Numbers 20:1-29

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 20

Water comes out of a rock – Numbers 20:1-13

v1 The *Israelites arrived at the Zin *desert during the first month. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and the people buried her.

v2 The *Israelites had no water. They met together in order to oppose Moses and Aaron. v3 They argued with Moses. They said, ‘Those other *Israelites died in front of *God’s Tent. We wish that we had died with them! v4 We are the *LORD’s people. You have brought us into this *desert. And now both we and our animals will die here! v5 You made us leave the country called Egypt and you brought us to this bad place. This place has no grain. It has no figs, *grapes or pomegranates. (Figs, *grapes and pomegranates are types of fruit.) Also, we have no water to drink!’

v6 Moses and Aaron left the people and went to the entrance of *God’s Tent. There, Moses and Aaron fell down and they laid their faces on the ground. The *LORD’s *glory appeared to them.

v7 The *LORD said to Moses, v8 ‘Take the stick. You and Aaron must call the people to meet together. Then, in front of all the people, you must order that rock to give water to you. And water will pour out from it. This is how you will get water for the *Israelites and their animals.’

v9 Moses obeyed God. He took the stick from *God’s Tent.

v10 Moses and Aaron called the *Israelites to meet in front of the rock. Moses said to them, ‘Listen, you rebels! (Rebels are people who oppose their leader.) We will bring water to you. It will come out of this rock.’

v11 Then Moses raised his arm. Twice he hit the rock with his stick. Lots of water poured out. All the *Israelites and their animals drank the water.

v12 But the *LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘You did not believe in me. You did not show the *Israelites that I am *holy. So you will not lead them into the *Promised Land.’

v13 They called this place Meribah. (In *Hebrew, this means ‘to complain’.) This was because the *Israelites had complained against the *LORD. And the *LORD had showed himself holy among them.

Verse 1 The *Israelites arrived at the Zin *desert during the ‘first month’. This was the 40^th year since they had started their journey. Miriam, Moses’ sister, died in Kadesh. She was over 120 years old. When Moses was a baby, Miriam had saved him from death (Exodus chapter 2). After the *Israelites had escaped across the Red Sea, Miriam led the women to thank God (Exodus chapter 15). She had helped her brothers to lead the *Israelites during their journey in the *desert. She had opposed Moses once and she had suffered a punishment for that (Numbers chapter 12). But she was a very great woman. We can be sure that Moses and Aaron were very sad about her death.

Verses 2-5 The *Israelites had no water. They wished that they had died suddenly, like some of the other *Israelites. They did not want to die slowly because they had no water. They cried out to Moses and Aaron because they were so desperate.

Verse 6 Moses did not argue with them. He went with Aaron to *God’s Tent to pray. This was what he did usually in this type of situation (Numbers 14:5; Numbers 16:4; Numbers 16:22; Numbers 16:45; Numbers 22:31).

God told them what to do. He told Moses to get his stick. Moses had used this stick to do God’s *miracles before (Exodus 7:20; Exodus 14:16; Exodus 17:6). But God did not tell Moses to hit the rock with the stick. Instead, God told Moses that he should just speak to the rock. Moses would order the rock to provide water, and the rock would obey.

Verses 7-13 It was nearly time to enter the *Promised Land. But still there were problems. It seems that Moses was tired and angry. Moses believed that God was able to provide water. But Moses was not patient enough. Instead, he acted suddenly. God had told him to speak to the rock. But Moses did not do this. Instead, he hit the rock twice with his stick.

God provided water from the rock anyway. However, he punished Moses and Aaron. He told them that they would not lead the *Israelites into the *Promised Land. They were the *Israelites’ chief leaders. But Moses had not obeyed God’s instructions. Moses had hit the rock. Due to Moses’ anger, God had not received honour. If Moses had spoken to the rock, the people would have seen the *miracle more clearly. This would have brought greater *glory to God. Moses and Aaron had *sinned, so they had to receive a punishment. But still God allowed them to be the *Israelites’ chief leaders.

God told Moses and Aaron that they did not believe in him (verse 12). This does not mean that they did not trust God. It means that they were not loyal to God. Moses had not obeyed God’s instructions. Instead, Moses acted because of his anger. Therefore Moses and Aaron did not let the people see God’s power. In other words, they did not show God’s true character to the *Israelites. And they did not show the *Israelites how *holy God is. So God punished them (verse 12).

This story is similar to another story in Exodus 17:1-7. That event in Exodus was the first time that the *Israelites complained about the lack of water. But there are several differences. The most important difference is that, in the Exodus story, God told Moses to hit the rock. In the Numbers story, God told Moses to speak to the rock only.

The incident in Exodus happened in Rephidim, not Kadesh. But the *Israelites called both places ‘Meribah’ (‘to complain’). God had provided water for them although they had complained. God was generous to them. They knew that they were wrong to complain. So they called the places ‘Meribah’ to show that they knew this.

Moses accepted his punishment. He did not argue about it. He continued to serve the people as their leader. But his punishment had to be severe. It taught the people that it was very important to obey God. Moses realised this (Deuteronomy 3:26).

The *Israelites and the king of the country called Edom – Numbers 20:14-21

v14 Moses sent some men from the camp to the king of the country called Edom. The *Israelites’ camp was near Kadesh. The men took a message.

