Commentator is Rev. Matt Wolfington.
Moses is getting some help here. His gift of Administration is coming forth again. These priests are now the door keepers of God's house. Normally, this would have fallen to the descendants (sons) of Aaron. They died when they disobeyed God, so God is redeeming here once again.
Chapter 20 – Ah, the people of Israel are thirsty, again, and wish they were dead, again! Moses is in the same position of going before God to ask for relief, and now Aaron is with him. After all this time, the people are still questioning God. But, wait; something happens here. God tells Moses to command to the rock (in other words: talk to the rock) to yield water. What does Moses do? At first glance, the obvious is that Moses “struck the rock twice with his staff,” instead of giving it a verbal “command” to bring forth water. Also, Moses did something he had not done before: he took credit for the miracle for himself and Aaron by saying, “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” (My emphasis added) The water flowed, but God punished Moses and Aaron by saying they did not trust in Him, therefore they would not lead the people of Israel into the promised land. Rather harsh, wouldn’t you say? I mean afterall, Moses had been the voice of God for decades. Moses had been frighteningly obedient for decades. He stood up to Pharaoh and found himself before God himself numerous times. One little slip of words, mere semantics, and God punishes him? Or was it more about Moses’ heart? Suddenly, we see the same Moses speak here as the one who killed the Egyptian in his youth and run for the desert. God is constantly upset that the people have not transformed. Was Moses transformed?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment