It was a great Wednesday evening on June 18, 2025 when I had attended this men's Leader's lectures series presented by Pastor Carlos Antonio. He introduced himself and the intention of this lecture centered around leadership. I really liked when he emphasized 'leadership is not easy'. He also said he likes going back to the bible for leadership; as the world has a different perspective on it but what the bible says about leadership is greater than what the world says. Leadership as he describes it is encouraging, challenging and humbling.
Now, the lecture delves into a little bit of lessons from Moses' leadership at the beginning (Exodus 3) and lessons from Moses towards his end (Numbers 20).

The first session opened with this passage in the bible.

¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 

² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 

³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 

⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 

⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Exodus 3:1-5

Case Study: Moses

"What it means to be a leader?"

The lecture picked up on Exodus Chapter 3 and talked about Moses' calling. Pastor Carlos lovingly mentioned here that his kids loved the DreamWorks movie "Prince of Egypt", and said some of us in the congregation are old enough to have watched that movie. I haven't watched the whole movie but I've watched clips of it. And Pastor Carlos shared that when he was reading the verses in Exodus, he would always picture that moment in the movie where the voices of the actors were calling out 'Moses! Moses!' which was a beautiful scene. But what he wanted to look into here is the way God calls.

It would be interesting for every single one of us to understand this because what we need to understand is God is in a similar process to us right now.

Each one of us is in a leadership journey that God has set us on.

I loved how this was set up. At this point, I find it very interesting and exciting how Pastor Carlos' lecture about leadership is about to unfold here. So we continue...

The story of Moses doesn't actually begin in Exodus 3. But it begins in Exodus 1; where a whole generation of Israelite boys are trying to be murdered (Exodus 1:15-16) by the Pharaoh because he was afraid and he doesn't want them to continue to propagate in his country. And as an act of faith, the parents of Moses tried to keep him as long as they can. They can't keep him long so they put Moses into the Nile River (Exodus 2:1-4). By the divine orchestration of God, the Pharaoh's daughter ended up picking him up (Exodus 2:5) and that's when he ended up being called Moses (Exodus 2:10).

In Exodus 2, it later goes that Moses' mom ends up getting to wean him and grow him up from a toddler to a young boy (Exodus 2:8-10). According to Pastor Carlos, it's possible (from a lot of people who studied this) that his mom; explained to him that he is Hebrew, explained to him that they see something in him and explained to him that God probably has a plan for his life which is why he is ending up in Pharaoh's home knowing ~

'I have a purpose in life. I'm probably here to help my people be free from the oppression they're growing up in.'

So we pick up the story in Exodus 2, by which at this time, as Pastor Carlos had said, Moses has graduated from UE "University of Egypt" :D.
Moses was already trained, educated and probably in some government position and he sees this Egyptian beat up one of his people (Exodus 2:11). And something in him stirs, it seems like Moses has thought; 'I feel like I'm called to be a deliverer. I think that's what I'm supposed to be! I think that's what I'm supposed to do'. And so, he tried to do what is. He tried to be a deliverer, but in doing so he ended up killing the guard and tried to hide the guard (Exodus 2:12). Probably in his mind, he goes 'Man, you see what I did? I was so brave. I acted out and I did something! To advance things, so that this change can occur!'. But instead what happened is Pharaoh finds out and Moses ran away (Exodus 2:15). He ends up leaving Egypt and into the land of Midian.

He was forty years old when that happened (Acts 7:23-24). 40 years later was Exodus 3 (Acts 7:30). A long four decades later Moses (now 80 years old) would have an encounter with God at a burning bush.

In Exodus Chapter 3 verse 1, it begins there "Now Moses". And Pastor Carlos remarked here that he wants us to pause there, think about it and he to explain to us so that we may understand;

'Cause many times when we read the bible, these characters are caricatures in our mind. They are just characters. What if they were real people? Because they were. What if we try to imagine what it's like to live in the shoes of Moses? Or sandals in this case' - P.Carlos

Moses began in the story seemingly as a "prince of Egypt", raised in Pharaoh's household. He probably has access to the best education, powerful networks, potential political power, trained in military strategy and high in administration. But then we saw, he fell from status. He thought he is a deliverer; a savior to his people. But when he actually tried to help them and save them, he ran away instead. He fled Egypt leaving behind privilege, leaving behind power and instead became a shepherd in Midian; moving from leading men to leading sheep. He spent 40 years in absolute obscurity. In fact, it was not worth talking about; we don't hear anything in between him leaving Egypt and us picking the story up in Exodus 3.

If you think about it in today's terms; this is the kind of career nosedive that would shock any ambitious professional today. Best education. Trajectory of your career. You're growing in rank. You're growing in power. You're growing in influence. Instead, you go from that kind of power and prestige to shepherding.. sheep.. in wilderness.

It's the opposite of direction of what most of us would consider a successful career trajectory today. It's not up to the right. It's not upwards. It's not winning in life. It's not what he would describe 'his best life now'.

By today's standards, Moses can be written off as a 'has been' or maybe a 'never was'.

Most of us when we are hiring; would get Moses' resume, look at his late stage in life (80 years old) and probably never consider him as candidate for any task. In fact if you look at it; it says that 'he was keeping the flock of his father in law'. It wasn't even his own sheep. After 40 years, he did not even has his own sheep. Moses, not the ideal candidate.

Good thing, God does not look at things the way we look at things.

To God, Moses was exactly who He needs. This line and how Pastor Carlos lead up to it was so good and he wrapped it to our first big idea that he came to understand when it comes to leadership and calling ~

God likes to call people from obscurity.

Called from Obscurity

What Pastor Carlos means by this as he expounds that the wilderness which is where we find Moses right now is exactly where God looks for His chosen people. It's where God actually likes to put potential leaders. The wilderness is where God shapes His leaders.

You see, Moses' time in Midian seems to us like it was an absolute mundane obscurity. But to God, it was not wasted time.
While Moses was off of man's stage; Moses was not in the lime light. What we're seeing is he is under God's big spotlight.

The 40 years we don't see Moses. God sees Moses. Why? Because the potter was busy shaping Moses' life.

Moses' obscurity is a season of pruning.

Pastor Carlos explains, Moses has to unlearn a lot of the worldly things he learned at Egypt. He had to unlearn self-reliance. He had to unlearn pride. He had to unlearn instinct of controlling outcomes on his own strength, by force or in the flesh. It was a necessary molding process where Moses had to exchange the arrogance of royalty for the humility of tending sheep.

