We have two very important lessons in these two acts. The first one was an act of OBEDIENCE that gives us a beautiful “picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The second one was an act of DISOBEDIENCE which was so serious that it “ruined the picture of our Lord Jesus Christ” and thus God banned Moses from entering the promise Land.

Exodus 17:6 says, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the ROCK in Horeb; and you shall STRIKE THE ROCK, AND WATER WILL COME OUT OF IT, THAT THE PEOPLE MAY DRINK.” In verses 1-5 we learn that the children of Israel were very thirsty and they had no water and in anger they said to Moses, “Give us water, that we may drink….Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst” (verses 2-3). Moses then cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me” (verse 4)? God had every right to judge the people but instead He told Moses “Take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the ROCK in Horeb; and you shall strike the ROCK, and WATER will come out of it” (verses 5-6). What a beautiful lesson of God’s wonderful grace and mercy! The people deserved to be judged but instead God provided for their need.

This is a beautiful picture of God meeting man’s deepest need for salvation and eternal life by sending His Son to this world and then to the cross where He was “SMITTEN of God” for our sins. We read of this prophetically in Isaiah 53:4-5, 10, “Yet we esteemed Him STICKEN, SMITTEN of God, and afflicted. But He was WOUNDED for our transgressions, He was BRUISED for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His STRIPES we are healed… Yet it pleased the Lord to BRUISE Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin.” Just as Moses struck the Rock to provide for man’s need for water, God struck His Son at the cross to provide for man’s need for salvation and eternal life. After Moses struck the rock, WATER gave gushing out and the people drank from the rock. The Apostle Paul confirmed that the ROCK was a picture of Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4, “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of the spiritual ROCK that followed them, and that ROCK WAS CHRIST.” They drank of literal water, but because Christ was smitten on the cross for our sins, the believing sinner drinks of the “water of life” produced by the “Holy Spirit” (John 4:10-14 with 7:37-39).

Now let’s read Numbers 20:7-11, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. SPEAK to the ROCK before their eyes, and it will yield its WATER; thus you shall bring water for them out of the ROCK…So Moses took the rod…Gathered the assembly together before the ROCK; and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted his hand and STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE with His rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” This event took place nearly 40 years later and we see that Moses failed to represent God in 3 ways: 1) He DISOBEYED a “clear command” of God; 2) He misrepresented God’s GRACE with this act of ANGER; and 3) By “striking the ROCK TWICE” he misrepresented the “type of Christ in His death on the cross,” Christ was “ONCE offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). Hebrews 10:12 confirms this, “But this Man, after He had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” Because of these 3 failures (especially him “striking the ROCK TWICE”) we read in verse 12, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (DO) (730.1)