This evening we'll be reading from Numbers chapter 20, but before we do, I'd like to give a brief introduction, both historically and redemptively. For Numbers, it's a book that we don't give a whole lot of attention to, so it's helpful to look at it in brief. It's the fourth book of the Bible, the fourth one in the Pentateuch, the five books that Moses wrote. And in the modern Hebrew Bible, it's called In the Wilderness. It's a much more descriptive title than The Numbers. This is a book that describes Israel's journey from Sinai up until they enter into the Promised Land. They wandered there for 40 years, and the only reason that they had to do this, the only reason that they had to spend 40 years in the wilderness was because of their disbelief. They did not trust God to deliver the promised land over to them. And as a result, this whole first generation, this whole generation that left Egypt, had to wander for 40 years until every single one of them had passed away, except for the two spies. There was then, with the second generation, after the first had passed away, the second generation, there was a new hope as they were preparing to enter into this promised land. And our story this evening focuses on this passage as they're gearing up, as they're getting ready to enter into the promised land. But the question remains, however, that these people are just like their fathers. They're distrustful. And though there is hope, they have many struggles. And they even put God to the test as they look forward to this promised land. So turn with me to Numbers chapter 20, where we'll be reading verses 1 through 13. Numbers 20, 1 through 13. In the first month, the whole Israelite community arrived at the desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord. Why did you bring the Lord's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink. Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell face down, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes, and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so that they and their livestock can drink. So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock. And Moses said to them, Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock? Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and where he showed himself holy among them. Brothers and sisters, as we read the New Testament, We get the sense that we, as God's people, as Christians, are pilgrims. As Pastor Voss has been preaching through 1 Peter, he's reminded us over and over again that we are privileged pilgrims. What that means is that we're not at home in this world. We're searching and we're looking for that day when Christ returns, when he brings his people into his eternal kingdom. So while we live our days out on this earth as pilgrims, our very lives mirror Israel's wandering in the desert, in that wilderness. They had been redeemed from Egypt, from the land of bondage and slavery, but they had to travel through a desert, through a barren wasteland, in order to get to their promised inheritance. We too, as God's children, have been redeemed, not from a tyrannical country or an oppressive ruler, but from a spiritual tyrant, from spiritual bondage, from the restraints and oppression of sin. And we await our eternal inheritance, which Peter says cannot perish, spoil, or fade. We live our lives as pilgrims. Certainly, there are similarities and differences in our lives and compared to the Israelites. As you might expect, also, there are differences in the pilgrims. Those that are grumbling, those that are contesting against the Lord. But also those that have trust, have faith that the Lord will provide for them. In Numbers 20, we are reminded that though we are living as pilgrims, we are looking forward to our promised inheritance. In this account, we're reminded that Christ has become our mediator and high priest and procuring life for us on that cross. And as a result, as a result of Christ's death on the cross, we as his people are to live holy lives. As we follow this story, we'll first consider Israel at Kadesh, a picture of the church. Secondly, Moses and Aaron point to a better mediator. And third, God maintains his holiness. Israel at Kadesh, a picture of the church. Moses and Aaron point to a better mediator. And God maintains his holiness. As we look at the rebellion in Kadesh, we need to look at two other stories first. For they give us critical background information. The first of these stories is found in Exodus 17. Where Israel, after having been delivered from Egypt, it's Thursday and they need water. This event occurs not too long after they crossed the Red Sea. After God had delivered them from Egypt, he provided safe passage for Israel on the ground. A few days later, he made bitter water sweet at Marah. And within two months after that, he provided manna and quail for Israel to eat in the desert. And not long after that, they came to a place called Rephidim. And there at that place, there was no water to drink. In Rephidim, these people, these Israelites, this first generation, grumbled against Moses and against God. Moses was so afraid of these people that he cried out to the Lord. And the Lord responded and said that he would stand before Moses on the rock and that Moses was to strike this rock. And from this rock would flow water for the people, their children, and their flocks. This first episode highlights the Israelites' complete distrust in God. They put God to the test and they questioned whether or not he was even with them. While this first story is connected by similar events, The second story that we're going to briefly scan is connected by geographical location. After Israel had gone up from Mount Sinai, after they had received the law, trekking through the wilderness to the promised land, God brought them very close to it. And Numbers 13 and 14 tells us that 12 spies were sent out into this land to check it out, to see if it was good and to see if they would be able to conquer it. When they returned, they returned to the people at Kadesh, the