Sadly, Moses Failed the Test -- a study of Numbers 20:1-13
- mww
- Oct 1
- 17 min read
This passage is a warning to all of us not to get too self-confident.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Numbers 20:1-13
Forty years after the failure of the old generation, God tests the new generation the same way -- the fear of no water. Shockingly, it's Moses and Aaron who fail the test, demonstrating that they are too much like their older peers to be allowed into the Promised Land. We see that God is merciful, but God is also just and does not show favoritism.
“Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” (20:10)
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Life in 1985
For the sake of variety, I'm proposing a very specific nostalgia angle for this week's lesson. Here's why: roughly 40 years has passed since last week's passage, and the Israelites are still wandering in the wilderness. I want us to consider how long 40 years is (and that should be relatively easy for us when we think about how much things have changed in 40 years). There are lots of nostalgia channels, most of which are probably AI slop. This video is fine, if a little slow.
The year 1985 included
the first seatbelt law,
the first Wrestlemania,
New Coke,
finding the Titanic wreckage,
a movie slate that puts modern years to shame,
"Careless Whisper"! and
the first Nintendo in America.
How much have things changed in our country in 40 years?
You in 1985
Another way of doing this is to look at each of us individually. I was a child in 1985, and many of you whippersnappers probably weren't even born yet, so you may have to change the timescale. My question idea is something to the effect of "How much have you changed in 40 years?"
There are plenty of obvious things. Physical changes in your body have myriad effects on your life. And Lord willing, you are steadily maturing in your walk with Jesus. How has your "outlook on life" changed in 40 years? Are you more cynical and jaded? More hopeful and joyful? More or less trusting in the people around you?
Here's where I propose going with this: you know you've changed a lot in 40 years, but how much have you really changed? This week's passage begins with a complaint that eerily like a complaint that happened 40 years before. I would like to think that this new generation would be different from the previous, but maybe not so much . . .
The More Things Change . . .
The more things change, the more they stay the same. What does that phrase even mean?
Do some research on this. Perhaps it might give us some perspective into this week's passage.
That Desert-Nomad Lifestyle
This is another topic you would have to do your own research on. What's it like being a nomad in the desert? It's the only lifestyle this new generation of Israelites has known. I wonder how it has affected their mindset, their perspective?
They have lived every day with the same "neighbors" in close quarters. Their basic needs (food and water and clothing-longevity) have been miraculously provided. They hear the same stories of God's wonders and their parents' rebellion.
Do some research and some roleplaying -- what might it have been like to be a 45-yr-old in that camp, having spent your whole life in the desert?
Your Worst Moment
If your group can handle this, it would be appropriate to get a little personal. In this week's passage, we see Moses at his true worst. Worse than when he was whining about God killing him! This week is the sin that will prevent Moses from entering the Promised Land.
What was your worst moment (that you can share in mixed company)? Who witnessed it, and what was the fallout?
I've made some regrettable decisions as a Christian, and I don't want to get into some of my behavior from before my conversion. This is one of those topics that makes me so thankful for forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
This Week's Big Idea: Why Pastors Quit
I mentioned this survey a couple of weeks ago (it came out on Sept 16), and I think it's more applicable to this week's passage.
Here's their big summary chart:
That's just really, really interesting. Remember: only 1% of pastors quit ministry each year, so we're talking about a very small number. But knowing that, these are some valuable insights.
When I mentioned this survey a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how Moses was obviously a "high risk" ministry leader. More than 250? Check. Older than 55? Check. Experienced conflict? Check. (Sorry, I'm giggling about these.)
This week's passage highlights another: agreeing that their church wouldn't have achieved the same success without them. In this week's passage, we see Moses succumbing to that; his action called attention away from God and toward himself. Why might that attitude contribute toward a pastor quitting?
I have two practical uses for this topic:
What can you do to help maximize the "positive factors" for your pastor of your church?
How do those factors help you evaluate your own leadership roles -- maybe in a role with your church, or some other venue of leadership?
People tend to focus on the negative factors in surveys like this, but I don't want us to miss the positive ones. Again, most pastors don't quit, so we should be encouraged to emphasize those positive factors in our own churches and ministries.
Bonus Big Idea: Is Numbers 20 the Same as Exodus 17?
This is one of those topics that most of you will probably find irrelevant, but I feel an obligation to point them out every so often.
Ex 17:1 The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!” 5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. 6 I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Num 20:1 The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. 2 There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord spoke to Moses, 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as he had commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.” 13 These are the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them.
You should not need me to remind you that there are biblical skeptics who think the entire Bible is a bunch of fairytales. They read these two passages and conclude that whoever made up the Bible lazily copied this oral folk tale into two different places.
I have this as an exercise for everyone: what are the similarities and what are the differences between these two passages? Assuming the details are accurately recorded, could you reasonably argue that these are the same event?
[Important note: remember that the Bible skeptics do not think that the details are accurately recorded, which is why they argue as they do.]
