Today’s passage: Numbers 20
Helpful thoughts:
- The deaths of Miriam and Aaron (Moses’ siblings) bookend this chapter. Aaron’s role as High Priest had to be passed on to his son (Hebrews 7:23-25).
- God commanded Moses to speak to the rock, instead Moses struck the rock twice in anger. This was disobedience.
- God had displayed His presence and the need to be struck to provide for His people in Exodus 17:1-7.
- The rock did not need to be struck a second time. The first time was sufficient to provide what the people needed.
- The rock pictured Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
- This is truly a painful passage. And it is a passage that points us to our reason for hope. There is much to grieve about. Yet in it all, God remains faithful.
- Israel did not make it into the Promised Land because their leader Moses was faithful (He failed too!). Israel made it into the Promised Land exactly when God said they would because God is faithful!
Questions to consider:
- Again, the people audibly grumbled against Moses, but who were they complaining against in reality? With the big picture of who God is in mind, why is it always right to “do all things without grumbling and disputing?” (Philippians 2:14-15)
- In what way was the striking of the rock a picture of Jesus? How was Jesus “struck” to provide for our greatest need? How was the command to only strike the rock once a picture of the sufficiency of Christ’s suffering at the cross?
- As amazing as the life of Moses was, why isn’t he the hero of Israel’s story? How does this passage remind us of who is really bringing everything together? Why is God the hero and how does this truth help us to read and understand the whole Bible more clearly?