Prepare
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank you for this day and for your Word. Give us your Spirit to teach us, help us understand, and apply it to our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Moses’ Error at Kadesh 20 Then the children 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; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Nu 20:1–13.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
When Israel again complains for lack of water, Moses and Aaron rightly seek God, who graciously commands Moses to speak to the rock. Moses instead rebukes the people and strikes the rock twice. God still supplies abundant water, but judges Moses and Aaron for failing to believe him and hallow him before Israel, barring them from leading the assembly into the promised land.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Numbers 20:12
Because you did not believe me, do hallow me in the sight of the children of Israel. Therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.
Bryan explicitly identifies verses 8, 10, and 12 as his Best Verse candidates. Verse 12 most directly interprets Moses' failure: he did not believe and hallow God before the people, so he would not lead them into the land.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Look to Jesus, the rock who gives living water to undeserving rebels. Hallow God's name, refuse grumbling and complaint in hard providences, and follow Moses and Aaron's better example by falling before God to seek his mercy and kindness.
Additional Notes
Discussion on the Book of Numbers
The narrative focuses on a passage from the Book of Numbers, detailing the Israelites' journey through the wilderness, their struggles with faith, and their interactions with Moses and Aaron.
The passage discusses a moment of crisis due to a lack of water and the Israelites' complaint against Moses and Aaron, leading to a divine intervention where God instructs Moses to speak to a rock to bring forth water.
The discussion emphasizes Moses' failure to follow God's instructions precisely, resulting in consequences for him and Aaron but also showcasing God's mercy and provision despite the people's rebellion.
Key Verses Highlighted
Verses Numbers 20:1-13 are discussed, with a particular focus on the moments of divine instruction, the mistake made by Moses, and the ultimate provision of water for the Israelites.
Lessons and Applications
The video draws parallels between the biblical story and contemporary Christian life, focusing on themes of trust, obedience to God, and the grace of God in the face of human failure.
It emphasizes the importance of turning to God in times of difficulty rather than succumbing to despair or complaint.
The host reflects on the concept of "hallowing" God's name, understanding and respecting God's holiness and goodness, and applying these lessons in daily life to avoid the pitfalls of rebellion and ingratitude.
Closing Prayer
The session ends with a prayer of thanks for God's mercy and a petition for the strength to not emulate the rebellious nature of the Israelites in the wilderness but instead to live in gratitude and obedience.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
What do you think you're doing? What do you think you're doing? All right. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. That's where every weekday morning you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's word and we grow. And I love just a sip. It's warm. Kind of cold. If it was Jesus and it was lukewarm, he would spit it out of his mouth. Hey, hey, hey, hey, chill out on my coffee, boy.
Well, this year, 2024, no, no, no more. 2024, Lord willing, we'll make it through the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Hebrews. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and get into God's word. Okay. You like the taste. Okay. Okay. We're going to pray. Well, it's, it's yeah. Let's go ahead and pray. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for your word. Please help us to understand it. Please give us your spirit. We need you to teach us. We need you to apply it to our lives in Jesus's name. Amen. Okay. So we're at the book of numbers, numbers. Wow. We're going to work through this section one through 13. Yeah. What's that? I don't know what that sound was. It was kind of odd sound, wasn't it? OK, you ready? Yep.
All right, then the children 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. Now there was no water for the congregation. So they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. So why are they mad? There's no water. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into the wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? Nope, they're still in the wilderness because they sinned. And why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink.
Moses and Aaron went to from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Isn't that interesting? When Moses and Aaron have problems, where do they go? Do they grumble and complain to them? Stupid people. I don't like dumb God. Why did you make us serve these people? Went to God. They went to God. Is that a good thing to do? Yeah. Go to God. I did check the audio.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take the rod, you and your brother Aaron, gather the congregation, speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water. Thus you shall bring water from them out for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their animals. Yeah, so Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. Right. So what did the Lord say? Take your. Your rod, your staff. Good. And go. No, no, no, no. He said, talk to the Lord. Yeah, right.
Was God going to be gracious, even though they were a bunch of rumblers and complainers? Was God cruel to them? Was God mean to them? He wasn't like, I'm good enough. That's right. He was, he was going to show them his grace and his mercy, even though they didn't deserve it. Right. Okay.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock. And he said to them, you ready? Here now, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock? Then Moses lifted his hand and he struck the rock twice with his rod and water came out abundantly and the congregation and their animals drank.
Rebels. He's calling them a bunch of rebels. Like a bunch of people who are like turning against us, turning against me, turning against Aaron, turning against the Lord. And he hits the rock how many times? But two times. Yeah, he's supposed to speak to it. That's right. Yeah, then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. Here's what he said. You ready?
Because you did not believe me, do hallow me in the sight of the children of Israel. Therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord. And he was hallowed among them. But even though Moses struck the rock twice, did God still make water come out of it?
But he said. Yeah, me. Do you think that made Moses like, oh, good, I didn't want to go there anyways. No, I think it made him very sad because. Yeah, right. He doesn't get to go. I think the best verse in this is probably verse eight, ten and twelve. That's what I got. Twelve was and the Lord spoke to Moses because you did not believe me and how to hollow me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore, you shall not bring this assembly.
Oh, okay. Yeah. So, uh, verse six and they fell on their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Yeah. Well, we'll wrap this up. I know you're getting tired. So, You want to know what the New Testament teaches us? You know who that rock was supposed to be a picture of? Jesus. Why do you think the rock would be a picture of Jesus? Because it gave water. OK, it gave water, right? Come and drink of the living water. Good. It helps the people. Good.
Did the people deserve the water? How is God going to give them the water? He did the rock he made it but what was his attitude supposed to be? What were they going to see was the Lord's? attitude Well, he would be gracious and merciful and kind that's right That's the way the Lord Will make it known Right.
And so. Is God still merciful and gracious today? Mm hmm. Are we those rebels? Yeah. But what is how does God treat us? Kind. Do you know what Jesus tells us we're supposed to pray? For our enemies, but also hallowed be your name. Right. Did they did they hallow the Lord that day because he gave them water from the rock at Meribah? Yeah, they did. They did, right? Can we? Yeah, can we bring God glory now? Yeah. Yeah. Can we bring God glory even by not being like these rebels? Oh, does he command us to not grumble and complain like our fathers did in the wilderness?
Yeah. Didn't they walk on the promised land like seven times? They walked around the wilderness for 40 years. Well, they walked around the city of Jericho for seven days. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they blew their horns and what happened to the wall? That's right. But that's for another day. Chuck. All right. You're a break. OK.
Lord, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, we thank you that you are gracious, that you are merciful. Lord, we thank you for the love that you have shown us in Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that we would not be like those rebellious people in the wilderness, that our hearts would naturally want to be that way, but that we would not grumble and complain. When there's hard providence, Lord, we know there is at times, we pray that we would fall on our faces before you and seek your mercy and kindness in Jesus's name. Amen. All right. May God bless you. May you trust in the Lord and His goodness towards you. We'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. Are you done? Yeah. Yeah.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.