Devotion • June 26
Today's Scripture
Numbers 20:1–13
The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he had commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and by which he showed his holiness. (NRSV)
Reflection
Leaving aside God’s exceptionally confusing punishment of Moses and Aaron in verse 12 (didn’t Moses do what God commanded him to!?), this passage from Numbers 20 still serves as an important inflection point in the wider Exodus journey. Miriam, one of the group’s most important leaders, dies in verse 1. Moses and Aaron are told in verse 12 that they too will not enter the Promised Land. Instead, God seems to be paving the way for an entirely new era of leadership — one that may have only ever known the wilderness, given that they were already more than forty years removed from the initial flight from Egypt.
It has always struck me as odd that Moses wasn’t allowed to see the journey through — but perhaps (as usual) there is some deep wisdom about God’s work being bigger than any one of us can hold in our lifetime. Having never experienced oppression in Egypt, these new leaders were not bound to what was. Instead, they were free to imagine what could be — a new land where the orphan and widow were truly cared for, a new land where God’s commandments were followed and enacted.
It is tempting sometimes to believe that we are the only ones who can see something through, but one of the fundamental ways God asks us to trust is to see ourselves as part of a much larger and longer story. We are called to serve faithfully when and where we can, but may we also listen to those who come after us — trusting they have been called by God too.
Prayer
God of all generations, help me recognize the times when you have called me to lead — as well as the times you have called me to listen and learn. Amen.
Written by Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries (on sabbatical through September 2)
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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