20 "The Tragic Message of Unbelief" Numbers 20:1-29 | Thursday, February 12, 2026

Let's go in our Bibles to Numbers

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20.

Numbers chapter 20.

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

And once you found your place in Numbers

20, you can stand and we'll read our

text together.

We're going to cover the whole chapter,

but for our reading, we're just going to

read the the first 13 verses. That's

really where the focus of our message

will be um tonight. And uh the really

verses 14- 29 are the fallout of verses

1 through13. And so that's really where

we want to focus our time. This leaps us

forward in time to the end of the

wilderness journey. So 38 years forward

and understand the 40 years. It includes

the one year at Sinai and it includes

the one year that that took them to get

from they they left during the second

year. And so there's a little bit of

wiggle room there. But I think God

counts the the first uh couple of years

as time served for that generation

because uh we we know from Numbers 33

that we come to the the death of Aaron

at the end of this chapter. And uh that

takes place uh in the 40th year is what

it says. And so uh we're we've advanced

forward now uh 38 years from our last

text in chapter 17, 18, and 19. And uh

this is really a pivotal time in the

book of numbers because it marks the

transition from the older generation to

the next generation. And we're going to

see some leaders passing off the scenes.

Uh and then we're going to see some

further accounts where the rest of that

unbelieving generation is dying off. And

then when you get to Numbers 26, you

have the new census and that brings in

the new generation. And there's a final

preparation at the end of Numbers and

then into Deuteronomy as well for that

final generation before they uh the new

generation before they head into the

promised land in the book of Joshua. And

so that's where our text is is sat here

between these two generations. And so

let's begin reading in chapter 20 verse

one.

Then came the children of Israel, even

the whole congregation into the desert

of Zen in the first month. And the

people abodeed 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 choed with Moses and spake,

saying, "Would God that we had died when

our brethren died before the Lord?" Now,

let me just mention this while we're

here. It refers to that generation as

their brethren, not their fathers. So

that tells us there's still a remnant of

the old generation that is still leading

the chiding and the strife against Moses

and Aaron. And so that clues you into

the the main the main drivers of this

issue are from that old rebellious

generation still. And so they say in

verse number four, "And why have ye

brought up the congregation of the Lord

into 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 unto 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." 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. 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 thou shalt give the

congregation and their beasts to drink.

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 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

smoked the rock twice, and the water

came out abundantly, and the

congregation drank, and their beasts

also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and

Aaron, because ye believed me not to

sanctify me in the eyes of the children

of Israel. Therefore, ye shall not bring

this congregation into the land which I

have given them. This is the water of

Meabbah because the children of Israel

strove with the Lord and he was

sanctified in them. Now verses 14

through 21 are going to detail the

refusal of Edom for Israel to pass

through their land over to the plains of

Moab. It's going to force them backwards

to the Red Sea and all the way around

Edom before they can come to the plains

of Moab near Jericho. And then in verses

22 through verse 29, it records the

death of Aaron, signifying that God

is going to judge them when they don't

believe and obey him. And so I want to

speak on this subject tonight, the

tragic message of unbelief. The tragic

message of unbelief. May God bless his

word. You can be seated and we'll get

into our passage.

We're all familiar with the phrase

actions speak louder than words, right?

You can tell your wife that you love her

all you want, but there's something

about getting her a bouquet of flowers

or a box of chocolates that just makes

those words go further. You know, your

actions speak louder than words. You can

tell your kids that you love them. But

when you take your son on a camping trip

and you have some man time, that action

is going to demonstrate that love in

greater ways. You might say, "I love my

church." But when you're there every

service, when you're serving faithfully

and regularly in ministry, when you're

checking in on people and praying for

them, when you're giving to meet their

needs, then your actions really tell us

what you think and how you feel about

your church family. See, our actions

send a message to other people. I wonder

what message unbelief

sends to others.

What message do we send our family when

we panic over our finances?

What message do we send our co-workers

when we're constantly complaining about

how bad we have it? What message do we

send our church when we constantly harp

on how expensive it is in our area, how

impossible it is to get a building or to

become self-supporting? You know what?

What message do we send with that

unbelief?

What message do you send when you give

up on your marriage or when you've lost

a family member? Or when you see a

particular region or country or state as

closed off for the gospel? Or what if

you give up on a lost family member?

