The Book of Numbers
Numbers Chapters 13, 20

INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY

The purpose of this work is to guide you in Spirit Filled interpretation of this "Selected Study". As necessary we will provide outlines, historical backgrounds, note the purpose and focus of the text, and also provide the original Hebrew language definitions for the key words in the highlighted text. The English translation used is the King James (Authorized) Version, not because it is the best translation available, but because I just plain prefer it for study!

All Scripture text will be presented in normal cased lettering, and all notes within the text will be in TRUE TYPE FONT, as shown. This (I hope) will allow you to avoid confusion between God's Word and my notes. As I update this website, I will continue to embellish the text so that anyone using NETSCAPE 3.0 or MICROSOFT 3.0 or higher will be able to read the document easier.
 

An excellent site to study Biblical Hebrew is by Lee R. Martin, Biblical Hebrew. The following are excerpts from his Hebrew Dictionary (if you want more, go to his site):

ABSOLUTE: In Hebrew Greek grammar, a word is absolute when it stands independently and has no grammatical relation to other elements in the sentence. The most common instance in Greek is the genitive absolute.

ABSOLUTE STATE: The Hebrew absolute together with a word in the construct state expresses the genitive. Do not confuse with the infinitive absolute. Heb: king (absolute); horse of (construct) the king (absolute), i.e., the king's horse (genitive).

ACCIDENCE: That part of grammar that treats inflection; a subcategory of morphology.

ACCUSATIVE CASE: A substantive used as the direct object of a transitive verb is said to be in the accusative case. In Greek, the accusative is the case of extension. Heb: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Gk: "He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

ACCUSATIVE ENDING: In Hebrew see DIRECTIVE h.

ACTIVE VOICE: In the active voice, the subject is the doer of the action that is expressed by the verb.

AKTIONSART: German for "kind of action."

ANARTHROUS: A word that appears without the article is anarthrous.

ARAMAIC: A branch of the northwest Semitic languages that is closely related to Hebrew. In the OT Masoretic text, Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4b-7:28; and Jer. 10:11 are in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. Aramaic had become the common language of the Jewish people by NT times.

CASE: Case shows the grammatical relation of inflected forms such as nouns and pronouns to other words (nominative, possessive, objective cases).

CAUSATIVE VERB: A transitive verb that can be said to cause the action depicted in a corresponding intransitive verb. Ex: lay ("cause to lie") is the causative of lie; raise, the causative of rise.

DIRECT OBJECT: The word, phrase, or clause that is the primary goal or result of the action of the verb (cf. accusative case); the person or thing is directly affected by the action of the verb. Heb: "God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Gr: "He grabbed him and began to choke him" (Matt. 18:28).

GENITIVE: The case that expresses possession or specifies a relationship that can be expressed in English by "of." In Hebrew this is called a construct relationship. The Greek genitive is the specifying case answering the question "What kind?" Heb: "the expanse of the sky" (Gen. 1:21). Gk: "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4).

GUTTURALS: The mute consonants whose sounds are produced when the front of the tongue approaches the palate of the mouth. Four letters in Hebrew, a h j and [ are the guttural letters (r has some guttural characteristics). Hebrew gutturals cannot be doubled, prefer a-class vowels, and composite shevas. In Greek, the guttural letters are g k and c also called velars, laryngeals, or palatals.

HITHPAEL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action (classified by some grammars as causative action) and reflexive voice. For this emphasis in Greek, middle voice. Heb: "A group of adventurers gathered around [lit., gathered themselves around] him" (Judg. 11:3).

HOPHAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses causative action and passive voice. Heb: "Let seven of his male descendants be given [hophal] to us" (2 Sam. 21:6).

IMPERATIVE: A verb or verbal mood that expresses command or makes a request.

IMPERFECT: In Hebrew, the form of the verb used to express action that is incomplete or unfinished. Heb: "What if they do not believe me" (Exod. 4:1). The Greek imperfect tense expresses incomplete, linear action in past time. Gk: "People were eating and drinking..." (Luke 17:28). Other regular uses of the tense include iterative, frequentative, inceptive, and conative.

