No Mo, You Can’t Go! | Sunday, February 19, 2023

Welcome to Cross Connection Church online! We're so grateful that you're joining us today. Before we get started, we want to let you know that if you're interested in any information about Cross Connection Church, you can check out our website at lifeinkconnection.com.

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There's a name that levels mountains and carves out highways through the sea. I've seen its power and it has unraveled shackles right off my feet. There's a faith that stands defiant and sends Goliath to his knees.

Jesus.

There's a hope that calls our courage, daring expectation. Every prayer I make is on an empty grave. That's the power—just to mention it makes a wave, giants falling. It's the same thing that has us body amazed.

Well, hello and good morning, Cross Connection Church online service! Before we get into the scriptures today, I wanted to say how thankful we are for those of you who tune in faithfully every single week to our broadcast here online. At the same time, I want to invite you, if you live here in North San Diego County, to come join us here in the sanctuary on a Sunday morning. It looks pretty empty right now; we record this on Thursday afternoons, which gets posted on Sunday morning. So, right now, it looks a little bit empty, but on Sunday mornings, we gather here to worship God through the scriptures and through song, and to partake of communion with one another every seven weeks or so.

If you're in this area, I would love to welcome you to our church. Come out and join us here in North San Diego County. More than a few of you who watch this every single week were a part of this church or attended this church before COVID. Over the last few years, you may have gotten into the habit of just watching online, but I want to say you're welcome to come on back. We are here! I hope you know that we are here. Sunday services are at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. every single week, so hopefully you'll come on out and join us.

Now, with that, we are going to get into the scriptures today. We are in this transition period, moving from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, which is the fifth book of the Bible, into the Old...

The Testament book of Joshua follows right after the sixth book of the Bible. I have been a student of the Scriptures and a teacher of the Bible for more than two decades now. I love the Scriptures and believe that the Bible is essential for life. I am convinced that all we can and must know about God is contained in the Scriptures.

Paul, in his last letter, his second letter to Timothy, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, presents a very important passage of Scripture. He says in verse 16 that all Scripture, the whole of the Bible, is given by inspiration of God. It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God or the woman of God may be complete, that is, mature, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Therefore, all Scripture is God-breathed and essential for our lives.

Yet, the Bible can contain some pretty strange things. There are sometimes weird things that we read in the Bible, and I have no problem admitting that there are challenging and strange elements in the Scriptures. I believe that many of the weird things in the Bible make more sense once we study and understand them. However, there are still some things that are weird and challenging.

For instance, what on Earth are the Nephilim? If you've ever read that passage in Genesis chapter 6, you might find it puzzling. That's not our study today, but it's one of those weird things in the Bible. What strange thing did Noah's son Ham do to him that got Ham into all kinds of trouble? Why did Abraham in the Book of Genesis lie about his wife Sarah's identity, saying that he was her brother? Why did God, in Exodus chapter 4, set out to kill Moses?

These are just a few of the weird things found in the first couple of books of the Bible. I could go on, as there are quite a few things in the Bible that can be a bit of a head-scratcher for us. In fact, if you stay tuned to what we're doing here at Cross Connection Church, later this spring, we will be offering a Bible study during the week on some of the strange things in the Bible. So, keep your eye out!

What we are going to consider today in the scriptures, in this transition from Deuteronomy to Joshua, is one of the riddles of the Bible—one of the stranger things in the scriptures. As you well know, for the last several years, we have been on what has turned out to be a long journey through the book of Deuteronomy.

As we move from Deuteronomy into Joshua, we are transitioning from the children of Israel being in the wilderness to them coming into the Promised Land. We are moving from them being under the leadership of Moses to them being under the leadership of Joshua. This is one of the great storylines of the Old Testament.

I find this passage of scripture to be enlightening. Here, we see Israel's success through their victories, but also through their failures and defeats. We observe many of the ways that God works in and through His people, as well as many of the things that He hopes to accomplish through them. However, we also encounter some of these head-scratchers, which is exactly what we find at the close of Deuteronomy.

As Moses is in this transitionary period, handing the baton to Joshua to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he closes out his message in Deuteronomy and really his 40-year ministry as a leader to Israel. As he concludes this whole book, he gives a long song that he writes and sings over Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 32.

After this song, we read in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 44: "So Moses came with Joshua the son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, and he said to them, 'Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command to your children. Be careful to observe all the words of this law, for it is not a futile thing for you because it is your life. By this word, you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.'"

I absolutely love this final exhortation of Moses. He says to all of the people to set their hearts on the Word of God, and it is not a vain, empty, or futile thing to do so. It is your life.

Set your hearts on the Word of God. By the Word of God, you are going to prolong your days, and you are going to possess the land of blessing—the promised land that is before you. This is a truth that we are going to see again in our studies of the Scriptures. Success and prosperity for the people of God, the children of Israel, were gauged by long life, longevity, lineage—having a big family—and legacy. Those three things, longevity, lineage, and legacy, are how the children of Israel judged whether or not they had been successful and prosperous in their lives.

Being able to have a long life, a big family, and something to leave to your family when you die were the things that the people of Israel found to be the gauge of success and prosperity. This is something that I think we should think deeply about and meditate on. How do you measure success and prosperity? Every single one of us has certain standards for measuring success or prosperity.

Maybe it is attaining a certain level of academic success, a certain degree. Perhaps it is a certain level of position within a corporate structure, like a C-level suite job where you are a CEO, CTO, CFO, or whatever it may be. That may be your gauge. Maybe it is owning your own company and managing your own team. We all have different measurements for success: a certain size bank account, a certain size 401(k), a certain size home, or a certain kind of car. All of these things are what we tend to measure success and prosperity by.

Our society certainly has metrics by which it measures success and prosperity. I think it is very important that we have the proper metrics to measure what is truly prosperous and successful because what we value will affect the way that we live. If our value system is to have a big house, a nice car, and a big bank account, those will be the measures of success, and that is going to change the way that we live. We want to make sure that we have the right value system because, in the end, you want...

To make sure that you have valued the proper things as you progress through this life, it is important to consider what the people of God, the children of Israel, highly valued. A long life, a nice large family, and having some sort of legacy to leave to your family were significant aspects of their lives. They looked towards the next generation and the continuation of their family into the future as the gauge of prosperity and success.

In Moses's final exhortation to the children of Israel before his death, he emphasizes the importance of orienting and aligning your life along the proper lines of value. He instructs them to set themselves to seek God in His word and to set their hearts on His word. This is a good thing to do because it will lead to a prolonged life, and their children will live long after them in the land. This means they will have a big family and experience prosperity and longevity going into the future.

In Deuteronomy chapter 32, we read that the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, "Go up this mountain of Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab across from Jericho. View the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession. You shall die on the mountain which you ascend and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. You shall die on the mountain which you ascend because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel."

As I mentioned a moment ago, there are some head-scratching passages in the Bible, and this is one of them. Moses was one of the greatest men that ever lived. There are not many people who are remembered even a short time after their death. In fact, 150 years from now, virtually no one will remember me or you as much as we would like for our lives to have an impact. As much as we might hope that we will be remembered by people after us, your great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren, 150 years from now, will probably not know anything about you. Yet here we are, about 3,400 years after Moses, and billions of people still know at least some of the things about this great man.

He, as we see in the Scriptures, followed and served God faithfully. He is listed in the Hall of Faith in the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 11. He was used by God to deliver the children of Israel from their enslaved bondage in Egypt. He was and is the man remembered for ordering Israel as a nation.

His writings, when you do the research of history, reveal that the writings of Moses, generally speaking, are the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These are known as the Books of Moses. The writings of Moses are basically the bedrock of our understanding and faith. What we know of creation, we receive from Moses. What we know about Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Israel, the Garden of Eden, the fall of humanity, the rescue of the children of Israel from Egypt, the establishing of the Covenant, and the establishing of the Tabernacle—all of these things came from Moses.

What we know about God, His law, and the proper way to deal with sin was revealed to us through Moses. Not only that, but Moses's writings are also the essential underpinnings for Western thought and culture. Yet, this great Moses, this pretty awesome man of God, could not enter the Promised Land.

If ever there could have been an exception clause for someone among the Exodus generation—those who were above 20 years old when they came out of Egypt—it could have been, or maybe we could even say should have been, Moses. After 40 years of faithful service as Israel's lawgiver and leader, God says to Moses in this passage, "I want you to go up on this mountain, Mount Nebo," which is today in the nation of Jordan. At that time, it was in the country of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River, looking towards the west side of the Jordan River where the city of Jericho was located.

