Water from the Rock Numbers 20:1-13 Joe P. Bryan August 11, 2021 Water was very important for the Israelites • They needed water to drink • Their livestock needed much water • The priest such as Aaron had to be cleaned with water before doing his priestly duties • When the Israelites first entered the desert fleeing from Egypt, they grumbled and almost stoned Moses. • God told him to strike the rock at Horeb and water came out • At Marah, the water was bitter and God told Moses to throw a stick into the water, and it became sweet (Ex 15:22) • Now, almost 40 years later, the people are agains thristy and demand water Miriam, Moses Sister, dies • In the first month the whole community of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. Possible Route of the Israelites Exodus from Egypt And Wanderings in the desert before staging to Enter the promised land. https://www.bibleoutlines.com/blog/numbers-211-20-celebrating-salvation The people had no water; They oppose Moses • Numbers 20:2 The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. 3 They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the LORD. 4 Why did you bring the LORD’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!” Forty Years Earlier, the People Argued with Moses about Water • Exodus 17 The whole community of Israel started out from the Desert of Sin. They traveled from place to place, just as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim. But there wasn’t any water for the people to drink. 2 So they argued with Moses. They said, “Give us water to drink.” • This occurred just after leaving Egypt and 40 years before being thirsty in the Desert of Zin Why are you arguing? Why are you testing the Lord • Exodus 17: Moses replied, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the LORD?” • 3 But the people were thirsty for water there. So they told Moses they weren’t happy with him. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Did you want us, our children and our livestock to die of thirst?” New International Reader’s Version They are ready to stone me • Exodus 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD. He said, “What am I going to do with these people? They are almost ready to kill me by throwing stones at me.” • Massah and Meribah: Arguing with Moses and Testing God • Exodus 17:5 The LORD answered Moses. “Go out in front of the people. Take some of the elders of Israel along with you. Take in your hand the walking stick you used when you struck the Nile River. Go. 6 I will stand there in front of you by the rock at Mount Horeb. Hit the rock. Then water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses hit the rock while the elders of Israel watched. 7 Moses called the place Massaha and Meribahb. That’s because the people of Israel argued with him there. They also tested the LORD. They asked, “Is the LORD among us or not?” AMassah means testing. bMeribah means quarreling https://appleeye.org/2020/02/21/standing-on-the-rock-the-son-of-god-in-exodus-17-and-numbers-20/ When are some other times the people grumbled, argued with or opposed Moses: Miriam and Aaron • Numbers 12:1-16 12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the LORD heard this. • 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) • 4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:… • 9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. • 10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. When are some other times the people grumbled, argued with or opposed Moses: The ten spies • Example: Numbers 13: 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” • 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.” • 14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” When are some other times the people grumbled, argued with or opposed Moses: Korah’s Rebellion • Numbers 16: Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent[a] 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well- known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?” • 8 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! 9 Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? 10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. 11 It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?” When are some other times the people grumbled, argued with or opposed Moses: Korah’s Rebellion • Numbers 16:35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. • 36 The LORD said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy— 38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.” • 39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40 as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers. • 41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said. • God becomes angry and kills 14,700 with a plague before Aaron and Moses plead for the lives of the rest. When are some other times the people grumbled, argued with or opposed Moses: Jannes and Jambres • 2 Tim 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. Moses and Aaron fell down before the Lord • Numbers 20:6 Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the tent of meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 “Get your walking stick. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.” Listen, you who refuse to obey! • Numbers 20:9 So Moses took the walking stick from the tent.