Moses spoke with God like a best friend. He alone heard God’s voice. He saw the form of God, if not His face. Moses and God had a relationship unlike any other. In fact, they were so close, it seems Moses forgot WHO he was talking to.

I don’t think Moses’ sin at Meribah was a blatant act of disobedience. I don’t even think it was simply the sin of pride that caused him to tap that rock. I think Moses might have assumed he knew God so well, he knew what God meant apart from what God said. (purely my opinion).

I don’t believe we can ever be too close to God. But I think there is a temptation to be too comfortable with Him. He’s not a buddy. He’s not an equal. He is not a doting grandpa who gets a kick out of disobedience.

He is holy. He is to be feared, respected, obeyed, and we need to take His Word very seriously. God inspired men to write His Words exactly the way He wanted them written. He said what He meant.

But in this day and age of “political correctness,” where people have re-written God’s Word to be gender neutral, or to soften God’s view of sin so as not to offend, we need to be careful. If you read the Bible and are tempted to think God “meant” something different that what it says, beware.

He didn’t let Moses get away with that. He certainly won’t let us get away with it, either.