Not much is said of the Israelites as they are going round and round in the wilderness. But there are several stories and encounters that the Bible details before they come to the end of the forty years and to the border of Canaan again that are important to study and understand. Today is another such study.

Numbers 20:1
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

• Numbers 20 begins with the death of Miriam. She is the oldest of the three siblings. Not much is said of her in regards to her death. But surely it was not something small.
• She was the one that led the children of Israel in singing and praise to God after the Egyptians were destroyed in the Red Sea.
• She was a prophetess, which meant that God would communicate with her and also through her to the people as well. To what extent? We don’t know. But at least that was the role of the prophet.
• She is mentioned with her brothers as being instrumental in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt.
  • Micah 6:4
    For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
• And so she would pass away before being allowed to enter into Canaan.

Let’s continue in Numbers 20.

• Numbers 20:2-5
  2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
• Trouble arises in the camp again. And once again it is about food and drink.
• What do they accuse Moses and Aaron of?
  • That they had brought them out of Egypt to kill them in the wilderness.
  • They are wishing that they had died when their brethren died in the wilderness!
• They were comparing once again to their seemingly comfortable life in Egypt. There they had seed, and figs, and vines and pomegranates. All the nice and exotic fruits.
• It’s not that they were starving. The manna was still falling every day to feed them and sustain them. It would not cease until they entered into Canaan.
• So they were complaining because they didn’t have something more tasteful and sweet to eat. Remember the manna had the taste of honey to it. It was sweet already. But I guess they had a sweet tooth that was not easy to satisfy.

However, there was a seemingly valid complaint. The water had stopped running.

• You see, everywhere they went in the wilderness, water had been provided for them. It wasn’t just one instance when Moses struck the rock. But wherever they had travelled God had given them water from a rock.
• Isaiah 48:21
  And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
• Psalms 105:41
  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
• Water had been provided for them throughout all their journeyings, even during the forty years of wilderness wanderings.

So when the water ceased, they had begun to complain. But was there grounds for their complaining? Of course we know the answer already – No. But why did the water stop?

• Deuteronomy 2:3-6
  3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: 5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. 6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.
• The water had stopped because they were going to pass through Seir which belonged to the children of Esau and they were to buy food and water from them and God had promised that they would be protected and safe as they would be afraid of them. God had given the instruction to them but yet they still chose to complain about the lack of water.
• They should have seen it as a sign from God that they were soon to enter the promised land. All this time the water had been coming out from a rock and now with it ceasing and buying from the children of Esau, it should have shown them that a change was about to take place in the order of what God was doing and their wilderness wandering was coming to an end. What was meant to evidence that God’s promise was about to come true became to them a moment to doubt.
• They desired the blessing of the wilderness when they should have looked forward to Canaan.
• So once again, their complaining was baseless. There was no foundation to it. And wishing death upon themselves again.

Upon hearing this complaint, what does Moses and Aaron do?

• Numbers 20:6-8
  6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. 7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
• They come before God again instead of retaliating. Just as the congregation of Israel always complained first, Moses and Aaron had learnt to always bring the problem to God.
• God then instructs them to take the rod, gather everyone and speak to the rock and the water would come forth out of the rock.

Numbers 20:9-11
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

• So after hearing the instruction from God, Moses gathers everyone around. However instead of speaking to the rock as God had told him, Moses struck the rock and the water came out.

Upon seeing that, how does God react?

• Numbers 20:12-13
  12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
• Because Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, he had disobeyed God, and as a consequence God said that he would not be allowed to enter into Canaan. He would in the wilderness like all those that had rebelled against God when they listened to the 10 spies instead of the 2 that had brought the good report.

It seemed like such a small thing though. Striking the rock instead of speaking to it. Why would God give such a harsh judgment on Moses because of that?

Well, let’s start by looking at the object lesson that God was trying to give regarding speaking to the rock. Firstly, what did the rock represent?

• 1 Corinthians 10:4
  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
• Deuteronomy 32:15
  But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
• Psalms 62:7
  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
• The rock represented Christ without a doubt.

