Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
In our study of the book of Exodus God has been showing us His authority over mankind. He had previously brought Jacob and his family into Egypt. He blessed them there. They were growing in numbers. They had favour with the earlier Pharaoh. However, in the book of Exodus we learn that things changed in Egypt. With the change of leadership things have a tendency to change, particularly if the leadership is ungodly.
In a true local church things can carry on smoothly even if the leadership changes. In a true local church the pastor submits to God’s leadership. A new pastor coming in should also submit to the Lord as Head of his life. When that happens it is a beautiful thing. Too often leaders get a fat head and they assume they are the final authority. That creates problems.
That is the problem we read of in the book of Exodus. The Pharaohs assumed they were gods and they assumed they had the final authority. God was still building His nation, Israel, and they were to be governed by Him. God worked in spite of the wicked decrees of the Pharaoh. He protected not only Moses as an infant, but He also protected Moses’ parents. Moses was raised at the expense of the Pharaoh. He lived in a pagan household, but chose not to adopt the pagan customs of that household. Moses was unique in society. Most people are influenced by the culture they live in.
A strong church can be very helpful in helping children to choose God. When Christian parents are careless in their walk with the Lord, they will suffer the consequences of that carelessness in their children. New Evangelicalism is a very clear picture of this fact. New Evangelicals, for the most part, are lost people. They are religious but lost. They don’t mind seeing their children accept religious teachings that are different than what they held to earlier in their life. They adapt to change just like the frog in the water. Just as the frog in the water, New Evangelicals don’t realize the problem until it is too late.
Lot was a compromiser in the Old Testament. He accepted change even if he did not agree with it all. His story is that he had two sons through incest with his own daughters. That is certainly not a story worthy boasting of, but that is his record. Those two sons developed into nations that fought against the LORD.
There are still people today who are grasping at straws and they want a form of spirituality, but they do not want to submit to the will of God. The head of the U.S. military machine is a man who is three times married. He professes to be a Christian man. He is living in adultery. He is a part of a newer religious movement that holds to a patriarchal/Theocratic system of rule. That is a Biblical system. A major problem with that religious group is that they believe it is their duty to bring in a Theocratic system. It is true that Jesus Christ will reign one day. That day will be in the Millennium, and not until then. The danger with this group and with many other groups is that they pick certain Bible doctrines but overlook other Bible doctrines. The Bible does not have a ranking of Bible doctrines. It does not allow true Christians to pick and choose which doctrines we deem to be the most important. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders:
Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
As we continue to study the book of Exodus, we find that the LORD gave the nation of Israel all the counsel of God. God did not leave any blank spots. He did not give any option for developing their own philosophies. When they chose a wrong way, He showed them it was wrong. He made it very clear which way was right.
In our text we find the children of Israel journeying from the wilderness of Sin according to the commandment of the LORD. They were not choosing their course. As they travelled and pitched in Rephidim, they found there was no water. Why would God lead them to a place where there was no water? This was not the first time they had encountered a situation where they had problems with the water.
We read that the children of Israel were ready to “chide” with Moses about this situation. The word “chide” means “to strive”. They were upset with Moses for leading them to such a place. They were not just mildly upset. They were quite upset with him. Moses confronted them about their attitude. He reminded them they were not just upset with him, they were upset with the LORD. They were tempting the LORD. They should have known better than that. They would learn this was not a good thing for them to do.
We read further that the children of Israel accused Moses of bringing them out of Egypt to kill them with thirst. They should have known better than to talk that way. They had already seen God’s powerful and miraculous hand at work. Not that long ago they had sung a song reminding themselves of the LORD’s mighty deliverance. They had a very short memory. Any trouble quickly overshadowed the blessings of the LORD. The fact is that we do not always appreciate the blessings of the LORD, especially if we are not in tune with Him.
Moses cried unto the LORD. It is good to turn to the LORD in all things. He needed to know what he should do. The people were quite upset with him. They wanted to kill him. They were certainly irrational in their thinking.
The LORD did not leave Moses to figure this out for himself. He was there with him. He told him to stand before the people and to take the elders of Israel with him. He needed to take that trusted rod in his hand and go and stand before the rock that God specified for him. The elders needed to trust in Moses and they needed to take some leadership responsibility.
The LORD promised to go with Moses. Moses was told to strike the rock and He would give them water. This was an unusual command of the LORD but Moses was willing to obey Him. Moses really did not have much choice. What possible choice did he have? He did not know what to do. He knew the LORD had never let him down.
Moses did as the LORD commanded him. The LORD honoured His Word. Moses did as the LORD commanded him before the elders. They too needed to be reminded that they could trust in the LORD.
Moses named this place Massah and Meribah. The name “Massah” means “temptation” and the name “Meribah” means “strife or contention”. God was showing the people an important truth here. That rock was a picture of the Rock — the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the living water. God’s instructions to Moses were specific here and they were a picture of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ in providing salvation.
We see that the children of Israel had indeed tempted the LORD there. They had questioned whether the LORD was truly with them. It was a foolish question, but God was merciful to them. He let them tempt Him but He also showed them He was with them. They did not need to question that.
Those who are saved today do not need to question the LORD’s presence with them either. Life can be difficult at times, but God is greater than any challenge we might face.
Pastor Bartel
