Tuesday, Holy Week: Strike the Stone

“And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.” -Numbers 20:11

This Lesson is three of eight compiled for Holy Week 2019. Eight individual stories where God used inanimate rocks or stones to further His Kingdom for His Glory. Inanimate Objects. Rocks, water, bread. All things which are dead or at least NOT living. All things that without action upon it by something living remain sedentary, unchanged, lifeless. Enter Jesus.

When we get impatient, we can act irrationally and irresponsibly.

In the book of Numbers Moses was weary of the people of Israel. They had done almost nothing but complain since the Lord delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Despite a myriad of miracles and amazing provisions the people quickly forgot the Lord’s benevolence as soon as they ran into another trial. In Numbers 20 the people and their animals were parched in the wilderness and they accused Moses and the Lord of forsaking them.

In duress Moses went before the Lord for counsel, and the Lord told Moses to speak to a specific rock and that the rock would provide water for the people and their animals (vs. 20:8). Despite the fact that Moses went to the Lord first, he took it upon himself to follow his own plan. He asked the people if they wanted him to provide water for them, and then he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Water came forth and the people’s thirst was satisfied. But Moses’s rash and arrogant behavior did not please the Lord. Because of his indiscretion, Moses was not allowed to see the promised land himself (vs. 10-12).

When we find our backs against the wall in our jobs, our marriages, and our families, do we seek the Lord’s face first before we act? And when we do act, do we do so from His leading and for His glory, or do we “strike stones” and rely on our own strength or act in such a way that we derive glory?

The people around us have needs and demands. Sometimes in our haste to meet their need we forsake their greater need to see the Lord glorified as their Provider. We want to be a people who allows God to breath His plans and provision through us in a way in which He is glorified.