Chapter 6
If Any Man Thirsts
The Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
The Problem:
Have you ever found yourself complaining, grumbling, and eventually getting right up in someone’s face? Have you ever moved past the kind suggestion, the constructive criticism, and gotten so fed up that you just exploded? If you’ve ever felt that way, you’re in good company. The Israelites had left behind 400 years of brutal slavery in Egypt, but were continually grumbling and distrusting in God’s provision.
When people complained about the bitter waters at Marah, Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord provided a miracle (Exodus 15:22-24). Then again the people complained and grumbled at their leaders (Exodus 16:2) and at God about the shortage of food (Exodus 16:8), yet the Lord was merciful and provided bread in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4).
Now it was happening again. The people were effectively putting Moses on trial at a place where there was no water (Exodus 17:1), demanding that he give them something to drink. Moses’ response was that they were also putting the Lord to the test (Exodus 17:2).
This newest complaint didn’t occur in the 39th year of wandering, as you might expect. It was actually just a few months into their new life as a nation that they complained. Little did they know the Lord was also testing them (Psalm 81:7), and they were failing the test. As we look at their complaints, along with God’s response, we can learn some things about ourselves and about our God.
- When we complain, we forget God’s past provision. We forget about all the times God has come through for us in the past. That was certainly the case with these Israelites. Less than six months before, they had witnessed God bring the ten plagues against Egypt and then part the Red Sea to deliver them from bondage, closing it back to destroy the Egyptian Army. God was even leading them by a cloud at day and a pillar of fire at night.
- When we complain, we put God to the test. In the story, the people quarreled with Moses their leader, but he wisely discerned the true target of their wrath, God himself (vs. 2). When we complain, we are accusing God of not properly doing His job, as if we know best what is best for us. If we feel we must complain, we should be complaining to Him about our own sinfulness so that He will forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9) and put within us a new heart, one that rejoices rather than complains.
- When we complain, we minimize God’s miraculous provision. Complaining, grumbling, murmuring - these are all the opposite of walking by faith, trusting in God to provide. It was God who had led them to this place, with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And as the saying goes, “Where God guides, God provides.”
Max Lucado wrote, “God had resources they knew nothing about, solutions outside their reality, provisions outside their possibility. They saw the scorched earth; God saw heaven’s breadbasket. They saw dry land; God saw a covey of quail behind every bush. They saw problems; God saw provision. Anxiety fades as our memory of God’s goodness doesn’t.” (Max Lucado, Every Day Deserves a Chance)
The Turning Point:
Finally Moses had had enough, and turned to the Lord with his own complaint. “What am I to do with this people? They seem determined to stone me” (Exodus 17:4)!
It is good when leaders at all times, but especially when the going gets tough, turn to the Lord. There is no point to getting into endless discussions (arguments) with disillusioned people. Leaders need to recharge their own spiritual batteries at the Source, and seek the answers to questions regarding difficult situations and tough decisions from the One from Whom they can be found.
The Lord answered Moses, and told him to go get the same staff that He had told him to use to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16), and which Moses had held out to engulf the Egyptians (Exodus 14:26-28). Then he was to gather witnesses, and strike the rock.
The Miracle That Followed:
In the path of obedience, the answer came. The Lord stood upon the rock, Moses struck the rock, and water gushed out (Exodus 17:6). God showed up to face His accusers, with the elders serving as witnesses.
The Bottom Line:
In Exodus 17 and Numbers 20, the Old Testament speaks of Israel being sustained by water provided by God through the striking of a rock. In the Gospel of John, the New Testament speaks of Jesus as a Rock and as a source of living water. Thanks to Paul’s blending of the two in 1 Corinthians 10:4, we may understand Jesus is the Rock, struck to provide living water leading to eternal life for those who believe. Let us ever seek to drink living water from Christ the Lord, observing His commandments to the glory and honor of God the Father!
