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Chapter 4 

 

HELPS AND HINDRANCES

 

ON THE HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS

 

Numbers 14-20

 

 

 

PART II
 

WHAT HELPS HOLINESS, HELPS

 

 

 

THE CARE BEYOND COMPARE 

 

In the last Chapter, we started to consider a new part in the Journey along the Highway from Egypt to the Promised land which gives so much grist to the mill of gaining insight into straight dealings with the Lord, without procrastination, prevarication or ulcers of the mind. We came to a point where,  just as Moses had been given help on various occasions before, in view of the massive multitude of people with him in the desert arena, in gaining water by the simple device of striking the rock with the rod  with which he had once  smitten the waters enabling them to escape from the Egyptian army earlier, evidently the "rod of God" of Exodus 4:2,20, so now  the Lord commanded again the holy rod's use, one from the sanctuary.

 

This significant continuity with the work through the use of  is seen in Exodus 17:5-6, and now at that signal,  that Moses should speak to, or address or give command to the rock once more*1, the Lord indicated "I will stand by on the rock" . The word used here has a broad range of meaning.

 

Thus, when man (Moses) struck it, God acted. The Rock stricken, as in Deuteronomy 32:4 - cf. II Samuel 22, Psalm 62, Isaiah 44:6-8 - stood for the ONLY Rock, which the righteous Lord recognises as able to possess that name: that is,  Himself. With HIM stricken, parched man can receive abundance of water, physical in the desert, spiritual in what it signified as in Isaiah 53:5 and John 4:14, 7:37-38. 

 

Moses struck the Rock; as he had done as reported in Exodus 17 when a continuity was stated by the Lord with the Exodus escape from Egypt, and the rod as a divine symbol of communication in nature for His will by man, in this case Moses,  and the Rock as indicative of the available God of all power and stability. Then God acted. How many wait for that blessed sort of response, as in Isaiah 64:5 and rejoice when He does so (cf. Exodus 15) ! It was here for Moses a case of a primary cause supplanting and determining a secondary cause, the Creator directly operating in the creation to meet immediate and vast need. It is, indeed, just as foolish to ignore secondary causes, normal happenings and be rash, as it is to ignore God's intervention, and be self-centred and supercilious. We have a coach and a King, who operates by whatever means, direct or indirect, He pleases.  

 

 Thus, with Moses, physical water would come from this use of symbols BECAUSE the Lord stood by, to act on it. It was like having a switch to turn on in a house, a ludicrous piece of mumbo-jumbo if you want light, UNLESS the house is connected and the electrical system is articulated in it, so that the power from beyond the house might flow into it, using the equipment in place (the bulb, in its socket).  

 

So here the power of GOD Himself would flow beyond the work of the articulated system, a case  where the 'electrician' is standing by to use His own input, so that when this is ON, then inaction is OFF. Here the water flowed. It was a supernatural act, based on a physical premise as a medium, not a director. Power is from God (Psalm 57:2, 62:11, Isaiah 14:27), whether or not He chooses to let existing media perform in natural ways before Him; for it is He who made the universe, its articulated laws, forms and mini-powers. It is He who in His own  ways plans to reach them naturally, or over-reach them supernaturally. This power, diversely, at will, He deploys,  in making adjustments, additions, invasions, incursions. The creation is always subject to the Creator. Man on this earth need never be alone. 

 

Blessed is the person who knows this, and realises that the power that raised Christ from the dead is available to Christians (Eph. 1:19). Whether the mission and commission for any one saint is  
 

*      for life (as with the three friends of Daniel in the furnace), or
 

*      for death (as for James, when imprisoned by King Herod),

 

*      for escape (as with Peter, shown in Acts 12) or
 

*      for testimony in the face of obvious persecution, the face shining, the words eloquent,
the impact immense and not least, on Paul it would seem - at that stage,  still Saul (as seen in  Acts 7):

 

THAT depends on the plan of the Lord.

 As Christ told Peter (John 21), it is for Him to determine who lives long in the field, and who is to be incarcerated or slain in the vengeance of man  against the Lord.


 As in a cricket field, people have very different functions; it is for each to find and fulfil this; and for that you need to know the Lord. Moses knew the Lord, but alas he suffered a spiritual heart attack as he acted in this instance of smiting the Rock. In view of what it symbolised, to do this TWICE was thrice wrong, once for the duplication, once for the meddling with the word of God in action, and one for the surrounding words ... MUST WE!.  

 

Let us summarise then. Once more the people had complained, once more Moses was directed to find for them water in this miraculous fashion. As it had earlier (Exodus 17), and apparently here involved the ROCK being STRICKEN, so it related to an attack to come on the Lord (as itemised in Psalm 2, so notably) , and as it was clear in Genesis 3:15, that the unsoiled Saviour would come to deliver man from the results of sin, so it would be in the One appointed, outside the constriction of sin, its liability and impoverishment, inside the deity in stature, able to handle any and  all  creation. Thus a child in the human race would be used to smash the satanic power that spiritually maims man.  

