Something Luke wrote got me to thinking about Moses and faith…
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
This verse is one that all of us are familiar with and have heard preached from the pulpit.
Num 20:7-12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 8 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.
But what did Moses do? He spoke for God (we) as if he was in authority…
9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
There are a couple of things to consider in the action Moses took. God told him to “speak” (command) to the rock, but what did Moses do?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Instead of trusting God, Moses spoke to the people in anger and “smote” the rock. Rather than trusting God and just speaking to the rock, he took the rod God had used to perform “His” miracles and hit the rock twice with the same force you would use in “slaughtering an animal.” As a result…
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
There is a lot of symbolism in these verses, not the least of which is in reference to “our Rock.” Go back to our opening verse and think about our relationship with Jesus. Do we approach Him with uncertainty and allow that to be reflected in how we respond to the circumstances surrounding us or do we trust His Word? Do we walk in the “fullness of the Spirit” or in the spirit of doubt? The answer lies in the bottom line… our faith. It is our faith that brings us into the “fullness” of the Spirit that allows the Lord to bring forth His rivers of living water to bless those He places in our path. It is all based on our faith and not our uncertainty.
We need to leave the “rod of uncertainty” out of the process and just speak to our Rock. And when we do, the Rock always springs forth the truth of living water.