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God became angry with Moses because Moses didn’t follow his instructions, and because Moses gave himself the glory rather than giving it to God
In my book, The Word Set in Stone: How Archaeology, Science, and History Back Up the Bible, I contended that there is a verified natural explanation for water coming out of the rocks in the Sinai Peninsula, and that it need not necessarily have been miraculous. I think many people casually assume that these events were miraculous, as I did myself, until I researched the material I wrote about in my book. I’d like to examine the issue a bit more closely. Here are the passages about Moses drawing water from rocks:
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In my book, The Word Set in Stone: How Archaeology, Science, and History Back Up the Bible, I contended that there is a verified natural explanation for water coming out of the rocks in the Sinai Peninsula, and that it need not necessarily have been miraculous. I think many people casually assume that these events were miraculous, as I did myself, until I researched the material I wrote about in my book. I’d like to examine the issue a bit more closely. Here are the passages about Moses drawing water from rocks:
- Exodus 17:6 (RSV): “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
- Numbers 20:7-12: And the LORD said to Moses, “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
- Deuteronomy 8:14-15: … the LORD your God … who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,
- Nehemiah 9:15: Thou didst give them bread from heaven for their hunger and bring forth water for them from the rock for their thirst …
- Psalm 78:16, 20: He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. … He smote the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. …
- Psalm 105:41: He opened the rock, and water gushed forth; it flowed through the desert like a river.
- Psalm 114:8: … who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
- Isaiah 48:21: They thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he cleft the rock and the water gushed out.
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Why Did God Get Angry at Moses for Striking the Rock?
God became angry with Moses because Moses didn’t follow his instructions, and because Moses gave himself the glory rather than giving it to God
