Daily Devotion | Numbers 20:1–13 | 2026 May 22

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 20:1–13 | 2026 May 22

Scripture: Numbers 20:1–13 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 May 22

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, peace to all dear brothers and sisters. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day, and we are studying Daily Devotion. The passage we are studying today is Numbers 20:1–13. Let us pray. O God, we thank You for placing this matter before us, so that we may see Your lovingkindness, Your faithfulness, and also Your righteousness. Lord, we ask You to show grace among us and have mercy on us. Lord, enable us to take warning from You, and Lord, in Your grace, to love You and obey You. In Christ’s name, amen. All right, we come to Numbers chapter 20.

Before we understand this passage, we need to have an awareness concerning chapter 20 and chapter 17. Yes, between chapters 17, 18, and 19, these two chapters have already passed almost forty years. To be exact, it is thirty-eight years. We need to know this. That is to say, the content of chapter 20 takes place in the later period of their wilderness wandering, in the final one or two years. Earlier, it recorded that they had stayed in the wilderness for two years, had they not? They came to the land of Canaan and were about to attack it. God punished them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. In these forty years, actually, God had mercy. God counted from the time when He brought them out of Egypt. This also counted as wandering. So they were actually thirty-eight years in the wilderness. Now, then, it is the later period. It has come to the second generation of the Israelites. So the content of Numbers chapter 20 is basically a story from the later period, the later period of wandering. So these are two generations. The first generation, the rebellious Israelites, had basically fallen dead in the wilderness. So now it has come to the second generation.

In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel was in the wilderness of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. They gathered again here to set out. They had already wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years. At this time, a matter appeared that was very important for the Israelites, namely, the death of Miriam. We know that in the Pentateuch, the role of women is actually very important. Why is that? The reason is what we have said: in Genesis 3:15, it speaks of the offspring of the woman. The offspring of the woman would come forth. So this woman would give birth to an offspring, and He would become a Redeemer. Among these women, including what I have already mentioned before, Sarah giving birth to a child, and Rebekah giving birth to a child—why were all these things so difficult? It is because this has to do with the offspring of the woman.

Miriam was Moses’ older sister. But you need to notice that in Genesis—in the first chapter of Exodus—Miriam played a certain role of saving Moses. Sorry, it is in the second chapter of Exodus, right? Look at chapter 2, verse 4: the child’s sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him. Later it was also Miriam, this little girl, who was very clever. In Exodus chapter 2, verse 7, it says that the child’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” So this girl was very clever. She was always protecting Moses in the basket of bulrushes. Therefore, from a certain angle, Miriam can also be called a woman who brought forth the offspring. She protected her younger brother. Now such a prophetess represents the end of an era. She represents the end of an era. In the New Testament, many sisters are named Mary. The Old Testament form of Mary is Miriam. So this was a very important role among the Israelites. Now she had passed away. Miriam had once also been disciplined by being judged and disciplined, and now she died at Kadesh. This was a very important event.

The next event seems very familiar to us, but actually the people have already changed. Let us look at what they are complaining about. The people had no water to drink, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses. This quarreling—we have heard it all very familiarly. We have already mentioned it earlier, so we will not focus on it here. These people who complain only speak of their own experience, what they have suffered, yet they never mention what they themselves have done. They do not mention the evil things they have done; they only say what they have suffered. What do they say? “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!” You see, they curse themselves. “Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness?” They complain against them, saying that they have caused us and our livestock to be here, as though this were Moses and Aaron’s responsibility.

“Why did you force me to come out of Egypt?” The Chinese Union Version translation is very vivid here. “You forced me to come out of Egypt,” and brought us to this place. Of course, Moses did not force them. They were the ones who begged Moses to leave. So you see the expression of sinners: “You forced us to come out of Egypt.” But in the New Chinese Version translation, there is no “forced”; it says, “Why did you make us come out of Egypt?” So the Chinese Union Version strengthens the emotion somewhat, saying that he forced them out of Egypt. Then they say that he brought us to this bad place. This place is not good for sowing. There are no figs, grapevines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink. So now they want to eat fruit. They say, “We have already lost the skill of farming. We do not know how to do anything anymore. We do not know how to plant trees either, and there is no water to drink.” Then verse 6 says that Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. We are all very familiar with this scene. Their several rebellions earlier also ended in this way.

But in verse 7, these words are somewhat different. The LORD said to Moses, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” So Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as He commanded him.

Now the story here is different from the Moses we saw earlier, right? Earlier it was always that God was going to destroy the Israelites, and Moses stood in the way, and finally God’s anger was stopped. It had always been this pattern. How is it that when we come here, it seems that God does not rebuke this generation of people, but instead tells Moses to command the rock to bring forth water? I think my reasonable inference here is this: this is the new generation of Israelites. It is a new generation. The old generation, because of their complaints, had already been struck down and killed. Does the new generation complain? Yes. Is there no sin in this? Of course not. They are still sinning. But God tolerated the second generation. God had compassion on them in their pain and hardship during these forty years in the wilderness. Think about it. Their elders had all wandered in the wilderness from childhood until they grew up. During these forty years, what they encountered and experienced was indeed very difficult. They ate manna every day. They had not eaten any fruit or vegetables either. They had not eaten them. They had not tasted them. From the time they were children until they grew up, they had never eaten them. So God seems to have forgiven this kind of complaint of theirs. The later facts also indeed show this to be so. So may God have mercy.

