Text -- Numbers 20:1-9 (NET)

The Israelites Complain Again

20:1 Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. 20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended with Moses, saying, “If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 20:4 Why have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? 20:5 Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Moses Responds

20:6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 20:7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” 20:9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Num 20:1

To wit, after many stations and long journeys here omitted, but particularly described, Num. 33:1-49.

Wesley: Num 20:1

A place near the land of Edom, distinct and distant from that Sin, Exo 16:1.

Wesley: Num 20:1

Of the fortieth year, as is evident, because the next station to this was in mount Hor, where Aaron died, who died in the fifth month of the fortieth year, Num 33:38. Moses doth not give us an exact journal of all occurrences in the wilderness, but only of those which were most remarkable, and especially of those which happened in the first and second, and in the fortieth year.

Wesley: Num 20:1

Four months before Aaron, and but a few more before Moses.

Wesley: Num 20:2

Which having followed them through all their former journeys, began to fail them here, because they were now come near countries, where waters might be had by ordinary means, and therefore God would not use extraordinary, lest he should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story, though like that, Exo 17:1-7, is different from it, as appears by divers circumstances. It is a great mercy, to have plenty of water; a mercy which if we found the want of, we should own the worth of.

Wesley: Num 20:3

Suddenly, rather than to die such a lingering death. Their sin was much greater than that of their parents, because they should have taken warning by their miscarriages, and by the terrible effects of them, which their eyes had seen.

Wesley: Num 20:8

That which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle; whether it was Aaron's rod, which was laid up there, Num 17:10, or Moses's rod by which he wrought so many miracles. For it is likely, that wonder - working rod, was laid up in some part of the tabernacle, though not in or near the ark, where Aaron's blossoming rod was put.

Wesley: Num 20:9

Out of the tabernacle.

JFB: Num 20:1

That is, of the fortieth year (compare Num 20:22-23, with Num 33:38). In this history only the principal and most important incidents are recorded, those confined chiefly to the first or second and the last years of the journeyings in the wilderness, thence called Et-Tih. Between Num 19:22 and Num 20:1 there is a long and undescribed interval of thirty-seven years.

JFB: Num 20:1

Supposed to be what is now known as Ain-el-Weibeh, three springs surrounded by palms. (See on Num 13:26). It was their second arrival after an interval of thirty-eight years (Deu 2:14). The old generation had nearly all died, and the new one encamped in it with the view of entering the promised land, not, however, as formerly on the south, but by crossing the Edomite region on the east.

JFB: Num 20:1

Four months before Aaron [Num 33:38].|| 04314||1||12||0||@there was no water for the congregation==--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Gen 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water. It was then either partially dried up by the heat of the season, or had been exhausted by the demands of so vast a multitude.

JFB: Num 20:6

Here is a fresh ebullition of the untamed and discontented spirit of the people. The leaders fled to the precincts of the sanctuary, both as an asylum from the increasing fury of the highly excited rabble, and as their usual refuge in seasons of perplexity and danger, to implore the direction and aid of God.

JFB: Num 20:8

Which had been deposited in the tabernacle (Num 17:10), the wonder-working rod by which so many miracles had been performed, sometimes called "the rod of God" (Exo 4:20), sometimes Moses' (Num 20:11) or Aaron's rod (Exo 7:12).

Clarke: Num 20:1

Then came the children of Israel, etc. - This was the first month of the fortieth year after their departure from Egypt. See Num 33:38, compared with Num 20:28 of this chapter, and Deu 1:3. The transactions of thirty-seven years Moses passes by, because he writes not as a historian but as a legislator; and gives us particularly an account of the laws, ordinances, and other occurrences of the first and last years of their peregrinations. The year now spoken of was the last of their journeyings; for from the going out of the spies, Numbers 13, unto this time, was about thirty-eight years, Deu 1:22, Deu 1:23; Deu 2:14

Clarke: Num 20:1

Desert of Zin - Calmet contends that this is not the same desert mentioned Exo 16:1, where Israel had their eighth encampment; that in Exodus being called in the original סין sin , this here צין tsin : but this is no positive proof, as letters of the same organ are frequently interchanged in all languages, and particularly in Hebrew

Clarke: Num 20:1

And Miriam died there - Miriam was certainly older than Moses. When he was an infant, exposed on the river Nile, she was entrusted by her parents to watch the conduct of Pharaoh’ s daughter, and to manage a most delicate business, that required much address and prudence. See Exodus 2. It is supposed that she was at the time of her death one hundred and thirty years of age, having been at least ten years old at her brother’ s birth. The Catholic writers represent her as a type of the Virgin Mary; as having preserved a perpetual virginity; as being legislatrix over the Israelitish women, as Moses was over the men; and as having a large portion of the spirit of prophecy. Eusebius says that her tomb was to be seen at Kadesh, near the city of Petra, in his time. She appears to have died about four months before her brother Aaron, Num 33:38, and eleven before her brother Moses; so that these three, the most eminent of human beings, died in the space of one year!

Clarke: Num 20:2

And there was no water for the congregation - The same occurrence took place to the children of Israel at Kadesh, as did formerly to their fathers at Rephidim, see Exo 17:1; and as the fathers murmured, so also did the children.

Calvin: Num 20:1

1.Then came the children of Israel In the twenty-third chapter of this book many intermediate stations are mentioned, which are not here referred to: perhaps because, from the time that God compelled them to draw back, they had made no advance for thirty whole years, but had wandered about by circuitous paths. In connecting the history, therefore, in this place he relates that they passed from the desert of Paran to the desert of Sin; because they then began to direct their journey straight towards the land of Canaan, and to advance more closely to it, so as at length to conclude their wanderings. When he tells us that Miriam died here, we may infer from hence that her life was greatly prolonged. It is probable that she was a girl of ten or twelve years of age, when Moses was born, since she was able to provide adroitly for his safety, (Exo 2:4;) for although her name is not actually given, yet it may be reasonably supposed that she was the person who fetched her mother to nurse the child that had been exposed. She reached the age, then, of about 130 years, ¹⁰⁷ an unusual length of life, and especially for a woman.

Calvin: Num 20:2

2.And there was no water for the congregation We have already seen a similar, though not the same, history. For, when the people had hardly come out of Egypt, they began to rebel in Rephidim on account of the scarcity of water; and now, after thirty-eight years, or thereabouts, a new sedition arose in Kadesh, because there, too, they wanted water. Their first murmuring, indeed, sufficiently showed how great was their depravity and contumacy; for, when God gave them their food from heaven every day, why did they not supplicate Him for water, so that their sustenance might be complete? Yet, not less with foul ingratitude than with impious refractoriness, they assail God with reproaches, and complain that they are deceived and betrayed. But this second rebellion is far worse; for, when they had experienced that it was in God’s power to extract plenty of water from the barren rock, why do they not now implore His aid? why does not that marvelous interference in their behalf recur to their minds? Yet, in their madness, they clamor that they have been more cruelly dealt with than as if they had been swallowed up by the earth, or consumed by fire from heaven, as if there were no remedy for their thirst. Assuredly this was incredible stupidity, designedly, as it were, to shut the gate of God’s grace, and to east themselves into despair. It is true that they rebel against Moses and Aaron; but they direct their complaints like darts against God Himself. They deem it a very great injustice that they had been brought into the desert, as if they had not in their own impious obstinacy themselves preferred the desert to the land of Canaan, and were deserving, therefore, of pining, in want of all things, to death itself. Perversely, then, do they throw the blame, which belongs to themselves alone, upon the ministers of their salvation. With truth, indeed, do they call the place evil and barren; but God would not have wished to keep them imprisoned there, unless they had voluntarily refused the land flowing with milk and honey, after it had been set before their eyes, and an easy entrance to it had been accorded to them under the guidance and authority of God. Thus the Prophet, in Psa 105:0, in recounting the history of their redemption, before he descends to the punishments inflicted upon their sins, relates that they were brought forth by God “with joy” and “with gladness.” ¹⁰⁸ But, further, taking occasion from the inconvenience they experienced from thirst, they maliciously heap together other complaints. There was no lack of food to satisfy their hunger, and such as was pleasant to the taste; yet they complain exactly as if hunger oppressed them as well as thirst. God daily rained for them food from heaven, which it was mere sport for them to gather; but the ground of their murmuring is that they had not to fatigue themselves with ploughing and sowing. Behold to what senselessness men are driven by preposterous lust, and by contempt of God’s present blessings! The climax of their madness, however, is that they lament their fate in not having been swallowed up with Korah and his companions, or consumed by fire from heaven. They had been overwhelmed with great fear at that melancholy spectacle; and justly so, for God had exhibited a prodigy, terrible throughout all ages. Now they quarrel with Him because His lightnings did not smite them also. Nor do they only lament that they were not destroyed by that particular kind of death, but they willfully provoke God’s vengeance upon their heads, which ought to have terrified them more than a hundred deaths: for it is emphatically added, that those, with whom they desired to be associated, had “died before the Lord.” They acknowledge, therefore, that the destruction, which they imprecate upon themselves, had come to pass not by chance, but by the manifest judgement of God, as if they were angry with God for having spared themselves. Most truly do they call them their brethren, to whom they were only too like; yet is it in brutal arrogance that they desire to be accounted God’s Church; for, whilst they professedly connect themselves with the adverse faction, they arrogate falsely this title to themselves.

Calvin: Num 20:6

6.And Moses and Aaron went from the presence It is probable that they fled in fear, inasmuch as the tabernacle was a kind of refuge for them from the violence of the people. Still, we may conjecture from other passages that they had consideration not only for themselves, but for the wretched people, howsoever unworthy of it they might be so also, when they throw themselves upon their faces, I understand that they did so, not so much (to pray) that God would protect them from the wrath of their enemies, but also that He would calm these madmen by some appropriate remedy. Still their agitation appears to have been such as to deprive them of their ordinary self-restraint. Neither, indeed, does God try their faith and patience, as He often did on other occasions; perhaps because He saw that they were too much overwhelmed to be able to persevere inflexibly in pious zeal, patience, and care for the public good. Consequently the appearance to them of God’s glory was a support for their weakness, as in a case of extremity.

This example shows us how earnestly God should be entreated constantly to support us with new supplies of His grace, since otherwise the boldest of us all would fail at every moment. The invincible resolution of Moses had so often overcome every obstacle, that there seemed to be no fear of his being in danger of falling; yet the conqueror in so many struggles at length stumbles in a single act. Hence we should more carefully bear in mind the exhortation of Paul: Because

“it is God which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure,” we should “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phi 2:12.)

Calvin: Num 20:8

8.Take the rod It is unquestionable that the faith of Moses had now begun to waver; but we gather from his prompt obedience that it had not altogether failed; for he wastes no time in discussion, but comes straight to the rock in order that he may perform God’s command. His faith, then, was only so smothered, that its hidden rigor at once directed him to his duty. Thus is it that the saints sometimes, whilst they totter like children, still advance toward their mark.

By the sight of “the rod,” God would recall both to Moses and the people so many miracles, which were well fitted to awaken confidence for the future; just as if He were uplifting the standard of His power. The command to speak to the rock is not unattended with a severe reproach, as if He had said, that in the lifeless elements there was more reason and intelligence than in men themselves. And assuredly it was a thing much to be ashamed of, that the rock, as if it could hear and was endued with sense, should obey God’s voice, whilst the people, to whom the Law had been given, remained in deafness and stupidity.

Defender: Num 20:8

This was not the rod of judgment, with which Moses had smitten the rock almost forty years before. Water from that rock had followed Israel as a perennially flowing stream through all their wilderness wanderings. The rod mentioned here is Aaron's rod that budded (Num 17:10; Num 20:9), implying resurrection instead of judgment.

Defender: Num 20:8

This rock was a high craggy rock (in Hebrew cela), in contrast to the small rock (in Hebrew tsur), which had been smitten before (Exo 17:6)."

