Passing the Torch

"'Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.' So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain." -Numbers 20.24-28

Because of the disobedience at Meribah, Moses and Aaron will not enter the Promised Land. Moses will lead the people until the forty years of wandering are complete, but Aarons' time has come. The high priest is about to die, and so the role must be passed to another, his son Eleazar.

There is a lot that can be said about passing the torch, but let me keep it to this, it has to be done. A lot of damage, some of it possibly irreversible, has been done because people want to hold on to the torch too long. It might be difficult to do, it's never easy to give up power or control, but we weren't meant to go on forever. We will become outdated, ineffective, or eventually we physically die. Try as we might, we simply can't go on forever.

Men, what torch do you need to pass? Are you willing to, or are you desperately clinging to it because it's your identity? Maybe you don't have that problem, you just aren't to the point where it is time to pass the torch, are you preparing for it?

I was able to witness a successful large church leadership transition between the wise "old" sage I meet with, and the younger king who has become the new lead pastor. I want to say it was close to a two year leadership transition, with responsibility gradually shifting. The sage told me near the beginning, "I want to hand over the keys while there is still gas in the tank." He knew the torch had to be passed, and he wanted to make sure it was still burning bright when he handed it off.

Let us never cling to any role as our identity. May we always be training up future leaders, and when the time is right let us willingly pass the torch.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

The traditional location of Aaron's burial near Petra in Jordan

The Cost of Disobedience

"'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.' So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 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?' 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. 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.'" -Numbers 20.8-12

This is perhaps the saddest moment in the life of Moses. He's led the people from Egypt to Sinai, and then from Sinai to the edge of the Promised Land with them complaining the whole way and asking if they can turn around and go back to Egypt. Things had gotten so bad that God sentenced them to forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Moses would have to put up with their complaining for four decades, but at the end he would lead the nation into the land.

But then we have this event at Meribah. The people need water and complain to Moses about their thirst. Moses in turn falls face down in humble submission to God and God tells him to speak to the rock and water will come forth. Moses goes to the rock and gathers the people and just as God's power is about to be shown off again, Moses disobeys and instead of speaking hits the rock twice with his staff. God doesn't abandon him, water still comes out for the people, but God is displeased with Moses.

I don't know if it was out of anger with the people, for some reason up until this read through I thought it was, but the text doesn't seem to indicate that here. I don't know if it was simply lack of faith because up to this point everything had been accomplished with the staff. I don't know why he did it this way, but it cost him more than he wanted to pay, more than he ever expected to lose.

Because of his lack of trust and disobedience, God will no longer allow Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land. He will lead them through the wilderness for the next forty years, he'll even get to see it from the top of Mt. Nebo, but his feet will never step on the soil. Because of his lack of trust he missed out on the blessing of the land, the hope that probably kept him going through all of the complaining.

There is an important lesson in this story. In January of 2013 I was on my second Israel trip, this one included a few days in Jordan, and aside from Petra the thing I was most looking forward to was the view from the top of Nebo. On a clear day you're supposed to be able to see North to the Sea of Galilee, and West to the Mediterranean. Sadly the clear days happen in the summer and I could just barely make out the northern tip of the Dead Sea. But my time on top of the mountain resulted in one of the greatest lessons I received from a brilliant biblical scholar.

One of my professors was on the trip and pointed out that in this event God shows that no one, not even a leader whom he speaks with as a friend, is able to get away with disobedience. Everyone is held accountable for how they respond to God, and no disobedience will be overlook or go unpunished.

Men, are you disobeying God? What rock have you been commanded to speak to, and yet you are hitting it instead?

Remember, God may not abandon you, water still came from the rock when Moses hit it, but his disobedience was not permitted. God took away the Promised Land from Moses. What will your disobedience cost you?

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Face Down

"Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; and the Lord spoke to Moses" -Numbers 20.6-7a

Miriam, Moses' sister has died, and the people begin to grumble, again. The place where they are has no water for them to drink, and though God has provided for them in the past, for some reason they don't feel that He can, or will, come through this time. They come assemble against Moses and begin to complain, and Moses and Aaron go humble themselves before they Lord and wait for Him to speak.

They fall face down in the tent of meeting, and God appears in His glory to speak to Moses. They humble themselves before God and God comes to speak to them.

Men, if we would speak to God we must come to Him humbly. We must realize His greatness and our insignificance. We must come before Him in humility, fully surrendered to Him, and when we do, we are able to hear from Him. Are you willing to humble yourself and fall face down before God? Are you willing to be completely vulnerable to God and hear whatever He might have to say?

Let us humble ourselves so that we may hear from God. Let us fall face down in humility so that He can speak to us.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor