November 11, 2024 • 14 mins
This story is based on Numbers 20. This is a famous incident in which God wants Moses to “speak” to a rock so that Israel will be supplied with water. Instead, Moses strikes the rock. Both Moses and Aaron (his brother) were involved. And, both incurred God’s anger and punishment. The punishment was that neither would be allowed to enter Canaan, the Promised Land. As it turns out, though, it seems there was another reason that Moses got into trouble. This time, at least, Israel did nothing wrong. But Moses did. He accused Israel of being rebellious when he was the one being rebellious.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The Bible is full of stories that we all know
and love, but how well do we know? That the
answer might surprise you. The Bible you thought you knew
is going to dive deep into the exquisite details of
the Biblical stories that make them fascinating and transforming. In
this week's podcast, we will deal with one of the
(00:27):
most enigmatic passages in the Old Testament. The passage in
question is Numbers chapter twenty, which narrates part of Israel's
trek through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.
This episode is about Moses' efforts to supply the people
of Israel with something they desperately need, namely water. But
(00:51):
in the process of acceding to the people's demand for water,
Moses manages to incur God's anger. That anger eventuated in
extremely harsh punishment. Because of what Moses did or did
not do, he was not allowed to enter the Promised
(01:11):
Land Canaan. The question of what Moses did or did
not do is what makes this chapter so enigmatic.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Let's start at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
The chapter begins with Israel's arriving at the wilderness of
Zin in the first month. The particular year is not
mentioned then, the people stayed in Kdish. At this point,
we are informed that Miriam, Moses and Aaron's sister, died
and was subsequently buried. That's in verse one of chapter twenty.
(01:46):
We will need to come back to that announcement later on.
Right after being told that Miriam had died and was buried,
we learned that the community had no water. Because of
this circumstance, they assembled and confronted Moses and Aaron.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That's in verse two.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Basically, they maintained that they would have been better off
to have died before the Lord, just as many of
their relatives had during this difficult journey. That's in verse three.
In the judgment of the community, that would have been
preferable to their dying of thirst in the wilderness. They
(02:28):
wanted to know why Moses had led the Lord's community,
that is Israel, out into the wilderness where there was
no water. They and their cattle were both at risk.
They were not done with their complaint. Having left Egypt,
they are now in an evil place that cannot produce grain, figs, vines,
(02:53):
or pomegranates. Worse, there is no potable Water's Verses four
through five of chapter twenty. Moses and Aaron took immediate action.
They left the assembly and went to the tent of meeting,
a place where it was possible to meet God. When
(03:15):
they fell on their faces as a sign of reverence
and devotion, the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
That's in verse six. God already knew the problem and
issued orders for Moses and Aaron. They were to quote unquote,
take the rod, which particular rod is not specified, and
(03:38):
reassembled the community. Moses and Aaron together were to do this.
Then they were to speak to quote unquote the rock,
after which the rock would reproduce water for both the
people and the cattle to drink.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
That's in verses seven to eight.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Moses took the rod from the Lord yhwh the tetragrammatam
on you is used here, just as the deity had commanded.
That's in verse nine of chapter twenty. At that juncture,
Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of
(04:19):
the rock and addressed the people. Only Moses spoke, however,
He spoke to them as follows. Quote here, now you rebels,
shall we bring forth water for you from this rock.
That's in verse ten. Perhaps the question was rhetorical, because
(04:43):
before anyone had a chance to answer, Moses struck the
rock twice. Water gushed out of it at once, plenty
of it. The people and the cattle were able to drink.
But that was not the end of the matter. The
Lord had something to say to Moses and Aaron. The
(05:06):
deity accused them of not believing in God and of
not sanctifying God in the presence of the people. As
a consequence, they would not be permitted to bring the
people into the Promised Land, the very land which God was.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Giving to Israel. That's in verse twelve.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
The episode ends with the narrator's mentioning that these waters,
the ones that had just gushed from the rock, are
now called the waters of Meribah, or the waters of contention.
This is an allusion to another incident in which the
people complained about the lack of water and God met.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Their knee needs.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
That story is found in Exodus chapter seventeen, the first
seven verses. The question is what sin did Moses and
Aaron commit to deserve such a harsh punishment. Typically, interpreters
have cited the fact that God told Moses to speak
to the rock, but instead Moses struck it twice. That
(06:19):
may have been the problem. Even though striking the rock worked.
Is there something else which made Moses and Aaron guilty.
