know. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.439 But the reality is, like uh Moses, he he gets so much right. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.240 He led God's people out of Egypt. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:05:00.879 When they rebel, he's pleading with God to uh to on their behalf to have grace on them, and he's patient through most of their complaining and grumbling, and then he messes up this one time here, and boom, um God gives him a consequence, and it's a serious one. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:09.279 He's been wandering with the people since they left Egypt to enter the promised land, and now sorry, Moses, um you don't get to go in. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.199 So maybe that feels like you. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:22.240 Um I was on the phone with a friend this week when we were talking about the fact that leadership is this endless series of decisions that we make, and we might make 95% of those decisions right. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.800 And we get 5% wrong, maybe. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:26.800 And guess what everyone remembers? 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.199 The ones we got wrong, right? 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.680 Um, and that it causes a weariness. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:39.439 Um, maybe as a leader, you get angry from getting almost everything right, um, but that almost feels like you got nothing right. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.480 And being tired and being angry, as we can see from Moses, uh, is a dangerous combination. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:54.800 Um, you might be sitting here and you feel like the rest of the people who are with Moses sitting under his horrible leadership. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.439 Um been in the wilderness for 40 years. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.439 Um, you've got lots of uncertainty. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.240 You've been waiting to enter uh this promised land. 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.319 You're always feeling like you're in need. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:10.560 There's always obstacle after obstacle after after obstacle, and it just doesn't ever feel like you're gonna get there. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.120 And so you grow cynical. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.040 Um maybe that's you. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:19.519 Um Chuck DeGroat wrote a book called Leaving Um Egypt. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:27.040 Um, and in this book, um, he describes the danger of forming an identity from your wilderness wandering. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.439 Um, he says that this can often happen happen around what we call trauma bonding. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.120 Um, it's a buzzword, right? 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:45.439 But instead, what he said is that uh instead of the wilderness being a place along the way to a final destination, it just becomes the destination where we just complain about everything going on around us. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:51.199 And our identity is formed of this is just the way it's gonna be, forever and ever. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:07:06.800 And in that, there's this kind of somewhat veiled, halfway rebellious spirit toward God because he hasn't given you what you wanted, hasn't gotten you out of the circumstance, and so then we just distract ourselves with food and drink and social media and and all the things. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:12.079 And of course, the sad reality is that your wilderness becomes Egypt. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:17.759 So you traded one form of bondage for another, all while calling it freedom. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.000 So why the wilderness? 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.079 Why the wilderness? 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:29.279 Uh my wife and I went to California um this past summer to celebrate uh our 15-year anniversary. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.959 Um, thank you. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:40.000 Um we uh we flew into San Francisco and slowly made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway, eventually ending up in wine country. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.639 Now I'm not much of a wine drinker uh myself. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:47.279 I don't like appreciate the taste um the way that um others might be able to. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:52.639 However, um while we were here, uh I decided I'm gonna become an expert. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.279 Um I want to learn everything I possibly can. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:08:05.040 Um and and when you're there and you're driving, I mean, just everywhere you go, um, there's uh vineyard after uh vineyard, and they look a little bit um like this. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.120 Uh there's a picture that I took. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.199 Um my wife and I actually stayed on uh a vineyard, which was really cool. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.319 And so this was our view um just looking out. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:25.519 And so uh we would go to different places, and you know, they pour out all these uh tastings, samples of different wines, a few of the white, a few of the red, um, and then they explain it all to you. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:32.480 And so there were some things that surprised me about this whole process of making uh wine. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:44.320 The first thing is when you look out there um at that picture, even in my mind, when I thought of wine, I thought of green, luscious, uh everything around is well watered and all this type of stuff. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.480 And instead, I found out I was in a desert. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:47.600 I had no idea. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:53.519 The only green was the vineyard, was the vines uh of grapes. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:54.559 That was the only thing green. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:59.440 When you look at the ground, um, dry, rocky um soil. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:08.320 And so what I found out is that winemakers will intentionally make their grapes struggle. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:09.840 This is what they called it. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:24.080 Intentionally producing stressful situations on the grape uh produces higher quality fruit with deeper, more complex flavors, which ultimately leads, of course, to far superior and might I add, far more expensive uh wine. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:34.480 So instead of irrigating the vineyard and you know, all the things I thought in my head of this perfectly watered uh garden, um, and instead they actually decide not to water it. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.320 Um they'll they'll just wait for rain. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.639 If it comes, great, if it doesn't, uh they assume that the struggle is good. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:46.480 The survival mechanism uh forces the energy directly to the grape itself. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.480 And so it produces this better flavor, color, and aroma. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.960 And so the saying is true. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.200 The struggle of the vine makes better wine. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:58.960 Why the wilderness? 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:01.279 Because God ordained it that way. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.399 Um, through our struggles, I don't understand. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:10.799 Um I wish there was a different way, I wish there was an easier way to make that better wine. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:16.559 But for whatever reason, it's through our struggle that he gives us the opportunity to sink our roots into something. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:22.480 And the question of numbers is will Israel sink their roots deep into him? 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.559 Or will they sink their roots deep into their circumstances? 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:29.519 Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 about the wilderness. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:36.320 He says, These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for us for our instruction. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:46.399 So let's let their wilderness example instruct our wilderness experience so that we can put our roots down deep into the truth of who God is. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.720 Let's allow the struggle of the vine to make the best wine. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:58.879 So, first, um, our first point is that the Lord's people complain, and that there is an allure of accusation. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:02.159 The Lord's people complain, who are these people? 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:10.879 Well, um, as we enter into the story in this verse, at the beginning, we're in the fortieth year of the wandering through the desert. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:20.399 Mike Allen, a couple weeks ago here preached on Numbers 13 and 14, and this was the first generation that had uh all but died out at this point. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.039 But the reason that was the case is because it was a consequence for their disobedience. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:32.159 They were walking about into, they were about to walk into the promised land, twelve spies are sent out to check out this land, they all return. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:37.360 Ten of them say, hey, it's a really cool land, but also followed with a bunch of really big people and were scared. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:42.480 And so instead of going into the land, um uh they decide it's too much for them. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:47.759 And their disob the consequence for their unbelief was, hey, you get to wander. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:49.519 You get to wander in this desert. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:59.919 And so here we have the second generation about to enter in again to the promised land, and we find out that they deal with many of the same um issues. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:01.759 And so what's going on? 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:03.679 Um, there's no water. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:05.919 And not just like a little bit of a problem. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:06.960 Um, there's none. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:10.960 There's no water to drink, it says, there's none for their livestock, there's none to grow food. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.240 This is a truly um desperate situation. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.679 Once again, not the first time this has happened. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:30.320 So when you go back to Exodus 14, right after Israel had been uh uh uh brought out of Egypt, there was no water, the people cry out to Moses, and God brings water in a similar way to how he does here. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.480 But we'll come back to that in a moment. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:38.399 What I want to talk about right now is what I would call the anatomy of complaint. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.559 Um, the anatomy of a complaint. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.919 You see, it all starts with a real need, the real thing. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:45.679 We don't have water, Moses. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.480 Um, but before they go to Moses, what happens? 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:53.519 Clearly they spoke to each other because they got to the point where they assembled together. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:13:00.639 So I don't know, we don't know from scripture exactly what happened, but clearly there's some people who are getting together and say, hey, we got to go to Moses and tell them we need something. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:06.960 Some agitators in the midst, some leaders among them that had the ability to speak and get everyone together. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.200 And then Scripture says they assembled all of them together. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.480 This isn't just a little group of people, it's a lot of people. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:22.559 They assemble together, and it says clearly they set themselves in opposition to Moses and to Aaron, and it says they quarreled with Moses. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.080 And so they start working their way backward through their story. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:31.600 In verse 3, um, it says, Man, I wish we just died when our brothers had died. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.360 Do they even really know what they're talking about? 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:41.840 So weighty statement to say that they wished they had died when their brothers had died. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:43.279 They continue to go backwards. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.480 Why did you even bring us into this wilderness, Moses? 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:51.519 Then they go on and say, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:52.879 Did you forget? 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.559 This is the second generation. