TEN LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM MOSES
Number 20:1-13

“In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh.  There Miriam died and was buried.

”Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.  They quarreled with Moses and said, ‘If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!  Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?  Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?  It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.  And there is no water to drink!’

“Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.  The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together.  Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.  You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.’

“So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.  He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, ‘Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?’  Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.  Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

“But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’

“These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.”

Moses is one of the “Big Five” of the Old Testament.  Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and Elijah all teach us lessons about how to lead God’s people.  Each had a failure that limited his usefulness to God.  After many successes and near the end of a dramatic, illustrious, and influential career, Moses made a grave error.  Let’s learn from his successes and failures.

1. Moses Tells it Like it is
Moses wrote this story himself.  He was willing to tell of his weaknesses and failures just as readily as he told of his great accomplishments.  Moses did not paint an idealistic picture of himself.  He did not avoid the narratives that show his vulnerability.

The works of God through us do not depend on our being perfect.  The works of God through us show us more about God and His greatness than they do about a requirement of strength or wisdom in the man or woman God uses.  In telling the true story Moses gave us hope that even though we have faults and weaknesses, God can use us.

For a Christian leader to publicly display vulnerability and weakness helps our hearers see that we also recognize our imperfections.  We can lead by example on this point; admitting our sins creates an atmosphere in which others may feel more willing to admit theirs.  Many people show appreciation for this.  Rarely will anyone be discouraged by our confessions; more likely they will appreciate our honesty.

Naturally, we should not be too explicit when confessing our weaknesses.  We should not appear to be relishing, or enjoying the memory of a sin or failure.  Let’s avoid making sin seem attractive or interesting.  That we sinned may be important to know, but the details are not necessary.

2. Human Beings have Great Needs; They are Thirsty vs. 2
Human beings have needs and God calls us to minister to them.  Of course there are needs in people.  That is why God called us to minister to them.  We are in Christian leadership because God needs us to minister to His people.  When people begin to irritate us, we should remember that if people were perfect they would not need us; God would not have called us to minister to them.  It is because people have needs that we have our important tasks; people have needs and Christian ministers have meaningful employment.  Because people have needs we have the opportunity to be useful to God.

The man or woman of God is a tool in the hands of God and can be used to effectively meet human’s needs.  God can meet the needs of humans and He uses a human instrument to do it.  This is cause for joy in being useful rather than a reason for complaint on our part.  We are honored to experience the joy of usefulness and service.

People are thirsty for the water of life.  Even after being satisfied with salvation by the water of life, the human soul still loves to drink the waters.  David said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1, 2).  Isaiah said, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! (Isaiah 55:1).  Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37, 38).  John gives the invitation in Revelation, “let those who are thirsty come; and let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).  The thirsty Israelites symbolize thirsty humanity.

3. Humans Quarrel with and Oppose the Persons Best Able to Help Them vs. 3 -5
The thirsty Israelites symbolize thirsty humanity.  That they complained against Aaron and Moses about their thirst is illustrative of the human tendency to blame others when problems occur.  The instruments God chooses to use often receive a misguided, unkind, and undeserved backlash as people resist God in their resentment of His authority.  People want to be in control of their situations; they want to be their own God but they cannot be.  They express their anger at God on God’s tools, God’s chosen leaders, as though they would like to bring him or her down to their level.  This means you and I, as leaders of God’s people, sometimes get mistreated by those we are trying to help.  Understanding this dynamic will help us exercise patience with God’s people.

We are opposed, but we are not their problem; we are only one of the tools God is using in solving their problems.  We are part of God’s solution.  The accusations made in verses 4 & 5 are unfair.  The people themselves wanted to be free from slavery in Egypt, but when faced with the difficulties of life in the dessert, they are quick to blame Moses and Aaron.

This will happen in your churches too:  “Pastor, why must we attend this meeting?  Why must we go there?”  The Bible says no weapon formed against us will prosper.  No matter how often or how many people oppose you as a Christian leader, if you are obeying God correctly, God will defend you.  It is when you take matters into your own hands and try to vindicate yourself that the more serious problems of leadership arise.

