Moses & The Rock

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people. 00:00:02 Speaker 2: I have heard the Israelites complaints against me. Tell them this, All who were counted in the cens is twenty years older will die in the desert. I swear that none will enter the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua. 00:00:21 Speaker 3: The Lord. 00:00:25 Speaker 4: The Lord has spoken forty years, forty years of what exile? 00:00:37 Speaker 5: Enough, old man, Your time commanding us is through. After today, the people will have a new regime. 00:00:45 Speaker 1: Moses frowned, raising his voice to address the rebels. 00:00:49 Speaker 6: Get away from the tents of these wicked men. 00:00:53 Speaker 4: Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you'll be swept away. Because of all. 00:00:57 Speaker 1: Their sins, the greedy ground and consumed them, all the usurpers, their families, their possessions, even their desperate cries. Everything once it all tumbled out of sight into the darkness below. A horrified Israel watched as the ground knit itself back together, leaving only open space and silence where the two households had been. 00:01:24 Speaker 6: How many times do I need to see the people of God devolve into mindless madness? 00:01:30 Speaker 4: How much longer must I endure this? 00:01:40 Speaker 7: Moses lifted his staff, struck the rock, and with it he struck his own future. Shello, my friends, from here in the holy Land of Israel, i'm l Extein with international Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. It's been thirty eight years. The sand still shifts under the feet of the Chosen People. The same wilderness stretches into the horizon. Along the way. They've buried countless memories and more than a few loved ones. They are thirsty again, not just for water, but for hope, for land, for a future that doesn't feel like endless wandering, and so they cry out. What happens next is one of the most dramatic moments in the Journey of Israel, one that even Moses won't escape unscathed. This is the story of failure, of a leader's misstep, of consequences that ripple through generations, and it all began with the rock. 00:02:41 Speaker 1: Moses frowned at the dry rock marking the source of the stream, now empty, its creek bed dusty and barren. The parched air clung to him for telling the scorching day ahead. It was unseasonably hot for the first month of the year. Before dawn, the heat pressed down relentlessly Kadish, usually a well watered oasis and a familiar resting place for the Israelites, was lifeless for years. The Lord had provided water there, and year after year the people returned to this spot on the edge of the Promised Land before moving their flocks to the foothills for summer. Thirty eight years. That's how much time had passed since Israel refused to enter the Promised Land based on a negative report of moses hand selected spies, and in that time, true to the Lord's fateful declaration, that entire generation had passed away. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam were all now advanced in age, each well over one hundred and ailing with all that accompanied such an achievement, Miriam was next to blind and frail. Aaron's hands shook terribly and he now walked with a hunch, and their younger brother Moses was not much better. His hands were gnarled and his joints ached all hours of the day and night, moving or resting, it made no difference. Only Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, and Miriam had made it to Kadosh that spring of the thirty eighth year, but Miriam fell gravely ill when they arrived. She had helped Moses and Aaron oversee the final stages of setting up the tabernacle and their family's tents, but had to retreat to her tent to rest. She never rose again after that. Moses was devastated and Aaron was beside himself. The High Priest was prohibited from coming into contact with dead bodies by their laws, as it would render him ritually impure, so when they received word that she had passed peacefully in her sleep, Aaron was barred from even entering her tent. Moses could have gone in, but he refrained. Somehow, it didn't feel right when Aaron could not. Instead, one of her great great grandchildren would close her eyes for the final time. Moses and Aaron sat outside the tabernacle, weeping for the sister who had saved Moses as a baby and stood as a leader alongside them for decades. Elieza, Aaron's son, prepared her body while the community's mournful cries filled the camp. The brothers wept until exhaustion overtook them. Eyes dry, bodies trembling, the