The Conclusion

Studies in Numbers

II The Failure

C The Changes

1 The Conclusion, Text: Numbers 20:1-19

Title: Who’s In Charge?

INTRODUCTION

This is the last chapter in Part one of Numbers. Israel is again at Kadesh where they sent forth the spies into the promised land 40 years earlier. They have been wandering the entire time, and no doubt everyone is stressed to the point of being short tempered. The passage records the last developments before the conquest begins. Here we see Moses fail at a point where we do too. He sternly judges the people maintaining his own right of condemning in the name of God. He proceeds with an assumption of knowledge, justice, and charity he does not possess — how few of us are in these respects blameless for a day! Far back in sacred history this high duty is presented so as to evoke the best endeavor of the Christian soul and warn it from the place of failure. None of Moses family will enter the promised land. I hasten to add that in this case this symbolizes a loss of ability to serve or disqualification from service and not a loss of salvation.

I THE DISATISFACTION

First of all Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron dies. Then the same people who a short time before were frightened of death because of the manifestation of a holy God’s power and provision for maintaining a separation between sinners and his sanctuary now have a death wish in verses 1-5. 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. Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 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!” The death of Miriam occurs with no further explanation. Then we have the death wish of the people which is partially ridiculous because, although one must hastily agree that they needed water and as the story goes on God provided it and had provided it before. They did not need grapes, grain, pomegranates, and figs. God had been miraculously feeding them. This was not new. Earlier in Exodus they expressed the same sentiments. This is tantamount to a request the deacons in our church once received. A family in our church whom we had previously helped called us in an alleged holiday emergency. We had a food pantry and were accustomed to helping families with staples. Their request was for steak that they could barbecue. I guess you know that that was a source of humor for several years in our diaconate. Fortunately no one ever told us they were dying of hunger. Finally in verses 22-29 Aaron dies, and we read, The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.” Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, all the Israelites mourned for him thirty days. Since it is explicitly stated that both Moses and Aaron rebelled against God’s command at the waters of Meribah, this anticipates the death of Moses as well. It is the commencement of a new stage which is the end of the wanderings and the beginning of the conquest. We should remember here that the Psalmist in 116:15 says that the death of God’s faithful servants is precious in His sight. They have sinned but grace is greater than our sin, in this wilderness. This is part of God’s kingdom, and so we look at those saints around us who have fallen in this present age. They were not perfect but they were loved, and received the reward of grace. The attitude of Israel is not very different from many in our society today, they expect a free ride and they march in protest if they do not get it. And the object of their scorn is eerily similar because Moses represented the government of that day just like our elected officials today

II THE DISAPPOINTMENT

In this wilderness in which we live God often places detours in our path. Thus we go on routes we otherwise would not have traveled, He is accomplishing His sovereign purpose in our lives as He did in ancient Israel. An example is found in verses 14-21, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come on us. Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors, but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. “Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” But Edom answered: “You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.” The Israelites replied: “We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.” Again they answered: “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them. We know that there was ancient antagonism between Jacob and Esau, represented here by Israel and Edom. However in this situation we should not be too quick to assume it is just old resentments coming to the surface. There was a real problem presented here. We are talking about a million people passing through a narrow country. Even unintentionally they were likely to cause damage or harm. At the present many nations are confronted with a huge immigration problem. Open borders have led to some catastrophic damage to populations. Some leaders legitimately talk of fences and walls and many have employed military forces. At times detours are the only solution. There is an old adage good fences make good neighbors. In our personal lives disappointments are often needed, and when they are, it can be vexing. Yet, as we know God’s hand was in this and it resulted in a fitting departure for the beloved Aaron. God’s providence guides each step we take and when he says go this way and not that way we should patiently submit to his guidance and not fret. This leads us to the delusion which is the most memorable part of this portion.

III THE DELUSION

Let us read the account in verses 6-13, 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. The Lord said to Moses, “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.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 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?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 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.” These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them. It bears repeating that this could not and did not affect the salvation of these men, but it did disqualify them from leadership. In the Church of Jesus Christ in the present day there are many who have fallen under the same delusion. These are pastors and leaders who come to believe that the success of their church or enterprise is attributable to their talents or efforts instead of God. That kind of leadership does not move people closer to God, but instead creates human idols. It also makes such leaders vulnerable to sin. We have seen it happen many times in the lives of prominent Christian leaders. So here are Moses and Aaron, angry and frustrated over the complaining people whose irritating ingratitude seems endless. They’ve already been to this rock and God commanded them to strike it, but now God says only speak. Moses disobeys and implicates Aaron in his crime. This may seem to some of us as a petty reason for God to react in such a serious way, but in I Corinthians 10 we see the reason. Who is this rock that Moses is striking? Listen to verses 1-4, For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. The rock represents Jesus Christ our Lord. He was crucified once, He died once, and that secured our eternal salvation. We dare not as the author of Hebrews says in chapter 6, “Crucify the Son of God all over again and subject him to public disgrace.” This would imply that His saving work was inadequate and needed to be completed again. On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished,” and it was. If that rock was Christ, then it could be struck only once and after that must be spoken to. To us it may seem trivial, but it should not because it is important in the scheme of a perfect God with a perfect plan. Every detail of the Word of God is there for a reason and contributes to the perfect whole. The world is full of delusion and the children of God should recognize the danger. In II Thessalonians 2 the Apostle reminds us that God sends deluding influences to convict unbelievers and justify His judgment. We should avoid delusions like a plague.
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CONCLUSION

In summary then we should note and learn from Israel’s experience the following lessons. First: extreme dissatisfaction with the circumstances of our lives is the source of frustration and trouble. We should trust the Lord. Second: disappointment is His appointment and we are foolish to allow it to control our lives. We should trust the Lord. Third: we are deluded when we start to believe that we are in control. We should trust the Lord, He actually knows what He is doing. These are the things God taught Israel in the wilderness and they are lessons for us today in our wilderness.