Water from the Rock (Num 20)

Numbers 20:1-29
Key verse 20:8

The tone of chapters 1-10 in the book of Numbers is promising. Then from chapter 11 the tone becomes dark as the Israelites rebel against God. God punishes the Israelites harshly and all the men who are twenty years old or more will fall in the wilderness and cannot enter the Promised Land. Nevertheless, the Israelites do not repent. Their arrogance peaks when Korah and the other leaders band together against Aaron and Moses. As a result, 14,700 die on that day. But from today’s passage the tone begins to change again. God shows them grace and hope for his people by satisfying their thirst with water from the rock. Today we will study what the water from the rock means to us. I pray that God may also satisfy your thirst with the 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.

Many scholars think that the first month here refers to the first month of the fortieth year based on Aaron’s death in today’s passage, which took place on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year (Num 33:38-39). So verse 1 indicates that after 38 years the Israelites came back to Kadesh the same place where they provoked God to anger by their rebellion (Chs. 13-14). According to Deut 2:14-15, around this time most of the fighters, who were counted in Ch 1, already fell in the wilderness. So most of the people who came back were the second generation Israelites. God was ending their suffering in the wilderness and starting a new era with the new generation. He would lead them to the land he promised soon. 

While they stayed at Kadesh, Miriam died and was buried there. She was Moses’ sister who helped save Moses from Nile River. (Ex 2:4-8) She was also a prophet (Ex 15:20-21). She once rebelled against Moses. (Ch 12) Now she died like the other first generation Israelites.

 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!”

Now the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron because there was no water for the community. Interestingly, this incident was very similar to the incident in Ex 17:1-7. After the Israelites got out of Egypt and then found no water in the desert, they quarreled with Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink…Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Even though they were punished severely for 38 years in the wilderness, they still complained. They didn’t still trust in God.

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. 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.”

Moses and Aaron were troubled again. They didn’t know how to solve the water problem and how to deal with such disgruntled people. Then God gave Moses instructions on how to resolve the matter. Moses was to take the staff and gather the assembly together and speak to the rock before their eyes. Then the water would pour out its water. This was surprising because previously he punished them when they complained. But now God was gracious and wanted to let them drink. But the way to drink was intriguing. In fact, it is impossible to bring water out of a rock. Speaking to the rock to get water is unreasonable and even foolish. And Moses needed lots of water for them to drink and their livestock. But God said that Moses should just speak to the rock and then he would bring water out of the rock for all of them. So it was impossible to speak to the rock without faith in God. Moses who would speak to the rock should have faith in God. And the Israelites who watched this should also come to have faith in God by seeing this. Through all this, God would satisfy their thirst and also wanted them to have trust in him.

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.

As God commanded, Moses took the staff and gathered the assembly together in front of the rock. But Moses seemed to be irritated and even angry. He condemned them as rebels and complained about them. Then he struck the rock twice. Amazingly, water came out and the community and their livestock drank the water. It was not just several buckets of water. It was flowing water that could satisfy all the whole community and their livestock. Psalm 105:41 describes the water like this: “He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.” God provided abundant water to satisfy their thirst. Most of all, through this God showed that he is the source of life. He would sustain their lives and satisfy them as long as they put their trust in him. But God was not happy with what Moses did.

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.”

God pointed out that Moses and Aaron failed to honor God because they did not trust in God. In what sense did Moses fail to trust in God enough to honor him as holy? If you compare what God said and what Moses did, you will see that Moses did not follow exactly as God said. He did not speak to the rock. Instead, he spoke to the people to blame them for their complaints. Instead of speaking to the rock he struck the rock twice. He looked angry and his action was violent. Most of all, he spoke and acted as if he were able to give them water. This betrayed his distrust in God.

When God told Moses to just speak to the rock, it meant that Moses should believe God’s power and his will and desire to drink them. But Moses did not conformed to God’s will and desire. Instead, he was angry at them. And he tried to get water in his own way. He even thought that he was able to bring water as he had done before. That was distrust in God. God wanted to reveal his holiness in the sight of the whole Israelites community so that they too might believe that God is the source of life and he cared for them. God is pleased to show grace to us but grace is of no value without faith. Grace cannot be grace anymore if we do not believe. Grace and faith always go in tandem. In other words, we cannot take and enjoy God’s blessing without faith. That was why he solved the water problem in such a way.

