Water From the Rock
20 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.
Through the years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel came back to Kadesh, the place where they rejected God’s offer (Numbers 13:26). Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh. Her death was an important point in the journey from Egypt to Canaan. She was the first of Moses’ siblings to die in the wilderness, and her death was an important demonstration of the fulfillment of what God promised: That the generation which refused to enter Canaan would die in the wilderness, and the new generation would enter instead (Numbers 14:29-34). Miriam died a complex character. She was great for her courage in assisting Moses and his parents (Exodus 2:4-8), and great for her leading Israel in praise (Exodus 15:20-21). But she was also disgraced for her rebellion against Moses (Numbers 12). One incident of rebellion left a black mark on her whole life. Miriam’s death shows us there were no special exceptions for the family of Moses. God said only Joshua and Caleb would survive from that generation (Numbers 14:30), and that included, Miriam, Aaron, even Moses himself. This chapter will show the frailty of each of them in the account of the Exodus.
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.
The need was real, but the response of Israel was filled with unbelief and bad attitude yet again. Their contention led them to outrageous statements, words lacking any trust in God. The older generation of unbelief was almost dead, and now the younger generation started to act like the unbelieving generation. They openly doubted God’s promise that He would lead them into the land of promise.Their contentions lead them to outrageous accusations. The new generation accuses Moses just as the generation of unbelief did. Their contentions lead them to a limited vision. Of course, the wilderness was not a fruitful land. But they would never make it to the land of rich fruit until they came through the wilderness trusting God. Realizing how serious this was, Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the Lord. They knew ith this contentious attitude, the new generation would be just as unbelieving, as untrusting in God as the old generation was, and they too would perish in the wilderness. 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.”
Specifically, God told Moses to take the rod, but not to use it. Water would be provided if Moses would speak to the rock before their eyes. Back at Mount Sinai, God told Moses to strike the rock and water came forth (Exodus 17:6). But now he was merely to speak to the rock, yet with the rod in his hand. This rod was a symbol of his authority from God.
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.
Moses began by doing exactly what the LORD had told him to do: Take the rod and gather the people of Israel. Moses, after doing what God had told him to do, then did something God had not told him to do: He addressed the people, calling them rebels. Worse, he lectured the nation with an attitude of heart he had not shown before – one of anger and contempt for the people of God, with a bitter heart. There are many explanations for Moses’ frustration here (Psalm 106:32-33 describes how the people provoked Moses here), but not a single excuse. Worse yet, Moses not only took the rebellion of the people against the LORD too personally, he also over-magnified his own partnership with God: Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Moses spoke as if he and God would do the job, as if they divided the work fifty-fifty; as if God couldn’t bring water unless he was around to speak to the rock. His lapse into contempt for the people led him into a lapse of subtle pride. Moses then disobeyed God directly, striking the rock twice instead of speaking to it. When he struck the rock at the beginning of the Exodus journey, he only had to strike it once, but now, out of anger and frustration, he did it twice. Despite Moses’ lapse into sinful attitude and action, God still provided abundantly for the people. God would deal with Moses, but the people needed water – and so it was provided. Moses might have come away thinking he did right, because what he did seemed to work. But what works is not the best measure of what is right before God.
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,[a] where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.
Moses’ sinful attitude and action was rooted in unbelief. He didn’t really believe God when the LORD told him to speak to the rock and not to strike it. What Moses did was unholy, he did not reflect the heart and character of God before the people. God’s correction of Moses was hard; he would not lead Israel into the Promised Land. That which he dreamed of and felt called to even in Egypt – to deliver God’s people – would not be completed. Another person would finish the job. Moses, great a leader as he was, was still a man subject to God and God’s law. Because of his faithful heart this was painful to Moses. This may seem an excessively harsh punishment for Moses. It seems that with only one slip-up, he now had to die short of the Promised Land. But Moses was being judged by a stricter standard because of his leadership position with the nation, and because he had a uniquely close relationship with God. At the end of it all, God was seen as holy among the children of Israel. Moses did not honor God as holy in this incident, but God honoredHimself as holy through the correction of Moses. God will get His glory, God will be honored as holy – but will it come through obedience or correction?
Edom Denies Israel Passage
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come on us. 15 Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
Israel was now at Kadesh, and they wanted to go through the land of Edom – taking them closer to the Promised Land than they had ever been before, beyond where they failed to go in because of unbelief. This was the fifth stage of the Exodus.
– First, from Egypt to Mount Sinai (Exodus 12:31 to 18:27).
– Second, the sojourn at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1 to Numbers 10:10).
– Third, the first approach to the Promised Land, beginning at Mount Sinai, but being aborted at Kadesh with the refusal to enter the Promised Land in faith (Numbers 10:11 to 14:45).
– Fourth, the 38 years of wandering in the wilderness until the generation of unbelief had died (Numbers 15:1 to Numbers 20:13).
– Now, fifth, the second and final approach to the Promised Land (Numbers 20:14 to Joshua 2:24).
Thus says your brother Israel: The nation of Israel was brother to the nation of Edom, because the patriarch Israel (also known as Jacob) was brother to Esau (also known as Edom), as related in Genesis 25:19-34. All Moses asked for on behalf of Israel was the permission to pass through. They expected no provision from the Edomites because they trusted God to provide all their needs.
18 But Edom answered: “You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.” 19 The Israelites replied: “We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”20 Again they answered:“You may not pass through.”Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.
This was an unnecessary refusal. It would have cost Edom nothing and been a genuine gesture of goodwill. But the Edomites, maybe out of suspicion or fear, refused. This refusal made the journey of the children of Israel much more discouraging and dangerous (Numbers 21:4-5), but there seems to be no record of God punishing Edom for this sin. In fact, Israel was still commanded to treat the Edomite as a brother (Deuteronomy 23:7). God here showed Israel how to leave the judgment of those who hurt you up to the LORD, and how to love those who have acted as enemies against you – even if they were brothers.
The Death of Aaron
22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. 26 Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.”
27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, all the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.
Here is a definite marker, indicating the end of the 38 years Israel had been “sentenced” to in the wilderness. Numbers 33:38 tells us Aaron died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.There is very little record of what happened during these years; they are compressed into only five and one-half chapters, while the single year at Mount Sinai is given almost 50 chapters. This demonstrates that these years accomplished nothing, except the death of the generation of unbelief. These were just years of surviving in the desert, wasted years, waiting for the “old man” to die. During those 38 years, there was much movement – but no progress.
The passing of Aaron is a huge landmark in the history of Israel; he was the first high priest of the nation – and yet, not exempt from the decree that his generation would perish in the wilderness. Aaron died as a great, but complex figure, even more so than Miriam. He was used of God mightily, as Moses’ partner (Exodus 4:27-31), to initiate the priesthood (Leviticus 8), and to plead with Moses for the people (Numbers 16-17). At the same time, he was instrumental in the debacle of the golden calf (Exodus 32) and in challenging Moses’ authority with his sister Miriam (Numbers 12). Aaron’s life shows us, among other things, that the office is more important than the man himself. Aaron the man was not always worthy of respect, but Aaron the high priest always was worthy of honor. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son: God gave special instruction to Moses and Aaron about Aaron’s death, so a smooth and graceful transition could be made in passing down the position of high priest to Aaron’s oldest living son, Eleazar. Imagine being told by God of your impending death!
The man dies, but the priesthood – and the access and relationship with God it describes – carries on. No one’s relationship with God in Israel was to depend on Aaron, but on the high priest – whomever he was. God has ensured there will always be a high priest for us to come to in Jesus (Hebrews 4:14-16), and we need not depend on any man for our relationship with God.
Footnotes:
- Numbers 20:13 Meribah means quarreling.
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