We all face times in our lives, when things just don’t seem fair. We have more hardship or fewer blessings than those around us. We see ourselves as afflicted and hard pressed while others live a life of ease. And this causes us to struggle. Even though we know God is always right and just in what He does, even though we know He works all things for our good, and even though we have the knowledge that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, our hearts cry, “it still feels bad.”
I was reflecting on this, and the story of Moses’ life. Moses obeyed God and led a stubborn and rebellious band of God’s people out of slavery and through punishment for their lack of trust for more than 40 years, yet he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. “That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:48-52
This faithful man, who followed God and led His people through so much, is denied entrance to the Promised Land because of one mistake. This seems unfair. And yet Moses says of God in his final song, “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Deuteronomy 32:4. What did Moses see that I am missing? And the answer is, of course, found by digging into God’s Word.
The incident of Moses striking the rock that is referred to by God as the reason for punishment is found in Numbers 20. The people, who always seemed to find something to complain about, were grumbling and quarreling because they had no water. While it may seem reasonable to want water in the desert, God had been providing for them during all of the many years of their wandering to this point, and they still questioned his provision. 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, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Numbers 20:6-9. Take note of what God tells them to do to bring water from the rock.
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?” 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. 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.” Numbers 20:10-12 Did you catch the ways Moses disobeyed God? He spoke in anger, although God did not seem angry when He gave instruction. He said “we” shall bring water from the rock, instead of giving credit and glory to God, and he struck the rock twice, when he was not commanded to. None of this may seem like a big deal, until we look back at the first instance of God bringing water from a rock for these people in Exodus 17.
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:1-6 At first glance, these two stories seem very similar, but there are significant differences.
The word that is translated “quarreled” is a term used in lawsuits. It is the people suing God for not keeping His promise to them. To our modern eyes, it seems easy to see that God has a counter suit against them for not keeping their side of the covenant. But if you remember, when God made the Covenant to save the people, he swore to uphold both parts. So what He does here is a picture of what he will ultimately do in sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Moses takes the staff of God, which symbolizes God’s wrath and judgment. He takes the elders, who serve as witnesses in the trial. And God says he himself will stand on the rock, to be struck with the rod of judgment and provide the Water of Life. What a picture this is of Jesus, standing in our place for judgment of our sins and providing the water of eternal life. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38
In Moses’ final song, he speaks of The Rock, remembering when God stood upon the rock in the wilderness, taking the judgment His people deserved, to provide them with the water of Life. He sees that God was just in keeping him from entering the land, because of the way He dishonored what God had given the people as a sign. And Moses’ faith was rewarded. And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Mark 9:2-4. Here we see Moses, standing with Jesus, on a mountain in The Promised Land. His faith in Jesus as the source of Living Water brought him there.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane