Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 20:7

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

2-13. there was no water for thecongregationThere was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Ge14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was nowant of water. It was then either partially dried up by the heat ofthe season, or had been exhausted by the demands of so vast amultitude.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Verses 7-11:

God heard Israel’s complaining, and instructed Moses to provide for them water to drink.

The “rod” was the same with which Moses had performed the miracles before Pharaoh (Ex 7:9, et. al.), and with which he had struck the rock at Rephidim (Ex 17:6). The absence of any mention of this rod since that time imples that it may have been laid up before the Lord in the Tabernacle.

The “assembly” is a figure which denotes the representatives of the people, rather than the entire population of Israel.

“The rock” sela, a “cliff rock.” The word is not the same as that of Ex 17:6, which is tsur, denoting a sharp or flinty rock. It is the same word David used in describing this event, in Ps 78:16.

The Old Testament text does not specify that the rock of Rephidim was the same as the rock at Kadesh. The Jewish rabbis had a tradition that a fragment of rock fifteen feet high followed the people during their wanderings, and it was this fragment that water gushed forth. Paul refers to this rock in 1Co 10:4 as one which “went with them.” This does not mean that Paul accepted the rabbinical tradition; rather, he used this as a type of Christ.

When Moses stood before the rock, instead of speaking to it as God had instructed, he struck it – twice. Water came from the rock as God had promised, in sufficient supply for all the people and their livestock.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Yahweh Promises Water From A Rock At The Voice of Moses’ Command ( Num 20:7-8 ).

Yahweh’s response was gracious and generous. He recognised the strain under which His people were, and He responded accordingly. There was no hint of criticism in that response. He was ready to meet His people’s needs. He recognised the disappointment that they had received on arriving at Kadesh. And he knew that, unlike their fathers, they had not recently received good reports of the land. They had grounds for discouragement. So He was eager to encourage them, and at a word of command from Moses, to provide them with abundance of water. He was all compassion.

It should therefore have become a time of abundant blessing for all, a time when all experienced God in a way that would never be forgotten. But it would not be so for Moses and Aaron. There is no indication at this stage of the devastating event that would soon follow, an event that would blight Moses’ final days. But those who would serve God and be used by Him have to follow in the way of obedience, and must recognise that to fail to do so can only result in loss. While God was patient and understanding, Moses and Aaron were sadly less so. It was in fact in its own way an indication that they needed to be replaced. Yet as the future would reveal, this event probably raised Moses from the depths to which he had sunk to a new spiritual level. Without it his career might well have been over. He learned again that he was the servant of Yahweh, not the lord of Israel, a lesson all God’s leaders have to keep in mind.

Num 20:7

‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’

Once again we have confirmed that we are dealing with words spoken to Moses by God.

Num 20:8

“ Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak you (ye) to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water. And you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So you shall give the congregation and their cattle drink.”

Patiently God prepared to give His people an indication of the power of His word. They would see what Yahweh could do using but the voice of His servants, and He would from it receive great glory. He would be ‘sanctified’, set apart as the Holy One, the unique and peerless One, in their eyes. And the people would gain great assurance in readiness to face the future. And they would see that all it would require was a word. They would go forward confident in the One Who spoke and it was done. They would be reminded of how when God had spoken through His word the world came into being (Genesis 1).

“Take the rod.” This was possibly the one Moses had used in Egypt through which such wonders had been done. Or it may have been the one which had budded revealing Aaron’s authority as High Priest. Or it may have been a specific one which revealed Moses’ status. Certainly it was the one that was the sign of Moses’ authority from Yahweh. This in itself was a significant action. To take the rod, the symbol of Moses’ authority received from God, was to declare to the people that they were about to act on the authority of Yahweh. It was a symbol not a weapon.

Then they were to assemble all the congregation in order that they might see the great thing that their God was going to do. He was going to give them abundant water in the wilderness at the spoken word of His servant acting in Yahweh’s name.

“Speak you (ye) to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water. And you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So you shall give the congregation and their cattle drink.” The instructions were quite clear. In the eyes of the whole congregation Moses and Aaron were to speak to the rock which would produce water. They were to bring forth water from the rock with a word. In this they would reveal that they were the favoured servants of Yahweh. And there would be sufficient for all to drink, both men and cattle. So would God be magnified and the faith of the people strengthened. The future would suddenly become bright again. By the word of Yahweh the water would gush forth, and they would recognise that He and He alone was the One to Whom they could always look with full confidence, even when there appeared to be no water.

Before the Reed Sea he had lifted up his rod and the sea had parted. Here he would lift up his rod and speak and water would gush forth. In its own way it would be a repeat of the Reed Sea miracle.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Water Out of the Rock.

v. 7. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

v. 8. Take the rod, the same shepherd’s staff which had already figured so largely in various miracles, Exo 17:5, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, in an address which was equivalent to a command and must yield results; 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. So the Lord chose to overlook the people’s sin of grumbling and to treat them with a kindness which they did not deserve.

v. 9. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, for it had probably been deposited in the Sanctuary, as He commanded him.

v. 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he, Moses, said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? The thought seems to be implied: Your attitude is one of such perpetual nagging and grumbling that there is some doubt in my mind whether we really ought, and whether we shall be able, to provide you with water.

v. 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. So God proved Himself the patient and merciful Lord, and Jesus Christ, the spiritual Rock, who accompanied the host, made them a gift of the water.

v. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, because they had not firmly, unconditionally, and confidently placed their humble trust in His word, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, to give evidence before the eyes of the children of Israel that He was the Holy One, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Neither of them would have this privilege, since by their fleshly zeal and disgust they had distorted and obscured before the eyes of the people the image of Jehovah Himself; neither of them would enter the Land of Promise. The occasional discontent which manifests itself in the lives of Christians, though usually a sin of weakness, is highly displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and often brings some evidence of His displeasure upon the offenders.

v. 13. This is the water of Meribah (strife), because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, in murmuring against His dispensations, and He was sanctified in them, both by exposing the unbelief of the people and by punishing the weakness of Moses and Aaron. Cf Psa 106:32-33. This incident is a warning, lest any one become secure. Even firm and tested Christians are not safe against temptation and falling, against disobedience, foolishness, doubt, unbelief. It is fortunate that the merciful God does not desert His children at such times, but renews faith in their hearts and keeps them safe unto the end.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

What is the glory of GOD but the goodness of GOD manifested in redemption! See Exo 33:17-19 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

spake. See note on Num 1:1.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Reciprocal: Deu 3:26 – the Lord Neh 9:15 – broughtest

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge