There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?
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Numbers 20:2-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”
Parallel Translations
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There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!
Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?
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And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
Show all 3 translations
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And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
And the people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying: 'Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the LORD!
And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle?
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (31)
- Exodus 17:2 (v3) Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you…
- Numbers 16:19 (v2) Korah assembled all the congregation opposite them to the door of the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the congregation.
- Exodus 17:3 (v4) The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill…
- Numbers 14:1-2 (v3) All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses…
- Numbers 16:31-35 (v3) As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with…
Show all 31 cross-references
- Numbers 16:42 (v2) When the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting. Behold, the cloud covered it,…
- Exodus 15:23-24 (v2) When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah. The…
- Exodus 16:2-3 (v3) The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; and the children of Israel…
- Numbers 11:1 (v3) The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and…
- Numbers 11:33-34 (v3) While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people…
- Numbers 16:49 (v3) Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah.
- Psalms 106:21 (v4) They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
- Exodus 5:21 (v4) They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the…
- Exodus 14:11-12 (v4) They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this…
- Exodus 16:2 (v2) The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;
- Exodus 16:3 (v4) and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots,…
- Exodus 16:7 (v2) In the morning, you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”
- Exodus 16:12 (v2) “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall…
- Exodus 17:1-4 (v2) All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to Yahweh’s commandment, and…
- Numbers 11:1-6 (v2) The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and…
- Numbers 11:5 (v4) We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
- Numbers 14:36-37 (v3) The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report…
- Numbers 16:3 (v2) They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the…
- Numbers 16:13-14 (v4) Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also…
- Numbers 16:41 (v4) But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed…
- Numbers 21:5 (v2) The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,…
- Job 3:10-11 (v3) because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes. “Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t…
- Lamentations 4:9 (v3) Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for lack of…
- Acts 7:35 (v4) “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of…
- Acts 7:39-40 (v4) to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that…
- 1 Corinthians 10:10-11 (v2) Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v2 Another rebellion was in Raphidim, Exod. 17, and this…
Another rebellion was in Raphidim, Exod. 17, and this was in Kadesh.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Num 20:3 And the people chode with Moses, and…
Num 20:3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
Ver. 3. And the people chode.] Wanting both water and patience, they broke the peace with their superiors. {See Trapp on "Num 14:15"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–3 The water having followed them through all their former…
The water having followed them through all their former journeys, began now to fail them here, because they were now come near Canaan and other countries, where waters might be had by ordinary means, and therefore God would not use extraordinary, lest he should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story, though like that Exo 17, is different from it, as appears by divers circumstances.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–4 And there was no water for the congregation,.... Which…
And there was no water for the congregation,.... Which was so ordered, for the trial of this new generation, to see whether they would behave any better than their fathers had done in a like circumstance, the first year they came out of Egypt, Exo 17:1.
and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron; just as their fathers had done before them, being of the like temper and disposition.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–3 No water - Which having followed them through all…
No water - Which having followed them through all their former journeys, began to fail them here, because they were now come near countries, where waters might be had by ordinary means, and therefore God would not use extraordinary, lest he should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story, though like that, Exod. xvii, 1-7, is different from it, as appears by divers circumstances. It is a great mercy, to have plenty of water; a mercy which if we found the want of, we should own the worth of.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v2 Verse 2. And there was no water for the…
Verse 2. And there was no water for the congregation] The same occurrence took place to the children of Israel at Kadesh, as did formerly to their fathers at Rephidim, see Ex 17:1; and as the fathers murmured, so also did the children.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Num 20:2. No water — Which, as is generally…
Num 20:2. No water — Which, as is generally thought, having followed them through all their former journeys, began to fail them here, because they were now come near countries where waters might be had by ordinary means, and therefore God would not use extraordinary, lest he should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story, though like that Exodus 17., is different from it, as appears by divers circumstances.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v2 The language of the murmurers is noteworthy. It has…
The language of the murmurers is noteworthy. It has the air of a traditional remonstrance handed down from the last generation. Compare marginal references.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v3 Brethren, Core, &c., (chap. xvi. 32,) or with them…
Brethren, Core, &c., (chap. xvi. 32,) or with them ho died (chap. xi.) at the graves of lust. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v2 there was no water for the congregation--There was at…
there was no water for the congregation--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Gen 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water. It was then either partially dried up by the heat of the season, or had been exhausted by the demands of so vast a multitude.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–3 CLAMOUR FOR WATER — THE ROCK SMITTEN, Num_20:2-13.