See, unbelief

sends a tragic message about God to

others. And I think that explains why

God takes unbelief seriously

as seriously as he takes it here in

Numbers 20.

Because when Israel complained about

having no water, the Lord instructs

Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock.

and he promised them that it would give

forth its water. But in frustration,

Moses takes his rod and he strikes the

rock twice. And when God rebukes Moses

and Aaron, he first and foremost

addresses the fact that they believed

him not.

That the real problem here was their

unbelief. And by their unbelief, they

have now categorized themselves with the

unbelieving generation that was turned

away from the promised land. And it's

only natural that they would face the

same consequences.

And they do. Moses tries to gain entry

near Jordan through Edom and is turned

away.

And Aaron is brought into Mount

and there he dies.

And what it's supposed to show us is

this. God takes unbelief

seriously

and so should we.

Why does God take it so seriously?

What is the tragic message that is sent

to others by our unbelief? That's what

we want to see together in our text

tonight.

We find as we come to chapter 20 that

Israel's faith is waning in the

wilderness. That Israel is back at

Kadesh after 38 years of wandering in

the wilderness. The last time they were

here at Kadesh was when Moses sent the

12 spies in to spy out the land. 10 of

them came back and they said, "Well, the

land is really good, but the giants are

too big and the walls are too high and

the armies are too strong. we cannot go

up and take the land. Because of their

unbelief, they were turned back to the

way of the Red Sea and wandered in the

wilderness for 40 years until everyone

20 years and older died except for

Joshua and Caleb. But what about Moses

and Aaron and Miriam? They're the

national leaders of the nation of Israel

and nothing has been said yet about

whether or not they will go in with the

people. Why? Because they were 20 years

old and up, right? Well, as as Israel

comes to this point in time, they would

think surely Miriam and Moses and Aaron

are going in with us. And yet what we

find in verse number one is that while

they're in Kadesh this time Miriam dies

there and is buried there. This gray

though she had her own issues of

rebellion at times she was a prophetus

is what the Bible says. She was a

songwriter and and functioned in the

praise of Israel and wrote that great

song following the parting of the Red

Sea and victories that they experienced.

She was a leader of their nation and she

has died. But what about Moses and Aaron

and that's really what this chapter is

intended to address.

They seem to be faithful.

They seem to do everything right for the

most part. I mean, they had their lapses

of judgment and their times of grumbling

and complaining as well, but they were

also interceding uh on behalf of God's

people. And God had even said, "I'm

going to start over with Moses." And and

so you you you've got this perspective

that Moses and Aaron, they're God's

chosen leaders. We've just seen that

here over the last few chapters that

when Kora and his company rebelled

against them, God established that they

were his chosen prophet and priest and

Israel must submit to him. So why didn't

they get to go in? Was it because of the

rebellion of the previous generation

that they were grouped in with them?

That's what this is designed to show us.

What we find is that after Miriam's

death, it says in verse two that there

was no water for the congregation. And

so they gather themselves against Moses

and Aaron and they offered that familiar

whiny complainy uh uh uh complaint

against Moses. It says in verse three,

"And the people choed with Moses." Choed

is a cool word. It just simply means to

contend with them, to have strife with

him, to fight or quarrel against him.

And so they they come against Moses and

Aaron again and they said would God we

would have died in the wilderness with

our brethren. It would have been better

than here in this place. Even they say

they say why did you bring us out here

anyways to die in this wilderness? They

said why did you bring us out of Egypt

in the first place and you brought us to

this what they call in verse 5 evil

place. They say this is no place for

seed and this is no place for figs and

for vines and for pomegranates and no

neither is there any water to drink.

This place is horrible. Why have you

brought us here?

But what the text tells us later is that

their strife is not really with Moses.

Their strife is with the Lord.

After 38 long years of wandering,

God has not yet fulfilled his promise

and they are growing weary and they are

growing impatient and their faith in

God's promise is waning in this

wilderness.

So Moses and Aaron do what they normally

do. They go to the tabernacle of the

Lord and they fall down on their faces

before him and the glory of the Lord

appears. Now over the last several

chapters when the glory of the Lord

appears that means something bad is

coming. But God is gracious and he is

long-suffering and he is good even when

we are not. And we see a shift here that

God wants to do something for Israel and

that is to instill faith in them. How?

by providing water for them even in a

time when they're striving against him.

