The Law · Chapter 20 of 36
Numbers 20
At Kadesh, Miriam dies, and the congregation again quarrels over lack of water. God tells Moses to speak to the rock, but Moses, angry, strikes it twice; water gushes out, yet for failing to honor God before the people, he and Aaron are barred from the promised land. Edom refuses Israel passage. At Mount Hor, Aaron dies, and his son Eleazar receives the priesthood.
What happens in Numbers 20
In the first month the whole congregation reaches the desert of Zin and camps at Kadesh, where Miriam dies. Once more there is no water, and the people gather against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died and accusing them of leading Israel into a barren place. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces at the tabernacle, and God's glory appears. God commands Moses to take the rod and speak to the rock so it yields water. Instead Moses gathers the people, calls them rebels, asks whether he and Aaron must fetch water for them, and strikes the rock twice with his rod.
Water pours out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drink. But God tells Moses and Aaron that because they did not trust Him enough to sanctify Him before Israel, neither will enter the promised land. Edom refuses passage, so Israel turns aside. At Mount Hor, Aaron's garments pass to Eleazar, and Aaron dies.
Numbers 20 in context
Nearly forty years have passed since the earlier water crisis at Rephidim, where God also brought water from a rock. This is a new generation repeating the old complaint. Kadesh sits on Edom's border, a nation kin to Israel through Esau.
The chapter marks a somber transition: the old leaders begin to die, Miriam here and Aaron at its close, as the wilderness generation, and even its shepherds, pass before the land is entered.
Main themes of Numbers 20
Numbers 20 (KJV)
1Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5And 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. 6And 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. 7And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8Take 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. 9And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10And 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? 11And 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. 12And 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. 13This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them. 14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: 15How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: 16And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: 17Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. 18And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. 20And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him. 22And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. 23And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, 24Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. 25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: 26And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. 27And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. 29And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Verses to carry from Numbers 20
“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.”Numbers 20:8
“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.”Numbers 20:11
“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.”Numbers 20:12
Christian typology
How Numbers 20 points to Jesus
Paul writes that Israel drank from a spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. The water gushing in the desert to save a grumbling people is a picture of the life Christ gives freely to the undeserving. At Rephidim the rock was struck once, and here Moses was told only to speak, for the smitten rock need not be struck again. When Moses struck it a second time, he marred a sign God was carefully preserving: Christ, once offered for sin, is not sacrificed repeatedly; afterward we need only speak to Him.
The chapter also shows a mediator barred from the land for one failure, underscoring that Israel needed a greater leader, one named Joshua, and ultimately Jesus, to bring the people into their inheritance.
Questions about Numbers 20
Why was Moses' punishment so severe for striking a rock?
The issue was deeper than method. God said Moses did not believe Him enough to sanctify Him before the people. By angrily calling Israel rebels and asking if he must produce water, Moses cast God's gracious provision as reluctant and centered attention on himself. Leaders who misrepresent God's heart before others bear real responsibility for the picture they paint.
Does God's discipline of Moses mean He rejected him?
No. Moses remained God's servant, spoke with Him afterward, and was later shown the land from Pisgah and even appears with Jesus at the Transfiguration. Being kept from Canaan was a real consequence, not a loss of relationship. God can hold a beloved servant accountable while never ceasing to love or use him.
Reflection
When I am worn down by other people's complaints, do I still represent God accurately, or do I let my frustration make Him look harsh? Moses' hardest moment came from exhaustion, not malice. Ask where weariness is distorting the God you show to others, and seek His patience.
A prayer from Numbers 20
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