very same place where they are in Numbers 20. But these spies came with a mixed report. Boys and girls, you might remember that as these 12 spies went out, they got many good supplies and they picked clusters of grapes so large that they had to string them on a pole and carry them between two men. This was indeed a fruitful land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The only problem was that ten of these men, ten of these spies, did not have enough faith that God would deliver it into their hands. So they spread a bad report among the people and discouraged them. So all the people revolted in Kadesh. They were persuaded that they would not be able to go up into this promised land and receive it as their inheritance. Because of their rebellion, because of their lack of trust in God, Their punishment was that they had to wander in this wilderness for 40 years. They themselves were not able to enter this promised land. Each and every one of them would perish in this wilderness. Their children, however, they would receive this promise. They would receive this promised land. And they would enter into it. In Numbers 20, the passage before us this evening, the people have come full circle. After wandering in the desert for close to 40 years, the first generation has died. There is great hope and anticipation as this generation looks forward to their inheritance. And as they prepare to go up into this promised land, the question looms. Will they, too, be as stiff-necked as their fathers? Will they be as rebellious and distrustful of God? They knew the promised land was a good land. They had heard the report. But what they weren't happy with was where they were. They were not happy in this desert of Zin. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to study in Israel. It was a great opportunity. And at the end of the semester, I had the privilege of traveling to Egypt. So we basically traveled the opposite direction that the Israelites traveled. They traveled from Egypt to Israel. We traveled from Israel to Egypt. But we got there a little differently. We had a bus, a tour bus that was air-conditioned, so it was a very pleasant ride. And as I sat there with my water bottle in my hand in the air-conditioned bus, I could not help but think of the Israelites living in the wilderness for 40 years. This region is extremely hot and dry. It's barren. It's brown. There's no shade from the scorching sun. And as I looked at the horizon, it seemed surreal as the boiling heat waves distorted everything in view. I distinctly remember saying to myself, it is no wonder that these Israelites grumbled against the Lord. I too would be grumbling if I had to live in this wilderness for 40 years. Numbers 20 begins with Israel returning to Kadesh. And after the death of Miriam, Moses' sister, the people gathered in opposition against Moses and against Aaron. And they said, if only we had died with our brothers before the Lord. And pressing this further, they said, why have you brought us into this evil place, Moses? The ground isn't good for farming. There's no figs. There's no grapevines or pomegranates. They wanted to know if he had brought them there to die. It seems that this generation had no more faith. They had no more trust in their fathers, for they too contemptuously challenged God. They would rather be slaves in Egypt than in Kadesh on the way to the Promised Land. How little faith they had in the God who delivered them from Egypt, who brought them through the sea in dry ground, protected them from their enemies, and supplied them with food and water whenever they needed it. I think about my trip now, and I'm struck with how, after all that the Lord had done for Israel, how they could grumble against the Lord and have so little faith that he would provide them with water. Brothers and sisters, we can't point fingers very long, though, for we too, as pilgrims, grumble. As we live our lives in this pilgrim world, we often question whether God is there. We ask ourselves, will God really provide for me? Will I have the things that I really need? When we do, this is to our shame. For just as Israelites should have looked back to the deliverance from Egypt and from the waters at Rephidim, where Moses struck the rock the first time, so we ought to look back to the cross, where Christ was crucified, where he secured our redemption, And where, through his death, life-giving water was poured out. Furthermore, as his children, God has promised to provide for us. Matthew 6 teaches us not to worry. Jesus says, do not worry about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear. For our Heavenly Father, for your Heavenly Father, knows that you need these things. What he requires of us is that we ask. We're not to put Him to the test, but in humility and in faith, we're to put our petitions before the Lord, asking Him for the needs that we do have. Taking this application one step further, we must not forget that when things are going well, when we're prospering, when we're enjoying life, that those things too are from God. It is not from our own hands that we have these good pleasures, but it is by God's providence, by His grace that He has given them to us. If we forget that God has given these good things to us, it is a shame. And we do not give God the glory that he deserves. The second generation of Israelites was not banned from the promised land as their fathers was. Though in every way they deserved to be. For they distrusted God. They doubted that he would deliver it to them. And as the story continues, we read of two men, Moses and Aaron. the very leaders of Israel who were entrusted with the task of bringing these Israelites into this promised land, that they, because of their sin, were not able to enter into this promised land. When the people of Israel came to Moses and Aaron, Moses and Aaron went out and fell at the assembly, at the temple of God, in this tabernacle. And God told them, he said, take the staff, gather the people, and speak to the rock. Speak to the rock before the whole