Error of a ministry leader by Mike Bamiloye
Joshua 14:7-9 KJV
[7] Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.
[8] Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
[9] And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.
The Three Greatest Heroes of the Story of Wilderness and the Crossing Over were: MOSES, Joshua and Caleb. The three left Egypt into the Wilderness, but one did not Cross Over into Canaan Land. He died with all those who left Egypt. He died in the Storms that consumed the stubborn Israelites in the Wilderness.
And this was how he failed to be part of the History of the Crossing Over into the Land of Canaan:
Numbers 20:10-12
10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock;
and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
11. Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod;
and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me,
to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring
this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
Many years ago, when we were growing up in ministry, The Lord had been merciful unto me and had opened my eyes early to this strong warning. He had shown me “The Error of Moses”. It had scared me seriously that Moses made a grievous mistake he did not have chance to correct again. That lesson had never left my heart as a leader in ministry. I feared it and I still do.
God had called Moses to lead a group of stubborn, unbelieving, stiff-necked people from Egypt, the land of their bondage to a land He had prepared for them. He gave Moses signs and wonders to convince him, He was sending him and would back him up. It took a lot of time before he could lead them out of the bondage. When they got to the bank of the Red Sea, they turned against him and were picking up stones to throw at him. They were saying, they preferred to have died in Egypt, rather than dying by the Red Sea. But when they saw miracles, they praise The Lord God again and sang to Him. They crossed the sea to the other side in a burst of astounding wonders. Miriam gathered a group of ladies and sang a lot of praises to The Lord God of Israel.
Then, three days after crossing the Sea, they had no water to drink, and they picked up a great quarrel with Moses again. They picked up stones to cast at him again. They went on revolt. They carried placard and rioted in the wilderness. They said they preferred to have died in Egypt than dying of thirst in the wilderness. Then, Moses cried unto God and The Lord performed a miracle for them again, and the bitter stream of water they found became sweet. They sang songs of praise to The Lord again.
 |
| Advertisement |
Then, they became hungry, probably, all their food supply they brought from Egypt had been exhausted. They began a great uproar again. they accused Moses of bringing them to the wilderness to kill them with hunger, they revolted and said they would no longer go on with the journey, but would chose another leader who would lead them back to Egypt. Moses ran to God again, because they were about to stone him and Aaron. God came down again and intervened. He had mercy on them, and performed an astounding wonder. He began to rain Manna for them in the wilderness, In the morning they would pick the fresh food from heaven and they would eat.
After some time, they began to cry in their tents again, because they wanted to eat meat. By this time, Moses was already getting stretched out. These people easily forget the goodness of God. They always focus on their problems. Moses cried unto God again, and The Lord brought quails into the camp for them to eat. As they were eating it, they were plagued and were dying in thousands, it was Moses who interceded and the plague stopped. They demanded for the food The Lord never planned for their diet.
The Lord brought them, to the mountains of Sinai to give them His commandment. He revealed Himself to them in a cloud and pillar of fire. He thundered on the mountain and spoke audibly to them and they were frightened. God called Moses up to come and receive the commandment for them. So he was with God for 40 Days and Nights and by the time he was through receiving the two tablets of stones, the people had changed their mind again and began to bow to a golden calf.
Moses came down from the Mountain and saw the golden calf. He was extremely angry at Israel. He cast down the tablets out of anger. He forgot where he was coming from. He forgot the 40 days and nights on the mountain. He forget all the loneliness and sleeplessness without food or water to get the two tablets. He cast down all he went to the mountain to receive. He was justifiably angry with this stubborn and unbelieving people. He was fed up with this people who had see practical miracles of God but had refused to follow The Lord God who had been merciful to them. He was angry. But he shouldn’t have broken the two tablets he had gone to spend days to receive. They made him do it. They frustrated him. What did God say to him went all the dusts are down?
Exodus 34:1-2
1And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones,
and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.
2.So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai,
and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.
And Moses was on the Mountain again, for another 40 days and nights to receive another commandments on the stones.
Deuteronomy 9:18-20
18. And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights;
I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in
doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
19. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was
angry with you, to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me at that time also.
20. And the Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him;
so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time
He brought down the commandment again and they continued the journey. Then, they journeyed again and found no water for about two days. They rose up again in anger against Moses and Aaron, and began to threaten to stone them. This time around, his patience was stretched out. He was seriously frustrated because they could not trust The Lord who had brought them all these ways and who had provided for them all they needed till now. He was angry because, they were focusing on him instead of focusing on God for all their needs. It was seriously annoying.
Numbers 20:2-5
2. Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together
against Moses and Aaron.
3. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we
had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4. Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness,
that we and our animals should die here?
5. And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place?
It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.”
These were annoying statements from people who had seen the glory of The Lord practically and physically. All their attentions were on Moses and not on God. Moses was stretched again. He went to God and God told him to go to a rock nearby and SPEAK TO THE ROCK in the presence of the congregation. He rose up from The Lord’s presence and gathered the congregation before the rock.
Numbers 20:10-11
10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock;
and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
11. Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod;
and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
That was his GREATEST ERROR. That was where and when Moses missed it. HE STRUCK the rock instead of SPEAKING TO THE ROCK. That was all he did and it became a major mistake. If everyone was disobeying God in the wilderness, if everyone was turning his back against God in the wilderness, it must not be Moses who had spoken to God face to face. HE STRUCK THE ROCK instead of SPEAKING TO IT. And God did not take it lightly.
Numbers 20:12
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me,
to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring
this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
They pushed him to sin against God. They frustrated him to lose his control before God and God did not pardon his error. His anger against the people made him do what The Lord did not asked him to do.
Ah! WHEN THE FOLLOWERS SIN, THE LEADER WOULD INTERCEDE FOR THEM. BUT WHEN THE LEADER SINS, WHO WOULD INTERCEDE FOR HIM?
This is my fear all along. Moses had interceded for the people consistently. And God had always been listening to Moses’ intercession. He had been having mercy on the people whenever Moses interceded. But when Moses made a mistake and sinned against God, the Israelites were not there to intercede.
What did Moses do later? He kept on begging God to allow him finish his commission. God had called him to take Israelites out of Egypt and bring them to Canaan Land, but these people had made him sin against God and had cut short his commission. He begged God. No one could intercede for him. He was interceding for himself. But his singular voice was not enough for the intercession. Hear him:
Deuteronomy 3:23-27
23. “Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying:
24. ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and
Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do
anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds?
25. I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan,
those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’.
26. “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me.
So the Lord said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.
27. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north,
the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.
Read this again:
Deuteronomy 4:21-22
21. Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore
that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good
land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22. But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan;
but you shall cross over and possess that good land.
Some people think Leadership in ministry is an easy role. Some people desire to be leaders in ministry when they have not been called to lead. If you are called to lead, receive grace and lead with fear of God. But if you have been called to follow, receive grace and follow The Lord in your leader with fear. One of the problem of leaderships in ministry is this: the pressure of trying to listen to your followers and walk against The Lord. And the danger is this: your followers may keep going towards the Canaan Land, while you are disqualified for bowing to their pressures.
This is why the greatest help you can do to your ministry leader is to consistently pray for him or her. And the greatest help you can do to yourself as a ministry leader or president is to be careful never to allow the pressure of the ministry members to push you do things contrary to the leading of The Lord. For God may not take it kindly with you.
– MIKE BAMILOYE
#mikebamiloyedevotionals
mikegloria.blogspot.com
