Numbers 20:12

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. ²Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. ³The people quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had perished when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! ⁴Why have you brought the LORD's assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? ⁵Why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates-and there is no water to drink!" ⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. ⁷And the LORD said to Moses, ⁸"Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock." ⁹So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as He had commanded. ¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, "Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Because ye believed: Numbers 11:21, Numbers 11:22, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Isaiah 7:9, Matthew 17:17, Matthew 17:20, Luke 1:20, Luke 1:45, Romans 4:20

sanctify: Numbers 27:14, Leviticus 10:3, Deuteronomy 1:37, Deuteronomy 32:51, Isaiah 8:13, Ezekiel 20:41, Ezekiel 36:23, Ezekiel 38:10, 1 Peter 3:15

ye shall: Numbers 20:24, Numbers 11:15, Deuteronomy 3:23-26, Deuteronomy 32:49, Deuteronomy 32:50, Deuteronomy 34:4, Joshua 1:2, John 1:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 16:28 - General Deuteronomy 4:21 - General Deuteronomy 31:2 - Thou shalt not 1 Kings 13:21 - thou hast disobeyed 2 Kings 7:20 - General 1 Chronicles 21:10 - that I may Job 35:15 - because Psalms 99:8 - though Psalms 106:32 - so that Jonah 4:4 - Doest thou well to be angry 1 Corinthians 11:30 - many Galatians 2:11 - because Hebrews 2:2 - every Hebrews 3:18 - but Hebrews 11:6 - without James 1:20 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 11:29
And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

Genesis 12:13
Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared."

1 Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from every form of evil.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron,.... Out of the cloud, where his glory appeared, and still continued:

because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel; that Moses and Aaron committed an evil which was displeasing to the Lord is certain, but what that was is variously represented. Some say their sin was, that the order was to speak to the rock, whereas it was smitten, and not spoken to; but why then was Moses bid to take the rod with him, if it was not to smite with it, as he had done before at Horeb? and besides, this would only have been the sin of Moses, and not of Aaron; others think, that what provoked the Lord was, that the Israelites were called "rebels"; but this is a name the Lord himself gave them, Numbers 17:10, and was what they justly deserved; and what after this Moses says of them, which, had this been the case, he would have been careful to have abstained from, Deuteronomy 9:24. Others are of opinion, that what was displeasing to the Lord was, that the bringing the water out of the rock was ascribed to themselves, and not to him; "must we fetch you water", c. Others suppose the sin was in smiting the rock twice, and in anger but this could only be the fault of Moses at most. Dr. Lightfoot b thinks the particular fault was this, that Moses expressed his displeasure and resentment to the Israelites, that on their murmuring a new rock was opening, which portended a new and long stay in the wilderness, as the opening of the first rock at Horeb did when he and Aaron were in expectation of being soon out of the wilderness, and now they feared they were beginning anew their abode in it; but it is certain from the text that unbelief was their sin; they were diffident about the will of God to bring water out of the rock for such a rebellious people, and they did not put them in mind of the miracles God had wrought in former time, to encourage their faith; and so the Lord was not sanctified by them before the people, as he ought to have been:

therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them; the land of Canaan, a grant of which was made to their fathers, and particularly to this generation, and into which they would certainly be brought; but not by Moses and Aaron, who were excluded because of their unbelief, and accordingly both died before the entrance of the people into the land. This, according to the Targum of Jonathan, and Jarchi, was said with an oath; see Hebrews 3:18.

b See his Works, vol. 1. p. 36.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The command Numbers 20:8 was “Speak ye unto the rock.” The act of smiting, and especially with two strokes, indicates violent irritation on the part of Moses; as does also his unseemly mode of addressing the people: “Hear now, ye rebels.” The form too of the question, “must we, etc.,” directs the people not, as ought to have been the case, to God as their deliverer, but to Moses and Aaron personally. In fact the faithful servant of God, worn out by the reiterated perversities of the people, breaks down; and in the actual discharge of his duty as God’s representative before Israel, acts unworthily of the great function entrusted to him. Thus, Moses did not “sanctify God in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Aaron might have checked the intemperate words and acts of Moses, and did not. Hence, God punishes both by withdrawing them from their work for Him, and handing over its accomplishment to another.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 20:12. Because ye believed me not — What was the offence for which Moses was excluded from the promised land? It appears to have consisted in some or all of the following particulars:

1. God had commanded him (Numbers 20:8) to take the rod in his hand, and go and SPEAK TO THE ROCK, and it should give forth water. It seems Moses did not think speaking would be sufficient, therefore he smote the rock without any command so to do.

2. He did this twice, which certainly in this case indicated a great perturbation of spirit, and want of attention to the presence of God.

3. He permitted his spirit to be carried away by a sense of the people's disobedience, and thus, being provoked, he was led to speak unadvisedly with his lips: Hear now, ye REBELS, Numbers 20:10.

4. He did not acknowledge GOD in the miracle which was about to be wrought, but took the honour to himself and Aaron: "Must WE fetch you water out of this rock?"

Thus it plainly appears that they did not properly believe in God, and did not honour him in the sight of the people; for in their presence they seem to express a doubt whether the thing could be possibly done. As Aaron appears to have been consenting in the above particulars, therefore he is also excluded from the promised land.