How is he going to do this though in a

very similar way that he has before? He

tells Moses, "I want you to take the rod

and I want you to go and speak to the

rock and it's going to bring forth its

water and this is how you'll bring forth

water and help all the congregation to

drink and their cattle." So, I brought

the rod back because I know that you all

have great memories. And two years ago

when we were in Exodus, you remember

that I brought the rod from Exodus 17

and when they were at Refodm and this

text echoes back that account with that

previous older generation, how he

brought them to the the rock at Refodine

and God told him, I want you to strike

the rock and it's going to bring forth

its it want you to notice and I want you

to notice in verse number eight that he

says you're to take the rod and gather

the the assembly together, thou and

Aaron and thy brother, and speak ye unto

the rock before their eyes." Now, here's

the question. Why does the Lord tell

Moses to speak to the rock this time

instead of striking the rock?

Well, normally where we want to start is

with New Testament typology because in 1

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul

said that that rock that followed them

in the wilderness, that rock was Christ.

And so, uh, and so sometimes we'll look

at this and say, "Okay, well then what

this was doing is it was it messed up

the picture because Christ was only

smitten once on the cross and then we

speak to him and there's relationship

there." And so I I understand that.

That's great New Testament typology, but

I wonder if there's something in this

context for these people that was

significant to them that we miss when we

rush too soon to New Testament typology.

And I think that's the case here.

The rod was a symbol of God's power

before Mount Si.

And so if you remember right when when

Moses was in Egypt and he went before

Pharaoh, he said he had the rod in his

hand. He said, "Pharaoh, let my people

go." And he said, "Who is the Lord that

I should obey him?" And he put down the

rod and it became a snake. And then the

Egyptians put down their rods and they

became snakes. And then Aaron's rod went

and consumed their snakes and it

demonstrated God's power over them. They

touched the the water with the rod and

it turned into blood. They they

stretched it up to the sky and the lice

would come forth and the frogs and the

flies and the darkness and the hail and

the thunder and all of those things. And

then when Israel gets delivered from

Egypt, they head out to the Red Sea and

the Egyptian army is coming down and

they're all freaking out. Uh they're

going to kill us and and Moses says,

"Stand still." Which means shut your

mouth and see the salvation of the Lord.

And he takes that rod and he stretches

it up over the Red Sea and the waters

part. Israel walks across on dry ground.

And when they get to the other side, he

stretches out the rod again and the

waters enclosed the Egyptian army. And

God delivered them. They go a little

further into the wilderness. And that's

when you get to Refodm and he takes the

rod and strikes the rock and it brings

forth water that feeds all of them. And

then right after that, Amalecch came,

began to war against Israel in the

wilderness, began to take the fringes

and the elderly and the weak and the

sick. And they go began to fight with

Amalecch. And Moses goes up into the

mountain and he holds the he holds the

rod up over his head. And as long as the

rod was held up, then Israel prevailed.

But when he got tired and he had to

rest, then Amalecch prevailed. And so

Aaron and her came and they they held

that his arms up so he could keep the

rod up and they won. And and he called

he built an altar there and called it

Jehovani which means the Lord my banner,

my standard. And it it demonstrated that

that rod was the symbol of God's power

to deliver Israel and bring them out of

Egypt. It's a symbol of his power.

Then Israel comes to Sinai

and what you notice after Sinai

is that the rod is almost obsolete.

You don't hear anything or see anything

about it. You have the the almonds

budding upon it to demonstrate God's

choice of Aaron as priest. And where did

God tell him to keep that? In the ark of

a covenant.

That it was to be a sign. now not just

of God's power in the past but of God's

choice of Aaron a sign to a rebellious

nation and this account here is the only

other time you see the rod in the

wilderness journey again when it was so

prevalent in their exodus and so

prevalent on the way to Mount Si yet now

all of a sudden the the rod isn't the

primary instrument that God is using to

to communicate and demonstrate his power

to his people why because at Mount Si

God began to speak through his word

through Moses. He gave them the law. And

in that law, he gave them covenant

promises. And now they not only have the

rod of God's power, but they also have

the promises of God. And God in that has

promised that if they will walk in his

ways and obey him and believe in him, he

will bring them into the promised land

and they will experience all of the

blessings that he had promised to their

fathers.