mourners. Keening echoed into the night, and though they returned to their tents, sleep eluded Moses lightly. It escaped Aaron as well. Moses wandered to the rock, waiting for dawn. As the sun rose, casting harsh light on the parched stone, he sighed that problem would wait today. They would bury Miriam. Joshua was about to depart for the day when the sound of two approaching voices right outside of his tent made him halt in his tracks. Joshua knew the tone of dissent when he heard it. 00:06:18 Speaker 2: He was all too. 00:06:19 Speaker 1: Familiar with where this type of complaining would inevitably lead. His stomach tightened, but he clenched his jaw and listened. Anyway, Did you see the stream? 00:06:30 Speaker 5: You mean the dry creek bed? 00:06:33 Speaker 8: Exactly? How can Moses possibly think that we can settle here this year? I know his sister just died, but. 00:06:40 Speaker 4: We should get moving. 00:06:42 Speaker 8: It's an insult to think that we should sit here and starve, mere miles away from the promised land. 00:06:48 Speaker 4: It's not fair. 00:06:50 Speaker 9: My father told me of the grapes the scouts brought back. He said they had to be lifted. 00:06:56 Speaker 5: By two men across a long pole. 00:06:59 Speaker 4: Can you even. 00:07:02 Speaker 8: Moses has kept us from anything good? He would have us wandering the desert until we all die, just like our parents. 00:07:11 Speaker 9: We need to do something, something needs to change. 00:07:16 Speaker 8: Join us. We're going to Moses later today. Didn't he just bury his sister? Miriam's tomb has been sealed and the brothers earl morning. Why should we wait any longer to make our complaints known? We'll die out here ourselves if we wait much longer. 00:07:35 Speaker 5: I will go with you. 00:07:37 Speaker 1: The two men walked away, unaware that Joshua had overheard their blunt conversation from where he sat in the entryway to his tent. He sighed and rubbed his temples. It was time to find Moses and Aaron and alert them again. Now in his late fifties, Joshua was among the oldest who remembered the failures of their forebears. Nearly forty years ago, peace had settled over Israel as the older generations passed, replaced by younger ones who had only heard of the Red Sea whispered around Camphire's. They hadn't seen the lord's fearsome judgment first hand, as he and. 00:08:14 Speaker 3: Caleb had, how much longer until we take the promised land? 00:08:18 Speaker 2: Are we ready? 00:08:19 Speaker 3: Am I? Ready? Are they ready to take up the land? They've been promised? Will any of us have truly be ready? 00:08:26 Speaker 1: The Lord had promised that Joshua and Caleb would see Canaan. That much encouraged him when he felt lost and discouraged. But the Lord had extended no such promise to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, And now Miriam was gone. Would the brothers live to see the fruition of the dream they've planted in every Israelite's art. Would their faithfulness at the next generation be rewarded. Joshua had come to accept that he was going to take the mantle of leadership when Moses passed. Such had been prophesied at the base of Mount Sinai. Yet even so, Joshua longed for Moses to lead the people into the promised land. He desperately wanted Moses to experience the joy of finishing what he had started. Moses was furious Joshua had just come to tell him of the approaching mob. After years of wandering the desert waiting for the faithless to pass, this new generation dared to echo the same ungrateful complaints of their forebears. Where was the justice in that? Weren't they supposed to be different? The ones worthy of the promised land. He had spent a third of his life preparing them, and this was their response. Moses glanced at Aaron, his brother, just as enraged, trembled from head to toe, his arthritic hands shaking uncontrollably. 00:09:53 Speaker 5: Have these children no respect? Her sister's party has not yet grown gold, and yet they hurl these complaints against us. 00:10:02 Speaker 6: It's this place, goodesh, it's still reeks of our past failures. It pollutes this place. It poisons their minds against us. 00:10:14 Speaker 5: Eh, what do they know? They don't know what we've been through on their behalf. 00:10:21 Speaker 9: These hunglings have no idea where we've been, what we've done. 00:10:28 Speaker 5: They they think they could have done better. How many countless men have died screaming in front of our. 00:10:35 Speaker 10: Eyes, even children crippled and scarred with disease. 00:10:41 Speaker 5: The ground splitting open between. 