He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
they ran in the dry places like a river. Psalm 105:41
And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed
from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys,
according to the commandment of the Lord,
and pitched in Rephidim:
and there was no water for the people to drink.
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said,
Give us water that we may drink.
And Moses said unto them,
Why chide ye with me?
wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
And the people thirsted there for water;
and the people murmured against Moses, and said,
Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt,
to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying,
What shall I do unto this people?
they be almost ready to stone me.
And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go on before the people,
and take with thee of the elders of Israel; 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 shalt smite the rock,
and there shall come water out of it,
that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:1-6
The people were constantly complaining.
They neglected to keep their eyes on the Lord
and let the circumstances get the best of them.
They wavered in their faith,
as soon as they were lacking and their flesh was wanting,
they blamed God and Moses.
Miracle after miracle.
In the instance of the water being supplied from a rock,
they complained right away and not in a good way:
Behold, he smote the rock,
that the waters gushed out,
and the streams overflowed;
can he give bread also?
can he provide flesh for his people? Psalm 78:20
God provided for them but it was different than they wanted or were used to,
so when God didn’t provide the way they liked,
they murmured instead of being thankful
Their flesh was stretched and they vexed God and Moses
with their continual dripping
God continued to take care of them in spite of their murmurings
Numbers 11
When the Israelites were almost to the promised land,
there were thirsty and had seemed to have forgotten the previous miracles
God gave Moses Specific Instructions:
Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together,
thou, and Aaron thy brother,
and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes;
and it shall give forth his water,
and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock:
so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Numbers 10:8 explains why the Lord was so unhappy with Moses
For the reader, it can be a bit confusing
There were two separate incidents where God provided water from a rock
The first time at the Wilderness of Sin
He commanded Moses to strike the rock
The second time at the Desert of Zin
God told Moses to take his rod with him and then speak to the rock
Instead of following God’s instructions, Moses struck the Rock twice
The Specific Instructions from God were:
take the rod and speak to the rock and it will gush forth water
Obedience is better than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22
If God gives us Specific Instructions, we need to follow them
He does this often and we may not be in tune to recognize those
Let’s look at a few very Specific Instructions written in the bible
The bible is filled with them and once you get your mind on this,
you will see specific commands all over the place in just about every situation
After this manner therefore pray ye Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever. Amen.
The all-encompassing prayer
Do this in remembrance of Me 1 Corinthians 11:24
And when he had given thanks,
he brake it, and said,
Take, eat: this is my body,
which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Taking communion is something the Lord has told us to do to
remember His death until He comes
Pray without ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17
It’s definitely hard to do this without the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
especially speaking in tongues as that act allows your spirit to pray
and your mind is not participating
Love your enemies Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Our enemies can be people we know and people we don’t
Politicians, celebrities, news casters, someone who has personally wronged
or offended us or someone we know and even love
Go unto all nations and preach the gospel to all creation Matthew 28:19-20
Maybe you are and have not been called to go in the mission field,
but maybe you have a neighbor or coworker from another nation
Maybe you send money to missionaries,
whatever your part is in the great commission, none of us are exempt
If your brother has ought against you Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Confess your sins one to another and pray that you may be healed James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another,
and pray one for another,
that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Let your light so shine before men Matthew 5:16
that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The two greatest Commandments Mark 12:30-31
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these.