CHAPTER 20

(1453 B.C.)

MIRIAM

¹Then came the Children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month (this is the first month of the fortieth year after they had come out of Egypt; from the time of the spies until the occurrences of this Chapter was 38 years, of which nothing is recorded; this tells us that unbelief, for this is what caused the delay, does nothing for God; how many days, weeks, months, or even years of our lives are wasted, all because we were outside of the Will of God?): and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. (Is it possible that Miriam never allowed her heart to be properly cleansed from her rebellion against Moses, which, if so, could have contributed unto her untimely death?)

²And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. (This is a new generation, and yet they too murmur against the great Law-Giver and the High Priest, both which mean they are murmuring against the Lord.)

LACK OF WATER

³And the people chode with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

⁴And why have you brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? (The Lord had brought them there, not Moses.)

⁵And wherefore have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. (In fact, it was a difficult place! However, the Lord led them here because He loved them. He desired to reveal to them His inexhaustible resources, that is, if they would only believe. It is the same with us presently! Everything is a test. How will we respond?)

⁶And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the Assembly unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the Glory of the LORD appeared unto them (they took the situation to the Lord).

WATER FROM THE ROCK

⁷And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁸Take the rod (the same rod with which Moses had smitten the Rock in Rephidim [Ex. 17:6]), and you gather the Assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and you speak unto the Rock before their eyes (the Rock represents Christ, and what He would do at Calvary to redeem fallen humanity; it had already been smitten, typifying the once-for-all Sacrifice of Christ [Heb. 10:12]; to call forth the blessings was all that was now needed); and it shall give forth his water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the Rock (typifying the Work of the Holy Spirit that would be made possible by Christ and what He did at the Cross; Christ is the Source, while the Cross is the Means): so you shall give the congregation and their beasts drink.

⁹And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He commanded him.

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the Rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this Rock? (In his irritation, Moses placed himself and Aaron in the position of supplying the water, when the Lord Alone could do such a thing.)

¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the Rock twice (the Lord told him to speak to the Rock, not smite the Rock; to smite the Rock, in essence, greatly abrogated the Type; the Rock smitten in Rephidim was a Type of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross; to smite the Rock again, in essence, stated that the first Sacrifice was insufficient, and would have to be repeated; such a sin was great! Regrettably, much of the modern Church world continues to smite the Rock, committing the same sin as Moses; in fact, the sin is much worse presently, because the Rock is now history instead of prophetic): and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also (we should not mistake the Blessings of the Lord for the approval of the Lord; that is always a mistake).

THE PENALTY

¹²And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because you believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. (The penalty, i.e., chastisement, was severe, because the sin was severe. Is the Lord saying to the modern Church Leaders, Because you believe Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of Believers? Anything that denigrates the Cross is sin, gross sin!)

¹³This is the water of Meribah (strife); because the Children of Israel strove with the LORD, and He was sanctified in them (in that He brought water out of the Rock, despite the sin of Moses; Paul said, And that Rock was Christ [I Cor. 10:4]).

THE EDOMITES

¹⁴And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus says your brother Israel (this phrase recalled the history of Esau and Jacob, and of the brotherly kindness which the former had shown to the latter, at a time when he had him in his power [Gen., Chpt. 33]), You know all the travail that has befallen us:

¹⁵How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time (215 years); and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers (made slaves of the Israelites):

¹⁶And when we cried unto the LORD, He heard our voice, and sent an Angel, and has brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border (close to your border):

¹⁷Let us pass, I pray you, through your country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the kings high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your borders.

¹⁸And Edom said unto him, You shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword. (This exchange between Israel and Edom portrayed the gentleness of the one and the hatred of the other; however, just as God would not let Esau injure Jacob, so now He forbade Jacob to injure Esau [Deut. 2:4-5].)

¹⁹And the Children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of your water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.

²⁰And he said, You shall not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.

²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him. (Pulpit says, This was the first of a series of hostile acts, prompted by vindictive jealousy, which ultimately brought down the wrath of God upon Edom.)

²²And the Children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mount Hor.

AARONS DEATH

²³And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the Children of Israel, because you rebelled against My Word at the water of Meribah (Aaron was held guilty, exactly as Moses).

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:

²⁶And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. (I know this hurt Moses greatly, to be told these words by the Lord.)

²⁷And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. (No doubt, the announcement had been made to Israel that their High Priest, the very first one, was going to die. But the pain must have been felt more keenly by Moses.)

²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son (it affects the heart greatly to picture the farewell of Moses and Aaron upon Mount Hor; both were representatives of the Law, and the Law could never inherit the Promised Land; so both must die without going into the Promised Land); and Aaron died there in the top of the Mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the Mount.

²⁹And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.