Numbers 20:2-13

CLAMOUR FOR WATER THE ROCK SMITTEN, Numbers 20:2-13.

2. No water Twice before had the cry for water come up into the ears of Moses. On the first occasion the bitter waters were miraculously sweetened. Exodus 15:25. While at Rephidim, apparently near Horeb, (Exodus 17:6,) water gushed from the smitten rock. The recurrence of the same want is not surprising, in view of the multitude of the people and their flocks in a desert. At Kadesh En-Mishpat was the “fountain of judgment.” Genesis 14:7. It was now, probably, dry, and so insufficient for the demands of the people.

Against Moses and… Aaron The logic of the congregation is very defective. If Moses and Aaron are mere men they cannot create a supply of water, and hence are not worthy of blame. If they are the representatives of Jehovah, to execrate them is to curse Him.

In either case blame is folly. Patience and trust were qualities which would have made them victorious over their most forbidding surroundings.