Numbers 20 - 9.8.26

SCRIPTURE: Numbers 20: 1-13 

1 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “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.”

9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He 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?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 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.”

13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

OBERSERVATION

Here in this passage, we see frustrations from the day-to-day struggles start to boil. Israelites did not have water to drink in the desert. They were complaining to Moses, complaining about God’s plan for them, and reminiscing over the abundance they had in Egypt while being in bondage. I believe Moses was very frustrated at this point. He was leading a multitude of people through a desert with low water supply and his sister recently passed away. At this breaking point, Moses acted a bit out of character. Instead of Moses specifically doing as God instructed, he called the Israelites rebels and struck the rock twice. He did not honor God as holy at this point and even asked the question, “must WE bring water out of this rock?” instead of solely pointing to God that provided the water. Unfortunately, Moses was not allowed to bring the Israelites into the Promise Land due to his disobedience. I happened to see a video about this very topic a couple of weeks ago, but by God’s grace, Moses was able to witness something even better. Moses was able to be in the Promise Land to witness God face-to-face like he longed for in the wilderness by seeing Jesus Christ transfigured along with Elijah (Matt 17:1-13). Although Moses let his frustrations get the better of him, God being holy, just and merciful allowed Moses to witness His glory.

APPLICATION

As we deal with life, people, jobs, and responsibilities, we will get frustrated especially when we see sin, injustice, and blasphemy against God. Moses did not sin by becoming angry with the Israelites’ complaints; he sinned by disobedience and irreverence towards God’s command in a moment of weakness. Ephesians 4:26 says “In your anger, do not sin.” We as human beings have emotions, but our emotions should not draw us to sinning because God chastened those who He loves (Heb 12:6) such as He did with Moses. 

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I thank You for being merciful even during our times of weakness and frustration. I pray that we can listen to You, Holy Spirit, during every interaction that we may be Christlike. Please give us the words to speak when it is necessary and guide us with our actions to truly represent You. Lord Jesus, I thank You for the example of Your holiness in this passage and also the mercy given centuries later when Moses was able to see You face to face when You walked the earth. Please give us strength to remember Your Words given to us to be the salt and light of the earth to set an example to others.

- Darrence Hamilton