INFINITIVE: A verbal noun that has characteristics of both verbs and nouns. In English usually introduced by to. Hebrew has both infinitive absolute and infinitive construct forms. Heb: "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land" (Gen. 15:7). The Greek infinitive is used as a substantive, in subordinate clauses, with prepositions, and in epexegesis. Gk: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).

INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE: A form of the Hebrew infinitive that may function in a number of ways: to express certainty or intensification ("you will surely die," Gen. 2:17); to express repeated or continued action ("Be ever hearing," Isa. 6:9); as a finite verb ("They...broke the jars," Judg. 7:19); to express an emphatic imperative ("Remember the Sabbath day," Exod. 20:8).

MASORETIC TEXT: The vocalized text of the Hebrew Bible, prepared by a group of Jewish scholars around A.D. 700 to preserve the oral pronunciation of the Hebrew words.

MOOD: Mood indicates the manner in which the action is conceived (or its relation to reality). Moods are indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative. Mood may be expressed by finite verbs in Greek and by various means (form, words, or context) in Hebrew. Mode.

NIPHAL: A verbal form (stem) in Hebrew that expresses simple action and passive or reflexive voice. Heb: "She was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah" (1 Sam. 18:19).

OPTATIVE MOOD: The mood of possibility and more doubtful assertion that expresses wish or desire. See also jussive and cohortative. Heb: "If only we had died in Egypt!" (Num. 14:2). Gk: "Maythe Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance" (2 Thess. 3:5).

PARTICIPLE: A verbal form that has characteristics of both noun and verb. In Hebrew it represents characteristic, continual, uninterrupted action. Heb: "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Gen. 1:2). The Greek participle is widely used as a substantive, adjective, and adverb in phrases and clauses. Gk:"...in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him" (1 Peter 1:21).

PARTICLE: A unit of speech that is ranked as an uninflected word but expresses some kind of syntactical relationship or some general aspect of meaning. Some grammarians classify all conjunctions, prepositions, and negatives as particles.

PASSIVE VOICE: A voice form of the verb that represents the subject as receiver of the action. Heb: "This land was given to us as our possession" (Ezek. 11:15). Gk: "You were marked in him with a seal" (Eph. 1:13).

PERFECT/PERFECT TENSE: In Hebrew, this form of the verb is used to express completed action, whether in reality or in the thought of the speaker or writer. Heb: rm'v; is a perfect form of the verb and would be translated "he guarded." The Greek perfect tense, by contrast, represents a state of completion with abiding results and is often translated as a present perfect. Gk: The perfect leluke would be rendered "he has released."

PIEL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action and active voice. Heb: "They destroyed the high places and the altars" (2 Chron. 31:1).

PREPOSITION: A word that shows relationships between its object and some other word in the sentence. Some common English prepositions are in, to, from, with, above, for, by.

PRETERITE: A Latin name for the past tense; it is the equivalent of the perfect in Hebrew and the aorist indicative in Greek.

PUAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action and passive voice. Heb: "There was Baal's altar, demolished" (Judg. 6:28).

QAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses simple action and active voice; it is sometimes spelled Kal. Ex:"Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew" (Gen.25:34).

REFLEXIVE VOICE: Denotes an action that is directed back upon the agent or subject; expressed in Hebrew by the niphal and the hithpael, in Greek by the middle voice.Heb: "I have...kept myself from sin" (Ps. 18:23). Gk: "Then he went away and hanged himself" (Matt. 27:5).

ROOT: That part of a word left when all affixes are removed; the morpheme that carries the minimal unit of meaning in a word and can be common to several different words. The three consonants in Hebrew that ordinarily compose the basic uninflected spelling of a word are called the root letters. Occasionally a Hebrew word may have two or four root letters. Gk: the root dik- is common to dikaio", "righteous," dikh, "justice," and dikaiow, "to acquit." Also called "Lexeme."

STATIVE VERB, STATIC VERB: A stative verb is one that indicates a state of being or relationship rather than action. In Hebrew, its vowel pattern is different from that of verbs of action or motion. Greek statives include eijmi, ginomai, and uJparcw. Heb: "the hands...will be strengthened (2 Sam. 16:21). Gk: "Who, being in very nature God" (Phil. 2:6).