 

As became more and more detailed in the prophets, this was to be the Messiah, the coming prophet. It was He, the Lord Himself,  who would be so stricken, as in Isaiah 48:16, 50, 52, 53, Micah 5. In some way, GOD would suffer for man to provide 'water', that is what would meet their urgent need in their very lives. As seen in Numbers 11:24-25, it would represent some work of His Spirit which would be signified by the water, some thrust against the Lord Himself which would secure this, something symbolised by striking the Rock. 

 

Its meaning, method and results were shown in clarity and essence in Isaiah 50-55, Psalm 16,22 and in many more places.

 

 

 

THE FLAIR THAT LACKS CARE 

 

 

As the people grumbled as if without vision once more, then, Moses is duly directed to take the holy rod and made address to the rock,  and so gain water under divine jurisdiction and authority, and from whom ? Why it was from the God who made the earth and knew its treasures and sites. This, however,  Moses did in HIS OWN WAY. Often we hear from this or that political or sports or similar figure, "I did it my way." This is exceedingly dangerous.

 

While it is good to have initiative, yet the boundary between self and Spirit is clear. It is to be done God's way. With God for you, why draw on what is inferior, the sinful reality of self, instead of being cleansed, relying on the sinless and staggering perfection of God, who made you, called you and conducts your way! Major decisions without faith are like exploding an atomic bomb, and then checking whether you had it placed right. Moses had the power-concept right, but in his use of it on this occasion he made a horrendous error.

 

Exasperated, he presumed, angered he reacted without spiritual wisdom. In substance, Moses did as directed;  but his method of action alas, was gravely unsound. 

 

Calling the people 'you rebels' which of course they were, he struck the rock twice,
 

"Must we bring water out of the rock for you!" 

 

We considered this on another occasion, under the heading presumption, but now we are thinking of the HELP which was THERE as so often before, on that occasion. BECAUSE IT was there, even the Lord in His own engagement, therefore real water would come, and that in quantities to meet the need of hundreds of thousands of people. It would come instantly, from the Rock, and symbolise salvation. It would be adequate, accurately provided, in nothing lacking.


Now one can begin to  itemise the errors of that so valiant, but here temporarily misled Moses. Of four to be noted, let us today take the first.

 

 

THE FIRST CRITERION

 

 

Moreover, it is not a memory of bloodshed which is directly prescribed for atonement, for remission; it is the shedding of it. It is neither OMISSION nor refabrication without blood. Such is the word of God: it is ONE remission wrought ONCE by ONE offering freely made by ONE Christ on ONE occasion in the flesh given to man as his normal birth-rite, yet without sin (Romans 8, Hebrews 2). This is the word of God concerning remission, so it speaks, and has spoken;  and it will not change (Galatians 1, Revelation 22, Proverbs 30:6, Matthew 5:17-20, I Corinthians 2:9-13). It is focussed on the  Lord's Christ and not another (Luke 2:36 as in II Cor. 11); and to those things of which Revelation speaks, one may indeed add, but only as inviting divine wrath (Rev. 22:18-19). From those words, it similarly states, you may abstract, but on the same condition.

 

As to all misuses of His remission, sacrifice and action, from a biblical perspective, this is fraud, and grave is the fault of those who stand by in such prognostications (II Corinthians 11).

 

What then  ? Remission and  memory, innovation and history: the two differ as figures in a book and in a bank. Whether there  be an artificially 'made' Christ or any part thereof, or an ignored sacrifice, either way, the result is the same. The ONE Christ, who ALONE provides remission of sin, saves only by blood sacrifice, and that once made, when He freely offered Himself; and therefore, just as man dies ONCE and after death, the judgment, so Christ died ONCE and after this He comes the second time, and with Him is the judgment.

 

 

THE CONSTRUCTION PLANS AND PLANTS

FOR NEW CHRISTS THAT DO NOT REMIT
 


Indeed, changed, omitted or remodelled messiahs involve simple fraud and grave is the fault of those who stand by in such prognostications (II Cor.11), evacuations or deletions. Their name is legion. Reconstruct in surrealism or bypass in imaginations, irrational, unverified, works of the human heart, and then alike, "whoever falls on this stone, it will grind him to powder." You may ignore it, collide with it,  and so fall; you may seek to change it and so be felled; but whatever pass or bypass may be attempted concerning Jesus Christ, it leads to impasse. As in Daniel 2, it is He who becomes a mountain to fill the whole earth.

