Week 17 Wisdom from the Rock
“Sometimes God lets you hit rock bottom so that you will discover He is the Rock at the bottom.”
Tony Evans
Passage
11“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;
12otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them,
13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies,
14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
15“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint.
16“In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.
17“Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’
18“But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19“It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Deuteronomy 8:11–19 (NASB95)
Background
Quote-Anthony Tyrone "Tony" Evans Sr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American evangelical pastor, speaker, author, and widely syndicated radio and television broadcaster in the United States. Evans serves as senior pastor to the over-9,500-member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.
He taught evangelism, homiletics, and black church studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and serves on its Board of Incorporate Members.
Evans was named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University.
Passage-The genre of the book of Deuteronomy is not much different from that of Exodus. It is Narrative History and Law, although there is a Song from Moses just after he commissions Joshua. This song describes the History that the Israelites had experienced. Moses wrote Deuteronomy approximately 1407-1406 B.C. The key personalities are Moses and Joshua.
Moses wrote this book to remind the Israelites of what God had done and to remind them of what God expects of them. The name literally means “Second Law”. Moses gives “the Law” for the second time.
Opening Statement
5Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5–6 (NASB95)
Ask: Where is there wisdom in Moses striking a rock and miraculously, water flows out to quench the thirst of the people of Israel wandering in the desert?
Point: Moses was obedient to God at Massah (the name of the place where the even occurred).
Ask: Is there a consequence to being disobedient to God?
Point: Yes. Please read the following:
11Then 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.
12But 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 20:11–12 (NASB95)
Ask: That sounds like what he was supposed to do, so why did he get in trouble?
Point: Please read the following:
7and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8“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.”
9So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him;
10and 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?”
Numbers 20:7–10 (NASB95)
Ask: How is what Moses did different from what God asked him to do?
Point: Moses struck the rock with his staff instead of simply commanding the rock with words in the name of the Lord.
Ask: Why is that different enough to get Moses in trouble with God to such a degree?
Point: The skeptics in the group were given a reason to justify it not being at God’s hand, that perhaps Moses simply struck the rock “at the right place” to cause it to fracture and provide water.
Ask: How is that different enough to get Moses in that much trouble?
Point: Because his actions allowed the accolades to move away from God and onto himself. Please read the following:
9And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Revelation 4:9–11 (NASB95)
Ask: What does this all have to do with getting wisdom out of a rock?
Point: Today’s passage reflects on the mindset of the Children of Israel wandering in the desert after having been set free from bondage in Egypt.
Ask: What kind of comparison can we find with where the Children of Israel were and our own lives?
Point: Our hardships that we must pass through are very much like “wandering in the desert” as the Children of Israel did.
Ask: If we find similarities in our lives with the lives of the Children of Israel at that time, what kinds of warnings do we find for ourselves from Moses in today’s passage?
Point: Please re-read today’s passage to verse 17:
11“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;
12otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them,
13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies,
14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
15“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint.
16“In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.
17“Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’
Deuteronomy 8:11–17 (NASB95)
Ask: What kind of warning is contained in verse 17 to us from so long ago?
Point: A warning to avoid becoming prideful in the things that were given to us by God and of striking the rock instead of being obedient to God’s calling. Please read the following:
23A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
Proverbs 29:23 (NASB95)
Closing Statement
Moses grew angry with the Children of Israel and didn’t follow instructions. It was a small thing, but it cost him greatly. He never wavered again, so perhaps he knew how badly his misstep cost him. Job never wavered in his obedience and faith in God, and it brought him through his storms successfully. As long as we remember to keep it about Jesus, and not about us, identifying God’s path for our lives is easier.