Encouragement

Moses' ERROR At Kadesh And Its Price

by Stan Arney
08/13/16
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Numbers 20:1-13

Then The Children of Israel, The Whole Congregation, came into The Wilderness of Zin in The First Month, and The People (The Children of Israel) stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam DIED There (Kadesh) and was BURIED There (Kadesh).  Now there was NO water for The Congregation (The Children of Israel); so They (The Children of Israel) gathered together AGAINST Moses and Aaron.  And The People (The Children of Israel) CONTENDED with Moses and spoke, saying: “If ONLY We had died when Our Brethren died BEFORE The LORD (GOD Almighty)!  Why have YOU (Moses) BROUGHT UP The Assembly of The LORD (GOD Almighty) into This Wilderness, that We and Our animals should die here (Kadesh)?  And why have YOU (Moses) made Us COME UP OUT of Egypt, to BRING Us to This Evil Place (Kadesh)?  It is NOT a Place of Grain OR Figs OR Vines OR Pomegranates; NOR is there ANY water to drink.”

So, Moses and Aaron went from The Presence of The Assembly to The Door of The Tabernacle of Meeting, and They (Moses and Aaron) fell on Their (Moses’ and Aaron’s) Faces.  And The GLORY of The LORD (GOD Almighty) APPEARED to Them (Moses and Aaron).  Then The LORD (GOD Almighty) SPOKE to Moses, SAYING, “Take The Rod; YOU (Moses) and Your (Moses’) Brother, Aaron, gather The Congregation (The Children of Israel) together.  SPEAK TO The Rock, BEFORE Their (The Children of Israel’s) Eyes, and it (The Rock) Will YIELD its water; thus YOU (Moses) shall BRING water for Them (The Children of Israel) OUT of The Rock, and GIVE DRINK to The Congregation (The Children of Israel) AND Their Animals.”  So, Moses TOOK The Rod from BEFORE The LORD (GOD Almighty) as He (GOD Almighty) COMMANDED Him (Moses).

And Moses and Aaron gathered The Assembly (The Children of Israel) together BEFORE The Rock; and He (Moses) said to Them (The Children of Israel), “HEAR now, YOU Rebels!  Must We (Moses and Aaron) BRING water for YOU OUT of This Rock?”  Then Moses LIFTED His (Moses’) Hand and STRUCK The Rock TWICE with His (Moses’) Rod; and water CAME OUT abundantly, and The Congregation (The Children of Israel) and Their Animals DRANK.

THEN The LORD (GOD Almighty) SPOKE to Moses and Aaron, “Because YOU (Moses and Aaron) did NOT BELIEVE Me (GOD Almighty), TO HALLOW Me (GOD Almighty) in The Eyes of The Children of Israel, therefore YOU (Moses and Aaron) Shall NOT BRING This Assembly (The Children of Israel) INTO The Land (The Promised Land), which I (GOD Almighty) have GIVEN Them (The Children of Israel).”  This was The Water of Meribah, because The Children of Israel CONTENDED with The LORD (GOD Almighty), and He (GOD Almighty) was HALLOWED among Them (The Children of Israel).

Deuteronomy 32:48-52

Then The LORD (GOD Almighty) SPOKE to Moses that VERY SAME DAY, SAYING: “GO UP This Mountain of The Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in The Land of Moab, across from Jericho; VIEW The Land of Canaan, which I (GOD Almighty) GIVE to The Children of Israel as a POSSESSION; and DIE on The Mountain which YOU (Moses) ASCEND, and BE GATHERED to Your People, just as Aaron, Your Brother, DIED on Mount Hor and WAS GATHERED to His (Aaron’s) People; BECAUSE YOU (Moses) TRESPASSED AGAINST Me (GOD Almighty) AMONG The Children of Israel at The Waters of Meribah Kadesh, in The Wilderness of Zin, BECAUSE YOU (Moses) Did NOT HALLOW Me (GOD Almighty) in The Midst of The Children of Israel.  Yet YOU (Moses) Shall SEE The Land (The Promised Land) BEFORE YOU (Moses), though YOU (Moses) Shall NOT GO THERE, INTO The Land (The Promised Land), which I (GOD Almighty) AM GIVING to The Children of Israel.”

Deuteronomy 34:1-7

Then Moses went up from The Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to The Top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho.  And The LORD (GOD Almighty) SHOWED Him (Moses) All The Land of Gilead as far as Dan, All Naphtali and The Land of Ephraim and Manasseh, All The Land of Judah as far as The Western Sea, The South, and The Plain of The Valley of Jericho, The City of Palm Trees, as far as Zoar.  Then The LORD (GOD Almighty) SAID to Him (Moses), “THIS IS The Land (The Promised Land) of which I (GOD Almighty) SWORE to GIVE Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, SAYING, ‘I will GIVE IT to Your Descendants.’  I (GOD Almighty) have CAUSED YOU (Moses) to SEE IT with Your (Moses’) Eyes, BUT YOU (Moses) shall NOT cross over there.”  So Moses, The Servant of The LORD (GOD Almighty) DIED there in The Land of Moab, according to The WORD of The LORD (GOD Almighty).  And He (GOD Almighty) BURIED Him (Moses) in a Valley in The Land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; BUT NO ONE KNOWS His (Moses’) Grave to THIS DAY.  Moses was One Hundred and Twenty (120) Years Old when He (Moses) DIED.  His (Moses’) Eyes were NOT dim NOR His (Moses’) Natural Vigor diminished.

GOD Almighty’s Command to Moses and Aaron, at Kadesh:

Then The LORD (GOD Almighty) SPOKE to Moses, SAYING, “Take The Rod; YOU (Moses) and Your (Moses’) Brother, Aaron, gather The Congregation (The Children of Israel) together.  SPEAK TO The Rock, BEFORE Their (The Children of Israel’s) Eyes, and it (The Rock) Will YIELD its water; thus YOU (Moses) shall BRING water for Them (The Children of Israel) OUT of The Rock, and GIVE DRINK to The Congregation (The Children of Israel) AND Their Animals.”

Moses FAILS to Follow GOD Almighty’s Command, at Kadesh:

Then Moses LIFTED His (Moses’) Hand and STRUCK The Rock TWICE with His (Moses’) Rod; and water CAME OUT abundantly, and The Congregation (The Children of Israel) and Their Animals DRANK.

Fellow Believers, even though Moses FAILED to Follow GOD Almighty’s Command, He (GOD Almighty) did NOT Punish All The Children of Israel, He (GOD Almighty) DID GIVE Them (The Children of Israel) and Their Animals water to drink.  BUT Moses and Aaron WERE PUNISHED for Moses’ Failure to Follow GOD Almighty’s Command.  NEITHER Moses NOR Aaron were ALLOWED TO ENTER The Promised Land, BOTH (Moses and Aaron) DIED BEFORE The Children of Israel ENTERED The Promised Land, with Joshua as Their (The Children of Israel’s) Leader.  On The Other Hand, GOD Almighty BURIED Moses, Himself, in a place NO ONE was told or shown.  Even though Moses TRESPASSED AGAINST GOD Almighty, He (GOD Almighty) did NOT Stop LOVING Moses, and He (GOD Almighty) still does.

Fellow Believers, even though We (Believers) continue to sin, it does NOT mean that GOD Almighty STOPS Loving Us (Believers), because He (GOD Almighty) STILL DOES.  Something to think about, as We (Believers) AWAIT “The Being Caught Up Together”, KNOWING that We (Believers) will be IN GOD Almighty’s Immediate Presence, WITH Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels, and All The Rest of The Children (Believers) of GOD Almighty, for Eternity, Forever.  Amen.