They said, ‘This message is from the *Israelites. We are your relatives. Many bad things have happened to us. We are certain that you know about all this. v15 Our *ancestors went to the country called Egypt. So we, the *Israelites, lived there for many years. The *Egyptians were cruel to our *ancestors and to us. v16 We cried to the *LORD, “Help us!” He heard us. He sent a messenger to lead us out of Egypt. (A messenger means someone whom God sends for a particular purpose.) Now we have camped near Kadesh, at the border of your country. v17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through your fields or *vineyards. We will not drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the road called the *king’s highway until we have passed through your country. And we will not leave that road.’

v18 The king of Edom answered, ‘No! I will not let you pass through our country. If you try to do this, we will attack you.’

v19 The *Israelites said, ‘We will stay on the *king’s highway. If we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through your country. We do not want anything else.’

v20-21 But still the king of Edom said, ‘You cannot pass through our country!’

Then the king of Edom sent a large and powerful army against the *Israelites. The *Israelites could not pass through Edom. So the *Israelites turned away from that country and they went in another direction.

Verses 14-21 The *Israelites were travelling north to the country called Moab (Numbers 33:48). In Moab, Moses would prepare the people to enter the *Promised Land. The road through Edom was the easiest way to Moab. It was called ‘the *king’s highway’. It was the main route for trade, so many people used it.

The people in Edom were the *descendants of Esau (Genesis chapter 36). The *Israelites were the *descendants of Jacob, Esau’s brother. So they shared the same *ancestors.

Probably, verses 14-17 were a letter that Moses wrote to the king of Edom. Moses asked the king to allow the *Israelites to travel through Edom. It was a typical official letter to a ruler. Moses had been a prince in the country called Egypt. So he would have known how to write official letters to other rulers.

Moses reminded the king that the *Israelites were his relatives. He wanted the king not to consider the *Israelites as enemies. Moses wanted the king to realise that the *Israelites did not intend to defeat Edom. They wanted only to pass through it on their way to Moab. Also, Moses reminded the king that God had rescued the *Israelites from the *Egyptians. This showed that God was helping the *Israelites. So the king of Edom should help them, too. He would not want to oppose God!

Moses promised that the *Israelites would stay on the *king’s highway. They would not take any of the crops or water. But the king refused to let the *Israelites pass through Edom. So Moses asked him again. Moses promised to pay for any water that the *Israelites and their animals drank. But still the king refused Moses’ request. He sent a large army to stop the *Israelites. The *Israelites could have fought this army. God had helped them to defeat their enemies before. But this was not part of God’s plan. So Moses decided not to fight them. Instead, the *Israelites went another way.

Many centuries later, the people from Edom helped the *Jews’ enemies. Those enemies attacked Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the *Jews’ most important city. When the *Jews tried to escape from Jerusalem, the people from Edom stopped them (Book of Obadiah; Psalms 137:7). But God punished the people from Edom. He allowed their enemies to defeat them completely. They had to leave their country.

Aaron dies – Numbers 20:22-29

v22 All the *Israelites left Kadesh. They arrived at Hor mountain. v23 Hor mountain was near the border of the country called Edom.

There, the *LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, v24 ‘Aaron, you will die here. You will not enter the country that I am giving to the *Israelites. This is because you and Moses did not obey my command at Meribah.

v25 Moses, go up Hor mountain with Aaron and his son Eleazar. v26 Then, you must remove the priest’s clothes from Aaron. Put the priest’s clothes on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die in that place.’

v27 Moses obeyed the *LORD. Moses, Aaron and Eleazar went up Hor mountain. Everyone watched them as they went up the mountain. v28 Moses removed the priest’s clothes from Aaron. He put the clothes on Eleazar, who was Aaron’s son. And Aaron died there, on the top of the mountain.

Then Moses and Eleazar went down from the mountain. v29 Then all the *Israelites knew that Aaron had died. And all the *Israelites mourned his death for 30 days. (‘To mourn’ means to be sad after someone has died.)

Verses 22-29 God had said that Moses and Aaron would not enter the *Promised Land. This was their punishment because they had not followed God’s instructions at Meribah (Numbers 20:12).

God told Moses to go with Aaron and Eleazar up Hor mountain. This was because it was time for Aaron to die. He was 123 years old. It was the first day of the 5^th month. It was nearly 40 years since the *Israelites had left the country called Egypt. (Numbers 33:38-39).

God did not kill Aaron. Aaron died of natural causes. God had *blessed him with a long life. Malachi 2:4-6 describes Aaron’s character. Aaron respected God. Aaron taught the truth and he did not lie. He led many people to turn away from *sin. He obeyed God.

Aaron was the *High Priest. God wanted Aaron’s son, Eleazar, to be the *High Priest after Aaron died. So God told Moses what to do. The *High Priest wore special clothes. God had told Moses how to make these clothes (Exodus 28:1-39). Moses had put the clothes on Aaron during a special ceremony, when Aaron became the *High Priest (Leviticus 8:7-9). God told Moses to remove these clothes from Aaron and to put them on Eleazar. This showed that Eleazar was the new *High Priest. Then Aaron died.

Moses and Eleazar came down from Hor mountain. The people saw that Eleazar was wearing the *High Priest’s clothes. So they knew that Aaron was dead. All the *Israelites mourned him for 30 days. (To mourn means to be sad after someone has died.) They respected him very much as their *High Priest and their leader.

Chapter s 21-36: The *Israelites prepare to enter the *Promised Land

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
desert ~ a dry region, or a region where there is just a little water. A few wild plants are able to grow in some deserts. So people who are travelling can live in these deserts in their tents. And they can lead animals through the desert. The Israelites lived in a desert for nearly 40 years.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
glory ~ everything that makes God great and beautiful. A bright light that comes from God or Jesus to show that they are beautiful and holy.

holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.

'Promised Land ~ the country that God promised to give to Abraham and his *descendants.
Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
bless ~ 1. To ask God to do good things for a person or people. 2. God blesses us when he does good things for us. He guards us and he keeps us safe from evil things.'High Priest ~ the most important priest.