Psalm 105:41

Psalm 105:41

He opened the rock

In Exodus 17:1-7 we read of the first episode of “rock-striking”, it took place at Horeb when the Israelites were very early into their wilderness wanderings. The rock was struck by Moses as a direct result of the people’s complaining about their thirst and also by command of the Lord after Moses appealed to Him for help. That place was called Massah which means testing.

Move the clock forward 40 years and now the children of the original liberated slaves have the same complaint! In Numbers 20:13 they have come full circle! By that I mean that 40 years earlier the Israelite camp hade been set up at Kadesh Barnea on the southern borders of the Promised Land. From there the 12 spies had gone out to survey Canaan and their reports had led to the Great Rebellion that caused the Lord God to curse that generation with 40 years of wilderness wanderings. In Numbers 20, they have arrived back at Kadesh Barnea and once again they are faced by the challenges of conquering the land. Once again, we find them moaning and groaning at their lot and once again, the Lord provides water from a rock. 40 years earlier, as recorded in Exodus 17, Moses was ordered to strike the rock at Horeb. This time he is commanded by the Lord to speak to it but, instead he strikes it. That was enough to prohibit Moses and Aaron from leading the people into the Promised Land! This second place of divine provision was called Meribah, the place of quarrelling.

If you think about this, there could not have been enough water generated by striking the rock for the people to survive for 40 years! They would not have had enough containers to hold vast amounts of water and they could not have transported this for any length of time, it is estimated that the number of people in that procession was about 2 million, then add on the livestock! The verse we are looking at today gives us a clue as to what happened, the water from the rock was not just a one-off isolated incident, from it flowed a river that accompanied the people for 40 years and gave them daily sustenance. In the Numbers 20 account, the water supply had dried up, the people were about to enter the Land of Promise, but they still failed to trust the Lord for His provision. Are we like them? 

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