Moses himself taught the people “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.”  That is recorded in Leviticus, but in Numbers 20, Moses forgot what he had taught.  In Deuteronomy 32:35, Moses will teach, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” And later Paul quotes him in Romans 12:19 saying, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘it is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”  David is a good example on this point.  He allowed God to defend him.  Nevertheless, Moses and Aaron do the right thing at first.

4. The Success of God Meeting the Needs of People pivots on three things Vs. 6
Moses did three things correctly which are recorded in verse 6.  He is a good and duplicable model on each of these points.  There is no reason why any minister of God cannot do all three of these things.  We just must decide that they are worth doing. 

When we learn to follow this pattern, leave people temporarily, fall on our faces before God, and wait for or pray faithfully until we see the glory of God, then we will be able to represent God, minister to His people, carry the burdens of ministry, love the unlovely among God’s sheep, and lead God’s people in God paths God’s way.  Our love for God’s people may wane in the process of ministry, but we are servants of God and must never lose our sense of His glory.  It is He Whom we serve.  He is the Source and End of all that we do.

5. God Gave Moses the Solution vs. 7 & 8
God gave Moses practical directions and He will do that for us too.  In Moses’ case, God directed him to take his staff and speak to the rock.  God’s instructions were specific, take your staff and speak to the rock.

Many times in Scripture you can find places where God ministered to His human tool and also gave him the practical instructions he needed.  Moses (here in Numbers 20), David at Ziklag (I Samuel 30:6 – 8), and Jehoshaphat—who moved into battle formation then the sun reflected on the water—(II Kings 3:17 & 18) are all good illustrations of this.

We need practical solutions to ministry problems and we also need personal comfort. God is a Master at giving us both.  God revealed His glory to Moses then he gave Moses specific instructions as to what to do: take your staff and speak to the rock.

6. Moses began to Follow God’s Instructions vs. 9
“So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.”  Moses started well.  What went wrong?  How is it that Moses, the meekest man on earth besides Jesus Christ, lost control of his emotions, became angry and resentful.  Moses was human. He was not perfect. He started well, but it is not enough to start well.  This section of our lessons on Moses is the shortest, because Moses only began correctly.  Let’s try to begin and end correctly.
 
7. Moses Became Angry with God’s People as shown by Four Mistakes vs. 11
Between Leviticus and Deuteronomy lies Numbers chapter 20.  In both Leviticus and Deuteronomy Moses teaches against revenge and grudges, yet in between those two books lies Numbers with its record of Moses’ fleshly response and anger with God’s people.  Moses angrily:

Even after just having spent time in God’s presence, seeing God’s glory and receiving God’s detailed and specific instruction, Moses gave in to his emotions.  He expressed his anger in ways that did not honor God or reverence the holiness of God.  God is holy; He is separate from and above sin.  Yet in Moses’ actions he was irreverent; he did not treat God respectfully.  The four things that Moses did wrong are all motivated by the same anger.  Moses’ anger and lack of self-control greatly dishonored and therefore displeased God.  And there were consequences.

8. Though God’s Tool was Faulty, God Still Cared for His People’s Needs vs. 11
In spite of Moses’ sin, God still gave the people the water they needed.  Moses failed, but God did not.  The tool failed, but God did not.  The human instrument took revenge, but God did not.  Moses’ anger and ego-related desire for vindication and revenge were one matter.  God caring for His people and meeting their needs was a separate thing.  God’s provision is more what He does than what His instruments do.  God came through.

When God continues to do His good work through His chosen servant and among and for His people it is not necessarily an indication that the human instrument is doing everything correctly.  Do not assume that you are doing everything correctly just because God is using you.  Do not assume that God using you is an indication that you can relax and stop growing spiritually.  God gave the Israelites water through a miracle produced by Moses’ rod striking the rock twice, not because Moses’ did it right, but in spite of the fact that he did it wrong.  Moses erred greatly in becoming angry and departing from the instructions God gave him to speak to the rock.

