Striking The Rock
I am quite sure we have all done things that we wish we could do over again. At the time we thought we had a reason to do what we were doing, but looking back we can see how wrong it was. Moses and Aaron had such an experience when Moses came out and struck the rock, instead of speaking to it, as God had told him to do. He may have been frustrated with the people, and he took out his frustrations in this way. He may have had a surge of pride, and he wanted to act powerful. Whatever the reason, Moses failed to trust God, and Aaron failed to stop him from disobeying God. Therefore, neither one of them were allowed to enter the Promised Land.(Numbers 20:12)
This may seem like a very harsh punishment to some people. It would be rather severe if it wasn't for the theology of the event. The rock that Moses struck followed the Israelites in the wilderness to give them water. It took a lot of water for 2 million people. This rock was always there when they needed water. The first time Moses was told to strike the rock, which he did, and water flowed out. This time he was only supposed to speak to the rock. Why is this so important? I Corinthians 10:4 tells us that "the rock was Christ." I am not sure whether it was a symbol of Christ or literally Christ was working through this rock, but it was Christ. The thirsty came to Him to drink. Christ was struck once for our sins, and He poured out His blood to pay for our sins and provide salvation to those who trust Him as Lord. After salvation, all we have to do is to speak to Him in prayer, and He comes to meet our needs. Christ only died once for all of the sins of the world. Therefore, when Moses struck the rock a second time, he was interfering with God's message to us.
Moses did not know this part of what he was doing when he disobeyed God. However, that is true every time we decide not to listen to God and do His will. We do not know the importance of what He is telling us to do. All we need to know is that He is Lord, and we should do what He says, when He says it, so His perfect will can be done. Moses' rebellion messed up the perfect will of God, and God punished him for that sin. I hope this story makes all of us more sensitive to what the Lord calls on us to do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 22-24.
This may seem like a very harsh punishment to some people. It would be rather severe if it wasn't for the theology of the event. The rock that Moses struck followed the Israelites in the wilderness to give them water. It took a lot of water for 2 million people. This rock was always there when they needed water. The first time Moses was told to strike the rock, which he did, and water flowed out. This time he was only supposed to speak to the rock. Why is this so important? I Corinthians 10:4 tells us that "the rock was Christ." I am not sure whether it was a symbol of Christ or literally Christ was working through this rock, but it was Christ. The thirsty came to Him to drink. Christ was struck once for our sins, and He poured out His blood to pay for our sins and provide salvation to those who trust Him as Lord. After salvation, all we have to do is to speak to Him in prayer, and He comes to meet our needs. Christ only died once for all of the sins of the world. Therefore, when Moses struck the rock a second time, he was interfering with God's message to us.
Moses did not know this part of what he was doing when he disobeyed God. However, that is true every time we decide not to listen to God and do His will. We do not know the importance of what He is telling us to do. All we need to know is that He is Lord, and we should do what He says, when He says it, so His perfect will can be done. Moses' rebellion messed up the perfect will of God, and God punished him for that sin. I hope this story makes all of us more sensitive to what the Lord calls on us to do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 22-24.