God was molding him not just to free up people but to lead them. But lead them how?
Lead them with patience. Lead them with compassion. Lead them with a strength where he handles and absorbs grumbling, complaining, and rebellion on a regular basis.

God was very patient to wait forty years for Moses to change.

He doesn't rush Moses through the wilderness. He lets the wilderness do its work. He allows 4 decades to pass. Why?
And this is important, I need you to understand this:

God values your character formation more than your timetable.

He is willing to wait until you get it. And if you don't pass the test the first time, you know what he does? He lets you take it again.
He doesn't mind. God is not rushing.

He would rather that you get the molding process happen in your life and let it run its course, instead of speeding you through it only for you to crash. Because you never learned your lesson.

God is more interested in who we become than how we arrive or when we arrive on our calling.

Pastor Carlos quoted this from A.W. Tozer.

"It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply." ~ A.W. Tozer

Pastor Carlos then recalled a time when they were doing discipleship together before. And he would at that time think of him as hot stuff. And in one of the pastor's meetings, they would evaluate leaders and thought of people with potential. And a question went 'Have any one corrected him? Let's find something to correct him in and let's see how he responds to correction. How does he handle correction, feedback and suggestion?'. He said he was like, "I hate those stuff". They said "Good, we will speak the truth in love. We love you too much just to leave you where you are.". Pastor Carlos then goes on to say he knows it may hurt, but better wounds from a friend. The bible talks about iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17).

The bible tells us that God cares for us more than our own comfort. And he will allow us to undergo processes of pruning, molding, obscurity and of hiding. And allows us to undergo tough times of wilderness where we are praying 'God, take me out of this' and God goes 'Not yet.'
'Why not God?'
'Not yet'
'Why not God?'
'I've been trying to tell you but you can't hear it yet so I'm just telling you not yet. I have much to tell you but you're not ready for it yet. But sometime in the future when you let this process run, you will understand.'

And this is painful. Pastor Carlos then quoted D.L. Moody:

"Moses spent forty years
thinking he was somebody;
forty years learning he was nobody;
and forty years discovering what
God can do with a nobody."
-- D.L. MOODY

It's amazing how God likes to look for nobodies. Doesn't the bible say 'He chooses the foolish things of the world, to shame the wise'? (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Personal application question from Pastor Carlos:

• Are you in a situation right now where you feel like you're in the wilderness and you are struggling and it is hard and you want out and you don't feel like the world is looking at you and you feel like you've been sidelined and you feel like you've been sidetracked?
• Do you find yourself in a season of obscurity?
• Have you been sidetracked?

Pastor Carlos then laid out these series of questions:

What if this is exactly the place God is putting you? Because he is shaping you; to be the disciple and the leader and the husband and the man that He actually wants you to be. That it is His very goodness to do this while you are hidden instead of doing it when you are under the spotlight for the rest of the world to see. If you don't want Him to do it while it is in hiding, it would be very painful when He does it in front of the world
Is it possible you're not being sidetracked or being sidelined but you're actually being shaped?

Is it possible that where you are at right now is God's divine grace and goodness to take care of the area that needs to be remolded, thorns that need to be removed, hurts and wounds that need time to heal?

If you find yourself in this season, know this;
God has not and never will forget you. He is actively watching.

In fact, the reason you're there is because He wants you.
He wants your holiness. He wants you to be more like Him.

You see, obscurity under God's hand is never punishment, it's actually a lot of preparation.
It's never a detour, it's always by design.

Do not despise wilderness times. Embrace it.

If you're here today wondering 'Why am I still where I am?' Is it possible that it's because God is shaping something? And He's not done with just yet.

Then wraps it bringing us with the big idea in Verse 2. (Exodus 3:2)

You see, a lot of us think; because I also think of it based on a movie like this amazing fire, and 'what's going on?'. But really, if you are a shepherd at Midian at the time, a burning bush is actually pretty normal.

Because it would get super dry and either the heat of the sun or lightning would strike because it's super dry it burns up.

So, to Moses who's a shepherd and probably shepherding for forty years looked around and sees burning bushes all the time. I want us for this to understand that this is not like the movie in that case wherein a random bush is suddenly on fire. Burning bushes happen all the time. But what's interesting to him though was not that there's a burning bush. What's interesting was this burning bush did not run out. It kept burning. And it doesn't look like it's burning the wood. It wasn't burning the bush.

It just looks like:
'Wow, what's this? It's still burning'.

You know, he was probably tending the sheep. An hour goes,
'Oh there's a burning bush'.

He's tending the sheep, an hour later, he looks
'This bush is still burning'.

It's been 4 hours and it's still burning. That's probably what happened.

That's very interesting. It's important for us to think that way.

Okay, why?
Because this moment was a powerful picture of how God calls people.

How?

Pastor answered that question with this: in the ordinary rhythms of your life.

To a shepherd in Midian, a burning bush was ordinary. It is a reminder to us that you don't need for a voice in heaven, an angel to appear, a prophet to knock on your door before you can hear from God. This is important for us to understand;

God can be talking to you right now.

He could have been trying to get your attention through conversations, through your daily commutes, through the song you just heard, through a conversation later today. Through your quiet time at home.

Pastor proceeded with Verse 3 (Exodus 3:3). He said it is important to notice that Moses could have ignored the bush:

He could have gotten 'Wow, that's weird' and then just look at the sheep. But no, it says there 'I will turn aside'. That's very important.

Instead of dismissing what he was looking at. He chose to turn aside.

This choice requires several things;

• an actual focus of attention
• it required redirection
• it required risks

What he's talking about taking risks he explained in this:

If you're a shepherd overseeing your sheep and there is a bush there and you go;
'I'm going to look at that'.

What is happening and what is not happening?
You're no longer watching your sheep

All of a sudden, you actually have to spend energy, time and effort to go pursue this interesting curiosity at the risk of losing what you are currently overseeing.

Interesting! Why?

He said; 'I think it's important for us to understand, we're talking about leadership here. We're talking about how God shapes His people. We're talking about this process that our Lord in His sovereignty allows to happen to every single one of us. I want us to understand that as we see Moses' life and many other people in scripture'.

God calls us from the common things.

Called through the common

Pastor Carlos then cited this analogy;

It isn't this divine 'Woaahhh, listen to me!'.

Pastor Carlos recalled his time with Pastor Steve Murrell saying ;

He doesn't talk about this big voice from heaven. He says, 'My bestfriend called,
I didn't heard the voice from God, I heard a voice from Rice Broocks, it was a normal call.'