And so when you consider this, I think

what's happening here is God is teaching

Israel a very specific lesson.

As Moses stands there with the rod of

God in his hand, but then he doesn't use

it and he speaks to the rock, I think

God is communicating this to Israel.

My promise is just as dependable as my

power.

that everything they had seen God do

throughout the wilderness, all of that

power is packed behind the spoken

promises of God. And he wants them to

know that when Moses speaks to that

rock, that his the word coming out of

the mo out of Moses's mouth has just as

much power as when he struck the rock

and the water came out. And so what

they're going to see in this is they're

going to equate God's word with God's

power. And therefore, what God is doing

is he is presenting Aaron and Moses with

an opportunity to lift God up as

completely trustworthy to Israel. That

they can lay hold of his promise that

they can trust when they're in their

wilderness, he's going to provide for

them. And when they go into the promised

land, he's going to bring them in and

he's going to fight for them. And all

the power that he showed in the past is

going to be present with them in the

future through his spoken word. his

promise is as good as his power. I think

that's what God is getting across.

That just as he worked powerfully to

bring Israel out, he'll work powerfully

to bring Israel in.

But what happens?

Well, Moses and Aaron fail to do what

God tells them to do. He starts off

good. It tells us in verse 9 that Moses

took the rod of God as the Lord

commanded him. And that's about as far

as his obedience goes. He gathers the

congregation before the rock. And I want

you to notice what he says in verse

number 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered

the congregation together before the

rock. And he said unto them, notice

first of all, he does not speak to the

rock as God commanded. He speaks to the

people which God did not command. And

what does he say to them?

here now ye rebels.

Well, do you notice what he's doing

there? He is categorizing the people as

different from himself

that you are the rebellious. And so what

he's doing is he is he's setting himself

apart from the rest of the people. And

then it says this, must we fetch you

water out of this rock? Now Moses is

establishing himself and Aaron as the

agents of their provision.

And so what does Moses do? Notice this

in verse 11. He lifted up his hand.

Now that may not seem important at

first, but I think there's a connection

here to Numbers chapter 15 when it talks

Numbers 15 · chapter mention

about presumptuous sins.

and a presumptuous sin. That word

translated presumptuous, it literally

means with lifted up hand. The idea is

high-handed sins. It it it establishes

to us when Moses lifts up his hand that

there is a a rebellious spirit going on

in him. And I'm not the only one to call

him a rebel. Deuteronomy says that he

rebelled. And later in this chapter, it

says that Aaron rebelled as well. And so

there's there's a rebellion going on in

Moses's heart here because his spirit is

provoked to anger by this people. And it

says that he lift up his hand and with

his rod he smoked the rock twice. Now I

don't know if this was a bang bang or if

it was a bang.

Nothing's happening. Let's try again.

Bang. And then

the water still gushes out in spite of

Moses's rebellion and Aaron's rebellion.

See, the the problem here wasn't the

water. God wanted to provide for his

people. He wanted to show them that he's

trustworthy. And so, he still gave them

what they needed. They got the outcome

that they wanted,

but God did not get the outcome that he

wanted.

Because instead of setting God apart

as somebody that Israel could trust,

instead of giving them the picture that

his promise is as dependable as his

power, now they have not put their eyes

on the Lord, they have put their eyes on

themselves. Now the people see them as

fetching water out out of the rock for

them. Now they see them as separate and

distinct from the congregation in a

category of their own. And so while they

got the results they wanted, God did not

get the results that he wanted.

And so he he rebukes Moses and Aaron in

verse 12.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron.

And here's first and foremost, because

ye believed me not.

Now, if I'm being honest, I really

wrestled with this verse for hours and

even days over the last couple of weeks.

What does this mean? They did not

believe him.

This is Moses and Aaron.

They've seen the miracles of God.

They've they've interceded for the

people and seen God answer their

prayers.

They've seen God do miracles and signs

and wonders.

