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66_That rock was Christ

Ex 17:1-7 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 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?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah[a] and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis writes, “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself.” This states the spiritual truth that Christ is our Rock who sustains us beyond our physical needs. Just as an engine depends on the right fuel to function, we are designed to depend on God for our being. Without Him, our lives falter, just like a car sputtering without petrol.

The story of the Israelites in Exodus 17:1-7 is one of numerous illustrations of this truth. Fresh from witnessing God’s miraculous provision at Marah, where He turned bitter water sweet, and in the wilderness of Sin, where He rained manna from heaven, the Israelites journeyed to Rephidim. But there was no water there for them to drink. Their response to this trial reveals much about the tendency of our sinful hearts to doubt God’s faithfulness in the face of repeated evidence.

This incident is echoed repeatedly in Scripture as a solemn warning, summarized in the words of Psalm 95: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” God’s leading does not guarantee a smooth path. The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness was not a purposeless wandering. God intentionally led them away from the land of the Philistines to evade the possibility of war, knowing they were not ready for battle. Yet, He allowed them to hunger and thirst. This was obviously not out of neglect or done on a whim. His aim was to teach them to trust in Him constantly and since faith is the only way to please God.

The Israelites’ reaction reveals how quickly they forgot God’s past provisions. They demanded, “Give us water to drink,” and accused Moses of leading them to their deaths. Hunger and thirst are primal needs, built into our existence by God Himself. But even these basic needs do not justify quarreling with God or doubting His goodness.

In their desperation, the Israelites doubted three critical aspects of God’s leading: His provision, His plan, and His presence.

First, God’s provision. Water, the most essential necessity for life, was scarce. They feared for their own lives, and for those of their children, and their livestock. Yet, just days earlier, they had experienced God’s miraculous provision of manna and His healing of the bitter waters at Marah. We must guard against this proven tendency to forget God’s provision and faithfulness in the past when faced with new challenges.

Second, they doubted God’s plan. They cried, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” It was an illogical conclusion. If God had intended to destroy them, He just had to remain silent at the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army would have wiped them out. Instead, He delivered them through the Red Sea and vanquished their enemies. These accusatory words cast doubt on God’s will and power to protect them and fulfill his plan for them.

Finally, they doubted God’s presence. They questioned, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This doubt was particularly unnecessary, seeing the daily evidence of God’s presence in the form of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Their song of deliverance at the Red Sea had celebrated God’s steadfast love and guidance, yet now they questioned His nearness and care.

These doubts show the sinful tendency to place our needs above our reverence for God. Jesus Himself addressed this when He declared, “No one can serve two masters.” When we prioritize our needs and our desires—even the most basic of our needs—above our trust in God, we betray that our true allegiance is to ourselves rather than God.

God’s response to the Israelites’ rebellion teaches us how we should approach our trials.

Moses cried out to him, struggling with the people’s anger and desperation: “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” God commanded Moses to take the elders of Israel as witnesses, and to bring the staff with which he had struck the Nile. This staff was a symbol of God’s appointment of Moses, his pledge of deliverance, and a symbol of judgment and power.

God then promised to stand before Moses on the rock at Horeb and strike it. When Moses struck the rock, water gushed out to satisfy the people’s thirst.

This act was more than a miraculous provision of water. It reassured the Israelites that their God was with them, as the Rock from which the stream of living water sprang. The Apostle Paul, reflecting on this event, wrote in 1 Corinthians 10: “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” As Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The naming of the place as Massah (“testing”) and Meribah (“quarreling”) served as a lasting reminder of the Israelites’ failure to trust God. It stands as a warning to us as well. When faced with trials, we must resist the temptation to strive with God or to test Him by demanding that He meet our expectations. Instead, we are called to approach Him with humility and faith, remembering His past faithfulness and trusting in His perfect plan.

This passage challenges us to examine our own hearts. Let us not be quick to doubt God when we face difficulties. Let us not forget His past provisions and question His constant presence in our lives. The Israelites’ rebellion warns us of the dangers of placing our needs above our trust in God. It reminds us that God is not our servant; we are His. We need not, and should not, dictate how He should act. It is our part to submit trustfully to His will, since He knows what is best for us.

Like Moses, let us bring our concerns to God in prayer, for He hears us and will answer according to His wisdom. Instead of quarreling with God, let us rest in the assurance that He is our Rock and our faithful guide.

If there are areas in our lives where we doubt God’s provision, plan, or presence, let us repent of our unbelief and choose to trust him. Let us ask him for the help we need. Let us remember that Christ, the Rock, is in us and we in him. His promises give us everything we need for life and godliness. Let us believe them and be satisfied in our souls. God bless.