00:10:44 Speaker 10: Us, Oh, to give up what I have given up for their sake, the life I have been appointed to live, the mantle I carry, To give. 00:10:55 Speaker 9: Up my own sons, and to watch us see. 00:11:03 Speaker 5: I couldn't give him bury our sister. 00:11:05 Speaker 4: I'm telling you erin this time wile. 00:11:09 Speaker 1: Just then, Joshua poked his head back into Moses's tent. 00:11:12 Speaker 11: Moses baron, They are assembled before the tabernacle. They are ready for me. Moses sighed and steadied himself. He attempted to leash his rage and remind himself what his duty was to these people, what he had given his life for. Moses clenched his jaw and bawled his gnarled fists. What would it say about his legacy if he lost his temper and failed yet again? He motioned for Joshua to lead the way, and Moses and Aaron soon found themselves standing before an angry mob of disgruntled men and women. 00:11:48 Speaker 4: Again, have you brought us here? There's no water. Have you brought us here so that we will die like our father's The. 00:11:55 Speaker 9: Land of Canaan, just over the border, taunts us. We have grain and figs and vines, pomegranates. 00:12:02 Speaker 4: We have nothing. Have you forgotten what you taught us? 00:12:06 Speaker 8: We are the Lord's assembly, and yet we are still not in the promised land. 00:12:10 Speaker 3: You uprooted our fathers from Egypt just to strand us in this evil place. 00:12:16 Speaker 9: I'm starting to think you're afraid, Moses, not capable of leading us anymore. You don't have the boldness to lead us to the land of the promise. Does the Lord even speak to you anymore? Do you even have the authority to read? 00:12:34 Speaker 1: The crowd gathered around the instigators and devolved into shouting. Then Moses's mouth fell open in shock at these bold claims. One look at Aaron told him he was experiencing the same shock. The crowd before him blurred until he could only see read, and that familiar, willing sound returned, and Moses has again lost in his roiling thoughts. 00:12:59 Speaker 4: Of realizing. 00:13:10 Speaker 1: His hands gripped his staff, and just as he began to raise it, his body took over and his mind went blank with rage. Suddenly, a strong hand gripped his arm, and he saw Joshua's pleading face before him. 00:13:26 Speaker 3: Moses, please go before the Lord and ask for water, ask him to provide a way for us to stay here. Don't dignify their complaints with your rage. 00:13:36 Speaker 1: Moses' vision cleared. 00:13:38 Speaker 2: The boy was right. 00:13:40 Speaker 1: He was letting the people's words fester, poking at old insecurities and wounds from his past. He loosened his grip on the staff, flexing his hands and slowing his breath. Joshua stepped back but watched him with concern. Moses scowled at the shouting crowd, but said nothing. If they wanted to see his authority, he would show them by fulfilling his role, something none of them could do. Grasping Aaron's arm, Moses led him to the tabernacle. Aaron struggled to keep up these days. He hobbled, sometimes losing his way. Yet Moses was always there to guide him. He would until the bitter end. Inside they knelt in the most holy place and waited for the Lord to speak. 00:14:32 Speaker 2: Take the staff, the one I used to appoint the high priest, the one that sprouted before all Israel, and assemble the community by the dry stream. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the source the rock while they want, Then it will yield its water. In that way, he would bring out water from them from the rock, and I drink for the entire community and live stock. 00:15:06 Speaker 1: Deep beneath Moses simmering anger, He knew he should be grateful for the solution the Lord provided. He knew he should rejoice that this spark of rebellion would not lead to ruin. Yet the sting of the people's complaints gnawed at him, distracting him, buzzing in his mind, crowding out the place where he usually felt the ever present presence of the Lord. Aaron mad the incense to fill the most holy place, veiling the glory of the Lord, and retrieved the sprouted starf from the ark of the Covenant. Both men marveled at how the olmans and blossoms had remained fresh and unaged. A true symbol of divine authority. Moses was to wield it. Taking the staff in hand, he led the reluctant, murmuring assembly of God's people out to the rock. Moses did as the Lord commanded, standing with Aaron before the gathered people of Israel in front of the dry rock. The crowd pressed in and around the creek bed, their water skins and jars held limply, their faces marked by doubt. They did not expect anything, nor did they believe Moses carried the true authority of God. They were too young to understand the significance of the staff in Moses hands. They hadn't seen the Nile turn to blood, or the Red Sea split in two. Yet here they were again, in Kaidish, at the edge of the promised Land, caught in the same cycle of doubt, fear, and disloyalty their parents had. Moses knew he had to end this uprising before it took root. He had to remind them of their place and the divine power at work among them. 00:16:55 Speaker 6: Listen, you rebels, must erin, and I bring what out of this rock for you. We will show you where true authority lies. 00:17:05 Speaker 1: Anger surged, unchecked through Moses, finally unleashed as he spoke with ferocity to the ungrateful crowd. He raised his hand and struck the rock with the sprouted staff. The impact reverberated up his arm, jarring his shoulder, fueling his rage further. He struck the rock a second time. Water gushed in a torrent, filling the dry creek bed and surging into the camp. The current flowed fast and strong, spreading through the plains beyond. The people gasped and cheered, Astonished by the sight. Even Moses stood stunned. He had seen waterfalls in Egypt, that such a rush of water was unheard of in the desert. The people's amazement softened their anger. Moses saw Aaron's shoulders slump with relief, But as their relief settled Moses felt the presence of the Lord's stir within him. A familiar fear prickled his spine, and Aaron looked at him, worry creasing his face. 00:18:09 Speaker 9: He wants to speak with us, doesn't he? 00:18:14 Speaker 4: Yes, he does? 00:18:16 Speaker 9: Or Moses, we acted like those arrogant magicians back. 00:18:21 Speaker 5: At Pharaoh's court? What he acted like? What was his name? 00:18:25 Speaker 9: Remember Ramsey's high priest and that slippery snake of a man Nebermond, tolting the Lord's. 00:18:33 Speaker 4: Power as if it was our own. 00:18:36 Speaker 10: We've grown to accustom to oppositions. 00:18:39 Speaker 9: We've become compliant in our steady rain over the people. 00:18:45 Speaker 8: We're no better than those Egyptians. 00:18:48 Speaker 1: Aaron was right. Moses's stomach dropped out as he recalled the things he thought and said in his anger. His hardened heart was no better than Ramsey's. Moses swallowed and then nodded to Aaron. The two of them went away from the still celebrating crowds along the bank of the now rushing stream and knelt before the god they had been following for the last century. 00:19:13 Speaker 4: Lord speak, we are ready to hear. 00:19:18 Speaker 1: You, Moses felt to Lord's disappointment in the silence that hung between them. He hung his head in shame. He understood, in his haste and anger and pride he had taken up the Lord's authority and waved it before the masses as if it was his own. His heart sank. He was lucky to be alive and kneeling before the Lord at all. If any one else had been so brazenly disrespectful to his God, he would have expected the holy fires to consume them immediately. He had seen it happen a lot, and it had been justified. Tears brimmed in Moses's eyes. He had failed again. 00:20:00 Speaker 6: Why am I still kneeling, still breathing? 00:20:05 Speaker 4: Why am I still living at all? 00:20:08 Speaker 1: At the thought, he held his breath and waited for wrath, waited for fire, waited for oblivion. But it did not come. There was only stillness, and in that stillness resolution. 00:20:26 Speaker 4: Yet you would let us live. 00:20:30 Speaker 1: He wept at the Lord's mercy, and Aaron wept beside him. It was not until Moses understood that the Lord finally spoke. 00:20:41 Speaker 2: You understand, You understand that you did not trust me to demonstrate mine holiness in the sight of all Israel. You took it upon yourself. You acted accordingly. To your own authority. 00:20:57 Speaker 1: Moses continued to weep as he remembered the Lord's instructions. The realization pressed down on him like a great weight. He was to speak and the water would flow from the rock. But in losing control, and in the midst of his outburst, he struck the rock twice, struck it out of anger. 00:21:18 Speaker 2: Because of this act of rebellion, neither of you will bring this assembly into the land I have given them. 00:21:26 Speaker 1: Moses slumped, and he felt Aaron collapse in despair beside him. He had heard the Lord as well. Moses was grateful he didn't have to relay the words. He doubted he could find the words to express this profound and utter failure. His words spoken in obedience could have brought life, but instead his angry words would only bring death and disappointment. 