Surely they believed that if they spoke

to the rock, the water would come out. I

don't think that was the problem of

their their belief. And so, as I as I've

wrestled with this, what does this mean

they didn't believe him? And what is

really the the problem here that it

finally hit me this afternoon

that when it comes to what God is doing

here,

God is seeking to instill faith in his

people by giving them this picture in a

time when they're dealing with a lot of

death. In a time when they're really

worn out by the circumstances of life.

In a time when Miriam has died. In a

time when they don't have any food and

they don't have any water, in this time

when they are weary and worn and dry,

God is wanting to instill faith in them

to say, "You can trust me. Don't rebel

against me because you can trust me."

And I think here's what's happening.

Moses after 40 long years of putting up

with this people and their rebellion

against God, I think Moses has come to a

place where he doesn't believe

anything that the Lord will do

will bring this people to trust in him.

The Lord can do nothing

to give this rebellious people faith in

him.

And because of that, it didn't matter

how they got the water. He in a fit of

rage and a moment of anger, as the word

of God says, spake unadvisedly with his

lips. He spoke rashly toward the people.

He doesn't demonstrate that God is

loving and caring and good. He doesn't

demonstrate that God can be trusted. He

gets their eyes off of God and gets

their eyes on him and says, "This isn't

going to work anyways to give them

faith. So, must we just get you water

out of this?" And he strikes the rock

twice and he gets what he wants. But God

does not get what he wants.

He wants his people to put their faith

in him.

And so what God does is he tells them

that because you believed me not to

sanctify me in the eyes of the children

of Israel,

therefore ye shall not bring this

congregation into the land which I have

given them.

Because they did not believe God.

They did not take actions

that set God apart in their eyes. as

somebody they could trust.

And so Moses and Aaron's unbelief,

their faithless actions sent an

unintentionally

tragic message to Israel that we can't

trust the Lord.

We can't trust the Lord.

And so the Lord tells them, you're not

going to bring them in.

Moses

immediately sends messengers from Kadesh

to Edom, appeals to him, "We are your

brothers

because Edom is the descendants of Esau,

the brother of Jacob, the father of

Israel.

We're your brothers. You know how

everything went bad with us in Egypt.

You know how the Lord brought us out and

now he's bringing us into the land of

our fathers and we just want to pass

through. We'll not eat anything. We'll

not drink anything. We'll not go to the

left hand or the right. We just want to

pass through by the king's highway. And

what this would have done is it would

have take them on the shortest route on

the southern border of Canaan is where

they're at. through the borders of Edom

straight to the borders of Moab which

would lead them along the Jordan River

and bring them close to the promised

land.

And what you find in the parallel

accounts of Numbers 13 and 14 and this

in numbers 13 and 14 when God said turn

you and get you back into the wilderness

they said we're going to go up anyways

and they were destroyed by Amalecch and

then they went back to the wilderness.

And you see a similar direction here

that when Moses is told, "You're not

going in," he sends messengers that

tries to bring them closer. But what

happens is Edom refuses

and he comes against them with a strong

army. And it says in verse 21, "Thus

Edom refused to give Israel passage

through his border. Wherefore Israel

turned away from him." Turn away is the

same language as Numbers 14. when Israel

was turned away from the border of

Canaan and they were sent back by the

way of the Red Sea. And what we're going

to find in chapter 21 next week is that

they had to go back by the Red Sea all

the way around Edom and they didn't get

to go in. Moses will later die on the

plains of Moab near Jericho.

And then we come to verse 22.

They're in Kadesh. They depart from

there and they go to Mount which

is right on the border of both Canaan

and Edom. And God tells Moses, "I want

you to take Aaron and Eleazar up into

the mountain, and I want you to strip

Aaron of the the garments, the priestly

garments, and I want you to uh put them

on his son, Eleazar." We're having a

transition of the priesthood here. And

Aaron dies in the mountain of and

he's buried there. And they they mourn

him for 30 days. And it says in verse 24

that it was because ye rebelled against

my word at the waters of Meabbah. Ver

verse number 13 tells us that this is

the water of Meabbah because the

children of Israel strove with the Lord

and he was sanctified in them. Notice

the outcome here. Because they believed

him not to sanctify him in the eyes of

the children of Israel in verse 12 and

it says the end of verse 13 that he was

sanctified in them. That means he

sanctified himself. How did he do that?

By showing the whole nation that

unbelief

will not be tolerated.

Whether it's in the the the ordinary

people or if it's in the leadership of

God's people.

Unbelief

sends a tragic message.

So God takes it seriously.

What we find in this text that the Lord

took Moses and Aaron's unbelief

seriously because it failed to uphold

the Lord's holiness.

It failed to uphold the Lord's holiness.

What does that mean exactly? This word

sanctify, the idea of of upholding God's

holiness in the sight of the people.

Well, I think a way to think about it is

like fine china. You know, at home,

you've got dishes that you use every

day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They

go in and out of the dishwasher. They're

ordinary. They're easily breakable.

They're cheap. They're from the thrift

store. You know, things things like

that. They're just common. They're

they're ordinary. But then if you've got

some fine china where they've got a

fancy trim around them or maybe they're

themed after Christmas or Thanksgiving,

they're expensive and valuable. They

might be handwash only. Well, those are

different. That's not ordinary dishes.

They don't go in and out of the

dishwasher. They don't get get put on

the table for every single meal. They

are usually displayed in a nice glass

china cabinet to show everybody who

walks by these dishes are special.

That's the idea of upholding the Lord's

holiness.

Moses and Aaron have been called to put

God's glory and his holiness and his

trustworthiness on display to Israel.

And because of their unbelief,

they have treated him like a common

dish.

They have they have they have

disregarded what God told them to do.

They have not spoken to the rock. They

spoke to the people. He lifted up his

hand. He said, "Must we fetch you water

out of this rock?" He struck the rock

twice. I mean, there's a and God says

that they rebelled against him at the

waters of Meabbah. And so there there is

a a rebelliousness here that comes from

their unbelief.

They have failed to uphold God as holy.

And because God uh because Moses and

Aaron failed to believe, they dishonored

his holiness and it brought his

discipline into their lives.

He took their unbelief seriously.

And this text serves as a warning to all

of us of the same reality

that the Lord takes our unbelief

seriously

because it fails to uphold his holiness

before others.

How so? I I want to I want to just make

clear here that holiness is a very

general attribute for God, but it is his

most supreme attribute.

Because the word holy, it comes from the

root word that means to cut. And the

idea is like if you're taking a cloth

and you're cutting it in half and you're

putting this one over here and this one

over here. That's the idea of the word

holy. This one is different than this

one. What that means with God's supreme

attribute being his holiness is that he

is in a category of his own when it

comes to righteousness,

purity,

love, grace, mercy,

trustworthiness.

He's in a category of his own. There's

nobody more reliable than God. Nobody

more faithful than God. Nobody more

dependable than God. There's nobody that

you can trust with your life and your

soul and your family and your job and

your finances more than God. He's in a

category of his own. That is the

opportunity that Moses and Aaron had was

to display for all of Israel that God is

is categorically

more trustworthy than anyone they've

ever known and he's greater than

anything they've ever seen. He they they

were given this opportunity but because

of their unbelief they failed to uphold

the trustworthiness of God as

categorically different than anything

else.

And so the tragic

message of unbelief

is that it displays to others as if God

is not as trustworthy

as he really is.

I want you to think about it with me for

a moment.

When you don't trust the Lord and you

complain all the time or you lash out in

anger or you take matters in your own

hands, your your actions send the tragic

message that God can't be trusted.

When your when your co-workers know that

you're a Christian and all they hear

about is how how bad your life is and

how uncertain your future is and how

miserable your job is, it sends a

message to them that you can't that they

can't trust the Lord to care for their

needs because you're a devoted Christian

and you can't trust the Lord for your

needs. It sends a tragic message to

them.

An angry outburst like the one that

Moses had against the people. Sends a

message that you don't believe the Lord

can improve this situation.

That he cannot change your spouse. That

he cannot change your children. That

nothing you're doing is working and

there's nothing that God can do that'll

work. And so I'm just going to let them

have it. That's what anger does.

When you stop now, when you give up on

church because a leader failed you,

it tells others in your life that the

Lord makes no difference because all

Christians are hypocrites, especially

the one who failed you.

It sends that message. When you stop

giving, when you reach hard times, it

can send a message to your spouse that

the Lord can't be trusted to provide for

your needs.

