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Scripture Reading: Num. 20:2-3, 7-13, 22-28; Deut. 32:48-52
After the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for over thirty years, we find in Numbers 20 that they forgot the lesson that they had learned through their rebellion. When they came into the wilderness of Zin, they were without water, and they murmured and spoke against Moses and Aaron (vv. 2-3). Moses and Aaron had learned many lessons before the Lord already. But this time Moses erred in acting as God’s deputy authority. We need to consider how God judges a deputy authority when he fails. God was not angry this time at the people’s murmuring; He told Moses to take the rod, which was a symbol of God’s authority, and to speak to the rock so that it might yield its water. This shows that Moses and Aaron were God’s deputy authority. God did not say that He wanted to punish the Israelites. Moses and Aaron were not young men, yet they still failed in their position as God’s deputy authority. Verse 10 shows that Moses was very angry when he said, “Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” The phrase you rebels is strong in English as well as in Hebrew. It is a short expression in Hebrew. Moses used very strong words. He was angry. He might have thought, “This rebellious people has been causing trouble for decades, and they are causing trouble still.” He forgot God’s command and struck the rock with the rod twice. Although Moses was wrong, water flowed out just the same (v. 11).
This act prompted God to rebuke His servant. He said, “You did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (v. 12a). This means that Moses and Aaron had not sanctified God; they had not separated God from themselves. Moses’ speaking was wrong and his striking was also wrong. His spirit was completely wrong, and he represented God in a wrong way. In reading the Bible we have to touch the spirit of the Word. It seems that God was saying, “I saw that My people were thirsty, and I gave them to drink. Why are you rebuking them?” God said that Moses and Aaron had not sanctified Him. This means that they had not set Him apart as the holy One. It seems that God was saying, “You have involved Me in your errors.” A person’s words have to do with his attitude. Moses’ word did not sanctify God. His attitude was different from God’s attitude, and his feeling different from God’s feeling. God did not rebuke the people, but Moses did. This caused the Israelites to misunderstand God. They thought that God was fierce, that He was quick to condemn, and that He was a merciless God.
It is imperative that an authority represent God properly. Whether in wrath or in compassion, he should be like God all the time. If we are wrong, we should confess that we are wrong; we should never drag God into our mistake. If we do, we will bring judgment upon ourselves. We must be careful. It is a serious thing to drag God into our mistakes. Moses had been a deputy authority for decades, but he implicated God in his error. He represented God wrongly. This is why God had to judge him. When a deputy authority makes a mistake and does not confess it, God will step forward to vindicate Himself. It would be wrong for God to not judge Moses and Aaron. God’s dealing with Moses and Aaron meant that this act was committed by Moses and Aaron only, and that God had no part in it. Israel’s murmuring could have been a rebellion in attitude only; their spirit might have been different. This is why God did not judge them. Moses should not have judged them rashly when God had not judged them. He should not have uttered any unrestrained words according to himself. Moses rebuked the Israelites. This was his own attitude and his own wrath. But this easily could have lead the Israelites to believe that this was God’s attitude and God’s wrath. Man’s wrath does not accomplish the righteousness of God. This is why God needed to vindicate Himself. He had to separate Himself from Moses and Aaron. He had to show the whole world that what Moses did that day was done by Moses alone; it was not done by Him. The words Moses spoke on that day were his own words; they were not God’s words. We can never implicate God in our mistakes or our personal failures, or give others the impression that our attitude is the attitude that God is expressing through His deputy authority. If we do, God will have to vindicate Himself. A deputy authority acts on behalf of God. If we become angry, we can only say that we are angry, that it is we who are behind it, not God. We have to separate the two. My worst fear is that man would become so bold as to associate his own acts with God’s work, and think it unnecessary to identify his actions as his own.
We are too prone to errors. Once we make a mistake, we should acknowledge it. On the one hand, this will save us from wrongly representing God and falling into the evil one’s ensnarement. On the other hand, this will save us from falling into darkness. If we take the lead to acknowledge our mistakes, God will not have to vindicate Himself. Otherwise, we will fall into God’s governmental hand.
The result of this incident was the manifestation of God’s judgment. God said that Moses and Aaron could no longer enter the land of Canaan on account of their mistake (v. 12b). When man speaks and acts loosely and does not sanctify God, He will vindicate Himself. When this happens, man can no longer ask God for forgiveness. Here is another thing that we should note: Every time we execute God’s authority and take care of His business, we have to do it with fear and trembling. We cannot let down our guard or become presumptuous just because we have become old. When Moses was angry and threw down God’s handwritten tablets of stone, God did not judge him because he was filled with God’s jealousy, and it was right for him to do that. He was zealous for God, and God did not rebuke him. But after following God for so many years, he misrepresented God by disobeying Him, striking the rock twice, and speaking rash words. He had incriminated God in his mistakes, and he had dragged God into his error. He made others think that his words were God’s words and his judgments God’s judgments. This was a grave error. In order to serve God, we must sanctify Him, and we must not associate Him with ourselves loosely. Otherwise, when God vindicates Himself, we will suffer severe judgment. Moses lost his right to enter Canaan through this one mistake.
