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The Hallelujah of Confession - Part 14 of 16

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• Today we're going to read verses 32 and 33. And I'll take just a moment and review Psalm 32 and 33. Psalm 106 verse 32 and 33 it is. They angered him also at the waters of strife so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

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• Now, since we have a lot of visitors today, let me just remind you that we've been on this psalm now for 14 weeks, and the title of this series is the Hallelujah of Confession, because this is the first psalm that begins with a praise ye the Lord, or hallelujah, and the content of the psalm deals with confession. And all through this psalm, there are specific sins that are being acknowledged, confessed, and recognized, and may I point out that the whole theme of this psalm, basically speaking, is to show that the sins of the fathers are still with us today. Everything that Israel did in the Old Testament, we're still doing today.

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• I dealt with ignorance and ingratitude in verse 7, forgetfulness and impatience in verse 13, envy and insurrection in verse 16, idolatry and insolence in verse 19, despisement and disbelief in verse 24 and 25, and then 28 through verse 31, foreign gods, that is, idolatry and judgment. And now we come to verse 32 today, where it says, "They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sake."

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• Now, let me just tell you by way of introduction that the lesson today is a clear illustration of Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. Now, since most of you may not know what Romans 14 and verse 7 says, I want you to turn there. I can quote it, but I want you to see it because it's a very important verse. Look, if you would, please, Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. Notice, if you would, what the Scripture says.

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• "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." You say, "Brother Weaver, what in the world has that got to do with me?" Well, look at it again. "No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Have you ever said, or have you ever heard someone say, "Well, it's nobody's business what I do"? Sure you have. You've said it. But you see, what we fail to understand is this, that our lives always affect others. Our sins always affect others. No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. So whatever we do is ultimately going to affect not only our family, but our friends, our church, Christianity, the ministry as a whole. So we're going to see that this truth is exemplified in Psalm 106, verses 32 and 33. In fact, in Psalm 106, and verse 32 and verse 33, this truth is plainly stated. Look back if you would. "They angered him"—they, the people—"they angered him also at the waters of strife so that it went ill with Moses for their sake because they"—the people—"provoked his spirit."

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• That is Moses' spirit, so that he—Moses—"spake unadvisedly with his lips." So the sins of the people then affected even Moses and Aaron.

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• Now there are serious implications in this passage. Let me tell you the historical context is found in the book of Numbers chapter 20. So I want you to turn back there. We will read the first 13 verses and look at the historical context and then begin. Numbers chapter 20, beginning there with verse 1. "Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses and spake, saying, 'Would God that we had died with our brethren when our brethren died before the Lord? And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness that we and our cattle should die there?'"

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• "And wherefore have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink.' And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly under the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water. And thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, so shalt thou give the congregation and their beasts drink.' And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the Lord, and he said unto them, 'Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?' And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice."

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• "And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, 'Because you believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.' This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the Lord and he was sanctified in them."

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• Now, if you will turn in your Bible, hold Numbers 20, but turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 32 and look at verse 51. I want you to note that this incident is known as Meribah Kadesh. And the reason I'm emphasizing this is because there's another incident similar to this known as Meribah Rephidim. So look in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 51. He's talking to Moses and Aaron. And he says, "Because you transgressed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, because you sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel." Now, we're going to see both of these passages in just a moment, Meribah Kadesh and Meribah Rephidim. Now, although the children of Israel were constantly and continually sinning, as we've observed in Psalm 106, because a number of these sins are dealt with and specified, however, when you get to Psalm 106, verses 32 and 33, the sins specifically dealt with are the sins of Moses and Aaron. Now, there are three sins that are stated.

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• Three sins that are plainly dealt with. What are they? First of all, unbelief. Look at Numbers chapter 20 and verse 12. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, 'Because you believe me not.'" There is the sin of unbelief. The second sin dealt with is a failure to sanctify the Lord. He said in verse 12, "Because you believe me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel." And the third sin is mentioned in Psalm 106 in verse 33, and that is that Moses spake unadvisedly with his lips.

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• I'm going to say this now. I will also say it when I get to the applications. But there's a time to keep your mouth shut. And it's usually when you're visibly upset. So, Moses spake unadvisedly with his lips.

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• Now, undoubtedly, there are other sins that are implied in this context, but these three are named specifically. Now, hold Numbers 20. I want you to go back to Psalm 106 and let's look at verse 32. The Bible says, "They angered him also at the waters of strife."