Now you listen, you may say you trust

the Lord. You may post your complaint on

Instagram as a prayer request and even

throw the hashtag on hashtag trusting

God.

What it does is it displays to other

people that you can't trust him with

your needs,

that you can't trust him with with

what's going on in your life. It sends a

strong message to others in your life

about your Lord. And when unbelief sends

the wrong message to others, God takes

it seriously.

And if we will not sanctify the Lord by

our faith, he will sanctify himself

through our discipline.

That's what we see God doing with Moses

and Aaron and the rebellious generation.

And so can I ask you church, what

message are you sending by your actions?

But I also

think that God wants us to come away

with something else too.

And that is to understand

that the Lord is wholly worthy of your

trust.

He's worthy of your trust.

That's what he wanted to prove to Israel

through this was that his promise is

just as dependable as his power.

And so I think God wants you to know

today that he's worthy of your trust.

And the greatest demonstration of that

is the fact that he gave his only son

for your salvation,

for your redemption.

that Jesus came and and and he always

did those things that pleased his

father, that he is the one who

sanctified God, who always had him on

the pedestal, who did everything for the

glory of his father.

Jesus lived a sinless life and he never

failed one time. and he went to the

cross to atone for your sin. And he rose

again by his own power to accomplish

your redemption. And when you trusted

him as your savior, he brought you into

his family. He called you his own and he

promised you an eternal inheritance. But

on top of that, he has promised you new

covenant blessings of of closeness and

access and relationship and provision

and protection and care and security.

And he invites you to partake in and to

enjoy all of it. He wants that for you.

This covenant redeemer, can I remind

you, is the same God who created the

whole universe with a word of his mouth.

His word has always been powerful. So

powerful to bring the worlds into

existence out of nothing. He's still the

same God who who brought the plagues

upon Egypt, who parted the Red Sea, who

brought mana in the wilderness and water

from a rock. And he's the same king and

the same Lord and the same redeemer who

came and he restored the hearing to the

deaf and gave sight to the blind and

healed the crippled and raised the dead

to life. And he's the same king who will

return in great power and great glory

and defeat all of his enemies and all of

sin and all of evil and immediately in

the twinkling of an eye change you into

an immortal, incorruptible, sinless body

that is capable of living in the

presence of God for all of eternity. All

of that power is packed into the

promises of God's word and you can bank

on them.

God's given us his word to reveal

himself

so that we might trust in him.

Even when you can't trust others, you

can still trust the Lord. He is

categorically

different.

He is holy in his love, holy in his

faithfulness, holy in his

trustworthiness. You can trust him no

matter what.

Unbelief

fails to uphold God's holiness,

but genuine trust magnifies his

holiness.

See, when when your friends, your

family, and your co-workers see you

calmly trusting the Lord through the

most challenging and tragic of

circumstances.

It puts up a shiny display of God's

glory that they can trust in the God you

serve as well.

When you stay with your spouse and pray

for them no matter what, no matter how

hard they are, it shows others that the

Lord is worthy of their trust.

When you remain faithful in church

in spite of financial hardship, the

health diagnosis, the loss or the

suffering you put on display for all to

see, your brothers and sisters in Christ

who know everything you're going

through.

Your display of God's holiness and his

categorically different trustworthiness

shows your church family he's worthy of

their trust as well. Yeah. So let me ask

you again. What message are you sending

to others by your actions?

I would encourage you tonight that if

you've been sending the wrong messages,

you can come before the Lord,

acknowledge your unbelief.

Acknowledge the message that it's

sending to others and repent and seek

forgiveness and it will be found. begin

trusting the Lord and he can turn your

actions and he can change he can he can

change the message that you are sending

in a way that brings others to trust in

him.

Unbelief

brings bad decisions that dishonor God's

holiness and brings his discipline.

But he has proven himself trustworthy.

So trust in him and send that message to

others. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you

are a trustworthy God.

And I'm thankful that you put it on

display for all of us to see.

And I pray that whatever we might be

going through in our lives

that it would not so embitter us and

provoke us

that we would not believe there's

anything you can do about it.

Rather, I pray that we would trust in

you.

that we would accept the truth of your

word

that you are on a different level

of trustworthiness.

And so please help us to do that with

everything we face in Jesus name. Amen.