 

"Must we..."  epitomises all such misled faith. He is "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we  ask or think, according to the power that works in us" on the other hand, epitomises that dynamism of faith which receives what is given and rejoices in the line of duty, this deity-defined, on the highway of holiness. Abide and do not chide! Next week, DV, we shall look further at Moses' error, protection and the nature of the highway of holiness, its appeal and the zeal for it. He erred once and did not make a system of it. Many have been rescued even from spiritually misled systems, as indeed priests in Acts 6:7, and multitudes since. Praise God for His mercies.

 

 

 

PART III

 

 

THE TORRENT THAT DID NOT HELP,

THE TASK THAT HINDERED
AND THE TRUTH THAT STILL PREVAILED

 

In the last Section, as planned, there was a dwelling on the work of the Lord and the ministry of man! The first of Moses' errors in his famous double striking of the Rock after the death of Miriam, after he had suffered much provocation, was considered. Doubtless, with the "rod of God" (Exodus 4:4,17) earlier  used so notoriously both before and during  the Exodus,  and specifically commissioned for miracles in Egypt before Moses' return there,  and its later use after the flight, the continuity with that event made explicit from the Lord (Ex. 17:5): these things could not but be in mind. Thus when water was needed once more for a repeatedly contumacious people, Moses acted (Numbers 20).

Told to take the rod and to address the rock, it is scarcely surprising that he struck it. There was a large history relative to the rod, and to take one illustrative case, God once told Moses to stretch out his hand to induce a plague on Egypt, and in response,  Moses at once used the rod as before, without rebuke! (Exodus. 9:22-23).  Some things are established by usage, especially in normative circumstances (Exodus 17 and Numbers 20),  where  the same type of case arises. If  in the former, directions to strike in this post-Egyptian situation, were explicit, then in the latter, the rod was again divinely directed to the work (20:17), both being scenes of symbolic significance.

Moses was flamboyant rather than buoyant, and an inflated sense of autonomy appeared. Today, we plan to ponder the next three aspects of his error, his sharp verbal torrent, the double strike, and  the soaring sense of personal importance, together with the personal case for Moses in the light of the wonder of the beauty of the Highway of Holiness, as in Isaiah 35. Though some have been touched in passing, now we separate for scrutiny, further itemising the errors of Moses to edify.

 

This Chapter, together with Ch. 8 below, is planned to give more insight into the situation of Moses' unmagnificent moment, and the whole savour of the rod of God, His rule in many dimensions and epochs.

 

 

 

THE SECOND CRITERION
 

We move from the autonomous to the authoritarian,
from the priestly to the papal or primate tenor (cf. SMR pp. 911ff., 1032ff.).

 

·         2) Moses spoke in anger to the people, "You rebels ..."

While this indeed they were, the association of "must we" and "you rebels"
led to the feeling
that sinners were addressed by a non-sinner,
tending to remove the sense of any connection,
and to exalt the leader.

Doubtless, it was entirely unintended,
 anger and perhaps temper having got the better of self-control;
yet this error of Moses could not be permitted to stand,
lest popes and other unauthorised leaders
(breaching Matthew 23:8-10) should elevate themselves
to gain a certain pre-eminence (as in II John 9),
rather than performing quite simply, a blessed function.

 

THE  THIRD CRITERION
 

Now we turn from the authoritarian to the aggregative,
cumulative, sacramentalist in thrust.
 

·         3) The prophet Moses struck the rock TWICE! This was not authorised.

Symbolically, when it all came to fulfilment,
this would signify Christ dying more than once,
a folly contrary to the Bible
("I am He who was dead and am alive for evermore" as in Revelation 1),

·         for "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."
It is ONCE, NOT OFTEN,
a singularity repetitively affirmed in Hebrews 9.

"To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time,
apart from sin, for salvation," (Hebrews 9:28).
That is where the second time comes, and it is NO SACRIFICE!

It is His SECOND COMING which gives the next opportunity
of direct dealing with the incarnated Christ,
as distinct from His Spirit (Luke 24, Acts 3:19ff.)  -
HE is in heaven UNTIL "the time of the restoration of all things".
 

THE  FOURTH CRITERION

 

Moving from the authoritarian, at last we see the additive, the sensational aspect, like some charismatic specialists who do not know when to pause, and when to proceed. The way and wisdom of God is blended with the way and will of man in an unacceptable paradigm, in danger of becoming a parody.

·         4) The psychic flurry that led to his striking the rock in this manner
suggests lack of self-control, a thrashing about of the spirit,
an exasperation which led to addition to the word of God, so violating the symbolic meaning. 

NO AGENT of the Lord is given power to add to the word of God,
or to subtract (cf. Deuteronomy 4, 12, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-19)
or  to be pre-eminent. That prohibition is express (Matthew 23:8-10),
as is the prohibition of the use of the term 'father' in a spiritual sense and setting,
EXCEPT OF GOD HIMSELF, both Rock and Father.