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• Now you have to ask the question, who does the "him" refer to or to whom does the "him" refer to? And that would be either God or Moses. In the context, I believe the answer is Moses. Obviously, God is never pleased with sin and rebellion. The Bible says in Psalm 7 and verse 11 that God is angry with the wicked every day. So there is not a day in which God's anger does not burn hot toward the wicked. But if you deal with the anger of God in Scripture, you're going to find an amazing truth, that there are more scripture references dealing with God's anger toward His people for their disobedience and their rebellion than there is concerning His anger toward the ungodly. So, although God is angry with the wicked, and although God is angry with the rebellion of His people, I still believe the reference there of the "him" would have to be to Moses, because watch this. "They angered him also at the waters of strife," notice the rest of it, "so that it went ill with Moses for their sake."

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• Now, let's go back to Numbers chapter 20. We're going to be coming back to Psalm 106 just momentarily. And I want you to note in this context, and we're only going to read three or four verses, but I want you to note in this context, there was enough sin and rebellion among the Israelites to even make Moses sin. Look in Numbers chapter 20, beginning there with verse 2, "And there was no water for the congregation." And what did the congregation do? "They gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron." First thing they started to do was bellyaching and complaining and whining to Moses, "It's your fault." Look, verse 3, "And the people chode with Moses."

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• In other words, they were angry, they were mad, they were thirsty, they were upset, and so they were burning his hide, so to speak. They chode with Moses and spake saying, watch this, "Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord." What do they say? Well, you remember those 38 years or so they wandered in the wilderness and all those people died on a daily basis? That's what they're saying. "Would God we had died when they died during wanderings."

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• You know, I got news for you. We sure better be careful what we wish for. God might just work it out for us. But they say, "Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord." And look what they said. "And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into the wilderness?" You know, they forgot who was leading them, by the way. Who was leading the children of Israel? God was. How?

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• With a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. But may I remind you, now it's not God's fault, it's Moses' fault. See, that's what they're saying. "You brought us out here. Why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord in this wilderness that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place?"

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• Now, they had not gotten into the promised land, so they're complaining. "It is no place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranates. Neither is there any water to drink." So what they're doing is this. They are provoking Moses.

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• Now, if you look back to Psalm 106 and verse 33, look what he said. "Because they provoked his spirit," once again, the "his" would refer to Moses because they provoked his spirit. Notice the end of it. "So that he spake unadvisedly with his lips." So Moses now is so provoked, he's speaking unadvisedly with his lips. Have you ever heard the expression, "It's enough to make a preacher cuss"? Undoubtedly, this is where that old expression came from, because they really set Moses off.

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• Now, I want to point something out. Look back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 12 and verse 3. What is it that makes this provocation so unusual? What makes this provocation so great? Look in the book of Numbers, chapter 12, and notice, if you would please, verse 3. And speaking of Moses, the Word of God says, "Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." So Moses was considered the meekest man on earth.

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• Now, what in the world is meekness? Meekness is not a false humility. Meekness is not being a floor mat. Meekness is not letting someone wipe their feet all over you. Meekness, according to the Word of God, is disciplined strength. So Moses, then, is the individual who had disciplined strength. He was controlled. He was in control. He had control. He was gentle. He was subdued. But in this instance, the meekest, most self-controlled, disciplined man on earth was provoked.

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• Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 37, look what is recorded there concerning this incident. Deuteronomy 1 verse 37, look what Moses said. Moses acknowledges his sin, but he does not excuse the people either. He says in Deuteronomy 1 verse 37, "Also the Lord was angry with me for your sake, saying, 'Thou shalt not go in thither.'" So he says the Lord was angry with me for your sakes now.

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• I want you to note something. If you look back in Numbers chapter 20, evidently, the anger that Moses displayed was the seething, boiling kind. You say, "What kind of anger is that?" Let me tell you. Everyone in here will immediately identify with what I'm saying. There are times in your life that you just explode like a volcano. And there are other times, no, your sinful anger does not explode. You just keep your mouth shut and you hold it in.

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• And then the more you think about it, the madder you get. Has that ever happened to you? Come on, be honest. Yeah, it has. It happens to me. Maybe I'm just a unique sinner. But there are times, boy, if I meditate on some things, the more angry I get. That's what happened to Moses. You say, "How do you know that?" Well, look down to verse 6. When they first started accusing Moses and Aaron, Moses and Aaron's first response was the correct response. Look at verse 6. "And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them." In other words, the very first response they gave was the accurate one. They went to the Lord. They said, "Lord, look at what is happening. Look at what is being said."

