Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Moses had a thankless job. He spent the better part of forty years leading a rag-tag group of whiners across the desert in hopes of seeing the Promised Land. In Numbers 20, the Israelites were camped at Kadesh where Moses and Aaron buried their sister, Miriam. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Israelites started their seemingly monthly ritual of doom and gloom nay-saying. “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before Lord! Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink” (Numbers 20:4-5) Same song and dance, different desert.

Once again, Moses and Aaron retreated to the Tent of Meeting to inquire of God, and once again, the glory of the Lord was waiting for them. The Lord instructed them, “Take the staff, and you and your brother, Aaron, gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.” (Numbers 20:8, emphasis mine)

So being the dutiful leader that he was, Moses took the staff, and he and Aaron set out for the assembly. Most likely, they were met with more jeers and complaining on the way. No doubt Moses was frustrated. Anyone who had to listen to the same complaining for forty years would be frustrated. When he reached the rock, Moses addressed them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with the staff and water gushed forth to the delight of the aforementioned grumblers. Moses was happy because the grumbling stopped. The people were happy (at least momentarily) because they had water. Everyone was happy. Everyone, that is, except God.

God had told Moses to bring water from the rock, but Moses didn’t do it the way God instructed. Moses was told to speak to the rock, doubtless giving God glory and credit for the provision. Instead, Moses whacked the rock twice with the staff in anger and frustration. Afterward, God told Moses and Aaron that “because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (Numbers 20:12). Imagine walking through the desert for forty years, only to learn that you will not be seeing the Promised Land you’ve longed for all that time, but even God’s beloved Moses was subject to the same commandments as everyone else.

The world teaches us that the ends justify the means. As long as the right results are achieved, everything’s okay. That, however, is not a biblical principle. It doesn’t matter that your church has 50,000 members and feeds 100,000 children in Africa, if you’re skewing the Gospel to get numbers. It doesn’t matter if you raised a million dollars for missions, if those funds were illegally obtained.

God’s not just interested in our finishing the race, but also with the path we took to get there. Was it the path he chose for us? Did we run the race with integrity and grace? With God, the ends don’t justify the means. With God, the means are what have real meaning.