THE PUNISHMENT OF MOSES
By: Idumea
Translated by: Gerald D. Woodard
(Original French text at www.idumea.org)
In Numbers 20:8-12, the Lord speaks to Moses, saying: “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and its shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts to drink.”
Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord and gathered the assembly together before the rock. Then Moses said to them: “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water of this rock? 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. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron; Because ye believed me not… ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”
The punishment inflicted on Moses and Aaron stems from the fact that, instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord had commanded, they struck the rock twice with the infamous rod. Why would he strike the rock rather than speak to it? The Lord said “Because you believed me not.” Did Moses prefer to strike the rock rather than speak to it because he did not understand what the Lord had asked of him? Because he feared that words would not be enough? To have a more dramatic effect? That is not the question. Moses was simply punished because, not believing sufficiently in the word of the Lord, he disobeyed, without understanding the consequences of his disobedience. He knew that “smiting with the rod” would work. He had already done so at the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5-6): “… and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shat smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink…” So why not do the same? And, if the Lord had already commanded him to strike the rock at Horeb, why would it be so serious to strike a rock again at Meribah?
To understand the gravity of the act, we need the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Book of Mormon (“at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established” Deut. 19:15).
The questions to be asked are:
1. What exactly happened at the rock at Meribah?
2. Was it one of the many similitudes so common in the Old Testament?
3. By not strictly obeying God’s commandment, did Moses alter one of the prophesies destined to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah?
4. If so, which one?
The Book of Mormon sets us in the right direction in 2 Nephi 25:20: “And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses … power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved.” The Book of Mormon thus seems to be comparing Jesus Christ to the rock at Horeb. Chance, imagination or reality? We are all familiar with the house to be built upon a rock, the rock on which the Lord built his Church… Is there a scripture in the New Testament that compares Christ to the rock at Horeb?
Matt. 27:29‑30: “…and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews” And they … took the reed (a rod), and smote him on the head” (Parentheses added).
John 4:14: “But whosoever drinketh the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; and the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
And the scripture that connects these two is 1 Cor. 10:2‑4: “And were all baptized unto Moses… And did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ…”
The puzzle is almost complete. Once again, through simple gestures, Christ wanted to prepare Israel for his future coming. He wanted to help them prepare for that difficult passage from the harsh Mosaic law (I strike the rock at Meribah with a rod to obtain eternal water) to the New Testament’s law of love (with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, I ask the Rock of Horeb for that same water).
Matt. 7:7 thus takes on its full meaning: “Ask and it shall be given you…”
Unfortunately, through disobedience, negligence or lack of faith, that
magnificent symbol of evolution in the relationship between Man and God has
disappeared because the rocks at Horeb and Meribah were both struck.
