God wants all your obedience
Series: CREATIO | Bible text: Exodus 20:1–13
Because Moses disobeyed God in the wilderness of Zin and did not do what God said, he was denied entry into the Promised Land. This shows us that God is not interested in part-time obedience on our part, he wants our total obedience. And in Israel as well as Christ it becomes visible that obedience is not apart from relationship, but is relationship-oriented. This should change our understanding of obedience and relationship, because these two belong together. The more we love God, the more we will want to be obedient to Him. The more we are obedient to him, the more we will abide in his love.
God wants all your obedience! That is what today’s sermon is about. And I believe that obedience is a topic that is especially difficult in today’s Swiss individual society. Yes, we never grew up under a monarchy, nor do most Swiss believe that this can be a good thing. No the individual must be asked and if over 51% are for or against, then the will of the people is represented. A monarchy in which one ruler decides and the others have to obey cannot be good. As a Christian, one might add: «Unless this ruler were God».
But that is exactly why faith challenges us so much, because here in the Bible we read about a God who says: you cannot serve two masters: Either you serve God, or you are obedient to yourselves, or to money, or to another god.
But we Swiss somehow have trouble with it. I realised this again the other day when I met my Lebanese friend to read the Bible. He is still very young in the faith and together we are watching the conversion/buses. A week later he came to me and said, «Hey Tinu I did it!» «Did what?» I replied. «I gave away my financial security and it’s my turn to reconcile with my parents.» «So during the last week», «No, of course the same week you told me». You see, after this experience I was at first flabbergasted, because I am not used to such a quick obedience. And at the same time it thrilled me.
Which is why we are now dealing with it. And for that we go through the text of Deuteronomy 20 1–13.
«And all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people abode in Kadesh. And Miriam died there, and was buried there. And the congregation had no water; therefore they gathered themselves together against Moses, and against Aaron. And the people disputed with Moses, saying, Alas, if we had perished also, when our brethren perished before the LORD! And why have ye brought the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, we and our cattle? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us into this evil place, where there is no sowing, where there are neither fig trees, nor vines, nor pomegranates, nor even drinking water? And Moses and Aaron went away from the congregation unto the entrance of the tabernacle, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather the congregation together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give them their water. So shalt thou procure them water out of the rock, and shalt give the congregation and their cattle to drink. So Moses took the staff before the LORD, as he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock; and he said unto them: Hear now, ye rebellious: Will we get you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock twice with his staff. And there flowed out much water; and the congregation drank, and their cattle also. And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the sight of the children of Israel, ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the Haderwasser, where the children of Israel disputed with the LORD, and he showed himself holy in them». (Deuteronomy 20:1–13 SLT).
I think when you read the text like this, one of the first thoughts that hits you is, «What a harsh punishment for Moses. He disobeyed only once and as a consequence he is now not allowed to enter the Promised Land.» We don’t want to get that into our heads, and that’s exactly why we need to look at the text more closely. Where are we in the Bible at all?
The fourth book of Moses is the fourth of five books. In the second book of Moses, the people went out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, there he makes the covenant with the Israelites and gives them the 10 Commandments. In the third book of Moses, the Israelites stay at Mount Sinai for 1 year and learn what a holy life before God looks like. And in the fourth book of Moses, there is an account of leading Israel through the desert from Mount Sinai to the border of Canaan at the Jordan River. Here the Israelites sent out 12 scouts to explore the land and because they no longer trusted God, they took the consequence of God sending them into the desert for 40 years. 600,000 people had died in the wasted years in between. Through the bitter fruit of unbelief, an entire generation was silently harvested. And now the people stand once again on the border of the Promised Land.
And what do they do in the first verses? They gather before Moses and Aaron again and reproach them for the scarcity of water. They would rather have perished in the wilderness with their predecessors than have been disregarded by his mercy. They would also rather return to Egypt, a land of which, however, they have no idea because they themselves never lived there.
Do you understand the people were just spitting on the mercy of God in these verses. For 40 years they were in the wilderness. A whole generation was not allowed to enter the land. And now after all these years the people were rebelling against Moses, Aaron and God again. We can hardly imagine the pressure Moses was under. All alarm bells must have been ringing in his mind. An incident like 40 years ago could not be repeated under any circumstances. It was imperative that they react, and they did.
