Moses Hit The Rock: The Whole Story Doesn't Make Sense - Until Now!

so let's take a quick look uh unbelievable uh greatness of uh of the characters in the torah let's take a look at motion moshe is told to speak to a rock and the rock will give water moshe hits the rock and god is upset and god says because you did this you will not enter the holy land you will not get to the promised land you're going to die in the desert and the and the people will go into into israel without you they will go under the leadership of joshua number of questions if god said to speak to the rock how could moshe hit the rock now the conventional explanation is because years earlier god had told moshe to hit the rock remember the first time that right the water came from iraq moshe was told to hit the rock this time around he was told to speak for the rock well he was kind of used to hitting it so he he kind of fell into the habit of hitting rocks not a very convincing argument oh he was upset he was angry and so and so he ignored god how's that for an explanation he listens to god when he's in a good mood but when he's upset god speaks to him and he's not listening not convincing at all god speaks to you you you listen especially if your whole life has been devoted to the word of god and so on and all of a sudden god says speak and he does something else how is that possible another good question is how does the punishment fit the crime because you hit the rock that's why you can't go into israel what is that how how awesome is the punishment compared to the violation for 40 years moshe is preparing the people to enter the land that's the goal that's the objective that's the whole story and now he's told that he cannot go that that's that's an awesome awful punishment what's the connection see every punishment is not only commensurate with the sin it is also of the of the nature of the sin the jews sinned because they demanded beef they wanted meat so god said okay you're gonna have beef until it's coming out of your nose see it's a fitting punishment it's sticking to the subject to the topic you want meat the meat is gonna make you sick seems appropriate um the jews sinned and they were bitten by snakes now they do shuver and they have to be cured from the from the snake so what does moshe do he makes a copper snake puts it up on a high pole so for everyone to see and whoever looks at that copper snake was healed you see the healing is related to the illness things have to be related what is the connection between not going into israel and hitting a rock and the final question is if god says you can perform a miracle by speaking to the rock but he doesn't do that he hits the rock why did water come out it's not like there's water in the rock and anyone who hits it will get water it was a huge miracle water came out of a rock even though moshe did not do what god said to do so why did it work why did the miracle happen if moshe was wrong it shouldn't have worked so for all these reasons we need obviously a better understanding of the whole event so here's the beauty of it it's not just a good explanation it's also a powerful moral lesson moshe describes himself when he reviews the event at sinai he says you were camped at the foot of the mountain god came down to the top of the mountain and i was there as the translator or the communicator i stood between you and god to bring to you the word of god so moshe stands as the bridge between humans and god now when you are that kind of leader kind of a shepherd the sheep are not yours not the shepherds but the shepherd is responsible for the sheep so he kind of stands between the flock and its owner because he is neither the sheep nor the owner he is the one that takes care of the sheep for the owner and that's why moshe is called the trusted shepherd so what does that mean it means that a leader has two loyalties one to the people and one to god the shepherd is devoted to the owner of the sheep he's also devoted to the sheep themselves to the flock inevitably there will be times when those two devotions will be in conflict where the shepherd has to decide which way to go put the devotion to the owner above the devotion to the sheep or put the welfare of the sheep above the opinion or the desires of the owner what would the owner of the sheep prefer the shepherd to do if he's wise he prefers that the shepherd take care of the sheep even if it's against the instructions of the owner so here's what happened god says to motion the people are rebellious they're stiff-necked they're complainers they don't listen so inspire them speak to the rock and let them see a rock behave and respond properly to a divine instruction that will make me look really good and the people will be inspired and they will do what i tell them next time here moshe is in a dilemma yes it will be a kid hashem to speak to the rock and the rock obeys its instructions which could inspire the the people to also become a little more responsive or obedient but it can also be held against them a rock obeys and you disobey you're worse than a rock to you is not like talking to the wall because the wall obeys and you don't so moshe said what what what am i supposed to do here if i speak to the rock god will be very impressive but it may not reflect well on the jews so what's my what's my priority here and he decided that his priority is with the people god doesn't need his help the people need he also realized that in in making this decision he's kind of sealing his fate if i remain loyal to the people and give them priority over the miracle of of the obedient rocks then i am throwing my future in with their future and whatever happens to them