Sermon Brief: In Just A Moment

February 1, 2009 in Sermons with 0 Comments

From Journey Through the Word: The Book of Numbers

Based on Numbers 20

ONE GREAT TRUTH: A single moment can be extremely powerful, especially when we’re making a disobedient and destructive choice.

(sorry, no audio, just some brief notes…)

As we watch Moses in this moment, I think there are a lot of directions to go in understanding the story’s relevance. It has deep theological significance very similar to the sacrifice of cleansing. Moses was once instructed to strike the rock, from which water poured. This time, however, he was commanded to speak to the rock instead of striking it, symbolizing the fact that Jesus was smitten only once for sin’s forgiveness, but spoken to daily for a closer walk. Moses’ disobedience was really a failure to teach the truth in symbolism.

There’s also a great story here about the negative power of misplaced anger. Moses was upset with the murmurings of God’s people, so he struck out in his frustration. We could psycho-analyze Moses and learn a lot about the issue of anger.

But the point that strikes me most boldly is the consequence that Moses suffered for his actions. He had spent over 80 years of his life training for this task of leading people into the promised land. He would spend another 40 years getting them there, but would never be able to cross the Jordan himself. He would merely be allowed to gaze over it from Mount Pisgah before his death.

Everything changed in a moment.

That’s our single principle to understand tonight – the power of a single moment.