Thursday Night Bible Study

Exodus 17:1-7

“Streams Within” •  12.30.10  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro

- The pattern that we have observed thus far follows in this way: God leads Israel to a new place, something is lacking, Israel complains, Moses prays, Israel is satisfied.

- The people have been out in the wilderness for several months now. It's wise to consider that God is not interested in taking them the direct route. He is not moving them expeditiously.

- He is moving them to places where their character and their trust in Him will be tested. He is raising up an army of people and readying them for the struggle that they will have to endure.

Text

•  Exodus 17:1,2  :  “Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ So Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?’”  :  God is now leading them from the wilderness of Sin. He is the Lord of the comings, as well as the goings.

- They moved according to His commandment. He dictated when and where they moved.

- The next test will come at Rephidim, which means "Resting" or "Supports." The picture being of a person leaning on something.

- They did not come directly to Rephidim, as there were stops in between at other locations, but this is the next place thematically where a test will occur.

- God had led them there, but there was no water. This is the second time in the narrative that this has happened, the first being at Elim.

- The lack of water brought out the usual response: Complaints! They grew contentious with Moses, the word, signifying a physical grabbing at. They grabbed him by the clothes and shook him!

- Moses, being in a frightful place, spoke out, "Why do you fight with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?" What does it mean to tempt the Lord?

- A better translation is to test the Lord or seek to prove Him. They were testing the Lord by their constant complaining and grumbling against Moses. We'll get a better sense of this in a moment.

•  Exodus 17:3,4  :  "And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, 'Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!'"  : Things just got worse. The thirst became very great and the angst and anger against Moses came to a fever pitch.

- Moses continues to show His dependance upon the Lord, but his voice is just as desperate as theirs. He wants to drink too. He wants water for them as well.

- They were ready to kill Moses! The fervor was so hot. It's interesting that God allows this to go on. He is allowing them to get squeezed, it seems, a little more each time.

- The people and Moses are learning what it means to follow and trust the Lord. Things seem very desperate, but the Lord is about to answer them.

- That is a wonderful truth to camp on. They did not know that His answer was going to be miraculous and unexpected and short in coming.

- I'd suggest when we are most desperate, that we might also be the most ready for the Lord to answer our need.

•  Exodus 17:5-7  :  "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'"  :  Moses is to go out and meet the Lord at a rock in Horeb, which was a mountain range near to the area of Mt. Sinai.

- Moses was to strike the rock with his trusty rod, perhaps hitting the mountain side, and water would come out for the people to drink.

- This same rod had turned the waters of the nile to blood. He had held this rod up and the Red Sea was divided. Now this rod would strike the rock and water would again proceed.

- Moses did this in everyone's sight, most likely with the most vocal protestors in the front row.

- He called that place "testing" and "strife," a fairly unpleasant name to say the least.

- They had tempted the Lord with these words: "Is the Lord among us or not?" This was at the heart of their testing.

- The idea is that God was with them during their times of satisfaction, when He fulfilled their needs. In their eyes, He proved Himself worthy during these times, of their trust.

- When there was manna on the ground, God was with them.  When quail came into the camp, the Lord was with them.

- But when there was lack, their contention was that God was not pulling His end of the bargain.  How could He allow lack, lead us to dry places that are marked with strife and contention?

- How could He be with us during such times? Our pain and discomfort force us to think such things about the Lord. We are guilty of being fairweather believers, just as they were.

- We don't want to be guilty of the same sin. God allows times of blessing and times of difficulty in our lives. He is not more present in one than in the other.

- Now, we are told that Moses was to strike this rock and it is assumed that they did drink.

- Psalm 78:15,16 tells us that He split the rocks and gave them the abundance of the depths.

- Psalm 105:41 says that He opened the rock and gave them rivers in the desert.

- Psalm 114:8 declares that the rock let out a pool of water. The rock became a fountain.

- This was not a small happening, but was abundant enough for all to drink. There is a physical rock in this area that fits the bill, and an altar nearby,

- For us and for them, this rock symbolized Christ. Paul tells us this in I Corinthians 10.

- The people of Israel drank from this Rock and were satisfied. The Rock had been struck to let out the relief of the water to this thirsty horde of people.

- As is true for us, we also drank from the fountain of Christ, and living waters flowed from Him to us.

- Today, as we are united to Christ, that same living water flows through us, from Him, by His Spirit. People around us are refreshed by what comes out of our lives.

Conclusion

- God intends for us to drink from Christ, as the children of Israel drank from the physical rock in the desert.

- When we drink from Him, there is a spring within us, a resource that will refresh us in dry places, but will also be life giving to those that drink from our lives.

- That is God's heart for His people and His desire is that the world would have access to Him through us!