7.5.25 ~ She's gone, now what?

 Good morning!

Nobody mourns, there's no time to mourn, you're in crisis, you're in the desert, there's no water. What are you going to do now? They come to the wilderness of Tzin and Kadesh,  Miriam dies and she's buried there. And no one mourns. All of a sudden there’s no more water for the people (Num. 20:1,2). So now what has to happen? If they don't have water there's only one answer? They've got to have faith. They've got to be able to place themselves in the hands of Yahweh and say, ‘Yah here we are, we're placing ourselves in Your hand, we don't have water. 

What happens? They gather against Moses and Aaron and they start arguing with Moses; We should have just died already. After 40 years they say, ‘why do you bring us into this desert, us and our cattle’? Why did you take us out of Egypt anyway and bring us to this lousy place’? You can't plant anything here. There’s no fruit here and there's not even any water.

 

Now you're really stuck, Miriam is dead and the people are as far away from faith as you can possibly imagine. How are you going to get water now? It's impossible.

Moses and Aaron retreat from the people and Yahweh appears before them and says, ‘take the staff’. Just like the olden days, just like last time. Forty years ago you took the staff, you hit a rock, now take the staff and gather the entire congregation around you and Aaron. Speak to rock before their eyes and it will give of its waters. The last time Yahweh said hit the rock and draw water out from the rock. This time, speak to the rock and it will give of its waters and you will be able to give drinks to everyone.

Moses takes the staff just as he was commanded and he gathers everyone around and what does he say? ‘Listen you rebels. Do you really think that I can get water out of this rock for you? What is he telling them? He's telling them the truth! He's saying, what, you're crazy, Miriam is dead, the only way you get water is through faith, listen you rebels, you're rebellious, how am I supposed to get water for you? Moses is despondent. Yahweh has told him what he has to do but he can't believe it, how could it possibly work, he can't understand the mechanism. There's no Miriam, there's no faith, he's supposed to speak to this rock and it's supposed to give of its waters? He turns to them in desperation and says, listen you rebels, how can we possibly get water?

BTW you all remember that Miriam is Mem, Resh, Yud, Mem. So too is the word for rebel/morim. Is there an allusion for us here to Miriam in the word rebel? What if it doesn't only mean Morim but it also means Miriam? What if you read the verse that way? ‘Listen Miriam, can we really get water out of this rock without you’? It's almost like he's speaking to his dead sister; how can we possibly get water out of this rock without you? He's despondent.

 

Instead, what does he do? He hits the rock, attempting to go back to the olden days, to restart what happened 40 years ago; 'ye ole default setting'. But it doesn't work and just a few drops come out, he's got to hit it again. Why? In the new, post-Miriam world, you don't hit rocks anymore, you speak to them. But Moses couldn't see that, he couldn't figure out how it would work. The only thing in desperation he does is to attempt to get the old system started again, to hit the rock and bring it back.

 

This is a crucial moment and a crucial lesson had to be learned and it could only be learned now. What was this lesson? Miriam was dead, Aaron's about to die, and actually in a few months Moses would die (the Israelite 3 musketeers will be only a memory). The entire leadership of this generation would die and they would go into the land of Israel. This is a moment of transition, life is changing. What's the difference between the old life and the new life? What's the difference of life in the desert with Moses, Aaron and Miriam and life outside the Land?

Remember when Moses, Aaron and Miriam were alive there were three miracles that accompanied Israel in the merit of each of those three people. There was the Manna, there was the water and there was the cloud that led Israel from one place to the other in the desert. What's the common denominator between those three things? They are all things that you need every day to exist. You need water to exist - you have water miraculously through the well. You need food to exist - you miraculously have Manna. You need direction daily to exist so you don't get lost - you have direction. It is daily life augmented through miracles, that's what life in the wilderness looks like.

 

That's all going to change. Miriam, Aaron and Moses are going to die and they're going to go into the land and how are they going to get food? They're going to plant. How are they going to get water? They're going to draw it from a well. They won't need direction anymore. Life is about to become natural. They are poised at the moment of making a transition from the supernatural world of the desert into the natural world.

What does it mean to make that transition? How do you make that transition? What tools do you need personally and spiritually to be able to make that transition? What is the difference between life in the desert and life in the new world? What are the spiritual challenges that face me in the desert and how are the spiritual challenges that face me in the desert different from the spiritual challenges that face me in the world?

On this 35th day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine, we find transition happening all around us. Leaders come and go, but Yahweh is always available to lead. The question enquiring minds want to know, of themselves is, "No matter what the physical circumstances are, will I apply the lessons I have learned from those who have gone before me and will I watch to see how Yahweh's hand will lead me next?

Shabbat shalom!

Alan

Last night's zoom call: 
Honoring a person above God: a valuable lesson for the 21st century believer" or "It's not the way it was 39 years ago, Moses, Just speak to the rock it'll bring forth water"