CLAMOUR FOR WATER — THE ROCK SMITTEN, Num_20:2-13.
2. No water — Twice before had the cry for water come up into the ears of Moses. On the first occasion the bitter waters were miraculously sweetened. Exo_15:25. While at Rephidim, apparently near Horeb, (Exo_17:6,) water gushed from the smitten rock. The recurrence of the same want is not surprising, in view of the multitude of the people and their flocks in a desert. At Kadesh En-Mishpat was the “fountain of judgment.” Gen_14:7. It was now, probably, dry, and so insufficient for the demands of the people.
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Against Moses and… Aaron — The logic of the congregation is very defective. If Moses and Aaron are mere men they cannot create a supply of water, and hence are not worthy of blame. If they are the representatives of Jehovah, to execrate them is to curse Him.
In either case blame is folly. Patience and trust were qualities which would have made them victorious over their most forbidding surroundings.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–3 2–13. The striking of the rock at Meribah. Many…
2–13. The striking of the rock at Meribah. Many characteristics of language indicate that this is mainly the work of P . In Exo_17:1-7 there is another account (E ) of the striking of the rock, the place being similarly named Meribah. It is probable that these are two traditions of the same event. In E it is placed at Horeb, early in the journeyings; here it is placed at their close. This two-fold striking of the rock appears to have influenced S. Paul’s language in 1Co_10:4. See on Num_21:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–3 (2) And there was no water . . .…
(2) And there was no water . . . —Kadesh may have comprised a considerable portion of the wilderness of Zin, and there may have been a supply of water in some parts of the district and a scarcity in others; or the supply may have proved insufficient for the wants of so great a multitude; or the miraculous supply which was given at Rephidim may have continued, with more or less frequent intermissions, up to the time to which this statement refers, and may have been suddenly withdrawn at this time in order to try the faith of the Israelites.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–4 There was no water. There was a large natural…
There was no water. There was a large natural spring at Kadesh, and during the time of their previous sojourn there no complaint of this sort seems to have arisen. At this time, however, the bulk of the encampment may have lain in a different direction, (cf. verse 1 with Num_13:26) or the supply may have failed frorn temporary causes. In either case a total absence of water need not be imagined, but only an insufficient supply.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v2 Neither is there any water to drink.
Num_20:2-13
Neither is there any water to drink.
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The privations of man and the resources of God
I. There are privations in the pilgrimage of human life. One man thinks that without health his life would be worthless; yet he has to submit to its loss for a time. To another man prosperity seems essential; to another, friendship, or some one friend or relative; yet of these they are sometimes deprived. Life, in our view, has many privations. This characteristic of our pilgrimage is for wise and gracious ends. Privation should remind us that we are pilgrims--incite us to confide in God--and discipline our spirits into patience and power.
II. The privations in the pilgrimage of life sometimes develop the evil tendencies of human nature. This murmuring of the Israelites was--
1. Unreasonable.
2. Cruel.
3. Ungrateful.
4. Degraded.
5. Audaciously wicked.
III. The privations in the pilgrimage of life, and the evils which are sometimes occasioned by them, impel the good to seek help of God.
1. Consciousness of need.
2. Faith in the sufficiency of the Divine help.
3. Faith in the efficacy of prayer to obtain the Divine help.
4. Faith in the efficacy of unspoken prayer.
IV. The privations in the pilgrimage of life are sometimes removed in answer to the prayer of the good. (W. Jones.)
No water
I. The place here spoken of. The wilderness. The people were led thither--
1. For discipline.
2. For solitude.
3. For proving. How sadly they failed.
II. The want. Water--
1. A necessity for sustenance.
2. A necessity for purity.
3. A want which they were unable to provide for themselves.
III. The peoples action. They murmured. An act natural to the human heart; but very sinful and foolish--
1. Because it distrusted God.
2. Because it did no good.
3. Because it made themselves more wretched and miserable still.
IV. The provision made.
1. Unexpected in its source.
2. Unexpected in the manner of its attainment.
3. Unexpected in quantity.
V. The instruction afforded. That rock was a type of Christ. He was appointed of God, stricken of man, means of salvation to those appointed to die, &c. (Preachers Analyst.)
