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Writer's picturePastor Rusty Owens

Speaking to the Rock

Pastor Rusty - July 30, 2024

“So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” Num. 20:6-8

What an amazing picture! The people have just complained to Moses (again). They are in the wilderness of Zin which serves as a natural barrier between Egypt and Canaan. Most likely no living Jew at that time had ever ventured into the wilderness and had tried to return to the land of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had been in this wilderness for decades now and had probably lost reasoning as to why they were even there. The younger generation had grown up in this wilderness, many that could remember the bondage of Egypt were already dead. This is the natural weeding process that transpires generationally in the household of God. Weeding out the generation of unbelief… it took forty years to purge the leaven of unbelief from that generations, witnessing countless miracles and learning to move with the cloud and to believe the voice of the prophet. Now here they are complaining about the lack of moisture in the camp.

Here the prescript of what went down.

1. Moses and Aaron leave the assembly… and go to the Tent of Meeting. The assembly here is the Hebrew word “qahal”. The Septuagint translates this word “ekklesia”.

2. Moses and Aaron throw themselves down on their faces and the glory of the Lord appears unto them. Notice the sequence… They prostrated themselves before the Glory of the Lord appeared not because the Glory of the Lord appeared…🤔… a subtle distinction but a distinction none the less. This has to do with cause and effect. They were the cause the glory of the Lord was the effect, not the other way around.

3. The LORD speaks to Moses and tells him, “Take your Staff” and your brother and call an assembly. Speak to the rock and it will bring forth it’s waters! It seems to me the staff was the symbol of Moses authority that when he stood with the staff in his hand he was speaking for God.

Now let’s review.🤔 Separate from the assembly of man. Prostrate oneself at the place of meeting God (not the asssembly of man).🧐 Hear the voice of the Lord. SPEAK to the rock and let Him bring forth the waters.

“Father, help us value the meeting place of God more the meeting place of man. Speak to us in this season. Help us to שָׁמַע. In The name of יְשׁוּעָה… Amen!” Pastor Rusty



(This image made by Belinda with Microsoft AI)


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