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.360 So these weren't even the ones who were in Egypt. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:07.600 They don't even know what it was to be in that type of bondage, and yet they take on the words of their previous generation as if they were their own. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:11.120 And so, um, why does this happen? 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.440 Because they were the audience of their parents. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:17.279 So I want to take a few things away from this in the anatomy of a complaint. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:27.519 The first thing of this is never underestimate the power of our words, especially to those who are listening, especially to those who are under our care. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.360 And especially when those words uh tend to speak of the negative things. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:36.960 They'll be heard, they'll be understood, and they might even be believed. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:41.440 Even if those who you are speaking to haven't been through what you've been through. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:47.120 And so much so that we could be informing what someone believes about who God is, his very character. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.120 This is what was happening for Israel. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.840 Second generation was just a product of the first. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.360 So never underestimate the power of your words. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:59.679 The second thing would be never underestimate the power of how sin is passed down. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.559 Now, we all believe this because of Adam. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:03.919 We know good theology. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.120 Adam falls, we're all born with sin, all that type of stuff. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.080 Yes, I'm talking about that, but I'm talking about something more than that. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:17.840 I'm talking about the specific sin, the specific nature of the sin that you might be passed down. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:26.480 The second generation is rebelling in the exact same way the first generation was, taking on their words almost identically. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.480 And where did they get that from? 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:29.919 From their parents. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:35.440 You see, whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, we're all a product of where we came from. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.720 Product of parents, a product of school, a product of church, or the lack thereof. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:50.320 And so listen, um, one of the most godly things that we can do is to raise our own self-awareness of where we came from. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:55.600 Uh, my father was an alcoholic, um, passed away six years ago. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.679 And so you better believe I must take that seriously. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.720 Not because I think I'm it's not even about the alcohol part. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:03.519 Maybe that's true. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.519 I just told you a whole story about going to wine country. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:06.960 Maybe I need to be careful. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.919 Um but that's not what I mean. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.879 What I mean is, what does that produce? 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.360 What does that teach me about how to be a father? 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:18.159 What does that teach me about how to be a husband? 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.600 It didn't teach me much, but it did teach me some negative things. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.799 So I could either say, it doesn't matter. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:31.360 Or I could say, Let me blame the one who came before me, or I could raise my own self-awareness and say, What is this doing? 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:41.519 And so to this day, still walking through, not as a victim of it, um, but seeking the healing from wounds from the only one who can heal those wounds. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:45.039 So never underestimate the power of past down sin. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:49.440 And finally, never underestimate the temptation to go back to Egypt. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.600 This is why Chuck DeGroat wrote an entire book on this. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:17:03.519 What I mean is we have the powerful ability in our mind to rewrite our narratives so that our past in light of our present somehow seems different. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:11.680 Israel was able to say that being in the in Israel in bondage and slavery for 400 years was better than being free in the wilderness. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:20.240 They were able to rewrite that narrative and then speak it freely to their kids, so much so that they believed it, not even having been there. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.279 Manna's raining down from heaven, feeding them. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:30.160 They have the presence of God with in cloud and fire, and yet they still said it was better back then. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.599 Sometimes our freedom doesn't look like how we want it to look. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.440 And so we look back on the bondage as if those were the good old days. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.359 So never underestimate. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:46.480 Never underestimate the power of your words and the power of sin to pass down and the power of the temptation to go back to Egypt. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.359 So, the anatomy of a complaint. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:53.440 Right after we complain, there's the allure of accusation. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:18:02.720 Right on the heels of complaining about something, once we've done that, we can get to the place where we get to accuse someone for what we're going through. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:06.799 So, why why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness? 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:07.599 They cry out. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.000 Why have you made us come up out of Egypt? 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.519 Who are they talking to? 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.519 Moses and Aaron. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.880 What? 