God provided the thirsty Israelites with water from a rock twice while they traversed the wilderness. The Book of Exodus records the first instance when God instructed Moses to gather some elders, take his staff, and strike the rock (Exodus 17:6). God said He would stand before him on the rock as he obeyed this directive. God did not give him words to speak, just an action to perform. Moses obeyed the Lord, and water came from the rock and refreshed the people of Israel.
The second occurrence is recorded in the Book of Numbers, at the beginning of their fortieth year of wilderness wandering. This new generation of Israelites, also without water, does what their ancestors who died in the wilderness had done at the beginning of their journey. They complain to Moses and Aaron. They expressed the same complaint as their predecessors.
The earlier Israelites said they wished they had died in Egypt (Exodus 17:3). The latter Israelites, when thirsty, preferred to have died with those earlier Israelites in the desert. Both groups questioned why Moses would bring them out of Egypt at all, saying they (and their children) and their livestock would die of thirst (Exodus 17:3; Numbers 20:4 NLT).
During the second account, they camped on the edge of the Promised Land. Teetering on the cusp of fulfillment, Moses hears the same complaints of the earlier group who later rebelled out of fear of taking the land, when ten of the twelve spies gave a bad report. (Numbers 14:1-4). He was in a terrible déjà vu moment. Would they rebel and seek a leader to take them back to Egypt, as the last group did?
The first group cost him decades of wilderness wandering when he was ready to enter into God’s promise forty years earlier. His sister, Miriam, had just died and would never see the blessings of God because of them. How much more of them could he take? In the years he led Israel, he saw profound miracles, watched an entire generation pass away, and bore their consistent contention.
However, Moses and Aaron responded as they always did. They went to meet with God. This time, He instructed them, “Take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock” (Num 20:8 NLT). The first time he was to strike the rock and say nothing, this time speak, but not strike the rock.
“So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. ‘Listen, you rebels!’ he shouted. ‘Must we bring you water from this rock?’ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill” (Numbers 20:9-11 NLT).
It seems like it should read, “Moses started to do what he was told,” because Moses, under pressure, became the one who rebelled. God had instructed Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses yelled at the people, called them names, suggested he and Aaron would bring water out of the rock, and struck it with his staff.
When the Israelites rebelled, it cost them their lives as they died in the wilderness over those forty years. When Moses rebelled, it also cost him entry into the Promised Land. God said, “You failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters” (Numbers 27:14b NLT). He let his anger get the better of him, and he failed. (His lifelong issue with anger is a subject for another day.)
The phrase “demonstrate my holiness” stood out to me. There is a difference in how my heart responds to this phrase when I consider the situation God refers to here. I wonder what this looks like or should look like in my life. How am I demonstrating God’s holiness to my community, my church family, my husband? Even more so, like Moses, how do I demonstrate God’s holiness in the face of those who often fail or frustrate me? How many times have I “yelled” at the people when I was supposed to speak to the rock?
First Corinthians 10:4 says of those who wandered in the wilderness, “all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.” Jesus is the Rock. Maybe the best way to demonstrate His holiness is to begin by speaking to the Rock and, regardless of what others are doing, obey His directives, trusting Him with the outcome.
Moses shamed the Israelites, then met their need. If he had spoken to the rock, the people would still have been refreshed and glorified God. Instead, he attached his wrath to their experience, rather than God’s kindness, both tainting the refreshing and failing to glorify God.
If what I demonstrate to people lets them see and know the kindness of God with a pure view of His character, I am demonstrating His holiness. Conversely, when I let my negative emotions affect my delivery, I present God in a skewed way and tarnish His image in their eyes.
Moses also takes credit for bringing water out of the rock. I think of this verse: “I will not give My glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11c NKJV). Then I am reminded of this: “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31b NLT). My actions can draw people to God or drive them away. I need to take seriously, demonstrating the holiness of God in all I say and do, regardless of my emotions or others’ actions. Lord, correct my every shortcoming that I might demonstrate Your holiness to anyone who views my life.