God added to His own infallible word until He had finished speaking
as Revelation 22 indicates;
but if man adds his words to the divine ones, he will answer for it
(as in 22:18-19 for example).

 

*      At this point, it is apposite to add this: that it is not only some one heresy, like that of Romanism, which needs to be exposed for the sake of the flock (cf. Acts 20:28ff., I Corinthians m11:19), their rebuttal making the truth all the more manifest to many; ALL additions to, revisions of or stark refusals of what the Bible teaches are with equal hand to be exposed: for if one  say, I am privileged because I have corrected a former error! then the indulgence of laxity can even become the bombast of pride, and amidst prides,  alas, there is little deliverance! NO 'orthodoxy' in its own self-glorying can stand, when it becomes its own notation, and stands on its own two  feet, instead of on the word of God.

Indeed, it is precisely in this way that such things as the decretum horribile of Calvin*3 are allowed to receive accolade instead of rebuke, or the Arminian excesses of Wesley (for all his underlying soundness far greater than many seem to realise*4) permitted because of his eminence, to stand where in fact they fall! And such errors as both of these, being oddments of the work of great men, then are prone to cause divisions in the body of Christ. Why ? It is not least because the word of God AS WRITTEN is NOT applied because of this, or that. It must always be applied, whatever the cost. There is stability control, there is braking system, there is scope for acceleration, within it, and neither beyond nor short of it.


  

POISE AND COUNTERPOISE

Alas for Moses, one can grieve for him; but the case warranted divine action.

Because of this getting out of hand, out of control, out of symbolic fidelity, something made in a highly dramatic, public and disciplinary setting, with Moses acting in a manner more autocratic than authorised, the prophet was given a prohibition. HE could not personally in the flesh enter into the promised land. Now of course, Moses remained most intimate with the Lord, obeying and walking with Him, and was even told at what point to finish his life on this earth; and was to be heard talking with Christ and Elijah concerning the (then) approaching death of Christ, during the transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:30), and his eminence is seen clearly in Hebrews 3.

Indeed, Moses entered what the promised land signified, heaven itself, on the other side, where sins forgiven, the Lord intimate, there is a felicity which as Paul stated in Philippians 1:21-23, is "far better" than the present. Nevertheless, the Lord's purity is made clear, and the limits of leadership pronounced in this matter! He would not enter the promised land, thus would be absent in that consummation of so much, wrought so valiantly.

Granted this error of his, was presumption, unintended no doubt, but in what way is it a help on the highway ? It is in this: if you or I, being Christians, become self-elevated, it is well to be warned. If we think we are above such childish pretensions, are we above loss of temper ? and if we do not become distempered, might we not yet illicitly and gradually assume a power as if we were somewhat ? If so, is this not an arrogance ?  Might we not ALL be instructed, leader and led, husband and father, child and adult, in this way!

Further, if Moses had not been corrected, he might have gone even further in a mode or even mood of puffing up the neck glands, like a lizard, and that might have led to more trouble for all. Remember what the Lord thought of Egypt when it went too far! (cf. Possess Your Possessions Vol. 11,Ch. 3) ...and what He then did. By all means, if need be, walk through a recent atomic blast site, but BY NO MEANS allow pride to so much as peek into your spirit, far less laminate your soul with the lordly glory of the Lord!

We return to the more general matter: what was the help on the highway ? It was multiple. It included the cloud by day and the fire at night, to lead, adequate divine guidance, the water from the rock, the food from heaven - the manna, abundant physical support, if not fancy, the provision of 70 elders to help Moses administer for a huge body of people, the open door to enter the land in pristine purity of heart and readiness of divine help (though the hand twisted free from the 'parent' on the part of the restless 'child', Israel at that time, leading to no small 'accident'). At that stage, Moses was still free to enter, as were all!

There were isolated events, such as the budding of Aaron's rod, or the movement of the thick and protective cloud between Israel and the Egyptian army in its wild pursuit of its lost slave body; there were generics such as the cloud by day and fire by night. There were thus helps both general and particular. It was divine and beautiful. Yet it also required in response, a certain HOLINESS. Children need to respect and have communication with their father, yet there may come a lifeless co-operation and mere ritual, stone-faced conformity, or even stark rebellion as when they REFUSED to enter the promised land (Numbers 14).

But Moses did not refuse. Alas it was in the aspect of holiness that his trouble came, suddenly, when he was vexed: it  did so publicly, dramatically, with substantial spiritual overtones, and peril for the people.

 

 

HOLINESS ON THE HIGHWAY

One can delight in

*       Moses' immense sense of service.
 

*       his enormous sacrifice in leaving the exalted domain of prince, if need be
(and there came to be a need),
in order to help his fellow Hebrews when these were slaves in Egypt.
 

*       his intransigent  mien in confrontation with the most powerful monarch on earth at that time.
 

*       his fearless announcements to Pharaoh in the name of the Lord.