The Israelites could not enter Canaan because they had rebelled many times. Moses and Aaron were wrong only once. Yet they could not enter Canaan either. It is a sobering thing to be a deputy authority. God’s judgment on a deputy authority is serious. In Numbers 18 God told Aaron that he and his sons would bear the iniquity of the sanctuary (v. 1). The more a person represents God’s authority, the more God scrutinizes him and will not let him go. In Luke 12 the Lord also said, “To every one to whom much has been given, much will be required from him; and to whom much has been committed, they will ask of him all the more” (v. 48).
Numbers 20 tells us that Aaron would die on Mount Hor through this judgment. We see Moses, Aaron, and his son Eleazar going up Mount Hor together (vv. 25-27). What a beautiful picture this is! All three were submissive and willingly accepted God’s judgment. They really knew God. This is why they did not even pray. Aaron knew that his day had come, and Moses also knew what was to become of himself. They were like Abraham when he took Isaac up the mountain. Abraham knew Isaac’s future. God told Moses to take Aaron and Eleazar with him up to the mountain, because in the incident by the waters of Meribah, Moses was the one who took the lead. On the mountain Moses found the way that Aaron was to take, and he also found the way he would take.
As soon as Aaron’s garments were stripped off, he died (v. 28). Ordinarily, when a man takes off his garments, he does not die. But when Aaron’s garments were removed, he died. This means that his life was derived from his service. It means that when a servant of the Lord ceases his service, his life stops. There are many people who are not genuine servants. When they cease their so-called service, their life continues to go on. Here we see that Aaron was a genuine servant of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 32 shows us that God’s judgment does not go away with time. God dealt with Moses in the same way that He dealt with Aaron. He told Moses to go up to Mount Nebo and die there (vv. 48-52). During those years Moses was faithful. Deuteronomy 32 and 33 tell us that before he died, he sang to and blessed the children of Israel. He did not pray for God to spare him from such a judgment. He humbly and meekly submitted to the hand of God. Even though he was a deputy authority of God who was obedient to God all his life, he was barred from entering Canaan because of his one failure in representing God. What a great loss this was! Moses was brought up to Mount Nebo to the peak of Pisgah. Nebo was the plateau, while Pisgah was the peak. There God told Moses, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not go over there” (34:4). God’s promise lasted for five hundred years from the time of Abraham, but Moses could only see it; he could not inherit it, because he misrepresented God’s authority by the waters of Meribah. What a loss he suffered!
I have a very heavy burden which I want to share with you. Nothing is more serious and sobering than to misrepresent authority. I am fearful that our young brothers would wrongly represent God’s authority. We may be wrong only once, but that one mistake can bring in God’s judgment. Every time we execute God’s authority, we have to pray that we are joined to God. The minute we make a mistake, we have to learn to separate ourselves from God. Otherwise we will bring God’s judgment upon ourselves. In making a decision we have to ask if the decision is according to God’s will. We can say that we are acting in His name only if we know for sure that it is God’s will. Moses rebuked the Israelites and struck the rock by the waters of Meribah. He could not say that he was acting in the name of the Lord. He should have said, “I am doing this by myself.” Otherwise, he would bring judgment on himself. I hope that you will not be foolish but will learn to live before the Lord in fear and trembling. Do not act or walk rashly when you say that you are doing things in the name of the Lord. Do not pass on careless judgments or make proposals easily. Control your spirit and your tongue. In particular, shut your mouth when you are angry. When you act as God’s deputy authority, you will either do a good job or you will drag God into your error. This is a serious matter. The more a man knows God, the more careful he will be. If you fall into God’s governmental hand, you may be forgiven at times, but you may not be forgiven at other times. No one can touch or offend God’s government. We have to be clear about this way. Only after we have seen the proper way of representing authority can we be a deputy authority.
Self-motivated service cannot find acceptance in the eyes of God. In fact, no one can render any service at all by himself. A man must serve by standing on the ground of resurrection before his service can be approved. The Lord does not want us to be misguided to assume that authority comes from someone other than God. We are not the authority; we are only here to represent authority. The flesh has no place. We must also tell others that everything wrong comes from us and everything right comes from God. Every time we talk to men or deal with matters, we have to remember that we cannot trust in ourselves and that we have to understand God’s will. We cannot go out on our own and make suggestions or decisions lightly. Authority does not rest with us; we are merely the deputy authorities. If we act according to our own will, we will create big problems. The church cannot be without authority, and the church cannot tolerate the misuse of authority. God has only one mind, which is to build up His own authority.
