OT DAY 221 - Don't Make Moses Fatal Mistake (Please click here for English podcast)

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Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

        
           O God, from my youth you have taught me,
                               and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18          So even to old age and gray hairs,
                       O God, do not forsake me,
             until I proclaim your might to another generation,
                                 your power to all those to come.

                             Psalm 71:17-18

Confession and Repentance

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (Numbers 20:1-13)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers+20&version=ESV

2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

                             Numbers 20:2-13

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening
     Today we see how Moses made his only mistake which caused his not being able to enter into the Promised Land. How can we avoid that kind of mistake? 

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

     Again there is no water, and again the community is in a state of panic not just about themselves but about their animals. Again they look back to Egypt with rose-tinted spectacles…Again God tells them what to do and declares that there will be miraculous provision. Again they do it, and there is.
     Yet everything goes wrong. They make their one mistake. How did they fail to trust God and make God holy in the eyes of the Israelites? God instructed them to tell the crag to produce water. What they did was upbraid the pople as rebels, and Moses twice hit the crag with his staff. There is some contrast with the story in Exodus 17 where God have Moses instructions and Moses simply "did so," did as God said. It doesn't seem huge contrast, but God sees it as implying a double failure here, of upbraiding the people and striking the rock…
     When God accuses them of failure of trust, it likely means they are trusting in themselves to solve the problem, and it would link with Moses' taking forceful action, hitting the rock rather than merely addressing it. In turn it would imply failing to make God holy, to recognize and honour God's god-ness.   

John Goldingay. Numbers & Deuteronomy for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.49-50.

      Can you believe that? Not listen and obey to do what God command turns out to be Moses only mistake but his fatal mistake which causes his not being able to enter into the Promised Land. 

      Do you know why Moses did that? Well, may be because of his anger, pride ,uncontrolled emotions or lack of faith. Anyway, to hit the rock for water to come out was what Moses experienced before. But, to tell the rock for water to come out seems impossible and Moses did not do it.

      If God asks you to do something seeming impossible, are you going to do it?

Dear Lord Jesus, 
Give us faith and courage to do those things impossible for us but possible for you, knowing that nothing in you is impossible.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

1. Have you made similar fatal mistake before? What is the consequence of your making that mistake?

2. How can you be more courageous to do something impossible when God tells you to do? 

Praise and Thanksgiving

Let's give thanks for God with us. Let us praise Him:

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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