STEM: The noun or verb base formed by the addition of derivational affixes to the root. Thus, in Greek, doro- is the stem of the noun doron, "gift"; do- is the root, ro is the affix (in this case, a suffix). Also called base in recent grammars. In Hebrew, the term is used to designate verb forms that express certain kinds of action and voice; the major Hebrew verbal stems are qal, niphal, piel, pual, hithpael, hiphil, and hophal.

STRONG VERB: In Hebrew, the regular verb whose stem consonants do not change, i.e., remain unmodified in conjugation, in contrast to the weak verb. In Greek, a tense stem formed from the verb stem or root itself by vowel gradation.

VOICE: Voice is a modification of a verb that tells whether the subject of the verb acts or is acted upon. There are three voices in English, Hebrew, and Greek: active, passive, and reflexive.

WEAK VERB: In Hebrew, the verbs with gutturals or weak letters ( n in first root position, y and w in first or second root position, identical second and third root letters) as radicals, which produce modifications in the conjugation, in contrast to the strong verb. In Greek, a tense stem formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem or root.

If you discover obvious errors (as I am human, and do make mistakes), please let me know. Do not contact me to argue about the doctrinal differences that you may have with my teaching. I do not argue Theology with anyone, so all Legalists, cultists, and others with extremist views, please save your (and my) time. If you want to discuss your doctrinal differences, or share a viewpoint, please contact me at Didaskalos Ministries. I am not so arrogant as to think I know it all, or even 1% of what the scripture teaches.
 
 

1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2  Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give (What an awesome promise from God, "I Give". God gave the land in His great Grace - Israel did not earn nor deserve that Land, they just needed to walk in and accept it. Remember the truth of {Numbers 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?}  Yet before we condemn Israel, we would do well to remember our own shortcomings. Has not God promised us an inheritance, not just in the next life, but in this one as well. Has He not promised us power? {Luke 11:11-13 "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"} Are we not guilty of doing the same thing on a daily basis?)

unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
 

3  And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. (There are twelve military tribes and one priestly tribe in Israel. God sent one tribal head from each military tribe to scout out the land. When all but two of the tribal heads failed, calling God a liar by their actions, God punished the entire nation of Israel. This finds a parallel in the fall of Adam in the Garden)
 

4  And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

5  Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

6  Of the tribe of Judah, (the ruling or Head Tribe, the Tribe from which David and our Lord Jesus would descend from)

Caleb  (Kaleb [kaw-labe'], meaning "dog". Caleb started life without even the simplest advantage, as in the ancient world to be called "dog" was an insult. Yet Caleb succeeded when others with greater advantages failed. Caleb the "dog", the godly son of Jephunneh and the faithful spy who reported the Promised Land favorably and urged its capture - though he would enter into forty years of wandering with the backslidden Israel, of this generation only he and Joshua would enter the Promised Land. In the era we live in where all, even Pastors, say "compromise with the world for the sake of peace in the Church", we would do well to remember that compromising righteousness was the same trick Satan tried on Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4). We are not called to compromise with the world, but to uphold righteousness.  {Psalms 4:4-5 "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD"}  Those who trust and obey God, regardless of the ways of worldliness, will be vindicated in the end. Or, as Scripture states,  {Psalms 11:7  "For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright"} )

the son of Jephunneh.

7  Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

8  Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea  (Howshea` [ho-shay'-ah], the family name of Joshua the son of Nun. Again, a man with little who was richly blessed because he obeyed and served the Lord. A brief synopsis of Joshua's life would be: He was intimately associated with Moses (Ex 24:13; 32:17; 33:11); A religious zealot (Numbers 11:28); Sent with others to view the promised land (Numbers 13:8) and makes a favorable report (Numbers 14:6-10); Rewarded for his courage and fidelity (Numbers 14:30,38; 32:12); Commissioned, ordained, and charged with the responsibilities of Moses' office (Numbers 27:18-23; De 1:38; 3:28; 31:3,7,23; 34:9); Divinely inspired (Numbers 27:18; De 34:9; Joshua 1:5,9; 3:7; 8:8; and His life miraculously preserved when he made a favorable report about the land (Numbers 14:10); God made promises to him (Joshua 1:5-9); and he leads the people into the land of Canaan (Joshua 1; 2; 3; 4; Ac 7:45; Hebrews 4:8); to honor God he renews circumcision of the children of Israel; re-establishes the Passover; has a vision of the angel of God (Joshua 5). This is just a brief, and yes, incomplete synopsis of this great man's life - and what God did for Joshua, He will do for any who obey Him in righteousness)

the son of Nun.
 

9  Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

10  Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

11  Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

12  Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13  Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

14  Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

15  Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16  These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

22  And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, (Anaq [aw-nawk'], a race of giants called Anakim. Smith's Dictionary states:  {a race of giants, descendants of Arba, Joshua 15:13; 21:11| dwelling in the southern part of Canaan, and particularly at Hebron, which from their progenitor received the name of "city of Arba." Anak was the name of the race rather than that of an individual. Joshua 14:15| The race appears to have been divided into three tribes or families, bearing the names Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. Though the war-like appearance of the Anakim had struck the Israelites with terror in the time of Moses, Numbers 13:28; De 9:2| they were nevertheless dispossessed by Joshua, Joshua 11:21,22| and their chief city, Hebron, became the possession of Caleb. Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:20| After this time they vanish from history} )

were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
 

23  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24  The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25  And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26  And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

27  And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely  (the literal Hebrew reads "It is true". Yet, even while acknowledging that God spoke the truth about the Land, the spies (minus Joshua and Caleb) believed that the One who created the Land would be unable to overthrow the people He created within that Land. We often forget  {Psalms 104:19-24 "He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches"} )

it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. (God confirmed His promise of Exodus 3.8, 17; 13.5; 33.3 - here is the fruit, here is the proof!)
 

28  Nevertheless ( 'ephec [eh'-fes], "But, however". There have been more Churches, more people, more individuals, more more more who have failed by making God's promises the "but" of their conversation. There is no "but" with God. He promised - here's the proof - now reach out in faith. {James 1:5-8 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways"} )

the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
 

29  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, (The Jebusites {Yebuwciy [yeb-oo-see']}  were descended from the third son of Canaan, Jebus (Ge 10:16; 1 Chronicles 1:14), and lived in what would one day be known as the "City of David", Jerusalem. Israel could have captured and possessed Jerusalem, but because of disobedience could not possess the city until nearly a thousand years later under King David)

and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

30  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
 
 
 

1  Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin  (on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea)

in the first month: (April, 1401 BC)

and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died (Qal Imperfect {muwth [mooth]}, to have a lingering death, to be in the process of dying then die there)

there, and was buried  (qabar [kaw-bar'], Niphal stem = to be buried)

there. (This scripture recounts the second {Mriybah [mer-ee-baw']} incident with the children of the first Exodus generation of Israel. The {Mriybah [mer-ee-baw']} was a place of testing by God. God generally calls, feeds spiritually, then tests His children to induce deeper spiritual growth  {"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" ... 1 Peter 1:6-7}  The first generation of the Israelites were tested at a fountain at Rephidim, (Exodus 17.1-7) in the desert of Sin; so called because the Israelites murmured against God. Now the second generation of Israel follows the murmuring of their parents at the water supply at Kadesh on the southern border of the promised land. There are several principles involved here, but the foremost is "as the parent goes, so goes the child". If the parent is a bigot, a child abuser, a curser, a liar ... unless the Grace of God intervenes, expect the same from your children.  {Hosea 8:7  "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up"} )
 

2  And there was no water (Qal Perfect + negative + {mayim [mah'-yim]}, the was absolutely no water. The area was very dry, perhaps even the air was dry - no moisture anywhere. Yet, rather than second guess God, Israel (and we) should learn to do as Job was commanded: {Job 37:14  "Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God"} The God who rescued Israel from Egypt through mighty waters will certainly provide water when there is no apparent hope. The God that saved me from my sins will certainly save me in the trials of this life. Stand still, believer, and regard God!)

