Moses at Meribah: How to Sanctify God

To sanctify God means to show God as holy; to show that His power did the miracle.

The story surrounding the waters of Meribah was about God telling Moses to speak to the rock as he held the staff.

Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. – Numbers 20:8 KJV

However, Moses told the congregation, “Ye rebels, Must we give you water out of this rock?” Then, he struck the rock twice. Moses did not follow the words of God accurately. God had instructed him earlier to strike a rock and bring forth water, but this time, God told him to speak to it so that the people would see God’s power. By striking the rock twice with anger, this looked as if by Moses’ power the water supplied, and it did not sanctify God.

[9] And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him. [10] And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” [11] And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. – Numbers 20:9-11 KJV

Moses had an opportunity to show God’s power, but the people only saw Moses hitting the rock sharply and they assumed that Moses made the water come out. Therefore, Moses could not enter the promised land. God must be sanctified, which means “shown as holy.”