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• "Listen to what is going on. Lord, we have got to have some answers." And so, since they went to the Lord for an answer, I want you to look how simple and straightforward the answer was. Verse 7, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, so that thou shalt give this congregation and their beasts drink.'" Now, that is very simple. God says, "Look, I want you to take the rod." Now, Moses had used the rod before in Egypt as a negative sanction when he cursed the Egyptians. He had also used the rod positively as a positive sanction in Horeb when he smote the rock, which I'll show you in just a moment, and he brought the water out of the rock. So this rod then was a symbol of God's sovereign authority. Since it was a symbol of God's sovereign authority, the rod then represented God himself.

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• So God says, "You take this rod, you gather the congregation together, you speak to the rock, and the water will come out." Well, look what Moses did. Verse 9. "And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock. And he said to them, 'Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?' And Moses lifted up his hand and with the rod, he smote the rock twice and the water came out abundantly. And the congregation drank, and the beasts also. And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, 'Because you believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.'" Now, Moses did not do as God spoke. He did not do as God commanded. God said, "Speak to the rock." He smote the rock. Now, if you will go back in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 17, here is where Moses brought water from the rock the first time.

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• This is the water of Horeb. This is Meribah Rephidim, which I spoke of earlier. Notice, if you would please, verse 1, Exodus chapter 17. We'll read the first seven verses. "And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore, the people did chide with Moses and said, 'Give us water that we may drink.' And Moses said to them, 'Why chide ye with me? Wherefore, do you tempt the Lord?' And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, 'Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?' And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, 'What shall I do unto this people?'"

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• "They be almost ready to stone me.' And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Go on before the people, and take with thee the elders of Israel, and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called the name of that place Massah and Meribah, Meribah Rephidim, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" Now, in this passage, God did tell Moses to strike the rock.

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• Now, you've got to ask yourself this question. Number one, why did God tell Moses to strike the rock in Exodus 17 and only speak to the rock in Numbers chapter 20? What is the difference? Well, let me give you the standard theological answer. And I don't doubt that this is true, but I'm just telling you this is the answer that you will get in the usual case, because many scholars have observed that that rock was Christ.

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• If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to 1 Corinthians 10 and then to Hebrews 9. 1 Corinthians 10. Notice, if you would please, verse 4. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 4. The Word of God says it very plainly. "And they did all drink that same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ." Let me ask a simple question. How many times must Christ be smitten?

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• And the answer is once. And if you will turn right over in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 9, you'll notice what Scripture says there in verse 28. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 28. Here the word of God says, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him, he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation." So Christ was once offered. Skip down to Hebrews 10 and verse 14.

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• "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." So Christ was offered once and for all.

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• Now, if that rock was Christ, and God told Moses initially to smite the rock in Exodus 17, then the picture fits in beautifully. But if Moses then goes and smites the second time in Numbers chapter 20, then Moses is violating the representation of Christ because Christ was only to be smitten once. Now, although Moses did misrepresent the picture of Christ, that is not what he's charged with in Psalm 106. That is not what he's charged with in Numbers chapter 20. Because very clearly God says he's charged with unbelief, he's charged with a failure to sanctify, and he's charged with speaking unadvisedly with his lips. Now, you could say this, that the failure to sanctify God in the eyes of the children of Israel, and the failure of speaking correctly with his lips, those two sins were the result of the first sin that is a failure to believe in God.

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• Now, I want to read a quote to you, and I want you to please listen carefully because I want to enlarge upon this. The quote that I'm going to give you is from the Old Testament commentators, Keil and Delitzsch, and here's what they say concerning Numbers 20 and verse 12. And I want to ask a question concerning this. Listen carefully. Here's what they say. In fact, let's read verse 12. Numbers 20, verse 12.

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• "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, 'Because you believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.'" So here's their quote now. "The want of belief or firm confidence in the Lord through which both of them had sinned was not actual unbelief or distrust in the omnipotence and the grace of God, as if God could not relieve the want of water or extend his help to the murmuring people, for the Lord had promised to help Moses, and Moses did what the Lord had commanded him. It was simply the want or the lack of a full believing confidence, a momentary wavering of that immovable assurance which the two heads of the nation ought to have shown to the congregation but did not show. Moses did even more than God had commanded him. Instead of speaking to the rock with the rod of God in his hand, as God directed him, he spoke to the congregation."