Bible Archeology teaches us that in that wilderness a crust can develop on the surface of the earth that makes the dirt hard and waterproof.  Not that it holds water out, but that it holds water in.  The water is in the earth held inside by the deposit or crust on the outer surface.  Moses spent 40 years in that dessert and knew how to find and release the water in those “rocks.”  By striking the rock in this instance Moses may have resorted to a human ploy rather than just speaking to the rock and allowing God to receive all the glory.

Also, once would have been enough, but Moses struck it twice.  Jesus was another Rock.  He was struck once and that was enough.  Jesus’ one death is efficacious.  Jesus did not have to die twice.  That Rock gives the water of life to all the thirsty of the world and only needed to be struck once.  Out from the one-time crucified Jesus flows the water of life enough to quench the spiritual thirst of all humanity.  Jesus is the Rock of our salvation, the Rock that is our firm foundation, the Rock that is a shelter in the time of storm, the Rock in whose shadow humans find protection, comfort, and refreshment; He is the Rock from which flows an adequate supply for all the thirsty of the world to drink deeply and be fully satisfied.  Do not strike the Rock again.  Speak to the Rock and you will be nourished. 

9. God Pronounced an Irrevocable Punishment on Moses vs. 12
We prefer to emphasize grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, and the softer and encouraging aspects of God’s character.  Yet to have the whole picture of who God is and how He operates we need to also occasionally remember that God is God, and He has a firm side.  He has authority.  He is sovereign.  We are to fear and respect Him, and remain cautious and careful in our strict obedience to His every command and instruction.

Moses’ leadership experiences include a very sobering and serious lesson: God can also be strict.  Paul cautions his readers:  “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God; sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness” (Romans 11:22 Emphasis mine).  We often take courage and assurance from the fact that God keeps His promises of reward, comfort, blessing, healing, and forgiveness and it is right that we do that.  However, He also keeps His promises of judgment and we may experience for a long time the consequences of mistakes we make.  God is gracious and we experience favor, but to ignore His “sternness” is simply not a biblical position.  Moses had an experience that illustrates this.

“But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them’” (Number 20:12).

This sobering verse is even more serious when we look further in the Bible record in Moses’ speech as the next generation of Israelites was about to enter the Promised Land:

“At that time I pleaded with the Lord:  ‘Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand.  For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?  Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.’  But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. ‘That is enough,’ the Lord said.  ‘Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.  Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east.  Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordon.  But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see’” (Deuteronomy 3:23 – 28).

Later in that same speech Moses says to Israel,

“The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordon and enter the good Land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance.  I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordon; but you are about to cross over and take possession that good land.  Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden.  For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Dueuteronomy 4:21 - 24 Emphasis mine).

Could it be that Moses remembered the strictness and sternness of God because of his own experience and here reminded the people that God has a stern side too?  Moses had a long and successful career, but it could have been even longer and more successful.  Have a long, full, enduring, rich, and effective ministry.  Carefully obey every leading, instruction, and command of God.  God keeps His promises.

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across form Jericho.  There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.  Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’  And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said” (Deuteronomy 34:1 – 5).

10. The People’s Quarrel was with the Lord, Not Moses  vs. 13
We learned early in this teaching that Moses and Aaron bore the brunt of the verbal abuse and complaint of the Israeli people.  Verse 3 says, “They quarreled with Moses. . .”  But verse 13 says, “. . . where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.”  Two things are important for us in this verse.  (1)  The people’s quarrel was not just with Moses it was a complaint against God Himself.  (2)  God was proved holy.

The first lesson is easy to understand:  God’s ministers can take great comfort and courage from knowing that the difficulties people give to them are not just against the ministers, but are also against God.  We ministers are in good company if we and God are together being complained against.  Let’s stay on God’s side if there is a quarrel.

The second lesson is more subtle:  In giving Moses the judgment that his ministry would be limited because of his disobedience, God’s holiness is maintained.  If God lets us disobey and continues long-term to bless our ministry without measure, where is the holiness of God?  Where is the high standard of conduct for God’s workers if they can disobey or sin and still have unhindered and lasting ministry?  Moses did not enter the promised land.  Moses’ error and God’s judgment on him teaches us to be careful to obey always, fully, willingly and, if possible, cheerfully.  Let’s go all the way to the promised land.

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© 2003 Ron Meyers