51 – Speak to the Rock
Numbers 20:1 – 21:35
The Israelites traveled to a place where there was no water. The people went to Moses and said, “We wish we would have died with our brothers under God’s hand. You brought us here with many promises, but we don’t see any farms, fig trees, or vineyards. On top of that, there’s no water for us or our livestock.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and stand in front of them with your staff. Speak to the rock, and it will give you water. There will be enough for the people and their livestock.”
So Moses stood in front of the people. He said, “You’re a bunch of rebels. Do I have to provide you water from this rock?” With that, he hit the rock two times with his staff. Water came gushing out, and everyone had enough.
But the Lord wasn’t pleased with Moses and Aaron. He said, “You didn’t trust my power. These people saw you disrespect my command. Therefore, you won’t take these people into the land I promised them.”
As the people of Israel moved on, they came to the border of Edom. Moses sent a message to their king asking permission to pass through their land. He assured the king that they wouldn’t disturb anything, and they would pay for any water they drank.
The king refused to let them pass through the land. He even sent his army to their borders and threatened war if the Israelites crossed into their land. So Moses turned away.
Shortly after that, the Lord said to Moses, “Aaron is about to die. Therefore take the high priest’s garments off of him and put them on Eleazar, his son.”
Moses did this, and Aaron died soon afterwards. The people of Israel mourned his death for thirty days.
As the Israelites moved around Edom, the people started to complain again. They said, “We didn’t have to come here to die. We could’ve done that in Egypt. We have no water, and we hate this awful food!”
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes into the camp. People were bitten, and many died. They rushed to Moses and said, “We’ve sinned! We shouldn’t have spoken against you and the Lord. Please talk to God and ask him to take away these snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. People will be healed from their snake bites if they look at the bronze snake.”
As the people of Israel traveled they came to the border of the Amorites. They sent a message to the king asking if they could travel through his land. They assured him that they would not take anything and would do no harm.
The king of the Amorites refused. Instead, he took his army and attacked Israel. So the people of Israel fought them and totally defeated them. They took over all their cities and lived in them. They controlled all the land right up to the Ammonite border.
