“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 I have given them.”
– Numbers 20:12
The story here is God’s people grumbling, complaining, yet again before God, before Moses and Aaron, and yet Moses in his response, instead of doing what God said to do and speaking to the rock to cause water to come out, he strikes the rock. We see an anger in him, a taking things into his own hands kind of leadership that does not regard God as holy in the eyes of the people, that disobeys God’s word.
And as a result, after all, that Moses has done in so many ways since the beginning of the Book of Exodus to lead God’s people, here we see him falter, and the result is he will not go into the Promise Land.
This Verse Emphasizes the Need for Faithful Leaders
The mantle of leadership has been given by God to be stewarded under His authority.
I read this and I think about leaders among God’s people today. I think about leaders in the Church. God, I think about my own leadership in the Church. I think about other pastors. I think about anyone who has influence over others, a husband in marriage, a mom and dad in parenting. Just in any leadership roles we have, we are accountable for showing the holiness of God to those we lead, for believing the Word of God and obeying the Word of God, not taking things into our own hands.
So, I’m compelled to pray for leaders. And for those of you who are listening who are leaders, to pray for ourselves and then just to pray for leaders around you, pray for other leaders. I’m compelled to pray for others who lead alongside me in church and ministry, and in different ways.
Numbers 20:12 Prays for Strong, Serious Leadership
So, God, we pray. We pray as leaders and for leaders. Please, help us to believe You, to obey Your Word, and to honor You as holy before those whom we lead. God, this mantle of leadership is serious, it’s a stewardship You’ve given to us. You put people in authority and no matter what level we lead at, we are under authority. We are under Your authority.
No position, no title, no responsibility, we will ever have on this earth is ultimately autonomous. We are always, always, always under Your authority. So, God, help us to remember that, help us to honor that, help us to honor You as a Holy before those we lead. Help us to lead with faith, with compassion, through obedience to Your Word, through trust and belief in You.
Numbers 20:12 Thanks God for Being the Perfect Leader
God, help me to lead like that. I pray for leaders around me, leaders who are listening to this right now in Your Church, and otherwise in homes. God, help us, help us, help us, to lead well so that we might experience Your blessing, so that we might lead others to experience Your blessing. The picture of Moses wanting to lead people into the Promise Land and wanting to experience that himself, but he missed it. He missed it here in Numbers 20.
So, God, we pray, keep us from this. Jesus help us. You are the only perfect leader. You are the only perfect leader and we need You. We need You to live through us. We need You to lead through us. Help us to stay fixed on You, may Your life and Your leadership of our lives direct, lead, guide us in every way so that we might experience all that You designed for us, and all that You desire for those we lead.
In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