In the church submission to authority is absolute, and fear and trembling on the part of the deputy authority should also be absolute. Without submission there is no church. At the same time, a deputy authority must not make suggestions or decisions loosely, and he must not speak carelessly or dictate others’ pathways. It is wrong to judge the brothers or to interpret the Bible lightly. Our submission must be absolute, and our representation of authority must also be absolute. There are two problems in the church today. One is the lack of absolute submission, and the other is the misrepresentation of authority. We must learn not to speak loosely or make proposals casually. Our spirit has to be open to the Lord all the time, and we have to look to His light. If we do not, we will implicate God in our mistakes. We may even say that we are acting in the Lord’s name or on His behalf. Actually, none of our actions are of the Lord. We must learn to submit on the one hand, and learn to represent God on the other hand. Hence, we must know the cross, and we must know resurrection. Whether or not the church will have a way to go on depends on how we have learned this lesson.
A man’s authority is based on his ministry, and his ministry is based on resurrection. Without resurrection there is no ministry, and without ministry there is no authority. Without resurrection, Aaron could not serve. His service was based on resurrection, and his authority before men was also based on resurrection. Resurrection enables us to serve before God and establishes us as an authority before men. God will never appoint a man who has no ministry to be His authority.
Authority today is not a matter of position. Without a spiritual service, there cannot be any positional authority. Only after a man has a spiritual service before the Lord can he have authority before men. This means that God will appoint you as an authority among His children only after you have acquired a spiritual ministry. Hence, authority is based on one’s ministry before God, and ministry is based on resurrection. For this reason, there is no dispute in the matter of authority, for there is no dispute in the matter of ministry. Ministry is something given by God. Hence, authority is also something decided by God. If a ministry has not been given to you, no authority has been assigned to you. All authority is based on service. Without service there is no authority. Aaron had authority because he had a service before the Lord. His censer could make propitiation and stop the plague, while the censers of the other 250 leaders were cursed by God. The rebellion in Numbers 16 was not only a rebellion against authority, but a rebellion against ministry. Aaron had a spiritual ministry because he was in resurrection. He was able to be the authority because he had such a ministry.
We should not have any authority that extends beyond our ministry. No one can acquire an authority that goes beyond his ministry. We should not boast of any authority that is apart from our ministry. We have to learn to be faithful in our ministry before the Lord and faithful in our authority before men. We should have the attitude that we will not go about in things too great or too wondrous for us (Psa. 131:1). We have to learn to be faithful to our portion before the Lord. Many people make the mistake of thinking that anyone can assume authority. Little do they realize that any authority which issues from a ministry never goes beyond its own service to rule over God’s children. Your measure of authority before men must match your ministry before God. The amount of service you have before God determines the amount of authority you have before men. As soon as authority goes beyond ministry, it becomes a positional authority, and it is no longer spiritual.
Authority issues from ministry, and when it flows to others, it brings the presence of God with it. Ministry grows out of resurrection and is rooted in God. If a minister misrepresents authority, his ministry will stop, just as Moses’ and Aaron’s ministries were stopped. We have to learn to maintain the Lord’s authority and not to say things loosely. Otherwise, we will suffer God’s judgment.
When a deputy authority makes a mistake, God will step forward to judge it. His judgment is His vindication. God’s vindication is one great principle in His administration. God is willing to commit His name to us; He has allowed us to use His name, just as a man commits his personal seal to another and allows the latter to use it in his name. This being the case, when we misrepresent God, He will have to vindicate Himself. God needs to show man that the mistake is caused by us and not by Him.
Moses and Aaron suffered serious judgment as a result of one mistake. In the end Aaron died and Moses also died. The greater loss though was their disqualification from entering Canaan. Neither one of them debated with God; they knew that God’s vindication was more important than their entry into Canaan. They were willing to allow God to vindicate Himself rather than enter Canaan. In Deuteronomy 32 Moses especially made the point that they, rather than God, had made the mistake. We must maintain the absoluteness of the truth; we should not try to take any shortcuts. No faithful servant of God should take the cheap way out. God’s vindication is more important than our face, our likes, and our years of prayers and hopes. Moses and Aaron were meek; they submitted to the hand of God. They could have reasoned with God, but they chose, rather, to not argue. They did not pray for themselves even to the end. They prayed many times for the children of Israel, but they did not pray for themselves. Such silence is precious. They knew how to let God vindicate Himself, and they willingly took the blame upon themselves. When Moses wrote of this in his book, he pointed out that he was the one who made the mistake. We thank the Lord because here was a servant who knew how to judge himself and who allowed God to vindicate Himself. He did not argue in the face of judgment. He did not make proposals lightly and he did not want to control others. He was humble and gracious, and he feared God. He is indeed a model for us who are serving the Lord.
May the Lord give us the grace to be a teachable person. May He be gracious to the church in this end time. We need to pray, “Lord, may Your authority be manifested in the church, and may every brother and sister know what authority is. May authority be manifested in the local church, and may deputy authority be manifested through man.” I hope that the responsible ones in the church will not make any mistake concerning the matter of authority, and I hope that there will also be no mistake on the part of those who receive orders from the authority. I hope that everyone will know where he stands so that the Lord will have a free way to go on.
