ISRAEL had been a long time in the wilderness. Now they were at Kadesh on the borders of the land. There Miriam died; she did not see the promised land. Of the three — Moses, Aaron and herself — she was the first to depart. It is well to notice that some like Miriam died in faith in the wilderness, while many of the people died in unbelief and were lost forever.
There was no water to drink, and the people gathered themselves tether against Moses and Aaron. Instead of growing in grace they were growing more perverse and daring, and their hearts were constantly going back to Egypt. They chided with Moses saying they wished they had died before the Lord along with their brethren at the time of Korah’s rebellion. It seems that they had forgotten that that was a special judgment from the Lord and that they had fled at the cry of those who went down into the pit.
But human nature is unchanged by either God’s judgment or His grace. The natural man has neither desire nor strength to walk the path of faith and so unless one is truly saved, the difficulties of the way prove too much. If they had only asked God for water, would He not have given it to them?
But God ever cares for His people and His grace appears. Moses is told to make use of Aaron’s rod that budded, that which spoke of priestly grace. He said: “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly tether, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock...; and it shall give forth his water.”
Moses was not to use his rod now, the rod that had smitten the rock once so that the water gushed out. He was right in using it on that occasion, for then it was a question of judgment. But now God would act in grace. So he was to use Aaron’s rod.
Christ, the true Rock, could only be smitten once for our sins. He “once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” He will never be smitten again. His work is finished and forever complete. Now as our great High Priest, as seen in Aaron’s rod, He lives for us above and ever intercedes at God’s right hand, supplying grace to help in time of need along our wilderness journey. Now we have only to “speak to the Rock” and He will never fail us.
But Moses, who had seen so much of the Lord’s ways in grace seems to lose sight entirely of that grace which He would now show toward His people. He seems to be more occupied with his position and authority. He did take the rod (Aaron’s rod) from before the Lord, but he was thinking of the people’s badness rather than the blessed God, whose grace up till now He himself had reflected so wonderfully. It is sad to see so faithful a servant of God fail, but God has told us these things that we might profit by them and not fall into the same snares, for surely we are no better. “Be not overcome of evil,” we are told, “but overcome evil with good.” Rom. 12:2121Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21).
ML-01/20/1974