God says, "Moses, you're going to go up on Mount Nebo, and you are going to die on this mountain outside of the Promised Land. You can see the land from Mount Nebo, but you are not going to go in because you trespassed against Me."

The children of Israel at the waters of Meribah are mentioned in the context of Kadesh and the Wilderness of Zin. God says to them, "Because you did not hallow me before the children of Israel in their midst." What is this all about? We will try to answer that question by going back to the Book of Numbers. We are currently in Deuteronomy, chapter 32. The Book of Numbers is just one book before that; it is the fourth book of the Bible.

Before we return to the Book of Numbers, I want to highlight a simple truth that we will see as we go through this section of Scripture today: God is consistent and remains true to His word and His will. Remember that—God is consistent, and He remains true to His word and His will. If God determines and declares something, then He will do it.

The children of Israel are about to inherit the land that was promised to their father Abraham 400 years prior. God promised that Abraham's descendants would take this land, and now they are on the verge of entering the Promised Land. He is going to fulfill His word, His work, and His plan. However, about thirty-seven or eight years prior to this event, as the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God declared that none of that generation who came out of Egypt and were above 20 years old would enter it.

Now, as the children of Israel are about to go into the Promised Land, Moses cannot go with them. As I mentioned in my message last week, the question arises: Why can he not go into the Promised Land? The answer to that question, in part, is found in the Book of Numbers, specifically in Numbers, chapter 20.

If you open your Bibles to Numbers, chapter 20, I will begin reading at verse 1. It says, "Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin." They are wandering in the wilderness, making their way to the Promised Land, and they are probably just a short time—maybe a year or some months—away from coming to Kadesh Barnea, where they will enter the Promised Land.

So, they come to the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. Miriam was Moses's sister. At this point, there was no water for the people.

The congregation gathered together against Moses and Aaron. This sounds familiar; we've kind of seen this happen before if you've read through the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel in the books of Exodus and Numbers. The people contended with Moses, speaking, "If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord to this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? Why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink?"

When you come to this passage of Scripture in your reading in Numbers Chapter 20, the children of Israel have been in the wilderness for several decades. They are nearing the end of their wilderness wanderings, probably within the last year before Moses gives his message in Deuteronomy. So, somewhere in the neighborhood of 37, 38, or 39 years in, the children of Israel are still murmuring and complaining against God and Moses. They were very good at murmuring and complaining. I'm sure you cannot relate to them in this way at all.

They come to Moses because they don't have any water and say, "If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord." That's like three and a half decades before. They are saying that all that time ago, they should have died then. Instead, you have continued to carry us along, Moses, through this wilderness wandering. It would have been better if we had just stayed in Egypt. During that time, instead, we have come out to this place to die. This is not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates. There's no water to drink here. It is all your fault, Moses. You brought us out here; you made us leave Egypt to bring us to this evil and wicked place. There is nothing here that is good. There's no land of milk and honey. We don't have grain, figs, grapes, or pomegranates. We don't even have water. This is just horrible.

So, Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tabernacle of Meeting. They went to the Tabernacle where God would meet with them, and they fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord appeared to them. At this point in the story, I have to acknowledge that Moses is a much better man and leader than I am. For nearly 40 years, he has had to deal with this.

With this Exodus generation's bellyaching, they are complaining and murmuring. At virtually every point when they cry out and complain, Moses brings their issue to God. I love this about Moses. They come and complain to him, murmur, and cry out against him, and he goes to the Tabernacle and prays. I just have to acknowledge that so many times, when I'm being bombarded by people's complaints or their frustrations, it puts me on edge. I get upset. I find myself, as the Christian would say, in the flesh, lacking self-control, kindness, goodness, and grace. Maybe many times, I do not immediately think, "Oh, I need to bring this to God in prayer."

Moses is a great example here, going to God with prayer. So, they go to the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron bow down before the Lord, and the glory of the Lord appears. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod, you and your brother Aaron, gather the congregation together." If you've read through these passages in Exodus and Numbers before, this all seems very familiar to you. Here we are again in a situation in the wilderness where there is no water, and the people are complaining. God says, "Moses, take the rod in your hand, you and your brother Aaron, before the congregation, and speak."

Note this in Numbers Chapter 20: "Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water. Thus, you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and to their animals." As I said, it seems rather familiar. Nearly 40 years prior to this, Israel experienced thirst in a place called Rephidim in Exodus Chapter 17.

