PropheticInsight

Prophetic Insight

The Water of Strife

by Prophet Timothy Frazier

We, the Body of Christ, are living in an accelerated time in the Spirit realm. God himself is calling the church to unity and to a greater dimension of His power and anointing. The Lord has released the Wind of Change in the earth to compel the church to a new place in Him, but many are resisting change. The Lord has been speaking to me concerning where we, the church, are in this season, and where He is bringing us.

The Spirit of God has been speaking to me from the book of Numbers, chapter 20 and verses 2-13. It says in verse two, “Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.” The scene continues in verses 7-8 where the Lord gives clear instruction to His faithful servant Moses. “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 water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.’ ”

Moses the deliverer had brought Israel out of Egypt. He took them through Succoth, the city of rest, then to Etham, which means on the edge of the wilderness. Then the Lord told Moses to camp near Pi Harioth, between Migdol and the sea (Exodus 13:17 – 14:3). During Israel’s travels they constantly murmured and complained with their lips. Moses would intercede for them faithfully, and God would respond favorably for Moses. The people would murmur and complain about going back to Egypt because they believed that Moses brought them out of Egypt to ‘lord it over them’. Moses was continually faithful to the people, yet the people chose to murmur and complain against him.

People of God, when we murmur and complain against God’s delegated authority (i.e. Moses) we are in actuality coming against the Most High himself. All the authorities of the earth are instituted by God. To be under God’s authority is not to just know His will, but also to obey His will. Moses was God’s delegated authority to Israel. Moses loved God and God loved Moses. He was faithful to God. Exodus 33:11 says, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. But, Moses violated his friendship with God at Meribah. Sometimes, when a leader has to contend with God’s disobedient servants, he can fall into sin and misrepresent God before the people. We see here the Lord commanded Moses to take the staff, and he and Aaron were to assemble the people together at the rock. Their job was to get the people to the rock. Many leaders today have led people to the Rock of Salvation, but have been unable to lead them to their destiny because their actions misrepresented God.

In verse 9 of Numbers chapter 20, the Bible says “…Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as He commanded him.” (You have to be in God’s presence to get authority, which the staff represented.) Moses 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 (verse 10)?” Then in verse 11 we see Moses make his first mistake. “Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.” Let’s take a closer look. God told Moses to speak to the rock (at Meribah of Kadesh, which is called the water of strife), but Moses spoke to the people, and called them rebels. Moses’ first sin was that of the lips. Psalm 106:32-33 says, “By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.” Many leaders today are making the same mistake that Moses made by speaking abusively to the people and misrepresenting God. Since we as leaders stand in front of the people on behalf of God, we should only say and do what the Lord has commanded.

The next thing Moses did was strike the rock twice with the staff, his second sin. Moses stepped from under God’s authority, and responded to the people in his own authority by disobeying God and striking the rock. I believe that God would have given Moses another chance to obey Him after Moses struck the rock the first time, but the second strike became a witness against him. There are some leaders in the body of Christ who are at Meribah, the water of strife. God has given them clear instruction concerning caring for the flock, but they are reacting to the murmuring and complaining of the people by speaking manipulatively and abusively to God’s people.

Meribah of Kadesh also represents the place where God brings you to test you before you go into your promised land in God. Psalm 81:7 says, “In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” I believe that leaders over ministries have come to a refining and testing time. Some will embrace the test, others will resist and their hearts will wax cold. I sense that the Lord is bringing balance and correction to leadership so they can come back under His authority to lead His people into their destiny. Moses disobeyed God’s instruction and struck the rock, which brought strife, but if he had obeyed God and spoken to the rock it would have preserved life – his life and the lives of others as well. The church is in a time where leaders will need to be fully obedient to God, and not misrepresent Him before the people. I feel that misrepresenting God as leaders in this season could cause you to lose your position in Christ. Some leaders will “choose” early retirement like Moses by misrepresenting God before the people.

Continuing in verse 12 of Numbers chapter 20 we read, “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” There are many leaders who started out faithful to God, who loved God’s people, but now have chosen to operate under their own authority and try to control the people of God through abuse and manipulation. The Lord loves His servants (leaders) so much that He will move them off the scene like He did with Moses in order to protect them and His children.