Chapter 20
Starts this way:
1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. [Num 20:1 ESV]
The people are entering a new area, where they have not been before. This is after they're sentenced to wander for 40 years.
The people grumble because their is no water, and they start the whole "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, it was such a nice place" talk again. They say this:
3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! [Num 20:3 ESV]
They actually say they would rather have been taken down to Sheol alive with Korah and his followers than to be here in the Wilderness of Zin with no water. They have forgotten - or choose to ignore - that the reason they are here is that they lacked the faith to enter the promised land. They are always wanting to make all the decisions, but never to accept the consequences of those decisions.
Upon hearing these complaints, and likely the rising level of intensity of the complaints, Moses and Aaron go to the door of the tent of meeting, fall on their faces, and "the glory of the Lord appeared". God tells Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses strikes it instead. For this sin, because he didn't believe God could bring the water just from his speaking to it, Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter Canaan. Here it is in God's own words:
12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." [Num 20:12 ESV]
While it might not seem to us that there was any lack of faith involved, just a lapse of detail, God knows what was in the minds of Moses and Aaron. Despite everything, even Moses doubted that God could bring forth water from a rock just by Moses' speaking to the rock. God had always (often? mostly?) had Moses do something with that staff to initiate God's miraculous intervention. This time, God doesn't mention the staff. This is the second time God has brought water from a rock. The first time was in Exodus 17:6:
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. [Exo 17:6 ESV]
This was not the first time Moses had been through this. Almost exactly this same situation. Perhaps Moses remembered how it had been done the first time, and believed that was the only way it could be done, despite God's clear instructions.
This one has always bothered me. For all that Moses had done, this one lapse cost him Canaan. God's scales do not work like human scales. Hmm...God doesn't use scales at all. His standard is perfection, and anything short of perfection is failure. God is pass/fail, and none can earn passage. Maybe that's why this is here. To show that the law was there to condemn - to show beyond a doubt that there was no earning your way into Canaan. Only faith would get you there.
This is a good FB post.
2022 - But look at this verse:
"10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"" [Num 20:10 ESV]
Here is the real sin. Moses separates himself from the "rebels", and "we" - that is, Moses and Aaron - bring water from the rock. And here is God's view of it:
"12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."" [Num 20:12 ESV]
The sin was in claiming to be Israel's deliverer, by giving them water, rather than saying "Look, here is water for you from a rock, through no action of mine, but from God." It was supposed to be obvious that God was supplying water to Israel, yet again, and despite their rebellion. That's why Moses was to speak to the rock rather than hit it.
(((2023 - By hitting it, at the very least, Moses' actions would be seen as "assisting" in providing the water. God wanted this time to be different. He wanted there to be no doubt that the water was from God, not from God and Moses. That is what Moses messed up...he was so angry at the way the people continually treated him, that he also wanted them to know that he was "their helper and mediator". One small, but I admit very significant slip, at a very critical time, Moses took glory from God for himself.)))
But Moses, like the people, was in a very depressed state of mind, having been turned away from Canaan by the people's unwillingness to trust God to put that land into their hands. Moses believed. Aaron believed. Joshua and Caleb believed. But no one else believed. So God turned them all away, the four good men paying the same price as the whole rebellious nation. Of course Moses and Aaron were angry with the people. They were constantly harassed by this rebellious people and blamed for everything that happened. More than once Moses tells God he is fed up with them. And now, at the very door of deliverance, the people rebel, and are sentenced to 40 years of unfulfilling, purposeless, destinationless wandering, with Moses right up front, leading the way, and listening to their constant whining and bickering and blaming for another 40 years. Moses disagreed with God's provision for the people, and he resented being the instrument of God's provision. And he was focused on his part in the provision, rather than on God's mercy in this miracle. This was the sin. And like all men, it only takes one sin to separate us from God and send us to hell...but for his provision through Jesus.
How many posts are here?
Vss 4, 7-8, for "Here's what happened next after they were turned away. Lesson is that when we fail in our faithfulness, we may encounter severe testing. God doesn't say "Oh, well, since you didn't pass the test there will be no more tests". Instead, because we failed the "advanced test" that he knew we could pass, He sends us back to first grade, and begins the lessons again. Back in Exodus 15, after God had drowned Pharoah's army in the Red Sea, the very first thing He did was send them three days into the wilderness, where they was no water. They whined, just as they do here in Numbers 20, and God provided water for them by having Moses strike the rock at Marah. They failed the "water test" in Exodus. They should have learned, their faith should have grown after seeing God's provision, and as they saw many more miracles on their way to Canaan. Miracles like manna from heaven, quail in the desert, and so on. Then the real test at the border of Canaan, and they failed. They'd learned nothing. So. God takes them back to the first test, and begins all over again building the faith they need to conquer Canaan. It works the same way with us. Testing is not a possibility for Christians, it is a certainty, and we need to train ourselves to recognize testing, recognize our failures, and recognize the re-test with absolutely will come, and do better the next time. Else, we remain defeated at the elementary level of faith, and never graduate to the advanced faith that makes us far more useful to God.