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• "And in these inconsiderate words, 'Shall we fetch you water out of this rock?'—words which, if they did not express any doubt in the help of the Lord, were certainly fitted to strengthen the people in their unbelief and are therefore described in Psalm 106:33 as a praying or speaking unadvisedly with the lips. He then struck the rock twice with a rod as if it depended upon human exertion and not upon the power of God alone, or as if the promise of God would not have been fulfilled without all the smiting on his part. In the ill-will expressed in these words, the weakness of faith was manifested by which the faithful servant of God, worn out with the numerous temptations, allowed himself to be overcome so that he stumbled and did not sanctify the Lord before the eyes of the people as he ought to have done. Aaron also"

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• "wavered along with Moses, inasmuch as he did nothing to prevent Moses' fall." Now, I want you to listen carefully. First of all, they say the sin was not a sin of unbelief in the sense that Moses and Aaron did not believe that God could send the water. Certainly they believed God could send the water. They knew that God was able, but what he is saying is their sin was a lack of full assurance and just simply taking God at his word and doing what God commanded.

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• But here's a question that I've got to ask, and I'm not satisfied with simply what they say. They say, "Instead of speaking to the rock with the rod of God in his hand, as God directed him, he spoke to the congregation." And then he smote the rock. The question has got to be asked, why did Moses smite the rock? What was going on? God had told him to speak to the rock. How was it that Moses and Aaron did not believe fully? What is the import of striking the rock? Why did Moses call the people rebels and assume that he and Aaron would fetch the water?

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• Listen to what he said. Look in verse 10, the latter part. He said, "Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch water out of the rock for you?" Or just not that God's given it. We're going to get it for you. My question is, what is actually going on? Moses should have believed God and acted upon God's word alone. God had given Moses an unconditional promise. What was that unconditional promise? "Speak to the rock and the water shall flow." You've got to remember, folks, God's Word is sufficient. After all, did not God simply speak this world into existence? The Bible says in Psalm 33 and verse 9, "He spake and it stood fast."

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• "He commanded and it came to pass." All God has to do is speak. Moses knew that. Why did Moses strike the rock? Look in your Bibles to Acts chapter 7. Let me remind you of a truth. Acts chapter 7. Notice verse 22. Here's a truth about Moses that we forget. Acts 7 verse 22, "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." And Moses was learned in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians.

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• May I tell you something? One of the most difficult things for you and I to do as Christians is to unlearn all that we have been previously taught that is unbiblical. Because we're creatures of habit, and we find ourselves acting and responding in ways that we should not.

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• Now, why did Moses strike that rock? I'm going to tell you what I believe is the correct answer, and I'll explain why. He struck the rock because in his lack of full belief in simply the Word of God, Moses was thinking that there must be an intermediary causation. In other words, there had to be something between the speaking and the water flowing. And for Moses, that something was a ritual. After all, remember he had smitten the rock in Exodus chapter 17.

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• What did his unbelief consist of? His unbelief consisted in simply this, that Moses did not believe that the word of God was sufficient alone to bring water out of the rock. Moses believed it had to be the word of God plus something, plus his ritual, that of smiting the rock. Now listen to me. Every time you read in the Bible about Meribah Kadesh, Moses makes it clear it was because of this.

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• He could not lead the people into the promised land. Why? Because in this instance, Moses, instead of acting as a prophet of God, he was acting like a pagan priest. Everybody has rituals. I don't care if you're Roman Catholic. I don't care if you are a cultist. I don't care if you're a Mason. I don't care if you're a Baptist. Everybody has rituals. Just by virtue of the fact that you're a man, you have rituals.

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• You get up in the morning, brush your teeth, wash your face, comb your hair, go to the bathroom, eat your breakfast. I mean, that's a ritual. It may not be a religious ritual, but everybody has rituals. But you see, when it comes to religion, and investing words with power, there are three main views. The first one is referred to as the magical view or realism as it is called.

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• I'm going to explain that just a moment. The first one is the magical view or realism. The second one is traditionalism, which is nominalism. Realism and nominalism are pagan philosophies, by the way. And the third one is judicial or covenantalism. And that and that alone is biblical.

