In Your Anger Do Not Sin, Part 1

Hazzy Redgard sets the stage with Moses and how he allowed his emotions to be overtaken with anger, and then disobedience to God’s plan, which ultimately led to Israel’s leader receiving an unfavorable punishment

Who has ever felt angry before? And what did you do with that anger? Anger is a completely valid emotion, we can’t help feeling it sometimes, but how we react when we’re angry can have ripple effects that impact our entire lives. Let’s jump straight in and look at someone in the Bible who responded in anger.

“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.
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— Numbers 20:8-12

Moses and Aaron have just led the Israelites into the desert of Zin. Their sister, Miriam, died and was buried there. Already, Moses and Aaron were probably feeling extremely emotional. As the people of Israel were gathered there, they ganged up on Moses and Aaron, essentially quarrelling with them: saying they would have preferred to have die than to be where they were in that moment. And they questioned why they would bring them to the desert of Zin- that they would have preferred to remain slaves in Egypt.

This is some serious criticism. Put yourself in Moses’ shoes. You’ve travelled back to Egypt to rescue your people from slavery. You're a man sent by God, doing the will of God. You’ve had to face all your fears in order to obey God and lead these people. Your sister has just died - and now an entire crowd of people are coming against you, criticising you, and telling you that because of you, they would rather be dead.

I would be feeling all the feelings! I’d be heartbroken and grieving over my dead sister, I would be hurt that the people that I loved and am leading didn’t care about me enough to show me compassion in my time of mourning, and I’d be furious at their irreverence for God. Moses had every right to be angry.

Moses and Aaron went and entered the presence of God, and God told Moses to speak to the rock, and Moses had every intention to obey. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock twice. God still performed the miracle but there were dire consequences for Moses. Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it because he didn’t trust God enough to honour Him as holy in the sight of the Israelites. Moses’ punishment was that he would not enter the promised land.

When I first read this, I thought it was a bit extreme. So what? Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, what’s the big deal? Well, God takes obedience very seriously, you could say that obedience is God’s love language. Moses partially obeyed God, but to God, partial obedience isn’t total disobedience. Moses was the leader of the whole Israelite community, which means he would be judged more harshly by God (James 3:1), hence why his punishment was so severe. We can’t say for sure what led Moses to disobey God, but the Scriptures suggest that Moses was led by his emotions. Afterall, his sister had died and he was being criticised by his people so he would’ve been feeling a lot. Moses probably thought he was obeying God. This is what can happen when we don’t deal with what we are feeling: we become blinded by our emotions.

God told Moses that he didn’t trust Him enough to honour Him as holy in front of the Israelites. This means that striking the rock was a show, it was an attempt to glorify himself in front of the Israelites instead of God. It’s understandable that Moses wanted to prove himself to the Israelites. He was appointed by God and his own people were questioning his ability and treating him like garbage. This was the upmost disrespect towards God - trying to take the glory away from God - and it resulted in Moses and Aaron not inheriting the promised land. A moment of emotion can influence the outcome of your entire life.

So, what should Moses and Aaron have done? It is so important that when we answer the call of God, we do it with the right heart. After their confrontation with the Israelites, Moses and Aaron entered God’s presence and God spoke to them - but did they speak back? Whenever we are feeling a lot of emotions, we should pray, and there is a certain way we should pray.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

— Philippians 4:6-7

The Bible says that we should beg God, thank Him, and present our requests to Him. The Scriptures also say nothing of Moses and Aaron praying to God, only that God spoke to them and then they acted. God doesn’t want us to just obey because we have to and have bitterness in our hearts, this doesn’t please God - what pleases God is obedience and sacrifice that comes from a place of joy (2 Corinthians 9:7, Psalm 51:16-18, Psalm 110:3).

We can infer that Moses didn’t get his heart right with God before bringing water from the rock. He calls the Israelites rebellious before striking the rock, insinuating that he is still angry. Prayer is crucial to help us control our emotions and respond spiritually when tensions are high. Prayer will bring us peace so that we are no longer overwhelmed by emotion and our emotions will no longer drive our actions.

Stay tuned for party two next week!