Clearly, these are two separate events. BUT, I believe that their similarities are very important for us to understand what's happening in the book of Numbers. So, let's transition to --
Where We Are in the Book of Numbers
A lot (a lot) has happened since last week's passage. There's been another major rebellion (this time by elements of the priesthood and Levites) that was quashed horribly by God. This led to an additional set of rules for the priests and Levites (including the dramatic budding of Aaron's staff) as well as a new set of rules for the people's cleansing.
But the biggest thing we learn is that about 40 years have passed. This isn't made clear until we read the review of the people's travels in Numbers 33:
36 They traveled from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 They traveled from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 At the Lord’s command, the priest Aaron climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt.
Aaron dies at the end of Numbers 20, and we aren't told how much time has passed between the beginning and the end of the chapter, but I think it is safe to assume that we are in the first month of that 40th year of wandering (see 20:1).
Clearly the events in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 are similar. That gives me two main questions:
Why are the Israelites complaining about this again after 40 years?
Why does the author of the Torah report this as he does?
Here's the best way I've heard this explained: we need to take a bigger-picture view of the Torah.
Exodus 13-18: the Israelites travel to Sinai
along the way, they doubt God's ability to provide for their needs
Exodus 19-Leviticus-Numbers 10: God's laws for His people
includes the golden calf incident
Numbers 10-25: rebellion, wandering, the first victories
includes this week's episode of doubting God
Numbers 26-36: new census, new leaders, the first settlements
Exodus 17 marks the old generation. From the beginning, they doubted and complained, and that led to spots of true rebellion.
Now, 40 years have passed, and God is about the lead the new generation into the Promised Land. Doesn't it make sense that He would test them the same way He did their parents? In other words, God put the people in a position to either doubt or trust, and the people once again doubted. And we're all supposed to think, "Uh-oh!"
And it will get even more concerning in chapter 21, when the people complain about their food (like the previous generation did in Numbers 11). But there, God gives Moses the strange symbol of the bronze snake; those who "looked at the snake" lived. In other words, the survivors are those who have trusted God's ways. We are finally beginning to see the difference between the old generation and the new.
But chapter 20 gives us the very unexpected outcome: Moses and Aaron are too much a part of the old generation. That generation's doubts and complaints -- after 40 years of wallowing in it -- have rubbed off too much on Moses and Aaron. By their actions in this week's passage, they demonstrate that they deserve to die in the wilderness like their peers. And indeed they will.
To sum up: in chapter 20, God tests the new generation like He did their parents' generation. Surprisingly, it's Moses and Aaron who turn out to behave like the parents.
Note that that's discreetly foreshadowed in God's declaration that predicts this whole mess:
14:28 Tell them: As I live—this is the Lord’s declaration—I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. 29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more—because you have complained about me. 30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your iniquities forty years based on the number of the forty days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know my displeasure. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.
Part 1: A Disturbingly Familiar Scene (Numbers 20:2-5)
2 There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!”
By this point in our story, 40 years have passed. I would say that most of the previous generation has already died in the wilderness. That means that this complaint is coming primarily from the new generation. Does that surprise you? It does me.
But they are their parent's children, right? And they haven't been able to "move away", right? In what ways to children tend to be like their parents? In what ways are you like your parents?
In my experience, I can admit to not being surprised when kids complain about the same things as their parents. When you're around a complaint long enough, it seems to seep into you.
Like I said above, I believe that God has created the conditions behind this complaint. He has allowed the people to experience another shortage of water, and it's time to see if this generation will be any different from their parents.
Initial results aren't promising.
I've already showed you how this complaint mirrors that in Exodus 17, and this new generation has also seen the literal fruit from the Promised Land. But where the people are -- camped in the desert -- has none of that bounty. Only sand. And they've gotten tired of sand.
Last week, we talked about the meaning of God's words,
14:18 The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation.
We see that in two powerful ways:
The children have spent their lives wandering in a wilderness, not enjoying the blessings of the Promised Land, which has probably jaded them.
The children have spent their lives absorbing the negative attitudes of their parents, not getting an opportunity to grow beyond them.
At this point, we should be getting concerned. Is this generation going to face the same outcome as their parents?
But what happens next turns everything on its head.
Part 2: A Familiar Solution (Numbers 20:6-8)
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord spoke to Moses, 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.”
This starts with a very similar solution to what we read in Exodus 17. God is going to miraculously handle their need for water.
But there's a key difference in God's commands in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 -- do you see it? In Exodus 17, God tells Moses to strike the rock. In Numbers 20, God tells Moses to speak to the rock.
Why the difference?
Someone much smarter than me explained this to me. In Exodus 17, God was still validating Moses in the eyes of the people as His chosen leader, so God gave a sign that pointed to Moses' involvement as the intermediary of God's miracle. But in Numbers 20, that's no longer the case. These people have grown up with Moses; they need to be pointed to God, especially as leadership is about to be transferred to Joshua.
But Moses remembered the old way.
