Water From The Rock


Moses was a great leader, and it could be argued that he was the greatest person mentioned in all of the Old Testament. Moses, more than anyone, could look back over the course of his life and see God’s power at work in his life. Moses led a difficult group of people through the most difficult of situations, yet he never got to see the fruit of all of his work. God killed him before he allowed the Israelites to enter the land He had given them. Moses disobeyed God in front of the people, and God killed him before he could see the promise fulfilled.

In Numbers 20 we can read the story of Moses’ downfall. Here’s Numbers 20:1-12 in the Message...

1 In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and she was buried. 2 There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. 3 They attacked Moses: "We wish we'd died when the rest of our brothers died before God. 4 Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? 5 And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates-and now not even any water!" 6 Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God. 7 God spoke to Moses: 8 "Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that's right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink." 9 Moses took the staff away from God's presence, as commanded. 10 He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: "Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?" 11 With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock-once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank. 12 God said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you didn't trust me, didn't treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren't going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them."

There are a few things I want to point out that I learned from this passage about leadership. Hopefully these will be beneficial to you.

1- Moses’ response was in reaction to the pressure and complaining of the people he was leading. There are so many times that church leaders can be reactionary, and their decisions end up leading them down a path they never intended to travel. I know from my own life that I struggle with people pleasing. Most people who know me a little think this is untrue because of my demeanor and tattoos, but I assure you I do struggle in this area. I'm not quite the rebel I appear to be! This is my biggest struggle as a leader. The only way I have found to conquer this issue is full reliance on the One who has called me to lead. If we are truly called to lead and doing something significant the enemy will try to distract us. In most occurrences he uses the voices that are closest to us. The key is blocking the voices that are trying to pull us off course.

2- Moses sought the credit for bringing the water out of the rock. Look at verse 10...

He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: "Listen, rebels! Do WE have to bring water out of this rock for you?"

To fully understand what occurs in verse 10 we need to go back to verse 6. It says,

Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God.

They saw the Glory of God, but they left the place they had just met him in and sought credit for the work that only God could do. I think church leaders do this so often. We seek God’s face for direction, and in the end we were out to gain glory and fame for ourselves.

My Father, Jerry, is an amazing judge of character. When I was growing he always told me that people’s true motivations always shine through despite the appearance of good intentions. This is sad, but true in many churches today. This is why it is good for a leader to have proper accountability in his or her life. We need people to constantly test our motives. Most often, I find that if I have to explain my motives to someone I lead, then I should do a gut check and test my heart. These honest moments with ourselves and with our teams keep us humbly following our guide, Jesus.

3- Moses was disobedient, yet he still saw results. Verse 11 says,

With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock-once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.

As leaders we must be careful to not equate God's blessing with visible results. Obviously, the two can go together, but in some cases we can see the results of our work despite going against the will of God. In the modern American church we tend to base our success on how many people show up on a Sunday, by how many people volunteer for our team, or even how emotional people’s reactions are during worship. David Platt said it best at a conference I attended last week. He said something to the extent of “All we need to have a successful worship gathering is a rocking band, a charismatic leader and some awesome lights.” The thought hit me in that moment that just because people show up or respond in an emotional way doesn’t mean that God is honored. God is honored when we make his fame and glory our only priority. Moses disobeyed God by hitting the rock, yet the rock still spit out water. Moses put his glory before the glory of God. He sought his own fame first. What area(s) of our ministries are we seeing results in despite God not being honored? Are we willing to change to see spiritual growth over the visible, tangible results?

4- God is honored when we trust and fear him.
Verse 12,

God said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you didn't trust me, didn't treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren't going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them."

"Because you didn’t trust me... "

Those words have been like a kick in the teeth over the past couple of days. How many times have I taken things into my own hands? How many times have I relied on my own abilities? How many times have I ignored the Spirit’s leading because it didn’t seem logical? How about you? Leaders are called to be out front leading a group of people, but many times we forget that we are still following the One who has called and equipped us to lead. God doesn’t reveal the roads we should travel for us to take detours.

"you didn’t treat me with holy reverence... "

Humility is something that goes against our human nature. When we see ourselves as we really are (broken, sinful, helpless and desperate) there is no way we can approach leadership with pride. We see an example of this in the book of Isaiah. Chapters 1-5 are about the wickedness of Israel and God's plans to devastate them. In chapter 6 we see God call Isaiah to warn His people. God didn't call him until he had humbled him. Isaiah was ruined and desperate when he saw the Father because it caused him to look inward and see his own inadequacy. The best leaders I have learned from in the church are the ones who have a humble submission to the leadership of the Father. This was such a huge reminder to me that in my own life and leadership I have to keep my eyes on the One I am following, and not on myself.
Hopefully these have helped you! Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. Are there any observations you would like to add?

Created 4 months ago