20130929 Sunday, September 29 2013
Exodus 17: Water From The Rock

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

The Israelites could have been in the Promised Land only a little more than a year after the Exodus (most of the time was at Mount Sinai; see Paul's Geography Lesson), but due to their constant rebellion and whining, and then an actual refusal to enter the Promised Land, the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ; see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the adult rebel generation of the Exodus had all died off (see A Journey Without A Destination). It was their children and grandchildren who entered the Promised Land (see Deuteronomy: The Law and History Lessons By Moses).

The Israelites had become so psychologically dependant upon their slave masters to feed and water them (little different than cattle) that they expected to have someone to continue to do so after their liberation (see Exodus 13: Liberation, Not Liberal-ation), "Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink."

"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. 17:2 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?" (Exodus 17:1-2 KJV)

As they would do many times, with threats to stone Moses, they "murmured against Moses" (the reason that murmer and murder sound alike is because "murmering" means to speak in a threatening tone).

"17:3 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?" (Exodus 17:3 KJV)

"Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me," so the LORD provided the means for them to find the water that was available to them (see the Fact Finder question below).

"17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

17:5 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. 17:6 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. 17:7 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?" (Exodus 17:4-7 KJV)

The LORD then also provided enemies for the Israelites to relieve some of their hostility - while teaching them to defend themselves. With miraculous help, the Israelites were victorious.

"17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

17:10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 17:12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:8-16 KJV)

Fact Finder: How does water "come out of the rock"?
See How Did The Flood Happen?