THE ISRAELITES COMPLAIN AGAIN MOSES RESPONDS THE LORD S JUDGMENT REJECTION BY THE EDOMITES AARON S DEATH NUMBERS 20:1-29

Transcription

1 1 THE ISRAELITES COMPLAIN AGAIN MOSES RESPONDS THE LORD S JUDGMENT REJECTION BY THE EDOMITES AARON S DEATH NUMBERS 20:1-29

2 2 Text: Numbers 20:1-29, THE ISRAELITES COMPLAIN AGAIN MOSES RESPONDS THE LORD S JUDGMENT REJECTION BY THE EDOMITES AARON S DEATH 1. Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 3. The people contended with Moses, saying, If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 4. Why have you brought up the Lord s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? 5. Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink! 6. So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They

3 3 then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8. Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink. 9. So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. 10. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you? 11. Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too. 12. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them. 13. These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them. 14. Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardships we have experienced, 15. how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. 16. So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, and has brought us up out of Egypt.

4 4 Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. 17. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King s Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region. 18. But Edom said to him, You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword. 19. Then the Israelites said to him, We will go along the highway, and if we or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else. 20. But he said, You may not pass through. Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force. 21. So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him. 22. So the entire company of Israelites traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom. He said: 24. Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up on Mount Hor. 26. Remove Aaron s priestly garments and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors and will die there. 27. So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.

5 And Moses removed Aaron s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29. When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days. (NET) Commentary: THE ISRAELITES COMPLAIN AGAIN Numbers 20:1-5, Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. The people contended with Moses, saying, If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the Lord s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink! (NET) Numbers 20:1, Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. (NET)

6 6 The first month here can only refer to the first month of the fortieth year of their wandering. Before this chapter is done, Miriam and Aaron have died and are buried. If this passage leaves any doubt we need only to look at a reference to these events later in Numbers 33:38, Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died in Mount Hor. (NET) Miriam died and was buried there. Miriam now exits the story. She has played quite a heroic part in the story thus far. It was she who directed Pharaoh s daughter to Moses own mother as a nurse for the baby. Exodus 2:7-9 Then his sister said to Pharaoh s daughter, Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you? Pharaoh s daughter said to her, Yes, do so. So the young girl went and got the child s mother. Pharaoh s daughter said to her, Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him. (NET) It was she who composed and led the Israelites in the victory song after crossing the Red Sea. Exodus 15:21 Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea." (NET) She and her brother Aaron led a short rebellion against Moses (chapter 12) and we do not hear much from Miriam after that.

7 7 Numbers 12:1-16, Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman). They said, Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us? And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.) The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: The three of you come to the tent of meeting. So the three of them went. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. The Lord said, Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. When the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became leprous as snow. Then Aaron looked at Miriam, and she was leprous! So Aaron said to Moses, O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its mother s womb! Then Moses cried to the Lord, Heal her now, O God. The Lord said to Moses, If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again. So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the

8 8 people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran. (NET) Numbers 20:2-4, And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. The people contended with Moses, saying, If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the Lord s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? (NET) Forty years of nomadic life with constant care from the Lord have not cured the Israelites of their awful habit of complaining and murmuring against Moses! These people are even the new generation, most of whom were born or grew to maturity in the desert. Moses is obviously fed up and, no doubt, God is too. God s patience is more enduring that that of Moses as this incident shows. Numbers 20:5, Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink! (NET) They seem to think that their present location is the Promised Land and are sorely disappointed in it! There is a good lesson for us here. This present world is not the Promised Land that Jesus promised to take us to when he returns. Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. There are many dwelling

9 9 places in my Father s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. And you know the way where I am going. John 14:1-4 (NET) Jesus plainly told his disciples, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NET) Moses Responds Numbers 20:6-11, So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink. So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you? Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too. (NET)

