Justice, Mercy, and God's Glory
We might want to appeal to God’s mercy instead of taking justice into our own hands. When it comes to our sins and acts of rebellion, we desire mercy. Unfortunately, when we see the mistakes and rebellion of others, we not only want justice, we make the mistake of taking justice into our own hands. This is exactly what Moses did at Meribah.
I suspect that I am not the only one who at some point, thought God might have been too harsh on Moses when he told him he would not be able to enter the promised land. After all that Moses went through with an ungrateful and rebellious congregation he was charged to lead, why would God let one action bring what seems to be an extreme punishment?
As we read through the 40 years in the wilderness narratives, it is important to note that while Moses put up with a lot from the Israelites, up until this incident with the rock, Moses always interceded for God’s mercy when the people rebelled. Many times Moses pleaded with God and prayed for God to be merciful even when the Israelites had strongly rebelled and even had turned to idols. But in chapter 20, we see something different.
What was the same was that the congregation of the Israelites complained again that they would have been better off in Egypt than following Moses through the wilderness.
“Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
This was the same old tired verse that the Israelites had used when complaining to Moses. And Moses and Aaron did the same thing they had done many times before. They bowed before the Lord and once again God showed up in all his glory. And God also did what he had done many times during the last 40 years; he chose mercy:
“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”
To understand what happened next we need to pay close attention to what Moses did. Moses was told that as the congregation looked on, he was to tell the rock to yield its water. But Moses didn’t actually do what God had instructed. Instead of speaking to the rock he instead, in his frustration with the people, spoke to them instead.
“Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
In that moment Moses shifted from demonstrating God’s mercy to declaring that “we” ( Moses and Aaron) would bring water from the rock.
When Moses struck the rock in anger at the Israelites, he took matters into his own hands and did not follow God’s instructions or give God the glory for the miracle.
And just as in the past incidents of rebellion, God stayed true to his character; he practiced justice and mercy. This time Moses would have to learn that it was God and God alone who is in charge of justice and mercy. And it is also God and God alone who provides for our needs.
When we look at various challenges we see around us, whether in culture, politics, or in our work and personal lives, we often want to make sure that the others we perceive are causing all the problems get the justice we think they deserve. Usually, we see that justice as being punishment and of course we want to define what accountability looks like in their and our own situations. But it is the Lord who sees all and promises to ultimately take care of all injustices in his timeline, which looks different than our timeline.
In our struggle to overcome our own problems or in dealing with the injustices of the world around us, our best response is to speak to the Rock of our salvation and appeal to his mercy and his command that he is the one worthy of all glory. It is never ours to seek glory or revenge. In every situation, our best response is to appeal to the mercy and grace of the Lord for what we need and in everything give God the glory for both the small and the large victories that come to us because of His great love.
Lord, we confess that like Moses we get frustrated and angry and want to take things into our own hands when we face opposition. Forgive us. And like Moses, we often speak to others instead of speaking first to you. So today we come to you and ask for your grace and mercy in our lives and in the difficulties we face. We ask for you to provide for every need we have. We surrender our sense of how you should treat others and surrender our enemies into your hands. As you provide for every need, we give you glory. As the psalmist said: “Not to us, oh Lord, but to your name be glory.” In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Numbers 20:2-13; Psalm 115:1 ESV
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