"The Waters of Strife"

The congregation of Israel “came into the wilderness of Zin, and there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron” …. (Num. xx.). “And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes: and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock: and Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice; and the water came out abundantly.”

The rock, the Scripture hath shown, represented Christ. Paul calls it a “Spiritual Rock,” saying, “They all drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. x.). It was a spiritual rock, because filled with the Spirit-power of Jehovah; by which the water was caused to flow out, through the medium of His “Elohistic representative” who stood there unseen. “This is the water of Meribah: because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.”

The Rock, being typical of Christ—the water, flowing out of it, became typical of that “living water” which Jesus said He would give to all who were athirst. Of that living water He spake, saying, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give, shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life” (John iv. 14). This living water, is shown to be that spiritual life, and vitality, emanating from the Word of truth. It is also that pure life-giving stream of spirit, which the apostle John describes in his book of symbol—the Apocalypse. In vision he is shown “A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. xxii.). This river is the subject of the Spirit’s testimony in Ps. xlvi., “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.”

The fertilizing influences of the Word of truth, are likened unto the influences of the rain and the dew upon the earth. The word of Jehovah through the prophet saith: “As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper whereto I sent it” (Isa. lv. 10, 11). Harmonious testimony Moses gives, saying: “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew: as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass” (Deut. xxxii. 1, 2). Therefore, the Spirit through the prophet, speaks of Jehovah as the “fountain of living waters” (Jer. ii. 13).

The “Strife” that arose over the life-giving waters of Meribah, seemed to prefigure the strife that was destined to arise when Christ should dispense the “living water” of the Spirit-word of truth; and ever afterward, whenever that spiritual vitality, emanating from the Living Word, is manifested.

In passages relating to other subjects, water is used in different senses. Sometimes as an emblem of affliction: as when the Spirit of Christ, through the Psalmist, laden with grief and sorrow, saith: “All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me” (Ps. xlii. 7).

An emblem of truth and righteousness in the following testimony, where the Lord, addressing Israel, saith: “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea” (Isa. xlviii.). To those that keep His commandments, the Word saith: “The Lord shall guide thee continually”; “and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. lviii.).

Waters, are also emblematic of a multitude of people, as when the prophet in vision saw a glorious personage, representative of the Christ, and His immortalized host of redeemed ones—“his voice” is likened to “the sound of many waters” (Rev. i. 15). Waters, also represent a multitude of wicked people: as when the Spirit through the Psalmist, uttering prophetic words concerning the Christ, saith: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.” …. “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me” (Ps. xviii). In the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. Concerning Levi, he said: “Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah” (Deut. xxxiii.)

And the people became “much discouraged because of the way”; and they “spake against God and against Moses.” …. “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee; pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses: Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Num. xxi. 4-8).

This, the closing scene of this record of the Name in the wilderness, presents a symbol of the cross; a symbol of the condemnation of sin in the flesh. Christ has revealed the signification of this symbol in His discourse to Nicodemus, saying, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John iii. 14).

At the close of the first record of the Name, the countenance of Moses shone with brightness—the reflection of that glory, infolded within the shadowing cloud, that encircled the cleft rock. In the closing scenes of the second record, the shadows of death fall heavily around; and the glory of Moses declineth like the rays of the setting sun. There is no further mention made of the appearing of the glory of the Lord during the lifetime of Moses. As the glory of the Mosaic dispensation, in the end thereof, was to be superseded by “the glory that excelleth”; so the glory of the mission of Moses, the faithful servant of Yahweh, waned by the side of those shadows which prefigured the “ministration of the Spirit” through the Anointed One.

Following this record of the name, is the prophecy of Balaam, concerning Israel’s estate in the latter days. He spake thus by the Spirit of Jehovah: “The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” …. “Behold the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion.” …. “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies: and Israel shall do valiantly” (Numb, xxiii.—iv.). Jacob, in his “prophecy of the last days,” tells of the tribe out of which that “Star” and that “Sceptre” are to arise; saying, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up? The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet;—for that Shiloh shall come: and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. xlix.). Judah as a “lion” will be “roused up” when he shall come, who is called “the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and the offspring of David” (Rev. v.). “The bright and morning Star” (Rev. xxii. 16). Being designated “the root” as well as “the offspring of David,” leads to the Supreme source and fountain of Eternal Spirit-power, “Ail-Shaddai”; who constituted David king of Israel, and Jesus anointed “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” This everlasting fountain of goodness and glory, is referred to in the blessing that Jacob’s prophecy foretells shall come upon the head of Joseph. “Joseph is a fruitful bough,—a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: (from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel:)” …. “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” Joseph is a type of Christ. He was grieved and hated by his brethren: but “the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty ‘Ail’ of Jacob.” Who is the Eternal strength and power of Him who is styled “the Shepherd and the stone of Israel.” The blessings that are to come upon the head of Christ will prevail above all others: and will be extended through Him over all the earth: “To the utmost bound of the everlasting hills”; when “to the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. ii. 10, 11).

His coming reign of glory, is the subject of the following prophetic testimony in “the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death”:—“The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them: he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints,” …. “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help,—and who is the sword of thy excellency!—thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee: and thou shalt tread upon their high places” (Deut. xxxiii.).