The Waters of Meribah
The waters of Meribah
The place of testing for Moses
When the Israelites grumbled
Again
Against Moses and Aaron
for lack of water
This time at Meribah
Meribah of Kadesh
In the wilderness of Zin
The congregation chose not to trust
in God’s faithfulness
Manna in the morning
Pillar of Fire at night
Or of God’s great power of
deliverance
that led them out of Egypt
Once again they grumbled
against Moses and against Aaron
Why have you brought us out of Egypt
Why should we die here
It is no place for grain or figs
Or vines or pomegranates
And there is no water to drink
For us or our livestock
Moses and Aaron went to the Tent of
Meeting
The glory of God appeared to them
and God instructed Moses to
bring his staff with him
and to
SPEAK
to the rock
before the congregation
Tell the rock to yield its water
Thus Moses will bring water out of
the rock
For the assembly and their livestock
to drink
God wanted Moses to show God’s power
By SPEAKING to the rock
For waters to come forth
How by speaking
would water come out of the rock
Moses took it upon himself that
By striking the rock
He might loosen it
So water can gush out
Like the last time at Raphidim
God told Moses to strike the rock
And water poured out for the
Israelites
It worked the last time
Struck the rock
And water came out
God’s instruction to Moses was clear
Speak
to the rock
And water will pour out
Moses instead
Struck
the rock
Twice
Water gushed out
And sated the grumbling assembly
Moses though
Pays the price of not having believed
That God is able to
Bring water from the rock
Just by speaking to it
Moses
O Moses
Just like us
Did your faith and obedience become
complacent
God has used you all these years
You can now do it on your own steam
It worked in the past
So do it again
You struck the rock
And water poured out
Same situation of
Israelites grumbling for water
Strike the rock
And water will pour out
Was faith in God now placed in your past
glory
The glory of God
demonstrated through your obedience
in the past
Obedience to God was total
Now optional somehow
Same old
Same old
Same situation
Do the same thing
Repeat and be done with it
No longer panting after
the freshness of
God’s presence
God’s voice
God’s fresh instruction
The price of disobedience was huge
Moses
Like all the other leaders who left
Egypt
With the exceptions of Joshua and
Caleb
Would
Not
Enter
The Promised Land
May we learn from Moses
And not have to pay the price too
Of not being able to
Enter new spiritual landscapes of
Lushness
Fullness
Abundance
The fullness of
Our spiritual inheritance in Christ
By sitting on our laurels
Let us therefore
Pursue God
With all of
Our soul
Our mind
Our heart
Our strength
Holding nothing back
Forgetting the past
Straining toward the price set out before
us
Each moment a fresh moment
Fresh opportunity
To hear God’s voice
So that we might
Believe
and
Obey
For without faith it is impossible to
please God
and Faith without obedience is dead
May our faith always be fresh and
Our obedience complete
