I didn't get my reading and blogpost done yesterday. I allowed myself to get caught up in my housework, thinking I'd get to it any minute, or if necessary last night after Bible study. However, after Bible study I was worn out, my body was overtaxed and in pain, and I desperately needed to go to bed. Thankfully, though, my daughter went right back to bed after breakfast this morning and it has afforded me a little bit of catch-up time.
I always felt a little sorry for Moses that after working with such a stubborn and difficult group of people, that he was never allowed to enter into the Promised Land. But after reading straight through Numbers like we have the past few weeks, I begin to see that God could hardly let Moses and Aaron go unpunished before the people for their sin, when the people themselves are held accountable for their own. Did they not grumble enough that Moses and Aaron were so favored? Would that really have been just from a just God?
What I find interesting about the incident at Meribah is that it was Moses who was angry, not the Lord. God Almighty did not complain about the stubbornness or the stiff-necked nature of the Israelites here. Perhaps that's because it's understandable that anyone would get cranky when water was scarce. Their lament was the same refrain as always: "Oh, if only we had died at such and such time rather than go through this!" Part of me did want to remind them that God had promised the younger generation would come into the Promised Land and the older generation would not, but... They're thirsty. None of us are too pleasant when we're thirsty. When we're thirsty, all we think about is getting that drink. It was Moses, instead, who after receiving instructions from God, went out and chastised the congregation, striking the rock twice.
Did you notice the discrepancy that cost Moses his entrance to the Promised Land? God had told him to command the water to come forth, but in his anger Moses was a little melodramatic and struck the rock instead. Water gushed out. God, who knows Moses' heart far better than we could ever read into it, knew that this resulted in some amount of disbelief. Maybe Moses doubted that water would come at his command. Maybe he felt God was being to lenient. I don't know. But God knew Moses' heart, and the due punishment was that he, too, would die in the wilderness with his own generation. (Don't worry: the Lord does allow Moses to look into the land before he dies; he just never sets foot in it.)
Also: take note of Edom in this passage. These are the people descended from Esau, and so distant cousins to the Israelites. God does not forget that Edom does Israel this disservice by not allowing them to sojourn in their land. Edom's continuing attitude towards Israel will come back to bite them in the tuckus. We just won't see it for another... year? We'll read about it when we hit the Prophets.
Today's Reading: Numbers 20:22-21:35
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