An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of Numbers 20 for Sunday Oct. 5, 2025, including a sample introduction to the lesson, text outline and highlights, illustrations you can share, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life application. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Can you share about a politician/pastor/other leader that you greatly admired/agreed with — but they had a flaw/ you disagreed with them on something?”

(Lots of examples, aren’t they? For example, I loved Ronald Reagan, but I disagreed with some of his policy decisions. There are many pastors that I appreciate, but I don’t agree with any of them on everything. And they are all just men. We all have our failures and flaws.

You/your group will have no trouble coming up with examples, because every human being is flawed; we are all imperfect. 

You might point out that that one of the evidences for the truthfulness of the Bible is that it does not “airbrush” out the flaws of its leaders. It shows them just as they really were — which gives us confidence in its truthfulness. And today in our lesson in Numbers 20, we see how Moses, an amazing leader and man of God, had his own failures and flaws as well.  

(ALTERNATE INTRODUCTION)

Use the quote from David McCullough’s History Matters that I mention in Point I, and open with a discussion question on how “past things shed light on future ones” — and after your discussion, share how we today can learn from Israel’s mistakes, as we have the same sin nature today that they did then.)

***However you’re led begin the lesson, be sure you pay attention to the context for this passage, because the Scripture takes a 38-year leap into the future, which you’ll miss if you aren’t careful, and make some wrong interpretations/applications***

CONTEXT:

Since we left off in Numbers 14 last time, a LOT has taken place:

— In Chapter 16 the Rebellion of Korah takes place, when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram question why only Aaron’s sons were to be priests — and God opened the ground and swallowed the rebels.— In Chapter 17 God makes the rod of Aaron bud, confirming that he is truly chosen of God for the priesthood (and :10 says they put his rod that budded in front of the Ark of Testimony — which we will refer to later).  

— Chapter 18 follows that up with God’s command to support the priests, the sons of Aaron, with their tithes and offerings.

— And Chapter 19 gives laws of purification that the priests were to carry out.

— NOW HERE is what I mentioned earlier that you don’t want to miss, and it’s not immediately obvious to the casual reader: Numbers 20:28 describes Aaron’s death. But we don’t realize until we get to Numbers 33:38, that this is “in the 40th year” after they had come out of Egypt.  SO THERE IS A “GAP” OF about 38 YEARS between Numbers 19 and Numbers 20!  So make note of this, and interpret and apply Numbers 20 appropriately. What Numbers 20 describes is about 38 years AFTER they first came to Kadesh-Barnea. The old generation has died off, and Israel is again approaching Canaan, again on the verge of going in. Chapter 20:1 says it is “the first month;” Cole’s NAC commentary says this has traditionally been taken to mean that the 40 years of punishment are over, and this is now “the first month” of this new era. So this is a different generation — but as we shall see, sadly their sinful nature is very much the same! 

OUTLINE:

I. The Nature of the People (:2-5)

II. The Humility of the Leaders (:6)

III. The Instruction of the LORD (:7-8)

IV. The Disobedience of Moses (:9-11)

V.  The Judgment of God (:12-13)

TEXT:  Numbers 20:2-13

I.  The Nature of the People (:2-5)

:2 “There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die [a]here? 5 Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of [b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 

Does this sound familiar? Israel is complaining again, aren’t they? Now remember, this is mostly NOT the same generation that came out of Egypt originally. 38 years have passed. But their response to the shortage of water is JUST like their fathers.’ They complained, and they questioned the leadership of Moses and Aaron, just like their predecessors.  

If you remember, last time in Numbers 14 we talked about how the LORD mentioned that “ten times” their fathers had tested Him. Every time they faced a need, a shortage of food or water, or faced an obstacle, their response was to complain.
(I won’t read all that again here but I’ll post I’ll the list of those 10 on the print version of this overview on www.shawnethomas.com if you’d like to get it)

The Jewish Babylonian Talmud specified the “ten times” as:

1) at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11-2)

2) at Marah (Num. 15:23)

3) in the Sin wilderness (Num. 16:2)

4 & 5) twice at Kadesh, Num. 16:20, 27)

6) at Rephidim/Massah/Meribah (Num. 17:2-7)

7) at Sinai (Num. 32:1-35)

8) at Taberah (Num. 11:1)

9) at Kibroth hattaavah (Num. 11:4-34)

10) here at Kadesh (Num. 13:1-14:45)

The rabbis taught that these 10 served as a contrast to the 10 plagues of the Egyptians, and described them as “two at Kadesh, two for water, two for food, two for flesh, one for the golden calf, and one for the spies.” (R. Dennis Cole, New American Commentary, p. 233)

The point is, this “new generation” is very much like their parents. Same kind of situation; same kind of response; same sins. They were falling right in the footsteps of their parents — and not in a good way! 

This points us to the central doctrine of the depravity of man. All mankind are sinners, both by nature and by choice. We have all inherited a sin nature that has been passed down to all of us by Adam & Eve, but not only that, when we each individually come to a time to make our own personal choices, we each personally do choose to sin. Thus we are sinners by nature and by choice. 

Often you hear people say things like, “All people are basically good.” We might want to believe that, but scripturally it’s just not true. We are NOT all “basically good.” We are all sinners, by nature and by choice. It is in ALL of us. 

Psalm 14:2-3, which is quoted in Romans 3, says: “The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. :3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

NOTICE how many times it emphasizes it: “”any,” “all,” “together,” “no one,” “not even one”! 

ALL of us have this sinful nature. You don’t need to teach children to sin; they do it all on their own! Every generation since Adam has been composed of sinful people. (This is why we all need a Savior; you might share the gospel here!) And this sinful human nature does not change from generation to generation. 

In author David McCullough’s essays, published posthumously, entitled History Matters, this quote by Francesco Guicciardini (1500s Florence) is mentioned:

“Past things shed light on the future ones. The world was always of a kind. What is and what will be, was at some other time. The same things come back but under different names and different colors. Not everybody recognizes them, but only who is wise and considers them diligently.” 

EXERCISE/DISCUSSION QUESTION:

You might consider posting this quote, and discussing: “What do you think about this quote?”

(Answers might include that for a Christian, we know there are some “one time” events, like the call of Abraham and the birth of Christ, and that all history is pointing to a definite end in His return — BUT Guicciardini is right in that the NATURE of man does not change over the centuries. Man’s sinful nature is the same, from generation to generation — and like he says, if we are wise, we will learn from it.

So how can learn from it?

— One way is by reading history, and recognizing patterns of sin in mankind that do not change. We don’t want to be like the proverbial food who ignores history and repeats it. 

— A very specific and personal way is by looking back on our own family history, to see “patterns” of sin. Do different members of different generations of our family repeatedly fall into the same kinds of sin, in the same way? If so, you need to recognize that this is happening, and take some specific steps to combat it, and to avoid it. For example, is there a tendency to alcoholism, or anger/abuse, or financial difficulties, or immorality? If so, put a special guard around your life in those areas. Learn from your family’s history; don’t repeat it like Israel does here!

ILLUSTRATION

In football they use a term, “self-scouting.” When a team is preparing to play a certain opponent, they’ll “scout” that team by studying their film, and see what their “tendencies” are: what plays do they typically run on first down, or when they are on the goal line, and so on. By studying the film they can scout the team’s “tendencies.” By the same token, good teams will also do what they call “self scouting”: that is, they will study their OWN tendencies in the same way, and see what plays they tend to call in certain situations, so they don’t become too predictable to the opposition.

So as Christians, it’s a good idea for us to “self scout” in a sense: look back on your family history — or even on your own life from time to time — and consider: what has caused us to stumble? What are our tendencies and temptations? And use that “self scouting” of your tendencies to your benefit:

— Use it to help you know how to pray. Jesus taught us to pray every morning: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” You know what you’re temped with; what your tendencies are. So pray that you will not be led into temptation that way. The old expression is “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That certainly applies to avoiding sin in the first place. Know your tendencies and pray not to be led into them.

— And once you’re aware of your sinful tendencies, do all you can not to put yourself in position to be tempted in that way. “Make no provision for the flesh, in regard to its lusts,” Romans 13:14 says. Don’t keep things around, or go places, or put yourself in situations, where you know you are likely to be tempted. “Self scout,” and pray, and ask God to help you to avoid falling again and again for the same patterns of sin that your family, or that you as an individual, have succumbed to.

Israel here in Numbers 20 fell into the same sins that their fathers had fallen into. Let’s learn from them, and do our best to be aware of what those sins are, learn from history, and avoid them.

II. The Humility of the Leaders (:6)

6 “Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces.”

So the people of Israel fell back into their same old pattern of sin and complaining again. What did Moses & Aaron, the leaders of Israel do in response to it? It’s not a complicated response, is it? It just says they went from the presence of the assembly of the people, to the doorway of the Tabernacle, the house of God’s presence among them, and “fell on their faces.” 

