Numbers 27 NLT
One day the Lord said to Moses, “Climb one of the mountains east of the river, and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters. (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Then Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Whenever I read this story about Moses there is always a little part of me that shudders. Moses was considered the most humble man who ever lived and he was one of the greatest spiritual leaders in the entire bible. Yet, because of his actions at Kadesh where he didn’t follow the instructions of the Lord completely but struck the rock in anger, Moses is told that he will not enter into the promised land with the rest of God’s people. Of course, Moses went to heaven and we will get to talk with him about this someday, but still, I shudder because of those words, “you failed to demonstrate my holiness.”
It makes me ask myself, “How many times have I failed to demonstrate His holiness?” The standard that God had set for Moses was not the holiness of Aaron or anyone else on earth but it was His own holiness as the God of the universe. That is the same standard for each of us and it is a standard that we can never meet about from the righteousness of Christ living in us. The calling on Moses’ life was not to just lead the people of Israel but to demonstrate the holiness of God, and that calling rests on each one of us as well. As His image-bearers and His ambassadors in this world, we are to be people who demonstrate His holiness to everyone we meet. That standard and that expectation are what make me shudder because I think of how many times I fall short.
While there is a part of me that shudders at this story, there is also another part of me that rejoices. It is the part that realizes that the same God who uses His own holiness as the measuring stick is the same God who gives us grace through the person of Jesus Christ. If it were up to me to measure up, I would not even get close enough to see the promised land from a mountain top. Thanks be to God that even though the standard is His holiness, by His grace, I am in Christ and He measures up perfectly. He perfectly demonstrates the holiness of God because He is God. I am in Christ, and He is in me—and He is my hope of glory. I strive for holiness in everything, and God expects that, but at the end of the day Jesus is standing with me and that is more than enough.