The main thing I would want you to take away from this section is the difference between Exodus 17 and Numbers 20.
Part 3: A Bizarre Twist (Numbers 20:9-13)
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as he had commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.” 13 These are the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them.
Oh, no, Moses!
Note that by providing the water -- despite Moses' failure -- we see that God wasn't punishing the people at all; He was testing them. We as readers weren't expecting Moses to be the one to fail the test!
[Important note: let me be clear that God wasn't surprised by any of this. When I talk about these events as being surprising, it's surprising to us the readers.]
By acting as he did, Moses was calling attention to himself, as if he were party to this miracle of the water. That word "we" is glaring. It also "put words in God's mouth" -- God was very gentle in His command; Moses turned it into something threatening and angry. Moses was dissatisfied with God's response! It also missed the point of the miracle -- that the people needed to put their trust in God, not the human leaders (because human leaders change, and indeed were about to; Aaron dies at the end of this chapter). I guess Moses just thought of himself as The Leader.
[If you want to, have someone act the difference between doing exactly as God commanded and doing as Moses did. What's the difference in the eyes of the people?]
This goes back to that survey I shared above, that a factor in a pastor quitting is their belief that they have been responsible for their church's success, rather than the Lord. It's a terrible attitude that brings dishonor to God and misunderstands who we are as humans. We don't "bring water from rock", only God does. But if Moses can make this mistake, let no pastor or ministry leader believe that we are above it.
Why might a pastor or ministry leader start to feel this way?
There's a fine line between believing "God has brought me to this place at this time because He has appointed me to this task" and "No one else can do the job that I'm going to do". Yes, Moses is one of the greatest leaders in human history. But he's still just a sinful human. As are we.
The previous generation died off in the wilderness because they did not trust God. How does this action by Moses reflect that same lack of trust?
It's the same word for "trust" as used in 14:11 (see last week),
The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”
God gave the people a command, and they flat out didn't do it. God gave Moses a command in verse 8, and he flat out didn't do it.
We can't get into Moses' head, but we can ask a parallel question: why do people today (us in particular) disobey God's direct commands?
We've talked about this before many times. Some of this has to do with believing that we can make better choices for ourselves. Some of it is wanting to be the center of our own life. Some of it is sinful rebellion. Any of those could work for Moses' situation.
My main takeaway here: if Moses can do it, any of us can do it at any time.
But there's one more part to Moses' rebellion. Specifically, Moses did not trust God "to demonstrate His holiness". Moses had determined how he wanted God to act -- Moses wanted fear and awe. But that's not Moses' decision to make. God's holiness -- God's being "set apart" from the people and the false deities of the region -- is entirely within God.
King David understood this. Remember our study of Psalm 18 a few months ago?
25 With the faithful you prove yourself faithful, with the blameless you prove yourself blameless, 26 with the pure you prove yourself pure, but with the crooked you prove yourself shrewd. 27 For you rescue an oppressed people, but you humble those with haughty eyes. 28 Lord, you light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness.
There is a place for fearful, and there is a place for calm. At this moment in their history, this generation didn't need fear and anger -- they needed matter-of-fact and clear. As we talked about last week, God has the right to respond differently to different situations as He deems fit. And Moses took that away from God, possibly because he thought he knew better.
As a result, Moses showed himself to be part of the rebellious generation, and God gave him the same punishment as the rest. (And we should have seen this coming, even if we didn't see it coming. Moses was never named with Caleb and Joshua.)
And I believe that is how God "demonstrated His holiness". God holds everyone -- even Moses, the man with whom He spoke face-to-face -- to the same standard. There is no favoritism or capriciousness with God. In the wording we would use today, "There is one way to be saved, and that is through Jesus Christ."
Now, I would expect some (all?) of you to say, "This seems harsh for one sin. We would hate to be judged by our worst moment! Where's the grace?"
Well, here it is. We see Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration (cf. Matt 17). That is as clear a "sign" of Moses' salvation as there is. This is where we have to remember that the Promised Land was a "symbol" of salvation, not salvation itself. Moses faced the same consequences for his sin as the rest of the people, but that doesn't mean God did not forgive him. Likewise today, sometimes we face consequences for our sin (and they can even be harsh!), but our salvation cannot be taken away from us. And in all of that, God is demonstrating His holiness.
God is holy. God is loving. God is gracious. God is just. Those are not parts of God's character -- He simply is those things. He is always all of those things fully all the time. We have trouble understanding that because we have days where we "feel more loving" than others. But that's not how God's character works.
For me personally, I greatly appreciate that God holds all people -- even His greatest leaders -- to the same standard. If anything, James tells us that leaders are held to those standards even "more strictly" in 3:1.
Strangely, this turns out to be one of the most consequential passages in the Old Testament -- Moses, the great hero of the Jewish people, demonstrated his own rebellious streak. It is left to Joshua, then, to be the leader that Moses failed to be.
And this is our second time (this month) studying the people's doubt of God. On which side do you think you would be this time around?