But Moses’ action of distrust kept the Israelites from fully believing in God and thus he eclipsed God’s glory. Anyway, God still provided them with water, but Moses and Aaron were accountable for their failure to uphold God as holy. The consequences were that they would not enter the Promised Land. Soon after, Aaron died and Moses also died later before the Israelites entered the land.

13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

The place was called Meribah, which means quarrelling. Interestingly, Rephidm was also called Meribah (in Ex 17:7) when the Israelites quarreled with Moses about water just after the exodus. Even more interestingly, regardless of Moses’ failure God was proved holy at Meribah. In what sense did God prove himself holy?

The Israelites continually complained and grumbled, which provoked God to anger. When they complained about hardship in the wilderness, he burned some of them with fire. When they complained about food, he struck them with a severe plague while they were eating quail. When they complained about the land and distrusted in him, he struck down the ten leaders and cursed the first generation that they would die in the wilderness and would not enter the land. But this time God was not angry. Rather, he showed grace to them. Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth (12:3). But even such a man went off because of their repeated complaints. But God is slow to anger and abounding in love. He is not like man. He is holy God.

God was also proved to be holy in that he is the life-supplying water. We humans basically have a thirst problem. Our souls are never satisfied with whatever we do and whatever we have. A high-paying job, a good house, diploma, watching sports, playing video games, watching Korean dramas, or a girl or boy friend cannot quench our thirst deep in our mind. Our souls are not content with such things. It is because we humans can be satisfied only with God, but we forsake him, the life-supplying water. Jeremiah 2:13 says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Are you thirsty? Are you still unsatisfied? God wants to quench your thirst and satisfy your souls. He is the Creator God. Only he can give you life and contentment. Come to him and trust in him and he will satisfy your souls.

Verses 14-21 show why the Israelites had to go around the land of Edom to get to the land of Moab.

“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.”

Edom was a nation of the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. So Moses addressed the Israelites “brother Israel” to Edom. Based on their historical relationship and what God did for Israel, Moses asked Edom to allow them to pass through their territory, which was a shortcut to the land of Moab from where the Israelites were planning to enter the land of Canaan. Israel was eager to go to the land as quickly as possible. But Edom rejected the request and even threatened the Israelites. The Israelites asked for favor again but Edom rather came out against the Israelites. So the Israelites had to detour.

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.”

The Israelites moved from Kadesh to Mount Hor. Their God said that Aaron would die because he and Moses disobeyed God’s command at the waters of Meribah. As mentioned earlier, it was when Aaron was one hundred twenty three years old. It was the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year since the exodus. Aaron was Moses’ old brother and had assisted Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He had also served as the high priest almost 40 years. Now it was time for him to put aside everything and hand his priesthood down to his son. As God said, Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar in the sight of the whole community. And Aaron died on top of Mount Horeb. All the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.

As such, we can serve God only in our generation. But God is eternal. I personally thank God for saving me from my sin and calling me to the campus ministry. I was a freshman when he called me. Now I am in the middle of 50’s. I pray that I can do my best to serve God until that time and raise the next generation who can continue his work.

Today’s passage begins with Miriam’s death and ends with Aaron’s death. In between is the epic that God provided water for the Israelites. That explains why Moses and Aaron could not enter the land. And more importantly the epic taught the Israelites that God is the life-supplying water. They must believe and trust in God to enter and enjoy the Promised Land in the future.

Lastly, let’s think about what the water from the rock eventually refers to. Paul said in 1 Cor 10:3-4, “They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”

And in John 7:37-38, Jesus declared, “37 … Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

As such, the water from the rock God provided for the Israelites looked forward to the coming of the Messiah who would completely satisfy people. So the water from the rock eventually refers to life that Jesus gives. We cannot satisfy ourselves. We cannot quench our thirst. Only Jesus can save us and gives us true satisfaction. We won’t be thirsty anymore if we drink the water Jesus offers. Jesus said in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

What water do you drink now? Are you content? Here God is offering you Jesus, the living water. It is God’s grace. But as I said earlier, the grace is given to those who have faith in him. God wants you have trust in him. In fact, it is impossible that water comes from the rock. Likewise, some people may wonder how Rock Jesus can give us life. But God works in such a way that we should have faith and trust in him. Whoever believes in Jesus will receive the living water and won’t be thirsty anymore. Amen!

By David Yun