“Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy...

Numbers 20:8-13 The Water of Meribah

^{From the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on links page)}

 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³ Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

As I read these verses I can't help but to think of all the times that Moses interceded on behalf of the nation of Israel, times when God had said that He would wipe them out and start over.

Exodus 32:9-11    The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10"Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." 11Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?… 

Moses was a "type" of Christ. Meaning he was a person who lived before Jesus, who's life and character revealed the coming Messiah. Moses was a deliverer of his people. He had, like Jesus, left his royal position to go to his people as a deliverer. He had worked as a shepherd during his time of preparation, 40 years in Midian. Moses had a shepherds heart for the nation of Israel.

Today's text though teaches us just how  important it is to recognize God's holiness. We need to understand that God is Abba Father, our Daddy and we are called to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.(Hebrews 4:16)    We are His children and He welcomes us into His presence and onto His lap. That is God's heart for us. Yet we need to recognize also that God is holy. Moses had a closeness and familiarity with God like no other man among the Israelites. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.(Exodus 33:11)    In today's text Moses, this one who spoke with God face to face as a friend,  is told: “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”    Moses momentary slip, his anger and frustration shown toward the people would cause him not to enter the promised land.

We need to understand two things from this. First that God is holy and even though we are called to come to Him and experience a loving relationship with Him, we must never allow our familiarity with God to let us lose sight of His holiness. Every time in scripture that some one comes into the presence of God, they are overwhelmed by His holiness.

Isaiah 6:5 “Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

John, who had laid his head on Jesus chest at the last supper, when He sees Him in heaven:

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, (Revelation 1:17) 

When we truly come into His awesome presence there will be no question of His holiness, we will be overwhelmed.  We though, need to learn from today's text and  always treat Him as holy before other people.

We also need to understand how God feels about His people, His flock, the bride that Christ is returning for. While we may see many imperfections in the church and God's children. They are His.    thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8)   God loves His people with a jealous love. We need to be careful that in our zeal to see the best for God's people we don't allow our own frustration and judgment to come out toward them. That cost Moses entrance into the promised land. It didn't cause him to lose his eternal salvation. What he lost was what he was supposed to possess here on earth.

We too are supposed to possess a great inheritance here and now. We need to find the balance in our lives that honors and glorifies God. Our words and actions need  treat Him as holy before others. Yet we need to not fear coming into His holy presence. It is only in His presence that we can be all that we are supposed to be.  God says:  I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.(Leviticus 11:44)      Christ has made us holy and righteous. In Him and through Him we come into God's holy presence. From His presence we see from His perspective and we love, honor and care for those He jealously loves.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Thank You for all You have done for me, for saving me and making me whole, righteous and holy. Forgive me for any times when my words or actions might not have shown Your holiness to others. Forgive me also when I have judged, criticized or become frustrated with Your people, the apple of Your eye. Holy Spirit I yield to You and ask that You will guide me in living my life in the perfect balance of love, righteousness and holiness, both toward God and toward others. Thank You for all that is my possession in Christ both now and for eternity.    Amen        

Just a note to "nuggets" readers. First of all thank you for reading and following this daily devotion. I hope you are blessed. I am amazed at what God has done. Veins of Truth is currently averaging about 100 visits per day, over 12,000 since September 2014.  My desire in writing and sharing this daily devotion is that God's word will go forth and it's seed will produce a harvest 30, 60 or 100 fold. We have a unique opportunity in the times we live in. Through technology, the internet and and social media we can reach around the world with God's word. If you are blessed by "nuggets" I'd like to ask a favor of you, actually two favors. First share the site with your friends. There are share buttons on the page for facebook, twitter and google. Second if you would just check in by comment letting me know where you are from. it would be a great encouragment to see how far "nuggets" is reaching.

Thanks again and may God bless you.

Dave