Poor Moses. The people will not stop grumbling about being in the desert. This time they are complaining about the lack of water available to them. So Moses once again goes to God for help. God tells Moses to take his staff, gather the assembly together at a specific rock, and speak to the rock so that water pours forth.
Moses gathers the community together and is so frustrated with them that he lectures them about their behavior. Soon after, instead of speaking to the rock like God instructed Moses to do, Moses strikes the rock with his staff. Water still comes forth for the people, but God is not happy about Moses' disobedience and tells him that that he and Aaron will not be permitted to go into the Promised Land.
Poor Moses. He has put up with so much from these grumbling and complaining Israelite people; he even obeyed all that God has ordered him to do up to this point. But at one moment Moses loses his temper, disobeys God, and is forever punished for this sin. How tragic. How very tragic for Moses. I really like Moses and feel sorry for him not getting to see the land to which God led them from Egypt to see. This faithful servant is severely punished for disobedience, for lack of trust, and for his pride. I don't fault Moses any; anybody else would have probably done the same thing. I just wish it didn't have to happen. I wish he didn't have to be punished.
Moses is punished, however. I wonder how Moses felt about this. I wonder what he learned from this experience. What can we learn from this story? I think we can learn, once again, that God wants us to trust him. He wants us to put aside our egos and trust God that He will take care of things for us. What rocks are we striking right now instead of speaking to? What might God want us to do that we are not doing?
Day 30: Numbers 15 to 20
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