Let me just back up from Numbers for a moment. In Exodus Chapter 17, we read, "Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin according to the commandment of the Lord, and they camped in Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore, the people contended with Moses and said, 'Give us water that we may drink.'"

So, Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?" The people thirsted there for water, and they complained against Moses, saying, "Why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

So, Moses cried out to the Lord. Here we see exactly the same situation, 40 years prior to what we're reading in Numbers. Now, here again, we see this in Exodus. Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do with this people?"

They are almost ready to stone me, and the Lord said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Take in your hand the rod with which you struck the river and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock of Horeb." This rock of Horeb is an interesting place, and I will be sharing more about it in the coming weeks.

"You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. We see this picture of the children of Israel lacking water in the wilderness. Fast forward almost 40 years to Numbers chapter 20, and you have a very similar scenario.

What we see in this is that the challenges and difficulties we face in life, the lack we experience, are often not very novel or new. These things tend to recur; we experience the same sorts of lacks and difficulties from time to time. I believe that God allows such challenges and lacks to resurface in our lives so that we learn to continually and consistently bring those things to Him in prayer.

It is good to keep in mind that Jesus taught His disciples to pray for their daily bread. This is something we need to do continuously in our lives. We need to seek God for provision, and in seeking God for provision, we will see that He is faithful and provides. As I shared in a message a few weeks ago, He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides.

In Jesus's teaching to His disciples on prayer, you can find it in Luke's Gospel, chapter 11, but also in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 6. Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 6:9, "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Note this verse: "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

Whether it is this cycle of going through times of challenges or lack, as we see with the children of Israel in Exodus and Numbers, or it is with Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount on how to pray, we discover through the Scriptures that God seeks to train us to consistently and continually seek Him for the provision and grace we need. I need to constantly be seeking Him for my daily needs.

Bread for his daily provision. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, "Take the rod." In this passage in Numbers chapter 20, He instructs Moses to speak to the rock before the eyes of the children of Israel, and it will yield water.

As I mentioned, there are some strange things in the Bible. What is it about this rock that we find in this passage? What is it about striking the rock in Exodus chapter 17 or speaking to the rock in Numbers chapter 20? What is it about this rock that brings them water as they wander in the wilderness? These are some confusing, head-scratching, weird things in the Scriptures. Out of this rock is going to come water, whether you strike it or speak to it.

Now, in asking the question, "What is it with this rock?" thankfully, the answer is not entirely hidden from us. In the New Testament book of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul speaks about this group of people who were under Moses' leadership and the rock that they saw in the wilderness that gave them water. In First Corinthians chapter 10, Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all of our fathers were under the cloud." The children of Israel were under a pillar of cloud by day when they were in the wilderness and a pillar of fire by night.

He is talking about this group of people that wandered in the wilderness. "All of our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ."

Skipping down to verse 11 of the same chapter, Paul says, "Now all these things happened to them, the children of Israel, as examples. They were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls."

The Apostle Paul informs us that there is something special about this rock in the wilderness. The rock, he says, points to Christ in a typological sense. Using a theological term, this rock is Christ in type. Jesus is the rock that was struck in Exodus chapter 17, from whom flows water to give life to those who are thirsty. When you think about that, Jesus is the one who is struck that brings...

Forth, Living Water to those who are thirsty. I can't help but think of Jesus's conversation with the woman at the well in John chapter 4. In fact, if you are someone who has been watching The Chosen, which is a television show or a streaming show online that follows the life of Jesus through the Gospels, there are people who speak against The Chosen. However, I have to say I am impressed by what they've done. Yes, it's not always perfect, and it deviates and adds some artistic license, but there are some powerful scenes from The Chosen, particularly the one at the well.

If you've never read the passage, you should go read John chapter 4. If you've never seen this scene from The Chosen, just look up "Jesus The Chosen the woman at the well," and you'll probably find it on YouTube. In that conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that says to you, 'Give me something to drink,' you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water." Jesus is the one who gives us living water.

Not just in that passage in John chapter 4, but in John chapter 7, Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles. On the last day, the great day of the feast, John chapter 7 says in verse 37 that Jesus stood up among all the people who were gathered there and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." This is found in John chapter 7, verses 37 and 38.

