Exodus is
the story of the Lord delivering Israel out of Egypt. It is the story of the mighty hand of the
Lord working among men. We know Him as
the Almighty. He is able to bend nature
to His will.
Exodus 17:1
says:
At the LORD's command, the whole
community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there
was no water there for the people to drink.[i]
First we
notice that the community of Israel moved at the Lord’s command. It has been some time since they left
Egypt. On the day they left Egypt we are
told, “The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of
cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire.” (Exodus 13:21)
The phrase “moved from
place to place” is otherwise translated “in stages.” This is not random wandering. It is a measured journey to Mt. Sinai, where
the people were to meet with the Almighty.
According
to Exodus 17:1, “Eventually they camped at Rephidim. Rephidim most likely means “rests”
(Bibleatlas.org). A book called “Deserts of
the Exodus” says this about it:
It is the most fertile part of the
peninsula, well watered, with a palm grove stretching for miles along the
valley. Palmer speaks of passing through
the palm grove as a "most delightful" walk; "the tall, graceful
trees afforded a delicious shade, fresh water ran at our feet, and, above all,
bulbuls flitted from branch to branch uttering their sweet notes." (http://bibleatlas.org/rephidim.htm)
Ironically,
the community of Israel found no water there.
Therefore, a place named for rest became a place of quarreling. Exodus 17:2 tells us:
Therefore the people quarreled with
Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you
quarrel with me? Why do you test the
LORD?” (ESV)[ii]
The quarrel
was severe enough that Moses told the Lord, “They are ready to stone me!” (Exodus 17:4)
Moses even gave the place a new name calling it “Meribah” (which
means quarreling).
The people
were thirsty and feared for their lives.
They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and
our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus
17:3)
This is
consistent with the pattern that the people established. Even though it was at the command and leading
of the Lord that they move, they complained against Moses. They maintained this pattern throughout their
40 years in the wilderness. However, at
this point in the book of Exodus we see a serious turn in their attitudes. Moses called it testing the Lord, and Exodus
17:7 tells us what they said. They said,
"Is the LORD here with us or not?"
Considering
the fact that they were eating Manna every morning and quail every night this
is a remarkable question. Considering
the fact that they witnessed the plagues in Egypt and crossed the Red Sea on
dry ground with the water standing up as a wall on each side, this is a
remarkable question.
This same
incident was repeated almost verbatim at the beginning of the 40th
year in the wilderness. The account of
the second occurrence is found in Numbers 20:8, the difference being that Moses
was instructed to speak to the rock.
Because of these two incidents God gave a command in Deuteronomy
6:16. He said, “You must
not test the LORD your God as you did when you complained at Massah.” The complaint referenced is, “Is the LORD
here with us or not?”
Many years
later, immediately after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into
the wilderness. He too was without bread
and water. Satan came and tempted him. At that time, there were three tests. First, Satan tried to get Jesus to turn stone
into bread. Second, Satan tried to get
Jesus to worship him. Third, Satan tried
to get Jesus to leap from the highest point of the temple. Each time Jesus answered with Scripture. The third and final answer Jesus gave that
finally shut the devil up was, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your
God.’” (Luke
4:12)
Deuteronomy
6:16 gives a command that we must not test the Lord and Jesus repeats it in
dealing with the temptations in His life.
This incident with the water seems to be the example of what it means to
“test the
Lord.”
A short
explanation of testing the Lord would be to call His character or promises into
question. The community of Israel had
experienced and seen time after time that God was both there and on their
side. Now, they were demanding that He
prove once again that He was there and on their side. God was clearly leading them. God was clearly providing for them. In this process, God was testing them to see
whether they would trust Him. God knew
what He was going to do and it was His purpose to provide them with water. Of course He would. God did not lead them out into the wilderness
to kill them with thirst. They did not
need to put God to the test.
God tests
all of His children. He led the
community of Israel to a place with no water.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness. God will lead you into the wilderness. It will just be you and Him, and you will
need to trust Him. There will be no
water.
Jesus said,
“Anyone who
is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who
believes in me may come and drink! For
the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (John 7:37-38)
Believers
of all ages have found this to be true.
One day
Jesus was traveling north from Jerusalem going to Galilee. He chose the most direct route, which passed
through Samaria. After walking all
morning, Jesus was hot and tired so He sat down by a well near a Samaritan
town. He sent His disciples into town to
buy food. While He waited there by the
well, a woman came out to draw water.
One of the things Jesus said to her was, “If you only knew the gift God has
for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you
living water.” (John 4:10)
This woman
was thirsty, but she did not know what she was thirsty for. It took an encounter with Jesus for her to
realize that her real thirst was spiritual.
We all need
this living water. The experience of the
community of Israel in the wilderness teaches us three things about this water.
The first
thing is that God leads us to it.
God leads
us to the living water by first showing us our need.
God led the
children of Israel to a place called rest, but there was no water. God purposely leads us to these places. For the children of Israel it seemed as if
God was trying to kill them. After all,
He led them into a barren, hostile environment and there was no water. Circumstances may seem to indicate God is
against us, and we must learn to trust God’s word and promises in spite of
circumstances.
The second
thing we learn is that God goes before us.
God told
Moses, “I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.” (Exodus
17:6)
God was
there all the time. It was in the
presence of God that the people said, “Is the LORD here with us or not?” Jesus says to us, “And be sure
of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) This is important for us to realize. When we are going through the dry times, we
need to remember that God is right there with us. Jesus taught of our close association with
the Father when He said:
And I will ask the Father, and he
will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all
truth. The world cannot receive him,
because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you
now and later will be in you. No, I will
not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.
(John 14:16-18)
God leads
us. God is with us. God refreshes.
Moses struck
the rock and water gushed out, not because the people deserved it, but because
of God’s grace.
Striking the
rock was a picture of how God brings grace to us. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was
pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”
The
children of Israel deserved the blow for even asking their question, but God
struck the Rock instead. Even the
Apostle Paul had to learn the lesson, “My grace is all you need. My power
works best in weakness.” In Paul’s case, he
had a weakness that he called a thorn in the flesh. It was such a problem that he pleaded with
God three times that it be removed and each time God said, “My grace is
all you need. My power works best in
weakness.” In this, Paul learned
to boast in his weakness because it glorified the strength of Christ.
If we never
thirsted, we would never know the refreshing that only Jesus can bring.
If God has
led you to the point of thirsting, realize that it is an opportunity to call
upon Him for refreshing.
[i] Unless
otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation. Copyright ©
1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
[ii] Scripture
quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.