Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

20:2-13 Rebellion at Meribah. Complaints about lack of water characterized the journey from the Red Sea to Sinai (Ex. 15:22-27; 17:1-7), and now they occur again. In both situations Moses struck the rock with his staff. This is what he had been told to do in Ex. 17:6, but on this second occasion he had been told to speak to the rock (Num. 20:8). This deviation from carrying out God's instruction led to Moses' being condemned not to bring this assembly into the land (v. 12). Since this seems like a minor error, it has been suggested that it was Moses' anger (see v. 10) to which God took exception. But v. 12 seems to make it clear that it was carelessness in attending to God's command that was the real issue: Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people. As the prime mediators of God's laws to Israel, Moses and Aaron had to be exemplary in their obedience. Their failure to follow the divine instruction exactly led to their forfeiting their right to enter Canaan. Some have suggested that another factor was involved: since God had told Moses in the earlier incident, "I will stand before you there on the rock" (Ex. 17:6), Moses should have known that God was present here on the rock as well; therefore Moses' speaking to the rock (Num. 20:8) would be actually speaking to God, and therefore when Moses struck the rock with his staff twice (v. 11), it was a serious manifestation of anger against God, and it is not surprising that God punished Moses severely (cf. note on 1 Cor. 10:3-4). Others hold that the emphasis here is on the difference between what God commanded and what Moses did; usually Moses did just what God commanded him, but not here. It was similar carelessness by Aaron's sons that led to their death in Lev. 10:1-3. The phraseology of Num. 20:12 also echoes that of the spy story, where God complains, "How long will they not believe in me?" (14:11). The people's unbelief led to their exclusion from the land; so did Aaron's and Moses' unbelief. Meribah means "quarreling." In Ex. 17:7, Rephidim was also nicknamed Meribah (see also Ps. 95:8).