“Speak of it no more,” he ordered.
Deuteronomy 3: 26 (LB)
Speaking can sometimes get us in trouble. This devotion looks at talking to God, to others, and to ourselves.
Nuggets
- We end up sinning because we don’t trust that God will do what He says.
- We are to be circumspect in what we say, speaking in love, not anger.
- God sees our potential.
Years ago, when I came across Deuteronomy 3: 26, all I wrote down in my for-a-future-devotion notebook was the speak-of-it-no-more part. Today, that got my mind reeling on possibilities. Let’s see what it really says first.
Let's Put It into Context
To me, Deuteronomy is a whole book of remembrance. Moses is reminding the Israelites of the law. He is also reminding them of their history.
It can get boring sometimes reading the laws. But we just talked about remembering.
This had to have been heartbreaking for Moses. He had overcome his stage fright and feelings of uselessness and led millions of people to their safety.
There was this one problem. This silly rock.
You remember, don’t you? “Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.” (Num. 20: 11 GNT).
Did you get a picture in your head from just that? Stick raised, to me, means Moses was taking aim. He was gearing up for force. He wanted the punch behind the wallop.
No, it wasn’t the rock’s fault. It was Moses’ fault. He didn’t follow directions.
“Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink” (Num. 20: 8 GNT).
There was to be no hitting involved. It was just supposed to be speaking.
Because he was rash (and angry) and didn’t follow directions, Moses was not allowed to cross over into the Promised Land. “You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people” (Deut. 32: 50-51 GNT).
Now, this is different from Exodus 17: 6 where Moses was told to strike the rock. “I will stand before you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink” (Ex. 17: 6 GNT). Strike came before no strike.
Let’s see what Deuteronomy 3: 26 is telling us.
Don’t Talk Back
Can you just hear God saying to Moses, “Will you please just shut up about it? No, you are not going into the Promised Land. Your arguing is not going to change My mind.”
Spoken like a true Parent.
Oh, because can’t we sometimes argue with God! We want things our way.
It is all because we got angry. Or frustrated. Or hurried. And we didn’t really listen to what God was telling us.
Or we don’t see what the difference is. Or we think we knew better than God.
We end up sinning because we don’t trust that God will do what He says. He says He will provide. “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 19 NASB).
Watch What You Say
Do you have a motormouth when you get angry? Oh, I bet there are times that we all can go from 0 to 60 in .000002 seconds.
Do you think that is why there are so many verses in the Bible about the tongue?
“As the scripture says, ‘If you want to enjoy life and wish to see good times, you must keep from speaking evil and stop telling lies’” (I Pet. 3: 10 GNT). Don’t you love that one. Hot-head, wild card Peter is telling us to bite our tongues.
“Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone” (Col. 4: 6 GNT).
“The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet” (Prov. 10: 19 GNT).
“Kind words bring life, but cruel words crush your spirit” (Prov. 15: 4 GNT).
“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble” (Prov. 21: 23 NLT).
“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141: 3 NASB).
And this isn’t even all of them!
We are to be circumspect in what we say. We have to speak in love, not anger. We have to think about what we are saying, not just fly off the handle and spew.
Watch How You Talk to Yourselves
We’ve talked before about self-talk. I called it a form of self-perception. How we talk to ourselves in our minds (and, okay, with our mouths) has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.
My former co-workers knew that they could judge my day by what I was calling myself. What level of bad name was I calling myself at that moment?
So, our self-perception can change. It can be dependent on circumstances. Or it could be dependent on how Satan is filling out thoughts with doubts about ourselves.
Just as we can use our words to build up or tear down others, we can tear ourselves down. What did Moses do at the bush encounter? “But Moses said to God, “I am nobody …” (Ex. 3: 11 GNT). “… I have never been a good speaker, and I haven’t become one since you began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant’” (Ex. 4: 10 GNT).
Yep, we can bite on ourselves and list all the bad points. No, God doesn’t miraculously heal our issues upon appearing to us.
But God sees us as made in His image (Gen. 2: 26-27). He also see us as Christ (Eph. 2: 8-9), washed free from the stain of sin.
No, that doesn’t mean God is delusional about us. He can see the unconfessed sin. He doesn’t just ignore it.
God sees our potential. He sees what He has planned for us.
That is what God wants for us. He wants us to see Him in us and what He has planned for us.
Making the Connections
Jesus is the Rock. We’ve talked about this recently. He is the foundation of our faith.
To read So, What Are the Foundations of Salvation?, click the button below.
One of the commentaries I read brought up the point that Jesus had to only come once to die for our sins. The Rock didn’t have to be struck multiple times.
One little wrong move. That was all Moses did. And he got kicked out of the Promised Land.
But then, God “corrects everyone he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a child” (Heb. 12: 6 GNT). He is not going to let sin go unpunished. He will punish as He sees befits the crime, not as we do.
It doesn’t matter if God tells us to do something one way one time but totally differently the next. We have to obey.
God avenged the rock. Yes, this is just a thought of mine, but in a way, God did avenge the rock. He cares for all of His creation — the grass, trees, sky — spiders, snakes, alligators — and rocks.
“[Jesus] answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out’” (Lk. 19: 40 ESV). Just because they are inanimate doesn’t mean we can whale on them.
Speaking sometimes leads to actions. Oh, man. Have you ever talked yourself into something? You knew it was wrong, or you didn’t need to buy it, or it was going to hurt something or someone else.
But you talked yourself into it anyway. I had someone one say to me that they had talked themself into thinking they deserved something. They could see how their actions were hurting me. Didn’t matter; they thought they deserved it.
We have to watch what we are saying — to ourselves and to others.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to watch our words. We don’t back talk to God. He is Sovereign God. He gets to determine the punishment.
We need to watch how we interact with others. We need to build them us, not tear them down.
We need to watch how we talk to ourselves. Satan will use this to get us to deny God.
We need to forgive ourselves of our sin. Once God has forgiven us, He forgets our sins. Psalms 103: 12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us” (GNT). There is no running tab.
Bottom line in all of this. We have to let God control — how we see ourselves, how we act, and how we respond to Him.
Sovereign God. You are holy. You have called us to be holy — set apart for You. So many times, we don’t live up to that. Forgive us when we lose control or try to take the control out of Your hands. Help us to speak — and act — so that You are reflected in us. Amen.
What do you think?
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