Then referred to his (Pastor Carlos') family's move to US is not like some big orchestrated scenario, it was a practical conversation. And when they prayed, they heard a nudge of God in their soul going

'Take the risk'.
'Okay, I really like what I have.'
'Make time for it. Shift your focus. See.'

Could it be the common moments may actually carry divine uncommon assignments from God?
And you'll see it only if you're willing to take notice.

Sometimes the first step in a divine calling is simply being curious enough to notice the nudge of the Holy Spirit.
The second step is to be bold enough to do something about it.

In verse 4 (Exodus 3:4), notice that God doesn't speak to Moses until after he chooses to notice. God's voice comes out after Moses actively comes forward. This is important;

It suggests that divine encounters often requires our response. Our faith response. God waits for us to respond before He calls out our name just like He waited for Moses before He calls out his name.

And in this case the fire burns, the voice doesn't speak until Moses actually got closer.

You see being called often begins with a heart that's willing to take notice. A heart that's willing to understand. A heart's that's willing to be interrupted.

God may be waiting for you to turn aside. To pause what you are currently doing, to listen to something He could be introducing to your life.

He then asked these questions:
Are we too busy?
Are we too distracted?
Are we too caught up with our day to day; to see the potential extraordinary miraculous things God has lined up for us?

God may be trying to get your attention right now. God may have been trying to get you to see.

So, question:
Is it an interruption or is it actually an invitation?

The bible tells us that many times God shows up in what's looks like an interruption. And many of us know that interruptions are never welcome. Many times irritating.

But is it possible that it could be God that we're closing the door to? What if it's a divine invitation?

You see, God calls Moses, Moses responds

Pastor Carlos says he loves how God calls Moses; he says "Moses! Moses!" (verse 4). God calls Moses by name. That means He knew who Moses was.

He knew who Moses was; 'You may not know me Moses but I know you'.

In ancient cultures, repeating the name is a way to convey deep personal culture;
'Abraham Abraham',
'Jacob Jacob'
'Samuel Samuel'
'Martha Martha'
'Simon Simon'
'Saul Saul'

Every time, God called them by name.

It shows us that God is interested in relationship.

And He gives context, He introduces Himself. He says; "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob and Moses hides his face because He became afraid to look at his God.

You see by introducing Himself as the God of his forefathers, He introduces something greater than just 'I know you Moses'.

'I just don't know you Moses, I know you way before you were even born.'

Meaning you're part of a much bigger picture and a much bigger narrative than you think.

Many times when we think of calling, our focus is completely isolated to ourselves.
Like, "God, what is my purpose in life?" ~ and that's an important question.
But what I've come to understand is that God is a multi-generational God.

And my purpose in life is always tied and embedded into a much larger picture. I'm actually a piece in a much larger puzzle. And my purpose in life is intertwined with some amazing divine chess play that God has where He moves me so that not only do I move but my move impacts a whole board way beyond what I can see. And that's what's He's saying here, 'I'm bigger than just you'

'I'm talking to you not just for you and what you think what you are called to be a deliverer. I'm talking to you because I promised something to Abraham. I promised something to Jacob. I promised something to his kids. And you are part of my promise. So it can be fulfilled. And not just that, I promised something to Adam. And your obedience is one in a long line of things that would get me to my ultimate promise which is my Son.'

'Wait, it's just more than my call?'. Pastor rhetorically asked here as he said that it's much bigger and much grander. And what he loves about here is that when God introduces Himself, He's basically giving him (Moses) His information and His name. Pastor Carlos then lead this up to the next big idea.

When we're called; we're not just called from obscurity which none of us like but we're called from that, called from common things.

We're also called into relationship.

Called into relationship

Pastor Carlos recalls when he was young he used to think 'Lord, what's my purpose in life?'. When he was in college, 'Lord tell me what your plan is for me so I can do it'. And every time he would ask that question, God would never give him a clear answer.

Was that your experience? His answer would be always, 'Follow me'. His answer was always, 'Trust me'. His answer was always, 'Obey what I asked you to do right now'.

Pastor said he has always been the kind of guy who wants a clear big picture, something laid out from beginning to end, something that he can kind of hold and 'alright here's the plan, I'm gonna do it'.

Instead, God goes 'trust me'. 'Abide in me'. He has come to understand recently that God is big on relationship and if we start walking with Him He'll take care of getting us where we need to go.

Many of us aren't walking into the fullness of our calling because we're walking ahead of God or we're walking away from God when He's inviting us to walk with Him.

In verse 10 (Exodus 3:10), God's finally giving Moses instructions

Look at what Moses does, he goes
'Who am I that I would do this before Pharaoh? I'm just a shepherd'.

Remember he feels insecure. Moses sees himself a forgotten shepherd not a deliverer of nation anymore so he questions his identity out of deep insecurity. We were talking about how God knows Moses but the question is does Moses know who Moses is?

So he asks the question 'Who am I?'. And I think it's important, we all have an answer for that question. 'Who are you?'
How do you answer that question?

I would love God to answer that question for me. When I was super insecure and needed a sense of anchoring on defining who I am. Lord, who am I? Who do you make me to be? What am I supposed to do in life?' Can we look at the way God answers Moses?

Because this irritated Pastor Carlos as he said when he read this. When you ask a person, you sometimes expect the answer directly right? But when Moses asked 'who am I', the answer you would expect from God is 'Okay Moses, let me tell you who you are' instead in the next verse v12 (Exodus 3:12).
God says 'I will be with you'.

God doesn't counter Moses' insecurity by giving him a list of why he is an amazing guy. Instead He gives him a promise of His presence. It's the only thing He gives him. When God promises us His presence, He's promising us His most precious, most powerful and most significant thing He can ever promise us. It's the VIP pass of all VIP passes.

Pastor Carlos asked us a question;

If you were to be asked; Who are you? How would you answer? Do you answer with a list of competencies and skills and achievements? Or do you respond by connecting yourself to your relationship where your identity is tied to who He is. Is it competence or is it communion?

He said as we go through this, he thinks it's fascinating that we see that ultimately when we're called; we're called to stewardship.

Called to stewardship

When God assigns Moses what's he's supposed to do; He's saying 'I'm gonna be with you, you're going to do this.'

And we see over the course of his life, Moses started doing it.

I want to say this for all the guys in the room here, that we all have different careers. Some of us are still students. Some of us are in different stages in life. In today's world;

Career is often seen as a ladder of increased responsibility and increased earning potential. We measure success by promotions, by titles, by personal achievement. The bible doesn't measure in those terms. God's call to Moses is not about personal advancement or professional prestige. It was about stewarding what he was entrusted. This was not a career move, this is Kingdom advancement.

Pastor Carlos said the more he thinks about it; calling is different from assignment. It's more than just a specific job or a one-time career assignment. Many of us go to God asking for calling but what we're really asking for is what's my assignment right now.

Why? Because in Moses' case, Moses' ultimate calling is to walk with God. Regardless of what he's supposed to do.

And that's our ultimate call. Some of us who is about to retire. Know that when you tie your identity to your job the moment you no longer have your job you no longer feel like you're a person. All of a sudden your sense of worth, value, and purpose in life is gone because the career you've built your identity on is no longer there. You have to be more than your job description. You have to be more than what pays your paycheck. And the bible always, from the very beginning, has celebrated that reality.

Is it possible most of us are trying to build our identity and character on concepts that don't last? Because it's so temporary. It's just an assignment. You're calling will always be present when you learn to walk with God. And when you walk with God, He will give you multiple assignments. And then you'll end up in the most adventurous seasons of your life.

So Pastor Carlos asked this:
What are you build your life on? Achievement or stewarding an assignment?

Because if you only see it as an assignment. Assignments can change. And when the assignment changes; let's say you're an athlete and you think your purpose in life who you're called to be is to be an athlete and you get the biggest injury that you've never wanted to have and all of a sudden that dream is gone. Can you still be a person? Can you still have purpose? Can you still have fulfillment? Is there still a plan for your life? Hopefully, the answer is yes. Because that sports career was just an assignment. And your calling lives beyond that.

To wrap up the main ideas;

We're called from obscurity.

We're called through common things.

We're called to have a relationship with God.

We're called to steward what He gives us when He gives it to us.

Pastor Carlos ends the first session with this:

Why do I think this is important for us to think of as we think of manhood and leadership?

Because many times, we want to be the kind of leader the world says we're supposed to be. And it competes with the kind of leader God is trying to shape us to be. So we don't understand when He hides us, why He does it? We don't understand when He moves us around, why He's ruining our plan. We don't understand when He takes things away, it's because we are holding on to things that are keeping us from the important things.

I hope as we see in Moses' life. He loves you too much. He cares for your purpose in life too much and the impact your life will have on those around you too much. To leave you playing with worldly things that are temporary. He wants to give you lasting eternal things that impact life not just for you but for those around you. For way beyond what you understand.

End of Session 1.

"What did Moses do?"

Pastor Carlos opened the second session picking up the story now on Numbers 20 which is a 40 year time gap since we left off the narrative from the first session.

Now with this passage on Numbers:

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, 

⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

⁸ “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 

⁹ And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 

¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 

¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”


Numbers 20:6-12

Pastor Carlos then showed a slide on Moses' achievements at this point in the story.

Moses' Achievements

• He confronted Pharaoh and led 2 million people out of Egypt.
• He parted the Red Sea.
• He received the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.
• He built the Tabernacle and established worship.
• He appointed leaders and delegated governance.
• He defeated external threats (e.g., Amalekites) and internal uprisings (e.g. Korah).
• He interceded for Israel when they rebelled against God (e.g. the golden calf).
• He faced betrayal from his leaders, even from his own family (Aaron and Miriam).
• He endured decades of grumbling and complaining.
• He provided manna, quail, and water from a rock (Exodus 17) as he led an ungrateful people through the wilderness for 40 years.

These are a line up of things of what Moses achieved in those 40 years. Pastor Carlos expounded this as:

This guy who asked God, 'Who am I that I would do this?'.

The guy who said 'I can't even speak'.

The guy who did not know, did not think that he would be of any value, and that he couldn't even lead the people.

This Moses, fast forward 40 years later, is the Moses who confronted Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler of that day, and lead 2 million people out of Egypt. (Exodus 5:1-2)

This Moses parted the Red Sea. Not a small feat. (Exodus 14:21-22)

This Moses received the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. Imagine being the guy to receive the 10 commandments. (Exodus 20:2-17)

This Moses built the tabernacle, actually before the tabernacle he built the tent of meeting. Can you imagine? This Moses was the guy when he would set up a tent the presence of God would come down to meet with him (Exodus 33:7-11). That's Moses. This Moses was the guy who established the tabernacle and eventually the process of worship that the Israelites learned. (Exodus 40:17-33)

This Moses appointed leaders (Deuteronomy 1:9-18), remember he was, at the time, sitting as judge of 2 million people and his father-in-law (Moses listened to his father-in-law, 'that's important'), but this Moses was told 'What you're doing is not wise. Set up a different process. You can not be everybody's councilor. You can not be the judge of every problem of 2 million people. And so he established a structure of governance and leadership that served Israel well in the 40 years they crossed the wilderness. (Exodus 18:14-20)

This Moses defeated external threats like attacks from people like the Amalekites and even quenched internal uprisings; rebellion from people like Korah who tried to take over Israel (Numbers 16:1-3).

This Moses interceded for Israel when they were rebellious against God. Remember the time that they made the golden calf. And God wanted to get rid of all of them. (Exodus 32:30-33)

This Moses faced betrayal from his own people, his own leaders even from his own family. This Moses endured decades and I kid you not, decades. Imagine leading people through decades of grumbling and complaining.

This Moses provided manna per day, quail, water when they hadn't water it came out of a rock. There is a story in Exodus 17 where he hits the rock and water starts gushing forth.

Can you imagine how much water that is?

People here who own water purifier stations; imagine providing for 2 million people and all of their cattle. How many gallons of water is that? That's quite a miracle. This is the Moses we are looking at right now. Not the Moses in obscurity in Exodus 3. We're now looking at a battle-scarred, successful, seasoned, experienced leader of a new people who over 40 years had crossed the dessert. This is that Moses.

We pick up in Numbers Chapter 20 and what happens here; for the sake of time Pastor Carlos mentioned we won't read the whole passage. But in Numbers 20, a problem arises. For context, many of you know the Israelites traveled 40 years in the wilderness. Why? Because this place where we pick them up is called Kadesh is right across of the Jordan river facing the promised land. 40 years ago, they were already here. And the spies went into the land to look at it and they came back with a great report (Numbers 13:27).

'Man, it really is a land flowing with milk and honey. This is amazing!'

But ten of the spies (the 12 except Caleb and Hoshea -- Joshua) also said yet there are giants in the land (Numbers 13:28) and because of their unbelief for the next 40 years they were already here; they end up wandering the desert again.

Remember obscurity, why?

While God took Israel out of Egypt, it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel.

Yet, a generation dies. The generation that did not believe in God's promise dies in the forty-year journey. So by the time we're picking up in Numbers 20; the people, the multitudes of Israel that Moses is leading, guess who those people are?

Mostly people under 40. The generation that was born and grew up in the wilderness.

What's interesting is, we pick up Moses' leadership challenge, because in verse 2 (Numbers 20:2) they begin to do certain things.

You know what they start doing?

The Bible tells us in verse two that once again there is no water for all of the people to drink or their cattle.

Sounds familiar? Yes.

Pastor Carlos asked us to remember that we're talking about that in Exodus 17. They were here. There was no water to drink. So in verse 2, there was no water for the congregation. And so what happened was the people decided to assemble themselves together against Moses and Aaron. And then they in fact quarreled with Moses. The Bible says they quarreled with Moses (Numbers 20:2, Exodus 17:2). Now, here is the young generation. Who already watched the old generation die because of unbelief and grumbling and complaining. And now they're here, back in the same place, back in Kadesh, right in front of the Promised Land again 40 years later, doing the exact same thing their parents did, grumbling and complaining. Not only that, they actually complained about being alive.

It says in verse 3 (Numbers 20:3), “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!"
They were saying 'Sana namatay nalang kami!'

Verse 4, it says that they blamed Moses for what was going on.

'Why did you bring us here?'
'Why did you bring us here?'

Remember where they came from? Years of; 400 years of slavery. Remember that?
400 years of slavery and here they are complaining again.

Can you imagine being the leader over this people?
We all want to grow in leadership, but probably not lead this group.

Why have you made us come out of Egypt?
They were mad that they got out of 400 years of slavery and they called the promised land they're about to cross the promised land; an evil place.

What was going on here?

After 40 years of seeing a generation die because of unbelief, now they're the ones that can cross the promised land and they're again doing the exact same thing, complain.

We look at this, I ask you the question, as a leader, somebody who wants to be a leader, wants to grow in leadership, what would you do?

What would you do in this situation?

You've already been leading these people for 40 years. You've shown them many miracles. You've parted the Red Sea. You provided supernatural manna by the day; Quail. Provided water when there was no water. When there was a plague, you set up a bronze staff and everybody who looked at it would be healed (Numbers 21:8-9).

You would encounter God so much that at some point Moses had to cover his face because his face glowed from being with God so much (Exodus 34:33). Can you imagine being that kind of guy? And then you come out and you go, here's the promised land.

'We're about to cross again after 40 years of suffering because of your unbelief, not mine.'

Moses was ready to go. It was the spies who said we can't because of the giants.

So it wasn't Moses' fault that for 40 years they were just circling the desert.

It wasn't Moses's fault.
And here he's being accused of all of these things, right? What would you do in this situation?

Most of us would probably not deal with these kinds of challenges in our leadership situations.

I don't know what's happening in your homes.
I don't know what's happening in your businesses.
I don't know what's happening in your school.

But I don't think it's like this. It's probably not at this level of chaos, okay?
It benefits all of us, though, to realize that we can all learn from leaders like Moses. And while we don't quite, we can't quite relate to this level of a problem, there's lessons that we can learn from this situation, right?

So let's open our hearts to think of what kind of lessons we're going to learn from here.

Whether you are a young, upcoming leader looking to prove yourself and make an impact in the world, or you're a more experienced leader with years under your belt, a few battle scars to prove it. All of us can benefit and heed from learning probably important leadership principles from one of Moses's most significant leadership moments.

This passage we're reading right now is the time when Moses made a critical mistake, and because of Moses's mistake, God tells him; You can't enter the promised land.

Why?

What did Moses do?

Let's look at it in Numbers 20, verse 6 (Numbers 20:6). The Israelites had already come to them and had complained, accused them to their face.

'You're the reason we're experiencing all of these problems, right?'

So that's the problem. He's leading an ungrateful, very volatile, aggressive people.
Pastor Carlos asserts it's not a job any of us want, but that's the job he has.

In verse six (Numbers 20:6), Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly.

Imagine they organized a meeting like this. They probably registered to complain and accuse. That was the meeting, okay.
But so Moses and Aaron come from that meeting and go,

'Okay, we heard all of your direct. Very unfair accusations. And we're going to take it because we're the leaders and we're going to respond by solving the problem.'

Pretty good so far, right? What do we see happen?

They take the concern and the Bible says that they go to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Now the tent of meeting is where the presence of God would come in the cloud or by fire. And they fell on their faces. They fell on their face. They're praying. They're desperate for an answer. Good so far, right?

It's a great move on Moses' part.

I want, you know, all of us here, if we don't know what to do, I hope the first response you have is you fall on your face and ask God for help. And you're desperate enough to wait until he answers.

So Moses did that. This is good. Man, 40 years later, Moses learned, if I don't know what to do, I got to ask God and wait until he answers.

Well, let's see what happens as Pastor Carlos continued. In verse 7 (Numbers 20:7), the glory of the Lord appeared to them. He falls on his face and prays, and God shows up. God answers with his presence. The Bible says the glory of God actually appears. This is an actual moment where God shows up and actually people know his presence is there.

The Lord speaks to Moses and he says,

'All right, Moses, remember the last time there was no water. I told you to take your staff and you hit it. And when you hit it, water started pouring out and there was enough water to kind of feed the 2 million people and all of their cattle as well.'

He said, 'Take your staff again and assemble the congregation.'

Now this time in front of everybody, right?

'And you and Aaron, your brother, tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water'.

Now notice what's happening here. He said, take the staff because that staff represents my given authority to you.

Some historians, some theologians actually think this is Aaron's staff, because Aaron's staff was the staff that had but others think it is the same staff that Moses was using when he was working against Pharaoh and he would throw the staff down and turn into a snake. Whichever staff it is, is the staff that showed God's favor, God's chosen, Moses being God's chosen leader. It was that staff. It was showing God's approval over Moses.

So He said, take the staff, remind the people that you are my chosen to leave them because they're accusing you. So go carry the staff so that you carry and you go to this rock under my authority.

That's a big deal.

But notice the difference. He tells him to do what? Speak to the rock. Different now.

Instead of hitting it, which he did in Exodus 17. He's now going to go to the rock and just talk to it.

Tell it,
'Open sesame.'

Tell it,
'Give me the water.'

Yeah, just talk to it. And when you talk to it, the water will come out.

A miracle is about to happen.

This is exciting! You're looking at this story, it's like,
'Come on, here we go.'

God's gonna show up again to a new generation. This generation wasn't probably alive when this first miracle occurred in Exodus 17. This is a completely new group.

'So you shall bring water out of the rock and then for them and give drink to the congregation.'

And look, God is so gracious and their cattle. This is going to be such an abundant miracle that even their cattle, all of the people that all of the flocks that they tend will be fed and watered.

Pastor continued as Moses in verse 9 (Numbers 20:9), took the staff from before the Lord as He commanded him.

Good so far, right?

He fell on his face, he prayed, important.
God showed up, he listened, and he obeyed.

Good so far.

God told him,
'Take a staff',
and he did it.

Alright, Moses. Here we go. Moses, miracle about to happen, right?

Except, verse 10 and 11. And now we see, in slow motion, Moses' greatest mistake.

'Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together', God asked him to do that,
'before the rock, and he said to them', now he's turning back to the two million people who are complaining and accusing him of wrongdoing, right?

And he tells them, Hear now, you rebels!

He's just, you can feel... (the frustration and suppressed emotions). In the original Hebrew of this, of this passage, it actually conveys the idea of deep suppressed anger and frustration.

He is mad. He is really mad right now.

Think about it. You've been leading these people for 40 years. You could have crossed over 40 years ago, but because of their unbelief, not yours, you got stuck with them. A whole generation dies in front of your eyes, your own friends die, and now you're looking over their kids, and their kids accuse you of the same problem, wants to go back to Egypt.

I mean, if I were Moses, I'd be pretty pissed too.

And Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water for you out of this rock? Moses lifted up his hands.

Watch this slow motion here. He lifted up his hand and... Did he speak?
No, he didn't speak. God told him to speak.

God told him to speak.

Instead, he does Exodus 17 again. He strikes the rock. With his staff, not just once, twice.

Can you imagine the pent up frustration? He was mad.

Now watch what happens.
'And water came out abundantly. And the congregation drank.'

And not just the congregation, their livestock, the cattle. Can you imagine how much water? Again, imagine 2 million people, everybody getting at least one gallon of water, and every cattle that's there getting enough water to fill themselves as well.
How much water is this? Quite a lot of water.

Let's slow this down. He didn't really obey exactly what God told him, didn't he?

And here we see in verse 12 (Numbers 20:12), the Lord, after all this happened, everybody's drinking, some of them probably swimming in it; Pastor Carlos jokingly said. Everybody's having fun, finally getting the water that they complained about.

And then the Lord meets Moses again. And in verse 12, in a private conversation with Moses, God says
'the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them'.

I don't know about you. Let's stop, okay? Can I just be pretty practical here?

This feels really unfair. It feels like a major, unfair punishment to a very fateful servant who made one major, one mistake. That's a small mistake. I mean, he brought the, he did almost everything else right except instead of speaking, he hit it. But he, you know, he had the right to hit it because, man, it's frustrating.

Like, if you were there, you'd be frustrated too. I'd be thinking that. But I'm not God.
And God sees it very differently than I would.

'God, you're being harsh. He did almost everything right. Couldn't you have made him pass?'

What's interesting is what God didn't do here is rebuke the people.

I find that extra interesting. Couldn't he have just smite all of the 2 million people who were complaining against like you grumblers and complainers.

'Let me get rid of you.'

He didn't do that either. He gave them water.

God's graciousness can be very offensive to me sometimes. And the way God deals with us, with our souls, doesn't always register as fair if we use human standards.

Why is that?

Well, it's because we don't use holy standards. We use a measurement of fairness and good enough.

The Bible says that we're supposed to be perfect because God is perfect. Let's start and begin and realize when God said you can't do this. And this is just one mistake. After 40 years of faithfulness and 40 years of success, 'he makes one mistake, God'.

How do you know you only need one mistake? The Bible says we only all need to just sin once.

How many times do you need to steal to be a thief?
That was very clear.

'You didn't believe in me. You didn't keep me holy before your people.'

What did Moses do wrong?

Can we break it down?

And I think this is important for our leadership understanding here.

I think this is something, even though we probably don't deal with the kind of thing Moses does, we will all have the opportunity to make the same mistake somehow.

Let's learn from what Moses did wrong. What did Moses do wrong?

First, he disobeyed.

DISOBEDIENCE

He struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had instructed him to.

Remember in verse 8 (Numbers 20:8), 'Take the staff' and then speak to.

Speak. Talk to. Tell the rock. Instead, he hit it.
So that's clear. There's no fudging that line there. He was clearly told to talk to the rock. He hit it instead. (Numbers 20:11)

Second, contempt.

CONTEMPT

He let his feelings explode in harsh, contemptuous speech.

Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly and then he says, Hear now, you rebels! (Numbers 20:10)

And again, I already said in the original language there, it conveys deep anger and frustration.

Third, presumption.

PRESUMPTION

He claimed credit for the miracle instead of glorifying God.

Did you notice that?

I glossed over it, but let's slow down and look at it.
When he tells them, 'Hear, you rebels!',

'Shall we?'

Who's he referring to in the we? He's not talking about God.
He's talking about Moses and Aaron, the guys who these people have been accusing of doing all these wrong things, that it's an unfair accusation, and he's going,

I'm going to show you. I deserve to leave here. I do not deserve your accusations.

'Shall we bring water out for you?'

Whoa, that's big. He acts like he is the one who created the water miracle.

4th one is irreverence.

IRREVERENCE

He failed to honor God as holy before the people.

As God called out, you know, that's another interesting thing.

Man can only look at the outward appearance, right?
The Bible says only God can look at the heart.
God looked right to Moses' heart and saw, You didn't believe me.

It's the same unbelief that said, 'the giants in the land are too big for us'.

It's the same unbelief. It was unbelief.

And then you did not uphold me as holy (Numbers 20:12). Instead, you made yourself big in front of the eyes of the people, and you made me small.

'No one like the Lord, but apparently, you're like the Lord. You had the big staff, you showed that you are authority, and you showed you had power. You didn't glorify me. You made it about you.'

Whoa. This Moses, who for 40 years led so well in a moment of probably a leadership breaking point, makes one mistake. And God tells him, Because you didn't believe me, you shall not bring the Israelites into the promised land.

Pretty serious consequence. Imagine spending 40 years of your life heading towards this one thing, and right at the very end, you don't get it. Right at the very end, you don't get it.

Pastor Carlos pointed this out.
Why did this happen? You see, this failure did not happen in a vacuum.

The passage reveals that there were internal and external pressures that compounded over time in Moses' life, ultimately taking a toll and leading Moses to a breaking point, resulting in a very costly mistake.

What was happening here? Four things.

Why did this happen?

One, Moses, the leader, had gotten exhausted by constant demand.

Exhausted by Constant Demands

The people's unfair and pointed accusations is just the most recent case of decades, decades, decades of ungrateful entitlement. (Numbers 20:2-3)

Pastor Carlos then mentioned another movie:

Any of you watched the movie Shrek? You know the movie Shrek?
In the movie Shrek, there's a scene where the donkey asks, 'Are we there yet?'

Are we there yet?
….
Are we there yet?
….
Are we there yet?

And at some point, you know, both Fiona and Shrek snap and go, No!

And that's a simple conversation in a very short moment.

Imagine being a leader of a people who constantly go,
'Why did you bring us here?'
'Why don't you provide for us?'
'Are we there yet?'
We're not there yet.
'Well, why did you do this?'
'We could have been there.'

Again and again and again and again and again.

You want to snap like Shrek and Fiona; No!, you (would) want to do that too.

But not only, what we see here is Moses, has led a grumbling nation for 40 years. Constant crisis, unfair expectations, those kind of things will wear you out. It will wear you out.

None of us are thick enough to kind of be able to endure any of that for prolonged amounts of time.

Pastor asked this question;
Have you grown so used to carrying pressure in your life that you've stopped noticing how heavy that burden's been?

In answering this Pastor Carlos remembered another movie:

There's this movie that's come out recently. I watched it on the plane called The Last Breath.

It's a movie about these deep sea divers who go like significant depths because of stuff that are underwater that help us have internet and things like that, right?

So when they go deep, they know the pressure is so strong.
They have to wear these special suits to kind of survive that pressure, right?

We understand that from diving. But interestingly enough, not only do you do that when you go down, when you come back up, you have to spend a significant amount of time in what they call a decompression chamber.

You have to spend at least three days in a decompression chamber so that when you come out to the normal pressure, you're normal and it doesn't affect your health.

He then proceeds with this: some of us as leaders, we go through serious seasons of significant pressure.

Your spouse gets very, very sick.

Your business collapses, things happen to you and it hurts and it's painful and it's high pressure.
But we go deep in the pressure, but we never come and decompress. Instead, we just keep going.

One of my mentors, Pastor Joey, would talk about,

'You know, Carlos; you hold this barbell' and he give me a barbell.

And he goes,
'Alright, so leadership is like carrying weight. You know, you carry that weight.'

'You carry that weight. Alright, you do bicep curl. You do that. Alright, carry weight.'

Hey, now everybody who likes going to the gym:
How many of you have ever watched a person going to the gym and walk out of the gym, still carrying the barbell and goes to sleep, still carrying the barbell, wakes up in the morning, still carrying the barbell and never puts the barbell down?

That's stupid. Nobody would do that. That's silly.

He goes,
'Yeah, in life, most people carry the weight of the pressures of the world and never put it down.'

'And they wonder why they're tired.'

'They wonder why they're stressed.'

'They wonder why they're so frustrated when the smallest thing kind of comes up and their kid talks to them and like, uh, "Don't talk to me now".'

Not only was he exhausted (Moses), he was hijacked by unresolved emotions.

Hijacked by Unresolved Emotions

Unprocessed grief and years of contending with the people's constant complaining erupted in a harsh, emotionally charged rebuke.

…Miriam died there and was buried there.

Numbers 20:1

…Hear now, you rebels...

Numbers 20:10

Pastor Carlos also asked us if we've watched the movie 'Inside Out'. It gives you this picture of the emotions taking control of your of your control panel. He said we see two things were happening there.

One, I didn't bother to read, but in the very beginning of the chapter, which is very important because it was added there on purpose in verse one. (Numbers 20:1).

It says;
'Miriam', who is the sister of Moses.

She was the one who made sure Moses would be cared for by her own mother.
She was the one who had the faith to believe in Moses when the people were kind of rejecting Moses.
She was a prophetess. Miriam was amazing.

Bible says in verse one, Miriam had died, had just died.

People who are smarter than me and know the Bible better tell me; that the fact that it was added there and it was very brief. It's (you know) intentional and on purpose.

Sometimes in scripture, especially in Hebrew writing, what is not said is just as important as what is said.

And in this case, the fact that Moses went from Miriam dying to complaining happening in verse 2 immediately says that Moses didn't have the time to grieve.

But not just this grief moment. I mean, that's painful already as it is.

But there were probably years of contending with the people's constant complaining.
'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

At some point, you just get tired.
'Stop talking to me. I don't want to hear this anymore!'

Resulting in going;
'Hear now, you rebels.'
It wasn't said 'Hear now, you rebels'. It wasn't said like I said.

He was probably really, really mad.

Unprocessed grief and anger cloud discernment and lead to very rash decisions.

You see, he prayed, he heard, he's starting to obey, and then his emotions hijacked the rest. He snapped.

But not just that, he defaulted to the familiar.

Defaulting to the Familiar

Instead of obeying God's specific instructions to speak, Moses reverted to the familiar act of striking the rock, just like he did in Exodus 17.

And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice...

Numbers 20:11

And this is interesting. When he snapped, what did he do? He hit it, which he did before, and he's doing again. He hit it.

Moses' breaking point resorted to relying on previous success rather than present guidance.

Pastor gave this warning that sometimes past success can be just as dangerous because it'll produce hubris in thinking we can make it happen again. And makes us dull to God's daily direction and voice.

Moses should have known this because the manna from heaven was every day, and if you kept it, the next day it will spoil. Moses should have known this is a daily walk thing.

'I can read 8 chapters of bible today, because I won't pay attention to God for the rest of the week.'

'Lord, I will load now and not talk to you for six days.'

Okay? It doesn't work that way.

It requires daily sensitivity. And when we stop connecting daily, we will default in the familiar.

And finally, Moses usurps credit that was meant for God.

Usurping Credit Meant for God

And I need us to understand this. This exists in every single one of us.

What is the first commandment?
"You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3)

The first commandment is the first commandment because it's the first commandment.

Before you can break the second or any of the other commandments, you will have already broken the first commandment.

Because at every point where you look at the other nine commandments, that means you try to become God.

And that is in every one of us.

By striking the rock and speaking rashly, Moses assumed a power and a position that only belongs to God.

He judges God's people without asking God.

He was supposed to be God's spokesperson.
He speaks words that God never told them to speak.
He was supposed to be the the priest.
He was supposed to be the priest of the Israelites.

But instead. He chooses to not have them come close to God.
But instead, he puts himself in between them and God.

He presents himself. Moses blurs the boundaries between God's authority and his role as the leader of the people.
He thinks he's the head shepherd when really he's still under the shepherd, right?

So what can we learn?

And here are the practical ideas.

