Numbers 20:7-8 The LORD said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water….”
Skip down to verse 12 below. That one caught me off guard as I read Numbers 20. How was Moses disobedient? How did he show distrust? Where was the lack of honor? As usual, commentary helped me significantly.
Numbers 20:10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock?”
Moses approached the crowd with anger. Instead of a righteous anger, it was a self-righteousness, a “how dare you question me again?” anger. God told him to speak to the rock and it would put forth water. Moses DID speak to the rock. And then he struck it. Twice. Again, he let his anger get the better of him. That pride that he had been falsely accused of finally showed its face. And I’m guilty of similar transgressions. Just this week.
Numbers 20:11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this honest look at personal flaws. I know that anger and pride are issues for me. Help me not to let them cause me to be disobedient or disrespectful to You. I don’t want anything to come between us, Lord, especially my flaws. Draw me closer. Amen.
Numbers 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.