We may find an answer to that question by taking
a second look at the details in the text. Remember
that the announcement of Miriam's death and burial seemed prosaic
(06:43):
and even oddly out of place. The narrator mentions her,
but then immediately goes on to the rock incident at
the same time. Even naming her reminds us of an
episode in which she played a major role. In Numbers twelve,
Miriam and Aaron confronted Moses because he had married a
(07:07):
cushite woman. That's in numbers twelve, verse one. The Lord
was not amused. Instead, the deity criticized both Miriam and
Erin for challenging Moses' authority. Punishment ensued. That is understandable.
(07:28):
What is not understandable is that only Miriam was punished.
She contracted a serious skin disease as a punishment. Arin
responded when he saw his sister's condition and lamented that
quote we have done foolishly and sinned. End of quote
(07:49):
that's in Numbers chapter twelve, verse eleven.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Even Moses implored.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
God on Miriam's behalf that's in verse thirteen of chapter twelve,
but God refused to intervene. As a consequence, Miriam was
shut out of the Israelite camp for seven days. Even
though Miriam and Aaron were equally culpable, and even though
(08:15):
her brothers interceded in her behalf. The result was that
the punishment was not revoked. Her punishment was not revoked again,
only Miriam was punished. As for the rock incident, the
Lord did not call attention to the fact that the
(08:36):
instructions were to speak to the rock instead of striking it,
but God did specify the reasons for the divine anger.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
One.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
The Lord said that Moses and Aaron quote unquote did
not believe in Me. Further, they did not sanctify the
Lord in the eyes of Israel. That's in verse twelve
of chapter twenty. The charge that the two men did
not believe in God suggests that they somehow doubted God's
(09:08):
ability in this situation. The charge that they did not
sanctify the Lord to Israel suggests that they did not
make clear that the rocks producing water was God's doing
and only God's doing. Recall that when Moses spoke to
the people, two things deserve emphasis. One is that Moses
(09:32):
referred to the Israelites as rebels. That's in verse ten.
But what was rebellious about their complaint? The narrator had
let us know that there was no water. That's in
verse two. Being without water in the wilderness is a
serious situation. Israel was facing death. The narrator does not
(09:54):
say that Israel was being rebellious, nor had God accused
the people of being rebel. God's only truck was with
Moses and Aaron. Part of the problem is that the
preceding narrative has conditioned us to regard Israel's complaining as
always unwarranted. For example, when God provided them with manna,
(10:19):
they soon complained that they wanted meat. They belly ate
that at least in Egypt they ate regularly, but in
the wilderness food was scarce. They were upset when Moses
was gone too long. In each of these cases, and
there were many other instances, God got upset with the people,
(10:39):
But this time the people were simply upset that there
was no water, a condition that the narrator had confirmed.
God was aware of this and offered a remedy. But
Moses was angry. That was why he called Israel a
bunch of rebels. He was out of line with that accusation.
(11:02):
This time, at least Israel had done nothing wrong. In
his anger, Moses and Aaron were not careful to give
God credit for this miracle. To be sure, Israel said
to have contended with God in this incident. That's in
verse thirteen. However, contending with God in and of itself
(11:22):
is not necessarily a sin. Let's return to the matter
of Miriam's being punished previously, whereas Erin was somehow let
off the hook, even though he was guilty of the
same charge. Almost immediately after the rock incident, when the
people had left Kadish and arrived at Mount Hore, God
(11:46):
spoke once again to Moses. That's in verses twenty two
and twenty three of Numbers Chapter twenty. God told Moses
that Aaron was about to die was not allowed to
enter the land of Canaan because of the rock incident.
His death therefore was imminent. Moses was supposed to strip
(12:09):
Aaron's vestments and put them on his son. Moses did this.
Erin soon died. In a sense, he joined his sister
in punishment. Her death was mentioned at the beginning of
this chapter. Aaron's death was mentioned at the end of
this chapter, perhaps a little bit more of an ignominious death.
(12:35):
Moses would live longer than either his sister or his brother,
but he too would not enter the Promised Land. At
the end of Deuteronomy, we learn of moses death near Moab,
though no one knows the precise place of his burial.
All three of this most famous family eventually were punished
(12:56):
for their sins. Even the greatest figures in Israelite history
were not exempt from divine punishment. When Moses accused Israel
of being rebellious, he was oblivious of the fact that he,
as a matter of fact, was the one being rebellious.
