TIMES FOR HUMILITY!!!

BLAMING OTHERS?

Moses as we all know was a man of prayer. Some of the great miracles of the Bible were in answer to his prayers, but this was one request God denied him, “to enter the promised land” (Deut. 3:23-25) “Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time saying: ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’ But the Lord would not listen and harken to Moses however humble and prayerful he was. Later by the grace of God I will take us together what might be the cause of his denial access to the Promised Land (V. 26-27) “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me:  ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes towards the west, the north, the south and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.” Moses told the people it was on their account. We always blame others for our own failures.

THE RESULT OF TEMPER TANTRUM

Moses assembled the people before the rock from which water would flow. Instead of creating an attitude of reverence and worship in the presence of God he went into a temper tantrum, denounced the people and beat on the rock (Num. 20:1-13) “Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!” These were real stiff-necked people who had no gratitude but only knew how to contend with their leader Moses who had led them as his own people and complained and murmured against the Lord their Maker too. And because they had wished to die, truly their feet never stepped on the Promised Land but they all perished in the wilderness except for Caleb and Joshua. (V. 4-5) “Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 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.” Complainers and murmurs who never humbled themselves to seek God but they indeed pushed Moses into a temper tantrum. Therefore Moses and his brother Aaron had to leave the presence of these complainers and humbled themselves before the Lord (V. 6-9) “So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assemble to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “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.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.” The commandment is sure and had gone forth. But what did Moses do? Did he really follow the instructions as commanded by the Lord? Let’s find out!  (V. 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? So Moses in his temper tantrum, started to lecture the people and by this, he did miss it! (V. 11) “Then Moses lifted his hands and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” Here Moses indeed did provoke both God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And not only did he grieve them but embarrass them as well before all the assembly. And he did not only hit the rock once but twice. And he made God to come up with a decision against him there and then (V. 12-13) “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.” This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contented with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.” We can learn from this the importance of reverence when we come into the presence of our holy God. It is not a time for fun and games; nor is it a time to express our anger and resentment toward others. The people should have been prepared to bow in humility and awe before God as He caused water to come from the rock. If this had happened Moses could have completed his mission by leading Israel into the land of promise.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF AN ACTION MADE

Sin brethren have its consequences which go on for some time, even though a person later does what God commands. A person often must live with the consequences of his actions, even after forgiveness takes place. There is a Scripture that do perplexed me too much and makes me always to do the right things and not to backslide (Eze. 33:12-20) “There you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness  in the day that he sins.” The amazing part! (V. 13-16) “When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die.’ If he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live” This is a blow to the believers who backslides and falls back. Just imagine, the good deeds, all the sacrifices that we may have done; when we backslide they are remembered no more! And the wicked man who repents of his sins and iniquity and humbles himself before God, his sin may be remembered no more! Are the ways of the Lord fair or not? Let’s find out (V. 17-20) “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawfully and right, he shall live because of it. Yet you say, the way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.” This is the word of the Lord.

DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT

This is what makes me feel that Moses, in spite of all the good deeds he did, his faith and humility to God, the mighty miracles he performed in Egypt and in the wilderness:  he did grieve or provoke the Holy Spirit just as his stiff-necked people Israelites (Isa. 63:9-10) “In all their afflictions, He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.”  God forgives, Jesus forgives but when we grieve or provoke the Holy Spirit beloved, this is a dangerous area concerning what He does to our lives; teaching us, leading us as He carry us in His arms but we don’t behold, helping us and revealing to us the secrets of the Father, giving us counsel where need be, protects and preserve us from all forces of darkness and sealing that which we are ordained for, and establishes it. Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians he confirmed thus (Eph. 4:30-32) “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is a person. One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to lead the people of God. When believers rebel against the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they “grieve” or provoke Him. Here Isaiah reviews the history of Israel. God was kind and good to the nation, but when they rebelled and refused to follow His leadership, it grieved the Holy Spirit. The result was that he refused to demonstrate His kindness toward them and became their enemy. The adversity they experienced resulted from their own refusal to follow God. This is true in the life of the believer. When He comes to God and is saved, he has peace with God. As long as he follows the Holy Spirit, that piece grows and multiplies; but if he grieves the Holy Spirit by refusing to follow Him, he loses that peace with God. The believer should rather submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s humble ourselves before the Lord Brethren (Heb. 12:29) “For our God is a consuming fire!

“Grace to you And Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”