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From Eternity Past
believed Me not,” the Lord declared to the two brothers, “to sanctify
Me in the eyes of the children of Israel.” When the water failed, their
own faith in God’s promise had been shaken by the rebellion of the
people. The first generation had been condemned to perish in the
wilderness because of their unbelief. Would these also fail?
Wearied and disheartened, Moses and Aaron had made no effort
to stem the current of popular feeling. They might have set the matter
before the people in such a light as would have enabled them to bear
this test. They might have quelled the murmuring before asking God to
do the work for them. What a train of evil might have been prevented!
The rock, being a symbol of Christ, had been once smitten, as
Christ was to be once offered. It was needful only to speak to the
rock, as we have only to ask for blessings in the name of Jesus. By the
second smiting of the rock, the significance of this beautiful figure of
Christ was destroyed.
More than this, Moses and Aaron assumed power that belongs only
to God. The leaders of Israel should have improved the occasion to
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impress the people with reverence for God and to strengthen their faith
in His power and goodness. When they angrily cried, “Must we fetch
you water out of this rock?” they put themselves in God’s place, as
though the power lay within themselves. Moses had lost sight of his
Almighty Helper, and without the divine strength he had been left to
mar his record by human weakness. The man who might have stood
firm and unselfish to the close of his work had been overcome at last.
God did not on this occasion pronounce judgments upon those
who had so provoked Moses and Aaron. All the reproof fell upon the
leaders. Moses and Aaron had felt themselves aggrieved, losing sight
of the fact that the murmuring was not against them but against God.
Looking to themselves, they unconsciously fell into sin, and failed to
set before the people their guilt before God.
“The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me
not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore
ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them.” They must die before the crossing of the Jordan. They were not
chargeable with willful or deliberate sin; they had been overcome by a
sudden temptation, and their contrition was immediate and heartfelt.
The Lord accepted their repentance, though because of the harm their
sin might do among the people, He could not remit its punishment.