Key Verses: Numbers 20:10, 20:12, 20:29
The narrative jumps ahead to the fortieth year. Miriam dies at Kadesh. Again there is no water, and again the people quarrel with Moses, longing to have died with their rebellious kin. God tells Moses to take his staff and “tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” But Moses, exasperated, cries, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” and strikes the rock twice. Water gushes out, yet God rebukes Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people... you shall not bring this assembly into the land.” Edom then refuses Israel passage through its territory, and at Mount Hor Aaron dies, his garments passed to his son Eleazar.
This sober chapter shows that even the greatest leaders are not above the demand to trust and honor God. Moses’ sin — anger, self-assertion (“shall we bring water”), and striking rather than speaking — misrepresents God before the people at the very moment of His gracious provision, and it costs Moses the land he had longed for. The rock that gives water is one of Scripture’s clearest types of Christ, “the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4); struck once, it should thereafter only be spoken to, as Christ, once offered, is now approached in prayer. Amid the losses of the chapter — Miriam, then Aaron — the promise still moves forward, and Eleazar takes up the priesthood, showing that God’s purposes outlast the passing of every leader.
Key Terms & Words:
- מְרִיבָה (Meribah) - Numbers 20:13 - “Meribah,” “quarreling”; the place named for Israel’s strife with God
- הַמֹּרִים (hammorim) - Numbers 20:10 - “You rebels”; Moses’ angry address to the people
- לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי (lehaqdisheni) - Numbers 20:12 - “To uphold me as holy”; what Moses failed to do
Cross-References:
- Exodus 17:1-7 - The first time water came from the rock, which Moses was told to strike
- Psalm 106:32-33 - Moses’ rash words at the waters of Meribah
- 1 Corinthians 10:4 - “The Rock was Christ”
- Deuteronomy 32:51 - Moses barred from the land for breaking faith at Meribah
Discussion Questions:
- What exactly was Moses’ sin, and why was it treated so seriously?
- How does the rock giving water point to Christ, and what is the significance of speaking rather than striking?
- What does the passing of Miriam and Aaron, and the succession of Eleazar, teach about God’s purposes?