It was the first month of the 40th year of wandering in the wilderness. Still grieving over the death of his beloved sister Miriam (Numbers 20:1), Moses had to cope with the rebellion of his people. The second generation of Israelites who had been freed from captivity was about to enter the Promised Land.
But they were committing the same mistakes of the previous generation—complaining and thinking of going back to Egypt (Numbers 20:2-5, 14:1-4; Exodus 17:1-4). If they rejected God a second time, they could well end up wandering in the desert for another 40 years! A feeling of fear and trepidation seized and overwhelmed Moses.
Year after year, he had somehow gotten the stiff- necked ingrates under his leadership through one crisis after another. But all Moses ever got for his efforts were more complaints and criticisms. Now, in deep grief and anger, he shouted, “Listen . . . you rebels! . . . Must we bring you water from this rock?” (Numbers 20:10). Drawing attention to himself, Moses disobeyed God and struck the rock twice (Numbers 20:11). His prideful disobedience and negative attitude dishonored God. As a result, Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).
The psalmist commented, “They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly” (Psalm 106:33). When we’re angry, we tend to utter cutting words—harsh and rash ones—which we will certainly regret later. That’s why we must learn to control our anger (Ecclesiastes 7:9; Proverbs 14:29, 16:32). The apostle James gives us this timely advice: “You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires” (James 1:19-20). Temper that temper!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18
More:
What do Psalms 4:4, 37:8, and Ephesians 4:26-27 say about handling your anger?
Next:
In light of the complaints and rebellion of the people, was Moses’ anger justified? Shouldn’t we be angry at sin? Why or why not? When does anger become a sin?
daisymarygoldr on December 10, 2011 at 12:03 pm
In his anger, Moses failed to honor God as holy in the sight of the people (Numbers 20:12 NIV). When we are angry at sin, our anger should be directed towards sin. This demonstrates God’s holiness to others.
Once I remember losing my cool after reading a blog post that made a mockery of God’s laws. It was actually an email message sent by someone from England. I did respond with an angry comment. My anger though was not against the person but in defense of Biblical principles.
When our anger is expressed as an evil attitude or act towards God and people, it becomes a sin. There are times I retaliate in anger when someone is mean to me. Such anger that is self-centered and seeks to defend my own honor is sinful.
When human anger is against sinful thoughts or acts and the motive is to restore people into a right relationship with God, it is justified as righteous. God always judges us by our motives.
Thanks KT for the timely exhortation to temper that temper!
winn collier on December 11, 2011 at 11:36 am
my anger points to deep unrest in my soul, a strong signal to pay attention.