“Moses Loses His Temper"

​B I B L E  B I T S  &  B I T E S
Devotions for Families

Season 2: Heroes of the Bible
Episode 36: “Moses Loses His Temper
Today’s Bible Bite: Numbers 20:1-13

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUTugHm2_qI (Gracelink)
“The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!’” (Numbers 20:12)

The Israelites liked to complain…a lot! For many years, as Moses led the people in the wilderness, over and over the people complained and whined. They seemed to forget that it was their own fault that they were forced to live in the wilderness because they had disobeyed God and refused His promised land. As they traveled, they stayed in various places, but as it was always in the wilderness, they sometimes ran short of water. When they did, they always blamed Moses and complained that he had brought them out of Egypt.

They found themselves in Kadesh, again without water. Miriam, Moses’ sister, had just died and now he had to deal with this ungrateful group of people too. God told Moses to speak to a rock and water would pour out, enough for all the people and their animals. But Moses, feeling quite frustrated, hit the rock twice. His actions made it look as though he had given the people water and not God. As a result, God told Moses and Aaron that they too would die in the desert and not be able to enter the promised land.

Think about it...
• The Israelites complained a lot…over and over. What were they now complaining about?
• They blamed Moses because there was no water. Was this reasonable?
• Moses got irritated with the people. What did he do?
• God had told him to only speak to the rock, but Moses disobeyed and stuck it. What consequences did Moses and Aaron have to live with?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for always being there to help us. Moses forgot who was really in charge for a moment and in his frustration disobeyed you. Help us to always give you credit for the help you give us and not take the credit for ourselves.