"Unspeakable"

"They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips." (Psalms 106:32-33)

 As much as I would like to claim that I am innocent of speaking unadvisedly, I must confess, my stupidity sometimes gets in the way of controlling my tongue more often than I would like to admit. I sure wish that I could take some things back, as I am sure that Moses felt the same. Maybe Moses was never meant to enter the promise land, as I have heard many a preacher say. It really comes down to his judgment, more than anything else; it was his casting judgment upon God's people that caused him to be kept from entering in. To get a better understanding of what went wrong, the word "ill" is a word that means evil, rage, displease; basically it means to quiver or tremble, much like we would get when we become so angry with someone that words are not enough. As it was with Moses, who was not to smite the rock again, but was merely only to speak to the rock; not only did he smite it, but he hit it twice. (Numbers 20:8) He did so after his outburst to the people, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10) There are really several different ways we can look at this portion of Scripture, but nothing speaks louder than the fact that Moses judged the people, after God had merely asked him to give them water. This is not something that goes unanswered, and it is probably the reason that many of God's servants are stricken down. There is a time for judgment and there is a time for just presenting God's love. When God wants us to present His love to the people, we should not try to turn His love into judgment. When Jesus came, He clearly said, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." It clearly was Moses judging the people that displeased God; besides the fact that he smote the rock, again; and twice no doubt, once for him and once for Aaron...

""Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today. "But the LORD was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession. You will cross over the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river. So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this. The LORD your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God."" (Deuteronomy 4:20-24) NLT