Verses 1-29

Numbers 20 - THE BEGINNING OF THE END

A. Contention among the children of Israel.
1. (Numbers 20:1) The death of Miriam.
Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin
in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was
buried there.
a. The people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there:
Miriam died in Kadesh. Through the years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel
came back to Kadesh, the place where they rejected Gods offer (Numbers 13:26).
b. Miriam died there and was buried there: Miriams death was an important
point in the journey from Egypt to Canaan. She was the first of Moses siblings to
die in the wilderness, and her death was an important demonstration of the
fulfillment of what God promised: That the generation which refused to enter
Canaan would die in the wilderness, and the new generation would enter instead
(Numbers 14:29-34).
i. Miriams death shows us there were no special exceptions for the family of
Moses. God said only Joshua and Caleb would survive from that generation
(Numbers 14:30), and that included, Miriam, Aaron, even Moses himself. This
chapter will show the frailty of each of these giants in the account of the
Exodus.
ii. Many people still deceive themselves into thinking they have a special
exception from God, believing they are a special case, with their own special
arrangement with the LORD. If Moses and his siblings had no special deal, we
should not be so arrogant to think we have our own deal with God.
c. Miriam died there and was buried there: Miriam died a complex character.
She was great for her courage in assisting Moses and his parents (Exodus 2:4-8),
and great for her leading Israel in praise (Exodus 15:20-21). But she was also
disgraced for her rebellion against Moses (Numbers 12:1-16). One incident of
rebellion left a black mark on her whole life.
2. (Numbers 20:2-6) Israel contends with Moses and Aaron because of thirst.
Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against
Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: If only
we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the
assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?
And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place?
It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to

drink. So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of
the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD
appeared to them.
a. There was no water for the congregation: The need was real, but the
response of Israel was filled with unbelief and bad attitude - which always go
together! When you find a bad attitude, you will also find a lack of simple, secure
trust in God.
b. If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
Their contention lead them to outrageous statements, words lacking any trust in
God. The older generation of unbelief was almost dead, and now the younger
generation started to act like the unbelieving generation. They openly doubted
Gods promise that He would lead them into the land of promise.
c. Why have you brought up the congregation of the LORD into this
wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? Their contentions lead
them to outrageous accusations. The new generation accuses Moses just as the
generation of unbelief did!
d. Not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates: Their contentions
lead them to a stunted vision. Of course the wilderness was not a fruitful land. But
they would never make it to the land of rich fruit until they came through the
wilderness trusting God.
e. Moses and Aaron . . . fell on their faces: They realized how serious this was.
With this contentious attitude, the new generation would be just as unbelieving, as
untrusting in God as the old generation was, and they would likewise perish in the
wilderness.
3. (Numbers 20:7-8) Gods command to Moses: Provide water for Israel.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron
gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield
its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the
congregation and their animals.
a. Take the rod . . . Speak to the rock before their eyes: Specifically, God told
Moses to take the rod, but not to use it. Water would be provided if Moses
would speak to the rock before their eyes.
b. And it will yield its water: Back at Mount Sinai, God told Moses to strike the
rock and water came forth (Exodus 17:6). But now he was merely to speak to the
rock, yet with the rod in his hand. This rod was a symbol of his authority from God.
4. (Numbers 20:9-11) Moses contention with the people - and with the LORD.

So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. And Moses
and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them,
Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Then Moses
lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly,
and the congregation and their animals drank.
a. So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him:
Moses began by doing exactly what the LORD had told him to do: Take the rod,
and gather the people of Israel.
b. Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? God
did not command him to speak to the nation, and to speak so severely to the
nation, yet Moses did.
i. Moses, after doing what God had told him to do, then did something God had
not told him to do: He lectured the nation.
ii. Worse, he lectured the nation with an attitude of heart he had not shown
before - one of anger and contempt for the people of God, with a bitter heart.
Before, Moses fell on his face before God when the people rebelled (Numbers
16:4). At Meribah, when the people contended with Moses because there was
no water, Moses cried out to the LORD, not against the people (Exodus 15:2225). When the people did need to be boldly confronted, Moses did it; but
without the edge of anger, contempt, and bitterness we see here (as in Exodus
17:1-7). There are a hundred explanations for Moses frustration here (Psalms
106:32-33 describes how the people provoked Moses here), but not a
single excuse.
iii. Worse yet, Moses not only took the rebellion of the people against the LORD
too personally, he also over-magnified his own partnership with
God: Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Moses spoke as if he
and God would do the job, as if they divided the work fifty-fifty; as if God
couldnt bring water unless he was around to speak to the rock. His lapse into
contempt for the people led him into a lapse of subtle pride.
c. Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod: Moses
disobeyed God directly, striking the rock instead of speaking to it.
i. Not only did he strike it, but he struck it twice. When he struck the rock at the
beginning of the Exodus journey, he only had to strike it once, but now, out of
anger and frustration, he did ittwice.
d. Water came out abundantly: Yet, despite Moses lapse into sinful attitude and
action, God still provided abundantly for the people.
i. This teaches us that Gods love for His people is so great, he will use very
imperfect instruments, and that the fact God uses someone is no evidence - to

