Numbers 20:11 –
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.
This has always been one of those stories that has made me wonder about God’s grace. I mean Moses just got mad, what’s the big deal about that? It happens often for me and makes me wonder what I am missing because of my anger. Moses lost entrance into the Promised Land which was a huge punishment. Reading the whole story a few times gave me clarity on why God was so tough. It all comes to who took the glory for the water coming from the rock.
You could tell Moses and Aaron were upset when they called to the people and called them rebels. From there it got worse when they said “we bring you water from this rock!” There was no mention of God, the real source of the water. In anger they forgot to mention God and took the credit for themselves. The whole point of miracles and wonderful “coincidences” is to bring glory to God, not our own egos. Also, God is not using it to prop up His ego, but to help others believe and understand Him.
Now there are two things to take from this story. The first is controlling ones anger. There is a very short window to “arrest” ones impulse for anger, a matter of seconds. Moses and Aaron did not stop the impulse and let the emotion control their actions. When you lose control, it’s real and becomes more difficult to control the longer it goes on. More than once I have let my emotions and pride run amok. It’s lost me relationships, friends, hundreds of thousands of dollars and peace. In anger I have learned to pull away from everyone, rant on emails and press delete, not send.
The other thing to learn from this is to give God the glory and not take credit. This is what really lost it for Moses and Aaron, they may have been given a pass if after calling the nation rebels they said “Must God bring you water from this rock?” We all must learn that the coincidences in our lives point to God and not to our cunning or luck. The key is when given the opportunity to give credit, don’t fear giving it to where it’s due. Finally if you do get punished, notice Moses took it and never complained. The most important example Moses gives to the people is his acceptance of the severe punishment.