February 25 Daily Devotional

Numbers 20

When the forty years were almost ended, the people came again to Kadesh. For some reason they found no water there. Perhaps the wells, from which they had drawn water before, were now dried up. The people came to Moses, complaining, “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces. And the Lord spoke to Moses, “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 bring forth to them water out of the rock.” Then Moses and Aaron brought together the people before the rock near the camp. Moses stood in front of the rock with the rod in his hand, but instead of speaking to the rock as God had told him, he spoke to the people in an angry tone, “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” And he lifted up his rod and struck the rock two times. Not in vain, for water came pouring out of the rock, just as it had come many years before from the rock at Rephidim. There was plenty of water for all the people and their cattle. But God was not pleased with Moses, be­cause he had not obeyed his command. He said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ye believed me not … ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” Not to come into the land of Canaan!—that was a great disappointment for Moses.

At about this time Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died at Kadesh. We remember that when she was a little girl, she helped to save her baby brother, Moses, who had been placed in a basket and put into the Nile river. Soon after her death the time for the departure of Aaron came. Moses, Aaron and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, walked together up a mountain called Hor. On the top of the mountain Moses took off the high priest’s robes from Aaron, and placed them on his son Eleazar. And there on the top of mount Hor, Aaron died. He was gathered to his people. Many eyes were filled with tears, when Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain without the high priest, who for years had served at the sanctuary and implored God’s blessing upon the people, using this benediction: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”