When You Really Blow It Series

Have you ever really blown it? Maybe there was a time when you lost your temper at a meeting and slammed your fist down on the table? Suddenly you realize this is not how I wanted things to go. Maybe you did something far worse. You realize that nothing is going to be the same from this time onward. This must have been that way for Moses and how he felt when out of frustration he hit the rock with his staff.

Sometimes we “get away with it” when we blow it. It took a long time to recover, but Moses had many more fruitful years ahead of him after he killed the Egyptian. There was no punishment for breaking the tablets of Ten Commandments into small pieces. But this time he is striking a rock with his staff when he should have spoken to the rock. That was a deal breaker. He would not be leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land. I don’t think we could imagine the devastation that was to Moses.

How did he respond? What should we do if we blow it big time? What if we have a deal breaker mistake like Moses made? Let’s look at Moses and see how he responded. What ended up happening?

Moses’ Mistake

Water from the Rock Numbers 20:1-13

It was almost the end of a generation. There were just a few old generation people left alive who crossed the Red Sea. Now Miriam the sister of Moses died too, and she was buried there in the wilderness.

It was the time of the new generation Israelites that were now poised to cross into the Promise Land. There was something very clear about this new generation. They grumbled against Moses just as much as their parents did. There was no water. They were thirsty. Now instead of trusting God they quarreled with Moses.

Moses and Aaron did the right thing. It was the same thing they did when the parents of these youngsters quarreled with them. They went to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown to seek God. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. God gave Moses a word of assurance that water would come from the rock. God gave Moses instructions on how this would happen.

"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink." (Numbers 20:8)

Just to summarize; there was no water to drink, the people quarreled with Moses, he went to the Tent of meeting fell face down, and glory of the Lord appeared to him. Moses received a word of from the Lord, so far, so good.

After meeting God and getting instructions from God Moses took the staff as commanded gathered the people in front of the rock. The problem is that Moses did not speak to the rock as God commanded. Maybe he did speak, and nothing happened and his reaction was to get angry and disobey and hit the rock twice out of frustration. However, it happened Moses hit the rock twice with his staff. Not good!

The water did come from the rock. It was miraculous and even gushed out of the rock. But God told Moses to speak to the rock, but instead Moses hit the rock twice. Moses was not trusting God. Instead of trusting God Moses added his human effort by striking the rock.

12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

The actions of Moses brought serious consequences that must have weighed heavy on Moses. He led the people of Israel for almost forty years and now that it was time to cross into the promise land. He was not going to be the one to lead them in. He would not even be able to enter. Moses really blew it.

Previous water from rock episode (Exodus 17:1-7)

There were two “water from the rock” events that sort of serve as bookends for the forty years of wandering in the Wilderness. The first time is very soon after crossing the Red Sea. That time Moses was instructed “Take in your hand the staff, strike the rock, so Moses did this.”

He did what he was told to do, and water gushed from the rock. Strike the rock and water will come out. The staff of Moses was a symbol of God’s power and anointing. It was used on many occasions when Moses demonstrated the miraculous power of God.