10 10 This has become a familiar scene! Moses and Aaron throw themselves face down in front of the Tabernacle and the Lord in all His Glory appears to them with a solution to the immediate problem. Numbers 20:7-8, Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink. (NET) It is important to note that this incident took place in Kadesh in the fortieth (40 th ) year since leaving Egypt. The first instance of water from the rock was at Horeb. Exodus 16, 17 clearly place this as happening... on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus from the land of Egypt. Exodus 16:1 (NET) Moses and Aaron s sin that led to their banishment from the Promised Land took place near the end of the punitive wandering. We are thirty seven (37) years and miles of sand and wilderness removed from the rock at Rephidim. Nor are we to think that these two incidents are the only occasions when God brought water to the Israelites when they were in dry camp. Ample Scripture exist to show that, like the manna, water was always available. Deuteronomy 8:14-16 (Moses final sermon to Israel)... be sure you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, and who brought you through the great,

11 11 fearful desert of venomous serpents and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow from a flint rock and fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known)... Psalm 78:12-16 (A Psalm rehearsing the history of Israel). He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap. He led them with a cloud by day, and with the light of a fire all night long. He broke open rocks in the wilderness, and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. He caused streams to flow from the rock, and made the water flow like rivers. (NET) Isaiah 48:21, They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out. (NET) After the return from Babylon, in a lengthy praise litany... You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. Nehemiah 9:15 (NET) Numbers 20:9-11, So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the

12 12 rock, and he said to them, Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you? Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too. (NET) God s love and care for his people is shown here. Moses didn t follow the instructions correctly even though they were clear and Aaron apparently made no effort to correct his younger brother, but God still sent the water! Millions of thirsty mouths (both human and animal) were weighed against two disobedient and angry servants and God s mercy overruled all! That is a comforting truth. We see that same Grace and Mercy extended in the sending of Jesus and his sacrificial death which gives us the Living Water in spite of our dullness and stumblings! The Lord s Judgment Numbers 20:12, Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them. (NET) It didn t cost the people, but Moses and Aaron paid dearly for that anger fit! After all these years of leading Israel and standing between them and God at times to prevent the Lord s wrath from consuming them, these two brothers meet the same fate as the early rebels they die in the wilderness without setting foot in the Land of Promise. Sad!

13 13 Numbers 20:13, These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them. (NET) Before we delve deeper into the chapter, this is a good place to ask, Why was God so hard on Moses in this instance? The text says, Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites... (NET) It is true that Moses spoke of himself and Aaron as bringing forth the water and in doing so did not give God His proper due. We are not told how the other instances of water from the rocks (as cited above) came about, but in comparing these two that are described, think about this (In this writer s opinion) Moses great sin was that, in his fit of anger, he ruined the picture God was painting! Paul says, That Rock Was Christ! (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). Since the rock had been smitten once, Moses had only to speak to it. Smiting it again was like crucifying Jesus again! Romans 6:10, For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. (NET) Hebrews 7:27, He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. (NET) Hebrews 9:12, and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his

14 14 own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. (NET) Hebrews 9:26 28, for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation. (NET) Hebrews 10:10, By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (NET) Peter picks up the refrain: 1 Peter 3:18, Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit. (NET) The smitten rock was a picture of Christ Jesus, smitten to bring us living water. (God split the rocks! Think about the spear thrust into the side of Jesus on the cross!) How many times must Jesus suffer to pay for our sins? What if Leonardo da Vinci s assistant had added teeth to the Mona Lisa? No doubt he would have been fired!

15 15 Rejection by the Edomites Numbers 20:14-21, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardships we have experienced, how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King s Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region. But Edom said to him, You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword. Then the Israelites said to him, We will go along the highway, and if we or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else. But he said, You may not pass through. Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force. So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him. (NET) Numbers 20:14-17, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardships we have experienced, how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, and has brought us up out of

16 16 Egypt. Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King s Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region. (NET) Edom was another name for Esau. The reader will remember that Jacob, aka Israel, and Esau, aka Edom, are the two sons of Isaac, son of Abraham. (rpa) This request could hardly have been any more polite and their intentions could not have been any more harmless. One can only marvel at the sibling animosity that has been passed down through the generations (Jacob and Esau had their falling out 380 years earlier!). As strange and unreasonable as this is, it is still a common occurrence between nations, tribes and families today. The present generation has no idea what the fight was about, but the anger is generational. Jesus urges us to settle differences immediately and not to carry a grudge against anyone. Matthew 5:23-26, So then, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your gift. 25 Reach agreement quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny! (NET)

