This Easter 3: Moses Strikes the Rock

 

So, there were two accounts of Moses striking the rock in the Old Testament, the first being in Exodus

Ex. 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The other being in Numbers  

Num. 20:9  So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him;
Num. 20:10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?”
Num. 20:11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.

 The difference between the two cases was divine leading vs carnal manifestation. 

One of the objectification of Christ in the old testament was 'Rock'

1Cor. 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

When the Lord instructed Moses to strike the rock in Exodus 17, He intended to establish a picture of Christ as our Redeemer. He would be struck and life would be released for all, He will bring forth streams of living water (i.e., salvation...see John 4:10). Moreover, Hebrews says Christ died once for all and no further sacrifice for sins is required.

So the Lord intended Moses strikes the rock in the desert only once in the scene from Exodus 17, thus picturing Jesus sacrificed once to bring us salvation. In Numbers 20, the Lord instructed Moses to only speak to the rock to preserve the picture created in Exodus 17. When Moses chose to strike the rock a second time instead, he disrupted the picture created in Exodus 17. 

Why Did God Punish Moses so sternly?

Had God allowed Moses' mistake to go unchallenged, we would likely be confused by the distorted picture, concluding it was necessary for Christ (i.e., the rock) to be sacrificed (i.e., struck) repeatedly for our salvation. And this means that sacrifice for sins would be repeated, Christ could not fulfill it once and in a lifetime.

I believe that God still would have preserved him to make heaven however for folks on earth, the significance of the punishment was far more important because in the process, the Lord formed a new picture to support a proper understanding of salvation.

By barring Moses from the Promised Land, the Lord illustrated that we cannot enter into salvation (i.e., the Promised Land) by works of Law (i.e., by Moses) but only by the work of Jesus (i.e., by Joshua, which is the name Yeshua or Jesus). 

Additional Credit: Versebyverse