Number 27:12-14
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”
One of the reasons why rebellion against God is so bad is because of the message it preaches to the heathen. When a Christian rebels against God they are challenging the Deity and power of God. Notice in verse twenty-four what God said Moses' rebellion did; it failed to sanctify God in the eyes of the people. Not only was this rebellion of Moses a sin in itself because he directly disobeyed God, but it also hurt God in the eyes of the people. His rebellion against God no doubt caused people to continue to disobey God in certain areas of their lives.
Rebellion always hurts other people. We do not know, and will probably never know, who our rebellion is affecting. But we can rest assured when we rebel against God, we are not just hurting ourselves, we are also hurting others and we are hurting the cause of Christ. People watch us, and when they see us directly disobey God we are telling them that it is ok to make our own decisions, even if these decisions go against what God tells us to do. Every Christian needs to be careful to obey everything that God tells them to do. We need to be careful that we do not lead someone astray because of our rebellion.
Rebellion has nothing to do with someone being a maverick. Rebellion has nothing to do with us "being our own man." Rebellion has nothing to do with us standing up for our own rights. Rebellion is all about us getting our own way. Rebellion hurts us, God and those whom we influence. No matter what the cause of our rebellion, it is never justified.
Even though Moses was angry with the people, his rebellion was not justified. Moses' rebellion was wrong because he disobeyed God. Instead of being a people who rebel against God, let us be a people who are sensitive to the voice of God and who do what He asks us to do so that we will help, and not hurt His cause.
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