TSK: Num 20:1

An, Ex, Is, 40

Then : This was the first month of the fortieth year after the departure from Egypt. (Compare Num 33:38, with Num 20:28 of this chapter and Deu 1:3.) This year was the last of their journeyings, for from the going out of the spies (Num 13:1) unto this time, was about thirty-eight years. Deu 1:22, Deu 1:23, Deu 2:14

into : Num 13:21, Num 27:14, Num 33:36; Deu 32:51

Kadesh : This Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, is different from Kadesh-barnea, lying in, or adjoining to the wilderness of Paran, about eight leagues south of Hebron. (See note on Num 34:3, Num 34:4. Jos 15:1, Jos 15:3.) Kadesh is called Rekam, by the Targumists, Rekem, in the Syriac, and Rakim, in Arabic. Rekem, says Rabbi Nissin (in Gittin , chapter 1) is on the east, meaning of the land of Israel. Num 20:16; Psa 29:8

Miriam : Num 12:1, Num 12:10, Num 12:15, Num 26:59; Exo 2:4, Exo 2:7, Exo 15:20; Mic 6:4

TSK: Num 20:2

no : Exo 15:23, Exo 15:24, Exo 17:1-4

gathered : Num 11:1-6, Num 16:3, Num 16:19, Num 16:42, Num 21:5; Exo 16:2, Exo 16:7, Exo 16:12; 1Co 10:10, 1Co 10:11

TSK: Num 20:3

God : Num 14:1, Num 14:2; Exo 16:2, Exo 16:3, Exo 17:2; Job 3:10, Job 3:11

when : Num 11:1, Num 11:33, Num 11:34, Num 14:36, Num 14:37, Num 16:31-35, Num 16:49; Lam 4:9

TSK: Num 20:4

why : Num 11:5; Exo 5:21, Exo 17:3; Psa 106:21; Act 7:35, Act 7:39, Act 7:40

that we : Num 16:13, Num 16:14, Num 16:41; Exo 14:11, Exo 14:12, Exo 16:3

TSK: Num 20:5

this evil : Num 16:14; Deu 8:15; Neh 9:21; Jer 2:2, Jer 2:6; Eze 20:36

no place of : i.e. ""no place for sowing""

TSK: Num 20:6

they fell : Num 14:5, Num 16:4, Num 16:22, Num 16:45; Exo 17:4; Jos 7:6; 1Ch 21:16; Psa 109:3, Psa 109:4; Mat 26:39

the glory : Num 12:5, Num 14:10, Num 16:19, Num 16:42; Exo 16:10

TSK: Num 20:8

the rod : Num 21:15, Num 21:18; Exo 4:2, Exo 4:17, Exo 7:20, Exo 14:16, Exo 17:5, Exo 17:9

speak : Gen 18:14; Jos 6:5, Jos 6:20; Psa 33:9; Mat 21:21; Mar 11:22-24; Luk 11:13; Joh 4:10-14, Joh 16:24; Act 1:14, Act 2:1-4; Rev 22:1, Rev 22:17

bring forth : Num 20:11; Neh 9:15; Psa 78:15, Psa 78:16, Psa 105:41, Psa 114:8; Isa 41:17, Isa 41:18, Isa 43:20; Isa 48:21

TSK: Num 20:9

Num 17:10

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Num 20:1

Num. 20 and Num. 21 narrate the journey of the people from Kadesh round Mount Seir to the heights of Pisgah, near the Jordan, and the various incidents connected with that journey (compare Num 33:37-41). This formed the third and last stage of the progress of Israel from Sinai to Canaan, and took place in the fortieth year of the Exodus.

The incidents are apparently not narrated in a strictly chronological order (see Num 21:1). The leading purpose of Num. 20 seems to be to narrate the loss by the people of their original leaders before their entrance into the land of promise.

Even the whole congregation - This emphatic expression (compare Num 13:26; Num 14:1) points to a re-assembling of the people for the purpose of at last resuming the advance to the promised land. During the past 38 years the "congregation"had been bracken up. No doubt round the tabernacle there had continued an organised camp consisting of the Levites and others, which had been moved from time to time up and down the country (compare Num. 33:18-36). But the mass of the people had been scattered over the face of the wilderness of Paran, and led a nomadic life as best suited the pasturage of the cattle; trafficking in provisions with surrounding tribes (compare Deu 2:26-29; Psa 74:14); and availing themselves of the resources of a district which were in ancient times vastly greater than they now are.

These natural resources were supplemented, where needful, by miraculous aid. The whole guidance of Israel through the wilderness is constantly referred to God’ s special and immediately superintending care (Deu 8:4 following; Deu 29:5; Neh 9:21; Isa 63:11-14; Amo 2:10, etc.).

Yet though God’ s extraordinary bounty was vouchsafed to them, it is probable that this period was, among the perishing generation at all events, one of great religious declension, or even apostasy. To it must no doubt be referred such passages as Eze 20:15 ff; Amo 5:25 following; Hos 9:10.

Into the desert of Zin - The northeastern part of the wilderness of Paran (or, now definitely fixed by Palmer as the southeastern corner of the desert of Et-Tih, between Akabah and the head of Wady Garaiyeh.) The place of encampment was no doubt adjacent to the spring of Kadesh.

In the first month - i. e. of the fortieth year of the Exodus.

Barnes: Num 20:2-6

The language of the murmurers is noteworthy. It has the air of a traditional remonstrance handed down from the last generation. Compare marginal references.

Barnes: Num 20:8

Take the rod - That with which the miracles in Egypt had been performed (Exo 7:8 ff; Exo 7:19 ff; Exo 8:5 ff, etc.), and which had been used on a similar occasion at Rephidim (Exo 17:5 following). This rod, as the memorial of so many divine interpositions, was naturally laid up in the tabernacle, and is accordingly Num 20:9 described now as taken by Moses "from before the Lord."

Poole: Num 20:1

Then to wit, after many other stations and long journeys here omitted. but particularly described Nu 33 .

The desert of Zin a place near the land of Edom, distinct and distant from that,

Sin Exo 16:1 .

In the first month to wit, of the fortieth year, as is evident, because the next station to this was in Mount Hor, where Aaron died, Num 20:22,23 , &c., who died in the fifth month of the fortieth year, Num 33:38 . Moses doth not give us an exact journal of all their occurrences in the wilderness, but only of those which were most remarkable, and especially of those which happened in the first and second, and in the fortieth year.

Kadesh whether the same place called Kadesh-barnea , where they were long since, Num 13:26 , and to which they now return after thirty-eight years’ tedious travels and wanderings in the desert, Deu 2:14 , or another place more southerly, it is not material. Miriam died four months before Aaron and but a few more before Moses.

Poole: Num 20:2

The water having followed them through all their former journeys, began now to fail them here, because they were now come near Canaan and other countries, where waters might be had by ordinary means, and therefore God would not use extraordinary, lest he should seem to prostitute the honour of miracles. This story, though like that Ex 17 , is different from it, as appears by divers circumstances.

Poole: Num 20:3

i.e. Suddenly, rather than to die such a lingering and painful death. Their sin was much greater than their parents’ in like case, because they should have taken warning by their miscarriages, and by the terrible effects of them, which their eyes had seen.

Poole: Num 20:6

Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly partly to avoid the growing rage of the people, for God’ s singular protection of them did not exclude the use of ordinary means; and partly to go to God for relief and redress.

Poole: Num 20:8

The rod that rod which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle, as appears from Num 20:9 . But whether it was Aaron’ s rod, which was undoubtedly laid up there, Num 17:10 , or Moses’ s rod, by which he wrought so many miracles, it is not considerable; or whether it was not one and the same rod, which was commonly called Moses’ s rod, as here, Num 20:11 , and elsewhere, and sometimes Aaron’ s rod , as Exo 7:12 , which may seem most probable. For it is likely, though not related elsewhere in Scripture, that wonder-working rod, called the rod of God , Exo 4:20 , was laid up in some part of the tabernacle, though not in or near the ark, where Aaron’ s blossoming rod for a particular reason was put. Speak ye unto the rock , which will sooner hear and obey my commands than these sottish and stubborn people.

Poole: Num 20:9

i.e. Out of the tabernacle.

Haydock: Num 20:1

Hor, in the territory of Cades, or Rekem, which is the same town as Petra. (Onkelos; Josephus, Antiquities iv. 4.) Hor was part of a range of mountains, like Libanus. The Hebrews encamped at a place called Mosera, Deuteronomy x. 6. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 20:1

Sin, Zin, or Tsin, nearer to Judea than the desert, where the Hebrews encamped before, Exodus xvi. 1. (Haydock) ---

Moses informs us of very little from the time when the people murmured at Cades-barne, in the second year, till the beginning of the 40th year of their sojournment. ---

In Cades. The Rabbins assert, they remained there the first time twenty-nine years, (chap. xiv. 45,) and the second, ten. (Genebrard, in the year of the world 2670.) But we do not believe they continued there above a year the first time. ---

Mary. St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Ambrose, suppose she was always a virgin, in which respect she was a figure of our blessed Lady, as well as in her name. She was probably 130 years old, as she was very discreet at the time of the birth of Moses, and employed by Providence in preserving his life, as the blessed Virgin screened our Saviour from the fury of Herod. She had the superintendence over the Hebrew women; (Exodus xv. 20.; Theodoret, in Mic. vi. 4) and hence many apply to her and her brothers those words of Zacharias, (xi. 8,) I cut off three shepherds in one month. Mary died without being permitted to enter the promised land, on account of her murmuring, chap. xii. Thus the synagogue, though proud of her prerogatives, cannot enter the land of rest. (Calmet) ---

There. Some place this Cades not far from the Red Sea, (ver. 20,) south of Idumea, while the other was to the north, and nearer Chanaan, being generally called Cades-barne. (Bonfrere and Cornelius a Lapide) (Chap. xx. 16.) ---

In this place Mary died, four months before Aaron. (Menochius)

Haydock: Num 20:3

Brethren, Core, &c., (chap. xvi. 32,) or with them ho died (chap. xi.) at the graves of lust. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 20:6

And cried....to murmur. These words are not found in the Hebrew, Septuagint, &c., nor in the new edition of St. Jerome, though they occur in most of the Latin manuscripts. (Calmet) ---

If it be an addition, it must be very ancient. (Mariana)

Haydock: Num 20:8

The rod, with which Moses had wrought so many miracles, and which was placed in the tabernacle, ver. 9. It is called his rod, in the Hebrews v. 11. We do not find that the rod of Aaron, which budded, was used to work miracles. ---

Thou. Septuagint, "you." Both Moses and Aaron concurred in the action, (ver. 12,) but Moses was the chief agent. (Calmet)

Gill: Num 20:1

Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation,.... Not immediately after the transaction of the above things, recorded in the preceding chapters; as the sending of the spies into the land of Canaan, and their report of it; the business of Korah, and the giving of several laws respecting the priesthood, and the purification of the people; but thirty eight years after: nor was this the congregation that came out of Egypt; their carcasses, by this time, had fallen in the wilderness, as had been threatened, excepting some few, so that this was a new generation: what passed during this time we have very little account of, excepting their journeyings from place to place, in Num 33:1, by which it appears, there were eighteen stations between the place they encamped at when the spies were sent, and this they now came to; and that the place from whence they came hither was Ezion Geber; from hence they journeyed:

and came unto the desert of Zin; which is different from the wilderness of Sin, Exo 16:1 as appears by their names, which are different, and by the stations of the Israelites, Num 33:11, hither they came

in the first month; the month of Nisan, on the tenth day of it, according to the Targum of Jonathan, which was the first month of the fortieth year of their coming out of Egypt, so Aben Ezra; with which agrees the Jewish chronologer ^u, which says, this was the fortieth year, and the beginning of the month Nisan:

and the people abode in Kadesh: which is by some thought to be different from Kadeshbarnea, from whence the spies were sent, and lay to the south of the land of Canaan, whereas this was upon the borders of Edom; but Doctor Lightfoot ^w shows them to be the same: it is supposed to be eight hours north or northnorth-west of Mount Sinai, which may be computed to be about twenty miles ^x; here the Israelites abode about four months, see Num 33:38 the above Jewish chronologer says three months, wrongly:

and Miriam died there, and was buried there; the Jews say ^y she died there the tenth day of the month Nisan, which was ten days after the Israelites came to this place; though, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was the same day they came thither: Patricides, an Arabian writer, says ^z she died on the seventh day of Nisan, aged one hundred and twenty seven; no mention is made of the people mourning for her as for Aaron, Num 20:29 and for Moses, Deu 34:8 perhaps because of their distress for want of water, as follows.

Gill: Num 20:2

And there was no water for the congregation,.... Which was so ordered, for the trial of this new generation, to see whether they would behave any better than their fathers had done in a like circumstance, the first year they came out of Egypt, Exo 17:1.

and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron; just as their fathers had done before them, being of the like temper and disposition.

Gill: Num 20:3

And the people chode with Moses,.... Contended with him in a wrangling and litigious manner, showing no reverence nor respect unto his person on account of the dignity of his office, and the many favours they had received from him; and this at a time, when, instead of quarrelling with him, they should have condoled him on the loss of his sister, and bewailed their own loss also of one who had been a prophetess to them, and a leader of them, Mic 6:4.

and spake, saying, would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord; either at Taberah by fire, or as Korah and his company in like manner, or as the fourteen thousand and seven hundred by a pestilence, Num 11:1 which they thought a much easier death, either of them, than to die of thirst: they might well call them brethren, not only because of the same nation, and nearly related to them, but because they were of the same temper and disposition, and indeed brethren in iniquity; and they seem to use this appellation, as being of the same sentiments with them, and in vindication of them, and adopt almost their very language; see Num 14:2.

