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Numbers Chapter 20   (ESV)

1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

 

2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

 

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

 

 

REFLECTION:

• Read the passage aloud.
• When God told Moses to command the rock to yield water, Moses failed to obey God, and instead struck the rock twice with his staff (vv8, 11). For this disobedience Moses was not allowed to bring the people into the Promised Land.  Moses’ punishment might seem harsh to us, but in the economy of God, the crime was significant.  Moses’ failure to obey God to the letter meant he missed an opportunity to demonstrate God’s power in a new way to the Israelites and to validate his own God-given leadership.  What’s more, this great leader who had been hand-picked by God showed that he didn’t fully trust God.
• We must be diligent in obeying God in the details, no matter how well we are doing spiritually. This is as important at the beginning as it is at the end of our spiritual journey.

 

 

PRAYER:

What is something I am very successful at?  How might this success cause me to trust in myself instead of in God?

Ask God to impress on me that my need of God is just the same in my “40th year” as well as my first.