We are in the scroll of numbers and we've been looking at a sequence of rebellion stories

that all increase in intensity.

First, all the people of Israel rebel, they don't want to go into the promised land.

Then, the inner circle of Israel, the Levites rebel, they think God is playing favoritism,

and now we get a third rebellion, focusing on two characters who are at the center of

it all.

As we're going to see Moses and Aaron have their failure moment too in the section that

we're going to look at.

It's a strange little story.

Israel is thirsty, and so God tells Moses to take his staff and go to a rock and speak

to the rock so that water can come out.

Moses goes and instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes the rock with his staff.

Water comes out and you think, great, it worked, but then God says, God says to Moses

here, you didn't trust me.

You didn't treat me as the holy one in the eyes of the people.

And as a consequence, Moses can't go into the promised land like the wilderness generation.

And as you read the story, you might think, what's the big deal?

So we hit the rock instead of speaking to the rock.

Why is it so important that Moses does exactly what God says?

This is Moses' test.

Will he do what God says?

The way that God says it.

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