"7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10 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?” 11 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. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy."
Numbers 20:7-13
The divine reaction to the querulous and faithless spirit of the people is not wrath, but grace. The provision of water for their needs is yet another signal evidence of the meaning of the grace of God undeserved, unmerited kindness and goodness. 'Grace for the rebellious' would be an apt title for the passage, and the words of the hymn come readily into mind, 'And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind'. Water for the thirsty, bread for the hungry, home for the homeless, rest for the weary, pardon for the sinful this is grace, and in this story before us we have an illustration of something that is fulfilled and magnified in the gospel of Christ. It is this that makes the gospel good news good news for those who have failed, and been a disappointment to themselves and to God, for those who despair of them- selves in His sight. Everything in the New Testament confirms this. One thinks of Peter, and his black denial of Jesus this was no unexpected happening, but something that was entirely predictable, for all along his heart had refused the discipline of discipleship. What must he have felt after that denial? Surely dark despair and desolation. Yet, one of the first statements of the Resurrection narrative was, 'Go tell the disciples and Peter...' a special reassurance from the risen Lord that there was grace for failures, grace for poor, broken, dejected Peter; to reach deeper than the depths of selfdespair, to lift him up and back into fellowship with the Lord. Is this a word for some Peter today, who is so far down that he almost thinks it would be wrong of God to forgive and pardon and give him a fresh start, so rebellious he has been, so often he has fallen? Ah, this is the wonder and marvel of His grace, which goes far beyond our understanding of it! Take this word, Peter, today. It is for you!