And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Numbers 20:11
This was a fantastic miracle from God.
With just two taps from the rod of Moses, on what must have been a massive boulder, water came out and provided for over 600,000 Israelites. The true number had to be well over a million, not to mention their animals, (Numbers 26:2, 51).
Moses was such a true and faithful servant to God. Yet, in this one instance, Moses made a grave mistake. It was just this one instance where Moses slipped up, and God greatly punished him for his mistake.
What did Moses do wrong?
The Mistake Of Moses
God asked Moses to,
“Speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water”.
Numbers 20:8
Instead, Moses struck the rock twice with his rod “and the water came out abundantly”.
God asked Moses to speak to the rock, not strike the rock. This tells us, Moses disobeyed God.
In fact, Moses and Aaron made three mistakes here, (Deuteronomy 32:51, Numbers 20:12, 27:14).
They,
- Spoke to the people.
- Struck the rock twice.
- Did not sanctify God.
They were to speak to the rock, not the people, and they did not give God credit for the miracle. Instead, they said, “must we fetch you water”. Let’s face it, Moses and Aaron were not going to fetch anything in the hot desert.
So why, and how could they make such a mistake?
Let’s read the prior verse.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Numbers 20:10
Moses called all of the Israelites rebels.
Do you know why?
Moses Lost Focus And Became Angry
They were complaining, once again. In fact, that’s all the Israelites did once they left Egypt. They cried and complained the entire time. In between times, they worshipped false gods and complained some more, (Numbers 14:22).
Moses had enough!
In fact, in Numbers 11:10-15, Moses mentally cracked.
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He could no longer deal with the stress and burden of the people, and Moses even asked God to kill him. This came right after the Israelites complained about only being able to eat manna. The food God blessed them with. Little did they know, God was proving the Israelites, and they failed.
So when Moses struck the rock, he did it out of anger and frustration.
For us, the whole situation is very understandable.
However, it provides us with a great example to always remain true to God, ensuring we give Him the credit for our blessings. We can only do that by staying focused on Him. Not by focusing on what is going on around us. That was truly Moses’ downfall.
Moses cared so much about the people, he let them get in between him and God. He let their sins and errors become his sin and error. As we can see, it only takes a single moment to rip your Heavenly rewards right out from under your feet.
Due to the mistake of Moses and Aaron, God would not allow them to enter the Promised Land, (Numbers 20:12). Aaron, the brother of Moses was stripped of his priestly role and attire right before the whole congregation, and perished, (Numbers 20:24-29).
Moses and Aaron had looked forward to seeing the Promised Land. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years to obtain it. We should remember, the Israelites wandered so long due to their constant complaining and sinful ways, (Numbers 14:22-23, 34).
Even God was tired of it.
So tired of it, God almost killed off all of the Israelites, (Exodus 32:9-10).
Yet, faithful Moses convinced God otherwise, (Exodus 32:11-14).
Nevertheless, Moses could not enter the Promised Land. However, God did grant Moses the privilege to see the Promised Land from a distant mountain called Nebo, (Deuteronomy 32:48-52).
I truly believe God understood Moses’ frustration. God felt it as well, many times in fact. Yet, God expected more from Moses who was obviously called to perform the tasks he did. Moses never fell from God’s good standing though. In fact, God is the one who buried Moses, (Deuteronomy 34:5-6).
What an honor.
Summary
So as you walk through life, always remember this example. Remember and understand why Moses struck the rock, instead of speaking to it, and losing sight by not giving God the credit for the miracle.
Moses lost focus.
Moses let all the noise get to him, and he lost sight of God, for just a moment. Yet, that moment had a lasting impact that stuck with him until his death.