Moses failed to sanctify God in being angry with the people of Israel and in wrongly striking the rock twice. In being angry, he did not represent God rightly in His holy nature toward His people. In striking the rock twice, he represented God wrongly in God's action. Hence, he and his brother were punished by God by not being allowed to enter into the good land (20:12-13, 24; 27:12-14).
In Numbers 20 God was not angry with the people, but Moses was angry with them. He went to God and appealed to Him, but he did not dare to say anything. In this matter Moses was right, for we should not pray when we are angry. Concerning this, we need to remember how Elijah prayed in 1 Kings 19:14. In his prayer Elijah said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." Referring to this prayer, Paul said that Elijah was pleading with God against Israel (Rom. 11:2). Elijah's pleading was actually his accusing the people. From the case of Moses in Numbers 20 and the case of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, we learn that we should be careful whenever we pray to God concerning His people.
"Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" (20:12). God blamed Moses and Aaron for not believing in Him and for not sanctifying Him before the people. Because he was angry when God was not angry, Moses did not rightly represent God. In his anger, Moses might have thought that the time had come for God to consume the people. God, however, realized that the problem in Numbers 20 was caused by the people's thirst. Just as a mother is not angry with a child who cries because of thirst but instead cherishes the child, so God was not angry with His thirsty people but rather assumed the responsibility of supplying them with water.
According to God's view of His people in Numbers 20, there was nothing wrong with them. The situation was similar to that in chapters twenty-three and twenty-four. Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel, but instead of cursing there was blessing. Unable to curse him whom God has not cursed (23:8), Balaam said, "He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob;/Nor has He seen trouble in Israel" (v. 21). In 24:5 Balaam went on to say, "How fair are your tents, O Jacob, /Your dwelling places, O Israel!" According to Moses' view in chapter twenty, there was much trouble and iniquity among God's people, but in God's view there was neither trouble nor iniquity. This means that although Moses was usually one with God, in this instance there was a great discrepancy between him and God.
In his dealing with the matter of water, Moses was wrong. He was God's representative and had the position to represent God, but here he represented God to the people in a wrong way. At this juncture, God was not angry. This is indicated by the fact that He told Moses to speak to the rock that water might flow out of it. But Moses was offended and could not tolerate the situation. Having gathered the congregation and being angry with the people, he said, "Hear now, you rebels." By speaking to the people in this way, Moses wrongly represented God. His mistaken speaking made God common; that is, it did not sanctify God, did not make Him separate from all other gods. Therefore, in His word to Moses in verse 12, God seemed to be saying, "Moses, you did not rightly represent Me. You gave the people a wrong impression concerning Me. In your anger you gave them the impression that I was angry with them when I was not angry. You did not sanctify Me. You did not express Me as the One who is particular and separate from all other gods. You did not present Me to the people as a God who is full of mercy and grace." The God whom Moses represented was not angry; therefore, Moses, His representative, should not have been angry either.
In verse 10 Moses called the people rebels. In verse 24 God said to Moses and Aaron, "You rebelled against My word at the waters of Meribah." Here God seemed to be saying, "You did not obey Me. Instead of doing what I told you to do, you did something else. The people were not reviling Me. There was nothing wrong with them. They simply needed water, and only I can provide water for them. The people were not at fault for being thirsty, and they were not rebelling against Me. You condemned them as rebels, but you are the ones who rebelled against My word."