Bible Talks

From: Messages of God's Love: 1951

Narrator: Chris Genthree

Numbers 19:20-20:11²⁰But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. ²¹And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. ²²And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even. ¹Then 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. ²And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! ⁴And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? ⁵And 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. ⁶And 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. ⁷And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ⁸Take 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. ⁹And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? ¹¹And 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. (Numbers 19:20‑20:11)

Anyone who refused to be cleansed from defilement in God’s way, when he was unclean, was to be cut off from the congregation of Israel. He chose to remain unclean— how solemn this is! And yet how many dear Christians go on with some unjudged sin for a long time, until God. finally has to deal with them in His government to produce restoration. This ordinance of the red heifer is mentioned as being a perpetual statute, for no matter how evil the day (and it is getting more evil), we are never to allow ourselves to become so accustomed to the evil we see and hear, that we become careless about it ourselves. Let us keep a tender conscience before God and man, and be watchful that nothing is allowed in our lives that minimizes our thoughts of what sin is before God. We must ever remember that God, our Father, is a holy Father (John 17:11¹¹And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (John 17:11)) who cannot allow us to be careless about defilements.

In the twentieth chapter we read that Miriam died in Kadesh. It is well to notice that some like Miriam, died in faith under God’s government in the wilderness, while many of the people died in unbelief and were lost forever. The only way of blessing for man is by grace through faith, founded upon what Christ has done, for he has forfeited every claim to blessing through his own faithfulness.

There was no water for the people to drink in Kadesh, and so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron, blaming them for having brought them out of Egypt at all. Alas, the natural man has no desire or strength for the path of faith, and so unless one is truly saved, the difficulties of the way prove too great and too much, But God is faithful and never fails to care for His people, and so, as soon as Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the Lord, He told them what to do. Surely His grace was greater than all their murmurings, He said, “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before thejr eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them wer out of the rock.” Numbers 20:8⁸Take 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. (Numbers 20:8).

God had not said “Take thy rod,” but “Take the rod,” referring to Aaron's rod that had budded and brought forth almonds; nor had He said “Smite, the rock,” as before (Exodus 17:6⁶Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:6)), but “Speak ye unto the rock.” Moses, however, failed to lay hold of the grace of God at this time. He thought more of his own authority—of his rod—which they had despised, and so, when the people gathered together he took his rod and in anger hit the rock twice with it, and said, “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” God, ever gracious, caused the water to flow from the rock to satisfy the thirsty people and their cattle, but Moses had failed to honor the Lord before them. If we are going to serve the Lord we must never he impatient with His people, but love and care for them. Moses’ own rod, winch he used here, was rightly used at the Red Sea, and to get water for the people before they came to Mt. Sinai, but the rock must not be smitten the second time. Christ the true Rock (1 Cor. 10:4⁴And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4)) was smitten for us at Calvary when He bore the judgment our sins deserved, but He will never be smitten again. That work is finished—forever complete. Now, as our Great High Priest, He lives for us above, ever interceeding at God’s right hand, supplying “grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)), along our wilderness journey, We have only to “speak to the Rock” now—at any hour of the day or night never fails us.

ML 12/02/1951

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