So this time, God seems not to strike them, because the people have changed. A different group of people has come. Otherwise, when you read to this point, you find it very strange: “Eh? Why does God not strike them here?” Right? It should be Moses pleading for them. But no, God actively forgives them. He lets it go. Then the next part of the story is even more surprising. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and Moses said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Moses was not wrong in scolding them. You are indeed rebellious people. “I have led you for forty years in the wilderness, and now you actually say that you have no water to drink, and you utter this kind of complaint.” Moses became angry. Previously it was always the Israelites becoming angry; now it was Moses’ turn to become angry. Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

Verse 12: the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in Me, to uphold Me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them.” When you read to this point, everyone, if you have been reading Numbers all along, and you have been somewhat dazed and confused, and you cannot quite remember the regulations, then at this point you may be a bit stunned. What is going on? How is it that when we reach chapter 20, this happened? How is it that suddenly Moses is disciplined? Yes, this is the case. So chapter 20 is actually a very major turning point. We need to concentrate our attention here. Either wake yourself up, or do not pass over it in such a muddled and confused way.

What exactly happened? First, you need to look at this. God says in verse 8, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” The verb used here is “tell,” or “command.” Then water would flow out from the rock, and it would give drink to the congregation and their livestock. But what is the result now? Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff. That is clearly not right, is it? You were told to command it, but you struck it twice with the staff. Of course, did water come out? Water did flow out, and the congregation also drank.

Then in verse 12, whom does God rebuke? God rebukes Moses and Aaron: “You two did not believe in Me.” Then what exactly happened here? How did the tone of the whole scene suddenly change? I think here we should first speak from two angles: one is from the earthly angle, and one is from the heavenly angle. What is the earthly angle? It is that Moses was truly tired of it. Moses was truly tired of it. Think about it: for forty years he had been leading this group of people. I think now they are complaining about this matter, and surely there had been no lack of complaining. He had led them as they followed the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, wandering around in this wilderness. So Moses had already stayed in this wilderness for forty years. He was already near the later period of his life, though his body was still very strong, as it says later. But his mood, from the human perspective, had already become weary. He truly was weary. Human patience always has a limit. After all, he was still a man.

So when the Israelites again complained just like their fathers, Moses became angry, right? These words were him scolding them: “Am I going to bring water for you from the rock?” These are all things God does, and now you are putting the blame on me. What do you mean by this? You people—ah. So this was the weakness of Moses’ spiritual life. Of course, it is also possible that Miriam’s death had an effect on him. His own older sister, who had always cared for him and always helped him, had passed away. Perhaps his mood was also somewhat poor because of that.

In short, from the human angle, we very much understand Moses. Do not even speak of forty years. Perhaps for us, after one or two times, or one or two months, we would already completely collapse; perhaps even after one or two weeks. He had already endured for forty years. So this truly is something where we can very much understand Moses becoming angry. By contrast, it is actually not so easy for us to understand God not becoming angry. God did not become angry. This group of people, again like their older brothers and their fathers, began to make trouble over the same kind of matter, and the words they spoke were just as unpleasant. “You forced me to come out of Egypt.” This is completely slandering Moses. How did you yourselves beg at that time? Now you have all forgotten.

All right, so we say that from the human perspective, Moses and his mood are indeed understandable. Moses took what God had said—he probably did not hear it wrongly. God should have told him to command the rock to bring forth water. But now he again struck the rock with the staff to bring forth water. There is another issue here, and that is in Exodus chapter 17. In that place, the rock was struck and water came out. This was commanded by God. In Exodus chapter 17, verses 5 and 6, it says very clearly that the LORD said to Moses, “Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” So it is also possible that Moses, according to his previous experience, struck the rock again. But God said very clearly: you are to command it. This time it is to command. Do not strike. But Moses still struck it.

So what we are saying here is this: the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in Me.” So here you discover: who became the unbelieving people? In this story, right? God did not rebuke this group of second-generation Israelites and say, “You are unbelieving people.” On the contrary, He rebuked Moses and Aaron: “You are unbelieving people.” You did not honor My name as holy. That is, you did not—you completely did not listen to My word. So here what we see is the unbelief of Moses and Aaron. Then where is the reason? In fact, here we once again see that we truly need that perfect Mediator. Moses and Aaron are only types. They are also imperfect mediators. Now at this time they sinned, and therefore they could not enter the land of Canaan. This was the punishment and discipline upon them. So this matter also clearly shows God’s righteousness, right? The Israelites did not believe, and therefore they fell dead in the wilderness.