So, Jesus calls himself the Living Water. Paul says Jesus is that rock, like the one that was struck in Exodus chapter 17, which brings forth water at Rephidim. The rock was struck, bringing forth torrents of gushing, flowing living water. However, now Moses is with the children of Israel in a different place in Numbers chapter 20. He is at the Wilderness of Zin in a place called Kadesh. God says to Moses, "This time I want you to take the rod, the same rod that you had almost 40 years before when you struck the rock. This time, I want you to take the rod and speak to the rock before the eyes of the children of Israel, and as you speak to the rock, the rock will yield its water."

We can rely upon God's faithful goodness and expect him to rarely work the same way twice. The first time, he said, "I want you to strike the rock."

The second time, God tells Moses to speak to the rock. I think it is true that we can rely upon God's faithful goodness, yet He rarely does the same thing twice. I don't know if that is a rule necessarily or always completely the case, but it certainly has been my experience. Most of the time, God likes to call audibles, shall we say. He changes things up frequently and doesn't always work in the same way twice. I think He likes to keep you and me kind of guessing.

Now, that's both a good thing, but it can also be something that drives us crazy. I certainly can trust in and rely upon God's faithful goodness, but sometimes the way that God works is not the same way twice. You might be hoping and expecting that He will do the same thing.

The first time, no water came when Moses struck the rock, as recorded in Exodus chapter 17. The second time, in Numbers chapter 20, God instructed Moses to speak to the rock. We read in Numbers chapter 20, verse 9, that Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He had commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Here now, you rebels, must we bring water for you out of this rock?"

Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their animals drank. There is this song that I hear pop up on various social media platforms from time to time, and it just says, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no." In this situation, that's kind of what I hear in my head. Oh no! This is not exactly what God had said that He wanted Moses to do.

Moses was supposed to speak to the rock, but instead, he spoke to the people, and the way that he spoke to them wasn't exactly the best. He was supposed to speak to the rock, but instead, he struck it—not once, but twice. God was the one who was going to do the impossible by bringing water out of the rock, but Moses angrily says to the people, "You bunch of rebels." In one sense, I can understand, and you can almost feel the need to forgive Moses for getting a little angry. I mean, it's been 40 years of dealing with these people's complaining and murmuring.

Of rebels must we, Moses or Aaron, bring water for you out of this rock? Now, God, in His goodness, as you see in that passage, actually did bring forth water in abundance from the rock, even when Moses failed to do what God had commanded him to do. In this, I think there is a reminder that God remains faithful even when we fall short and fail, which is really good news. God remains faithful even when I fall short and fail.

However, this wasn't what God had commanded. In this passage, and also in Deuteronomy chapter 32, we see that Moses sinned, and there are always consequences when we sin. At this point, you might think, "Come on, really? Is this really that big of a deal?" Apparently, the answer is yes; it was a big deal. So much so that God, at the end of Moses's life, says, "Go up on this mountain, Mount Nebo, and view the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the children of Israel as a possession. You are going to die there." The reason that you're going to die there and not come into the promised land is because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel.

It may not seem like a big deal to you and me, but it was a major issue for God. When Moses struck the rock twice and angrily chastised the people for being rebels, whether he was aware of it at the moment or not, he was misrepresenting God to the people of Israel. Moses was told to speak to the rock, and he was not told to scold the people. Even if they deserved a scolding, he was not supposed to do this.

In this passage, my friend David Guzik has some good insight that I really liked. He said there are many reasons to explain the sinful reaction of Moses, but there are no adequate excuses. I love that. There are all kinds of reasons to explain the sinful reaction of Moses, but there are no adequate excuses. He was provoked, but he responded and sinned, as later described in Psalm 106, verses 32 and 33, where we read, "They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them, because they rebelled against His spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips."

Now listen, if Moses sinfully misrepresented God in this situation...

He apparently did. We have to ask ourselves the convicting question: In what ways have I, or do I, or am I, or maybe are you, misrepresenting God? In what ways are we misrepresenting God to those in our families? In what ways are we misrepresenting God to those on the school campus we are on, or in our workplace, or in our neighborhood, or in the larger community that we live in?

When you and I are dishonest in our interactions with our employer or anybody else, how well does that represent Christ? When you and I lose our cool on the freeway, lacking self-control and showing it in our actions, how well does that represent God? When we rant about the politics of someone we don't agree with, is that expressing God's grace and His kindness? When you have a Cross Connection sticker on your car right next to the "Let's Go Brandon" sticker, is that the right representation?

