The name Meribah, for us (unlike under the Law of Moses where it speaks of Rebellion and murmuring towards God), now (under the Covenant of Grace through the victory obtained for us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through His Death on the Cross, His Resurrection from the dead and His Ascension and now seated at the Right Hand of God the Father in Heavenly Places), means to do the will of God – nothing more, nothing less, nothing else – at any cost.

Whatever sin and rebellion was committed by unrighteous Israel that brought upon God's Judgement, (since the blood of goats and bulls could never satisfy the righteous requirements of the Law), now we as the Spiritual Israel (Righteous Israel) through the Unpolluted Blood of Jesus Christ, in obedience to God's Commands, in Christ Jesus our Lord, ratifies.

One enterprise creates success for the other, and all contribute to the success of one

Meribah stands for absolute obedience to God – The Creator of all things. To us, the name "Meribah" represents the desire to do the will of God - nothing more; nothing less; nothing else; at any cost. It is the will of God for all people to be saved, liberated from bondage, free from poverty and ignorance, filled with hope and in excellent health always.

MERIBAH - THE LESSON OF FOLLOWING GOD’S WILL:

NOTHING MORE; NOTHING LESS; NOTHING ELSE - AT ANY COST

God is Love. However, in Revelation 4:8 the four living creatures, day and night, never stop saying “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Omnipotent)”. God is holy, and He manifests His holiness by His love and provision as demonstrated in Exodus 17 by His dealings with His people through Moses. He commanded Moses to strike the rock with his staff to produce water, the same rod he struck the waters of the Nile with. Until then, every miracle Moses had done was through actions with his cane.

But the time had come for Moses to be weaned from his rod and the congregation to be reminded Who the real Provider is. The people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land and needed a clear picture of God the Provider, since some of the congregation perceived Moses and his rod to be the miracle workers. 

As for the previous (almost similar) event to provide water for a thirsty assembly, His instructions were clear. Numbers 20:7 “And the Lord said to Moses, Numbers 20:8 “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to give forth ….” He had to (i) “take the Rod,” (ii) “ assemble the congregation and” and (iii) “tell the rock”. He had to display the rod as a piece of wood (powerless) in front of the congregation and demonstrate (obedience to) and faith in God by performing a speaking miracle so that all could see it is God performing the miracles and not man with a piece of dead wood in his hands, such as they have grown accustomed to. Never had Moses done a miracle directed by God through speech. After all, God created the world through speech, and not action (Genesis 1:3). 

However, Moses stole the miracle by his arrogance. His arrogance is portrayed by his words in Numbers 20:10 “And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?” (Amp) Must we? (What he actually meant was; Aaron, my rod and I). So, he falls back on using his cane as he had done before (Exodus 17:4). God is furious with this man with whom he had been speaking to "face to face." 

At least some of the assembly, after years of stiff-necked grousing and rebellions, would be predisposed to believe that Moses, not God, performed the miracles. After nearly 40 years of punishment for the spies' rebellion, this unbelief and disobedience pose the risk of setting more unbelief in motion.

Moses failed the opportunity to demonstrate that it was God performing the miracles and not him and his rod. It was a critical demonstration before Israel entered the Promised Land where they had to trust in God for diverse miracles. If he had spoken and water had poured out, that would clearly have been God performing a miracle for His people as no man can talk water out of rocks. 

There are two more reasons why Moses’ disobedience is so serious.

The Hebrew uses different words for "rock" in the two incidents, רוצ the first time and עלס the second. The first is a hard rock (no water could possibly come out of it, so hitting it produces a miracle), but the second is a type of rock that can retain water. According to that reasoning, hitting the rock at Meribah would not prove anything; anybody could have done that.

We read in 1Corinthians 10:4 “And they all drank the same spiritual (supernaturally given) drink. For they drank from a spiritual Rock which followed them [produced by the sole power of God Himself without natural instrumentality], and the Rock was Christ. [Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11.] Once smitten, at Rephidim, He did not need to be smitten (crucified) again, thereby implying that Christ’s death on the cross was not sufficient for time and eternity. Once crucified, and ascended Jesus taught His disciples in John 15:7 “If you live in Me [ abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. ” (Amp) It means, no more striking, simply comply with My conditions and ask (talk to the Rock). 

The disobedience and arrogance of Moses is clearly a great risk for God’s future dealings with Israel – as already almost 40 years had passed since a whole generation died because of their unbelief and rebellion. Clearly, God could not afford Moses to further delay His plan and purpose for His people. Therefore, the public punishment of Moses was imperative. Numbers 20:13 “These are the waters of Meribah [strife], where the Israelites contended with the Lord, and He showed Himself holy among them.” He showed Himself holy among them by publicly punishing Moses and by this “ … He demonstrated His holiness among them.” (New Living Translation), "Because you did not trust Me enough to demonstrate My holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I Am giving them!" Numbers 20:12 (NLT)

God means it when He gives us a commandment. If He tells us to do something, that means we have the capacity to be successful at that task. Only in Christ Jesus (remaining united to Him), can keep the Law, we can live in grace, but if our own self-doubts lead us to question our ability to follow through on God's commandments, we not only do not believe in ourselves, but we also do not believe in the finished work of Christ on the Cross. Obedience to His will is vitally important, whether we understand His purpose or not. We are not called to understand, but to exercise faith and be obedient. 

Israel soon learned this lesson at Ai (recorded in Joshua 7 & 8). They took the formidable, fortified Jericho (almost without effort) and the spies advised only a small army should take Ai. Alas, they suffered defeat and 36 good men were killed. “… the men of Ai struck down about thirty - six men, for they chased them from …, and struck them down on the descent; therefore, the hearts of the people melted and became like water.  Joshua 7:5 (New King James Version) 

Why is that? 

The whole nation (God’s project) suffered, and many good and innocent men died because of one man’s disobedience – stealing, lying and covetousness. God’s purpose for His people seemed in jeopardy as enemy kings were going taking courage, because an insignificant city such as Ai could defeat this mighty army and their God and wipe them from the face of the earth – according to the cry of Joshua. 

Joshua 7:10 The Lord said to Joshua, Get up! Why do you lie thus upon your face? Joshua 7:11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. They have taken some of the things devoted [for destruction]; they have stolen, and lied, and put them among their own baggage (Amplified).

It turned out to be the disobedience and greed of one man. Just one man sinned and the whole Israel were contaminated with the stigma of theft, lies and greed. God does not bless wilful, sinful behaviour. If we tolerate any unrighteousness in our inner circles, we are endangering ourselves. We should act in love (2 Thessalonians 3:15) “Yet do not count him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother”. (NKJV) 2 Thessalonians 3:6 “but we command you, brethren, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us” (NKJV).

In all we do and plan to do, we need to hear these words for ourselves after we have cleansed ourselves with God’s never-ending mercy towards us and our weaknesses: After Joshua rid the nation from the single transgressor “Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear, nor be afraid. ………go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land into your hand. Joshua 8:1 (Literal Translation of the Holy Bible)

Truly, let our confession and motto be:
God’s Will: Nothing More; Nothing Less; Nothing Else; At Any Cost.

Dr Niël Wolfaardt: Group Executive Chairman: Meribah