Gill: Num 20:4

And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness,.... The wilderness of Zin, whither by various marches and journeys, and through different stations, they were at length come:

that we and our cattle should die there? with thirst; they seem to represent it, as if this was the end, design, and intention of Moses and Aaron in bringing them thither; their language is much the same with their fathers on a like occasion; which shows the bad influence of example, and how careful parents should be of their words and actions, that their posterity be not harmed by them; see Exo 17:3.

Gill: Num 20:5

And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt,.... They represent that affair in such a light, as if they were forced out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron against their wills; or at least were overpersuaded by them to do what they had no inclination to, namely, to come out of Egypt; though they were in the utmost bondage and slavery, and their lives were made bitter by it, and they cried by reason of their oppression, and the hardships they endured; but this was all forgot. Aben Ezra says, it is a strange word which is here used, which shows the confusion they were in:

to bring us unto this evil place; dry and barren, where there were neither food nor drink, as follows:

it is no place of seed; or fit for sowing, as the Targum of Jonathan, any sort of seed, as wheat, barley, rye, rice, &c.

or of figs, or vines, or pomegranates; it is not a soil fit to plant such trees in, nor would they grow were they planted:

neither is there any water to drink; for them and their cattle, and therefore must be a miserable place for so large a body of people to subsist in.

Gill: Num 20:6

And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly,.... Like fugitives, as Aben Ezra; they fled from them through fear, lest they should rise and fall upon them, and stone them, as their fathers were ready to do in a like case, Exo 17:4. It is very likely this assembly gathered about the tents of Moses and Aaron, who went from thence unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; where the Lord had promised to meet Moses, and speak unto him, Exo 29:42.

and they fell upon their faces; to pray, as Aben Ezra, that God would forgive the sin, of the people, and not break forth in his wrath against them, as he sometimes had done, and as their sin deserved, and that he would grant them what was needful for them. In the Vulgate Latin version the following words are added as their prayer,"and they cried unto the Lord, and said, Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, the fountain of living water, that they being satiated, their murmuring may cease.''But they are not neither in the Hebrew text, nor in the Greek version, nor the Chaldee paraphrases:

and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them; either to Moses and Aaron, to encourage them to expect their prayers would be answered; or to the people, to terrify them, and silence their murmurings; see Num 16:19.

Gill: Num 20:7

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of what was the token of his glory, which perhaps was the cloud, with an uncommon lustre and brightness in it: saying; as follows.

Gill: Num 20:8

Take thy rod,.... The rod of miracles, as the Targum of Jonathan; not the rod of Aaron, miraculous for its blossom and fruit, as some Jewish writers think; but the rod of Moses, with which he had done many wonders in Egypt, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and particularly by smiting the rock at Horeb, when the Israelites wanted water, as they did now:

and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother; not only the heads of the people, but the body of them, as many as could be got together to see the miracle, and to receive the benefit of it:

and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; which was near, but a little way off, within sight, and might be pointed to: it was not the same rock that was smote before; that was in Horeb, this in the extremity of the land of Edom, as Aben Ezra observes; this was to be spoken to, and by a word speaking it would give out water; which was a trial of the faith of Moses and Aaron, as well as of the people, before whom, in a public manner, the rock was to be addressed, as if it was intelligent and all-sufficient:

and it shall give forth his water; not as though there was a fountain of water in it, but that water should flow from it, or God by it give water:

and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; by speaking to it: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink; sufficient for them both.

Gill: Num 20:9

And Moses took the rod from before the Lord..... Which was laid up somewhere in the sanctuary, as well as the rod of Aaron, Num 17:7,

as he commanded him; being always faithful and obedient to him that appointed him.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 20:1

¹ sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the Lord, and thereby was prohibited from entering the land. For additional literature on this part, see E. Arden, “How Moses Failed God,” JBL 76 (1957): 50-52; J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54; T. W. Mann, “Theological Reflections on the Denial of Moses,” JBL 98 (1979): 481-94; and J. R. Porter, “The Role of Kadesh-Barnea in the Narrative of the Exodus,” JTS 44 (1943): 130-43.

² tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”

³ sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.

⁴ sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.

⁵ sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.

NET Notes: Num 20:3

¹ tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.

² tn Heb “and they said, saying.”

³ tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.

NET Notes: Num 20:4

¹ tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.

² tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”

NET Notes: Num 20:5

¹ tn Heb “and why.”

² tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.

NET Notes: Num 20:8

¹ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.

² tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”

Geneva Bible: Num 20:1

Then came the children of Israel, [even] the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first ^{( a )} month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and ^{( b )} Miriam died there, and was buried there.

^{( a )} This was forty years after their departure from Egypt.

^{( b )} Moses and Aaron's sister.

Geneva Bible: Num 20:2

And there was no water for the congregation: and they ^{( c )} gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

^{( c )} Another rebellion was in Rephidim (Exo. 17:1-16), and this was in Kadesh.

Geneva Bible: Num 20:8

Take the ^{( d )} rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

^{( d )} With which you did miracles in Egypt and divided the sea.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Num 20:1-29

1 The children of Israel come to Zin, where Miriam dies.

2 They murmur for want of water.

7 Moses smiting the rock, brings forth water at Meribah.

14 Moses at Kadesh desires passage through Edom, which is denied him.

22 At mount Hor Aaron resigns his place to Eleazar, and dies.

Maclaren: Num 20:1-13

The Waters Of Meribah

Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month : and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation : and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4. And why have ye brought up the Congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there! 5. And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place! It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. 6. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces : and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. 7. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 8. Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock : so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him. 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the reck, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock! 11. And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12. And 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. 13. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.'--Num. 20:1-13.

KADESH had witnessed the final trial and failure of the generation that came out of Egypt; now we see the first trial and failure of the new generation, thirty-seven years after, on the same spot. Deep silence shrouds the history of these dreary years; but, probably, the congregation was broken up, and small parties roamed over the country, without purpose or hope, while Moses and a few of the leaders kept by the tabernacle. There is a certain emphasis in the phrase of the first verse of this chapter, the children of Israel, even the whole congregation,' which suggests that this was the first reassembling of the scattered units since the last act of the whole congregation.' The first month' was, then, the first of the fortieth year, and the gathering was either in obedience to the summons of Moses, who knew that the fixed time had now come, or was the result of common knowledge of the fact. In any case, we have here the first act of a new epoch, and the question to be tried is whether the new men are any better than the old. It is this which gives importance to the event, and explains the bitterness of Moses at finding the old spirit living in the children. It was his trial as well as theirs. He resumed the functions which had substantially been in abeyance for a generation, and by his conduct showed that he had become unfit for the new form which the leadership must take with the invasion of Canaan.

I. We Note The Old Murmurings On The Lips Of The New Generation.

The lament of a later prophet fits these hereditary grumblers, In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction.' The place where they reassembled might have taught them the sin of unbelief; their parents' graves should have enforced the lesson. But the long years of wandering, and two millions of deaths, had been useless. The weather beaten but sturdy strength of the four old men, the only survivors, might have preached the wisdom of trust in the God in whose favour is life.' But the people had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.' The old cuckoo-cry, which had become so monotonous from their fathers, is repeated, with differences, not in their favour. They do not, indeed, murmur directly against God, because they regard Moses and Aaron as responsible. Why,' say they,' have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord?' They seem to use that name with a touch of pride in their relation to God, while destitute of any real obedience, and so they show the first traces of the later spirit of the nation. They have acquired cattle while living in the oases of the wilderness, and they are anxious about them. They acknowledge the continuity of national life in their question, Wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt?' though most of them had been born in the wilderness. The fear that moved their fathers to unbelief was more reasonable and less contemptible than this murmuring, which ignores God all but utterly, and is ready to throw up everything at the first taste of privation.

It is a signal instance of the solemn law by which the fathers' sins are inherited by the children who prove themselves heirs to their ancestors by repeating their deeds. It is fashionable now to deny original sin, and equally fashionable to affirm heredity,' which is the same thing, put into scientific language. There is such a thing as national character persistent through generations, each unit of which adds something to the force of the tendencies which he receives and transmits, but which never are so omnipotent as to destroy individual guilt, however they may lighten it.

Note, too, the awful power of resistance to God's educating possessed by our wills. The whole purpose of these men's lives, thus far, had been to fit them for being God's instruments, and for the reception of His blessing. The desert was His school for body and mind, where muscles and wills were to be braced, and solitude and expectation might be nurses of lofty thoughts, and in the silence God's voice might sound. What better preparation of a hardy race of God-trusting heroes could there have been, and what came of it all? Failure all but complete! The instrument tempered with so much care has its edge turned at the first stroke. The old sore breaks out at the old spot. Man's will has an awful power to thwart God's training; and of all the sad mysteries of this sad mysterious world, this is the saddest and most mysterious, and is the root of all other sadness and mystery, that a man can set his pin-point of a will against that great Will which gives him all his power, and when God beckons can say, I will not,' and can render His most sedulous discipline ineffectual.

Note, too, that trivial things are largo enough to hide plain duties and bright possibilities. These men knew that they had come to Kadesh for the final assault, which was to recompense all their hardships. Their desert training should have made them less resource-less and desperate when water failed; but the hopes of conquest and the duty of trust cannot hold their own against present material inconvenience. They even seem to make bitter mockery of the promises, when they complain that Kadesh is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates,' which were the fruits brought by the spies, as if they had said, So this stretch of waterless sand is the fertile land you talked of, is it? This is all that we have got by reassembling here.' Do we not often feel that the drought of Kadesh is more real than the grapes of Eshcol? Are we not sometimes tempted to bitter comparisons of the fair promises with the gloomy realities? Does our courage never flag, nor our faith falter, nor swirling clouds of doubt hide the inheritance from our weary and tear-filled eyes? He that is without sin may cast the first stone at these men; but whoever knows his own weak heart will confess that, if he had been among that thirsty crowd, he would, most likely, have made one of the murmurers.

II. Note God's Repetition Of His Old Gift To The New Generation.

Moses makes no attempt to argue with the people, but casts himself in entreaty before the door of the Tabernacle, as if crushed and helpless in face of this heart-breaking proof of the persistent obstinacy of the old faults. God's answer recalls the former miracle at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7) in the early days of the march, when the same cries had come from lips now silent, and the rock, smitten at God's command by the rod which had parted the sea, yielded water. The only differences are that here Moses is bid to speak, not to smite; and that the miracle is to be done before all the congregation, instead of before the elders only. Both variations seem to have the common purpose of enhancing the wonder, and confirming the authority of Moses, to a generation to whom the old deliverances were only hearsay, and many of whom were in contact with the leader for the first time. The fact that we have here the beginning of a new epoch, and a new set of people, goes far to explain the resemblance of the two incidents, without the need of supposing, with many critics, that they are but different versions of one legend.' The repetition of scarcity of water is not wonderful; the recurrence of the murmurings is the sad proof of the unchanged temper of the people, and the repetition of the miracle is the merciful witness of the patience of God. His charity' is not easily provoked, is not soon angry,' but stoops to renew gifts which had been so little appreciated that the remembrance of them failed to cure distrust. Unbelief is obstinate, but His loving purpose is more persistent still. Rephidim should have made the murmuring at Kadesh impossible; but, if it does not, then He will renew the mercy, though it had been once wasted, and will so shape the second gift that it shall recall the first, if haply both may effect what one had failed to do. When need is repeated, the supply is forthcoming, even when it is demanded by sullen and forgetful distrust. We can wear out men's patience, but God's is inexhaustible. The same long-suffering Hand that poured water from the rock for two generations of distrustful murmurers still lavishes its misused gifts on us, to win us to late repentance, and upbraideth not' for our slowness to learn the lessons of His mercies.

III. Note The Breaking Down At Last Of The Long-Tried Leader's Patience.

It is in striking contrast with the patience of God. Psalm 106:32-33, describes the sin of Moses as twofold; namely, anger and speaking unadvisedly.' His harsh words, so unlike his pleadings on the former occasion of rebellion at Kadesh, have a worse thing than an outburst of temper in them. Must we fetch you water out of the rock?' arrogates to himself the power of working miracles. He forgets that he was as much an instrument, and as little a force, as his own rod. His angry scolding betrays wounded personal importance, and annoyance at rebellion against his own authority, rather than grief at the people's distrust of God, and also a distinct clouding over of his own consciousness of dependence for all his power on God, and an impure mingling of thoughts of self. The same turbid blending of anger and self-regard impelled his arm to the passionately repeated strokes, which, in his heat, he substituted for the quiet words that he was bidden to speak. The Palestinian Tarumi says very significantly, that at the first stroke the rock dropped blood, thereby indicating the tragic sinfulness of the angry blow. How unworthy a representative of the long-suffering God was this angry man! The servant of the Lord must not strive,' nor give the water with which he is entrusted, with contempt or anger in his heart. That gift requires meek compassion in its stewards.