themselves or to the people - that they themselves are really right with God or
ministering according to Gods heart.
ii. God would deal with Moses, but the people needed water - and so it was
provided. Moses might have come away thinking he did right, and the people
probably thought so as well - because what Moses did seemed to work. But
what works is not the best measure of what is right before God.
5. (Numbers 20:12-13) Gods rebuke and correction of Moses.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe Me, to
hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this
assembly into the land which I have given them. This was the water of Meribah,
because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed
among them.
a. Because you did not believe Me: Moses sinful attitude and action was rooted
in unbelief. He didnt really believe God when the LORD told him to speak to the
rock and not to strike it.
b. To hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel: What Moses did was
an unholy thing. He made God look no different than an angry man or one of the
temperamental pagan gods. He did not reflect the heart and character of God
before the people.
c. Therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land: Gods
correction of Moses was hard; he would not lead Israel into the Promised Land.
That which he dreamed of and felt called to even as a child in the palaces of Egypt
- to deliver Gods people - would not be completed. Another person would finish
the job.
i. This is only painful because of Moses faithful heart; an unfaithful man is not
pained at the idea that he cannot complete what God had called him to.
ii. We might have thought, Israel might have thought, and Moses might have
thought he was exempt from the decree that all the generation that was of age
when the Exodus began would perish in the wilderness - after all, Moses was
Moses! But Moses, great as leader as he was, was still a man subject to God
and Gods law.
d. You shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them:
This may seem an excessively harsh punishment for Moses. It seems that with
only one slip-up, he now had to die short of the Promised Land. But Moses was
being judged by a stricter standard because of his leadership position with the
nation, and because he had a uniquely close relationship with God.
i. It is right for teachers and leaders to be judged by a stricter standard (James
3:1); though it is unrighteous to hold teachers and leaders to a perfect

standard. It is true the peoples conduct was worse than Moses but it is
irrelevant.
ii. Worst of all, Moses defaced a beautiful picture of Jesus redemptive work
through the rock which provided water in the wilderness. The New Testament
makes it clear this water-providing, life-giving rock was a picture of Jesus (1
Corinthians 10:4). Jesus, being struck once, provided life for all who would
drink of Him (John 7:37). But was unnecessary - and unrighteous - that Jesus
would be struck again, much less again twice, because the Son of God needed
only to suffer once (Hebrews 10:10-12). Jesus can now be come to with words
of faith (Romans 10:8-10), as Moses should have only used words of faith to
bring life-giving water to the nation of Israel. Moses ruined this picture of the
work of Jesus God intended.
e. And He was hallowed among them: At the end of it all, God was seen as holy
among the children of Israel. Moses did not hallow God in this incident, but God
hallowed Himself through the correction of Moses. God will get His glory, God will
be hallowed - but will it come through our obedience or our correction?
B. On the way to the Promised Land - again.
1. (Numbers 20:14-17) Messengers to the king of Edom.
Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. Thus says your
brother Israel: You know all the hardship that has befallen us, how our fathers went
down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and
our fathers. When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel
and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of
your border. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields
or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the Kings Highway;
we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through
your territory.
a. Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Israel was now
at Kadesh, and they wanted to go through the land of Edom - taking them closer
to the Promised Land than they had ever been before, beyond where they failed to
go in because of unbelief. This was the fifth stage of the Exodus.
First, from Egypt to Mount Sinai (Exodus 12:31-51; Exo_13:1-22; Exo_14:131; Exo_15:1-27;Exo_16:1-36; Exo_17:1-16; Exo_18:1-27).
Second, the sojourn at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1 to Numbers 10:10).
Third, the first approach to the Promised Land, beginning at Mount Sinai, but
being aborted at Kadesh with the refusal to enter the Promised Land in faith
(Numbers 10:11-36; Num_11:1-35;Num_12:1-16; Num_13:1-33; Num_14:145).

