Grow in the Knowledge of God's Love, Grace, and Power

Introduction

Numbers 20 and 21 mark a turning point. The people of Israel had left Egypt, set up the tabernacle after a year, sent the twelve spies to Kadesh Barnea in the second year, refused to believe God's promise, and inherited forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The first generation, the adults over twenty years old, died off one by one, just as God had said. Numbers 20 brings us almost back to the starting point, at Kadesh, with the second generation. Thirty eight years have passed since the first stop there. And God sets the people back at the starting line, as if asking them, "What did you learn during those thirty eight years?"

That question concerns us too. Since you believed in Jesus Christ, how have you walked? How much have you grown? Have you drawn closer to the promised land, to the rest God is preparing for you? Or do you keep putting off what he asks you to let go of?

Outline

1. A second chance at Kadesh (Numbers 20:1)

"The Israelites, the whole community, arrived at the Desert of Zin in the first month, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried." Thirty eight years earlier, it was at Kadesh Barnea that the spies had come back saying, "It's a beautiful land, but it's impossible." They had not believed God's promise. The second generation finds itself in exactly the same place where their parents failed. God sets them back at the starting line. Will they make the same choices as the previous generation, or will they trust God?

This second chance is an act of grace. It's not guaranteed for everyone, nor in every area of life. But when God grants it, seize it. There will be times when you find yourself facing the same situation as before, the one where you gave up, where you denied, where fear kept you silent. And God, in his kindness, will place you a second time before that same crossroads. Do not let it pass.

2. The waters of Meribah: Moses' failure (Numbers 20:2-13)

The people have no water. They grumble, they accuse Moses and Aaron, they long for Egypt. Nothing new: they act just like their parents. God, in his kindness, does not let them die of thirst. He tells Moses, "Take the staff, gather the assembly, and speak to the rock before them. It will pour out its water."

But Moses, still grieving the sister he had just lost, exasperated with a people who had learned nothing in thirty eight years, says, "Listen, you rebels! Must we bring you water out of this rock?" He raises his hand and strikes the rock twice with his staff. Water gushes out abundantly. The people drink, the livestock drink. The result is there, but the method is wrong. God had said, "Speak to the rock." Moses struck it.

Psalm 106:32-33 comments, "By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord…for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips." Moses spoke out of anger, bitterness, discouragement, perhaps even contempt for the people. What was in his heart came out through his mouth. And God tells him, along with 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."

The sentence is heavy. It reminds us that representing God rightly before others is a serious matter. The more God entrusts you with responsibility, the higher the standard. This applies to those who teach the Word, but Jesus says to all his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world." Each of us, with the Spirit living within, either shows or distorts God's true face, day after day, through our words, our reactions, our actions.

3. The rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4)

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:4, sheds light on this scene: "They all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." The rock Moses strikes is not just any rock, it's the rock that accompanied them, a picture of Christ. In Exodus 17, the first time, God told Moses to strike the rock, and water gushed out. That was a picture of Christ struck once for all on the cross. Here, at Meribah, God no longer asks Moses to strike. He asks him to speak, to ask. Because Christ has already been struck.

After the cross, the believer receives the Spirit not by striking, but by asking. Jesus says in John 7:37-39, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit." And Revelation concludes, "Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17)

This is what God wanted to show through the scene at the rock. A cross, a Christ struck once, then a Spirit given to whoever asks. Moses missed that picture by striking twice. But Paul, in the light of the New Testament, helps us see what God meant.

4. Aaron's death and the passing of the priesthood (Numbers 20:22-29)

The people ask Edom, the descendants of Esau, for passage through their territory to go directly north toward the promised land. Edom refuses and comes out armed. Israel has to go around. At Mount Hor, God calls Aaron to die. In front of the whole community, Moses brings Aaron and his son Eleazar up the mountain. He removes the high priest's garments from Aaron and puts them on Eleazar. Aaron dies there. The community mourns him for thirty days.

The priesthood continues even when the man is gone. The service of God is never suspended. Aaron paid the price for his failure at Meribah, but the people still have a high priest. God prepares the next generation of leadership before the absence comes.

5. Victory over the king of Arad (Numbers 21:1-3)

The Canaanite king of Arad attacks and takes some prisoners. Israel prays, "If you deliver this people into my hands, I will totally destroy their cities." God listens, hands over the Canaanites, and the place is named Hormah. First victory on the soil of the promise. The people who prayed thirty eight years earlier while fleeing now pray while advancing.

6. The venomous snakes and the bronze snake (Numbers 21:4-9)

Israel goes around Edom. The journey is long. The people grow impatient and grumble, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Once again. God sends venomous snakes. Many die. The people recognize their sin and beg Moses to intercede.

God answers, "Make a venomous snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." Moses makes a bronze snake and puts it up on a pole. Those who look at it live.

Jesus takes up this image in John 3:14-15: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." The snake, a symbol of sin; the pole, a symbol of the curse. Christ lifted up on the cross bore your curse. Galatians 3:13 states it: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole." Looking to Christ crucified, believing in the Son lifted up for you, is all it takes to be saved.

