Numbers 20:1-12

That thing that Moses did is a very powerful lesson. It occurred in Numbers 20:1-12. The Israelites were grumbling again, but this time, though, Moses' temper got away from him. It is very likely he had that temper all the while, but he kept it subdued through his contact with God. We are not given any other occasion that his temper really flared up anything like that.

But therein is the lesson, that even somebody as great as Moses was, as righteous and as close to God as he was, that human nature in him was still alive and well, and just like that it came bursting out, and instead of following Christ's command to speak to the rock, he struck it with his staff—not once, but twice! He was really hot.

And then in a sense took the credit for supplying them with the water. "Must we give you water again?" How quickly his temper erupted and broke an almost perfect record. But it was so serious. Remember what we read in Luke 12:49: "To whom much is given, much is required." One time was enough for God, and He said, "Moses, you are not going into the Promised Land." It was that quick.

There is a warning there. We have to mind our "Ps and Qs." God is ever willing to forgive, and as we are going to see in just a moment, He really did forgive Moses for what he did, but He still kept some of the punishment on by not allowing Moses to go into the land. He could have put him to death for that act, but He did not. It was actually a merciful act that He did under that circumstance, because hitting that rock was the same as if Moses had hit Christ with his staff, because that rock represented Christ, and He was the One who was supplying all of their needs.

It was a rather presumptuous act, and it is interesting to follow the story of it through the Bible, because at the beginning of the story all the blame was on Moses. But as things begin to unfold, we begin to see that part of the blame fell on the Israelites too. If they had not done what they did by rebelling when God told them to go into the land at the end of the second year that they were in the wilderness, if they had not sinned in that rebelling, that episode where Moses struck the rock would never had occurred. Interesting. At any rate, some of that was relief from him.

Numbers 20:1-12

Here Moses lets his temper get the best of him and instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes the rock (and we know that from I Corinthians 10 that Rock was Christ). And he took credit for bringing the water out (he says ‘we’ there). So Moses makes a great error—a sin—and it was before all the people. He sinned openly there, did not hallow God, did not obey the instructions, and thus was denied entrance into the land.

The one God had anointed, the one God had ordained, sinned, and it was very clear it was a sin. This is what happens. Human beings, even ones that God chooses, make mistakes. Now this is different from the one that took place in Numbers 12 where they accuse Moses of something that was doubtful and probably where there was no sin involved. But, here, this is a time when Moses actually did sin. So you have to remember that ministers and others who are placed in authority do make errors and sins in their own lives.

Numbers 20:1-12

In Numbers 20:1-12, which I will not read, the Israelites were in Kadesh and were once again without water. They were about ready to kill Moses again. God told him to speak to the rock, and He would perform that same miracle in Kadesh that He performed here at Massah, and Meribah.

But, Moses said, "Why do I have to do this for you, etc?" And so, he strikes the rock twice (instead of speaking to it) and God does respond; He performs the miracle, but Moses is punished for disobeying God because he did not go by God's instructions. He is told that he cannot go into the land for doing this because he has misrepresented God in this act before the people.