00:21:58 Speaker 7: I have to admit this story is really hard to understand. Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it as God has commanded, and for that he is punished by not being permitted to enter the promised Land. Leading the people into the Holy Land was his life's goal. Why was the punishment so severe? The great nineteenth century sage Rabby Neftalites via Huda Berlin explains this story in a different way, a way that's very interesting. He notes that this was the thirty eighth year for the Israelites in the desert, and that the generation who witnessed the Exodus and the giving of the Torah had almost completely died out. The Israelites in this story hadn't seen the miracles in Egypt, they hadn't experienced God's presence at Mount Sinai. These Israelites needed an injection of faith, and Rabbi Berlin says that it's here where Moses failed. Instead of listening exactly to God's command, Moses displayed anger and despair, and instead of giving the people the us sure of faith that they needed so badly, Moses calls them rebels. As a result, got understood that while Moses was the perfect leader for the previous generation, this new generation actually needed a different kind of leadership, a leader who was more inspirational and less confrontational. And so the decree for Moses not to enter the Holy Land wasn't really a punishment. Rather, it was the recognition that Moses, as holy as he was, was not the right leader for the new generation. About to make the transition to living in and building the Promised Land. It's difficult and it's sometimes painful to realize that new leadership is needed, but we see from the stories that it's necessary. Even Moses couldn't be a leader forever. And we learn from Rabbi Berlin's explanation that every generation needs a leader who can inspire faith. The person who did that for a previous generation might not inspire the new one. It's a hard lesson, but it's a very important one. This story is more than just one story about a simple mistake or a moment of frustration. God commanded Moses to speak to the rock, but instead Moses hit the rock, and on the surface, that seems like the problem disobedience to God's clear instructions. But the deeper issue is one of trust. Moses's frustration clouded his vision, and his loss of perspective led to an act of desperation, and it's here that we find a deep truth. Gratitude is a form of faith when we can recognize the good even in the dry and barren wilderness. We declare our trust in God in Hebrew Hakarata Toau. Recognizing the good is what it's called and it's not just about being thankful. It's about acknowledging that every blessing, every provision comes from God. Moses, for all of his greatness, missed that moment. How many times do we miss the good in our lives because of frustration, because we want something else, we want something more. It's something to think about as we learn from the victories and the failures of the chosen people who came before us. There is one more teaching from Jewish tradition that want to share with you today. Our tradition teaches that Moses did just hit the rock. 00:25:28 Speaker 4: He spoke to the wrong one. 00:25:30 Speaker 7: The Lord had told Moses to speak to the same rock that had blessed the people with water for forty years. But Moses, in a moment of frustration, couldn't even recognize the life giving rock. He lost sight of the gift God had provided, and in that moment he failed to see the blessing in front of him. I'll repeat that Hebrew phrase for gratitude that I used earlier. In Hebrew, the term for recognizing the good is hakarat hatauv, and Moses at this moment didn't have hakaratatov. He didn't recognize the good, the blessing that God had given him. It wasn't about striking the rock. It was about failing to see the miracle that was right in front of his eyes. How often do we do the same? How often do we miss the good because we're so focused on what we lack? Moses, our greatest leader, made mistakes, and from his story we learn a powerful truth that even the greatest among us aren't perfect. We fall, we fail, but that's not the end. It's not about being flawless. It's about learning from our mistakes, recognizing the good, and keeping our hearts set on the promised land. We don't have to be perfect, We just have to keep trying. 00:26:45 Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the pray dot Com app today. This preydog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talent. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review,