But the failure of Moses' patience was only too natural. The whole incident has to be studied as the first of a new era, in which both leader and led were on their trial. During the thirty-seven years of waiting, Moses had had but little exercise of that part of his functions, and little experience of the people's temper. He must have looked forward anxiously to the result of the desert hardening; he must have felt more remote from and above the children than he did to their parents, his contemporaries who had come with him from Egypt, and so his disappointment must have been proportionately keen, when the first difficulty that rose revealed the old spirit in undiminished force. For forty years he had been patient, and ready to swallow mortifications and ignore rebellion against himself, and to offer himself for his people; but now, when men whom he had seen in their swaddling-clothes showed the same stiff-necked distrust as had killed their fathers, the breaking-point of his patience was reached. That burst of anger is a grave symptom of lessened love for the sinful murmurers; and lessened love always means lessened power to guide and help. The people are not changed, but Moses is. He has no longer the invincible patience, the utter self-oblivion, the readiness for self-sacrifice, which had borne him up of old, and so he fails. We may learn from his failure that the prime requisite for doing God's work is love, which cannot be moved to anger nor stirred to self-assertion, but meets and conquers murmuring and rebellion by patient holding forth of God's gift, and is, in some faint degree, an echo of His endless longsuffering. He who would serve men must, sleeping or waking, carry them in his heart, and pity their sin. They who would represent God to men, and win men for God, must be imitators of God … and walk in love.' If the bearer of the water of life offers it with Hear, ye rebels,' it will flow untasted.

IV. Note The Sentence On The Leader, And The Sad Memorial Name.

Moses is blamed for not believing nor sanctifying God. His self-assertion in his unadvised speech came from unbelief, or forgetfulness of his dependence. He who claims power to himself, denies it to God. Moses put himself between God and the people, not to show but to hide God; and, instead of exalting God's holiness before them by declaring Him to be the giver, he intercepted the thanks and diverted them to himself. But was his momentary failure not far too severely punished? To answer that question, we must recur to the thought of the importance of this event as beginning a new chapter, and as a test for both Moses and Israel. His failure was a comparatively small matter in itself; and if the sentence is regarded merely as the punishment of a sin, it appears sternly disproportionate to the offence. Were eighty years of faithful service not sufficient to procure the condonation of one moment's impatience? Is not that harsh treatment? But a tiny blade above-ground may indicate the presence of a poisonous root, needing drastic measures for its extirpation; and the sentence was not only punishment for sin, but kind, though punitive, relief from an office for which Moses had no longer, in full measure, his old qualifications. The subsequent history does not show any withdrawal of God's favour from him, and certainly it would be no very sore sorrow to be freed from the heavy load, carried so long. There is disapprobation, no doubt, in the sentence; but it treats the conduct of Moses rather as a symptom of lessened fitness for his heavy responsibility than as sin; and there is as much kindness as condemnation in saying to the wearied veteran, who has stood at his post so long and has taken up arms once more,' You have done enough. You are not what you were. Other hands must hold the leader's staff. Enter into rest.'

Note that Moses was condemned for doing what Jesus always did, asserting his power to work miracles. What was unbelief and a sinful obtrusion of himself in God's place when the great lawgiver did it, was right and endorsed by God when the Carpenter of Nazareth did it. Why the difference? A greater than Moses is here, when He says to us, What will ye that I should do unto you?'

The name of Meribah-Kadesh is given to suggest the parallel and difference with the other miraculous flow of water. The two incidents are thus brought into connection, and yet individualised. Meribah,' which means strife,' brands the murmuring as sinful antagonism to God" Kadesh,' which means holy,' brings both the miracle and the sentence under the common category of acts by which God manifested His holiness to the new generation; and so the double name is a reminder of sin that they may be humble, and of mingled mercy and judgment that they may' trust and obey.'

MHCC: Num 20:1-13

After thirty-eight years' tedious abode in the wilderness, the armies of Israel advanced towards Canaan again. There was no water for the congregation. We live in a wanting world, and wherever we are, must expect to meet with something to put us out. It is a great mercy to have plenty of water, a mercy which, if we found the want of, we should more own the worth of. Hereupon they murmured against Moses and Aaron. They spake the same absurd and brutish language their fathers had done. It made their crime the worse, that they had smarted so long for the discontent and distrusts of their fathers, yet they venture in the same steps. Moses must again, in God's name, command water out of a rock for them; God is as able as ever to supply his people with what is needful for them. But Moses and Aaron acted wrong. They took much of the glory of this work of wonder to themselves; " Must we fetch water?" As if it were done by some power or worthiness of their own. They were to speak to the rock, but they smote it. Therefore it is charged upon them, that they did not sanctify God, that is, they did not give to him alone that glory of this miracle which was due unto his name. And being provoked by the people, Moses spake unadvisedly with his lips. The same pride of man would still usurp the office of the appointed Mediator; and become to ourselves wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Such a state of sinful independence, such a rebellion of the soul against its Saviour, the voice of God condemns in every page of the gospel.

Matthew Henry: Num 20:1-13

After thirty-eight years' tedious marches, or rather tedious rests, in the wilderness, backward towards the Red Sea, the armies of Israel now at length set their faces towards Canaan again, and had come not far off from the place where they were when, by the righteous sentence of divine Justice, they were made to begin their wanderings. Hitherto they had been led about as in a maze or labyrinth, while execution was doing upon the rebels that were sentenced; but they were now brought into the right way again: they abode in Kadesh (Num 20:1), not Kadesh-barnea, which was near the borders of Canaan, but another Kadesh on the confines of Edom, further off from the land of promise, yet in the way to it from the Red Sea, to which they had been hurried back. Now,

I. Here dies Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, and as it should seem older than either of them. She must have been so if she was that sister that was set to watch Moses when he was put into the ark of bulrushes, Exo 2:4. Miriam died there, Exo 2:1. She was a prophetess, and had been an instrument of much good to Israel, Mic 6:4. When Moses and Aaron with their rod went before them, to work wonders for them, Miriam with her timbrel went before them in praising God for these wondrous works (Exo 15:20), and therein did them real service; yet she had once been a murmurer (Num 12:1), and must not enter Canaan.

II. Here there is another Meribah. one place we met with before of that name, in the beginning of their march through the wilderness, which was so called because of the chiding of the children of Israel, Exo 17:7. And now we have another place, at the latter end of their march, which bears the same name for the same reason: This is the water of Meribah, Num 20:13. What was there done was here re-acted.

1. There was no water for the congregation, Num 20:2. The water out of the rock of Rephidim had followed them while there was need of it; but it is probable that for some time they had been in a country where they were supplied in an ordinary way, and when common providence supplied them it was fit that the miracle should cease. But in this place it fell out that there was no water, or not sufficient for the congregation. Note, We live in a wanting world, and, wherever we are, must expect to meet with some inconvenience or other. It is a great mercy to have plenty of water, a mercy which if we found the want of we should own the worth of.

2. Hereupon they murmured, mutinied (Num 20:2), gathered themselves together, and took up arms against Moses and Aaron. They chid with them (Num 20:3), spoke the same absurd and brutish language that their fathers had done before them. (1.) They wished they had died as malefactors by the hands of divine justice, rather than thus seem for a while neglected by the divine mercy: Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Instead of giving God thanks, as they ought to have done, for sparing them, they not only despise the mercy of their reprieve, but quarrel with it, as if God had done them a great deal of wrong in giving them their lives for a prey, and snatching them as brands out of the burning. But they need not wish that they had died with their brethren, they are here taking the ready way to die like their brethren in a little while. Woe unto those that desire the day of the Lord, Amo 5:18. (2.) They were angry that they were brought out of Egypt, and led through this wilderness, Num 20:4, Num 20:5. They quarrelled with Moses for that which they knew was the Lord's doing; they represented that as an injury which was the greatest favour that ever was done to any people. They prefer slavery before liberty, the house of bondage before the land of promise; and though, the present want was of water only, yet, now that they are disposed to find fault, it shall be looked upon as an insufferable hardship put upon them that they have not vines and figs. It was an aggravation of their crime, [1.] that they had smarted so long for the discontents and distrusts of their fathers. They had borne their whoredoms now almost forty years in the wilderness (Num 14:33); and yet they ventured in the same steps, and, as is charged upon Belshazzar, humbled not their hearts, though they knew all this, Dan 5:22. [2.] That they had had such long and constant experience of God's goodness to them, and of the tenderness and faithfulness of Moses and Aaron. [3.] That Miriam was now lately dead; and, having lost one of their leaders, they ought to have been more respectful to those that were left; but, as if they were resolved to provoke God to leave them as sheep without any shepherd, they grow outrageous against them: instead of condoling with Moses and Aaron for the death of their sister, they add affliction to their grief.

3. Moses and Aaron made them no reply, but retired to the door of the tabernacle to know God's mind in this case, Num 20:6. There they fell on their faces, as formerly on the like occasion, to deprecate the wrath of God and to entreat direction from him. Here is no mention of any thing they said; they knew that God heard the murmurings of the people, and before him they humbly prostrate themselves, making intercessions with groanings that cannot be uttered. There they lay waiting for orders Speak, Lord, for thy servants hear.

4. God appeared, to determine the matter; not on his tribunal of justice, to sentence the rebels according to their deserts; no, he will not return to destroy Ephraim (Hos 11:9), will not always chide; see Gen 8:21. But he appeared, (1.) On his throne of glory, to silence their unjust murmuring (Num 20:6): The glory of the Lord appeared, to still the tumult of the people, by striking an awe upon them. Note, A believing sight of the glory of the Lord would be an effectual check to our lusts and passions, and would keep our mouths as with a bridle. (2.) On his throne of grace, to satisfy their just desires. It was requisite that they should have water, and therefore, thought the manner of their petitioning for it was irregular and disorderly, yet God did not take that advantage against them to deny it to them, but gave immediate orders for their supply, Num 20:8. Moses must a second time in God's name command water out of a rock for them, to show that God is as able as ever to supply his people with good things, even in their greatest straits an in the utmost failure of second causes. Almighty power can bring water out of a rock, has done it, and can again, for his arm is not shortened. Lest it should be thought that there was something peculiar in the former rock itself, some secret spring which nature hid before in it, God here bids him broach another, and does not, as then, direct him which he must apply to, but lets him make use of which he pleased, or the first he came to; all alike to Omnipotence. [1.] God bids him take the rod, that famous rod with which he summoned the plagues of Egypt, and divided the sea, that, having that in his hand, both he and the people might be reminded of the great things God had formerly done for them, and might be encouraged to trust in him now. This rod, it seems, was kept in the tabernacle (Num 20:9), for it was the rod of God, the rod of his strength, as the gospel is called (Psa 110:2), perhaps in allusion to it. [2.] God bids him gather the assembly, not the elders only, but the people, to be witnesses of what was done, that by their own eyes they might be convinced and made ashamed of their unbelief. There is no fallacy in God's works of wonder, and therefore they shun not the light, nor the inspection and enquiry of many witnesses. [3.] He bids him speak to the rock, which would do as it was bidden, to shame the people who had been so often spoken to, and would not hear nor obey. Their hearts were harder than this rock, not so tender, not so yielding, not so obedient. [4.] He promises that the rock should give forth water (Num 20:8), and it did so (Num 20:11): The water came out abundantly. This is an instance, not only of the power of God, that he could thus fetch honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, but of his mercy and grace, that he would do it for such a provoking people. This was a new generation (most of the old stock were by this time worn off), yet they were as bad as those that went before them; murmuring ran in the blood, yet the entail of the divine favour was not cut off, but in this instance of it the divine patience shines as brightly as the divine power. He is God and not man, in sparing and pardoning; nay, he not only here gave them the drink which they drank of in common with their beasts (Num 20:8, Num 20:11), but in it he made them to drink spiritual drink, which typified spiritual blessings, for that rock was Christ.

5. Moses and Aaron acted improperly in the management of this matter, so much so that God in displeasure told them immediately that they should not have the honour of bringing Israel into Canaan, Num 20:10-12.