will also happen to me so if i am with the people then i go by the people they are not going to make it into the holy land they're all going to die in the desert which means so will i and he decided to hit the rock anyway and if it means not going into the land then so be it so now we have a whole new story moshe was not in a bad mood he was not forgetful he wasn't in the habit of hitting rocks he was a loyal shepherd and how does the punishment fit the crime there was no crime there was the devotion of a shepherd to his flock did god complain not at all isn't that what the shepherds own what the sheep's owner would prefer so then why wasn't he allowed to go into the land because his devotion to his people demanded that he remain buried where they are buried in simple language moshe said they're not gonna go into israel are they well then i'm not going either i gotta stay with them the other day we were watching the film uh rescue at entebby earth operation thunderbolt something about the story the story of um the the rescue of the hostages in entebbe by the israeli uh army what happened was an air france flight going to israel was hijacked by terrorists there were about 300 people 200 and some people on the flight and after they landed in uganda in entebbe they freed all the non-jewish passengers and kept the jewish ones who were mostly israeli the pilot and the entire staff the cabin crew refused to leave they stayed they said as long as a single one of our passengers are staying we're staying with them pretty heroic they had no idea what their fate would be so moshe said if they don't go i'm not going not in protest out of loyalty i'm not gonna go enjoy the promised land if i can't bring the people there so as much as moshe looked forward and as much as as it was his plan and his ambition and his dream to get to the promised land his commitment to the people was much stronger god objects to that no god loves him for that there's a very strong statement in the gemara that when the jews sinned and god says i've had it with them moshe started to speak and god said to him who are you the only reason i need you is to take care of my children they're not doing well so who are you i don't need you pretty strong language huh if you're not taking care of my children who are you that's the feeling of a true leader [Music] it's not about me at all it's all about the people that is not conventional wisdom that's godly talk if anybody had asked a psychologist or a life coach or any mentor i tried to bring these people into the land they're impossible there were times they were going to kill me because i was getting on their nerves there's nothing i can do with them but i didn't do anything wrong so i'm going to go into the promised land they're not going to make it i'm afraid is that not reasonable that's what any human mind would agree with yeah you go you're a good guy why should you not go so here's the rest of the story those jews who refused to go into the land and by the way it was only the men who refused god said you don't want to go then you will never go you're never going to make it wander around in the desert for 40 years until you all die out and your children and your wives they will go into the promised land now when god said you're never going to make it he didn't mean only in that lifetime it meant that when everybody else will be resurrected and come to the holy land permanently they will not be included you said no then it's no forever they lost their portion in the world to come however there's always hope right however since moshe was buried with them in the same desert out of loyalty to them because he would not enter the land without them well then how is this going to be resolved they're never going to come to the land will moshe never come to the land that doesn't seem right does it so the gemara says since moshe is buried with them in the same desert and he will be resurrected and he will come to the land as long as he's coming they can come with him not in vain did moshe remain loyal to the end this too he must have known there's only one way to get them to the promised land and that is in the resurrection that i can still do for them by being buried with them i will guarantee that they will come along with everybody else when the resurrection happens in other words moshe will not fail he will bring his generation the people he took out of egypt he will bring them to the promised land take a few years okay now that is a bible story we have a sunday night program for vips that you might be interested in it's informal it's questions and answers it's conversation it's really relaxed it's really pleasant enjoyable informative and kind of community-like it's a sunday night program there's a wednesday morning program for the vips and there's a wednesday night program all of it just conversation casual laid back unscripted so join us take a look click the link below and see which which of the three suits you best and join us for some enjoyable conversation

Channel: Rabbi Manis Friedman

Views: 86,505

Keywords: education, educational, training, torah, judaism, chabad, religion, which religion in china, judaism beliefs, judaism definition, manis friedman, rabbi manis friedman, life, start online college today, apply for online college classes, Insurance, Loans, Mortgage, Attorney, Credit, Lawyer, Donate, Degree, Hosting, Claim, donate car, charity, life advice, self help, better life, happiness, wellness, Conference Call, Trading, Software, Recovery, Transfer, Gas/Electricity, Classes, Rehab, Treatment, Cord Blood

Id: N_-0e4GF_mY

Length: 21min 18sec (1278 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 21 2021