My Five Minute Bible Studies

WATER AND THE ROCK The two brothers, Moses, the lawgiver, and Aaron, the first in the Levitical priest line, dominated four early books of the Old Testament, two through five. But the discussion here will deal only with a single incident and its consequences. The narrative is found in the 20th chapter of Numbers when the wandering Israelites thirsted for water, and the brothers were commissioned by God to respond to that need according to instructions. (20:8) As a matter of background, the Israelite people after their deliverance from Egyptian slavery were led by Moses through the wilderness toward the promised land. It could be accurately stated that they complained a lot. They were critical of their leadership, demanded meat, lapsed at times into idolatry, expressed a wish to return to Egypt, and worst of all, out of unfounded fear and lack of faith, they refused to enter the land God had promised them. Now at a place called Kadesh the general discontent over lack of water reached a high pitch. But God promised water. Moses and Aaron were ordered to speak to the rock and water would come forth. It must be noted that on a previous occasion, Moses as instructed had struck a rock with his staff and water was produced, so he had some experience with this sort of thing. This time, however, his anger and impatience with his people apparently got the better of him, and after telling his charges what he thought about them and their constant complaining, he struck the rock with his staff--twice. Moses and Aaron were both guilty of the sin of disobedience, one that a righteous God could not and would not overlook. Our first reaction might be to minimize the seriousness of the transgression. After all, Moses simply lost his temper for a moment, and with understandable cause. No, his act was far worse than that. He in effect had usurped God’s glory and had taken it for himself. By his overt personal action, he had made it appear that he, not God, had supplied the water the people craved. Incidentally, it is worth noting that despite the disobedience, water did pour forth. A gracious God did not withhold his blessing because of the failure of the leaders. There would be a price to pay by the two brothers. We start with Aaron. His was a sin of omission. He had failed to speak as commanded, and judgment came quickly. First, he learned he would not live to see the promised land, but there was more. Moses was instructed to take Aaron and his son Eleazar upon a mountain where Moses would strip Aaron’s garments and place them on the son. This amounted to a defrocking of Aaron from his position as the pre-eminent priest, much as a disgraced clergyman today might endure his removal. So not only would Aaron die, perhaps prematurely, but as a discredited priest. (Numbers 20:25-29) This may seem harsh. But we have to remember Aaron’s past, such as his leading role in the golden calf idolatry, and the way he from jealousy came against his brother over Moses’ wife. He seemed to get a pass for those indiscretions, but maybe accountability came to him all at once. Moses’ judgment would come later. His sin was more egregious than Aaron’s. It was a matter of both omission and commission, failing to speak and striking the rock. God would tell Moses that because of his actions at Kadesh, he like his brother would not enter the Promised Land, but in his case he would look on it from a distance. This may have been the greater punishment, allowing Moses to see what he could not have. (Deuteronomy 34: 1) For Moses, the experience likely led to a profound moment of regret about “what might have been.” As he gazed across the Jordan to see the beauty of the Promised Land, he must have thought how much different the culminating years of his life would have been had he made a better choice. How many of us can fail to identify with that? Moses uttered a plea to God to rescind the penalty, to no avail. He also reminded the people more than once that it was because of them that God has become angry with him. There was some truth in that, but Moses, in common with all of us, should not have blamed others for his own mistake. One of many lessons we can draw from the sin at the waters of Kadesh and its aftermath is God’s demonstration that he truly is not a respecter of persons. All of the godly service Aaron and particularly Moses had performed in their remarkable lives did not immunize them from accountability for their transgressions. They were not allowed to built up credits against the day they would need them to offset their sin. Neither are we. God does not grade on some kind of balance sheet. And we must know this: The judgment against Moses and Aaron was temporal, not eternal, which should be a comfort to all Christians who inevitably fail at times. We can be assured that the two brothers of the Bible are secure in the embrace of their Lord, in the same way all believes are or will be.