Exodus 17:5 The LORD said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. Exodus 17:6 I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel. [NET]
Numbers 20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” [NET]
Numbers The Lord’s Judgment 20:12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” [NET]
Moses before God
I have been reading the life of Moses in the Old Testament. I got hooked on his story and walk with the Lord. How it all came about, and how he responded at each point along the way.
At first, when he was finally called to the real purpose of his life, he said, “I cannot do this. They will not listen to me. Find someone else.” But the Lord gave him Aaron, miracles, and his Name, the great I Am. So, Moses’s first lesson is it is not you who will do this; it is God who will do this.
No one was going to listen to Moses. But they would listen to God, who used Moses to lead the people to the promise. Every time Moses came against opposition, he turned to God. He fell to the ground before him, looking to God for deliverance. Every time he ran into a problem or crisis, he threw the situation before the Lord. He learned the faithfulness of the Lord, and he saw His deliverance.
Moses had a great reverence and fear of the Lord. He went to his holy mountain and trembled at his holiness and the presence of his power. He felt he would die in the presence of this Holy God.
But Moses soon learns of the graciousness of the Lord. He learned that even in the Fearful Glory that he encountered, the Lord loved him and meant only good for him. Moses learned grace, the grace that was to come.
He became bold in this, and He finally said, “Hey Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you face to face. I want to know you!”
Exodus 33:18 And Moses said, “Show me your glory.” 33:19 And the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the LORD by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious; I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” [NET]
I love this response from the Lord. Yes, he will show Moses his glory. He says I will show you my goodness. His Glory is His goodness.
Moses saw and was in this Glory every day in the tent of meeting. This is the place where God came in his glory and spoke to Moses face to face. Moses experienced the goodness of God daily.
Moses trusted the Lord and was humble before him, relying on him for everything. He followed the Lord’s instructions. He called on the grace of God as a mediator to save the people from curses they brought on themselves.
But there will be an incident where Moses failed to follow the Lord’s instruction. He failed to trust Him, and it cost him dearly. We will see this later.
Contrast of the people
I confess I studied Moses to see how he was before God and how to be like him before the Lord. How to be always trusting, believing, and faithful. How to lay everything down before the Lord and to always remember his mighty works and miracles in my life.
But the more I read of his life and the trials in the wilderness, the more I realized I was like the people he led.
They had seen the signs and wonders that the Lord performed to free them from Egypt. The plagues. The transfer of wealth. The divine healing of all the people. The parting of the Red Sea. The destruction of Pharaoh.
They saw the miracles that sustained them in the wilderness. Bitter water turned to sweet. Daily manna. A river of water from a rock. Quail for meat. Shoes that never wore out. Feet that never swelled. Victory in battles. Another great river from a rock.
All this while the Glory of the Lord led them and rested with them. Yet, every time, a problem arose. When they were uncomfortable. When other people threatened them. They complained and even revolted. They immediately ceased to believe that the Lord would deliver them.
They mummer against Moses and God. They long for the slavery in which they had been comfortable. They fell into fear and did not think the Lord cared about them. They acted as spoiled children instead of mature adults. Who would stand up in faith and trust the God who had delivered them.
I See Me in Them
A funny thing happened to me along the way on this journey. I started recognizing myself in them. My focus shifted from Moses’s response to their response to everything.
I saw myself in them. I quit judging them. You know, I thought, “How dare they be this way after all God had done for them. I mean, look, there is the Glory of the Lord resting with them on the tabernacle. You can look right over there and see Him! He leads by His cloud of glory; look, you can see him! He does miracles right before your eyes. Look, you saw them! He destroyed those who were trying to kill you right before your eyes! He miraculously feeds you. Look, you are eating it! How can you be this way? I would not have been this way!”
I would not have been this way.
Really?
There is a simple statement in the New Testament by Jesus, “Blessed are those who have not seen yet still believe.” It is not the seeing; it is the believing.
I am no better than these people. I have seen plenty of times in my life where the Lord stepped in and delivered me. Where He has blessed me and met my needs. Every time I have come to Him humbly and trusted Him, he has come through.
Yet, let a new problem or disappointment come, and I will find myself thinking, “What am I going to do?” Or thinking, “Why this? Why do I have to go through this or put up with this?” Yes complaining. Even though I know the Lord and I know He is faithful. I will sometimes ask myself, “Will he come through? Is this His will for me? When will He do this? Why is this taking so long? Do I even hear Him?”
I saw myself clearly in these people. I saw my times of lack of belief and trust in the Lord. When things got hard, I wasn’t always believing or trusting either. I, at times, had my own tantrums and pity parties. You know the, “Why even bother any more murmurings.” The, “I will just settle here in my comfortable slave status.”
I started to learn about Moses, and I ended up learning about myself.
The amazing thing is to be delivered from all this. All we need to do is simply Speak to the Rock.
Striking the Rock
Moses was faithful over all the Lord’s house. He believed in the Lord, and he mediated for the people. He faithfully led and was vindicated all along the way.
