This is long but worth the read:
Numbers 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Numbers 27:14 For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
6942
06942 qadash {kaw-dash'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1990; v
AV - sanctify 108, hallow 25, dedicate 10, holy 7, prepare 7,
consecrate 5, appointed 1, bid 1, purified 1, misc 7; 172
1) to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy,
be sanctified, be separate
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to be set apart, be consecrated
1a2) to be hallowed
1a3) consecrated, tabooed
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to show oneself sacred or majestic
1b2) to be honoured, be treated as sacred
1b3) to be holy
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to set apart as sacred, consecrate, dedicate
1c2) to observe as holy, keep sacred
1c3) to honour as sacred, hallow
1c4) to consecrate
1d) (Pual)
1d1) to be consecrated
1d2) consecrated, dedicated
1e) (Hiphil)
1e1) to set apart, devote, consecrate
1e2) to regard or treat as sacred or hallow
1e3) to consecrate
1f) (Hithpael)
1f1) to keep oneself apart or separate
1f2) to cause Himself to be hallowed (of God)
1f3) to be observed as holy
1f4) to consecrate oneself
This would basically mean "be separate", to make sure that you set God apart from and above others. This "sanctifies" God in the sight of others.
God's commandment that Moses "rebelled against" is clearly spoken as having been "to sanctify me". Moses was commanded to do this, but he did not.
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock 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.
No account that I know of shows Moses speaking to the rock before their eyes but he was told to do it. Also, he is told by God that he and Aaron "shalt bring forth to them water
out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink."
They were to bring forth the water for the people and give it to them, basically servants to the people.
Numbers 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
So, what does Moses do and say?
First he calls the people rebels! He doesnt think they deserve the water, and he certainly doesnt think he should have to serve them the water because they are rebellious!
"must we fetch you water out of this rock?"
Oops, didnt God just tell Moses that he and Aaron had to do that? Why would he question it?
Remember how they were to set God "apart" in front of the people?
That type of rebellious speaking is going against God's commandment and fails to sanctify God. He should have said words that sanctified God rather than speaking words that showed rebellion in front of the people.
Reminds me of what Christ did:
Matthew 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Christ was basically "set apart" from the masses. His disciples are like Moses, and they are to give the food to the people from Christ. Surely they werent going to say "must we give the food unto the people?"
God gave water from the rock and Moses was the middle man between God and the people.
Christ gave out the fish and bread and the disciples were the go-between from Christ to the people.
Numbers 27:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.
Numbers 27:13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.
Numbers 27:14 For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
Deuteronomy 32:48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
Deuteronomy 32:49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
Deuteronomy 32:50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
Deuteronomy 32:51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
Moses' sin was that he failed to "sanctify God in the midst of the children of Israel". God doesn't say it was striking the rock whether once or twice.
God said to speak to the rock in front of Israel which Moses did not do. Moses spoke to Israel rather than to the rock, and he smote the rock twice but God still caused the miracle of water to come from that rock so I tend to doubt the hitting of the rock twice had anything to do with Moses' sin of not "sanctifying" God before Israel.
Moses was angry at Israel and showed contempt at having to serve them water although this is exactly what God commanded him to do. And Moses also failed to speak to the rock before Israel, but rather spoke to Israel about his anger at them.
Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Moses was commanded to strike the rock!
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock 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.
Numbers 20:9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Numbers 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
What God commanded:
1: gather thou the assembly together
2: speak ye unto the rock/smite the rock before their eyes
3: thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock/ thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink
Assemble the people, speak to the rock, smite the rock, and serve the water to them and their animals.
This is what Moses did instead:
1: He and Aaron gathered the congregation together. (Moses got that part right)
2: He speaks to the people not the rock.
3: He calls the people "rebels".
4: He also says "must we fetch you water out of this rock?" knowing this was exactly what God commanded.
5: The people serve themselves the water.
Christ died once, yes, but he was struck many times, far more than once.
If we look at the context Moses was told to hit a rock, not to kill the rock so being that the verb is in the Hilphil tense we have three options:
1c1) to smite, strike, beat, scourge, clap, applaud, give a thrust
1c2) to smite, kill, slay (man or beast)
1c3) to smite, attack, attack and destroy, conquer, subjugate,
I believe since Moses was told to hit a rock and it was a literal rock even though used symbolically as Christ and that a human man who loved God but was a sinner was hitting Christ we must reconcile this hitting to the stripes Christ took for OUR SINS. It is the same as if we are smiting Christ with those stripes and that's exactly what the example of Moses hitting the rock represents.
Is hitting a rock with a stick representative of an execution of a man or the type of strike a man might receive in a beating before being executed? I think the answer is obvious.
Moses was told to strike the Rock, so striking that Rock was not any form of sin, and doing it twice shouldn't been seen as wrong. It's wrong to strike the Rock at all, unless by commandment.
In conclusion, Moses' sin was failing to sanctify God in front of the people. He had already struck the rock in front of them by commandment so striking the rock again even twice would not have been a bad example in front of them nor would have altered the sanctification of God for them. It was Moses' attitude concerning what he was supposed to do for them by commandment of God that caused the failure of sanctification. Moses was supposed to be a servant of the people and he did not feel they were worthy. We also aren't worthy but Christ came and died for us without complaint.
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