*       his patience in persisting.
 

*       his bravery in telling Pharaoh, when told he would not see the that leader's face anymore,
that reverse-wise, Pharaoh would not see his face any more! ... nor did he.
 

*       his perseverance in seeking to resolve problems and
 

*       his offer to be cut off for the sake of the people, which the Lord rejected,
but which spoke volumes (Exodus 32:31-32).

If then judgment must begin at the house of God (I Peter 4:17), what must the unbeliever ponder! In this there is answer to the ignorant cavil of making it appear that a free salvation is mere scope for self-indulgence, even for doing 'evil that good may come'! Such a claim  could scarcely come from those who personally know the discipline of the Lord in their lives (cf. Hebrews 12). Small wonder Paul speaks of God's own justification for judgment and the way He handles it,  and of mockery of it,  in terms of slander (Romans 3:8). Evil is under extreme sanction in the life of a Christian, and foolish the one who imagines otherwise. There is one thing between free salvation and licence, and it is not merely a thing, it is a Person.

It is indeed the personal God who ACTS who comes between! Discipline is what a child gets from  a good father, and this Father never forsakes (Hebrews 12, 13:5, John 10:9,27-28). Equivocation is no substitute for obedience, procrastination for purity.

Again and again, Moses fell on his face, when trouble erupted, rather than stridently strutting before the people. He was meek; but alas, when the meek (remember Dickens' Uriah Heap) swell, there may be a lancing needed!

Yet for all the discipline of the elect, so that those who are justified will assuredly be glorified (Romans 5:1,9, 8:17, 30, Ephesians 1:11, I John 5:11ff.m Titus 3:3-7), it is still assuredly FAR BETTER to which they assuredly come, in that guilt-pardoned, life-garnered eternity with Him:  to which His people are conducted by guaranteed gift (cf. Romans 5:12-19, 6:23, II Timothy 1:8ff.). It is a vast and incalculable fount of mercy which is found by His people (Psalm 103), and there is nothing to separate His children from Him who NOW in Christ, through faith,  is their Father (Romans 8:37ff.). If then Moses lost some one thing on this earth, he gained a vast wonder in the Lord, in heaven. 

Now then let us seek holiness, without which no man will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

Hence we read in Paul:

·         "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness,

·         and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," Romans 14:17.
 

The same sincerity that God manifests, selecting without violence, as is the way of love, is found in the heart of the redeemed - I Peter 1 verbalises it:

"Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous" (3:8).

This love of God (Romans 5:5, I Corinthians 13, Titus 3:4-7, Colossians 1`:13-14, 3:13-14, I John 2:15, 3:1-3,23-23, 4:10,15-18,20) ... it is unpossessive, seemly, spiritual, pure-hearted, constructive, patient, kind, Christ-grounded, Spirit-dynamised, Christ savoured, unselfish, strut-free, unfretting, free of guilt, made innocent by grace in the hearts of the redeemed through the blood of Christ:

"Above all these things," exhorts the apostle Paul, "put on love" (Colossians 3:14).

Again, he says (I Peter 1:22):

"Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth,
through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently:
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever."

 As to that, the principles of the place, you might say, of the palace, include this (I John 5:2):

"By this we know that we love the children of God,

when we love God, and keep His commandments."

The rules of the spiritual road are a good test; keep these and with a pure heart, walk in the Lord, whose light is sent out to guide to His holy haven, through the Kingdom, to the Kingdom. Ponder on the way, Isaiah 32:16-17, and 32:17, 33:6. Such is the way of the Kingdom, the province of the King. As to Him, on earth He is thus reported:

"And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth" - John 1:14.  

Moreover, let us consider something more in Isaiah 35, where the "highway of holiness"  gains its name.

 

THAT MAGNIFICENT HIGHWAY

Here we find this magnificent highway of holiness, equipped with the prediction of some of the miracles to be performed by the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6, cf. 29:18ff., Psalm 72, Isaiah 11, 40), the central figure in Isaiah's testimony of salvation. How richly He appears in the predictions here,  as seen in Isaiah 7, 9, 11, 22, 32, 40, 49-55, 61, the consequence of such actions being seen in Isaiah 35, which provides a new and beautiful account. Firstly note that in this highway, "the unclean shall not pass over it."  It is not a subject for psychological analysis (cf. I Corinthians 2:15), abandonment to sin, realisation of rebellion, the lusts of lordship or the arrogancies of aspiration to be first, to be dominant, to which some bearing the name 'Christian' illicitly surrender.

Its travellers, its sojourners and pilgrims (I Peter 2:11) do not loiter as if in the halls of secular power, or the islands of listless dreaming, but they proceed impelled in the beauty of the place, to their appointed tasks and living, fulfilling like blooms, the way given.