(13:17):
For once, at least Israel was more or less innocent,
and Moses and Aaron.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Were more or less guilty.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Let me invite you to go to my website Faspina
dot com. Let me know your email. If you'd like
me to answer a question and a subsequent Q and
A and session, email me at f Spina one zero
six at gmail dot com. I want to thank you
(13:50):
so very much for listening to the Bible. You thought
you knew. I have a question for you. Do you
have a question or topic that you'd like me to
cover on the podcasts. If so, all you need to
do is head over to Apple Podcasts and do two
simple things. One, leave a rating and review, telling me
(14:12):
what you think of the podcasts. Two, in that review,
ask anything you want related to the Bible. That's all
you have to do. Then listen in to hear your
question answered on a future episode. Join us next time
on the Bible you thought you knew when we discuss
(14:33):
Jesus' personal Bible. God bless
The Bible is full of stories that we all know
and love, but how well do we know? That the
answer might surprise you. The Bible you thought you knew
is going to dive deep into the exquisite details of
the Biblical stories that make them fascinating and transforming. In
this week's podcast, we will deal with one of the
(00:27):
most enigmatic passages in the Old Testament. The passage in
question is Numbers chapter twenty, which narrates part of Israel's
trek through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.
This episode is about Moses' efforts to supply the people
of Israel with something they desperately need, namely water. But
(00:51):
in the process of acceding to the people's demand for water,
Moses manages to incur God's anger. That anger eventuated in
extremely harsh punishment. Because of what Moses did or did
not do, he was not allowed to enter the Promised
(01:11):
Land Canaan. The question of what Moses did or did
not do is what makes this chapter so enigmatic.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Let's start at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
The chapter begins with Israel's arriving at the wilderness of
Zin in the first month. The particular year is not
mentioned then, the people stayed in Kdish. At this point,
we are informed that Miriam, Moses and Aaron's sister, died
and was subsequently buried. That's in verse one of chapter twenty.
(01:46):
We will need to come back to that announcement later on.
Right after being told that Miriam had died and was buried,
we learned that the community had no water. Because of
this circumstance, they assembled and confronted Moses and Aaron.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That's in verse two.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Basically, they maintained that they would have been better off
to have died before the Lord, just as many of
their relatives had during this difficult journey. That's in verse three.
In the judgment of the community, that would have been
preferable to their dying of thirst in the wilderness. They
(02:28):
wanted to know why Moses had led the Lord's community,
that is Israel, out into the wilderness where there was
no water. They and their cattle were both at risk.
They were not done with their complaint. Having left Egypt,
they are now in an evil place that cannot produce grain, figs, vines,
(02:53):
or pomegranates. Worse, there is no potable Water's Verses four
through five of chapter twenty. Moses and Aaron took immediate action.
They left the assembly and went to the tent of meeting,
a place where it was possible to meet God. When
(03:15):
they fell on their faces as a sign of reverence
and devotion, the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
That's in verse six. God already knew the problem and
issued orders for Moses and Aaron. They were to quote unquote,
take the rod, which particular rod is not specified, and
(03:38):
reassembled the community. Moses and Aaron together were to do this.
Then they were to speak to quote unquote the rock,
after which the rock would reproduce water for both the
people and the cattle to drink.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
That's in verses seven to eight.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Moses took the rod from the Lord yhwh the tetragrammatam
on you is used here, just as the deity had commanded.
That's in verse nine of chapter twenty. At that juncture,
Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of
(04:19):
the rock and addressed the people. Only Moses spoke, however,
He spoke to them as follows. Quote here, now you rebels,
shall we bring forth water for you from this rock.
That's in verse ten. Perhaps the question was rhetorical, because
(04:43):
before anyone had a chance to answer, Moses struck the
rock twice. Water gushed out of it at once, plenty
of it. The people and the cattle were able to drink.
But that was not the end of the matter. The
Lord had something to say to Moses and Aaron. The
(05:06):
deity accused them of not believing in God and of
not sanctifying God in the presence of the people. As
a consequence, they would not be permitted to bring the
people into the Promised Land, the very land which God was.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Giving to Israel. That's in verse twelve.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
The episode ends with the narrator's mentioning that these waters,
the ones that had just gushed from the rock, are
now called the waters of Meribah, or the waters of contention.
This is an allusion to another incident in which the
people complained about the lack of water and God met.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Their knee needs.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
That story is found in Exodus chapter seventeen, the first
seven verses. The question is what sin did Moses and
Aaron commit to deserve such a harsh punishment. Typically, interpreters
have cited the fact that God told Moses to speak
to the rock, but instead Moses struck it twice. That
(06:19):
may have been the problem. Even though striking the rock worked.
Is there something else which made Moses and Aaron guilty.
We may find an answer to that question by taking
a second look at the details in the text. Remember
that the announcement of Miriam's death and burial seemed prosaic
(06:43):
and even oddly out of place. The narrator mentions her,
but then immediately goes on to the rock incident at
the same time. Even naming her reminds us of an
episode in which she played a major role. In Numbers twelve,
Miriam and Aaron confronted Moses because he had married a
(07:07):
cushite woman. That's in numbers twelve, verse one. The Lord
was not amused. Instead, the deity criticized both Miriam and
Erin for challenging Moses' authority. Punishment ensued. That is understandable.