The muddy bottom
The heart of man is like a peeler standing water. Look at it on a summers day, when not a breeze ruffles the surface, not a bird flies over to cast its light shadow on its face. It is so clear, so bright, you may see your own image reflected there. Now cast a stone to the bottom, and watch the effect. The dark mud is rising all around, rank weeds are floating up which you never saw before; the whole pool is in a state of motion, and hardly a drop of water has escaped the foul pollution. Look at your heart when all outward things go well. No vexing, crossing care mars its tranquil calm, and you think you see the image of Jesus reflected there. It is so long since sin has molested you that you think it has left you quite, and that all is sure within. Now let a sudden offence come, an unkind, undeserved rebuke; let pride be touched, or self-will roused, and presently all is lost. Like the waves of an angry sea, the poor mind is tossed from thought to thought, and finds no rest. The mud is raised from the bottom, and not one comer of that wretched heart is free from its polluting influence. All gentle, soothing thoughts are gone, and one by one the dark weeds are floating on the surface. (Quiet Thoughts for Quiet Hours.)
Speak ye unto the rock.--
Gods use of insufficient means
He told Moses to speak to the rock, and it should give forth water. On a former occasion he was to smite the rock; now he was only to speak to it. If there were any unbelievers in the camp they might mock at this command, and say, How is it possible to get water out of a rock? let us rather dig wells, if haply we may find water. And truly to the eye and ear of sense these observations might appear plausible. Now Gods way of bringing sinners to glory is just the same. The life of the Christian is a life of faith throughout. The appointed means have no inherent efficacy. God tries the faith of His people; disappoint it He never will. He has provided strength equal to their day, yet will He send it in such a way as to make them feel their utter helplessness. They see most of Gods love and gracious designs, and have most peace and comfort in their afflictions, who live most by faith. (George Breay, B. A.)
With his rod he smote the rock twice.--
The smitten rock
I. The sinful attitude of the people. They were discontented, enraged, and faithless. And so men grow discontented and cry out against God, as if trouble were the only experience they knew anything about--the most unhappy and morbid state of mind into which any Christian believer can come. It is strange also how, when one thing goes wrong with us, everything seems to be awry. The children of Israel were thirsty, and therefore they complained that the desert of Zin was not the garden of the Lord, full of all manner of fruits. Put a red lamp into a mass of shrubbery, and leaf and blossom are forthwith dyed an angry crimson. Thwart some cherished purpose of a man, and immediately everything takes on the colour of his disappointment. Society is disintegrating, the Church is going to destruction, life is a vale of tears. Nothing but immovable faith in God can save us from this wretched partialism.
II. The merciful attitude of God. What might He be expected to do under the circumstances? What wonder if He should say, It is of no use to be patient any longer. This people will not have Me for their Ruler. Let them perish. But that is not Gods way. He recognises the weakness of men, pities their sufferings, relieves their wants, and so gives the people another chance to understand Him. And how often that ancient wonder is wrought anew in human experience! Some critical event occurs in our history, which for a time at least shatters our faith in the Divine goodness and justice, well established as that faith ought to be when we remember the general tenor of our life, and God, instead of flaming out against our inconstancy and leaving us to our own devices, makes that very event the occasion of a new and gracious revelation of His love. With time and pains we arrange some well-compacted plan, on whose success it seems to us all our good fortune depends, and it thrives for a while; but suddenly all things are against us, and our hopes are wrecked, and we grow bitter and rebellious, and then God uses that very disaster to teach us juster views of life and to create in us a nobler frame of mind, and develop a broader manhood, and we have a nobler ambition and are better equipped than ever before. And then from the barren rock of bereavement God brings streams of refreshing. The remaining members of the household are more closely welded together, a more tender sympathy with each other springs up, the unseen life becomes a grander reality, and, as in the flush of the sunset that follows the storm, we forget the fury of the blast in the glory of the transfigured heavens, so men and women, in the chastened spirit that results from trials, and in the light of new and larger hopes which have been kindled, bear glad testimony: It is good for us that we have been afflicted.