Why did they do this? “Falling on their face” is an expression of helplessness and humility. If you think you’ve got everything under control, you have a plan, and you take steps 1, 2, 3, and so on. But when you are absolutely overwhelmed, you just “fall on your face” before God. It’s just admitting, I’m helpless, I have no answers, I have no power, I can do nothing. God, all I can do is fall down before You and seek Your help. 

Note that they did fall at “the doorway of the tent of meeting” — that’s the Tabernacle. So they went before the LORD, to seek HIS help. They couldn’t do anything; all they could do was seek God. Scripturally, this is actually a very good place to be. Because as Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” The word “poor” there means totally unable to help themselves. Jesus said that’s exactly the person God will help! 

There are a number of times in scripture when people fell on their faces before the LORD:

— Genesis 17:3, when God appeared to Abram and made him great promises, Abram was just totally overwhelmed and “Abram fell on his face.”

— In Joshua 7:6, after Israel had been defeated by the small town of Ai, “Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening”

— Luke 5:12 “While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’”

— Amazingly, in Matthew 26:39 JESUS Himself came to a time when He fell on His face, in Gethsemane: “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’”

??? DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

You/your group might share some times when you just “fell on your face” before God:

(EXAMPLE: when I was a young pastor, at my first church, I had such a big problem facing me, and I didn’t know what to do about it, so I remember I just literally got down on my face on the carpet and prayed to God.

You/your group can share your own times like this — 

AND suggest: maybe there were/are times when we SHOULD fall on our faces before God, but we don’t! 

Remember, Psalm 138:5 “For though the LORD exalted, yet He regards the lowly; but the haughty He knows from afar.”

James 4:6 reminds us: “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

So the lesson to us is, when we have difficult things come upon us, that just seem to overwhelm us — do what Moses and Aaron did: get in your prayer closet or office or wherever you go — maybe the “altar”/place of prayer at the front of the church at the invitation today — and just “fall on your face” before the Lord, and bring that thing to Him. It’s the very best response you can have. God will give grace to the humble! So humble yourself and seek Him for that difficult problem today! 

III. The Instruction of the LORD (:7-8)

:7 “Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

The immediate problem that had precipitated the people’s rebellion was the lack of water, so God gave Moses instructions on what to do: “Take the rod” 

Now, WHAT “ROD” WAS THIS?  The rod of Moses, or the rod of Aaron?

There are proponents of both views:

— It would make sense for it to be Moses’ rod, that God has had him use since Egypt to perfom miracles.

— But remember we just saw in Numbers 17:10 that God had them put Aaron’s rod that budded in the tabernacle before the Ark of Testimony. Verse 9 says Moses took the rod “from before the LORD” — which is where He told him to put AARON’s rod!

— Some commentators believe it is the SAME rod! 

I think it’s a good principle not to be too emphatic on something the Bible does not make clear. Whichever rod it was, God told Moses: once you have the rod, assemble the congregation and “speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water.” This would provide water for the people and their animals. 

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???
“Why do you think God told Moses to “assemble the congregation” and “speak to the rock before their eyes”?

(Answers could include something like: by gathering the congregation and letting them SEE what had happened, they would realize that God had really done this. Remember, this was 38 years later. Virtually all of the previous generation of men 20 years and upward had died by now. So now this generation would see God’s miracle for themselves, and hopefully they would realize that God was really with them, providing for them, just like He did for their fathers.)

This was not dissimilar from what God had done before. If you look back in Exodus 17, in the Wilderness of Sin, at Rephidim, their fathers had no water, and God told Moses to strike the rock, and water would come out — and it did. 

But as we will see, there was a difference in what God told Moses, and what he actually did; and it will cost him:

IV. The Disobedience of Moses  (:9-11)

9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.”

So :9 says Moses “took the rod from before the LORD” (makes it seem like it was Aaron’s rod?). And he & Aaron “gathered the assembly before the rock …”. So far so good …

BUT he spoke to them harshly: “Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” and :11 says he “STRUCK” the rock twice — and water came forth. 

Moses disobeyed God here, first with his attitude, and then with his actions:

— You can tell from what he said to the Israelites that he had a bad attitude.

— And then he struck the rock twice, when God had told him to speak to it. 

Moses really just “lost it,” in his attitudes and actions, and disobeyed God, going beyond what He had told him to do. 

One lesson/APPLICATION: Just because a person is God’s servant (and maybe even a very good one), does NOT give them “free reign” to say or do whatever they feel like. They too are subject to the laws and judgment of God. There is no partiality with Him. Do what His word says to do. Say what His word says, and no more. Anything more will bring His reprimand upon YOU! 

ILLUSTRATION: (you are free to share this)

Cheryl & I had two older boys, then a daughter, then a younger son when the other 3 were a bit older. When the three older kids were in elementary school in Tulsa, the two boys were being mean to our daughter, Libby, and wouldn’t let her in their room to play. (I could actually hear the commotion from down the hall, as you might imagine!) She came to me, all upset. So I told her: “You go tell the boys, ‘Dad says let me in!” and they’ll let you in. So I can hear Libby stomp all the way down the hall, and when she gets to their door, and she shouts: “Dad said let me in, you dummies!” Well, that got me off my chair, and I ran down the hallway, and now LIBBY was the one who was in trouble! I said, “Libby, that is NOT what I told you to tell them! When I tell you to tell them something, you don’t change it or add anything to it. You just tell them exactly what I said!”

That’s very much like what happened with Moses in Numbers 20. God told him to speak to the rock. But Moses added his own personal feelings to it: “You rebels!” (sounds very much like  our Libby’s “you dummies!”) So in the next point, God will come “running down the hallway” in a sense, telling Moses: Now YOU are  the one who’s in trouble! That’s not what I told you to say.

So a key application here is that God is no respecter of persons. The same standard applies to all of His people. As Cole (NAS) says: “Even the greatest of the prophets must endure the judgment of God when he rebels.” Romans 2:11 says “For there is no partiality with God.” 

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

“What are some people/situations where this principle might apply?”

(Answers could include:

— to pastors or staff members: if they sin, they too are accountable like any church member

— longtime/established church members should not be shown partiality over “newcomers.” All should have the same standard.

— cherished family members and friends do not receive partial treatment; all should be treated alike.

— Important political leaders are not exempt from God’s standards. They apply to them too.

You/your group can share many such applications.

The point is, God will reprimand/punish ANY person who fails to believe/treat Him as holy, as He says here. We should not expect Him to show favoritism or partiality. He didn’t do it for Moses — so you have not reason to believe He will do it for you, either!

It’s remarkable to read here that God still provided the water, after Moses disobeyed Him like that. You might ask your group:

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Why do you think God still answered Moses by giving water, when he disobeyed Him in the way that he did it?”

(Answers could include that He still wanted to provide water for the people — He didn’t want to punish them for Moses’ disobedience. Or that He didn’t want to discredit Moses’ leadership before the people. They might have cast aside the good things he’d led them to do — and maybe even the Law he’d given — if He had.

You/your group can share your thoughts.But it IS remarkable that God DID give the water, even in light of Moses’ disobedience.  

But that does not mean that Moses didn’t have a price to pay, as we see in our last point: 

V. The Judgment of God (:12-13)

12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.”

So God DID give water for the people, but :12 begins with an important word: “BUT.” He’d been speaking about Israel’s rebellion and lack of faith; but now He addresses Moses & Aaron’s own faithlessness and rebellion before Him! 

— He begins by saying “Because you have not believed Me.”

Moses “believe” in God enough to obey Him in attitude and action. God added that he didn’t “treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel.” There is a “play on words here” — they were in Kadesh, on the edge of the Wilderness. The word “kadesh” means “holy.” But Moses did not treat God as “holy” here — he took Him for granted, and pridefully “upstaged” Him. Moses had been called “the meekest man in all the earth (Numbers 12:3) but here he let his pride take over. It was an offense to God, who put him back in his place. 

He said “Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” That was a devastating blow. After all he done; all he had put up with over all those years — he would not be allowed to go into the Promised Land. 

I think God perhaps had a greater purpose in mind here. Could He not have shown Moses grace, and punished him in some other way, which still allowed him to go in? Yes, He could. But He didn’t. His mind and reasoning are certainly way beyond ours, but perhaps it was in the best interest for Moses not to go in — so that in the end it was not “Moses” who delivered Israel, but GOD who did it. God would just raise up the next man, in this case Joshua, who would lead them in, and HE only would have the glory.

Verse 13 ends our focus passage, saying that the spring that rose up there became known as the “waters of Meribah,” “rib” is the Hebrew word for “contention/strife,” which was the root of the problem here (“rib” is the word used in :3 of how they contended with Moses & Aaron) But it adds that God showed Himself holy — as He always does!

But it’s a sad situation. We saw last time in Numbers 14 how God may choose to forgive a sin, but not remove all of its earthly consequences. He pardoned Israel, but did not allow them to come to the Promised Land. Now that very same judgment will come upon Moses himself. He’s an example to all of us, to treat God as holy, and carefully obey Him. Know that God will not show partiality to us — not matter WHO we are — if we do not! 

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