God works through heroes, not the other way around.
3Then the people confronted Moses and said to him, “If only we too had died when our brothers perished in the Lord’s presence! 4Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this desert to kill us and our animals here? 5Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place without grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates? And there’s no water to drink!”
6Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the meeting tent and they fell on their faces. Then the Lord’s glory appeared to them. 7The Lord spoke to Moses: 8“You and Aaron your brother, take the staff and assemble the community. In their presence, tell the rock to provide water. You will produce water from the rock for them and allow the community and their animals to drink.” 9Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, as the Lord had commanded him. 10Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. He said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Should we produce water from the rock for you?” 11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. Out flooded water so that the community and their animals could drink. 12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me to show my holiness before the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I am giving them.” 13These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites confronted the Lord with controversy and he showed his holiness to them. ~Numberes 20:3-13, CEB
These verses represent, roughly, the end of Moses’ story. Moses has quite a story. An Israelite adopted by his people’s oppressors (Egyptians), he is born into power. After witnessing the abuse of a fellow Israelite at the hands of an Egyptian, Moses kills the abuser, buries him in the sand, and forever flees the area. God later calls Moses to be the Israelites’ liberator- which involves going before the Pharaoh and demanding their freedom time and again (and when Pharaoh refuses, plagues are sent to punish him) as well as literally leading them out of Egypt (remember how he parts the sea?) and leading them to the Promised Land.
Remember, the Promised Land is a permanent home with safety and security guaranteed. These people probably thought of the Promised Land the same way we think of heaven- a pleasant relief and an end to trials and suffering. It’s the promise of hope, thriving, and independence. Yes, Moses is probably the most heroic of all the biblical characters.
Yet- the story of his adulthood begins with a murder and the end of his ministry is punctuated by punishment. Moses’ story is so biblical it’s almost Shakespearean.
While God fulfills his plan, through Moses, to lead the people to the Promised Land, Moses is not allowed to enter the land for two reasons. One is a bizarre story of rock and water. In route to the land, the people spend quite a bit of time in the desert and there’s a back and forth between them and God where they doubt and then God provides. This culminates in the story above where they’re thirsty and desperate and Moses, and his mouthpiece Aaron (Moses didn’t do his own public speaking- another conventional sign of leadership that just doesn’t apply when it comes to scripture…Paul, too, was a poor public speaker), go before God and pray for deliverance. God sends Moses out and tells him to gather the people and to speak to a rock, and water will flow from that rock.
Moses does not speak to the people, he shouts at them, and then strikes the rock with his stick and then water comes out. God, at this point, tells Moses that because Moses didn’t trust God to show God’s holiness to the people, Moses would merely lead people to the land, but he would not enter it.
If you Google this story you’ll see a lot of things. Moses was supposed to speak to the rock rather than hit it. Some say Moses took credit for water coming from the rock and this showed pride when he says, “Should we produce water…”
The Bible doesn’t say any of these things- nor does God. God doesn’t mention Moses’ frustration nor does God nitpick the fact that Moses smacked the stone as opposed to spoke to it. It would be rather odd if a lifetime of faithful service was ruined by one moment of frustration.
No, the issue God has is that Moses didn’t seem to trust that God would provide (i.e., Moses and Aaron going and lying on their faces before God in total desperation). God demonstrating His holiness in the story is about God providing for His people- not about the details of how someone talks to a rock. (Remember- holiness is about being distinct, and set apart. Relative to the other gods of the Ancient Near East, a benevolent God who protects, provides for, and cares for His people is incredibly unique, distinct, etc.) God has provided for Moses, and the rest of the people, quite directly, over and over again, and in ways that few in the course of history ever see. For Moses to question if God’s protection has finally come to end is, on the one hand, understandable if you’re close to dying of thirst and hunger. On the other hand, it’s bizarre when God’s presence has always been so close.
There are two things going on here at once and we need to be able to see them both and hold them together simultaneously. 1. God accomplishes the mission he set out to accomplish through Moses. Full stop. He did not alter the plan regardless of the ebb’s and flow’s of Moses’ life. 2. God is holding Moses responsible for the attitude of his people in general. Despite the ways in which God shows up for them, they continue to doubt God’s loyalty. This is not just the problem of one person it’s become the problem for all of God’s people. And, remember, God is only known, on earth, through His people. If the Israelites die, God is not known. If the Israelites stop worshipping God, God is not known. This is not the situation we live in today. Now, God would surely find a way. The point is, in spite of that, the stakes were higher.
So what do we make of this? It’s complicated. God doesn’t seem to have a problem with Moses committing murder (at least, it doesn’t prevent Moses from being called), God does seem to have a problem with Moses’ inability to create a steadfast and loyal people, in the way that God is steadfast and loyal.
Moses ends poorly, in a way. But let’s not forget- in Hebrews 11 Moses is chosen as one of the all-time greats. They knew how his story ended, and his jersey still got retired. His story didn’t end with the end of his life, it carried on. We’re still talking about him today- thousands of years later…or, you know, however many.
We do a disservice to ourselves to look at one moment in his life and turn it into a morality lesson for kindy-gardners. He is both a messy character and a hero. There is no need to choose. There is no reason to judge him harshly, even the New Testament does not do that. And if we aren’t going to judge this man harshly, who both killed, and led almost all of God’s people astray all at once, who should get harsh judgment?
The reality is, all of God’s heroes are messy. But let’s also remember the stories of God’s heroes are never stories about the heroes. They are the stories of what God chooses to accomplish through whoever He has chosen.
And so here’s a possible takeaway: God’s story is about what God does. And I believe that should give us permission to focus less on ourselves, our failures, the ways in which we disappoint ourselves and others, and, instead, encourage us because we believe in a God who can accomplish whatever he wants, through whoever He wants, including you. No matter what it is you have done.