So wonderful is the air and care upon this highway, that anyone actually travelling on it, even if he or she were to be a fool, almost too witless to contemplate, is secure from failure, and  such is the wonder of the walk that at that, that no such person will go astray. There is One who helps and constrains, comforts and strengthens, warns and works, and the passengers here are not limp, but subject to the living and utterly reliable Lord, from whom none can be snatched, and with whom none can perish (John 10:9,27-28). "Nor shall any ravenous beast go on it," Isaiah 35:9, nor any lion, such as the devil, a roaring lion who resisted, flees (I Peter 5:8). Here is health and here is the Lord so that correction is made, protection is given and nothing is too hard for Him, who seals His own through His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and keeps them by His own life, like a Shepherd, always interceding for them (Hebrews 7:25).

Indeed, quite simply, this highway is inclusive of all the redeemed and exclusive of those who are not, for "the redeemed shall walk there," those others and their source excluded. Thus, redeemed, pilgrims and strangers in this earth, "the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy in their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away," (Isaiah 35:10 cf. Revelation 7:13ff., 21:8). These are those known to the Lord, and though their outward form (II Corinthians 4:16) is perishing, yet

"the inward being is being renewed day by day,
for our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are eternal."

The eternal body, not made with hands,  fit for eternity is prepared for that time (II Corinthians 5:1-5); and in the meantime, though the tribulations mount, the deliverances accrue. For Jew or Gentile, there is but one Gospel, one salvation, one Lord, no mutations. There is but one issuance as to THIS highway, whatever the earthly preludes and partitions; for all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28,1:6-9).

 

 
 

NOTES

*1

Note that Possess Your Possessions Ch. 8 seeks to provide increased insight into Moses' unmagnificent moment! while  covers this whole arena of rule in events near Exodus is studied.

 

ADDRESSING THE ROCK

MOSES' MEANDER

Take Numbers 20:8.  The Lord gives Moses a direction.

The actual command on this third occasion of Moses' use of the rod as indicative of approach,  with a means of expression, to God as the stable security of power, the Rock, was that he should address the geological rock. The word chosen for this mode of communication in Hebrew stresses articulation, address, command.

What would be the words, if any, of this address to the rock ?

Was it literally to speak or command, or was the past use of the rod in addressing the rock, namely by smiting as the RELEVANT command, the established mode, the symbolic masterpiece as shown in the text of this Chapter, itself  mandatory ? The Pulpit Commentary presents a view that Moses would hardly have suffered so if the fault was simply at this level, that he presumed a continuity of method of address with the past. It might be added that it would indeed be a continuity which the Lord had already explicitly made in terms of the departure of the nation from Egypt.

Indeed, this was hallowed in memory, vast in significance, when in this way, from  that eminently  powerful and pursuing body of Egypt, the Hebrew nation was rescued, given ingenious and dynamic deliverance. The rod of Moses, as he was then directed, struck the body of water which parted to allow Jewish exit from the trap, and then returned to  engulf the Egyptian army, as it re-engorged the place through which the quarry had just passed. If taking that sequence, divinely stylised in that way, strike the water with the rod, Moses conceived this as a paradigm and so acted once more to gain water, then it would at most be a misunderstanding.

To make even this vastly unlikely, is the fact that as shown in Ch. 8 below, there was a large history relative to the rod, and to take one case, God once told Moses to stretch out his hand to induce a judgmental plague on Egypt, and Moses at once used the rod as before! Some things are established by usage, especially in normative circumstances (Exodus 17 and 20 were the same type of case, and in 17, directions were explicit), or scenes of symbolic significance.

Moreover, since in Exodus 17, the case is expressly cited for the SAME action for leaving Egypt and gaining water thereafter, namely to strike with the rod, then in this third instance Moses might most naturally understand that what is not cited as verbal content (no words stated in Numbers 20), to be a matter of mode of address by the former norm.

 

Further, not only does the text in Numbers 20  not state what the words (if any) to be used would be, but  if you take the Hebrew term used in THIS instance, there is considerable latitude. 'Speak to' or 'command' the rock ? What did it signify ?

As to the content involved (the stress in this case of this term in Hebrew being on articulation or address rather than content, we learn in the Theological Word Book of the Old Testament, of Harris, Archer and Waitke), is it then already implied ? Communicate in the way so famous in the past where rod and water are jointly involved, the way simply symbolic of human weakness, divine direction to contact supernatural power and a lesson in symbolism of some depth inside all that ? In some way, the divine would not only ACT but be stricken and in THAT way, ultimately give relief to man (as in Genesis 3:15 in some portent, and so often whether in the Psalms or the prophets) ?

What then had Moses to say ? This is not stated. That tends to confirm that it was not words at all, but a mode of address defined by the past, which was in view. It would be as if in a lab situation, and the instructor having made massive use of a certain technique in the past with his students, then says: Right, take the rod and address the rock! IF (and the text does not state content), IF then there were no content in the order, but rather an EXPRESSIVE ACTION, then the use of the former, normal and repeated mode of address would be in the view of this author, virtually normative.