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• Now, let me tell you what the magician or the realist believes. The magician or the realist believes that ritual infuses words with power. That's why abracadabra. What's the magician doing? He's using words to infuse or using the ritual to infuse those words with power. So the ritualist then believes that there is a power that can be tapped out there somewhere through the use of a ritual. That's why the witches have their seances. It's all ritualism. Traditionalism, or the nominalist, believes that rituals persuade men that words have greater authority. In other words, if we can do this little ritual, go through this thing, then everybody's going to believe that there is a greater authority to our words. Now, the covenantalist or the judicialist believes that ritual only evokes or invokes and calls down power only when those words are lawfully uttered.

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• Let me give you an illustration. I have had people curse me. And you know what I do? I laugh and go on my way.

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• Now, when I say curse me, I don't necessarily mean taking God's name in vain. But they wish me ill and wish something bad would happen to me, etc. Why can I laugh at that? Because their words are not lawfully uttered. You cannot condemn who God does not condemn. You cannot curse whom God does not curse. Balaam found that out, don't you remember? Balak hired him to curse Israel. And God turned every curse into a blessing. See, I can pronounce a curse upon you. But the curse would be useless and worthless and in vain unless it was a lawfully ordered curse according to the word of God. So that the judicialist, the man who believes in biblical law, believes that the words have power only when they're lawfully uttered. Now when Moses smote the rock, what he was doing was acting as a magician. He was acting as a realist. What he was saying is it was his act that was needed to infuse power into the words that would make the water flow.

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• In all pagan religions, pagan magicians, pagan magical religion always sees the priest as an intermediary. He's someone between the supernatural and the natural. You've got to have a go-between. All you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 18. That's why God talks about the wizards and the warlocks and the magicians and the soothsayers, and he condemns every one of them. You see, that's what Pharaoh was. Pharaoh claimed to be the intermediary. He claimed to be the link between heaven and hell, or the underworld and the world above. All of your wicked kingdoms in times past, whether it's Egyptians, or Chaldean, or Babylonian, or whatever it was, their king, god, was their intermediary. So when Moses then smote that rock, what he basically was doing was acting as a pagan priest because here's what he said. In his own words, "Must we fetch water out of this rock for you?" So when he relied upon the rod as the means of bringing water from the rock, he was adopting the mentality of a magician. Now you've got to remember how that rod had been used.

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• That rod had been used in Egypt by Moses. He brought all the negative sanctions or curses upon the Egyptians. He smote the river with the rod, and the river turned to blood. He smote the earth, and the dust became lice. He smote the rock in Horeb, and the rock brought forth water. So that rod had been used negatively and positively. But here is his sin. His sin was he did not see that the word of God alone was sufficient. It had to be the word of God plus the ritual or plus the rod.

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• And here's what he was doing. He was actually putting the authority in the symbol, in the rod, rather than in God himself. And so he was moving in the area of a pagan priest.

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• Now, I want you to note what he said in verse 10. Look at it in Numbers chapter 20. He said unto them, "Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?"

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• Now, in one sense of the word, what Moses did when he made that statement was he pronounced a judicial invocation against Israel for their sins. They were rebels and yes, the truth is what they were wanting was a public display of God's power rather than relying upon God's promises. But in Moses doing that, he condemned himself. Because he too was now relying upon that public demonstration of power rather than the promise because he smote the rock. And thus what Moses did, through his unbelief, his failure to sanctify God before the eyes of the children of Israel, he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

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• "We're going to do it. It's our ritual. It's our act. We're going to do it." He was adding his words to God's promise. His ritual to God's word. May Moses and Aaron fail to sanctify God in their office? And what did God do? God disinherited them from their office. God said, "You don't want to follow me. You don't obey my word. All right, Moses, you're not going into the land."

  #56 | 42:00 to 42:48 | cleaned

• "Joshua will take them in. Aaron, you're going to die here. Eleazar, your son, will be the priest of the land, not you." And so God cut them off. And over and over, Moses says, "For this cause, I could not go in."

  #57 | 42:48 to 43:08 | cleaned

• Now, let me make some applications, and there are plenty of applications today. I want you to understand this. Cause and effect in history is covenantal. Cause and effect in history is covenantal. Not magical. Not ritualistic. You know what magic is? Now listen to me. Magic is a religion that substitutes ritual for ethics, for morality, for obedience. You see, you go to a witch, you go to a warlock, you go to someone that is a cultic.

