"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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" (Numbers 20:7-8).
Whenever the children of Israel faced a wilderness, "No Water" situation, their immediate reaction was to murmur and complain rather than trusting God to supply their need (Numbers 20:2-5). They failed to remember how God had previously taken care of their "No Water" problem (Exodus 17:1,6) when Moses struck the rock in Horeb, causing water to abundantly flow forth.
But now, many years later, Moses was not to strike the rock for water, but simply "speak to the rock." Instead, he, in his anger, struck the rock twice, completely disobeying God's command and was judged for it (Numbers 20:11-12).
The spiritual application for us is found in I Corinthians 10:4. The children of Israel "drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." The same Rock who supplied physical water in the wilderness desires to supply refreshing grace and mercy to those who are in a "No Water" situation today. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). "When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Psalm 61:2).
David wrote, "The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me" (II Samuel 23:2-3). Not only do we have the privilege of speaking to the Rock, Christ Jesus, but also having the Rock speak to us through His Word, the Bible.
"For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?" (Psalm 18:31). NPS
