‘aman
and qadash
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye
rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up
his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out
abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
The
LORD instructed Moses to speak to the rock; Moses strikes it. Twice.
The
people, if they were still alive from the time of Exodus 17, would recall that Moses
struck a rock once before, with water resulting. To them, therefore, it is no
big deal that Moses should strike the rock; they had no idea that Moses was
sinning.
{That
first place, in Exodus 17, is called Massah,
“temptation,” and also Meribah, “strife/contention.”
The first Meribah is near Rephidim before Sinai. The second is this one in
Kadesh Barnea.}
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear [emv shama`] now, ye rebels [hrm marah]; must we fetch you water out
of this rock?
I
have heard speakers note Moses says “we,” not God. Exactly. Even the NIV and Message
bibles use that pronoun.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses
and Aaron, Because ye believed [Nma 'aman] me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them.
Moses
and Aaron didn’t believe God. What didn’t they believe? Didn’t they believe
water would come forth at their word? Or did they lack belief in something
greater?
‘Aman is a word with layers of meaning.
It is most often translated as “believe” or “faithful.” It’s not a half hearted
belief or hopeful/wishful belief. It means to support, confirm, be faithful.
Depending upon the verb form, it has the sense of:
- · supporting, nourishing (foster parent, a nurse, pillars, door supports)
- · being established, faithful, carried, made firm (be carried by a nurse, reliable, faithful, trustworthy)
- · standing firm, trusting, being certain, believing in
Moses
and Aaron didn’t ‘aman the LORD and
didn’t sanctify [vdq qadash] Him
in the eyes of the children of Israel. By now, Aaron and Moses experientially
should have known the LORD to be faithful, reliable and nurturing. Somehow, the
situation pushed Moses (and Aaron) over the edge and they sinned.
Qadash reminded me of Leviticus 10:3,
when Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire and died.
Le
10:3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is
it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in
them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And
Aaron held his peace.
Thinking
about the circumstances in both Leviticus 10 and Numbers 20, to ignore emotions
and qadash the LORD sounds harsh.
Maybe it is.
I’m
trying to wrap my brain around qadash-ing
the LORD. Can any of us really qadash
Him in the way his holiness requires?
Can
any of us swim from LA to Hawaii? If Michael Phelps can’t do it, how can any of
us?
Selah.
I
can’t leave you (or myself) despairing. I also don’t want to give a flippant
answer. This isn’t the time to say, “Jesus
is the answer, sister, just belieeeeeve!”
For
those generations and generations of believers before Christ, what hope could
there have been for those dear people who loved God? How could they qadash the LORD in spite of
circumstance?
I
think part of the answer is in the very same verse.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses
and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the
children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the
land which I have given them.
It
is the belief that enables the sanctification. This is how Judeo Christian
faith differs from so many religions. You don’t do the holiness first. The holiness comes out of the faith.
But
from where does faith come? Romans 10:17 says:
17 So
then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
Admittedly,
this is only the briefest of introductions to faith, obedience and sanctifying
the LORD before others. I pray it will tantalize you into further study and
hopefully into knowing the LORD as faithful, reliable and nurturing.
Selah.
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