Since there is no sign of Moses REFUSING to speak (you cannot make history out of silence), and the action is characterised as REBELLION, and in view of the point that there is never reference to speech-content per se in coverage of this instance, so taking only the positive elements stated; and in view of the severity of the discipline which Moses suffered and the importance that all scripture be edifying, and the fact that this has a massive module of meaning for all generations, referred to again and again: it would seem out of the question that in striking the rock at all Moses was significantly culpable, if at all.

The text, moreover does make a statement easy to read, to interpret and to apply. He struck the rock twice (Numbers 20:11). Indeed, the words, "Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod," give a sort of tableau in artistic expression. It is not surprising that he lifted his hand, but when this is allied with striking twice, you get the expression, in line with the designation 'you rebels', of power and purpose, purchase and awe, as if the man entered like an actor! When you add to this the fact that the Lord had stressed, to say no more, the communication side of the event, so making even more out of touch than ever, any show of power as such, and the 'answer' to what might be deemed a hint, or even warning, then the totality of Moses' infringement becomes co-ordinate with its result: not entering the promised land on this earth! Flogging a rock in fury is certainly far removed from a form of address to it! Indeed, it is this intemperance and spirit of action which appears near the core of the whole matter; and it is here that that the transition from  matters of interpretation to rebellion moves like a mountain out of the mist as it clears, into sharp focus.

Thus it is obvious that the WAY and SPIRIT in which he struck it combined aptly with the double issue, and the use of the structure of thought, "Must we get the water for you out of the rock!", make a complex, a synthesis, indeed a tableau. Here is a man left to some extent, as far as the text goes, to his own devices in the mode of address to be given to the rock, with a double issue of former and extraordinary fashion very decidedly present from former and historic miraculous situations of the past. That this is another in the miraculous line is made the clearer by the Hebrew term used for the method of 'communication'  with the Rock. Moreover, it is not in kind suggestive of power, for indeed a midget instrument is to hit a massive rock to command prodigious amounts of water in a desert. Properly used, the method of address is virtually an expression of utter reliance on the miraculous power of their Rock.

To use 'we' as to the getting, as if the commanding officer were about to use his well-known powers by which he asserted his massive authority over his people, and then have this joined with "must we"  as if the human power were now reluctantly used to meet their quibbles, even if indirectly, jarred like an accident! Indeed, the little rod and the massive waters or rock, in the two former cases, provided a combination which was rather than a mockery of human power when it is pompously used to speak to God. On the contrary, when rightly used, it was an appeal to God  to act in His own supernatural and covenantal way. Thus in this setting, when the Rock was stricken TWICE,  as if to flog the Rock and induce it to yield a flow, by the temper of aroused will, this constituted a synthesis of sin which could not be overlooked.

It is therefore taken,

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with the omissions and statement about any words to be used in addressing the rock, in the text, and
 
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in terms of the review of his action found (as in Numbers 27:12ff.) as 'rebellion',
this on the part of Moses, so that almost unthinkably
he is now included in the phase of 'rebellion' with the children of Israel
(though of course his error was indirect, spiritual and short-lived), and
 
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the absence of any further reference to 'speaking' to the rock,  anywhere concerning this incident,

that the explicit is in view, rather than possibilities. It was twice striking rather than ANY striking which figured fractiously in the total situation. It is this which is edifying.

Temper, even temper tantrum perhaps,

emphasis on 'myself' on the part of the leader, in terms of his individual will as distinct from that of the Lord,

elevation of self over other selves in a lordly way (evidently Aaron was involved apparently by his joint participation in the entire event without disclaimer),

use of a disparaging term for the mob of Moses' charges,

the assumption of normative power on the part of the operators ('must we'), detracting from the supernatural power of the Creator and Redeemer: all this in one bundle constituted a rebellion. As far as MODE of address to the rock is concerned, the text reveals two things only. It was by striking and it was twice. Never is there any express indication that the striking was wrong; whereas the use of 'twice' in this brief account of action speaks like a megaphone to the mind used to the operation being singular in kind, linked with being single in occurrence: and this part is so obvious that a child can read it as patent.

These things together make a tableau eminently fitting for rebuke, and taken as a distortion of the former mode of 'address' to the Rock, amounts to direct defiance, self-emphasis and fury with the people, instead of the earlier case when Moses' heart was so moved that he even offered to the Lord, to take their punishment (Exodus 3231ff.). The  Lord evidently does not tolerate at all such mountebank attitude, personal focus and fury, let alone this with distortion of His explicit former instructions, subjecting and subordinating these to the will of the tantrum moment.

