In Numbers, chapter twenty, verse eight, the Lord speaks to Moses for him to take his rod and gather the assembly, and get Aaron and speak to the rock before their eyes, for it will bring forth water. Moses and Aaron get the people together as the Lord commanded, but for some reason, he strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. God commanded to speak to the rock, not to hit it as been done at Horeb in Exodus seventeen, verses one to seven.
The water from the rock back in Horeb at Rephidim, journeying from the wilderness of Sin, is an entirely different time and the situation now. The children of Israel are in the desert of Zin, in Kadesh, somewhere in the land of Edom. The rod Moses was to take that had done many wonders in Egypt, the Red sea, in the wilderness, and particularly by smiting the rock at Horeb, when the Israelites wanted water, as they did now was to come together with the people. The purpose of the assembly was for God to perform the miracle so they could receive and benefit from it. However, the blessing in store for the congregation did not go as planned.
Why did Moses fail to follow the command of God? There are several possibilities. The first one could be the children of Israel’s aggravation. Back in Horeb, the conflict in Exodus seventeen, verses two through four, where Moses receives crude remarks, may have contributed to this cause. Here now, he faces the same situation with more intensity from the children of Israel.
The second possibility is that he struck the rock before, and Moses thought it was okay to do it again. The murmuring and chiding could have confused him at that moment, complicating the situation. The other one could be Moses succumbing to the pressure of the people’s complaints could have made him implode.
Today, people are dealing with situations like Moses. Endeavor leading others while the enemy uses deception, distraction, and discord to overthrow the righteous.