How about the water?

• John 4:14
  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
• Zechariah 13:1
  In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
• The water is Jesus as well.
• Everything about the rock and the water pointed to Christ.

So the smiting of the rock the first time when they first came out of Egypt was only necessary to be performed once. This represented the sacrifice and crucifixion of Christ.

• This second time it was not necessary for the rock to be smitten anymore. Christ did not die a second time. All we need to do now is ask for the blessings in the name of Jesus and it will be given. All we need to do is speak to the rock and the water will come out.
• So when Moses struck the rock with his rod, it destroyed the significance of the beautiful figure of Christ found in the rock and in the water.

Moreover, look at the way that Moses spoke to the children of Israel. There was a problem in the way that he spoke to them.

• Numbers 20:10
  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

First, he called them “rebels.”

• This accusation was true, but how he had said it was spoken in passion and impatience. The children of Israel had gotten the better of him. It was evident because of what he ultimately did in striking the rock. It was a rash act of our unrestrained passion and temper.
• And because of this, it opened the door for the children of Israel to question whether everything else in the past had been under direction of God or not, and even possibly excuse their own sin.
• From the breaking of the stones on which the 10 commandments were first written when they worshipped the golden calf, to the rebellion of Korah and his associates. All this was put in speculative light as to whether God was really behind it or whether Moses was just acting out of passion.
• Because of his position as the representative of God to the children of Israel, his sin, though small, was much more magnified. And so God came down with quick justice. His influence was greater and would have affected the camp to a much greater degree.

Secondly, Moses also said “must we fetch you water?”

• What does asking this question show in the mind of Moses?
• Moses in asking this question manifested distrust in God that He would do what He had promised.
  • The situation with water was repeating itself again and reminding him of the past of what had happened so many times before. It was the hardness of the hearts of the children of Israel and their slowness to learn the lessons that God was trying to teach them and that kept them out of Canaan the first time.
• But also, when Moses asked this question about them fetching water, he was pointing to himself and Aaron, as if they were the ones who were going to do it. He said “we.” They themselves took the power that belonged to God. It was not because of anything special in Moses or Aaron that water came out, but the power of God alone.
  • There was no power in the rod except God worked through it.
  • There was no virtue in and of himself that opened the Red Sea. There was no power in him that he was able to fast forty days in the mount and be with God.
• For a moment, Moses lost sight of God and looked to self as if all the sufficiency belonged to him and Aaron.

However, in the mercy of God, even though Moses did not follow the instruction of God and he struck it again, water still flowed out. Yes, he didn’t follow God’s word and yet God still allowed that water to come forth from the rock.

• God did not approve of His act, but yet He did not deny the blessings that He wished to give to the children of Israel even though they were murmuring and complaining again.
• Many times we overlook the mercy of God to us even when we walk away from Him or disobey Him. As a tender Father, He still watches over us and takes care of us and grants us many blessings that we don’t realise that we don’t even deserve.
• We ought to be more mindful and careful to be true and faithful to God, but even more to be counting every blessing that we receive from God as well.
• If we would do that, we would find no time for murmuring or complaining, ever keeping fresh the blessings of God to each of us.

Moses and Aaron, in one rash act, put himself with the rebellious, the murmurers and those that would perish in the desert. One of the greatest leaders ever of Israel would perish in the desert, not allowed to enter into Canaan.

We must take heed that it matters much to God in how we speak. Not just the words itself, but how it is spoken – the tone, the feelings. How we communicate to others matters much and we must be careful to always reflect the character of Christ. Truly, our tongues can set the world on fire. With our tongues, we can destroy a lifelong friendship in a moment.

If God held Moses and Aaron accountable for their words and one act, how much more us today who live in a day with more light shining from God’s word? We may think it is just one lie, one word of gossip. Or we may convince ourselves that what we stole was just a small thing. Or we just broke one Sabbath, just one time. But just one spot or one stain of sin can mar our whole life.

May we learn to be careful with even the little instructions from God and the little acts of life that we present to the world. Let us remember that God still cares today even about the little things.