(1.) This is a strange passage of story, yet very instructive. [1.] It is certain that God was greatly offended, and justly, for he is never angry without cause. Though they were his servants, and had obtained mercy to be faithful, though they were his favourites, and such as he had highly honoured, yet for something they thought, or said, or did, upon this occasion, he put them under the disgrace and mortification of dying, as other unbelieving Israelites did, short of Canaan. And no doubt the crime deserved the punishment. [2.] Yet it is uncertain what it was in this management that was so provoking to God. The fault was complicated. First, They did not punctually observe their orders, but in some things varied from their commission; God bade them speak to the rock, and they spoke to the people, and smote the rock, which at this time they were not ordered to do, but they thought speaking would not do. When, in distrust of the power of the word, we have recourse to the secular power in matters of pure conscience, we do, as Moses here, smite the rock to which we should only speak, Secondly, They assumed too much of the glory of this work of wonder to themselves: Must we fetch water? as if it were done by some power or worthiness of theirs. Therefore it is charged upon them (Num 20:12) that they did not sanctify God, that is, they did not give him that glory of this miracle which was due unto his name. Thirdly, Unbelief was the great transgression (Num 20:12): You believed me not; nay, it is called rebelling against God's commandment, Num 27:14. The command was to bring water out of the rock, but they rebelled against this command, by distrusting it, and doubting whether it would take effect or no. They speak doubtfully: Must we fetch water? And probably they did in some other ways discover an uncertainty in their own minds whether water would come or no for such a rebellious generation as this was. And perhaps they the rather questioned it, though God had promised it, because the glory of the Lord did not appear before them upon this rock, as it had done upon the rock in Rephidim, Exo 17:6. They would not take God's word without a sign. Dr. Lightfoot's notion of their unbelief is that they doubted whether now at last, when the forty years had expired, they should enter Canaan, and whether they must not for the murmurings of the people be condemned to another period of toil, because a new rock was now opened for their supply, which they took for an indication of their longer stay. And, if so, justly were they kept out of Canaan themselves, while the people entered at the time appointed. Fourthly, They said and did all in heat and passion; this is the account given of the sin (Psa 106:33): They provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. It was in his passion that he called them rebels. It is true they were so; God had called them so; and Moses afterwards, in the way of a just reproof (Deu 9:24), calls them so without offence; but now it came from a provoked spirit, and was spoken unadvisedly: it was too much like Raca, and Thou fool. His smiting the rock twice (it should seem, not waiting at all for the eruption of the water upon the first stroke) shows that he was in a heat. The same thing said and done with meekness may be justifiable which when said and done in anger may be highly culpable; see Jam 1:20. Fifthly, That which aggravated all the rest, and made it the more provoking, was that it was public, before the eyes of the children of Israel, to whom they should have been examples of faith, and hope, and meekness. We find Moses guilty of sinful distrust, Num 11:22, Num 11:23. That was private between God and him, and therefore was only checked. But his was public; it dishonoured God before Israel, as if he grudged them his favours, and discouraged the people's hope in God, and therefore this was severely punished, and the more because of the dignity and eminency of those that offended.

(2.) From the whole we may learn, [1.] That the best of men have their failings, even in those graces that they are most eminent for. The man Moses was very meek, and yet here he sinned in passion; wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. [2.] That God judges not as man judges concerning sins; we might think that there was not much amiss in what Moses said and did, yet God saw cause to animadvert severely upon it. He knows the frame of men's spirits, what temper they are of, and what temper they are in upon particular occasions, and from what thoughts and intents words and actions do proceed; and we are sure that therefore his judgment is according to truth, when it agrees not with ours. [3.] that God not only takes notice of, and is displeased with, the sins of his people, but that the nearer any are to him the more offensive are their sins, Amo 3:2. It should seem, the Psalmist refers to this sin of Moses and Aaron (Psa 99:8): Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance on their inventions. As many are spared in this life and punished in the other, so many are punished in this life and saved in the other. [4.] That, when our heart is hot within us, we are concerned to take heed that we offend not with our tongue. Yet, [5.] It is an evidence of the sincerity of Moses, and his impartiality in writing, that he himself left this upon record concerning himself, and drew not a veil over his own infirmity, by which it appeared that in what he wrote, as well as what he did, he sought God's glory more than his own.

Lastly, The place is hereupon called Meribah, Num 20:13. It is called Meribah-Kadesh (Deu 32:51), to distinguish it from the other Meribah. It is the water of strife; to perpetuate the remembrance of the people's sin, and Moses's, and yet of God's mercy, who supplied them with water, and owned and honoured Moses notwithstanding. Thus he was sanctified in the, as the Holy One of Israel, so he is called when his mercy rejoices against judgment, Hos 11:9. Moses and Aaron did not sanctify God as they ought in the eyes of Israel (Num 20:12), but God was sanctified in them; for he will not be a loser in his honour by any man. If he be not glorified by us, he will be glorified upon us.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 20:1

Assembling of the Congregation at Kadesh. - In the first month the children of Israel came into the desert of Zin, i.e., in the fortieth year of their wanderings, at the commencement of which "the whole congregation"assembled together once more in the very same place where the sentence had been passed thirty-seven years and a half before, that they should remain in the desert for forty years, until the rebellious generation had died out. The year is not mentioned in Num 20:1, but, according to Num 14:32., it can only be the year with which the forty years of the sentence that they should die out in the wilderness came to an end, that is to say, the fortieth year of their wandering. This is put beyond all doubt by what follows. For the whole congregation proceeds from Kadesh in the desert of Zin to Mount Hor, where Aaron died, and that, according to Num 33:38, in the fifth month of the fortieth year after the exodus from Egypt. Miriam died during the time that the people were staying ( ישׁב ) in Kadesh, and there she was buried.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 20:2-5

Sin of Moses and Aaron at the Water of Strife at Kadesh. - In the arid desert the congregation was in want of water, and the people quarrelled with Moses in consequence. In connection with the first stay in Kadesh there is nothing said about any deficiency of water. But as the name Kadesh embraces a large district of the desert of Zin, and is not confined to one particular spot, there might easily be a want of water in this place or the other. In their faithless discontent, the people wished that they had died when their brethren died before Jehovah. The allusion is not to Korah's company, as Knobel supposes, and the word גּוע , "to expire,"would be altogether inapplicable to their destruction; but the reference is to those who had died one by one during the thirty-seven years. " Why, "they murmured once more against Moses and Aaron, " have ye brought the congregation of God into this desert, to perish there with their cattle? Why have ye brought it out of Egypt into this evil land, where there is no seed, no fig-trees and pomegranates, no vines, and no water to drink? "

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 20:6

Moses and Aaron then turned to the tabernacle, to ask for the help of the Lord; and the glory of the Lord immediately appeared (see at Num 17:7 and Num 14:10).

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 20:7-8

The Lord relieved the want of water. Moses was to take the staff, and with Aaron to gather together the congregation, and speak to the rock before their eyes, when it would give forth water for the congregation and their cattle to drink.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 20:9-11

Moses then took the rod "from before Jehovah,"- i.e., the rod with which he had performed miracles in Egypt (Exo 17:5), and which was laid up in the sanctuary, not Aaron's rod which blossomed (Num 17:10), - and collected the congregation together before the rock, and said to them," Hear, ye rebels, shall we fetch you water out of this rock? "He then smote the rock twice with his rod, whereupon much water came out, so that the congregation and their cattle had water to drink.

Constable: Num 11:1--20:29

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

The end of chapter 10 is the high point of the Book of Numbers spiritually. The beginning of chapter 11 records the beginning of the spiritual decline of Israel that resulted in God's judging the nation. He postponed the fulfillment of His promise to bring her into the Promised Land.

"Chapters 11-20 present a dismal record of their acts of ingratitude and of God's consequent judgments on his ungrateful people. Within these chapters are innumerable instances of his continuing grace. The reader of these texts goes astray if he or she focuses solely on God's wrath or on the constant provocations to his anger by his meandering people. The more impressive feature in this text is God's continuing mercy against continuing, obdurate rebellion. . . .

"These ten chapters now balance and contrast with the ten chapters that present the record of Israel's preparation."⁸⁸

Constable: Num 20:1-29

The departure from Kadesh ch. 20

Here begins the fourth and last leg of the Israelites' journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

1. From Egypt to Sinai (Exod. 12-19)

2. From Sinai to Kadesh (Num. 11-12)

3. From Kadesh back to Kadesh--38 years of wilderness wandering (Num. 15-19)

4. From Kadesh to Transjordan (Num. 20-21)

The first two of these journeys each began with triumph but ended in tragedy. The third and fourth each began with tragedy but ended in triumph.

"The focus of the narratives in chs. 13-19 has been the sin of the people and the trouble caused by it. In chs. 20-21 this focus is still present, to be sure (20:2-13; 21:4-9), but it is beginning to shift to victories given by Yahweh as the people approach Canaan (21:1-3, 21-35). It should be remembered that these victories were given to the old generation that was under a death sentence in the wilderness. A new day is coming for the Israelites."¹⁶⁶

Constable: Num 20:1-13

Moses' rebellion at Kadesh 20:1-13

At the end of 37 years the Israelites returned to the wilderness of Zin and Kadesh. Kadesh was a large area of desert located on the edge of the wilderness of Zin. God had previously judged the older generation of Israelites for not believing Him (ch. 14). Now He judged Moses for the same thing. Miriam and Aaron also died in the wilderness for their sins. The leaders fell before the same temptation as the people.

"Failure to enjoy God's promises was the result of unbelief. At this point in the narrative the writer shows that it was not a failure to keep the law that led to their death in the wilderness."¹⁶⁷

Miriam was a significant person in the Exodus drama. The writer recorded her death as having occurred in the first month. He did not give the year. Probably this was the fortieth year because the next dated event, the death of Aaron, occurred on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year (cf. vv. 27-28; 33:38).

The root of Moses' sin in disobeying God (v. 11) was unbelief (v. 12). Quite clearly this was not a failure to believe that God could or would provide water for the people. Rather it was a failure to believe that simple obedience to God's command was best (cf. Gen. 4:1-7).

Moses did more than God told him to do. He failed to believe that God's way was best and took matters into his own hands. His motives may have been one or more of the following. He may have had a desire for the greater glory of God. He may have been proud or may have relied on his own ability to work miracles. We know he was impatient with the Israelites' complaining and felt frustrated by their slowness to learn a lesson God had previously taught them (cf. Ps. 106:32-33). In any case he failed to accept God's will as best, and this is unbelief.

"Faith is the correct response to God's word, whether it is a word of promise or a word of command."¹⁶⁸

Instead of speaking to the rock (v. 8) Moses spoke to the Israelites (v. 10) "rashly" (Ps. 106:33; cf. Lev. 5:4). He struck the rock twice with the rod with which he had done many miracles (v. 11) as though this miracle required his power rather than simply the power of God.¹⁶⁹ Evidently Moses, in his frustration with the people, thought that he was the performer of the miracle rather than only God's instrument. This is a common error in modern ministry, and it still produces great frustration: thinking that we need to be manufacturers rather than simply distributors of blessing to others.¹⁷⁰

"The promise was that the moment the word was spoken to the lifeless rock, the miracle would occur before the eyes of all the people and the water would gush from the rock in amounts sufficient to quench the thirst of man and beast. This was God's intention, a change from his attitude in the case of earlier rebellions: here mercy won over judgment. To accept this kindness toward a sinful people demanded even more faith from Moses (especially when we recall Num. 16:15, in which we read that he asked God to turn away from the people who so seriously but falsely accused him). God's power and God's mercy--these are the two focal points that were to be brought once more to the attention of the people."¹⁷¹

Perhaps there was a measure of sacrilege in striking the rock since rock was a symbol of God (cf. Deut. 32:4, 15, 18; Ps. 18:2; 31:3; 42:9; 1 Cor. 10:4; et al.). However I doubt this (cf. Exod. 17:6).

Moses' anger complicated his unbelief. He was a faithful servant of God except on this occasion. If another person had committed this sin it might not have been so serious, but it was very serious because the man in Moses' office committed it. God therefore shortened the term of Moses' office as punishment. Moses would not bring the nation into the Promised Land (cf. 1 Sam. 13:14; 15:26). Leaders of God's people lose their ability to lead when they cease to rely upon God and impede the manifestation of God's power and holiness.

Exactly what was Moses' sin, which the text calls unbelief?

"Judging from the passage alone, the faithlessness of Moses does not appear to have consisted in his striking the rock or in his harsh words but rather lies just out of reach somewhere in the numerous gaps' of the story. We should stress that this is not a result of a deficiency in the story. It rather appears to be part of the story's design. It is just at the point of recounting the nature of their sin that the author abbreviates the narrative and moves on to the divine speech (Num 20:12). Moreover, it is just this divine speech that fills the gap' with the word about faith, giving the story a sense far larger than that of its own immediate concerns. . . . The rebellion of Moses and Aaron (. . ., 20:24), which appears at some point to have been an important feature of the narrative, has been replaced with the focus on their faithlessness (. . ., 20:12). Such an interpretation has raised the actions of Moses and Aaron in the narrative to a higher level of theological reflection--the issue of faith versus obedience to the law. Their actions epitomize the negative side of the message of faith. Moses and Aaron, who held high positions under the law, did not enjoy God's gift of the land. They died in the wilderness because they did not believe."¹⁷²

Aaron was guilty (v. 12) because he did not prevent Moses from sinning. Evidently he could have done this, and God punished him because he did not. Both men inappropriately took God's place as the center of attention.

