Chapter 29—Moses Sinned
Again the congregation of Israel was brought into the wilderness, to
the very place where God proved them soon after their leaving Egypt.
The Lord brought them water out of the rock, which had continued
to flow until just before they came again to the rock, when the Lord
caused that living stream to cease, to prove his people again to see
if they would endure the trial of their faith, or again murmur against
him. When the Hebrews were thirsty, and could find no water they
became impatient and did not remember the power of God which had,
nearly forty years before, brought them water out of the rock. Instead
of trusting in God, they complained of Moses and Aaron, and said to
them, “Would God we had died when our brethren died before the
Lord.” That is, they wished that they had been of that number who had
been destroyed by the plague in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram.
They angrily inquired, “Why have ye brought up the congregation
of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
And wherefore have ye 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. And 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. And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together,
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thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their
eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to
them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and
their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as
he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation
together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels,
must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his
hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice, and the water came
out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And
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