Numbers 20:11 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.
Leading up to this verse, Moses had just been given a specific command by God. Numbers 20:7-9 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. (9) And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Moses knew what God wanted him to do and how God wanted him to do it. So far so good, right?
We then see that Moses allowed an angry spirit to affect him. 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? The preacher was mad and he was letting the people know it!
Numbers 20:11 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.
When Moses struck the rock, a LOT of water flowed from it and a lot of people were blessed by it. The problem is that he disobeyed the Lord in the process of getting those results. Notice that even in his disobedience, he appeared to have great success.
As God’s people, and especially His ministers, we cannot be willing to do things that God does not approve of in order to get something flowing and “bless” a lot of people. First, and most importantly, it is never a good idea to walk in disobedience to the Lord, no matter the immediate effects it brings. Secondly, when this is done, it tends to only attract those who, like those in the wilderness with Moses, are takers and not contributors.
“As God’s ministers, we cannot verbally strike people in anger. We must speak to people and let the Holy Spirit strike their hearts.”
In verse 10, Moses said “…must we fetch you water out of this rock?”. If we are not careful, we too can fall under the same influence of the spirit of self-will. Moses, in his anger, verbally struck the people, and physically struck the rock. Paul later tells us in 1st Corinthians 10:4 …and that Rock was Christ.
As God’s ministers, we cannot verbally strike people in anger. We must speak to people and let the Holy Spirit strike their hearts. As Paul the Apostle points out in Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love…
We often think that Moses was kept out of the Promise Land because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it like God commanded. He did do this and it was part of his disobedience, but only the visible part.
Notice afterwards, God did not focus on how many people were “blessed” by all the water coming out of the rock. God didn’t even bring up the fact that Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. God focused on the unbelief of Moses and lack of glory given to God.
Numbers 20:12 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.
Moses’s disobedience was not only in striking the rock, but it was also in not believing and sanctifying (glorifying) God in the eyes of the children of Israel. It was because of this that Moses and Aaron were kept out of the Promised Land.
Incidentally, Moses and Aaron not being allowed to bring the people of God into the Promise Land also illustrates to us how that the Law of Moses and Priesthood of Aaron cannot bring people into the Promise Land of Heaven. Neither of these systems produce true belief (saving faith) nor do they sanctify (give glory to) God. Only the Priesthood of Jesus Christ can do that!
So, we see that Moses appeared to be successful even while he was in disobedience. He verbally struck the people, he physically struck the rock, which was Christ, and he did not believe nor give glory to God. He took the glory for himself.
Let us learn from this occasion and ensure that we do not Hebrews 4:11 …fall after the same example of unbelief.
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