"Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes that it may yield its water; and you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give the assembly and their cattle water to drink" (vv. 7-8). The rock typifies Christ (1 Cor. 10:4b), and the water typifies the Spirit (1 Cor. 10:4a).
Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, and he and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock (Num. 20:9-10a). Then Moses said to the people, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" (v. 10b). Having said this, "Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the assembly drank, and their cattle" (v. 11). Moses was wrong both in word and in deed. No doubt, he was angry with the children of Israel, and he even might have lost his temper. Whenever we are angry and do not control ourselves, it is easy for us to make mistakes. At such times we, like Moses, may speak wrongly or act wrongly.
The Bible tells us that Moses was "very meek, more than all men who were on the face of the earth" (12:3). A real man of God, Moses fell on his face before God, not saying anything. He had truly learned of God. Nevertheless, such a meek person became angry at the children of Israel. God had told him to take the rod and speak to the rock that it may yield its water. Moses could have gathered the congregation together before the rock and said, "Praise the Lord! He is good and He is gracious. He surely takes care of us. You need water, and He will supply water. We only need to speak to the rock, and the water will flow forth." How wonderful it would have been if Moses had spoken in this way! However, in his anger Moses said to the people, "You rebels." Moses did not dare to say anything to God, but when he came from the presence of God to the people, he spoke angrily to them. Then he struck the rock twice with his rod. It was not necessary for him to strike the rock once, much less twice. The rock had already been struck in Exodus 17, and God did not tell Moses to strike it again. Rather, God told Moses simply to speak to the rock. Although Moses was a faithful servant of God, in Numbers 20 he made a mistake which caused him to lose his right to enter into the promised good land.
In Exodus 16:14-18 and 17:5-6, God supplied the Israelites with manna and water to meet their proper need, without any punishment. But in Numbers 11 He supplied them with quails to satisfy their lusting after the flesh, as a punishment (vv. 4, 18-20, 31-34). In Exodus 16 and 17 God was not angry with the people. When they needed food, He sent manna, for food is a necessity. Likewise, when they needed water, another necessity, He gladly supplied them with living water from the smitten rock. However, in Numbers 11 the people were lusting after the flesh. Because this was not a matter of necessity, He was angry with them and, in His anger and as a judgment, He supplied them with quails. Can you differentiate these two kinds of situations? When the children of Israel caused God trouble concerning necessities, He was not offended, but when they lusted, He was offended. In Numbers 20 the people contended because they did not have water. Because water was a necessity, God was not angry with them. Actually, it was His responsibility to supply them with water.