Now, at this point, you might say, "Hey now, Pastor, you're meddling." But really, that is what the Holy Spirit does; He brings conviction. If Moses misrepresented God in this instance, as he clearly did, then that should be convicting to me and to you. Are we misrepresenting God in some way with our lives?

Recognize that there are consequences when we fall short in misrepresenting God. Sometimes, there are even eternal consequences. What individuals are turned off to faith in Christ by the bad witness of His followers?

It's fascinating to me, this last week, the culture of our world right around us, the dust-up that has followed the Super Bowl and an advertisement from a group called "He Gets Us." This is a group that is connected to a number of very well-funded Christians in this world, and they are trying to reach people in some way with the message of Jesus. They paid millions of dollars to put a one-minute advertisement in the Super Bowl, and from both sides—within the church and outside of it—people had issues with it.

People who are not a part of the church, not Christians, often question why others would spend millions of dollars on something they could have used for something better. This sounds a little bit like Judas chastising the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive oil, asking, "Why this waste?" That is how people with the heart of Judas respond.

However, there are also Christians who are angry and upset by this whole situation because they have issues with the people who created the commercial. I don't know who these people are; I've tried to do a little bit of research, but it's not entirely clear to me. You can have issues with the commercial and the exact positions of those who made it all you want. You can get upset about it, but the fact is, you can't argue with the primary message of the ad.

The primary message of the advertisement was that Jesus loved the people that we hate. It featured images of people gnashing their teeth at each other, getting angry, and fighting. The question arises: where do wars and fights come from among you? They come from your lusts and power. Jesus loved the people that we hate, and there is truth in that. We should recognize that this advertisement conveys a truthful message, regardless of whether you have a problem with its cost or with the creators behind it.

The question remains a challenging one: How are we Christians representing God? Jesus loved the people that we hate, and He taught that the greatest proof of my faith in Him and my commitment to Him will be seen in the way that I love other people. He said to His disciples in John chapter 13, "They shall know that you are My followers by the love that you have for one another."

So, how am I representing Him? What does my life reveal about my connection to God? I call myself a Christian; I am a pastor, and I teach the Bible. What does my life say about my God? Are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control the characteristics that define my life? Or is it rather what is called the works of the flesh in Galatians chapter five: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, divisions, dissensions, factions, and envy? Is that what is defining my life?

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. How am I representing God? Moses misrepresented God, and then the Lord spoke in Numbers Chapter 20, verse 12. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe me," you might want to underline that in your Bible, "to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." This was the water of Meribah because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.

At the heart of Moses's sin was unbelief. You can live for decades as a witness to the faithfulness of God, trusting Him implicitly for His provision, protection, and grace. Yet, take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall. Moses had walked in faith and faithfulness to God for decades, and yet in a moment of unbelief, in a moment of arrogance, frustration, or anger, he slipped up and fell. He misrepresented God.

As a consequence of Moses and Aaron's unbelief and their failure to honor and hallow God before the people, they, like the rest of the Exodus generation, would not enter into the Promised Land. As I said at the beginning, there are some real head-scratchers in the Bible, and this is one of those challenging stories. There is something about this that seems unfair to us.

However, I learned a long time ago that when I come to something in the Bible that is hard for me to understand or doesn't entirely make sense, I want to fall back on what I do know and what I do understand. Let me say that again: when you come to something in the Bible that is challenging for you to understand or hard for you to make sense of, then fall back on what you do know and what you do understand.

So, in saying that, how should we look at this? One of the things we should consider is that we can trust in the justice and goodness of God. I can trust in the justice and goodness of God. You can trust in the justice and goodness of God.

If you think that you are just and that you have a desire for fairness that comes from God, He is holy, good, and just. Therefore, I can trust in the justice and goodness of God. Abraham, the father of the faith, is the one who asked God when He was about to judge the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He said, "Shall not the judge of all the Earth do right?" God's actions in that passage of Scripture and throughout the Scriptures consistently vindicate His goodness and His justice. God is always going to be just and perfectly good; you can trust in that.

We might look at something like this and think, "Gosh, that seems unfair." However, I will fall back on the fact that God will always be good and just. He is good, and He is always just. That's where I start.

