CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE .-
PART 2.
In continuation of consequences of disobedience more characters will be .
Moses-Num20:8-13. Deu34:1-5.
God granted Moses the grace to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. And God promised them a destination that is “The promised land” The LORD said to Moses “Leave this place , you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the Land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants. I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites , Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey .”Exo 33:1-3a. Moses made a tent outside the camp where the people were and he called it “tent of meeting “ there he used to go and the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance of the tent while the LORD spoke to him face to face , as one speaks to a friend and Joshua his young aide usually follow him to the tent. The LORD assured Moses that as he leads the people his presence will go with him and he will give him rest.Exo 3314-15. And Moses was leading the people until they got to Kadesh where there was no water and they quarrelled with him that he brought them to a terrible place where there was no grain, figs , grapevines and no water to drink. That he should not have brought them out of Egypt. Moses was so overwhelmed and he with his brother Aaron went to seek the face of the LORD .”The LORD said to Moses “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” Num20:8. Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence just as he was commanded, and he and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then he raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff and water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”Num20:9-11. This was contrary to what God asked him to do. God said speak to the rock, but he struck the rock twice. A great disobedience to God’s command. Immediately the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”Num20:13. Verdict was given and that was the consequence of their disobedience. On their way from Kadesh to Mount Hor, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron that Aaron will be gathered to his people, he will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. And Aaron died on top of the mountain and the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.Num 20:24,28b-29. Moses continued leading until he got to Mount Nebo which he climbed. There the LORD showed him the whole land and told him”This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes , but you will not cross over into it.” Deut 34:4. And Moses died there in Moab and was buried there. The Israelites grieved for him for thirty days and Joshua his aide continued to lead the people.
Brethren despite the fact that Moses did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land,
he did not get to the promised land. His disobedience prevented him from getting there and he could not even lead the Israelites in to the land.
Beloved, consequences of disobedience are unpalatable and could be disastrous.
Finally, the disobedience of Adam and Eve which I call the mother of them all.
Adam and Eve- Gen 1:26-3.
God created mankind in his own image after all he needed to create and Adam was the first man. He pronounced blessings upon mankind and gave them dominion over all other things created. Then God said, “I give you every seed- bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Gen 1:29. The LORD formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The LORD made all kinds of trees he planted to grow out of the ground- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil .And the LORD put Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it and he commanded him” “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Gen 2:16-17. God gave Adam this command. And the LORD thought it was not good for Adam to be alone. So the he created a woman from the rib he had taken from Adam when he caused him to fall into a deep sleep and brought her to him at the garden of Eden. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Gen2:25.
The serpent came and said to the woman, “Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman replied “ We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.” The serpent said to her”You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen3:1-4. The serpent actually came to lie and deceive her. The woman
succumbed, ate the fruit and also gave some to her husband and he ate it.
What a great disobedience.! Immediately the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. When they heard the sound of the LORD as he was walking in the garden, they hid from him among the trees of the garden.. But the LORD called to the man, “Where are you.?” He said he was afraid because he was naked and so hid. Definitely God knew the forbidden fruit had been eaten by both of them. Then the consequences followed. The serpent got his own, to the woman, God said “ I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam, God said” Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from,” Cursed is the ground because of you; through soil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken ; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” And God also said since he has known good and evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat , and live forever.”The LORD banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground and drove him out of the garden. Finally Adam and his wife whom he named Eve lost the privilege of living in the Garden of Eden and intimacy with God.
Brethren, God has good intention for giving man commands that will guide us throughout life, but any violation to the commands has consequences.
You are thereby strongly admonished to avoid any form of disobedience as it can lead to loss of privileges and intimacy with God, incurring God’s wrath, and can also lead to untimely death, spiritual death and separation from God.
Prayer.
Father,
I reject every spirit of disobedience in my life, and ask that you fill me with the spirit of obedience. Grant me grace to be totally obedient to all your commandments.
In Jesus’name .
Amen.