Meribah (Contention) is the name the Israelites gave the water that came out of the rock. It is also the name of the site where this incident took place (v. 13). The people had already named another place Meribah (Exod. 17:7). The present incident doubtless brought the former to memory.

In spite of Moses' disobedience God still provided for the people by giving them water. God blesses people even through His disobedient servants. Nevertheless this in no way justifies a light view of sin. Moses experienced severe discipline for his unfaithfulness to God.

"The lesson is clear: grace is never a ground for complacency or presumption. By our carelessness, by our sinful neglect, we can sin away forever some of the privileges of our calling--not salvation itself, but our opportunities for service, our possibility for usefulness, our contribution to the ongoing purposes of God."¹⁷³

Guzik: Num 20:1-29

Numbers 20 - The Beginning of the End

A. Contention among the children of Israel.

1. (1) The death of Miriam.

Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.

a. The people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there: Miriam died in Kadesh. Through the years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel came back to Kadesh, the place where they rejected God's offer (Numbers 13:26).

b. Miriam died there and was buried there: Miriam's death was an important point in the journey from Egypt to Canaan. She was the first of Moses' siblings to die in the wilderness, and her death was an important demonstration of the fulfillment of what God promised: That the generation which refused to enter Canaan would die in the wilderness, and the new generation would enter instead (Numbers 14:29-34).

i. Miriam's death shows us there were no special exceptions for the family of Moses. God said only Joshua and Caleb would survive from that generation (Numbers 14:30), and that included, Miriam, Aaron, even Moses himself. This chapter will show the frailty of each of these giants in the account of the Exodus.

ii. Many people still deceive themselves into thinking they have a special exception from God, believing they are a special case, with their own special arrangement with the LORD. If Moses and his siblings had no special deal, we should not be so arrogant to think we have our own deal with God.

c. Miriam died there and was buried there: Miriam died a complex character. She was great for her courage in assisting Moses and his parents (Exodus 2:4-8), and great for her leading Israel in praise (Exodus 15:20-21). But she was also disgraced for her rebellion against Moses (Numbers 12). One incident of rebellion left a black mark on her whole life.

2. (2-6) Israel contends with Moses and Aaron because of thirst.

Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

a. There was no water for the congregation: The need was real, but the response of Israel was filled with unbelief and bad attitude - which always go together! When you find a bad attitude, you will also find a lack of simple, secure trust in God.

b. If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

Their contention lead them to outrageous statements, words lacking any trust in God. The older generation of unbelief was almost dead, and now the younger generation started to act like the unbelieving generation. They openly doubted God's promise that He would lead them into the land of promise.

c. Why have you brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? Their contentions lead them to outrageous accusations. The new generation accuses Moses just as the generation of unbelief did!

d. Not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates: Their contentions lead them to a stunted vision. Of course the wilderness was not a fruitful land. But they would never make it to the land of rich fruit until they came through the wilderness trusting God.

e. Moses and Aaron . . . fell on their faces: They realized how serious this was. With this contentious attitude, the new generation would be just as unbelieving, as untrusting in God as the old generation was, and they would likewise perish in the wilderness.

3. (7-8) God's command to Moses: Provide water for Israel.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals."

a. Take the rod . . . Speak to the rock before their eyes: Specifically, God told Moses to take the rod, but not to use it. Water would be provided if Moses would speak to the rock before their eyes.

b. And it will yield its water: Back at Mount Sinai, God told Moses to strike the rock and water came forth (Exodus 17:6). But now he was merely to speak to the rock, yet with the rod in his hand. This rod was a symbol of his authority from God.

4. (9-11) Moses' contention with the people - and with the LORD.

So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

a. So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him: Moses began by doing exactly what the LORD had told him to do: Take the rod, and gather the people of Israel.

b. Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? God did not command him to speak to the nation, and to speak so severely to the nation, yet Moses did.

i. Moses, after doing what God had told him to do, then did something God had not told him to do: He lectured the nation.

ii. Worse, he lectured the nation with an attitude of heart he had not shown before - one of anger and contempt for the people of God, with a bitter heart. Before, Moses fell on his face before God when the people rebelled (Numbers 16:4). At Meribah, when the people contended with Moses because there was no water, Moses cried out to the LORD, not against the people (Exodus 15:22-25). When the people did need to be boldly confronted, Moses did it; but without the edge of anger, contempt, and bitterness we see here (as in Exodus 17:1-7). There are a hundred explanations for Moses' frustration here (Psalm 106:32-33 describes how the people provoked Moses here), but not a single excuse.

iii. Worse yet, Moses not only took the rebellion of the people against the LORD too personally, he also over-magnified his own partnership with God: Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Moses spoke as if he and God would do the job, as if they divided the work fifty-fifty; as if God couldn't bring water unless he was around to speak to the rock. His lapse into contempt for the people led him into a lapse of subtle pride.

c. Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod: Moses disobeyed God directly, striking the rock instead of speaking to it.

i. Not only did he strike it, but he struck it twice. When he struck the rock at the beginning of the Exodus journey, he only had to strike it once, but now, out of anger and frustration, he did it twice.

d. Water came out abundantly: Yet, despite Moses' lapse into sinful attitude and action, God still provided abundantly for the people.

i. This teaches us that God's love for His people is so great, he will use very imperfect instruments, and that the fact God uses someone is no evidence - to themselves or to the people - that they themselves are really right with God or ministering according to God's heart.

ii. God would deal with Moses, but the people needed water - and so it was provided. Moses might have come away thinking he did right, and the people probably thought so as well - because what Moses did seemed to work. But what works is not the best measure of what is right before God.

5. (12-13) God's rebuke and correction of Moses.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them.

a. Because you did not believe Me: Moses' sinful attitude and action was rooted in unbelief. He didn't really believe God when the LORD told him to speak to the rock and not to strike it.

b. To hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel: What Moses did was an unholy thing. He made God look no different than an angry man or one of the temperamental pagan gods. He did not reflect the heart and character of God before the people.

c. Therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land: God's correction of Moses was hard; he would not lead Israel into the Promised Land. That which he dreamed of and felt called to even as a child in the palaces of Egypt - to deliver God's people - would not be completed. Another person would finish the job.

i. This is only painful because of Moses' faithful heart; an unfaithful man is not pained at the idea that he cannot complete what God had called him to.

ii. We might have thought, Israel might have thought, and Moses might have thought he was exempt from the decree that all the generation that was of age when the Exodus began would perish in the wilderness - after all, Moses was Moses! But Moses, great as leader as he was, was still a man subject to God and God's law.

d. You shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them: This may seem an excessively harsh punishment for Moses. It seems that with only one slip-up, he now had to die short of the Promised Land. But Moses was being judged by a stricter standard because of his leadership position with the nation, and because he had a uniquely close relationship with God.

i. It is right for teachers and leaders to be judged by a stricter standard (James 3:1); though it is unrighteous to hold teachers and leaders to a perfect standard. It is true the people's conduct was worse than Moses' but it is irrelevant.

ii. Worst of all, Moses defaced a beautiful picture of Jesus' redemptive work through the rock which provided water in the wilderness. The New Testament makes it clear this water-providing, life-giving rock was a picture of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus, being struck once, provided life for all who would drink of Him (John 7:37). But was unnecessary - and unrighteous - that Jesus would be struck again, much less again twice, because the Son of God needed only to suffer once (Hebrews 10:10-12). Jesus can now be come to with words of faith (Romans 10:8-10), as Moses should have only used words of faith to bring life-giving water to the nation of Israel. Moses "ruined" this picture of the work of Jesus God intended.

e. And He was hallowed among them: At the end of it all, God was seen as holy among the children of Israel. Moses did not hallow God in this incident, but God hallowed Himself through the correction of Moses. God will get His glory, God will be hallowed - but will it come through our obedience or our correction?

B. On the way to the Promised Land - again.

1. (14-17) Messengers to the king of Edom.

Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. "Thus says your brother Israel: 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers. When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'"

a. Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Israel was now at Kadesh, and they wanted to go through the land of Edom - taking them closer to the Promised Land than they had ever been before, beyond where they failed to go in because of unbelief. This was the fifth stage of the Exodus.

· First, from Egypt to Mount Sinai (Exodus 12:31 to 18:27).

· Second, the sojourn at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1 to Numbers 10:10).

· Third, the first approach to the Promised Land, beginning at Mount Sinai, but being aborted at Kadesh with the refusal to enter the Promised Land in faith (Numbers 10:11 to 14:45).

· Fourth, the 38 years of wandering in the wilderness until the generation of unbelief had died (Numbers 15:1 to Numbers 20:13).

· Now, fifth, the second and final approach to the Promised Land (Numbers 20:14 to Joshua 2:24).

b. Thus says your brother Israel: The nation of Israel was brother to the nation of Edom, because the patriarch Israel (also known as Jacob) was brother to Esau (also known as Edom), as related in Genesis 25:19-34.

c. Please let us pass through your country: All Moses asked for on behalf of Israel was the permission to pass through. They expected no provision from the Edomites, because they trusted God to provide all their needs.

2. (18-21) The Edomites refuse passage to the Israelites.

Then Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword." So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more." Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

a. You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword: This was an unnecessary refusal. It would have cost Edom nothing and been a genuine gesture of goodwill. But the Edomites, perhaps out of suspicion or fear, refused.

b. So Israel turned away from him: This refusal made the journey of the children of Israel much more discouraging and dangerous (Numbers 21:4-5), but there seems to be no record of God punishing Edom for this sin. In fact, Israel was still commanded to treat the Edomite as a brother (Deuteronomy 23:7). God here showed Israel how to leave the judgment of those who hurt you up to the LORD, and how to love those who have acted as enemies against you - even if they were brothers.

3. (22-29) The death of Aaron.

Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: "Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there." So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

a. Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor: Here a definite marker, indicating the end of the 38 years Israel had been "sentenced" to in the wilderness. Numbers 33:38 tells us Aaron died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.

i. There is very little record of what happened during these years; they are compressed into only five and one-half chapters, while the single year at Mount Sinai is given almost 50 chapters. This was to demonstrate these years accomplished nothing, except the death of the generation of unbelief. These were just years of surviving in the desert, wasted years, waiting for the "old man" to die.

ii. During those 38 years, there was much movement - but no progress. Our walk with God can be the same way.

iii. "Because Israel had rebelled, their life has run to waste ever since, and only now, after such a lapse of time, and after so much suffering, did Israel find itself in a position to recommence the march that was suspended at Kadesh. So it is with the churches which have reached a certain point, then rebelled against the voice of God. Their history runs to waste; they exist, but hardly live; there is indeed a movement in them, but it has no definite aim, it leads no where; they just end up in the same place all the time. Only after a long time (if God has mercy on them) do they find themselves once more in a position to start afresh, and with not one step further forward in all of those years. Even so it is with individuals who will not go resolutely on when they are called. They are spent and wasted in movement back and forth which is not progress. After many years perhaps - perhaps after a whole lifetime - of wandering in dry places they find themselves once more at the very point to which they had come before, and not one step closer." (Winterbotham in Pulpit Commentary)

c. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: The passing of Aaron is a huge landmark in the history of Israel; he was the first high priest of the nation - and yet, not exempt from the decree that his generation would perish in the wilderness.

i. Moses, who represented the law, could not lead them into the Promised Land. Miriam, who represents the prophets, could not lead them into the Promised Land. Aaron, who represents the priests, could not lead them into the Promised Land. Only Joshua, that is, JESUS, could lead them into the land of God's promise.

d. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: Aaron died as a great, but complex figure, even more so than Miriam. He was used of God mightily, as Moses' partner (Exodus 4:27-31), to initiate the priesthood (Leviticus 8), and to plead with Moses for the people (Numbers 16-17). At the same time, he was instrumental in the grotesque debacle of the golden calf (Exodus 32) and in challenging Moses' authority with his sister Miriam (Numbers 12).

i. Aaron's life shows us, among other things, that the office is more important than the man himself. Aaron the man was not always worthy of respect, but Aaron the high priest always was worthy of honor.

e. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son: God gave special warning about Aaron's death, so a smooth and graceful transition could be made in passing down the position of high priest to Aaron's oldest living son, Eleazar.

i. The man dies, but the priesthood - and the access and relationship with God it describes - carries on. No one's relationship with God in Israel was to depend on Aaron, but on the high priest - whomever he was. God has ensured there will always be a high priest for us to come to in Jesus (Hebrews 4:14-16), and we need not depend on any man for our relationship with God.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Num 20:1

NUMBERS 20:1 —Was Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin or in Paran?

