In Numbers chapter 20, Moses is instructed to provide water for his people speak to a rock from which water would come. In his anger with the people however, Moses struck the rock instead. Water still came forth, but he had to give an account to the Lord for his sin.
Num 20:2 And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.
Num 20:3 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!
Num 20:4 "Why then have you brought the LORD'S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here?
Num 20:5 "And why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink."
Num 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them;
Num 20:7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 20:8 "Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink."
Num 20:9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him;
Num 20:10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?"
Num 20:11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.
Num 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
When Moses struck that rock, he brought about some difficult consequences on himself. In this example, we also learn some imp lessons that we need to be careful to apply today.
Thinking as a human being, w/ my own sense of impatience and pride and frustration, Moses’ behavior is quite understandable. There are a lot of human and certainly worldly reasons that would justify Moses’ actions, but what does the Lord say? The Lord says two things that reveal what such behavior is before Him.
-You have not believed me
-You did not treat me as holy
We have our own ideas and definitions of unbelief, but God has some definitions of unbelief, and of unholy treatment of his name, that go beyond simple atheism or blatant carnality. God’s definitions of unbelief and of profaning what is holy, includes some of the things that his own people manifest and do in their lives. Let’s think about what Moses was really doing when he struck the rock. Let’s think about just what he did to disbelieve God, and profane his name. And there are two things in particular to think about in this:
-The authority of God
-The holiness of God
Let’s be reminded of the principle of authority when God gives instructions, and let’s be reminded of the holiness of God when we consider whether or not to obey them.
Moses violated the authority of God when he struck the rock and in doing so, he showed disbelief.
We may not want to think of the violation of authority as an act of disbelief, but that’s exactly what it is. To violate God’s authority shows that we disbelieve something. Either we don’t believe that God’s will is supreme, or we don’t believe that we are not as wise as He is. Maybe we just don’t believe it matters. Or maybe we just don’t comprehend what it is that he is holy. Whatever the specific reason, the Lord calls Moses’ violation of His authority an act of disbelief
Here is the instruction to Moses:
Num 20:8 "Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink."
You take the rod, gather the congregation, and speak to the rock, and when God gives instruction, there are no other ways of doing it. If you try to do it another way, that is a violation of His authority and that, the Lord says, is an act, of unbelief.
God gives instruction, and when he does, we don’t substitute, we don’t add, and we don’t subtract. When the Lord says you take the rod, you don’t substitute a spear for a rod, and you don’t take a rod and add a spear, and you don’t take away the rod and just use your hand. You take the rod, no more, no less.
The Lord also said to Moses to speak to the rock, and when the Lord says to speak to a rock, you speak to a rock, you don’t substitute the rock, and speak to a turtle, and you don’t change the verb of the commandment either. You don’t sing to the rock, you don’t dance on the rock, you don’t polish the rock, no, you speak to the rock. When God gives instruction on how to do something, and he says do this, and do it this way, that eliminates everything else, and it eliminates striking the rock.
-Derek Chambers
Albuquerque, New Mexico