But he was human. He, too, grew weary and discouraged at times. Yes, he cried out to the Lord about the “weight” of the people, and would he have to endure this all his life? The Lord did give him an answer by giving him a plan to share that burden. God always gave him an answer and a solution.
To get to where all this is going, let’s look at the two incidents of “water from the rock.”
There were at least 600,000 people in the wilderness (at least this was one count given in scripture.) They were in the desert in the middle of nowhere without any water. They had cattle, flocks, and donkeys. Picture this: at least 600,000 people and all their livestock are without water in a barren land. No simple oasis or well will meet this need.
As usual, Moses fell face down before the Lord, and the Lord gave him a solution. “Take your rod and go and strike the rock that I show you.” This is the first of the two incidents. This time, he took only the elders of the assembly with him to witness this miracle.
Moses did what the Lord commanded, and when He struck the rock with his rod, a river poured forth out of the rock. A river. This was a shadow of what was to come. It was a river of water because only a river could meet the needs of the people.
On to the second incident. This time, Moses and it seems Aaron had enough of the people’s attitude. Their unbelief and their constant irritating nagging. Moses and Aaron were weary and older. They were angry at the people, and it seemed there was always something with these people. Been there? I have.
Again, the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to go and bring water, a river forth from a rock. But this time, he told them to Speak to the Rock. He said, “Take your rod and speak to the rock, and water will come from it.”
He also told them that this time do this in view of all the people, not only the elders. So that all the people would see this deliverance and God would get the glory. That the people would know that only God could do this, “show God as holy.”
I can see Moses and Aaron frustrated and angry with the people. Look what is said about them:
Numbers 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 20:11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too. [NET]
Yeah, I understand, Moses. You had had enough of them. Yet, in your anger, you struck the rock, and you did it twice. That is what frustration and anger get you. You missed the true purpose of this act, and you did not trust the Lord to show it was by Him and Him alone.
I have missed the true purpose of God at times, too, because of my frustration, anger, and lack of trust or belief.
This river from the rock was to be a memorial to all the people. Speak to the thing, and it will be done for you. Speak to the rock, the stone the builders rejected. The stone God chose as his cornerstone. His foundation. Speak to Him, and by Him, and rivers of living water will come from you.
These actions and words were to be a decree and to establish in the earth what Jesus would be at his coming. They were shadows of what was to come.
The first incident was the striking of the rock. The picture of Jesus being stuck for us. “The Sheppard will be struck, and the sheep scattered.” This was the decree that He would be the sacrifice for us by the law that God had established through Moses.
Jesus was crucified in the presence of the elders of Israel under the law and approved by the high priest. This is why the first incident was in the presence of only the elders.
The second incident was to be a picture of Jesus to us after His resurrection. We are to speak to Him and to believe on this rock. He will pour out rivers of living water in us and out of us.
This second incident was in the presence of all the people, the entire assembly of Israel. This river is for all of us, and all we must do is speak to the rock. He will hear us and give us his goodness, His glory.
God is Gracious
Numbers 20:12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” [NET]
Many think that Moses did not enter the promised land but only saw it from afar. Actually, the Lord said, “You will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” He told Moses that he would not be the one to take the people into the promised land.
But God is gracious, and Moses got something even better. Later, we see Moses with Elijah on the mountain with Jesus in the promised land. This was on the mountain of transfiguration found in the New Testament.
Moses not only entered the promised land. He was there to see the fulfillment of all the Lord our God used him to establish. He spoke to Jesus face to face. He witnessed the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in the promised land with the promised one. I don’t think it gets much better than that.
Now to Us as Believers
So, what does this mean to us as believers? What does this mean to me and my life?
Hebrews 10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. [NET]
The striking of the rock has been done. God sacrificed himself for us.
The resurrection of the rock has been done. God raised himself and took back all authority.
God has reconciled us to Himself through Himself. As he said to Abraham when he established that covenant, “Since there’s no one higher than me, I swear by myself.” As in that covenant, he established this new covenant by and through himself.
So today, the sacrifice and resurrection are complete. As foretold by the Old Testament. Today, we are to speak to the rock and to believe. That is all that is required for the river of life to come forth. There is no striking or forcing. There is only speaking and believing.
Often, we think we must do something to make God bring forth that river. But Jesus said, “Ask whatever you will in my name and believe you receive it, and it will be done for you.” Interestingly, He said it would be done for you. We believe, we speak, and He does.
What do we speak? We speak His word and ask in his will. What is will? His word. What is his will in the word? His will is what is good and what is a blessing. His will is grace and redemption. His will is pouring out in love and giving. His will is asking in love and speaking in love.
We are to speak blessing and life into our lives and the lives of all others. Yes, even those who curse you. Speak in the way He speaks.
To keep this simple, speak to Jesus. Open your heart to him. Speak blessing in all things and on all others. Speak his will into your life and the lives of all others. Believe that he loves you and has nothing but good for you and for others.
Speak to Him, who is the rock, and speak as He speaks. Rivers of living waters will flow out of you into your life and the lives of others.