PROBLEM: In this text Kadesh is said to be in the “Wilderness of Zin.” But in Numbers 13:26 it is said to be in the “Wilderness of Paran.” Which was it?

SOLUTION: There are several possible explanations, any one of which resolves the problem. First, some believe there were two places named Kadesh, one in each wilderness. Second, the name Kadesh could have been applied to both a city and a region in which the city lay. Third, that the same city was positioned between two wildernesses so as to be appropriately associated with either.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Numbers (Book Introduction)

NUMBERS. This book is so called because it contains an account of the enumeration and arrangement of the Israelites. The early part of it, from the first through the tenth chapters, appears to be a supplement to Leviticus, being occupied with relating the appointment of the Levites to the sacred offices. The journal of the march through the wilderness is then given as far as Num 21:20; after which the early incidents of the invasion are narrated. One direct quotation only from this book (Num 16:5) is made in the New Testament (2Ti 2:19); but indirect references to it by the later sacred writers are very numerous.

JFB: Numbers (Outline)

• MOSES NUMBERING THE MEN OF WAR. (Num. 1:1-54)
• THE ORDER OF THE TRIBES IN THEIR TENTS. (Num. 2:1-34)
• THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 3:1-51)
• OF THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 4:1-49)
• THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED OUT OF THE CAMP. (Num 5:1-4)
• RESTITUTION ENJOINED. (Num 5:5-10)
• THE TRIAL OF JEALOUSY. (Num. 5:11-31)
• THE LAW OF THE NAZARITE IN HIS SEPARATION. (Num. 6:1-22)
• THE FORM OF BLESSING THE PEOPLE. (Num 6:23-27)
• THE PRINCES' OFFERINGS. (Num. 7:1-89)
• HOW THE LAMPS ARE TO BE LIGHTED. (Num 8:1-4)
• THE CONSECRATION OF THE LEVITES. (Num. 8:5-22)
• THE PASSOVER ENJOINED. (Num 9:1-5)
• A SECOND PASSOVER ALLOWED. (Num 9:6-14)
• A CLOUD GUIDES THE ISRAELITES. (Num 9:15-23)
• THE USE OF THE SILVER TRUMPETS. (Num. 10:1-36)
• MANNA LOATHED. (Num. 11:1-35)
• MIRIAM'S AND AARON'S SEDITION. (Num 12:1-9)
• MIRIAM'S LEPROSY. (Num 12:10-16)
• THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND. (Num. 13:1-33)
• THE PEOPLE MURMUR AT THE SPIES' REPORT. (Num. 14:1-45)
• THE LAW OF SUNDRY OFFERINGS. (Num. 15:1-41)
• THE REBELLION OF KORAH. (Num. 16:1-30)
• AARON'S ROD FLOURISHES. (Num 17:1-13)
• THE CHARGE OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (Num 18:1-7)
• THE PRIESTS' PORTION. (Num 18:8-20)
• THE LEVITES' PORTION. (Num 18:21-32)
• THE WATER OF SEPARATION. (Num. 19:1-22)
• THE DEATH OF MIRIAM. (Num. 20:1-29)
• ISRAEL ATTACKED BY THE CANAANITES. (Num. 21:1-35)
• BALAK'S FIRST MESSAGE FOR BALAAM REFUSED. (Num. 22:1-20)
• THE JOURNEY. (Num. 22:21-41)
• BALAK'S SACRIFICES. (Num. 23:1-30)
• BALAAM FORETELLS ISRAEL'S HAPPINESS. (Num. 24:1-25)
• THE ISRAELITES' WHOREDOM AND IDOLATRY WITH MOAB. (Num. 25:1-18)
• ISRAEL NUMBERED. (Num. 26:1-51)
• THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num 27:1-11)
• MOSES BEING TOLD OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH, ASKS FOR A SUCCESSOR. (Num 27:12-17)
• JOSHUA APPOINTED TO SUCCEED HIM. (Num 27:18-23)
• OFFERINGS TO BE OBSERVED. (Num. 28:1-31)
• THE OFFERING AT THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS. (Num. 29:1-40)
• VOWS ARE NOT TO BE BROKEN. (Num. 30:1-16)
• THE MIDIANITES SPOILED AND BALAAM SLAIN. (Num. 31:1-54)
• THE REUBENITES AND GADITES ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num. 32:1-42)
• TWO AND FORTY JOURNEYS OF THE ISRAELITES--FROM EGYPT TO SINAI. (Num 33:1-15)
• THE BORDERS OF THE LAND OF CANAAN. (Num. 34:1-29)
• EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN TO THE LEVITES. (Num 35:1-5)
• CITIES OF REFUGE. (Num 35:6-8)
• THE BLOOD AVENGER. (Num. 35:9-34)
• THE INCONVENIENCE OF THE INHERITANCE. (Num 36:1-13)

TSK: Numbers (Book Introduction)

The book of Numbers is a book containing a series of the most astonishing providences and events. Every where and in every circumstance God appears; and yet there is no circumstance or occasion which does not justify those signal displays of his grace and mercy; and in every relation we perceive the consistency of the divine intentions, and the propriety of those laws which he established.

TSK: Numbers 20 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Num 20:1, The children of Israel come to Zin, where Miriam dies; Num 20:2, They murmur for want of water; Num 20:7, Moses smiting the rock, brings forth water at Meribah; Num 20:14, Moses at Kadesh desires passage through Edom, which is denied him; Num 20:22, At mount Hor Aaron resigns his place to Eleazar, and dies.

Poole: Numbers (Book Introduction)

FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED NUMBERS

THE ARGUMENT

This Book giveth us a history of almost forty years travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness, where we have an account of their journeys, and what happened to them therein, with their government, and how they were managed thereby; called Numbers by reason of the several numberings of the people, as at the offerings of the princes, and at their several journeys, &c. But especially two: one, Chapter 1, out of which the priests and Levites were excepted, but numbered by themselves, viz. in the second year after they were come out of Egypt, in the first month whereof the passover was instituted; with the order about the tabernacle, both of the Levites and people, and their several marches, encampings, and manner of pitching their tents, the priests’ maintenance and establishment, by the miraculous budding of Aaron’ s rod, with the several impediments in their marches, both among themselves by several murmurings, seditions, and conspiracies; and from their enemies, viz. the Edomites, Canaanites, over whom having obtained a victory, and afterwards murmuring, they were stung with fiery serpents, and cured by the brazen one; Amorites, whose kings, Sihon and Og, they overcame and slew; and Moabites, where by the allurements of Balaam, who was hired by Balak to curse Israel, they joined themselves to Baal-peor , and are plagued for it; that openly opposed them. The other chief numbering is in Chapter 26, where they are found almost as many as at the first, though among them were none of the first numbering, (according to what God had threatened, Chapter 14,) save Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, by reason of their desire to return back into Egypt upon the discouraging report often of those twelve that Moses sent to spy out the land; whereupon they were forced to wander above thirty-eight years in the wilderness; where he gave them several laws, civil, ecclesiastical, and military; as also particular directions about women’ s inheriting, occasioned by the case of Zelophehad’ s daughters, and concerning vows; and then brings them back to the borders of Canaan, where, after divers victories obtained against their enemies, they were directed how the land of Canaan was to be divided among the tribes, and what portion the Levites were to have among them, together with six cities of refuge set apart for the manslayer. At length Aaron being dead, and Eleazar placed in his stead, and Moses also having received the sentence of death, doth, by God’ s appointment, deliver up the people unto the charge and conduct of Joshua.

Poole: Numbers 20 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 20

The people journey in the wilderness of Zin; they murmur against Moses for want of water, Num 20:2-5 . God commandeth Moses to speak to the rock, that it might yield water, Num 20:7,8 . Moses striking the rock twice, Num 20:9-11 , displeaseth God, Num 20:12 . Moses desiring passage through Edom, Num 20:14-17 , is denied, Num 20:18-21 . Aaron by God’ s command delivering up his office to Eleazar his son, dieth, Num 20:21-28 . All the congregation bemoan him, Num 20:29 .

MHCC: Numbers (Book Introduction)

This book is called NUMBERS from the several numberings of the people contained in it. It extends from the giving of the law at Sinai, till their arrival in the plains of Jordan. An account is given of their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness nearly forty years; also some laws, both, moral and ceremonial. Their trials greatly tended to distinguish the wicked and hypocrites from the faithful and true servants of God, who served him with a pure heart.

MHCC: Numbers 20 (Chapter Introduction)

(Num 20:1-13) The people come to Zin, They murmur for water, Moses directed to smite the rock, The infirmity of Moses and Aaron.

(Num 20:14-21) The Israelites are refused a passage through Edom.

(Num 20:22-29) Aaron reigns the priest's office to Eleazar, and dies in mount Hor.

Matthew Henry: Numbers (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers

The titles of the five books of Moses, which we use in our Bibles, are all borrowed from the Greek translation of the Seventy, the most ancient version of the Old Testament that we know of. But the title of this book only we turn into English; in all the rest we retain the Greek word itself, for which difference I know no reason but that the Latin translators have generally done the same. Otherwise this book might as well have been called Arithmoi , the Greek title, as the first Genesis, and the second Exodus; or these might as well have been translated, and called, the first the Generation, or Original, the second the Out-let, or Escape, as this Numbers. - This book was thus entitled because of the numbers of the children of Israel, so often mentioned in this book, and so well worthy to give a title to it, because it was the remarkable accomplishment of God's promise to Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. It also relates to two numberings of them, one at mount Sinai (ch. 1), the other in the plains of Moab, thirty-nine years after (ch. 26). And not three men the same in the last account that were in the first. The book is almost equally divided between histories and laws, intermixed.

We have here, I. The histories of the numbering and marshalling of the tribes (ch. 1-4), the dedication of the altar and Levites (ch. 7, 8), their march (ch. 9, 10), their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander forty years in the wilderness (ch. 11-14), the rebellion of Korah (ch. 16, Num 17:1-13), the history of the last year of the forty (ch. 20-26), the conquest of Midian, and the settlement of the two tribes (ch. 31, 32), with an account of their journeys (ch. 33), II. Divers laws about the Nazarites, etc. (ch. 5, 6); and again about the priests' charge, etc. (ch. 18, 19), feasts (ch. 28, 29), and vows (ch. 30), and relating to their settlement in Canaan (ch. 27, 34, 35, Num 36:1-13). An abstract of much of this book we have in a few words in Psa 95:10, Forty years long was I grieved with this generation; and an application of it to ourselves in Heb 4:1, Let us fear lest we seem to come short. Many considerable nations there were now in being, that dwelt in cities and fortified towns, of which no notice is taken, no account kept, by the sacred history: but very exact records are kept of the affairs of a handful of people, that dwelt in tents, and wandered strangely in a wilderness, because they were the children of the covenant. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Matthew Henry: Numbers 20 (Chapter Introduction)

At this chapter begins the history of the fortieth year (which was the last year) of the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness. And since the beginning of their second year, when they were sentenced to perform their quarantine in the desert, there to wear away the tedious revolution of forty years, there is little recorded concerning them till this last year, which brought them to the borders of Canaan, and the history of this year is almost as large as the history of the first year. This chapter gives an account of, I. The death of Miriam (Num 20:1). II. The fetching of water out of the rock, in which observe, 1. The distress Israel was in, for want of water (Num 20:2). 2. Their discontent and murmuring in that distress (Num 20:3-5). 3. God's pity and power engaged for their supply with water out of the rock (Num 20:6-9). 4. The infirmity of Moses and Aaron upon this occasion (Num 20:10, Num 20:11). 5. God's displeasure against them (Num 20:12, Num 20:13). III. The negotiation with the Edomites. Israel's request (Num 20:14-17), and the repulse the Edomites gave them (Num 20:18-21). IV. The death of Aaron the high priest upon Mount Hor, the instalment of Eleazar in his room, and the people's mourning for him (Num 20:22, etc.).

Constable: Numbers (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title the Jews used in their Hebrew Old Testament for this book comes from the fifth word in the book in the Hebrew text, bemidbar: "in the wilderness." This is, of course, appropriate since the Israelites spent most of the time covered in the narrative of Numbers wandering in the wilderness.

The English title "Numbers" is a translation of the Greek title Arithmoi. The Septuagint translators chose this title because of the two censuses of the Israelites that Moses recorded at the beginning (chs. 1-4) and toward the end (ch. 26) of the book. These numberings of the people took place at the beginning and end of the wilderness wanderings and frame the contents of Numbers.

