Smitten Rock
367
The two brothers went on before the multitude, Moses with the rod
of God in his hand. They were now aged men. Long had they borne
with the rebellion and obstinacy of Israel; but now, at last, even the
patience of Moses gave way. “Hear now, ye rebels,” he cried; “must
we fetch you water out of this rock?” and instead of speaking to the
rock, as God had commanded him, he smote it twice with the rod.
The water gushed forth in abundance to satisfy the host. But a
great wrong had been done. Moses had spoken from irritated feeling;
his words were an expression of human passion rather than of holy
indignation because God had been dishonored. “Hear now, ye rebels,”
he said. This accusation was true, but even truth is not to be spoken in
passion or impatience. When God had bidden Moses to charge upon
Israel their rebellion, the words had been painful to him, and hard for
them to bear, yet God had sustained him in delivering the message.
But when he took it upon himself to accuse them, he grieved the Spirit
of God and wrought only harm to the people. His lack of patience
and self-control was evident. Thus the people were given occasion to
question whether his past course had been under the direction of God,
and to excuse their own sins. Moses, as well as they, had offended
God. His course, they said, had from the first been open to criticism
and censure. They had now found the pretext which they desired for
rejecting all the reproofs that God had sent them through His servant.
Moses manifested distrust of God. “Shall we bring water?” he
questioned, as if the Lord would not do what He promised. “Ye be-
lieved Me not,” the Lord declared to the two brothers, “to sanctify Me
in the eyes of the children of Israel.” At the time when the water failed,
their own faith in the fulfillment of God’s promise had been shaken by
the murmuring and rebellion of the people. The first generation had
been condemned to perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief,
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yet the same spirit appeared in their children. Would these also fail of
receiving the promise? Wearied and disheartened, Moses and Aaron
had made no effort to stem the current of popular feeling. Had they
themselves manifested unwavering faith in God, they might have set
the matter before the people in such a light as would have enabled
them to bear this test. By prompt, decisive exercise of the authority
vested in them as magistrates, they might have quelled the murmuring.
It was their duty to put forth every effort in their power to bring about
a better state of things before asking God to do the work for them. Had