III. The unwarrantable attitude of Moses and Aaron. They were angry with the people and called them hard names, addressing them as rebels. They spoke as if they were the chief agents of the miracle which God wrought. Hear now, ye rebels, they said to the people, must we fetch you water out of this rock? So far as their words went, they were taking upon themselves the glory which belonged to God alone. Then, too, they were not satisfied with the Divine directions. For these assumptions Moses and Aaron were rebuked on the spot, and a sentence of punishment pronounced upon them. There is important practical instruction here for those who teach or preach Gods Word to sinful men. It is not to be done in a self-satisfied way, with the assumption of superior sanctity. Neither are we to take credit to ourselves for good results which may follow our administration of Divine truth. It is not our wisdom or eloquence, but the Word of God which is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Humility and self-distrust are eminently becoming in those who undertake to do Gods work of influencing men for good. (E. S. Atwood.)
Moses at the rock
1. Did you ever hear people cry out, I wish I were dead? That is what the Israelites said--Would God we had died! These wishes were hasty, and as insincere as hasty. No doubt those people would flee from death with terror at the first sign of his approach. It has been well said that a discontented heart makes a reckless tongue.
2. Now we come to Moses sin. He did not attend carefully to Gods Word, nor obey it, because he was angry. Notice his bitter words. Let us beware of the sin of anger. Look at the fifth of Galatians, and it tells you that wrath is one of the lusts of the flesh. In Proverbs we are told that he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Why is a person who conquers himself better than a great general who takes a city? There are three reasons.
(1) He is a greater hero; he does a more difficult thing.
(2) Because it leaves a happier feeling behind.
(3) It pleases God, The more you conquer your sins, the more you will be growing like Christ.
Do you know heaven is full of conquerors? And Rev_12:11 tells us how they conquered: They overcame by the blood of the Lamb. (British Weekly Pulpit.)
The scene at Meribah
This is a memorable incident in the Jews history, rich in warning to us at this day. Moses had failed in his duty towards God in three particulars.
1. He had failed in strict obedience.
2. He had shown temper, used hard language.
3. He had taken to himself the credit of supplying the Israelites with water.
I. The danger of departing, in the least jot or tittle, from any law of God.
II. The immense importance attached to temperate speech, the necessity of keeping a check on temper and not letting ourselves be moved to hot and angry words.
III. This scene is further useful as carrying our thoughts upwards to Him who is the source of all our hopes, the nourishment of our soul, the very life of our religion, the Lord Jesus Christ. (R. D. B. Rawnsley, M. A.)
Moses striking the rock
The Biblical writers are charmingly candid. Do they speak of other mens faults? They take care also to record their own. Reputation is sacrificed on the altar of truth; the unselfish lawgiver informs us of his own transgression and its terrible penalty. What may we learn from his sin?
I. We must not seek right ends by wrong means. Here Moses erred. How often has his sin been repeated! Look at Caiaphas. He says in reference to the Saviour, It is expedient that one man die, and not that the whole nation should perish. The latter part of the sentence is admirable, the former is atrocious . . . Error should be opposed; we ought to stop its progress as quickly as possible--but by persuasion, not persecution.
II. We must beware of doing more than God commands. There are two opposite ways of sinning--by defect, and by excess. A child who, in adding up a sum, makes it come to too much, blunders as completely as if he made it come to too little. And such a form of wrong-doing is possible spiritually. We as much violate our duty as followers of God, if we get ahead of our Guide, as though we lagged so far behind that we could no longer see Him or tread in His steps. Are we not all, for instance, harder in our judgments, more exacting, more stringent and rigorous in our demands, than He is whom we profess to follow; and is not this to go before God, and to go before Him not to prepare His way, but to scare men from His presence?
