Striking the Rock

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I think Moses was tired, I really do. 

“Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.”                         

Numbers 20:2

The other day as I drove to a meeting and after having just left an occurence where I had been dealing with a situation that was just one more in a long, long line of situations that arise from this particular aspect of something in my life I would rather not deal with, I was reciting a scripture I frequently recite…”Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

As I repeated all three sentences in that scripture portion to internally examine each, the aspect of not leaning on my understanding was more in my contemplation…what does that really mean? Lean on, rely on, rest on, support myself on. My understanding, my assessment, my conclusions. I decided to look into that more fully at home, in the morning when I have my devotional time. I was fed up with having this occurence again knocking on my door. Go away!

The next morning as I sat down to pray and read scripture, the Hebrew translation source I used went like this  - “and to understanding of you must not be you are leaning.” I love the way this resource shows the way the words would be translated without cleaning it up for the English reader. I have a friend from Costa Rica who when we talk about something where we would say “right now” she always says “in this moment”. I love that. Anyway, when I read “and to understanding of you” my thoughts went to Moses. Hold on. I am getting there.

So back to Moses and his fatigue. 

The setting in Numbers Chapter 20 is in the wilderness of Zin, about 40 years into their journey to the promised land, and right on the border of entering it. God had given Moses a job to do and he had been doing it for those 40 years. It was not an easy job. It began with a stubborn Pharaoh and continued on with stubborn Israelites. He had just lost his sister, Miriam. And now the aging Moses has to listen one more time to the disrespectful, grumbling congregation as to their lack of water at the location they were at…”Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?” (Numbers 20:2-4) 

Those troublesome people! 

Yet Moses and Aaron did as we would expect godly leaders to do, they removed themselves from the presence of the people and fell on their faces at the entrance of the tent of meeting. In that posture, the glory of the LORD appeared to them and the LORD spoke to Moses giving him instructions on what to do. The LORD told Moses to speak to the rock in the presence of the people. When we read on, we discover that instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to the people, and we get a clue about Moses' attitude as he calls the people “you rebels”. Moses strikes the rock, water does come forth, yet Moses is prevented from leading the people into the Promised Land. 

So what happened to Moses between hearing from God at the tent of meeting and arriving back to the presence of the people? 

I think that Moses was prevented from going into the Promised Land not because of the fact that he was angry, but because Moses allowed his anger to dictate what he did. And what he did dishonored God and His truth.  The fatigue and frustration of dealing with rebellious, grumbling people all the way to Sinai had taken up space in Moses' head, crowding out even what instructions he had just heard from the LORD.

I am not Moses, far from it, but scripture is a priceless resource to guide and encourage us towards correct attitudes. When I was contemplating what it means to not lean on your own understanding and I ended up reading this account of Mose and the second striking of the rock, I saw something important, a warning to not override God. God was still directing Moses. God was still speaking to him. All the years from the burning bush to the border of the Promised Land, God led the way. Because fatigue and mental stress wants to greatly influence thoughts, attitudes, and actions, the instructions in those moments are still and ever will be, the Word of God.

This following scripture is a great one about obeying the instructions of the LORD and it pertains to Abraham's willingness to obey God even in a very difficult situation…Genesis 22. Lord, may I stop, pray, listen, and obey.

“And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son. I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you obeyed my voice.” Genesis 22:15-19