民二十8　你拿着杖，和你的哥哥亚伦招聚会众，在他们眼前吩咐磐石发出水来；这样，你就为他们使水从磐石中流出来，给会众和他们的牲畜喝。

　　林前十4　也都喝了一样的灵水；所喝的是出于随行的灵磐石，那磐石就是基督。

　　民数记二十章里的磐石预表钉死并复活的基督（林前十4下），从磐石流出的水预表那灵（4上），就是从钉十字架之基督所流出的活水（约十九34与注）。……这磐石乃是随着神的百姓经过旷野旅程的灵磐石。这表征基督被钉十字架，成了随着祂百姓的磐石。这随行的磐石就是复活的基督这赐生命的灵（林前十五45），祂一直与召会同在，用生命的水供应祂的信徒。

　　基督既已被钉十字架，那灵也既已赐下，基督就不需要再被钉了，就是不需要再次击打磐石，使活水流出。在神的经纶里，基督只该钉死一次（来七27，九26~28上）。我们要从钉十字架的基督接受活水，只需要“拿着杖”，并“吩咐磐石”。拿着杖就是在基督的死里与祂联合，并将基督的死应用在我们自己身上和我们的处境中。吩咐磐石，就是向基督这被击打的磐石直接说话，求祂基于那灵已经赐下的这个事实，将生命的灵赐给我们（参约四10）。我们若将基督的死应用在自己身上，并在信心里求基督赐给我们那灵，就必得着活的灵，作为生命全备的供应（腓一19）（圣经恢复本，民二十8注1）。

　　Num. 20:8 Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and give the assembly and their livestock something to drink.

　　1 Cor. 10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.

　　The rock in Numbers 20 typifies the crucified and resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 10:4b), and the water that flowed from the rock typifies the Spirit (v. 4a) as the living water that flowed out of the crucified Christ (John 19:34...)....This rock was a spiritual rock that followed God's people in their journey through the wilderness. This signifies that Christ has been crucified to become a rock that follows His people. This following rock is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), who is always with the church to supply His believers with the water of life.

　　Since Christ has been crucified and the Spirit has been given, there is no need for Christ to be crucified again, that is, no need to strike the rock again, that the living water may flow. In God's economy Christ should be crucified only once (Heb. 7:27; 9:26-28a). To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to "take the rod" and "speak to the rock." To take the rod is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation. To speak to the rock is to speak a direct word to Christ as the smitten rock, asking Him to give us the Spirit of life (cf. John 4:10) based on the fact that the Spirit has already been given. If we apply the death of Christ to ourselves and ask Christ in faith to give us the Spirit, we will receive the living Spirit as the bountiful supply of life (Phil. 1:19). (Num. 20:8, footnote 1)

　　尊神为圣，就是使祂成为圣别的，也就是使祂从一切假神分别出来；没有尊神为圣，就是使祂成为凡俗的。摩西向百姓动怒（民二十10），又错误地击打磐石两下（11），就是没有尊神为圣。神没有动怒，摩西却动怒，没有在神圣别的性情上正确代表神；他击打磐石两下，没有遵守神在祂经纶里的话。……因此，摩西违犯了神的圣别性情和祂神圣的经纶。为这缘故，他虽然与神亲密，被视为神的同伴（出三三11），却失去了进入美地的权利。

　　在我们所说并所作一切关于神子民的事上，我们的态度必须按照神圣别的性情，我们的行动必须按照祂神圣的经纶。这就是尊祂为圣。不然，我们会在言语和行动上背叛祂并得罪祂（圣经恢复本，民二十12注1）。

　　摩西向以色列人动怒，……就没有向神子民在神圣别的性情上正确地代表祂；他击打磐石两下，就是在神行动上错误地代表神。因此，他和他哥哥就受神惩罚，不得进入美地（民二十12~13、24，二七12~14）。

　　在民数记二十章，神没有向百姓动怒，但摩西却动怒。……摩西在怒中可能以为这次神要消灭百姓了。然而，神晓得二十章里的难处，是由于百姓口渴。就如母亲不对口渴而哭的小孩生气，反会顾惜小孩；照样，神也不向祂口渴的百姓动怒，反而负责用水供应他们。

　　在二十四节神似乎是〔对摩西、亚伦〕说，“你们没有顺从我。你们没有作我吩咐你们作的事，反而作了别的事。百姓没有辱骂我，他们没有错。他们只是需要水而已，唯有我才能供应他们水。百姓口渴并没有犯错，他们没有背叛我。你们定罪他们是背叛的人，但你们才是违背我话的人。”（民数记生命读经，二三五至二三七页）

　　参读：民数记生命读经，第二十九至三十篇。

　　To sanctify God is to make Him holy, that is, separate from all the false gods; to fail to sanctify God is to make Him common. In being angry with the people (Num. 20:10) and in wrongly striking the rock twice (v. 11), Moses failed to sanctify God. In being angry when God was not angry, Moses did not represent God rightly in His holy nature, and in striking the rock twice, he did not keep God's word in His economy....Thus, Moses offended both God's holy nature and His divine economy. Because of this, even though he was intimate with God and may be considered a companion of God (Exo. 33:11), Moses lost the right to enter the good land.

　　In all that we say and do concerning God's people, our attitude must be according to God's holy nature, and our actions must be according to His divine economy. This is to sanctify Him. Otherwise, in our words and deeds we will rebel against Him and offend Him. (Num. 20:12, footnote 1)

　　In being angry, Moses did not represent God rightly in His holy nature toward His people. In striking the rock twice, he represented God wrongly in God's action. Hence, he and his brother were punished by God by not being allowed to enter into the good land (Num. 20:12-13, 24; 27:12-14).

　　In Numbers 20 God was not angry with the people, but Moses was angry with them....In his anger, Moses might have thought that the time had come for God to consume the people. God, however, realized that the problem in Numbers 20 was caused by the people's thirst. Just as a mother is not angry with a child who cries because of thirst but instead cherishes the child, so God was not angry with His thirsty people but rather assumed the responsibility of supplying them with water.

　　[In Numbers 20:24] God seemed to be saying [to Moses and Aaron], "You did not obey Me. Instead of doing what I told you to do, you did something else. The people were not reviling Me. There was nothing wrong with them. They simply needed water, and only I can provide water for them. The people were not at fault for being thirsty, and they were not rebelling against Me. You condemned them as rebels, but you are the ones who rebelled against My word." (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 212-214)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msgs. 29-30