Numbers 20:5, commentary and pictures

Spoken on the borders of the promised land in sight of its hills, the words were the angry cry of a thirsty people when the long-flowing stream beside their encampment had ceased by God's command. They accused their leaders of bringing them with their children and cattle up out of Egypt into a barren, evil wilderness with no seed, figs, vines, pomegranates, or water, to kill them there, even wishing they had died with their brethren in the plague. The ceasing of the water should have been understood as cause for rejoicing and a token that the wandering was ended and God's promise was being fulfilled, since they were about to pass directly through a well-watered country to Canaan. The lack of water was a deliberate strait by which God proved them to see if they would trust His providence and remember past deliverance, but at the first cry they failed and showed the same impatient, distrustful, rebellious spirit as the former generation. Though aimed at Moses and Aaron, the complaint was not ultimately against men but murmuring against God Himself, dishonoring Christ their invisible leader. Moses and Aaron wrongly took the murmuring as dishonor to themselves, and, stirred by Satan and wearied by forty years of rebellion, Moses let go his hold on infinite power and in wrath smote the rock, taking the glory to himself and failing to magnify God before the people.

Complaint at Kadesh

The complaint was made at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin nearly forty years after the departure from Egypt, when Israel had been brought back to the very place where God had first proved them soon after the Exodus by bringing water from the rock. The living stream then given had flowed beside the encampment continuously ever since, but just as they came again to the rock the Lord by His own command and purpose caused it to cease in order to prove them again whether they would endure the trial of faith or murmur as before. It was spoken on the borders of the promised land just before entering Canaan, in sight of its hills, only a few days' march from its borders and a little distance from Edom belonging to the descendants of Esau, through which lay the appointed route to Canaan. There they must show that they believed God's promise, with opportunity to walk by faith instead of by sight.

Thirsty and finding no water, the people angrily accused Moses and Aaron of bringing the congregation with their cattle and children up out of Egypt into an evil, barren wilderness to die and to kill them. They called it no place of seed or crops, of figs or vines or pomegranates, with no water to drink. In their desperation they even wished they had died with their brethren in the plague that destroyed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They credited Moses with their deliverance and failed to keep God in view as the One leading them.

The cutoff should have been understood as cause for rejoicing and a token that the wilderness wandering was ended and God's promise was being fulfilled. They were about to pass in a direct course through a well-watered, fertile country to Canaan, with God's promise of unmolested passage through Edom and opportunity to buy food and water sufficient for the host. Their murmuring brought instead the longer journey around Edom, making their hardship greater than God had intended. Their unbelief kept that journey through Edom from becoming a blessing and led them to face the desert again and depend on water from the miraculous spring, yet instead of recognizing this consequence they blamed God and Moses and grew discontented with their lot.

Unbelief Tested and Exposed

The drying up of the water was no accident but a strait place appointed by God to prove His people again, to see whether they would endure the trial of faith, believe His promise, trust His providence and care, walk by faith and not by sight, and remember past deliverance. In their great necessity He would exhibit His power, live in their memory, and be glorified by them, mercifully displaying His glory to soften and subdue their hearts and lead them to repentance. At the very first cry for water they failed the test, showing impatience, distrust, and the same unthankful, rebellious spirit as the former generation. They forgot the One who had supplied their wants for years, forgot His long and generous provision and His power in bringing water from the rock, and treated the trial as proof that He had brought them to ruin. They gave up hope that He would bring them into Canaan and clamored for the blessings of the wilderness, showing how quickly unbelief can arise when a blessing is withdrawn.

Though in desperation they hurled the complaint at Moses and Aaron, crediting Moses with their deliverance and failing to keep God in view as the One leading them, it was not ultimately against men appointed to carry out His purpose. It was murmuring against God Himself, against His care and providence at the waters of Meribah. In charging their calamities upon Moses and Aaron they grieved God, sinned against Him, dishonored Him, and insulted their best Friend. It was a wicked course of great guilt and transgression against Christ, their invisible leader who would bear their iniquities and was its greatest sufferer.

Moses and Aaron wrongly took the murmuring as a great trial and dishonor to themselves, forgetting that it was God whom Israel was grieving. Moses, worn and wearied by forty years of waywardness and rebellion, forgot for the moment how much God had borne with them, thought only of how deeply he was wronged and how little gratitude was shown for his deep love, and felt himself aggrieved. Looking to himself and appealing to his own sympathies, he let go his hold upon infinite power just upon the borders of the land and in wrath smote the rock, taking the glory to himself. He thus failed to honor and magnify God before Israel that they might glorify God, and failed to set the people's great guilt before God, for which the Lord was displeased and said he should not enter the promised land, while on this occasion He pronounced no judgment upon the people for that provoking murmuring but let all the reproof fall upon the leaders.

Satan stirred up the worst passions of Israel to incite them to murmur and rebel until Moses lost command of himself, then tempted Moses until he yielded and was surprised into sin that was not premeditated. By taking the murmuring personally and appropriating to himself the glory that belonged to God, Moses transgressed God's law and placed himself on Satan's side, in Satan's dominion and power. This came at a time of greatest weakness after forty years of wandering, when strength failed, will power weakened, and faith ceased to repose in God, when even those who have stood long and valiantly for the right may lose their victory. Whenever one is encompassed with clouds, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan is at hand to tempt and annoy, attacking weak points of character to shake confidence in God who suffers such conditions to exist, tempting to distrust God and question His love, hoping to discourage the soul and break its hold upon God and so secure his prey. Meeting him as Jesus did escapes many a defeat, while parleying with the enemy gives him advantage, so the episode warns God's people to guard their hearts against unbelief and against anything that comes between them and God.