ON THE VANGUARD

NO GO
“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.’”
Numbers 20:12

If you are like me, you have probably seen a movie or two where there is some sort of testing or launch taking place. From the control room someone says, “We have a go for take-off,” or even the opposite about having a no go. These terms of ‘go’ and ‘no go’ refer to a pass or fail principle. A boundary is being tested, a system is being reviewed, or in the case of Moses, a person’s obedience is being looked at. From the beginning of Exodus when Moses comes on to the scene, we see him as the leader who will take the masses into the Promise Land. Yet later on, we see that Moses was told he would not enter. Well I don’t know about you, but that causes me to wonder what may have happened to change God’s mind from a ‘go’ to a ‘no go’ concerning Moses. So let us a minute to take a look.
The Bible equates this mystery to a sin of Moses. In Numbers 20 we see the community had arrived at the Desert of Zin, staying at Kadesh. It was in this place that the sister of Moses and Aaron, Miriam, has passed away. I am sure that the brothers were still grieving the loss of their sister when they were approached by the people of the community that there was no water. But it wasn’t only that the people announced there was no water, it was how they announced it. In whining and complaining they made it clear there was no water, asking why they were taken from Egypt into the forsaken desert with no luxuries only to die of thirst. Moses had heard it all before and I can only imagine how this time grated him once more.
As a parent I have been there. How many times have I heard my kids not only make me aware of something, but continue to make it known in whines, sarcasms, and threats? After a while it begins to take a toll on me. I promise I am not deaf and heard the first time, but the consistent manner in which my kids make it known in these times puts me over the edge…and I snap. I snap, much like Moses did. Understand please, that Moses went and sought the LORD in this manner and was told to speak to the rock in order for water to flow. Yet when Moses got to the rock, he did not speak. Add together these two things and you see why. His sister was recently deceased and the people were speaking out their frustrations. Moses had had enough. He approached the rock, gave a smart-mouthed comment to the people, and then struck it.
God was faithful and provided water nonetheless, but in Number 20:12 He also banned Moses and Aaron from entering into the promise. Suddenly everything changed and it all hinged on the fact that Moses disobeyed God. So there you have it, mystery solved. But I would like to suggest something a little deeper for you to think on. This was not the first act of disobedience for Moses. He too had sinned and been forgiven of. The greater lesson here is in the anger of Moses. It was his anger that kept him out of the Promise Land. Look back with me. Early in his life, while still in Egypt, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man and killed the Egyptian in anger. Later on while on Mount Sinai Moses received the Ten Commandments. Because of his absence the people thought something had happened to him and they fashioned the golden calf. Coming down the mountain, hearing the party, Moses looked and saw them worshipping a false god and in anger chucked the tablets so hard they broke. And now again, in anger, he hit the rock as opposed to speaking to it. The man had an anger problem.
I do not want to find the same fate as Moses. Knowing that the curse of anger prevented Moses from his blessing, I do not want this to be the same for you or me. Moses came right up to the border of the Promise Land but never got to go in. When he should have heard ‘go’, he heard ‘no go’ instead. Let us not have the same ending as Moses. Let us do away with anger, break the curse of anger on us and those after us. Let us do it now before we explode even once more, and that once more be our final time. Anger is a trap – do not let it catch you.