assembly, and it will pour out its water for you and for your cattle. Not even a mention of the children here. The second generation, unlike their fathers, has no regard for their children. It's them and their cattle. So Moses took the staff. He went to the rock as God commanded, and raised his hand and struck the rock twice, rather than speaking to it. The rock brought forth its water, but there were grave consequences for not following God's instructions. And Moses and Aaron were barred from entering this promised land. The question is, why? Why such a serious penalty for a seemingly small breach of the law of God's instruction? Here Moses had led his people for 40 years doing everything that the Lord had said, Providing leadership, providing counsel for God's people. The Israelites were the ones that were complaining. They were contesting before the Lord. And yet, they were entering into this land. And now Moses and Aaron, the leaders who had been faithful, were barred from it. Was it because of their lack of faith? Was it because Moses' act of striking made his action more prominent than God? Bringing the glory to himself rather than giving it to God? Or was it because they had no faith that God would actually bring it about by speaking? Well, it's probably a combination of these things, but it's even more. And to answer that, we need to jump once more back to Exodus 17, where we had the first episode of Moses striking the rock. What's in view here is more than just quarreling. When the Israelites bring their complaint against Moses, they're not just quarreling. They're bringing a legal complaint. They're lodging a legal complaint against God and against Moses. The Hebrew word here is Riv, kind of the root of Meribah. In the last verse, in verse 13 of Numbers 20, you see that word Meribah. That's the waters that they were called. The middle of that is R-I-B, Riv. That's the word, contention. These Israelites were contending against God, bringing a legal suit against him. And they were accusing Moses of treason. But Moses is just the appointed leader. It's God himself who is really on trial here. Do you remember what the people asked Moses? They said, is the Lord among us or not? So God told Moses in Exodus 17 to pick up the staff, walk in front of the people. Moses, with his staff in hand, was not convicted, criminal, but he was standing as judge before the people. As Dr. Clowney said, the rod of Moses represents a judgment of God himself. Remember that it was with the rod that the gods of Egypt were condemned when Moses turned the water of the Nile into blood? And remember it was with the staff that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea as they tried to pass through? What we need to see here in this passage is that when God says to Moses, I will stand before you on the rock and strike the rock. This is a picture of God taking the punishment of Israel's rebellion upon himself which directly points us to the cross of Christ where the rock of our salvation was dealt the death blow. There might seem to be a leap here between this rock in the wilderness and Christ. Some of you might have some objections to that but in Deuteronomy 32 after having approached the borders of the promised land. Moses sings a song and he says, I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God. He is the rock and his ways are perfect. And throughout the Psalms, God is called the rock. And furthermore, look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, 3-4. I'll read this for you. In speaking about Israel's history, Paul says, All ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. On top of this, we'll look at one more example. And it's when Christ, in the New Testament, at the Feast of Tabernacles, speaks to the people. He says to them, and remember, the Feast of Tabernacles is a remembrance of Israel's wandering in the wilderness. And this is what Christ says. He says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. So, by God, standing on this rock before Moses in Rephidim, he identifies himself with it, bearing the judgment of the people. So in Numbers 20, in Kadesh, when Moses struck the rock, he disobeyed God and did not honor him as holy before the people. Again, as Dr. Clowney says, only once at his appointed time does God bear the stroke of our doom. Christ died on the cross once for our sins, once to atone for our sin. His death on the cross was sufficient to bear all of God's judgment. So Moses and Aaron, the leaders of Israel, one the mediator, the other the high priest, are indicted together for not obeying God. And as such, they point us forward to the fact that we need a better mediator. We need a better high priest. And we find that high priest. We find that mediator in Christ Jesus. In Hebrews 4, we find that, or we read, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who is, in every respect, who has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. People of God, this mediator and high priest is our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, who never tires of going to the Father for us, who never gets sick of bringing our requests to the Lord. So go to Him. Make your petitions known. When you pray, pray in Christ's name. For the Father listens to the Son. When you have a need, ask. Do not be contemptuous. Do not doubt that the Lord will provide for you. He has given you your greatest need already. The need of salvation and forgiveness of sins. Why will He not give you these lesser gifts? So, so far we've looked at the rebellion a bit. Is it, excuse me, the rebellion of Israel in the desert? And we've also seen how Moses and Aaron point us to a better mediator. So third, we will look at how God maintains his holiness before his people. Since Moses' first encounter with God, God has been revealing himself as a holy God. Take, for instance, the account of the burning bush. As Moses approaches the bush, God tells him to take off his sandals. For the ground upon which he is standing is holy ground. Think also of the time on Mount Sinai when