Second, I can trust that God is working according to His perfect will and that He is working all things together for good. In Romans chapter 8, verse 28, it says, "And we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." So, we can trust that God is working according to His perfect will and that He is working all things together for good.

Third, there are things that appear unresolved to me in this life, but in the long run, especially in the very long run of eternity, God will reveal His almighty goodness and His power to resolve the things that seem to be unresolvable. With this story specifically, there is more going on with Moses dying alone on Mount Nebo, that mountaintop outside of the Promised Land.

There is more going on here. I have shared several times over the last few weeks that God's dealings with Israel and the Promised Land were bigger than just Israel and the Promised Land. God worked through Moses to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt and to bring them to the border of the Promised Land. Through Moses, Israel became the covenanted people of God; they became a nation governed by the Most High. Then, as we will see, God would work through Joshua to bring Israel into the Promised Land from the wilderness. Why is He doing all of this? God's aim...

God's purpose was to get His people into the right place so that He could work through them to bring about His redemptive blessing for all people. This goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 12 and the call of Abraham. God called Abraham and the descendants of Abraham, establishing a people in a place—the Promised Land—so that He could bring about a blessing for all peoples, a redemptive plan for all.

We can focus on Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Joshua, and all the characters in this story, but we need to zoom out and realize that God is doing something much bigger. Moses's death on Mount Nebo is not the last time we see him on a mountaintop in the Scriptures. We can get upset and frustrated, wondering why this faithful man didn't enter the Promised Land. However, I want to suggest that he actually did and saw something far greater than just the land.

In the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, we read a significant story in Matthew chapter 17. Jesus has an important conversation with His disciples in one of the northernmost locations of the land of Israel, at a place called Caesarea Philippi. I've been there; it's an amazing place. He asks His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" They respond, "Some say you're the prophet; some say you're this; some say you're that." Then He asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter, one of His disciples, replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."

Shortly after this, we read in Matthew 17 that after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, His brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light. Notably, verse 3 states, "And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him."

Let's pause for a moment. Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, talking to Him. We often think it's unfair that Moses didn't enter the Promised Land and died on Mount Nebo, but he did come into the Promised Land. The whole point of the Promised Land and Moses's wilderness wanderings was to get the people of God into a place where God could work through them to bring about a blessing for all peoples.

So, behold, Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make three tabernacles."

Tabernacles—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him." When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise and do not be afraid." When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

In the scheme of everything that goes on in this world, we can get so focused on the details and the individuals that we feel things are not right, unfair, and didn't work out the way we thought they should. We may feel unresolved and burdened by all of this. Yet sometimes, we need to pull back and realize that God is doing something greater than we realize in that moment. God is consistent and remains true to His word and His will. We can rely upon His faithful goodness even when we don't see all of the details of His plan. Our failures and shortcomings do not short-circuit His sovereign power and will, as it was with Moses.

In the end, we can trust and rest in God's ability to fulfill His purpose and will. As Paul the Apostle sums it up so beautifully in Philippians chapter 1, verse 6: "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

I don't know what you are going through, what challenges you are facing, or what lack you have in your life. There are things that can come into our lives that frustrate and anger us; they feel unresolved and unfair. Sometimes, I think it's important to step back and realize that God is working something bigger than we realize in the moment, and He will complete that good work. He will finish it until the day of Christ Jesus.

God, I pray that You would help us to have that mindset and not lose sight of it. Teach us these things; cause these things to go deeply into our hearts that we would think on them this week, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

I see You taking ground. I see You pressing ahead. Your power is dangerous to the enemy's camp. You still do miracles; You will do what You said, for You are the same God now as You've always been.

Thanks for joining us for our online service today. As we close, we would love to invite you to our on-campus service here at Cross Connection Church at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. every Sunday. If you'd like more information about Cross Connection Church, make sure you check out lifeandconnection.com.

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! We have a couple of announcements this morning. The first one is a save-the-date. Get your phone out and get ready to plug it into your calendar. We are having a workday on March 20th, so save the date and keep it open. We will see you there!

Our second announcement is very important. We are exactly eight weeks from Christmas and eight weeks until Easter. This is the countdown toward Easter. We have eight weeks remaining, and we are going to do a really big push to invite people to church for Easter. It is a naturally perfect day to invite someone, so start planning and start praying. Think of the people who are currently spiritually dead that you would like to see brought to life, and invite them to church.