Now Moses and Aaron did not believe, and they likewise had to die in the wilderness. They could not enter that beautiful land of Canaan. So these are the things we see from the earthly side. We truly—how should we say it—we also understand this group of Israelites. For forty years, they had not eaten fruit and had not had these things. And also, we can very much understand the mood of Moses and Aaron. This really was not easy to handle. But how does God view this matter? If you look carefully, in fact, God is pointing to certain things here.

First, as I said, Moses and Aaron were not that perfect Mediator. They still had human temper. We need a true Mediator who never sins, namely Jesus Christ. Only such a High Priest can truly bring us into the land of Canaan. This is certain. In addition, what is the difference here between striking the rock and commanding the rock? We know that this rock is a type of Christ. In Exodus chapter 17, their striking the rock showed that Jesus Christ would suffer. Jesus Christ bore the cost for His people, and then water flowed out. Jesus Christ hung on the cross. But you cannot come and strike this rock again. Moses clearly did not realize this. He used the previous experience to strike this rock. This time, it only needed to be commanded. Once commanded, rivers of living water could flow out. So here, the meaning of the Hebrew original is speaking. You only need to speak. You do not need to strike again. The rock only needed to be struck once. But Moses clearly did not understand this meaning. After the suffering of Jesus Christ, we only need to pray to Jesus Christ and speak to Jesus Christ, and grace will flow out. So here it is speaking of Moses’ unbelief.

What did Moses not believe? Moses did not believe that if he commanded the rock, the rock could bring forth water. He still, according to the experience from the previous time, together with his own weakness, wanted to strike the rock. So this looks as if it is a very small matter: whether the rock is commanded or struck to bring forth water. But in fact, the spiritual meaning is completely different. The previous time represented the Lord Jesus Christ suffering for us, being nailed to the cross for us, and water flowing out. But now, when it comes to the time of the New Covenant, among the second-generation Israelites, merely commanding the rock can bring forth water. So in the matter of the rock typifying the Lord Jesus Christ, the difference between the Old and New Covenants is very clear. Therefore here we see that Moses could not enter the land of Canaan. But there is also a spiritual meaning here: the law, the law represented by Moses, cannot enter the land of Canaan. Because in the new place, it is by grace, by God’s mercy. God has already removed the curse of the law in Jesus Christ. Of course, I absolutely am not saying that the Mosaic Covenant is a covenant of works. I absolutely do not mean that.

The Mosaic Covenant is also a covenant of grace. But these laws, the essence of these laws, the essence of the law promulgated by Moses, need to be interpreted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only after the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ, has completely fulfilled them, can they possibly be obeyed by us. We first have the status and office of justification, and only afterward can we come to obey God’s statutes and ordinances. I think this point is pointing toward the New Covenant. In this part of chapter 20, there are many details that we need slowly to adjust to and think through.

In addition, there is another even more moving matter. Although here God had already refused Moses entrance into the land of Canaan—He had already refused him. Later in Deuteronomy, Moses was also brooding over this matter: because of you, I cannot go. Moses was very, very full of complaint. But in Matthew, in the four Gospels, when the Lord Jesus Christ went up the mountain and was transfigured, everyone remembers this, right? At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were together with Jesus on the mountain. Moses and Elijah were together with Jesus on the mountain. How moving this scene is: God finally once again brought Moses into the land of Canaan. He did not truly reject Moses. So Moses and Jesus met in the land of Canaan.

Therefore, the matter of the transfiguration is actually an extremely meaningful matter. If we have the opportunity, we could preach several sermons on it. It is extremely meaningful. It is not simply that when we read this story, Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and manifested Himself to the disciples. In fact, if you place it under the background of the Old Testament, there is immense mercy here. Moses, because of his sin, was disciplined by God and could not enter the land of Canaan. But in the New Testament, because of the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ, he still came together with Jesus into the land of Canaan. On the mountain, he was with Jesus Christ, discussing together—discussing what? Discussing their exodus, discussing Jesus’ death and resurrection, and thus discussing all the goodness accomplished in Jesus Christ. So truly, every single thing in the Old Testament points to Christ. In the end, this rock that was struck is still Christ. The One who bears Moses’ sin is still Christ. The One who bears the Israelites’ complaints is still Christ.

It is also because in Christ, this time God did not go and blame the second-generation Israelites. Instead, He blamed Moses and punished Moses. This pattern also once again lets us see that there must be a Mediator who bears punishment in our place. Only when He becomes this in our life can God remove our sin. When the Israelites sinned, there needed to be someone punished. Moses had to be punished. Moses being punished typifies the punishment of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So when we look at the stories of the Old Testament from this angle, we will become more and more grateful for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will love our Lord Jesus Christ more and more. May God lead and help us, so that in this story we may know Christ more deeply, and also live out a holy life. All right, today’s sharing will simply stop here. Thank you, everyone.