 Fourth, the 38 years of wandering in the wilderness until the generation of

unbelief had died (Numbers 15:1 to Numbers 20:13).
Now, fifth, the second and final approach to the Promised Land (Numbers
20:14 to Joshua 2:24).
b. Thus says your brother Israel: The nation of Israel was brother to the nation
of Edom, because the patriarch Israel (also known as Jacob) was brother to Esau
(also known as Edom), as related in Genesis 25:19-34.
c. Please let us pass through your country: All Moses asked for on behalf of
Israel was the permission to pass through. They expected no provision from the
Edomites, because they trusted God to provide all their needs.
2. (Numbers 20:18-21) The Edomites refuse passage to the Israelites.
Then Edom said to him, You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against
you with the sword. So the children of Israel said to him, We will go by the Highway,
and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass
through on foot, nothing more. Then he said, You shall not pass through. So Edom
came out against them with many men and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused
to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
a. You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the
sword: This was an unnecessary refusal. It would have cost Edom nothing and
been a genuine gesture of goodwill. But the Edomites, perhaps out of suspicion or
fear, refused.
b. So Israel turned away from him: This refusal made the journey of the children
of Israel much more discouraging and dangerous (Numbers 21:4-5), but there
seems to be no record of God punishing Edom for this sin. In fact, Israel was still
commanded to treat the Edomite as a brother (Deuteronomy 23:7). God here
showed Israel how to leave the judgment of those who hurt you up to the LORD,
and how to love those who have acted as enemies against you - even if they were
brothers.
3. (Numbers 20:22-29) The death of Aaron.
Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and
came to Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the
border of the land of Edom, saying: Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he
shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you
rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son,
and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on
Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there. So Moses
did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all
the congregation. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his
son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came

down from the mountain. Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead,
all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.
a. Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from
Kadesh and came to Mount Hor: Here a definite marker, indicating the end of
the 38 years Israel had been sentenced to in the wilderness. Numbers
33:38 tells us Aaron died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had
come out of the land of Egypt.
i. There is very little record of what happened during these years; they are
compressed into only five and one-half chapters, while the single year at Mount
Sinai is given almost 50 chapters. This was to demonstrate these years
accomplished nothing, except the death of the generation of unbelief. These
were just years of surviving in the desert, wasted years, waiting for the old
man to die.
ii. During those 38 years, there was much movement - but no progress. Our
walk with God can be the same way.
iii. Because Israel had rebelled, their life has run to waste ever since, and only
now, after such a lapse of time, and after so much suffering, did Israel find itself
in a position to recommence the march that was suspended at Kadesh. So it is
with the churches which have reached a certain point, then rebelled against the
voice of God. Their history runs to waste; they exist, but hardly live; there is
indeed a movement in them, but it has no definite aim, it leads no where; they
just end up in the same place all the time. Only after a long time (if God has
mercy on them) do they find themselves once more in a position to start afresh,
and with not one step further forward in all of those years. Even so it is with
individuals who will not go resolutely on when they are called. They are spent
and wasted in movement back and forth which is not progress. After many
years perhaps - perhaps after a whole lifetime - of wandering in dry places they
find themselves once more at the very point to which they had come before,
and not one step closer. (Winterbotham in Pulpit Commentary)
c. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: The passing of Aaron is a huge
landmark in the history of Israel; he was the first high priest of the nation - and yet,
not exempt from the decree that his generation would perish in the wilderness.
i. Moses, who represented the law, could not lead them into the Promised Land.
Miriam, who represents the prophets, could not lead them into the Promised
Land. Aaron, who represents the priests, could not lead them into the Promised
Land. Only Joshua, that is, JESUS, could lead them into the land of Gods
promise.
d. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: Aaron died as a great, but
complex figure, even more so than Miriam. He was used of God mightily, as
Moses partner (Exodus 4:27-31), to initiate the priesthood (Leviticus 8:1-36), and

to plead with Moses for the people (Numbers 16:1-50;Numbers 17:1-13). At the
same time, he was instrumental in the grotesque debacle of the golden calf
(Exodus 32:1-35) and in challenging Moses authority with his sister Miriam
(Numbers 12:1-16).
i. Aarons life shows us, among other things, that the office is more important
than the man himself. Aaron the man was not always worthy of respect, but
Aaron the high priest always was worthy of honor.
e. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son:
God gave special warning about Aarons death, so a smooth and graceful
transition could be made in passing down the position of high priest to Aarons
oldest living son, Eleazar.
i. The man dies, but the priesthood - and the access and relationship with God
it describes - carries on. No ones relationship with God in Israel was to depend
on Aaron, but on the high priest - whomever he was. God has ensured there
will always be a high priest for us to come to in Jesus (Hebrews 4:14-16), and
we need not depend on any man for our relationship with God.