Numbers 20:1-13
Water From the Rock
20 In the first month the whole Israelite
community arrived at the Desert of Zin,
and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam
died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water for the community,
and the people gathered in opposition to
Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with
Moses and said, “If only we had died
when our brothers fell dead before the
LORD! 4 Why did you bring the LORD’s
community into this wilderness, that we
and our livestock should die here? 5 Why
did you bring us up out of Egypt to this
terrible place? It has no grain or figs,
grapevines or pomegranates. And there
is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly
to the entrance to the tent of meeting and
fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD
appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to
Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and
your brother Aaron gather the assembly
together. Speak to that rock before their
eyes and it will pour out its water. You
will bring water out of the rock for the
community so they and their livestock
can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s
presence, just as he commanded him.10
He and Aaron gathered the assembly
together in front of the rock and Moses
said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must
we bring you water out of this rock?”
11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck
the rock twice with his staff. Water
gushed out, and the community and their
livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
“Because you did not trust in me enough
to honor me as holy in the sight of the
Israelites, you will not bring this community
into the land I give them.” 13 These were
the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites
quarreled with the LORD and where he was
proved holy among them.
There are multiple times in life were we as humans face hardships and struggles. We begin to think that life was so much better last year when we weren’t dealing with ____________, or I wish I could go back before _________ happened, because life was so much easier then. Too often we dwell on our hardships. We forget to count our blessings. We see this in the story above: God has freed the Israelites from slavery. Before this mighty, powerful, and saving act of God the Israelites were being beaten and overworked. God empowers Moses to help free these people from the suffocating grip of Pharaoh.
Through the power of God and Moses the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt and soon find themselves in a desert. They complain and question God’s ability to sustain them in the desert. The Israelites even ask Moses “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?” The Israelites have forgotten that Egypt was a terrible place. They were slaves, they didn’t have the freedom God intended humans to have. The Israelites are not counting their blessings.
However, we cannot simply read this story and say “wow they were very ungrateful people.” We have to read this story and say “wow, I am not as grateful for God’s salvific acts in my life as I should be.” The story of God found in the Holy Scriptures is a living text, it revels truths about ourselves and God. We are in the season of Lent going down with Christ, so that we may be raised up with Christ. Ultimately, God meets our needs in life whether through water or assurance that God is near. God knows the inner workings of our hearts better than we do. During this season of Lent I challenge you to count your blessings and marvel at the goodness of a God who was willing to sacrifice himself for our salvation.
Lindsey Graber is a junior majoring in Religion and Philosophy at Southwestern College.
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