SECOND DAY: Read Numbers 20:1-13.
Q3. What was interesting about the death
of Miriam?
Miriam died and was buried at
Kadesh. Immediately after Miriam’s death, the Israelites quarrel with her
brothers Moses and Aaron for lack of water at the Desert of Zin. On the surface, they seem to take no time to
grieve, however, it might reflect their comfort were lost because her death, so
equating grief with thirst and comfort with water.
Q4.
a. How does verse 2 remind you of Exodus
17:1-3?
Every time the Israelite met
troubles they quarreled with the leader. They put the Lord to the test.
b. Were the people serious about wishing they had died with the
others? Explain.
No, they did not want to die. It served as a way to provoke the
people by threatening one another that sooner or later all of them would die.
Q5.
Compare the Lord’s response on this occasion with other times the people
grumbled. (See Exodus 15:22-27; 17:1-7; Numbers 14; 16:31-35.)
Earlier~
Exodus
15:22-27
Lord’s response: God provides and teaches.
Exodus
17:1-7
Lord’s response: God provides. The place was named “Massah and
Meribah” because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord
saying. “Is the Lord among us or not?”.
Numbers
14
Lord’s
response: God judges.
11 The Lord said
to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will
they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among
them? 12 I will strike them down with a
plague and destroy them, but I will make you
into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
Numbers
16:31-35
Lord’s
response: God judges.
The ground under
them split apart and 35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men
who were offering the incense.
This time~
Lord’s response 1: God provides.
Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence and struck the rock
twice with his stuff. Water gushed out for the community and their livestock
drank.
Lord’s response 2: God judges.
“Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the
sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give
them.”
