Moses was a Skeptic

[LNM: As promised here is the first of (hopefully) many posts by The Candy Man. Enjoy!]

Most readers of LNM are probably familiar with the story of Moses striking the rock. The Israelites in the desert had assembled against Moses and Aaron and demanded water from them (Numbers 20:1-6). They consulted God, who replied to Moses (1917 JPS translation of v. 8-12):

'Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.'... And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them: 'Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?' And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: 'Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.'

The story is straightforward, but some details aren’t clear. Why did Moses strike the rock, rather than speak to it as God commanded? And why is he punished so severely for his disobedience?

Rather than go straight to the commentators, let's take a moment and examine the text itself. The first clue comes from what God says. God explains that Moses and Aaron are being punished because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel. God is accusing Moses of nothing less than a lack of faith. But what did Moses fail to believe? He only deviated slightly from God’s command, hitting the rock rather than speaking to it. What was so bad about that?

The second clue comes from what Moses says, just before he strikes the rock: Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring forth water out of this rock? If we are to understand this story, we must understand what this statement means. Might this have something to do with Moses’ punishment?

The plain (in Hebrew, p’shat) answer is that Moses was asking his people a rhetorical question. “We're in the middle of the desert. Where am I supposed to get water for you guys? Do you think I can bring forth water from a rock? (OF COURSE NOT! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!)” Frustrated, beleaguered, Moses was simply being sarcastic. He did not personally believe water would come out of the rock. He thought, perhaps, that God was setting him up to fail. Or perhaps he believed that, no matter how powerful God was, this was impossible even for him. The people were being ridiculous, asking him the impossible! And so he struck the rock, not in an attempt to perform a miracle, but in anger, in a dramatic bid to prove his point (and save his neck).

When Moses struck the rock and water gushed forth, no one was more surprised than he was. And that lack of faith cost him his entry into the holy land.

Most commentators make a mess of this story, although some of them get it right (including the IDF/Rabanut Tanach and the Hertz Pentateuch and Haftorahs). Why do so many commentaries miss the point? The answer is obvious. It’s difficult to understand why Moses, who brought the plagues on Egypt with his rod, could doubt God’s ability. This logical conundrum prevents people from reading the story and understanding it as it is written. Yet, read properly, the story suddenly makes perfect sense. Moses indeed had a lack of faith, just as God accuses him. And of course he was punished severely. Not only did he doubt God’s word, but he made his doubts public in a violent display of disbelief. Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel. It is no wonder that he received such a severe punishment, from which God would not allow him to repent.

(There is a secret here, about why Moses doubted this miracle above all others. If you think about the significance of the miracle, it may dawn on you.)

Skepticism is nothing new. In fact, it is probably the most common theme of the entire Hebrew Bible. Here, in blogs like LNM, we gather to discuss our own skepticism honestly and openly (and sometimes, like Moses, with anger and sarcasm!). It is an opportunity to forget what we think we know and re-read the classic texts with fresh eyes. It is also the start of a new text, a new teaching, a new Torah, which we build and participate in ourselves. May it be enlightening.