In the Torah, in the book of Exodus Chapter 17 and again in the Book of Numbers Chapter 20, The former Egyptian slaves complain about the lack of water. They questioned the wisdom of leaving Egypt, where they imagined things to be better than the reality of living in the desert.
When you are living amidst adversity, even bad times in the past can seem to have been much better. We humans are, by nature, highly focused on our present difficulties and challenges. When we feel pain, the past pains seem less relevant. Having recovered from a terrible illness, a lesser illness looms with seemingly greater severity because “that is what I am feeling right now!”
In both of these episodes, Moses gets frustrated with the grumbling and griping.
In Exodus, God tells Moses to strike the rock with his Staff of God in front of the elders to bring forth water. This “miracle” happens. (Although maybe a natural dam was broken, releasing the flood. Like so many miracles in the Bible, possible natural explanations exist. Even miracles take faith to see them as such.)
In Numbers, God tells Moses to take the Staff, but then speak to the rock and order it to give up its water. This would appear to the People in attendance that the water was brought by God without any assistance form a human agent. (Of course, if that was the case, then Moses speaking to the rock would still have been a mortal middleman acting, drawing into question whether the water was a pure act of God. Either way – strike or talk to the rock, Moses was the only one who could be perceived as having acted.)
Moses, the scholar of human nature and mortal understanding that he was, observed that men and women had limited ability to grasp miracles. This intelligent species best learned through the use of their senses. This pinnacle of creation is materially obsessed. We see, hear, taste, smell and touch. Then we know, or think we know. Through the use of our physical abilities, homo sapiens perceive, understand, and accept [or reject] the world, including God’s interventions. We don’t intuitively spiritualize our encounters with our material world. In fact, we usually suppress that sense, even deny it.
So Moses knew that the People would never “get” the miracle as being any more Divine if they heard Moses speaking than if they saw him swinging a stick. In fact, we are more visually oriented than any of the other senses. Certainly more than hearing a command to the rock. So Moses had to give them what he knew they would comprehend.
Moses understood the fundamental temperament of man as being driven by the connection and influence of the Earthly world. Living an existence of boundaries, they instinctually require a dramatic visual experience. Yet even that can be minimalized. Note that even wonder of the Sea splitting faded as explanations not involving God gained traction.
After all, with all the miracles that God performed, culminating in the splitting of the Sea and the Revelation at Sinai, the people still questioned the decision to take them out of Egypt. Yes, they directed their doubts at Moses, because he was there. He could be seen. God had appeared to the entire nation earlier than this episode, at Mt. Sinai to give the 10 Commandments. Apparently, the People had a short term memory of this incredible moment.
Before each of these episodes of water deprivation, the People complained that they would have been better off in Egypt. In effect, this griping is a clue that, in their minds, all the previous signs and wonders either never happened or were negated. Moses knew that this emotionally, spiritually, and developmentally immature nation of former slaves would not recognize a verbal miracle.
So Moses reasonably assumed that they would better accept him striking the rock the second time. It worked before. And why was Moses told to take his staff along when he wasn’t going to use it? I think God may not have been sure of the effect that mortal speaking would have on people. God wanted to be sure that water would come forth.
When you are yourself 100% spiritual by nature, it is not so obvious what these spatially- and temporally-limited mortals are going to comprehend. God has made that mistake several times before in dealing with humans. Which is all understandable. Bridging the Heavenly to the Earthly realms is a complicated process. There are nearly infinite ways that things can go wrong, many due to misconception and misinterpretation.
After Moses acted in the water episode of Numbers, God rebuked him for not honoring God properly. God did not have the opportunity to see if the People would have reacted as a Chosen People should have reacted.
But God also assumed that the spies would have brought a positive report on the Holy Land. Only Moses learned from that incident. God must be forgiven for having been eternally hopeful and prone to forgiveness. Moses was more correctly realistic for what happens with mortal humans in a material universe.
So are there really miracles?
It may be a matter of belief. Many say that every moment of every day is a miracle. That is a wonderful attitude to take toward life. If everybody thought that way, the world might be a kinder and more charitable place. We might all be happy and at peace. A worthy goal.
All of the miracles in the Torah involve a human as the agent to initiate the action. God cannot just come into a material universe and do stuff. That kind of exposure would cause God to become somewhat material, making the Deity less than 100% spiritual. No longer God. God required a very special structure – the Tabernacle – constructing in a very precise manner, in order to come into the physical world and “dwell among them.”
Apparently, the man (Moses), being ultimately humble, was the most apt intermediary to channel Heavenly power and influence into the Created material universe. He was also most knowing about how to use that energy. He may have actually been blessed, not punished, by being commanded to die when he did. It kept him out of the Holy Land, but allowed him to retain his unique connection to two opposing universes.
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For more of this type of commentary, read my other blogs on health of the body and spirit at www.soulbodydrz.com
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Health and Spirit by Dr. Jack Zoldan 