September 30, 1880

The Sin of Moses

EGW

After forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel encamped at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin; and Miriam died, and was buried there. The living stream which flowed from the smitten rock in Horeb, had followed them in all their journeyings; but just before the Hebrew host reached Kadesh, the Lord caused the waters to cease. It was his purpose again to test his people. He would prove whether they would humbly trust his providence, or imitate their fathers’ unbelief and murmuring.ST September 30, 1880, par. 1

When the thirsting multitude could find no water, they became impatient, and rebellious. They forgot the power of God which had for so many years supplied them with water from the rock, and instead of trusting in their Almighty Leader, they murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!” that is, they wished they had been of the number who were destroyed by the plague in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.ST September 30, 1880, par. 2

They angrily inquired, Why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock. So thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock;” but instead of speaking to the rock, as God commanded him, Moses smote it twice with the rod, after exclaiming impatiently, “Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?”ST September 30, 1880, par. 3

Here Moses sinned. He did not ascribe to God the power and glory, and therefore did not magnify him before the people. The Lord, in his infinite mercy, caused the waters to flow, but this did not prove that Moses was right in thus mingling his own spirit with the work of God. Moses here gave unmistakable evidence before the erring, rebellious congregation, that he had lost his patience and self-control. To those who indulge in passion, and fretfulness, this may seem a light matter, but with God it was a grievous offense. It gave the people occasion to question whether his past course had been under the direction of God, and to palliate their own sins.ST September 30, 1880, par. 4

This language was not that which God had put into his mouth, but was spoken from irritated feeling. “Hear now, ye rebels;” this was all true, but the truth, even, should not be spoken to gratify passion or impatience. When God bids Moses charge home upon murmuring Israel their rebellion, the words will be painful to himself, and hard for them to bear; yet God will sustain his servant in the declaration of the most severe and unpalatable truth. But when men take it upon themselves to speak words that scar and wound, God's Spirit is grieved, and great harm is done. The rash act of Moses in smiting the rock, and that rash speech, were an exhibition of human passion, not a holy indignation because God had been dishonored.ST September 30, 1880, par. 5

The necessity for the manifestation of divine power made the occasion one of great solemnity, and the servants of God should have improved it to make a favorable impression upon the people. But Moses and Aaron were stirred, and in impatience and anger with the people because of their murmurings, they said, “must we fetch you water out of this rock?” thus putting themselves in God's place, as though the power and virtue lay in themselves, men possessing human weakness, and human passions. This was a virtual admission to murmuring Israel that they were correct in charging Moses with leading them from Egypt. The exhibition of self in this intemperate, fitful speech, changed the purpose of God in regard to Moses and Aaron, and excluded them from the promised land. God had forgiven the people greater transgressions than this error on the part of his chosen servants, but he could not regard a sin in the leaders of his people as in those who were led. God is not glorified when men chosen for high responsibilities, mingle their own ways, their own spirit and plans, with his holy work. Men have not wisdom to separate the sacred from the common. The exhibition of self will mar the character of the work, and will result in the ruin of souls.ST September 30, 1880, par. 6

In the judgment pronounced upon Moses, the Israelites had unmistakable proof that He who had wrought such a wonderful deliverance for them in bringing them from Egyptian bondage, was not Moses, but the mighty Angel who was going before them in all their travels, and of whom the Lord had said, “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.” The Lord had committed to Moses the burden of leading his people, while the mighty Angel, even the Son of God, went before them in all their journeyings, and directed their travels. Because they were so ready to forget that God was leading them by his Angel, and to ascribe to man that which God's power alone could perform, he had proved them, and tested them, to see whether they would obey him. At every trial they failed. Instead of believing in, and acknowledging, God, who had strewn their path with evidences of his power, and signal tokens of his care and love, they distrusted him, and ascribed their leaving Egypt to Moses, charging him as the cause of all their disasters.ST September 30, 1880, par. 7

The Lord would remove this impression forever from their minds, by forbidding Moses to enter the promised land. God had highly exalted Moses. He had revealed to him his great glory. He had taken him into a sacred nearness with himself upon the mount, and had communicated to him, and through him to the people, his will, his statutes, and his laws. The fact that he had been thus exalted and honored of God, made his error of greater magnitude. Moses repented of his sin, and humbled himself greatly before God. He related to all Israel his sorrow for his sin. He did not conceal the sad result, but told the people that for thus failing to ascribe glory to God, he could not lead them to the promised land. He bade the people mark the severe punishment visited upon him for his error, and then consider how God would regard their repeated murmurings in charging upon a mere man the visitations of divine wrath because of their transgressions.ST September 30, 1880, par. 8

Pure, holy faith cannot be exercised when wrath and passion bear sway in the heart, and control the mind. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “ye believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Unbelief was revealed, also, in smiting the rock instead of speaking to it, as though the act of Moses, a blow from the hand of man, must do the work, when only a word was required. This distrust of God, this arrogation of power which belonged to him, was most offensive in his sight, and was visited with the evidence of his displeasure.ST September 30, 1880, par. 9

The lesson here given us is one of the greatest importance. Men who occupy positions of sacred trust should make a practical application to themselves. The more responsible their position in the cause and work of God, or the more important their trust, the greater the necessity for them to have an eye single to his glory. The more the divine greatness and power and glory is vouchsafed to man, the more should he exhibit of meekness, humility, and trust. Every faculty of the mind should be consecrated to God, and used to promote his glory. He who would be great in the kingdom of God, must cherish unselfish love, in the simplicity of a living faith. This is the gold tried in the fire. The strength of God's great men is in their freedom from self-esteem, from pride, from all jealousy, ambition, and worldly care. The man of God, however exalted his position, will have the spirit of a dependent child, longing for a father's care, and willing to be led by a father's hand.ST September 30, 1880, par. 10