As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
Bob asked me to address the issue of Moses and Meribah, the place of bitterness which exiled Moses from the Promised Land like the unfaithful host which the Lord delivered out of Egyptian bondage.
I have written of this in the archives, but even I continue to grow and what follows is a more detailed account of what actually took place. I will meet you on the other side.
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 rock, 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.
Several times the children of Jacob revolted against God and Moses. Consequences which were God's fury were unleashed in every case. Meribah was the last trail. The wilderness of Zin was without water or food, and this where God led them for purpose. It was here that Moses sister, Mariam died. Mariam was one of the last of the people who came out of Egypt that God stated would not enter the Promised Land due to being unfaithful in not believing the report of Joshua and Caleb that the land was good.
This reminder was Zin for the people in how long it had been in 40 years and how many had died, and now they were about to die in a national genocide, due to Moses leadership.
I honestly missed this part and this is the crux of Moses rebellion.
Verse 8 explains.
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,
The Lame Cherry by the Holy Ghost Inspiration will provide some insights which are Biblical and now brought to mind by the Spirit of God.
First God orders Moses to take the rod, the rod which great miracles like being turned into a snake before Pharaoh which ate the serpents of Pharoah's priests in their miracle. This rod was the one that Moses symbolized the dividing of the Red Sea in being delivered out of Egypt and was raised up in victory in battle.
The second part of this is, Moses, you must remember protested at the start of God's commissioning him, that he was not the person, because he stuttered.
Place yourself in the trial of Moses. He has led this people for 40 years. He interceded for them. Yet at Meribah they were gathered against him again. He was angry and in jeopardy.
So Moses falls down with his brother before God. Revisit what God mandates Moses to do. Moses in the third part of this is ordered to TAKE THE ROD, as in the 23rd Psalm, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. This rod was a great comfort and crutch for Moses in all of these trials.
Now read again what Moses did before the nation he led.
10 And 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?
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.
Moses and Aaron appear before the nation. If you notice, Moses the chides the national rebellion and states, MUST WE BRING WATER FROM THIS ROCK.
No mention of God. There was a break of Faith here in Moses was looking at himself as the provider of the miracle.
Read first what God then tells Moses and the Holy Ghost will explain the rest.
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.
Sanctify means to make holy, holy is not a state of perfection, but holy means to SET APART. Moses was to set God apart from this nation, meaning set apart in as above them in being superior. Instead Moses took on the role of God, God working the miracle for water from the rock, and now we return to the idolatry of the staff.
Moses was ordered by God to SPEAK. Moses did speak to the people to scold them and to tell them a lie that he was the one bringing the water to them. When it came to fulfilling the speaking, Moses doubted the Word of God, Moses doubted the Word of God his mouth was to speak to the rock to make water flow. Moses did not have Faith for that miracle. Instead Moses turned to what he trusted in, the staff which miracles had appeared from, which was not the staff, but it was always God.
So what was to be a miracle showing God as the source of Living Water, as a forerunner to the Rock of Jesus the Christ being the Fountain and Source of Living Water to all Faithful. was degraded to Moses saying he was bringing the water from the rock, but not saying it, and he compounded this in lack of Faith and anger, but striking the rock not once, but twice, doubling the impression that it takes God two times to get things done.
This should be the conclusive explanation of what Meribah was. All Moses had to do was assemble the nation and say, "You thirst. Behold the Living Waters of God the Rock of your Salvation". The people would have had burned in their minds this miracle from God who gave them drink and saved their lives again.
I had struggled with this event for years and missed in my first explanation the earlier verses of God instructing Moses, as those orders are key to the rebellion which Moses engaged in.
For this sin, Moses only was allowed to look from a mountain at the Promised Land. I know the sin of Moses in having tread those steps and so offending the Holy Ghost in my will, instead of accepting the Comfort of the Spirit of God.
There is no greater bitterness in the human heart than this failure before God in challenging God's Will and challenging God to mould to the human will.
We now come to the part of saying, Nuff Said
agtG