Moses & Saul: Obedience and Consequences

Consequences to your choices are real.  Let’s take a look at a some scriptures that God highlighted to me this morning to share with you.

“10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face. 11 The Lord sent him to perform
all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh,
and all his servants, and his entire land. 12 With mighty power, Moses
performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.” – Deuteronomy 34:10-12

48 That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 “Go to Moab, to the mountains
east of the river,[a] and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look
out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel
as their own special possession. 50 Then you will die there on the mountain.
You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor
and joined his ancestors. 51 For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites
at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh[b] in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to
demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. 52 So you will see the land
from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
–  Deuteronomy 33: 48-52

A couple things that were highlighted to learn from Moses:

• He didn’t let success go to his head.  He guarded His heart from pride.

• He understood that God alone brought success into his life.  He knew that success didn’t come from his own efforts but it came from his obedience to God.  
  

Define obedience/obey (google dictionary): 

• Obedience: compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.

• Obey: comply with the command, direction, or request of (a person or a law); submit to the authority of.

• Obey: carry out (a command or instruction)

• Obey: behave in accordance with (a general principle, natural law, etc.).

Moses’ walk with God was not easy.  Each thing God asked Him to do required his humility before God and a bold leap of faith to trust in God as he stepped out. Moses also struggled with having confidence in being able to step out at the times he was to speak anything because of his stuttering.  This was an area of challenge that he had to learn to overcome each time.  He had to go through a process of laying down his insecurity before God and be able to trust that God is able to do all things regardless of how it looked in the natural. Moses had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.  Moses was given opportunity each time to take a leap of faith and trust God.

Breaking Faith:
The one time he broke faith with God among the Israelites was an act of disobedience to God. He received consequences for that choice he made.  Let’s take a look at this:

In Numbers chapter 20 you will find the story of Moses & Aaron at Meribah.  The people of Israel complained that there was no food or water in that place.  God spoke to Moses and gave instruction; which was a solution to the problem of not having any water to drink.  God specifically said in verse 8, “ “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.”

Now read verses 9-11 which says, “9 So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. 10 Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.”

Did you catch it?  In Numbers 20:8, God instructed to speak to the rock.  In Numbers 20:11, Moses raised his hand and struck the rocky twice with his staff instead.  Read that again. Moses didn’t carry out the instructions the way God told him and Aaron to.  God still performed His miracle but the instructions of how to do it were not followed through.  Just because Moses chose to use some other action and God still did what He needed to, did not excuse Moses nor Aaron from the act of disobeying the details of His instruction.

Then you read in Numbers 20:12, “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

Between this story of disobedience to God at the Rock of Meribah and when King Saul defeated the Amalekite’s but did a couple things his way (1 Samuel 15), we can learn some things.  Both of these people in the Bible failed to follow God’s instructions in the way that He said to them.  King Saul also reaped the consequences of his actions as he was stripped from his title of “king”.  Both Moses and King Saul justified their fleshy decisions.  Obedience to God is a serious matter and must not be taken lightly.  

What This Means For You:
Remember, when God (the master of all creation) speaks, then you must honor Him at every detail.  You can’t just take 1 or 2 things that you don’t want to do OR don’t understand and replace it with your flesh justified solution.  It’s simple: God spoke it, you do it.  You obey the instructions all the way up to HOW He wants you to do it with an understanding that He is God and He knows what He is doing.  Understand that He asks you to do things in a certain way for a reason that is beyond your minds capacity to understand.  If He told you the why behind His specific instructions before you did them, then you would not have an opportunity to leap out in faith trusting Him.  You would not have the opportunity to learn what it means to “walk by faith and not by sight”.

Anytime God gives you instruction(s) and your flesh fights it, remember that it will cost you to walk out the consequences to the actions you chose to walk in.  At what cost would you be trading God’s specific instruction for what you think is a better solution?

Take this time and opportunity to ask God if there are any areas that you lack trust in Him.  Let God expose those areas so that you can deal with it and let it go.  The oil costs everything!  Your character must be above the anointing.  The anointing flows out of obedience to the living God—Elohim.  Obedience to God is showing Him love!  Do you truly love Him?  If you do, then you show it to Him through your actions because love is an action.

“37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your
soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”
-Matthew 22:37-38

“Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.” -Deuteronomy 8:18

“You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country.” – Job 1:10

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A word for those being summoned right now to move to the forefront:

For those summoned for this hour, moving ahead it is imperative that you follow out the instructions of the Lord exactly the way He says to do it.  You are called to move against the grain.  This means that whatever God would have you do and say is not “popular” for most people around.  People in general, both believers and not, would rise up against you and not agree to the action being given to you.  Do not let your flesh or anything anyone says get in the way of you following through God’s orders in the exact way you heard Him tell you to do it.  You are not above God.  Keep yourselves humble before God and know that He tells you to do a certain thing a certain way for a specific reason.  Make sure of it that any area that lacks trust in God is brought before Him to be dealt with.  In the days ahead, there is no room for the disobedience because now you know better.  To those summoned to move forward in this now time, you are done with your wilderness season and will now move into the fulfillment of what you were made for.  You were made for such a time as this!

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All the praise, honor, and glory alone to the living God! Be blessed in abundance.