The first thing they do is go into the presence of God. Without hesitation, they withdraw from the raging crowd and seek refuge with God. It also seems that Moses and Aaron did not even try to give an answer to the people. They walked away from the assembly and surrendered to the living God.
Secondly, they heard what God told them to do, but then they disobeyed. Instead of Moses saying to the stone that water should flow from it, he struck it twice with his staff. Before that he said: «I wonder if we can get you water from this rock?» (Deuteronomy 20:10 SLT).
At this point we are tempted to find out how serious Moses» offence really was. Did Moses take the glory away from God here, or did he trust too firmly in his own strength?
The thing is we don’t know. The text doesn’t go into it exactly, the only thing it says is: «Because you didn’t believe me» (Deuteronomy 20:12 SLT). And this was enough for God. For sin entails consequences.
Sin brings consequences!
And this is the first point of this morning: sin brings consequences. The Bible also says «the wages that sin pays is death». (Romans 3:23 NGÜ), the wages of every sin. So this is not so much about how serious Moses» and Aaron’s mistake was, but about the trait of sin itself.
And the Bible shows this trait again and again. As a consequence of sin, Adam and Eve must leave the presence of God. As a consequence of sin, the son of David must die after committing adultery and murder. Or in the New Testament, as a consequence of sin, Hananias and Sapphira fall dead after lying.
And just as unbelief prevented the people from entering the Promised Land 40 years earlier, unbelief is now preventing Moses from entering the land. And unbelief will also prevent you in life from entering the calling of God. And that’s why I want to encourage you this morning, when you see sin in your life, again do everything you can to throw it out of your life. This is exactly what Christ died for, «so that our sinful nature is rendered ineffective and we no longer have to serve sin». (Romans 6:6 NGÜ).
God wants all your obedience!
And so I come to the second point: God wants all your obedience! What we see here in the text is a God who is not interested in half measures. God wanted the whole obedience of his people and he wanted the whole obedience of Moses. What does that do to us when we hear that? What is your picture of obedience? Maybe you think of your father or mother who sent you to the room and you had to obey them. Or maybe you think of a Putin and how everyone has to obey him and that it would be better to rebel against him. The European understanding of obedience often smacks of coldness and lack of reference.
Yet the Bible describes something completely different: Jesus says: «If you love me, you will keep my commandments». (John 14:15 NGÜ) or «If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love». (John 15:10 NGÜ). So Jesus is putting obedience on the same level with love. He says that if we love God, we will be obedient, and conversely, if we are obedient, it helps us to remain in His love. So obedience to God is absolutely relational.
And this is not only the case in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament. For when God gave the 10 Commandments to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, he explained to them: «I will set my dwelling in your midst, and my soul shall not abhor you; and I will walk in your midst, and be your God, and ye shall be my people.» (Exodus 26:11–12 SLT). Do you understand the 10 Commandments are not simply a means of obedience, but the relationship link between the people of Israel and God. That was always the idea.
And Moses never understood it any other way either, which is why he also said at the end of his life: «You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength!» (Deut 6:5 SLT).
BUT if we believe that God wants our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole strength, then we must also believe that God wants our whole obedience. God was not interested in the 90% of Moses and neither in the 80% of you. God wants all your obedience. If Jesus had only been 99% obedient, then we would all be finished.
So this morning I want to challenge you to change your understanding of obedience and of relationship. These two things belong together like the lid on the pot.
Now how can this obedience arise in our lives. In principle, we can do as Moses did. By going into the presence of God (tabernacle), by reading the Word of God (hearing God’s voice), by believing the Word of God (unlike Moses) and by doing this. The more we believe the Word of God and do this, the more obedience will come in our lives. If we give little faith to the Word of God, then we will always remain disobedient.
Questions for the small group:
- Sin has a destructive character trait
- How do you see it?
- Where do you see sin in your life that you need to give up?
- In the Bible, obedience and love are put on the same level (cf. John 14:15)
- Where else in the Bible do you see that obedience and love belong together?
- Has your image of obedience changed? If yes, describe how.
- Give a concrete step on how you can grow in obedience in your daily life in the next week.
