Acting in Anger

“And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.” Numbers 20:10-11

Moses had smitten a rock in order to bring forth water before, but that time it was exactly what God had told him to do. God had told Moses to smite the rock, representing Jesus’ death on the cross. Now, many years later, the people were complaining of thirst once again. This time, God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would come forth. This was to picture the availability of God’s grace to all who simply cry out to the Lord for His mercy. Christ died for us once, and now the water of life is free to all who ask. But this time, Moses was angry. He spoke roughly to the people and struck the rock twice with his rod. God, in His mercy, still miraculously met the need, and water gushed forth to satisfy the people. However, God told Moses that he would no longer be allowed to bring the people into the Promised Land because he disobeyed.

Impulsive, angry behavior can be incredibly destructive. We need to be careful to bring our anger in check to avoid saying or doing things that we will regret later. God used Moses to perform more miracles than any other person in the Old Testament, but even he was subject to acting in anger.