Date and Writer

Moses wrote Numbers (cf. Num. 1:1; 33:2; Matt. 8:4; 19:7; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; et al.). He evidently did so late in his life on the plains of Moab.¹ Moses evidently died close to 1406 B.C. since the Exodus happened about 1446 B.C., and the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years.

Scope and purpose

When the book opens the Israelites were in the second month of the second year after they departed from Egypt (1:1). In chapters 7-10 we read things that happened in the nation before that. These things happened when Moses finishing setting up the tabernacle, which occurred on the first day of the first month of the second year (7:1; cf. Exod. 40:17). When Numbers closes the Israelites were in the tenth month of the fortieth year (cf. Deut. 1:3). Thus the time Numbers covers is about 39 years.

Geographically the Israelites travelled from Mt. Sinai to the plains of Moab, which lay to the east of Jericho and the Jordan River. However their journey was not at all direct. They proceeded from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on Canaan's southern border but failed to go into the Promised Land from there because of unbelief. Their failure to trust God and obey Him resulted in a period of 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. God finally brought them back to Kadesh and led them from there to the plains of Moab that lay on Canaan's eastern border.

Even though the wilderness wanderings consumed the majority of the years Numbers records, Moses passed over the events of this period of Israel's history fairly quickly. God's emphasis in this book is on His preparation of the Israelites to enter the land from Kadesh (chs. 1-14), and their preparation to enter from the plains of Moab (chs. 20-36). This indicates that the purpose of the book was primarily to show how God dealt with the Israelites as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land. It was not to record all the events, or even most events, that took place in Israel's history. This selection of content to teach spiritual lessons is in harmony with the other books of the Pentateuch. Their concern too was more theological than historical.

"The material in Numbers cannot be understood apart from what precedes it in Exodus and Leviticus. The middle books of the Pentateuch hang closely together, with Genesis forming a prologue, and Deuteronomy the epilogue to the collection."²

The content stresses events leading to the destruction of the older generation of Israelites in the wilderness and the preparation of the new generation for entrance into the land. The census at the beginning of the book (chs. 1-4) and the one at the end (ch. 26) provide, ". . . the overarching literary and theological structure of the book of Numbers."³

"We may also venture the purpose of the book in this manner: To compel obedience to Yahweh by members of the new community by reminding them of the wrath of God on their parents because of their breach of covenant; to encourage them to trust in the ongoing promises of their Lord as they follow him into their heritage in Canaan; and to provoke them to worship of God and to the enjoyment of their salvation."⁴

"The Book of Numbers seems to be an instruction manual to post-Sinai Israel. The manual' deals with three areas: (a) how the nation was to order itself in its journeyings, (b) how the priests and Levites were to function in the condition of mobility which lay ahead, and (c) how they were to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan and their settled lives there. The narrative sections, of which there are many, demonstrate the successes and failures of the Lord's people as they conformed and did not conform to the requirements in the legislative, cultic, and prescriptive parts of the book."⁵

Theme

I believe the theme of the book is obedience. However others have suggested different though related themes.

"The theme of the Book of Numbers is worship."⁶

"The major theological theme of Numbers is reciprocal in nature: God has brought a people to Himself by covenant grace, but He expects of them a wholehearted devotion. Having accepted the terms of the Sinai Covenant, Israel had placed herself under obligation to obey them, a process that was to begin at once and not in some distant place and time (Exod. 19:8; 24:3)."⁷

Message⁸

To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.

The first major value of Numbers is that it reveals the graciousness of God to an extent not previously revealed. We see God's graciousness in His dealings with Israel throughout this book.

In the first section of Numbers (chs. 1-10) God's provision for His people stands out. We see this in the order and purity God specified for the maintenance of the Israelite camp. We see it in the worship God provided for in the camp. We also see it in the movement God prescribed for the camp. God faithfully provided for the needs of His people in these many ways as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

In the second section of the book (chs. 11-21) God's patience with His people stands out. When the Israelites failed to obey God He did not desert them, but He disciplined them in love. God's patience in dealing with the Israelites did not result from God's weakness, but it was an evidence of His strength. God did not manifest carelessness toward the Israelites by making them wander in the wilderness for 38 years. He manifested carefulness as He used those 38 years to prepare the next generation to obey Him. God disciplined the people for their disobedience, but He always directed them toward the realization of His purpose for them as He disciplined them. The years of wilderness wandering were years of education rather than abandonment. He had similarly prepared Moses for 40 years in the wilderness before the Exodus.

In the third section (chs. 22-36) God's persistence in bringing Israel to the threshold of the land is prominent. God protected Israel from her enemies and provided for her needs. Even though Israel had been unfaithful God persisted in demonstrating faithfulness to the nation He had chosen to bless.

A second major value of this book is the revelation it contains of the gravity of unbelief. This is a revelation of man whereas the first was a revelation of God. Numbers reveals the seriousness of the sin of unbelief that manifests itself in disobedience. The Israelites struggled with unbelief throughout the book, but the most serious instance of it took place at Kadesh Barnea (chs. 13-14).

Numbers reveals the roots of unbelief. These were two causes: a mixed multitude and mixed motives.

The congregation consisted of a combination of believing Israelites and others who had for various reasons joined themselves to the people of God, a mixed multitude. These foreigners joined Israel first at the Exodus (Exod. 12:38), but we find them mixed in with the Israelites throughout Israel's subsequent history (cf. Lev. 24:10-23). This "rabble" was first to complain against God, and their murmuring spread through the camp like a plague periodically (cf. 11:4).

The second cause of unbelief was the mixed motives of the Israelites. They wanted to enjoy God's blessings and obeyed Him to a degree to obtain these. However, they also wanted things that God in His love for them did not want them to have (cf. Gen. 3). The Israelites did not fully commit themselves to God (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). They did not fully allow God to shape them into a nation to fulfill His purpose for them in the world. This too resulted in murmuring. They longed for what they had experienced in Egypt and preferred a comfortable life to the adventurous life to which God had called them. Murmuring is the telltale evidence of selfishness. It arises from a lack of singleminded dedication to God.

The message of Numbers is that everything depends on our attitude toward God. Our attitude toward our opportunities and our circumstances reveals our attitude toward God. If we are not content with what God has brought into our lives, it indicates we may want something different for ourselves than what God wants for us.

When we face a challenge to our faith we must see the difficulty overshadowed by God's presence, power, and promises.

The alternative is to allow the difficulty to block our view of God. The influences of unbelievers and our own doublemindedness will seek to make us behave as the Israelites did. At these times of testing Israel's experiences in Numbers should help us understand what is going on and trust God and obey Him more consistently.

The message of Numbers is a message of comfort on the one hand.

Numbers teaches that the failures of God's people cannot frustrate His plans. In Exodus we saw that the opposition of God's enemies cannot defeat Him. In Numbers we see that the failure of His instruments cannot defeat Him either. God's chosen instruments can postpone God's purposes, but they cannot preclude them.

In Numbers we also see that God always deals with His chosen instruments righteously. He will bless the minority who are faithful to Him even though they live among a majority who are under His discipline for being unfaithful. We see this in God's dealings with Caleb and Joshua. God honors the faithful. He will also faithfully work with those He is disciplining because of unfaithfulness. He will encourage them to experience the greatest blessing they can within the sphere of their discipline. We see this in His dealings with the rebellious generation. Furthermore God will not overlook those who have disobeyed Him because they have established a record of past obedience. He will discipline them too. We see this in God's dealings with Moses. Whereas God honors the faithful He also disciplines the unfaithful.

Numbers further teaches us that God's provisions are always adequate for His people's needs (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9). He sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. Their failures were not a result of God's inadequate provision but their own dissatisfaction with His provision. God Himself is an adequate resource for His people as we go through life (cf. Exod. 14-17).

On the other hand Numbers is also a message of warning. Every believer and every group of believers (e.g., a local church) from time to time face the same challenge to faith that the Israelites faced in the wilderness and at Kadesh. The crisis comes when faith encounters obstacles that only God's supernatural power can overcome. The believer should then proceed against these obstacles in simple confidence in God. Our response will depend on whether we are willing to act on our belief that God's presence, power, and promises can overcome them.

We can fail to realize all that God wants for us if we fail to trust Him.

By way of review Genesis expounds faith. Exodus reveals that faith manifests itself in worship and obedience. Leviticus explains worship more fully. Numbers stresses the importance of obedience.

Numbers shows the importance of obedience by revealing the roots, process, and fruits of disobedience.

Constable: Numbers (Outline)

Outline

I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-10

1. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-4

2. Commands and rituals to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 5-9

3. The departure from Sinai ch. 10

B. The rebellion and judgment of the unbelieving generation chs. 11-25

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

2. The climax of rebellion, hope, and the end of dying chs. 21-25

II. Prospects of the younger generation in the land chs. 26-36

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the east chs. 26-32

1. The second census ch. 26

2. Provisions and commands to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 27-30

3. Reprisal against Midian and the settlement of the Transjordanian tribes chs. 31-32

B. Warning and encouragement of the younger generation chs. 33-36

1. Review of the journey from Egypt 33:1-49

2. Anticipation of the Promised Land 33:50-36:13

Constable: Numbers

Numbers

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

This fourth Book of Moses is called Numbers , because it begins with the numbering of the people. The Hebrews, from its first words, call it Vaydedabber . It contains the transactions of the Israelites, from the second month of the second year after their going out of Egypt, until the beginning of the eleventh month of the 40th year; that is, a history almost of thirty-nine years. (Challoner) --- In the nine first chapters various orders of people are described, and several laws are given or repeated. From the 10th to the 33d, the marches and history of God's people are related; (Haydock) from the 20th of the second month, in the second year after their departure out of Egypt, till the eleventh month of the 40th year, and the last of Moses: so that this Book contains the transactions of almost thirty-nine years; (Tirinus) whereas, the Book of Leviticus specified only some of the laws and occurrences of one month. Here we behold what opposition Moses experienced from Aaron and his sister, from Core, and from all the people; and yet God protected him, in the midst of all dangers, and confounded, not only their attempts, but those also of Balaam, and of all his external foes. (Haydock) --- Moses conquers the Madianites, and divides the conquered country between the tribes of Ruben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasses. In the three last chapters, he describes the land of Chanaan, orders all the inhabitants to be exterminated, assigns cities for the Levites, and for refuge; and forbids such marriages, as might cause any confusion in the distribution of the lands belonging to each tribe. Moses composed this part of the Pentateuch, as well as that of Deuteronomy, a little while before his death, out of the memoirs which he had carefully preserved. (Calmet) --- According to Usher, the people were numbered this second time, in the year of the world 2514, chap. i.; after which they leave the desert of Sinai, (chap. x. 11.) go to Cades-barne, and return thither again 2552. Soon after this, Mary and Aaron die; Moses lifts up the brazen serpent; and the Hebrews take possession of part of the promised land (2553) on the eastern banks of the Jordan. That on the western side, flowing with milk and honey, was conquered by Josue in the following years. (Haydock)

Gill: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS

This book has its name from the account it gives of the "numbers" of the children of Israel, twice taken particularly; which name it has with this Greeks and Latins, and so with the Syriac and Arabic versions; but with the Jews it is called sometimes "Vajedabber", from the first word of it, "and the Lord spake"; and sometimes "Bemidbar", from the fifth word of the first verse, "in the wilderness", and sometimes "Sepher Pikkudim"; or, as with Origen ^a, "Ammesph‚kodim", the book of musters or surveys. That it was written by Moses is not to be doubted; and is indeed suggested by our Lord himself, Joh 5:46 compared with Num 3:14, and the references to it, in the New Testament, fully ascertain to us Christians the authenticity of it, as that of our Lord hinted at, and those of the apostle in 1Co 10:4. It contains an history of the affairs of the Israelites, and of their travel in the wilderness for the space of thirty eight years; though the principal facts it relates were done in the second year of their coming out of Egypt, and in the last of their being in the wilderness; and it is not merely historical, but gives a particular account of several laws, ceremonial and judicial, to be observed by the people of Israel, as well as has many things in it very instructive, both of a moral and evangelical nature.

Gill: Numbers 20 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 20

In this chapter is an account of the children of Israel coming to the wilderness of Zin, where Miriam died, and where wanting water they murmured, Num 20:1, upon which Moses and Aaron applied to the Lord, who ordered Moses to speak to a rock, which should give forth water, and which being smitten by him, accordingly did, Num 20:6, but Moses and Aaron, in their conduct of this affair, displeased the Lord, Num 20:12, after this, Moses sent to the king of Edom to desire a passage through his country, which request was refused, Num 20:14, upon Israel's coming to Mount Hor, Aaron, by order, went up to the mount, and, when stripped of his clothes, which were put on his son Eleazar, he died, lamented by all the people, Num 20:22.