(07:28):
What is not understandable is that only Miriam was punished.
She contracted a serious skin disease as a punishment. Arin
responded when he saw his sister's condition and lamented that
quote we have done foolishly and sinned. End of quote
(07:49):
that's in Numbers chapter twelve, verse eleven.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Even Moses implored.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
God on Miriam's behalf that's in verse thirteen of chapter twelve,
but God refused to intervene. As a consequence, Miriam was
shut out of the Israelite camp for seven days. Even
though Miriam and Aaron were equally culpable, and even though
(08:15):
her brothers interceded in her behalf. The result was that
the punishment was not revoked. Her punishment was not revoked again,
only Miriam was punished. As for the rock incident, the
Lord did not call attention to the fact that the
(08:36):
instructions were to speak to the rock instead of striking it,
but God did specify the reasons for the divine anger.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
One.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
The Lord said that Moses and Aaron quote unquote did
not believe in Me. Further, they did not sanctify the
Lord in the eyes of Israel. That's in verse twelve
of chapter twenty. The charge that the two men did
not believe in God suggests that they somehow doubted God's
(09:08):
ability in this situation. The charge that they did not
sanctify the Lord to Israel suggests that they did not
make clear that the rocks producing water was God's doing
and only God's doing. Recall that when Moses spoke to
the people, two things deserve emphasis. One is that Moses
(09:32):
referred to the Israelites as rebels. That's in verse ten.
But what was rebellious about their complaint? The narrator had
let us know that there was no water. That's in
verse two. Being without water in the wilderness is a
serious situation. Israel was facing death. The narrator does not
(09:54):
say that Israel was being rebellious, nor had God accused
the people of being rebel. God's only truck was with
Moses and Aaron. Part of the problem is that the
preceding narrative has conditioned us to regard Israel's complaining as
always unwarranted. For example, when God provided them with manna,
(10:19):
they soon complained that they wanted meat. They belly ate
that at least in Egypt they ate regularly, but in
the wilderness food was scarce. They were upset when Moses
was gone too long. In each of these cases, and
there were many other instances, God got upset with the people,
(10:39):
But this time the people were simply upset that there
was no water, a condition that the narrator had confirmed.
God was aware of this and offered a remedy. But
Moses was angry. That was why he called Israel a
bunch of rebels. He was out of line with that accusation.
(11:02):
This time, at least Israel had done nothing wrong. In
his anger, Moses and Aaron were not careful to give
God credit for this miracle. To be sure, Israel said
to have contended with God in this incident. That's in
verse thirteen. However, contending with God in and of itself
(11:22):
is not necessarily a sin. Let's return to the matter
of Miriam's being punished previously, whereas Erin was somehow let
off the hook, even though he was guilty of the
same charge. Almost immediately after the rock incident, when the
people had left Kadish and arrived at Mount Hore, God
(11:46):
spoke once again to Moses. That's in verses twenty two
and twenty three of Numbers Chapter twenty. God told Moses
that Aaron was about to die was not allowed to
enter the land of Canaan because of the rock incident.
His death therefore was imminent. Moses was supposed to strip
(12:09):
Aaron's vestments and put them on his son. Moses did this.
Erin soon died. In a sense, he joined his sister
in punishment. Her death was mentioned at the beginning of
this chapter. Aaron's death was mentioned at the end of
this chapter, perhaps a little bit more of an ignominious death.
(12:35):
Moses would live longer than either his sister or his brother,
but he too would not enter the Promised Land. At
the end of Deuteronomy, we learn of moses death near Moab,
though no one knows the precise place of his burial.
All three of this most famous family eventually were punished
(12:56):
for their sins. Even the greatest figures in Israelite history
were not exempt from divine punishment. When Moses accused Israel
of being rebellious, he was oblivious of the fact that he,
as a matter of fact, was the one being rebellious.
(13:17):
For once, at least Israel was more or less innocent,
and Moses and Aaron.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Were more or less guilty.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Let me invite you to go to my website Faspina
dot com. Let me know your email. If you'd like
me to answer a question and a subsequent Q and
A and session, email me at f Spina one zero
six at gmail dot com. I want to thank you
(13:50):
so very much for listening to the Bible. You thought
you knew. I have a question for you. Do you
have a question or topic that you'd like me to
cover on the podcasts. If so, all you need to
do is head over to Apple Podcasts and do two
simple things. One, leave a rating and review, telling me
(14:12):
what you think of the podcasts. Two, in that review,
ask anything you want related to the Bible. That's all
you have to do. Then listen in to hear your
question answered on a future episode. Join us next time
on the Bible you thought you knew when we discuss
(14:33):
Jesus' personal Bible. God bless
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