III. Precedent is a perilous guide. Moses had struck the rock before by Gods command, and probably he argued that what was right then could not be wrong now. But let us remember, that circumstances alter cases. A thing which is wise for one time may be folly for another. (T. R. Stevenson.)
The sin of Moses
I. What there was sinful in Moses.
1. Disobedience to the Divine command.
2. Immoderate heat and passion.
3. Unbelief.
4. It was all publicly done, and so the more dishonouring to God.
II. What we may learn from this tragical story.
1. What a holy and jealous God He is with whom we have to do.
2. The Lords children need not think it strange if they get abundance to exercise that grace in which they most excel.
3. Let us not be surprised to see or hear the saints failing even in the exercise of that grace wherein they most excel.
4. Never think yourselves secure from failing till ye be at the end of your race.
5. What need we have to guard constantly our unruly passions, and put a bridle on our lips.
6. Though God pardons the iniquity of His servants, yet He will take vengeance on their inventions (Psa_99:8).
7. If God punishes His children thus for falling into the snare, how shall they escape who lay the snare for them?
8. Observe the ingenuousness of the penmen of the Holy Scripture--Moses records his own fault. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Sin in the child of God
I. Very painful to God.
II. Most inexcusable.
III. Most disastrous in its results,
IV. Very certain of punishment.
Let this incident--
1. Make Gods people more watchful.
2. Lead others to ponder their ways ; for if God visits His own children for sin, a fortiori, He will not let the wicked escape.
3. Let none forget that God can forgive sin--all sin--through Jesus Christ. (David Lloyd.)
The sins of holy men, and their punishment
The sin of Moses and Aaron seems to have included--
1. Want of faith.
2. Irritation of spirit.
3. Departure from Divine directions.
4. Assumption of power.
5. The publicity of the whole.
I. The liability of the good to sin.
II. The danger of good men failing in those excellences which most distinguish them.
III. The impartiality of the administration of the Divine government.
IV. The great guilt of those who by their wickedness occasion sin in the good.
V. The means which God uses to deter men from sin. Divine judgments, expostulations with the sinner, encouragements and aids to obedience, are all so employed. By the voice of history, by the law from Sinai, by the gospel of His Son, by the Cross of Jesus Christ, by the influences of His Spirit, God is ever crying to the sinner, Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate. Let Christians guard against temptation; let them cultivate a watchful and prayerful spirit. (W. Jones.)
How it went ill with Moses
It was but one act, one little act, but it blighted the fair flower of a noble life, and shut the one soul, whose faith had sustained the responsibilities of the Exodus with unflinching fortitude, from the reward which seemed so nearly within its grasp.
I. How it befell. The demand of the people on the water supply at Kadesh was so great that the streams were drained, whereupon there broke out again that spirit of murmuring and complaint which had cursed the former generation, and was now reproduced in their children. They professed to wish that they had died in the plague that Aarons censer had stayed. They accused the brothers of malicious designs to effect the destruction of the whole assembly by thirst. It could hardly have been otherwise than that he should feel strongly provoked. However, he resumed his old position, prostrating himself at the door of the tent of meeting until the growing light that welled forth from the Secret Place indicated that the Divine answer was near. Moses was bidden, though betook the rod, not to use it, but to speak to the rock with a certainty that the accents of his voice, smiting on its flinty face, would have as much effect as ever the rod had had previously, and would be followed by s rush of crystal water. Yes, when God is with you, words are equivalent to rods. Rods are well enough to use at the commencement of faiths nurture, and when its strength is small, but they may be laid aside without hesitance in the later stages of the education of the soul. For as faith grows, the mere machinery and apparatus it employs becomes ever less, and its miracles are wrought with the slightest possible introduction of the material. Moses might have entered into these thoughts of God in quieter moments, but just now he was irritated, indignant, and hot with disappointment and anger. The people did not suffer through their leaders sin. The waters gushed from out the rock as plentifully as they would have done if the Divine injunctions had been precisely complied with. Mans unbelief does not make the faith of God of none effect; though we believe not, yet He remaineth faithful, He cannot deny Himself, or desert the people of His choice.
II. The principle that underlay the divine decision.
1. There was distinct disobedience. No doubt was possible about the Divine command, and it had been distinctly infringed. This could not be tolerated in one who was set to lead and teach the people. God is sanctified whenever we put an inviolable fence around Himself and His words; treating them as unquestionable and decisive; obeying them with instant and utter loyalty. It is a solemn question for us all whether we are sufficiently accurate in our obedience.
2. There was unbelief. It was as if he had felt that a word was not enough. As if there must be something more of human might and instrumentality. He did not realise how small an act on his part was sufficient to open the sluice-gates of Omnipotence. It reminds us of the shattering of the Hell-Gate Rock at the entrance of New York Harbour. The touching of a tiny button by a little child set in action the train of gunpowder by which that vast obstruction was blasted to atoms, and heaved for all time out of the path of the ships. A touch is enough to set Omnipotence in action. It is very wonderful to hear God say to Moses, Ye believed not in Me. Was not this the man by whose faith the plagues of Egypt had fallen on that unhappy land, and the Red Sea had cleft its waters? Had the wanderings impaired that mighty soul, and robbed it of its olden strength, and left it like any other? Surely something of this sort must have happened. One act could only have wrought such havoc by being the symptom of some unsuspected wrong beneath. Oaks do not fall beneath a single storm, unless they have become rotten at their heart. Let us watch and pray, lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief, lest we depart in our most secret thought from simple faith in the living God. Let us especially set a watch at our strongest point. But how much there is of this reliance on the rod in all Christian endeavour! Some special method has been owned of God in times past, in the conversion of the unsaved or in the edification of Gods people, and we instantly regard it as a kind of fetish. We try to meet new conditions by bringing out the rod and using it as of yore. It is a profound mistake. God never repeats Himself. He suits novel instrumentalities to new emergencies. Where a rod was needful once He sees that a word is better now. What does it matter if the means He ordains appear to our judgment inferior to those which He commanded once? This is no business of ours.
3. There was the spoiling of the type. That Rock was Christ, from whose heart, smitten in death on Calvary, the river of water of life has flowed to make glad the city of God, and to transform deserts into Edens. But death came to Him and can come to Him but once. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. It is clear that for the completeness of the likeness between substance and shadow, the rock should have been stricken but once. Instead of that it was smitten at the beginning and at the close of the desert march. But this was a misrepresentation of an eternal fact, and the perpetrator of the heedless act of iconoclasm must suffer the extreme penalty, even as Uzzah died for trying to steady the swaying ark.
III. The irrevocableness of the Divine decisions. Moses drank very deeply of the bitter cup of disappointment. And no patriot ever yearned for fatherland as Moses to tread that blessed soil. With all the earnestness that he had used to plead for the people, he now pleaded for himself. But it was not to be. The Lord said unto him, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto Me of this matter. The sin was forgiven, but its consequences were allowed to work out to their sorrowful issue. There are experiences with us all in which God forgives our sin, but takes vengeance on our inventions. We reap as we have sown. We suffer where we have sinned. At such times our prayer is not literally answered. By the voice of His Spirit, by a spiritual instinct, we become conscious that it is useless to pray further. But, oh! that God would undertake the keeping of our souls, else, when we least expect it, we may be overtaken by some sudden temptation, which befalling us in the middle, or towards the close of our career, may blight our hopes, tarnish our fair name, bring dishonour to Him, and rob our life of the worthy capstone of its edifice. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4 they assembled
they assembled
Here "they" refers to the community.
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assembled together
"came as a mob"
in front of Yahweh
This represents being in front of Yahweh's tent. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Moses
Aaron
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2–3 20:2-13 In the face of yet another complaint by…
20:2-13 In the face of yet another complaint by the people of Israel about a lack of water and food (cp. 11:4-35; 21:4-5; Exod 15:22-25), Moses and Aaron disobeyed the Lord and lost the privilege of entering the Promised Land.
20:2 There was no water: Throughout most of the year, Sinai and the Negev are very hot and dry.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.