Numbers 20:8 – “Take the staff (symbol of authority) and assemble the community, you and Aaron, your brother, and then SPEAK to the rock (a type of Christ) before their eyes.  It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, something from Numbers 20 filled my consciousness.  Four things leaped out at me.   Explicit obedience, presumptuousness, humanizing God’s directive, and unfulfilled destiny.   I confess that to unpack all that would be far too involved for a brief post.

Once again, the people grumbled in the wilderness.   God had repeatedly provided and guided them, but another problem presented itself, and they demonstrated their true character.

In Numbers 20:8, God told Moses, “Take the staff (symbol of authority) and assemble the community, you and Aaron, your brother, and then SPEAK to the rock (a type of Christ) before their eyes.  It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”

Moses demonstrated a natural propensity to allow the past to define the present and for presumption to surface.    If you recall, the first time, God had him use his rod and strike the rock.    This time, God said, “Take your staff and SPEAK to the rock.”   The directive was to speak from his position of authority.   We have authority in Jesus and do not need to force things; we declare them, and God does them.

Numbers 20:11 – “Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff.”    Water did come out!   However, it opened the door to a view of the staff as a magical instrument rather than turning all eyes on God through a declaration of faith.   Moses modified God’s directive and acted presumptuously, drawing from his history.   In Numbers 20:12, God said, “Because you did not trust me enough to show Me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.  “

God expects explicit obedience, especially from those charged with leadership or oversight.   Moses was the visual connection to God.   His task was to teach them God’s character, not just lead them to freedom.  When he trusted history more than God or acted presumptuously in anger or frustration, he aborted his destiny.

Today, prophets are doing what Moses did, adding to or modifying what God says.   Today, believers are clinging to what was rather than being open to and entering into what can be.

God’s directive always has a victorious purpose and a powerful promise.   The problem is that we tend to rationalize rather than give explicit obedience to it.

Explicit obedience produces the promise and propels us into the fulfillment of our destiny.   We do not have to understand nor rationalize God’s directive.  We must obey it explicitly.  Explicit obedience is complete trust.   Adding to, modifying, or rationalizing can become rebellion and shift the sovereignty from God to man.

God’s Word, God’s way, brings God’s purpose to fullness.  Do not fret about the timing or your lack of understanding.   Explicitly obey and watch God be God.

I pray that we will all strive to explicitly obey God all the time and every time!   He will be faithful to His promise if we are faithful to Him!