Podcast Introduction

Lawful Monday, and we are reading from Numbers, one of the books of the Law. Next up are chapter 17-20. And of course I’ll have an “On This Date In Church History” segment for you, too. I’m calling today’s episode “Excuse Me?”  

Comments on Numbers 20

Once again the people were complaining. The older generation that had been forbidden from entering the Promised Land was beginning to die off, but now this newer generation was acting much like them. Yes they needed water, but instead of merely asking Moses what they were going to do, they sounded just like their parents: “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord. 4Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!” Waah, waah, waah!”

So when Moses and Aaron went to the Lord, He told Moses, 8 “Get your walking stick. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.”

So let’s look carefully at what God said:

1-“Get your walking stick.” Moses did that. By the way, do you remember what the walking stick (or rod, as other translations have it) was for? It was the symbol of the authority God had given Moses. 

And do you also remember another time that water came from a rock? In Exodus 17:6 God told Moses to strike the rock with the rod, and water came out. But here in Numbers 20, God to him only to speak to the rock.

2-“You and Aaron gather the people together.” They did that. So far, so good.

3- “Speak to the rock while everyone is watching.” Fail. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses got snarky with the people. He said, “Listen, you who refuse to obey! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”

God did not tell Moses to chastise the people. Actually, God had a very specific plan for what was supposed to happen, and it most certainly did not involve scolding them.

And what did Moses say? “Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?” Excuse me? Did Moses really say “we”? As if he could bring water out of the rock? As if God can’t do it by Himself? 

So now he’s made two blunders. He’s lectured the people, and he’s gotten prideful. How could things possibly get worse?

Moses strikes the rock with the rod. Not once, but twice. As is so often the case with many of us, anger and frustration made Moses do something really stupid. And sinful. 

But still, out of love and compassion for the needs of the people, God did cause water to pour out of the rock. Enough for the people and their livestock.

So everything’s good, right? Not so much. This only shows that God will use imperfect people to accomplish His will, but that does not mean that He condones their sin.

After the people and livestock got their water, God took them to the proverbial woodshed. He said, “You did not trust in me enough to honor me. You did not honor me as the holy God in front of the Israelites. So you will not bring this community into the land I am giving them.”

Picture again in your mind the scene that happened, with Moses having an angry, emotional outburst, and then hitting the rock TWICE with this rod that represents God’s authority. It is not pretty, is it?

But think of how it could have been. What if Moses and Aaron had gathered the people together, all the while with smiles on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes because they know what God is going to do. It should have been like Christmas morning! “Hey guys! You are going to be blown away by what is about to happen! God has something so special for you! Look the rock. Watch!”

Instead of directing their attention to the God who loves them and is their Provider, Moses made Him look like one of the angry false gods.

So God told Moses that he would not be the one to take the people into the Promised Land. Since he was a child when he was in the palace of the Pharaoh, Moses felt called to deliver God’s people. And now, because of his fit of pique, this life-long calling would be denied him.

Why was God so hard on Moses. Why would one weak moment have such severe consequences? 

Probably for at least three reasons.

1. Leaders and teachers are held to a higher standard. James 3:1 says, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 

2. Moses had a uniquely close relationship with God. He was the voice of God to the people, he badly misrepresented God in this in instance.

3. God intended this episode in the life of the people to be a picture of Jesus’ saving work. Listen to 1 Corinthians 10:4. Paul writes, “1I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.” 

Remember the first rock in Exodus was to be struck once for the life giving water to come forth. Jesus was figuratively and in reality struck, and anyone who will drink from him will never thirst again, as He told the woman at the well. Jesus did not have to be struck twice. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 10:12 says, “2 But this Man (speaking of Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…” What Moses was to do was speak words of faith, to bring forth the life saving water. Just as with Jesus, words of faith bring salvations. Listen to Romans 10:9, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

So Moses really blew it. And he paid a dear price by being denied entrance to the Promised Land. 

But the account of this scene has one last verse. “13Those were the waters of Meribah. That’s where the Israelites argued with the Lord. And that’s where he was proven to be holy among them.”

Moses did not show God to be holy in his actions. But God showed Himself to be holy in His correction of Moses. No matter our actions, God will be honored, shown to be holy. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 17 GNT; Ch. 18 NCV; Ch. 19 CEB; Ch. 20 NIRV

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Transcript Correction: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise
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