Numbers 20:7-13 –  ^“Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁸ “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock 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.”   ⁹ So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him.  ¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff.  And water came out abundantly.  So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.  ¹² Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “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.”  ¹³ These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a challenging reality gripped my heart.   The cost or price of disobedience!

In the Book of Numbers, we read of the almost perpetual dissatisfaction of the children of Israel.  We see the anger of God and the frustration of Moses.   They repeatedly saw the miracles of God, but quickly became dissatisfied with what they had at that moment.  Every difficulty produced complaints and a propensity to embrace the sinful practices of the pagans around them and perpetuate the idolatry of Egypt.

In Numbers 20, they wanted water, and God, as He had done before, gave Moses a direct command.  God’s commands are explicit, and obedience is to be complete and total.  In explicit obedience, we magnify God and give Him honor, and it becomes a witness that leads to surrender to Him.

In verses 8-13, Moses and Aaron gathered the nation to a particular rock.  The instruction was to take the rod (the first time he struck the rock, water came forth).   We dangerously become creatures of habit and revert to what we know rather than following God’s NOW instructions.

God told Moses to take the rod and SPEAK to the rock.  Moses let his frustration overcome him and reverted to the formula of the past.  Notice what it says, “Moses raised his hand high…”   That indicates anger and reveals that he didn’t tap the rock; he hit it with his might.  He gave himself to his anger and frustration.  “AND Struck the rock TWICE.”   Nothing in the command said strike the rock, and certainly not a repeated smiting.

Moses was disobedient, and that disobedience cost both him and Aaron entrance into the Promised Land.   Why Aaron?   Moses did it.  Aaron was silent as Moses let his anger and frustration boil over.  Aaron did not caution Moses, reminding him of the explicit instructions.  Aaron’s silence became complicity.   It’s not just what we do or say, but also what we don’t do and say.

Disobedience is costly.   We need to remember the divine absolutes that Baalam declared to Balak in Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He not said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?” God IS.  God IS NOT like man.  God’s Word IS certain.

Paul reveals to the Ephesians and us that we were created for service (good works in Jesus), which He created beforehand, so that we could walk in them.

Obedience brings divine blessing, opens the door to settled peace, and enables us to manifest the power, love, and Spirit of Christ.  We have the weapons, the armor, and the promise to propel us into perpetual victory.  Obedience opens the door, and disobedience closes it.  It is our choice!

I pray that the Lord will help each of us walk in total obedience!