for the congregation: and they gathered  (qahal ['kaw-hal'], Niphal Imperfect, to gather together in a mob so as to revolt. When people, whether Christian or unbeliever, gather together under mob rule the smallest mind in the group is its' leader. Just as the Israelites gathered together in a mob to have a lynching party for Moses and Aaron, I have often heard stories (and seen with my own eyes) mob rule taking over in a Church. Oh how the unbeliever laughs at us when he hears of the petty squabbles we involve ourselves in, splitting apart as Churches .... when we should be winning souls for Christ. We would best all remember {1 Corinthians 14:33  "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints"} )

themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
 

3  And the people chode  (riyb [reeb], meaning to "contend", or "bitterly complain". This will later be compounded into the name of this place where Israel failed, Mriybah [mer-ee-baw'])

with Moses, and spake,  (Qal Imperfect {'amar [aw-mar']}, making a statement from the heart. Because these "believers" had not grown spiritually inside, they were very ugly outside.  {Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings"} You may put on a great front in public or at Church, but unless your heart is given to God for His glory, your actions are little better than those of the Pharisees who followed and tormented Jesus)

saying, Would God that we had died  (gava` [gaw-vah'], Qal Perfect = to expire under adverse conditions. Sin, especially in the believer, is actually a form of insanity .... imagine wishing to die in agony as the first generation of Israel had died, rather than trust God now!)

when our brethren  ('ach [awkh], literally means "kindred", not brothers. Refers to the first generation of Israel who died over forty harsh, long years)

died before the LORD! (This is, verbatim, the same drivel the first generation spewed out before God. See Numbers 14.1-2 {Proverbs 24:9 "The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men"} )
 

4  And why have ye brought up  (bow' [bo], Hiphil Perfect, to cause to be brought up. These fools not only claimed Moses forcibly moved them to this state, several million people, but are implying that his leadership was a conspiracy that brought them to this state {Psalms 92:6-9 "A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:  But thou, LORD, art most high for ever more.  For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered"} )

the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die  (muwth [mooth], Qal Infinitive, to be caused to die. Moses made Hitler look like little Orphan Annie.. at least, according to these people)

there?
 

5  And wherefore have ye made us to come up  (`alah [aw-law'], Hiphil Perfect, to cause or make to come. How do you suppose Moses forced millions to go anywhere?)

out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; (These are all products of Egypt. The people may have been in Kadesh, but their hearts were still in Egypt.  {Luke 9:62  "And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God"} You cannot, as Christians, keep looking back toward your old way of life and serve Him. You cannot compromise with the world and retain your effectiveness with God)

neither is there any water to drink. (Note: The pomegranate is a red fruit with red seeds. It's rind contains tannin, which was processed into a medicine that destroyed tapeworms. The Israelites were implying that they had great medical care in Egypt. The same thing has happened in our country. We allow men without moral or Christian fiber to remain in control of the country because "the economy's good". Sad, and so parallel to the response of the Israelites to Moses)
 

6  And Moses and Aaron went from  (Qal Imperfect {bow' [bo]}, to come to)

the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle ( 'ohel [o'-hel], the place where teaching was conducted in the Temple/ Tent)

of the congregation, and they fell  (naphal [naw-fal'], Qal Imperfect = to throw yourself down helplessly. They literally dropped to the ground, symbolizing their helplessness before God)

upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared (ra'ah [raw-aw'], Niphal Imperfect, to make manifest. God was there all the time, but only when prayer was made, proper prayer, did He show Himself)

unto them.
 