17 17 Numbers 20:18-21, But Edom said to him, You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword. Then the Israelites said to him, We will go along the highway, and if we or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else. But he said, You may not pass through. Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force. So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him. (NET) This confrontation and rebuttal sets the stage for the chapters that follow. The fiery serpents and the story of Balaam occur during this period when Israel s progress is halted by Edom and Moab. Aaron s Death Numbers 20:22-29, So the entire company of Israelites traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom. He said: Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up on Mount Hor. Remove Aaron s priestly garments and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors and will die there. So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. And Moses removed Aaron s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died

18 18 there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days. (NET) At this point the story loses Aaron who has been a major factor since the burning bush experience recorded in Exodus 3:1-22, Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! So Moses thought, I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up? When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And Moses said, Here I am. God said, Do not approach any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. He added, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress

19 19 them. So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt? He replied, Surely I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve God on this mountain. Moses said to God, If I go to the Israelites and tell them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? what should I say to them? God said to Moses, I am that I am. And he said, You must say this to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, You must say this to the Israelites, The Lord the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation. Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, appeared to me the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt, and I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey. The elders will listen to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, let us go three days journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even under force. So I will extend my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do

20 20 among them, and after that he will release you. I will grant this people favor with the Egyptians, so that when you depart you will not leave empty-handed. Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters thus you will plunder Egypt! He is introduced in chapter 4 of Exodus. Exodus 4:1-17, Moses answered again, And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, The Lord has not appeared to you? The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff. The Lord said, Throw it to the ground. So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and grab it by the tail so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. The Lord also said to him, Put your hand into your robe. So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out there was his hand, leprous like snow! He said, Put your hand back into your robe. So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to

21 21 your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. The Lord said to him, Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say. But Moses said, O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send! Then the Lord became angry with Moses, and he said, What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs. (NET) From that meeting till his death, Aaron is a part of everything that happens, even taking part in a short rebellion against Moses with their sister Miriam. (Numbers 12:1-16, Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman). They said, Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us? And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.) The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: The three of you come to the tent of meeting. So the three of them went. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. The Lord said,

22 22 Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. When the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became leprous as snow. Then Aaron looked at Miriam, and she was leprous! So Aaron said to Moses, O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its mother s womb! Then Moses cried to the Lord, Heal her now, O God. The Lord said to Moses, If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again. So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran. (NET)) Aaron goes down in the history of Israel as the second most important figure (next to Moses), as the first High Priest and that priesthood is named for him. His name occurs three hundred fifty-three (353) times in the Scripture! Abraham s name occurs three hundred fifty-eight (358) times (this includes Abram), pretty solid company! Numbers 33:38-39 records the age of Aaron at the time of his death. Numbers 33:37-39, They traveled from Kadesh and camped in Mount Hor at the edge of the land of Edom. Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the

23 23 command of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died in Mount Hor. (NET) Appropriately, at the passing of an important part of their deliverance and newly established culture, the Israelites mourn from Aaron an entire month.

24 24 Questions on Numbers 20: What was the name of the city where Israel was camped in this chapter? 2. What was the occasion of their first encampment near this city? 3. How long ago was that encampment? 4. What poor decision did they make at that time and what did it cost them?

25 What prominent figure died while they were there the second time? 6. What five things did the people say were lacking? 7. What familiar thing did Moses and Aaron do when confronted with this complaint? 8. As they assumed this posture, what appeared to them?

26 How did the instructions about the rock in this instance differ from the instance recorded in Exodus? 10. Approximately how many years had passed since the first water from the rock occurrence? Give reasons for your answer. 11. What evidence can be cited that would indicate the water from the rocks was not an unusual thing during the wilderness wandering? 12. What two glaring mistakes did Moses and Aaron make on this occasion?

27 How did their disobedience affect the people s supply of water? 14. What was their punishment for this grievous infraction? 15. What did the Apostle Paul say about water from the rock during the wilderness wandering? 16. Where do we read this in the New Testament?

28 How often did Jesus need to die in order to bring eternal salvation to us? 18. Edom is another name for what son of Isaac? 19. How long before this was the trouble between Jacob and Esau? 20. What other notable figure in the exodus and wilderness wandering died at this time?

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