Moses Strikes the Rock - Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you. You teach that Moses was punished by God for striking the rock twice in Numbers 20, but the text says He was punished for striking the rock instead of speaking to it.
Which is true? Learn the biblical reasons why Moses disobeyed God by striking the rock twice and why God did not forgive him. Explore the themes of anger, complaints, and disobedience in the story of Moses and the Israelites. Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock, and he said to them, "Now listen, you rebels, can we draw water for you from this rock?" Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, when an abundance of water gushed forth, and the congregation and their livestock drank. Moses Strikes the Rock in Exodus and Numbers: One Story or Two? In Numbers 20, when the Israelites are without water, God tells Moses to get water from a stone, which he does by striking it, and is punished. Yet in Exodus 17, Moses does the same thing and the story ends positively.
What is the relationship between these two accounts? In Exodus, God commands Moses to strike a rock, and promises to make water flow in the desert for the people. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike th. Moses hitting the rock twice in anger exhibited a disbelief in God, who would have made the water gush forth when Moses simply spoke to the rock.
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 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?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Jesus was "struck", crucified just once.
Thus the rock also was to be struck just once, which explains God's instruction to Moses to strike the rock once on the first occasion. Striking the rock more than once would picture Christ being crucified more than once. Hebrews addresses this.