23.25 The Rock at Horeb (Part 2)

Strike the Rock?  Or, speak to the Rock?  That is the question.  That also is the defining line between Moses entering the Promised Land with his band of grumbling, mumbling, and stumbling Children of Israel, and him being left behind because of the judgement of God!  In part one of this three part series, Craig and LaDonna Smith already shared with us about the first time Moses encounters a simple rock in Horeb.  It was at this time God's people, during their wandering about int he wilderness, were complaining to Moses and Aaron about being thirsty and  in desperate need of water.  God's answer?  He told Moses to Strike the Rock, which Moses did and water gushed out and quenched all of Israel's thirst.  Later on,  as today's episode unfolds, they once again were dying of thirst and needed another miracle.  Thankfully, there was another rock before Moses that God told him this time to, Speak to the Rock!  Realizing the success he had the first time around, instead of listening to God's instructions, he fell back on what he knew worked before and simply Struck the Rock instead!  Not once, but twice for good measure!  Yes, water came out to refresh the Israelite's thirst, but because of that seemingly incidental deviation from what God said for him to do, it ended up costing him entrance into the Promised Land!  In the Old Testament time, God's judgements were often swift, immediate, and right now.  In the Newer Testament, God's judgements are deferred to a later time, but make no mistake, those judgements will be meted out on those who chose not to obey God and His revealed Word.  As the old hymn says, Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear...  What an amazing case study in the issue of biblical obedience.  Let's learn from Moses, and not repeat Moses's actions to take matters into our own hands and make our own decisions instead of listening to God, His Word, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path!  Obedience helps build a solid Indigenous Faith, dear friends!  May we never forget!