  #58 | 43:09 to 43:58 | cleaned

• They don't care how you live. They don't care what you do. Just so you follow their ritual and go through their little practice. You see what I'm saying? That's the Roman Catholic Church. But they don't care how you live, just so you go to confession and you go to mass, just so you take care of their rituals.

  #59 | 44:00 to 44:29 | cleaned

• Now, I'm not going to take time to read Deuteronomy 28, but may I remind you that Deuteronomy 28 deals with the blessings and the curses. But I do want to show you two passages. I do want you to turn to Proverbs 11 and verse 31, and then Matthew chapter 6. So look in Proverbs 11 and verse 31, just showing you that cause and effect in history are covenantal. Proverbs 11 and verse 31, the Word of God says this, "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth." That is, we're going to be rewarded in the earth. Then he says, "Much more the wicked and the sinner." So as we obey, what are we going to be? Rewarded and blessed.

  #60 | 44:32 to 45:26 | cleaned

• Those who disobey will be judged and cursed. That's covenantalism. Look in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. You may not have thought of this verse in this light, but here it is. Matthew 6 and verse 33. Our Lord says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." Help me out now. "And all these things shall be added unto you." What does our Lord say is first and paramount? Obedience. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."

  #61 | 45:27 to 46:11 | cleaned

• That is, you do what's right. You do what is biblical, you do what is lawful, you do what is godly. That's the cause. And the effect is, all these things will be added to you. Of course, the opposite is true. If you disobey, none of those things will be added to you, except the curses and the judgments. So the truth is cause and effect are covenantal. It has nothing to do with magic. It has nothing to do with traditionalism.

  #62 | 46:11 to 46:44 | cleaned

• It has to do with obedience and disobedience. Let me tell you something. The husband and wife that obey God and do what is biblical and right, the effect is they're going to have a happy and successful marriage. It's that simple. The husband and wife that do what is wrong and disobey God, they're going to have a miserable marriage and probably end up in divorce. You see what I'm saying? Cause and effect are covenantal.

  #63 | 46:45 to 47:23 | cleaned

• Here's the first, 1 Samuel 2 verse 30. God says, "Them that honor me will I honor, saith the Lord. And they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." So God says, "You honor me, I'll honor you. You despise me, I'll despise you." It's just that simple. So cause and effect are covenantal. If we want the right effects in our life, we must cause those effects in one sense of the word by relying totally upon God and His word and being obedient unto Him. Here's the second application. I want you to look back to Numbers chapter 20 for this one. Look at this.

  #64 | 47:24 to 48:07 | cleaned

• Folks, I'm here to tell you people have not changed. Look at Numbers 20, let's read verse 2 through 5. "And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses and spake, saying, 'Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord? And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into the wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?'"

  #65 | 48:09 to 48:42 | cleaned

• "And wherefore have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink." Here's the application. It is the tendency of men to always complain about their covenantal disobedience and God's negative sanctions upon them, or God's judgment upon them, and always place the blame on someone else. And most usually, God's preachers or God's prophets. It's just like Ahab. Who's to blame for that drought? Elijah was. According to Ahab, "If I can get my hands on him, I'll kill him." Just like killing Elijah would relieve the drought. No, God sent the drought and the cause of the drought was the people's rebellion against God.

  #66 | 48:42 to 49:36 | cleaned

• All Moses did was announce it. Isn't it amazing? Oh, I could sit here and give you illustration after illustration. Isn't it amazing? Whatever goes wrong in the local church today, it's always the preacher's fault. Always the preacher's fault. If we don't have a good attendance, it's the preacher's fault. If the Spirit of God's not moving, it's the preacher's fault. If the sermon's not what we think it should be, it's the preacher's fault. If folks get sick, it's the preacher's fault. If our home breaks up, it's the preacher's fault. He just didn't give us enough counsel. He didn't give us the right counsel. It's never our sins and our rebellion and our wickedness. And so the tendency is always to blame someone else, and especially, as Numbers 20 says, the people of God. Here's the third application.

  #67 | 49:37 to 50:38 | cleaned

• We must not be provoked into evil by others. What got Moses into trouble? Thinking about their rebellion. He thought about it. He was so vexed that he allowed it to provoke him to do wrong. I'll quote it for you. Exodus 23, verse 2. Write it down. God says, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." What's that mean? That means if everybody in this building does wrong, that does not give me the right to do what's wrong, because the majority is doing it. And I hope you understand, usually the majority is wrong, not right. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, write it down, I'll quote it. "Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners." What's that mean? It means this.