1.) You need to learn to sustain your strength with rest and support.

Sustain your strength with rest and support.

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 
³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

This is not a new idea. The Bible tells us that we're to honor the Sabbath.

We're told, commanded, honor the Sabbath.
It's not a suggestion, it's a command.

The Bible says that God, who is infinite in power on the seventh day, finished His work by resting.

Pastor Carlos said; stop and think about that.
He (God) finished His work by resting. You're not done in your work until you rest.

Jesus tells us, Come to me when you're weary. I'll give you rest.
In fact, learn from me because I will give you a yoke.

You see, God doesn't just take things away.
He gives us his yoke.

And so if we are willing to learn from his yoke, our burdens will become light.

Next,

2.) Develop habits that tend to your heart.

Develop habits that tend to your heart.

"Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it."

(Proverbs 4:23 NIV)

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

(Hebrews 12:15 NIV)

How can you regularly name and process your emotions in a healthy way?

You see, the thing was here;

Moses prayed before God.
Moses heard God.
Moses stood up to obey God.

What didn't happen was Moses heart was not changed by that whole process.

It is possible for you to read your Bible every day.
It's possible for you to pray and give thanks to God every day.
It's possible for you to come to church every day.
It's possible for you to lead your small group every day and let your heart remain unchanged.

It's all here 🧠 and never here ❤️.

It's what Jesus said, where 'you diligently study the scriptures because you think that in it that you'll have life, but you refuse to come to me and actually experience that life'. (John 5:39-40)

What are you doing to tend to your heart?

Do you realize it's like a garden?
And if you don't, if you allow it to, it can have roots of bitterness to grow up in it.

3.) Listen to God's present voice. Don't just rely on past experiences.

Listen to God's present voice over past experiences.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

(John 10:27 NIV)

It's like manna for the day. Manna for the day. Manna for the day.
The Bible says, You are my sheep. You will hear my voice. Listen to me.

Next,

4.) We, (and this is interesting), need to learn to embrace correction as a pathway to humility.

Embrace correction as a pathway to humility.

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 
¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:12-13

…“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6

I love that God immediately corrected Moses, because Moses is a humble man. And in that moment, he made a mistake, but God was right there. And you know what's interesting?

Who wrote Numbers? Historians tell us that Moses did.
Moses documented his greatest mistake and God's rebuke so that all of us would learn from his error.

He was vulnerable and transparent for our benefit.

Four lessons we can learn when you are a leader dealing with pressure, complaints, emotions, challenges.

1. Sustain your strength with rest and support.
2. Develop habits that tend to your heart.
3. Listen to God's present voice over past experiences.
4. Embrace correction as a pathway to humility.

Pastor then proceeds to wrap up session 2 and the whole lecture:

Let me end with this idea.

What did God do?
Why is this important?

We can learn all these lessons, but we have to remember there's another player in this story.

In fact, he is the real hero of the story.

We put Moses in a pedestal, but now we see Moses is just a man who makes mistakes.
And as much as he was amazing, did not qualify.

Only God was perfect.

What did God do?

1.) As we saw, He allowed the water to flow. God still provided water for His people.

God still provided water for his people.

… "and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock."

Numbers 20:11

Why would he do that? What kind of God is this?

That He would still abundantly, miraculously provide for a grumbling and complaining people.

Thank You, Lord. You do these things in spite of me.

I'll be honest, I grumble and complain. I'm grateful God doesn't smite me where I'm at.

But instead He contends with me patiently. And He's still gracious to me.

2.) God disciplines Moses, but he does not discard him.

God disciplines Moses — but He does not discard him.

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 

² all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 

³ the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 

⁴ And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 

⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 

⁶ and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.

Deut 34:1-6

Why?
Because God still continues to work with him. God still instructs him how to prepare Joshua.

And in fact, God brings him in Deuteronomy 34.

I won't be able to read the whole passage. But God brings him to Mount Nebo, which is the tallest point across of the Jordan, and shows him the Promised Land.

'I'm not gonna let you cross, but you can see it.'

And then when Moses dies, look to who the Bible says buries him. (God Himself)

How precious was Moses to God?

We look at God as being harsh for correcting him in this minor mistake. But we forget that God is so gracious to Moses, so jealous for Moses, so protective for Moses. In fact, He buried him Himself. And He knew Moses was such a leader and in the people's eyes was going to be such a hero of the story, that nobody knows where Moses is buried.

Like what our friend from Pakistan said, it's so that we don't elevate Moses as the hero, but the glory remains God's.

Was Moses important? Absolutely.

And here's my favorite part that I'm going to end in prayer here.

You see, God redeems Moses' story, and in learning this,

3.) God redeems our story. For His glory.

God redeems our story for His glory.

¹ And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 

² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 

³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.


Matthew 17:1-3

You know why?

In Matthew 17, we get this amazing picture of Jesus being transfigured on top of a mountain.

Who shows up?
Elijah and Moses, in the promised land.

You remember the story where Moses asked God,
'God, I want to see your face.'

And God says,
'You can't see my face. If you see my face, you'll die. Let me show you my back.' (Exodus 33:18-23)

Right? Well, God actually answers that prayer in Matthew 17.

Moses is talking with the very glory of God, face to face.

God was faithful to Moses. This imperfect Moses.

And I want to speak to every single one of you.

Because as leaders, we will carry pressure. We will carry weight. Not everything will go our way. We will have challenges.

Please learn the lessons to;

Guard your heart. Take your Sabbath rests. Be in community so that you can have accountability and correction. Be vulnerable to people. Learn to listen to God daily.

These are all very important.

But let me be the very first person to remind you how gracious and merciful God is.
That the good news of the gospel is not that we need to be perfect, but that He was and is perfect.

And because of His perfection, we can live under the mercy and grace of God.
So when we make mistakes, we don't get smitten right there.

Instead, he nudges us forward, encourages us to repent, come back to God, and be transformed again and again and again in His image. Until we too will one day bear His glory and see His face.

That's exciting. And then we can represent Him to the world around us. Because when they look at us, we look more like Jesus than if we were to do it in our own strength.

Transfiguration of Jesus based on Matthew 17:1-8.

End of Session 2 and the whole lecture.

Discussion Questions (Application)

• How can you develop sustainable rhythms of rest, sabbath, and delegation?
• How can you regularly name and process your emotions in a healthy way?
• How can you develop a sensitivity and responsiveness to God's daily leading?
• How can you accept correction and vulnerability-based accountability in church community?

If you have any questions, stories to share or prayer requests. Please send a direct message to me and I would love to connect with you.