7. Why you burn out (Numbers 21:4)

"On the way, the people grew impatient." Why do we lose patience following God? Because we try to do it in our own strength. Duty, fear, guilt, habit, routine, comparing ourselves to others, wanting to look good: that whole engine eventually breaks down. Every time. Going to church, reading the Bible, praying, serving: if you do these things by your own energy, you will burn out. There will come a moment when you say, "I can't do this anymore."

You received the Spirit when you believed in Christ. You were born by the Spirit, and you will be brought to completion by the Spirit. Every morning, before you open your Bible, before you pray, ask, "Lord, help me not to do this in my own strength. Help me come to you with a new heart, with gratitude, with joy." Otherwise, you will burn out. The flesh always wins in the end when given free rein. But the Spirit puts the flesh to death when we walk with him, and there is no more breaking point.

8. The Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14)

The text quotes a book now lost: "the Book of the Wars of the Lord." It doesn't say "the wars of Israel," it says "the wars of the Lord." It is the Israelites who fight, but it is God who defeats the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, God who hands over the cities, God who grants the victory.

Does your life have its own book of the wars of the Lord? Today, you are who you are because God, through his Spirit, has fought for you against your flesh, against your cravings, against the enemy's attacks. Today, you are saved because Jesus defeated Satan and death on the cross. Do not forget it. Psalm 103 says, "Forget not all his benefits."

9. Sihon, Og, and a victory given in advance (Numbers 21:21-35)

Sihon, king of the Amorites, refuses passage and attacks. Israel defeats him, takes Heshbon and all the surrounding towns. Og, king of Bashan, comes out next. God tells Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land." Israel strikes, leaves no survivors, and takes the land.

Your battle is not against flesh and blood, but you do have an enemy. He whispers in your ear, "You are not loved, you are not forgiven, you're not even saved." Listen instead to Romans 8:33-39: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies…Neither death nor life…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Your fight is to remain in that love. And that fight, God wages for you.

10. The reason for God's love (Deuteronomy 7:7-9)

"The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples…but it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors." God kept his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He kept his promises to Jesus. So the promises made in Christ for you will be kept. He will complete your salvation, he will guard your heart, he will forgive your fault and remember it no more.

Key Takeaways

• God sometimes sets the believer back at the starting line, as he did for the second generation at Kadesh. When that second chance comes, seize it.
• Representing God rightly, through your words and your life, is a serious responsibility. What is in your heart always ends up coming out.
• The rock that was struck was Christ on the cross. The rock we now speak to is Christ, from whom we now ask for the Spirit. All it takes is to ask.
• When you try to follow God in your own strength, you will eventually burn out. It is the Spirit who must lead you there, every day.
• The battles won are the Lord's battles. Keep a record of what God has done in your life and forget none of his benefits.

Personal Application

• What "second chance" has God recently brought you to, and what did you do with it? Will you finally let go of what you were holding onto?
• Is there bitterness, anger, or discouragement in you toward certain brothers, sisters, or family members that distorts your words when you respond to them?
• Today, when you thirst for the Spirit, do you simply ask Christ for it, or do you try to manufacture by your own strength what God wants to give freely?
• What are you "burning out" on right now? Is it because you were walking out of duty, habit, or fear, instead of walking by the Spirit?
• Take five minutes to write down three specific battles God has won for you over the past five years. Thank him by name for each one.

Verses Cited

• Numbers 20 (NIV)
• Numbers 21 (NIV)
• Exodus 17 (NIV)
• Deuteronomy 2:14 (NIV)
• Deuteronomy 7:7-9 (NIV)
• Psalm 103 (NIV)
• Psalm 106:32-33 (NIV)
• Matthew 5:13-14 (NIV)
• John 3:14-15 (NIV)
• John 7:37-39 (NIV)
• Romans 8:33-39 (NIV)
• 1 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV)
• Galatians 3:13 (NIV)
• Revelation 22:16-17 (NIV)

FAQ

Why is Moses punished so severely for striking the rock?

Because through that action, God wanted to point to Christ. The first rock, struck in Exodus 17, foreshadowed Christ struck once for all on the cross. At Meribah, God asked Moses to speak to the rock, a picture of the new relationship in which we ask Christ for the Spirit. By striking it twice, Moses blurred that picture and made it look as though God were angry with his people, when God actually wanted to provide for them by grace. Representing God rightly, when you carry responsibility, is a very serious matter.

What does the bronze snake mean for a Christian today?

Jesus himself, in John 3:14-15, says that he is its fulfillment. The snake, a symbol of sin; the pole, a symbol of the curse. Christ lifted up on the cross bore your curse and your sin. Looking to him, believing in him, is enough to receive eternal life. No one needs to perform great works to be saved: lifting your eyes to Christ crucified is already the faith that saves.

Why does God let his people go through the same grumbling over and over?

Because his love never runs out. The people grumble, rebel, forget. God disciplines them, but he never stops loving them, never stops being faithful to his promises. Deuteronomy 7 reminds us: God did not choose you because you were better. He chose you out of love and faithfulness to what he had promised. What needs to change is not God's love, it's how you respond to that love, through faith and through the Spirit.