7  And the LORD  (Yhovah [ yeh-ho-vaw'], the most powerful name of God in Scripture)

spake unto Moses, saying,
 

8  Take the rod,  (This was Aaron's rod that budded  {Numbers 17:8  "And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds"}  that was eventually placed in the Ark of the Covenant  {Hebrews 9:4  "Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant"} God was emphasizing that He caused miracles before, so He could do the miraculous again, if they only FULLY trust in Him. When we start to waiver in faith, it is best to stop and remember the great things that Father has done for us. If He has done for us in the past, will He not do for us now?)

and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock  (The Rock symbolized the resurrected Jesus Christ. Moses was only to SPEAK to the Rock, not smite it. Yet, in frustration with the people, Moses struck the Rock, ruining the object lesson God was trying to show the Israelites {Psalms 62:6-7 "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God"} When the leader falls, he is judged much harsher than the followers {Luke 12:47-48 "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more"} and also see  {Hebrews 13:17  "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you"} )

before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

10  And Moses and Aaron gathered  (qahal ['kaw-hal'], Hiphil Imperfect = to cause to assemble, stand in formation, line up in a military manner. It is almost like Moses was going to "dress down" the troops)

the congregation together before the rock, (cela` [seh'-lah], meaning a "high raised rock or place". Symbolic of the resurrected Christ)

and he said unto them, Hear now,  (shama` [shaw-mah'], Qal Imperative = hear and pay attention to this! Moses was not given an order by God to dress these people down. No, he was commanded to do as God said ... or suffer the consequences. Pride often causes the fall of religious leaders  {Proverbs 11:2  "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom" ..... Proverbs 13:10  "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom"} )

ye rebels; must we fetch  (yatsa' [yaw-tsaw'] Hiphil Imperfect, to cause to be brought. Moses was implying that his power caused the water to pour out ...and his punishment was swift, and harsh. Why? Because this was the same attitude Satan took before the Throne of God. See  {Isaiah 14:13-15 "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit"} )

you water out of this rock?
 

11  And Moses lifted up  (ruwm [room], Hiphil Imperfect, same mood and stem as used with YATSA', above. Moses was "caused to lift up" his hands. What caused this lifting up, this uncalled for display? Moses allowed his temper to get the best of him. As he grew in anger, he became controlled by the anger rather than by the Lord. The Scripture says {Proverbs 16:32  "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"} and again  {Proverbs 25:28  "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls"} Once temper gets the best of you, you become like a beast - out of control. A modern proverb is: He who makes you angry is your master.)

his hand, and with his rod he smote  (nakah [naw-kaw'], Hiphil Imperfect, was caused or motivated to strike (by anger))

the rock twice: (note the overkill used here!)

and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (In an agricultural society the livestock would be comparable to money. God didn't just supply the basic needs of the Israelites, but He also over supplied them, giving them beyond Moses' angry request. This is even more amazing considering Moses' failure and arrogance - God supplied in Grace, though none there, Moses included, deserved it.  {2 Timothy 2:13  "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself"}  Our great Father is {Ephesians 3:20  "... able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think...} )
 

12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed  (Hiphil Perfect 'aman [aw-man'], believe or trust in. Moses and Aaron failed God, yet still God was gracious - He chastised them in private)

me not, to sanctify  (qadash [kaw-dash'], Hiphil Infinitive = to declare as holy, declare as set apart. By their actions Moses and Aaron set themselves apart in the eyes of the people, rather than set God apart in the eyes of the people.  {1 Peter 3:15  "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"} If God is not sanctified in your heart, He will not be shown in your outer actions. This failure to sanctify God in the heart has lead our Church of today to tolerate bad behavior among the congregation: prejudice, hatred, battles, illicit sexuality, lying, gossip - in short, the works of the flesh)

me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given (nathan [naw-than'], Qal Perfect, have ALREADY given. God gave the land to Israel in the past. Their hard headedness was all that was keeping them from inheriting the land at this moment. When we sin, by our actions we breach the promises of God.  {Psalms 37:18-20 "The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away"} )

them. (see also Psa 106. 32-33; Num 20.24; 27.13-14)
 

13  This is the water of Meribah; ( Mriybah [mer-ee-baw'], quarrel, provocation, strife. I have seen Churches formed out of Church battles before and, unless repentance was exercised, the striving Church never prospered)

because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified  (qadash [kaw-dash'], Niphal Imperfect, was caused to be set apart, holy, clean. If we do not declare His holiness, the very rocks will!  {Luke 19:38-40 "Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out"} )

in them.