Num 20.1-29 tells us about the death of Miriam; the striking of the the rock and the sin of Moses and Aaron; the king of Edom refusing to allow Israel to pass through his land; the death of Aaron. This chapter is a chapter about the collapse of leadership. What would we have thought to see Moses and Aaron in so much distress, even after losing their sister? All the consultants, flow charts and empowerment workshops won’t atone for a lack of leadership. There was leadership up to this point. If it wasn’t Moses, it was Aaron, or Miriam, or a developing leader like Joshua or Caleb. And if all else fails, there was Yehovah.
v 1…Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin (flat) in the first month (Nisan); and the people stayed at Kadesh (Wadi Rum today). Now Miriam died there and was buried there (Josephus says this was when the first red heifer was slain; there is mention of a period of mourning, but we know Moses is grieving at this point; this is 38 years after the previous verses and the congregation is not the same, some of the older ones have died in the wilderness).
v 2…And there was no water for the congregation and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.
v 3…The people thus contended with Moses (instead of consoling him, they contend) and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.
v 4…”Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here (this shows the bad influence their parents had on them)
v 5…And why have you made us come up (like they were forced) from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.
v 6…Then Moses and Aaron came from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. Then the glory (kivod) of the Lord appeared to them (either to Moses and Aaron, or to the assembly to instill silence their contentions);
v 7…and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
v 8…”Take the rod (which Moses used in Egypt and after and a symbol of his authority) and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock (the rock is a type of Messiah, and another rock had been smitten once in Exo 17.6 and it was a “tzur” which did not have a cleft; this rock is called a “sela” which has a cleft in it so one could hide; this alludes to the fact that Yeshua was struck once and does not need to be struck again because we can be hidden and save in him by just speaking to him) before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
v 9…So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as he commanded him;
v 10…and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels (Hebrew “morim” and means “Hear now, you who presume to teach your teachers”), shall we (after all you have done to us) bring forth water for you out of this rock (Israel looked to Moses to meet their needs, not God; Moses knew what was going to happen so he manipulates the others, and that can be a problem if anyone knows the future because we don’t know how to use it correctly; forget the fact that Messiah is really coming and the judgments, many teachers and people in their mercenary hearts think, “How can I make a buck somewhere in all this”)?”
v 11…Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod (he went from compassionate to impatient), and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank (these people have been giving Moes a hard time, and he decides to get back at them; he wants to strike them but instead he strikes the rock because they were like rocks, hard-headed and stiff; he strikes it again for personal exploitation, and he abuses his authority, seen in the rod);
v 12…But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed me (this is a breakdown in emunah/faith, which is made up of three things: love of God in action, obeying the commandments and knowledge of God in Torah?Scriptural facts; how did Yehovah know Moses and Aaron did not believe him?; because he did not obey his commandments; God is going to protect the validity of what he was trying to teach; Exo 17 is like the letter of the law, strict and harsh; in this instance, speaking to the rock is like the spirit of he law, its essence), to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them (the people got their water, but Moses is going to get the consequences; we make mistakes, even if we are a “Moses” and it brings out the worst in us; in the face of unloving and ungrateful brothers do we continue to serve?; hopefully we say “Yes”; Is Moses a failure? No, he left the world and Israel a better place, but this time he did not go before the Lord before he acted).
v 13…These are the waters of Meribah (strife) because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and he proved himself holy (having a kedusha and vindicated his name by giving the water, and by not showing respect of persons in punishing Moses and Aaron) among them.
v 14…From Kadesh (Wadi Rum) Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom, “Thus your brother Israel has said, “Thus you know all the hardship that has befallen us;
v 15…that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.
v 16…But we cried out to the Lord (Yehovah), he heard our voice and sent a angel (Hebrew “malak” or messenger; Moses was a sent one and a messenger-Deut34.10-11) and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh (Wadi Rum), a town on the edge of your territory (so it must be south of Edom (where Wadi Rum is).
v 17…Please let us pass through your land. We shall not pass through field or through vineyard; we shall not even drink water from a well. We shall go along the king’s highway (a common road used by all the people), not turning to the right or left (to sight-see, we will move fast) until we pass through your territory.’ “
v 18…Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, lest I come out with the sword against you (this was out of fear; or old grudges because he knew they were going into the land to possess it, and felt the blessing was “stolen” from Esau).
v 19…Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We shall go up by the highway (public road), and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else (nothing that would cause you harm; fast and saying nothing to the inhabitants).”
v 20…But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with heavy force, and with a strong hand.
v 21…Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory, so Israel turned away from him (in the direction shown in v 22).
v 22…Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor (Hebrew meaning “mountain” near Petra).
v 23…Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of Edom (on the border of Edom, not being able to pass through it), saying,
v 24…”Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah (20.12).
v 25…Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor;
v 26…and strip Aaron of his garments (of the high priest) and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.”
v 27…So Mosses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation (to witness the transfer of authority of the high priest to Eleazar).
v 28…And after Moses had stripped aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain (this is the weakness of the Levitical priesthood in the Olam ha Zeh, the priest die. In the Olam Haba, Yeshua is of the order (course) of Melchizedek and will never die, showing the superiority of the Melchizedek priesthood of Yeshua over the Levitical priesthood, and this concept is taught in the book of Hebrews).
v 29…And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days (same number of days for Moses in Deut 34.8; a national mourning).
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