Moses receives the law. He asks to see God. And God says, okay. But he does not let Moses see his face. Moses is only allowed to see the back. Because of God, his holiness is so great, Moses would have been destroyed. He would have perished because of his sin compared to God's holiness. In fact, throughout the last 40 years of Israel, as they've been wandering through this wilderness, God has been revealing himself as a holy God. And this can be seen so many ways through the giving of the law, through the sanctification that the people had to go through, the setting apart of the Levites for temple service. So many ways God has been revealing himself as a holy God. In our text though, there's an undercurrent of this theme of holiness. And it's felt immediately in verse 1. But unfortunately in our translations it doesn't come across. The very place where these Israelites are camped, in Kadesh, tells us that it's a holy place. The word kadosh in holy means set apart or sanctified or holy. So here already in the very first verse, we're clued into the fact that where the Israelites are camping is a holy place. The tension in the story grows though because the Israelites don't see it as a holy place. They see it as a wicked or evil place. They said it's a terrible place. There's no water here. There's no good ground for growing crops. There's no pomegranates, no figs, no grapevines. And so they lodge their complaint against God. The climax of this tension, however, comes when Moses and Aaron strike the rock. they are condemned before the people for not honoring God as holy. Finally, in verse 13, we have a sort of recap of the whole story. And once again, we see that God shows himself holy among the people at Meribah. At the very place where they contended against him, he showed them that he was holy and that he was right. Through this mounting tension, which points us to God's holiness, we must see that God has a great zeal for his holiness. God maintained his holiness when their fathers rebelled at Kadesh the first time. And at his displeasure with sin is revealed when Moses and Aaron are judged because of their sin. The price they had to pay was their inheritance. They were prevented from ever entering this land of promise. Aaron dies at the end of Numbers 20. At the very end of this chapter that we read from, Moses dies soon after on the border of the promised land. But brothers and sisters, God's holiness is not just evident in this passage. It's not even just evident in the Old Testament. God has a concern for his holiness throughout all of scripture. Earlier I mentioned that when we read 1 Peter, the pilgrim's theme pops up. But this isn't the only theme from Israel's past that pops up. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1, 13 to 16. For here, as we're reminded of Israel's pilgrimage and of our pilgrimage, we're reminded that since God is holy, we are to be holy. 1 Peter 1, 13 to 16. Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Be self-controlled. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy. So be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. Here, in obedient response to God's holiness, we are called to be holy. But this holiness is not something that we can achieve on our own. It's not something that we merit. No, this holiness is placed upon us through Christ's death and resurrection. When we put our faith in Christ, this holiness is given to us. It's placed upon us. But this holiness too, just as God's holiness was revealed through the barring of Moses and Aaron, God's holiness for us is seen in that judgment needed to be poured out. And it was ultimately poured out on Christ on the cross. This story then from number 20 is an encouraging account. Because it reminds us that we, just like Israel, are pilgrims. But in contrast to them, our inheritance is already secure for us. Christ has redeemed us from bondage, but he has also achieved the conquest. Just as Israel had to leave Egypt and then conquer Israel, that's already done for us. We've been redeemed, and our inheritance is sure. It's promised to us. It's secure. And that should bring us great hope as we live troubled lives, to know that our inheritance, our hope is in heaven, waiting for us. And in fact, we are sitting there with Christ even already. This cross then not only delivers us from bondage, but it delivers us over to the future, to glory with God. We don't have to ask if God is with us. We know He is. For He sent us Son, and He has sent His Holy Spirit. And in the sacraments we see a visible reminder, and we have the real presence of Christ. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, sanctifying us, making us more and more holy, even as we pray for forgiveness of sins. Brothers and sisters, we need to know that we have a perfect mediator. One who will go to our Heavenly Father, who will never tire, but who will always intercede for us. One who will provide us with everything that we need. Amen. Let us pray. our dear heavenly father we thank you we thank you that you are a great and awesome God a holy God one so set apart from mankind that when we see you we must say holy, holy, holy even as the angels do father but we thank you also for for making us holy so that we can approach you but this holiness we recognize must come through Christ And Lord we thank you for the death and resurrection of Christ For this death and resurrection assures us of our pardon of sin And it assures us of our resurrection of eternal life Father we thank you and we praise you For all that you've given to us For the assurance of faith For the pardon of sins For the reading and the preaching of your word That help us to look to you To stop at least one day a week and focus our thoughts on you. Lord and Heavenly Father, we come before you asking that you will be merciful to us. Forgive us for doubting. Help us to look to Christ, our mediator. And we ask that you will sanctify us, making us more and more holy, even as you are holy. We pray these things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.