  #68 | 50:42 to 52:08 | cleaned

• Stay away from wicked people and wicked places. You're not going to lift them up. They're going to pull you down. You'll be provoked into doing evil. And I want you to see this one. Turn to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. And look at verses 24 and 25. Proverbs 22, verses 24 and 25. Boy, you don't appoint it, God says, "Make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man, thou shalt not go."

  #69 | 52:08 to 52:47 | cleaned

• "Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul." So, cuss, don't be provoked. Don't let others provoke you into doing what is wicked and wrong.

  #70 | 52:48 to 52:59 | cleaned

• Now, this next application is the flip side of the third one. The third application was we must not be provoked into evil by others. Here's the flip side. No matter what others say or do, we must always keep our hearts and our tongues from evil. Let me quote a verse, one of my favorite verses, Proverbs 4:23. You remember it? "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." I'm going to re-preach a message I have on that one of these days very soon. It's a very important message. I think it's fundamental. "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Why? "For out of it are the issues of life." Now, look in Proverbs 18 and verse 21. Proverbs 18, verse 21. Here's another favorite verse of mine. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."

  #71 | 53:00 to 54:17 | cleaned

• "And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Let me show you one other verse that I really like. Proverbs 21 and verse 23. Boy, are you talking about one that is appropriate? Proverbs 21 verse 23. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." How many of us have let our tongues overload our heads? And we always get in trouble when we should have kept our mouth shut.

  #72 | 54:19 to 55:01 | cleaned

• Now, let me tell you something, I am not talking about not rebuking sin and not rebuking evil. I'm not talking about that. I'm not saying you don't tell someone how the cow eats the cabbage if they need to hear it. But as Ephesians 4 and verse 15 says, you speak the truth in love, you speak it, but you just don't speak it all bent out of shape and angry because nobody's going to listen to you.

  #73 | 55:03 to 55:33 | cleaned

• I heard an excellent illustration of this. I heard about a Christian man who happens to be an attorney. He's representing the church. He was before the judge this past week, and the judge chewed him up one side and down the other. Not because he'd done anything wrong, but because of the principles of Scripture that he was standing on. And the judge endeavored to upset him, to anger him. What the judge wanted was him to get angry, where she could hold him in contempt of court. Make him say something.

  #74 | 55:36 to 56:20 | cleaned

• And he just kept his tongue and smiled. Inevitably, the judge then changed, and I think basically that fellow won the day, or at least won that round. But you see what I'm saying? If somebody stands up and cusses me out, that does not give me the right to cuss them back. I've got to keep my heart and keep my tongue from speaking evil. Regardless of whether anybody else does or not.

  #75 | 56:22 to 56:53 | cleaned

• Now, I will tell you the truth and I may tell you forcibly and you may not like to hear the way I say it. I'm not going to pull any punches. But I'm not going to let you make me angry and then make me jump down your throat. I'll tell you how to catch the cabbage before you get that far. One other application and that's this. Everyone in here knows it.

  #76 | 56:55 to 57:27 | cleaned

• But all magic, all occult is wicked and wrong and ungodly. And you better stay as far away from it as you can. Even the little innocent little games that you think are innocent. I would have never, never, never have anything to do with Ouija boards and these little balls that are supposed to tell the future and all that kind of stuff. That's an attempt to know the future apart from God and apart from God's Word.

  #77 | 57:28 to 58:06 | cleaned

• It's condemned over and over and over in Scripture. We are Christians, not pagans. Our authority is the Word of God and the Word of God alone. His Word is invested with power. And we do not need rituals to make His Word powerful. We need to speak His Word, but we speak His Word lawfully. For whom God blesses, He is blessed. And whom God curses, He is cursed. Moses wanted to add his ritual, his words to God's Word. God said it doesn't work like that. What did he say in Isaiah 42 and verse 8? "I am the Lord and besides me there is none other, and my glory I will not share with another." Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee today

  #78 | 58:07 to 59:23 | cleaned

• for Jesus Christ, for His grace, love, mercy to us. Help us, Lord, to always act like Your children and to trust totally and solely and completely in Your Word and Your authority. May we rest upon Your truth alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask it. Amen and Amen.

  #79 | 59:23 to 59:45 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:15:36Z