Single lesson
Moses Strikes the Rock at Meribah
Numbers 20:1–13
In this lesson, children will trace what happened at Meribah, notice the choices different people made, and see both God’s care in giving water and God’s words about honouring him before the people.
Before you teach
Numbers 20:1–13 takes place when the whole congregation is in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh. Miriam dies there. The immediate problem in this passage is that there is no water, so the people gather against Moses and Aaron and complain about being in the wilderness.
Students will be able to retell the order of Numbers 20:1–13 and explain that God gave water for the people, while also saying that Moses and Aaron failed to honour him as holy before Israel.
Welcome: What problem begins the story?
5 minShow an empty cup or water bottle and ask what people need every day. Then introduce the passage: the congregation came to Kadesh, Miriam died there, and there was no water. The people gathered against Moses and Aaron and began to quarrel. Explain that this lesson follows the story step by step.
Numbers 20:1, Numbers 20:2, Numbers 20:3
Read and explain: The people's complaint and Moses' response
7 minRead verses 2–6 aloud. Point out the people’s words: they asked why they had been brought into the wilderness and said there was no water to drink. Then contrast Moses and Aaron’s action. They went to the door of the Tent of Meeting, fell on their faces, and Yahweh’s glory appeared.
Numbers 20:2, Numbers 20:4, Numbers 20:5, Numbers 20:6
Discuss: What did God say, and what did Moses do?
7 minRead verses 7–11 carefully. Help children spot the difference between God’s command and Moses’ action. God told Moses to take the rod, assemble the congregation, and speak to the rock so it would pour out water. Moses took the rod, spoke sharply to the people, struck the rock twice, and water came out abundantly.
Numbers 20:7, Numbers 20:8, Numbers 20:9, Numbers 20:10, Numbers 20:11
Make and respond: Put the events in order
7 minChildren make simple sequence cards with short phrases or drawings: no water, people quarrel, Moses and Aaron fall down, God speaks, Moses takes the rod, Moses strikes the rock, water comes out, God speaks about Meribah. As they order the cards, ask what each choice led to in the story.
Numbers 20:2, Numbers 20:6, Numbers 20:8, Numbers 20:11, Numbers 20:12, Numbers 20:13
Closing: What was the outcome at Meribah?
4 minFinish by reading verses 12–13. Emphasise two true outcomes from the passage. First, God provided water, and the congregation and their livestock drank. Second, God said Moses and Aaron did not believe him in a way that sanctified him before Israel, so they would not bring the assembly into the land.
Numbers 20:11, Numbers 20:12, Numbers 20:13
Questions to explore
What did the people do when there was no water, and what words show their attitude?
Look at the verbs and complaints in the passage: they assembled against Moses and Aaron, quarrelled, and spoke about dying and the wilderness.
Numbers 20:2, Numbers 20:3, Numbers 20:4, Numbers 20:5
What did Yahweh tell Moses to do with the rock, and what did Moses actually do?
Compare the command to speak to the rock with the action of striking the rock twice.
Numbers 20:8, Numbers 20:10, Numbers 20:11
Why does the passage say Meribah was given this name, and what did God say about himself there?
The final verse explains that the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and it also says he was sanctified in them.
Numbers 20:13
Make, think or respond
Meribah Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card scraps
- pencils or crayons
- scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Write or draw one event from the passage on each card.
- Mix the cards up on the table or floor.
- Read the passage again and work together to place the cards in order.
- Ask children to explain which choices belong to the people, Moses and Aaron, and Yahweh.
This activity helps children follow the order of Numbers 20:1–13 and notice how the passage connects actions with outcomes.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare the cards in advance with simple pictures and let them choose between two possible next events each turn.
- For older or stronger readers, have them find the verse for each card and explain in their own words how Numbers 20:8 differs from Numbers 20:10–11.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: “God, thank you that you gave water to the people in their need. Please help us listen carefully to your words and honour you in what we say and do. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Numbers 20
1 The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2 There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!
4 Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?
5 Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them.
7 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
8 “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”
9 Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him.
10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?”
11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
12 Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
13 These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
Source passages
Something to make together
These activities connect with the passage. Choose one that suits your group and the time you have.
