SOS
The whole Bible points us to Jesus
Christ. The Old Testament (the law) shows our sins; the New Testament
(the gospel) shows our savior.
Even in the story of Exodus we see Jesus everywhere. We see Jesus in Moses’ birth – the baby in the basket, the baby in the manger who was born to be the savior. We see Jesus at the burning bush, where Moses met the Great I Am. We see Jesus at the Red Sea, where the Israelites crossed and were baptized from death to life. We see Jesus, when Israel received manna, the bread from heaven, every morning in the wilderness. We see Jesus in the pillars of cloud and fire. And in today’s passage we also see Jesus, when Moses struck his staff, and water flowed from the rock. Everyone quenched their thirst. The Apostle Paul explains the spiritual meaning of this event as follows: “All of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:3-4, NLT) Jesus, God’s fountain, traveled with his people wherever they were. He fed them, guided them, protected them, and he was with them always.
Rephidim, Resting Place??
Today’s story goes like this. Directly by God, the Israelites moved
from place to place in the wilderness. Eventually they camped at Rephidim.
Rephidim means “resting place.” This place was known as an oasis. But there was
no water for them to drink. They were greatly disappointed. Why did God
direct his people to this wasteland? To make them holy, God led them away
from a self-sufficient place (“Egypt”) to a God-dependent place (“wilderness”)
– where there was nothing to drink.
In Exodus 15 the Israelites already had a very similar experience when they reached the bitter waters of Marah. By now they should have known how to handle this kind of situation. But still, in Exodus 17, it doesn’t seem they have learned the lesson. They should have prayed and pressed on (P & P). They should have prayed and then patiently waited for God to provide (P & W). Instead, they complained and grumbled (C & G). They found fault with Moses. They protested with Moses. Ultimately, they blamed God.
The Complaint
They made three complaints to
Moses. First they said, “Give us water to drink” (v. 2). They demanded God’s
provision on their own terms. They insisted on having their own way
instead of praying for it or waiting for it. The second thing they said was, “Why
did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with
thirst?” (v. 3) Here they were denying God’s protection. They concluded
that God had abandoned them. They were accusing God of trying to harm them. Third
they said, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (v. 7) They were doubting God’s
presence. It reveals their untrusting hearts. It’s like asking a mother
while she is in the kitchen working hard to get the family’s meal ready, “Are
we going to have any dinner tonight?” It is an insult.
God fed the Israelites manna every day without fail, but they complained about God’s provision. God departed the Red Sea and delivered them from the Egyptians, but they complained about God’s protection. God was with them and went before them in the pillars of cloud and fire, but they complained about God’s presence. How often we make the same complaints ourselves! When things go wrong, when life does not meet our expectations, we are quick to complain against God and demand some kind of explanation.
The Trial at Massah-Meribah
In today’s scripture not only were the
Israelites complaining against God, but also they were actually bringing God to
trial. Moses called this place Massah and Meribah instead of
Rephidim. Both Massah and Meribah are
legal terms. Massah means “to test.” Meribah means “to quarrel, to protest, or
to contend.” They charged God with neglecting to provide for them, refusing to
protect them, and failing to be present with them. Here not only were they
rushing to reach a verdict, but also they were prepared to carry out the
sentence. They were about to stone Moses, God’s representative, to death.
In the play called The Sign of Jonah a group of people put God on trial. They wanted to know who was responsible for the Holocaust— the destruction of millions of Jews and others in the Nazi concentration camps. Who was to blame?
In the play God is accused, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced. What is the sentence? The characters decide that God must “become a human being, a wanderer on earth, deprived of his rights, homeless, hungry, thirsty. He himself shall die. And lose a son, and suffer the agonies of fatherhood. And when at last he dies, he shall be disgraced and ridiculed.” That is exactly what happened to Jesus. God sent his Son into the world, and people did to him what the Israelites wanted to do with Moses. The Son of God was homeless. He was hungry and thirsty. He was stripped, mocked, beaten, and then condemned to die the most shameful death— death on a cross.[1]
Christ the Rock
In today’s passage what was God’s
response to this rebellious Israel? He said to Moses, “Strike the rock, and
water will come out of it, so that the people may drink” (v. 6). In other
words, not the people of Israel; but instead, Christ was struck with divine judgment.
That rock was Christ.
When the people of Israel made God’s temple a marketplace, Jesus cleansed the temple, driving the sheep out of the temple and overturning merchants’ tables. The Jews protested, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Here Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body (John 2:21). This is what happened to him on the cross. Christ was bearing the curse for our sin, so God struck him with the rod of his justice. The Bible says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV).
Today we may have many unanswered questions. We may feel like we have been abandoned. We may feel stuck. We may feel dry, thirsty, and distant from God. Let us not harden our hearts. Instead, come to Christ the Rock of our salvation with a trusting heart. Look to Jesus until all doubts, all complaints melt away. Then, streams of living water will flow from our hearts. And no matter what our circumstances are, we will rejoice and be satisfied in him – his provision, his protection, and his presence.
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