It is in fact precisely like the Romanist Mass in the emphasis on the significance of the elevated person who can DO, perform, this work of communication, so that bread 'becomes' something the characteristics of which it evidently lacks, the opposite of a miracle. As to that,  the whole point of miracle in terms of action, is this, that the characteristics of the unthinkable product, from a natural point of view (water from rock, for example) ARE very much present! In the case of the mass, man is deemed to DO it,  being qualified professionally, and man does not see the marvel invoked, being told by the operator that it is there anyway. Such is the distortion and such is the parallel.

It is by the same token, parallel to other sects (that is, separations from biblical orthodoxy, using Christ in some  manner alien to the text which defines the nature of Him to whom man is to be drawn, and come or not come in an eternally defining matter,  for destiny - cf. John 15:22ff.). They too offer a christ or messiah,a focus or person or program in the interests of redeeming or delivering or directing in the right way, mankind; and here we remember that  God is not speaking only to those who will listen, but to the entire earth (cf. Jer. 16:19, Acts 4:11-12). It is a word, a communication TO man, that there is no other name under heaven given to men, and that it is a name by which man MUST be saved.

Distort this and you act profoundly to deflect blessing, discharge love and delete mercy. This is the way. It is therefore significant that it be not DISTORTED, let alone by the operator who in any such action is rebelling against the Creator-Redeemer. Paul states in this sphere (Galatians 1), that if HE HIMSELF, as apostle to the Gentiles, were to preach any OTHER Gospel, he too would be cursed. There is no exemption for spokesman or leader! or for what messes with the matrix of mercy, the divine way of liberating pity into life.

If Christ, some other Christ who did not redeem and is deemed not the Son of God,  be part of their plan, as in the case of the Islamic body, then it is still a sect. If however as in some New Age concepts, he is omitted, but some other form, communication (thought world, mutual inter-communication or whatever else, man-engendered in kind or in declaration at the beginning) is invoked, then though the parallel persists, the term 'sect' would no longer be applicable.

Despite that verbal fact, however, the rebellion remains in so altering the mode and message and command of the Lord, whether sect or suggestion box or authoritative rule of some other kind be in view. It is necessary to disjoin one's thought from appearance, and relate to the reality of the Lord. It is not what the psychological moment FEELS like which matters, but what the event and intent is in spirit: it is this which is crucial. Before God, things are determined as they are, before the divine mind which created man, and in the Spirit which knowing all, acts with abundant wisdom, not derelictly, like some frustrated dictator. That is the underlying point.

God is NOT a dictator and history has been what is the case, BECAUSE of this eminently; for instead of removing Israel when it went wildly astray, He listened to Moses' plea (Moses in this himself under test, and coming through in a wonderful way on that occasion), and gave them further opportunity to enter the promised land! Oh that they had not wandered again, as if the golden calf were not enough, and directly rebelled in refusing to enter the land when it lay open like a book on the table, only needing to be picked up. "O that you had heeded My commandments, then your peace would have been like a river!" the Lord remonstrates as seen in Isaiah 48:18.

How willing was He to impute His righteousness, He who made His availability so clear that in smiting a vast rock with a mini-implement there is prodigious outpouring found to result of wonderful water, and that in timely fashion and amount! The striking as noted in the text of this, our present Chapter, was emblematic, symbolic of what He planned to do, and it was like a new gospel to smite twice, as if to have another sacrifice rather than one, a mass rather than a remembrance (I Corinthians 11:25).

For this, the Lord had no tolerance. When you are a chemist you CANNOT allow other concepts and contaminating nostrums to be added. The point of the chemical is its purity, so that it does what it has power to do, and that nothing in the realm of chemistry and physiology will go astray. Invoking such things in the human body, powerful intrusions, has potential blessings and cursing. Make it wrong and the song becomes the dirge, in potential. SO here as in Galatians 1, there CAN be no sufferance of alteration at Gospel level, and how vast is its domain - as in Galatians 3-5! If a church insists on departing from the Bible, you leave it (as Aaron did not leave Moses or differentiate himself in this episode).

This leads even to a further message. If you remain where Christ is misused, mutilated, changed, or 'salvation'  is to be given without Him, then your presence signifies. You are TOLD to get out (Romans 16:17, II John, cf. I Corinthians 5, Proverbs 24:21, II Chronicles 19:1-3, I Timothy 6, II Timothy 3 covering various facets or total prohibition). Moses' life, so full and acutely used, even if disciplined in one way at the end, illustrates this, as to continuing, and Aaron as to insisting on being part of it all.

 

 

*2

See SMR, Light Dwells with the Lord's Christ,  Deity and Design ...

 

*3

See for example, Possess Your Possessions, Volume 11, Ch. 1, Volume 10, Ch. 5 and Volume 7, Ch. 3.

 

 

 

*4

See Anguish, Ecstasy and the Mastery of the Messiah  Ch. 8.