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.440 Moses and Aaron didn't do this. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:19.279 Moses didn't cause this. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.119 The Lord led them into the wilderness. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.640 And that's because Israel cried out to them from bondage and said, Will you come free us? 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:25.839 And he does it. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:32.960 Before this, they were in Egypt making bricks without straw under backbreaking tyranny. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:39.359 And then they have the audacity to say, Why did you, Moses, make us come up out of Egypt? 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:44.720 Why are and then to add on to that, why are they walking around for these 40 years? 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.720 Is that Moses' fault? 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.720 No, it was them. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.160 It was their own sin. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:54.559 It was their own disbelief in what God was saying about going into the promised land. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:00.160 They believed the ten spies rather than God himself saying, This is the promised land. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:06.000 It is so tempting to accuse those in leadership. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:11.359 So why is complaining and accusation, why is this take root so easily? 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.559 Because at its heart is contempt. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:22.000 Contempt is this fierce refusal to face your own brokenness and instead to turn and point the finger and blame someone else. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.119 We're just doing what's been done since the fall. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:30.000 Adam messes up, and when God comes to him and says, What did you do? 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.400 He looks at his wife and says, It was her fault. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:33.519 And then what does she do? 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.799 She looks at the serpent and says, Um, it was his fault. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.279 This is what we do to cover ourselves. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.240 And Israel was no different, right? 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.839 It's their sin, but it's Moses' fault. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.799 And the same is true of us today. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:55.920 Behind all the complaining, behind the accusation, there's often a shame-filled person unwilling to take the covering off. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:01.200 But the invitation from the Lord in Scripture is always take the cover off. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.720 Bring the shame to him and to receive grace. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:11.200 Have your head lifted up and be redignified as being made in the image of God. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:16.720 You see, we need to hear all of this as a truly uh loving warning. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:28.000 Because the reality is, uh, in verse 13, uh Numbers lets us know that indeed Israel wasn't just quarreling with Moses and Aaron. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.960 It says they were quarreling with the Lord Himself. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:38.400 And so the issue is not between Moses and the people, but truly with all of God's people and with the Lord Himself. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:40.559 So why the wilderness? 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.319 Why the wilderness? 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:52.400 Chuck DeGroat says the wilderness is a necessary place where we are stripped of our arrogance, our self-righteousness, and our hypocrisy. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:55.599 It is the furnace of transformation. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:01.039 In other words, it's the struggle of the vine that makes the best wine. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.720 So will you let it be that? 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.920 Will you let the wilderness be what God has caused it to be? 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.119 Will you allow the things in you to be exposed? 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:15.839 Will you take responsibility for the brokenness and the invitation to grow deep roots within him? 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:20.960 So, first, the Lord's people, we love to complain. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.200 And there's an allure of accusation. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:28.240 But let's turn now to the second big uh person in the story, which is Moses and Aaron themselves. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.720 Um, the Lord's leaders respond. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:34.160 And they want revenge for the rebellious. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.799 Revenge for the rebellious. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.920 How did Moses and Aaron respond to the complaining and accusation? 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:42.720 Well, they have an incredible response in verse 6. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:54.000 It says they simply turned from the face of the congregation back to the tent of meeting where God is, where they fell on their faces before the face of the Lord. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.039 Wow. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:22:01.440 I'm telling you what, I've been in leadership in different ways in a lot of different environments, and I don't respond like that. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:02.640 Right? 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:07.039 When we're faced with these types of things, uh, what do we do? 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.559 Let them have it. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:17.119 We would have tried to straighten the truth out, defend ourselves uh from the accusations, put them in their place, let them know you're really hard to lead. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.160 Don't you know that? 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:22.720 Um we would have reminded them that, hey, you've been in this position before, remember? 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.880 And remember, look how the Lord provided? 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:26.079 On and on and on. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.319 That would have been uh my response. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:37.279 But instead, Moses and Aaron, they take it all in, they walk away, and they fall on their face before the Lord. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.000 That is leadership. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:47.759 Our culture today, um, in our world today, we are on a quest for what great leadership is. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.720 Just look at look at what's going on around us, right? 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.960 Um, how divided we are in different ways. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:55.440 We want great uh leadership. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.000 And so we ask, is it is it wielding the largest sword to beat down the opponents? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:06.160 Is it confronting opposition to their face, belittling people, talking about how much bigger and better we are? 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:13.440 Is it being the loudest in the room, having the best strategic plan, having the most charismatic personality? 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.799 Um I'm not saying it's none of those things, but I know it doesn't start there. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:23.279 I know it starts with falling on our face before the Lord. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:27.920 Um, it's from this posture that uh we learn what we're supposed to do. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.960 Um, because it's in this posture that we have to listen. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:43.279 And sometimes we might speak, sometimes we might remain silent, sometimes we might be called to act, sometimes we might be called to wait patiently, sometimes we might be called to slow down, sometimes we might be called to move quickly. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:47.359 But great leadership is an ambassadorship. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:54.319 It's a representation we're leading as a representative of not ourselves, uh, but of God. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:24:01.920 Otherwise, you're leading as a representative of yourself, competing with God's glory, um, causing idolatry. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:06.559 So to have others give their worship to us rather than to God. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:12.960 But there's something in our world today, in our culture, and we love to make an idol of leadership. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.359 We're looking for somebody to make a way, to show us where to go. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.400 Um we're looking for someone to venerate. 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:22.960 Let's clear from this story. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:28.000 If we can't venerate Moses, we should be very careful. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.000 Moses won't have any of it. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.160 Uh I'm sorry, God won't have any of it. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:36.880 The Lord won't have any of it because he is indeed the Lord. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:43.599 So, Moses and Aaron, they go and meet with the Lord and they get their direction from him. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:52.480 It says this, take the staff, this is the Lord speaking, assemble the people and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:54.880 So, what does Moses do? 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:55.920 He starts off so well. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:04.400 He takes the staff, he assembles the people in front of the rock, and he takes a deep breath, and he starts to speak, and you're hoping for the best. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.000 And what comes out? 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:08.400 Hear now, you rebels. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.400 Hear now, you rebels. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:15.839 Shall we bring forth water from this rock? 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:20.240 Moses, man, finally had enough. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.000 Can you blame him? 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.799 I love the humanity of the Bible. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:26.240 It doesn't hold back. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:34.319 The accumulation of enduring so much from this people finally overflows in this angry outburst to the people. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.319 You've been rebelling for years. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.079 Remember the generation before you? 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:41.599 They all had to pass away out here because of the same thing. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:43.920 You want water? 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:45.359 Here you go. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:54.079 And so in anger, he reaches up his hand, it says, Um, with a staff in his hand, and he strikes the rock one time, bang. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.000 That wasn't enough. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.799 Strikes the rock a second time, bang. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:01.759 And water, it says, gushes out. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:08.160 And so you can almost feel the tension in Moses that he's been holding on to for so long. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:11.680 Um we have to wonder like, what does Moses walk away with? 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:13.039 Does he does he feel relieved? 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.720 Finally let him have it. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:16.880 Finally let go. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.519 Been holding that in for a long time. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:20.640 I don't know. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.799 I don't know exactly what was going on. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:29.279 But whatever we are thinking, it's all quickly washed away with the Lord's words back to Moses in verse 12. 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:40.160 Because you did not believe in me to hold 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. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:41.279 What? 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:45.920 He's done so much right, so much right for so long. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:49.039 Um how is this fair? 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:50.799 So, what did he do wrong? 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.720 Well, two things mainly. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:00.160 The Lord's command was to go in front of the rock and speak to the rock, but instead he spoke to the people and let them have it. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.440 The second thing was is he never said to strike the rock. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:04.079 Right? 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:08.079 All he said was to speak to the rock. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:13.039 And the and the Lord interprets um what that means, which is that you didn't believe in me. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:17.839 So from our human eyes, this just doesn't seem uh fair. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:25.440 But in that moment of human frailty, of honesty, you could even argue it's justifiable frustration, he speaks. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.079 But the Lord let him know it's wrong. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.279 It was sin. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:39.200 And not only that, it was public sin because uh because of how he was leading uh God's people astray, and the Lord gives them a tragic consequence. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:45.359 Um it's wrong because Moses wanted revenge for the rebellion he didn't trust. 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.440 And so then we move on in the story, and you don't hear from Moses. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:55.200 We don't really know uh what he thinks, all we hear is the consequence, and the story moves on. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:02.240 But uh Brian Chapel, in his sermon on this same text, um, helped me to see that we do actually hear from Moses. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:03.519 How? 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:06.559 Well, who wrote the book? 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:09.039 Moses. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:12.160 Moses wrote the book of Numbers. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.440 So Moses is telling on himself. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.480 This is Moses' confession. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:20.000 He didn't do it right. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.440 And he didn't just let it be known to the people there, he let it known for generations and generations to come. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:30.960 So we can read Moses today and realize he didn't do it right. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:43.200 And so in writing the passage, he doesn't seek to protect himself, he doesn't seek to defend his actions, he doesn't share how unfair all of this was, he doesn't tell everybody I got 95% of it right and only blew it 5% of the time. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.960 Doesn't do any of that. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:29:07.039 He simply says the story like it happened, including his motivation of his heart, how he failed in this moment, and then he sees himself as being uninvited from being able to go into the promised land after all he's been through, as simply a just action on behalf of the Lord, who Moses loved with his whole heart. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.720 It doesn't change that. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:12.319 You see, Moses demonstrated true leadership. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:27.839 He started down that road of complaint and accusation, but when contempt could settle in and he could blame others for his actions, he owned it and the tragic consequences that came with it. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:33.759 Even though Moses didn't believe God in that moment, he knows the truth of who the Lord is. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:38.079 And ultimately, this is what the struggle in the wilderness was for. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:40.000 It was for Moses, too. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.880 So that he might sink his roots deep into the truth of who God is. 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.880 The struggle of the vine produces the best wine. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:50.960 The same was true for Moses. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:56.400 So finally, we have the people complaining and the allure of accusation. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.279 We have the leaders responding. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:04.799 Wanting revenge for the rebellion, but finally we see the Lord's holiness is displayed. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.960 That He gives grace for the graceless. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:17.359 So in verse 12 again, we hear, Because you didn't believe in me, speaking to Moses, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:21.599 And through them it says that God would show himself holy. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:26.400 Holiness, not something we talk about a whole lot today. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:29.680 Kind of scared of the word, I think, a little bit outdated. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:44.000 Conjures up pictures of God maybe being angry, judging from on high, giving out consequences just because, even in this story, it could feel like, man, come on, couldn't you just give Moses a little grace? 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:47.920 But quite simply, holiness is just God being set apart. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:52.640 It's that God has a glory all his own that he's not going to share with anyone else. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.160 It simply means that God is God, we are not. 00:30:56.160 --> 00:30:59.279 He's the creator, and we're the creature. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:03.519 He speaks, we listen, or choose not to. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:09.519 And at the end of the day, his holiness, no matter what, will be upheld. 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:18.319 And so for Moses and all the Israelites standing there at the precipice of the promised land, about to go in, the Lord wanted them to understand this one thing. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:19.519 Just one thing. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:27.599 That despite everything that was going on, all that Moses did, all that the people did, he wanted them to know I'm still God. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:31.359 And that this promised land is a beautiful place. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:36.079 The land flowing with milk and honey and all the things that they wanted that they didn't have right now. 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:38.799 But he wanted them to understand this and hear this. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:42.640 It means nothing if you don't have me. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:48.559 We want God to change all the circumstances, and sometimes without him. 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:54.160 The wilderness is so that we might be close to him. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:32:02.000 You see, we struggle with the circumstance just like Israel, see what's all around and wondering why, God, aren't you changing all of this yet? 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:06.319 Their time wandering about in the wilderness wasn't just to make them pay for what they'd done. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:11.119