Vs 12, What was it that Moses did so wrongly that it cost him Canaan? He'd brought water out of a rock before, at Marah, by striking it. What was the problem with that at Meribah? Why did God tell him to do it differently in the first place? Well look at what Moses says as he strikes the rock: "10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"" [Num 20:10 ESV]. It wasn't what Moses did that was sin, it was what Moses said. With these words, Moses says that all the people are rebellious, and that he and Aaron are separate and apart from them. And when he says "shall WE bring water", he is usurping God's provision for the people, and taking the credit for himself. By posing it as a question, Moses is saying that he disagrees with God's providing water for these "rebels". So he not only separates himself - and Aaron - from the people as better than they are, but he also separates himself from God as he disagrees with God's mercy. And doing so cost him entry into the land of Canaan. Do we ever feel resentment when bad people get good things? Pretty much every day I think. Do we ever say right out loud that bad people ought to be punished right now, today? When we do so, we are putting ourselves in the place of judge, a place that only God should be.
One more look at Moses' actions, and its consequences, in Numbers 20. Let's think about what Moses might have been thinking. To understand Moses thinking, we need to go back to these verses in Number 14: "1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."" [Num 14:1-4 ESV] In these verses, the people decide they prefer a return to Egypt over trusting God to help them conquer Canaan. The whole nation wants to go back to captivity, save four good men. So God sends them back out into the desert. Surely Moses, like the people, was in a very depressed state of mind after this. After all, Moses believed God could do it. Aaron believed He could. Joshua and Caleb believed. But no one else believed. So God turned them all away, the four good and faithful men paying the same penalty imposed on an unfaithful nation. Of course Moses and Aaron were angry with the people. They had been constantly harassed by them and blamed for everything that happened. More than once Moses tells God he is fed up with them. And now, at the very door of deliverance, the people rebel and are sentenced to 40 years of unfulfilling, purposeless, destinationless wandering, with Moses right up front, leading the way, and listening to their constant whining and bickering and blaming for another 40 years. So if we ever find ourselves feeling isolated, alone, and the only faithful God-trusting person that we know, then purposefully turn your thoughts away from your own problems, and get yourself back in tune with God's plans, lest your self-pity lead you into a sin that costs you your hearts desire. Self-pity is a horribly dangerous state of mind for a faithful Christian, and if it could happen to Moses, it could certainly happen to us!
Three FB posts here.
They ask the king of Edom for passage through his country. Just to walk through - not to eat his food, or drink his water, or trample his fields. Just to walk through in peace. He refuses and brings out his army to enforce his answer. Here is how Moses phrases his request:
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: [Num 20:14 ESV]
The reminder here is that Edom was settled by Esau, Jacob's brother. These dwelling in Edom are closely related to Israel, though that relationship goes back to before the time in Egypt. Despite this ancient kinship, Edom refuses Israel passage. This will come back to haunt Edom. This rift between Edom and Israel will really never heal. Animosity will characterize their relationship from here on.
This would be a good study also. Not only the overt actions that either Israel or Edom take to undermine or harm the other, but also the many prophecies of Edom that we find in the major prophets.
At Mount Hor, God says it is time for Aaron to be gathered to his people.
26 And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there." [Num 20:26 ESV]
MSB notes points out that Numbers 19:22 - 22:1 cover a period of 37 years. They mark the transition from the old generation, represented by Aaron and Miriam, that refused to enter Canaan to the new generation represented by Eleazar, that would go in under Joshua.
Aaron, Moses, and Eleazar go up the mountain, Moses puts Aaron's priestly garments on Eleazar, and Aaron dies. Hard to imagine the goodbye scene with Aaron and his wife (or maybe wives), his children and grands and so on. And then Aaron was able to walk up that mountain - Mt. Hor. Aaron was apparently still in pretty good health if he was able to do that. This wasn't about his age, it was just time for him to go home, so that God's plan could proceed with the next generation.